Learned Brother did not appeal to other Authorities than that of the Holy Scriptures which is the greatest But since he leads me into the numerous Volumes of the Fathers I will follow him too there And if I shew that those Antient Writers of the Church who wrote in the Greek Language as for the Latin Fathers I shall afterward consider them us'd the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nomos Law to signify a Doctrine by it then the uncertainty of Citations from those Authors for his Purpose will be abundantly demonstrated Clemens Alexandrinus calls the Law the Light of our Way and the Gospel as a pure Doctrine of Grace is such beyond all dispute He also defines a Law to be a true and good Opinion of a Thing whereby any Doctrine of Truth and Goodness may be signified Eusebius who lived above an hundred Years after him having occasion to mention those Texts of the Old Testament which speak of Christ as the Great Author of the Gospel and particularly explaining that Text in Isa 2. 3. speaks in these words What Law is that going out of Zion and differing from that coming from the Desart promulgated by Moses in Mount Sinai but the Evangelical Word going forth out of Zion by the Ministry of our Saviour Jesus Christ and his Apostles and passing through all Nations For it is manifest that from Jerusalem and Mount Sion adjacent to that City where our Lord and Saviour delivered most of his Discourses and Doctrines the Law of the new Covenant beginning its Progress and going from thence to all Men shin'd with the greatest brightness Which very well agrees to the Doctrine of the Gospel that so swiftly spread and with such diffusive Beams that in a few Years after Christ's Death it illuminated the whole Earth Chrysostom also who calls the Gospel a Law very often and particularly in his Sermon on Gal. 2. 19. which I have before cited if we may think as we ought to do of the greatest Preacher in the Primitive Church that he speaks consistently with himself means no more by this Phrase than a Doctrine of Grace For when in his Sermon on Psal 49. he draws the dividing Lines between the Law of Works and the Gospel he in these Words gives his Judgment That the Law of Works was the Rudiments of Children and an Introduction and also the Ministry of Condemnation and Death But this says he speaking of the Gospel is Grace and Peace There is nothing can be more plain than his meaning that the Law requiring Works denounc'd nothing but Death to a Sinner unable to perform them but the Gospel as a Doctrine of Grace reliev'd him by proclaiming Peace To evince that among the Fathers the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nomos Law did not always signify a System of Precepts and Commands I may also introduce Origen who as a competent Judg in the Case declares that he very well knew the Psalms to be called a Law as also the Prophecy of Esa And to prove it he brings in those Texts of Scripture John 15. 25. Psal 35. 19. 1 Cor. 14. 21. And his Authority is to be the more regarded as to the Decision of the Question in present Debate because as he complains in the beginning of this his 9th Chapter cited by me of the Confusion which the ambiguousness of the Word Law did breed in Mens Minds which is the Case now too so he employs this whole Chapter to clear its various Significations But I need give no other Instances than from what Theodoret writes in his short Exposition on Isa 2. It is says he therefore very well manifest that he intends the New Testament from thence that is Sion of which the Prophet speaks delivered by the first Apostles and by the same afterward exhibited to all Nations He doth not therefore only prophesy that the Law but that the Word should go out from thence giving this Name to the preaching of the Gospel For this also blessed Luke teacheth us Luke 1. 2. Even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were Eye-witnesses and Ministers of the Word By the Word then in that place he doth not name God the Word but the Doctrine of God's Word For God the Word did not go out of Sion but he taught the Truth in Zion Photius who lived in the 9th Century was not more famous for his Learning than for that firm Resistance he made against the Usurpations of Antichrist who design'd and strongly endeavour'd to have spread his Wings as far over the Eastern as he had over the Western World By what this Patriarch of Constantinople writes it appears that however in the Course of so many Ages very great Corruptions had wrought for themselves an entrance into the Grecian Churches yet the Doctrine of Grace not as establishing a Law of Works but displacing it was preserv'd among them Or at least we may know what his own Belief was from his own Words which are these He first tells Sergius in an Epistle wrote to him that the Law was not contrary to Grace as he surmis'd it was and then shews its use in subserviency to Grace That it was a Preparation and made way for the discovery of Grace and leads us to it But when Grace comes the Law says he departs as the Stars when the Sun appears or as the Night the Day shining And having illustrated it with many other Similitudes Thus says he Grace having an Existence the Law is vacated tho not perfectly dissolv'd It ceaseth but is not disannulled Christ fulfilled it not violating the least Tittle of it and performing it entirely remov'd it It is against my Inclination that I thus summon Men tho of deserved Repute to bear Witness for the Truth of the Gospel The Testimony of the Holy Ghost in his own Word is infinitely greater than ten thousand such Evidences It was therefore to him that I first appeal'd but since my Reverend Brother brings the Cause into a lower Court I am very willing that it should there also be tried The Proofs which I gave out of God's Word have as I think sufficiently demonstrated that this new Law of Works is not the Everlasting Gospel and these Testimonies from Humane Writings may evince that it is not only far distant from Eternity but neither so venerable for Age as he fancies it for it was a Doctrine unknown in the first Years of Christ's Church and had its Original only with the Birth of Antichrist and I am very well assur'd will end with the Period of that Man of Sin CHAP. V. How uncertain an Argument is fram'd from the sound of the word Law to prove the Gospel to be such evinc'd from the various significations of that Word as us'd by Roman Authors That the Latin Fathers nam'd the Gospel a Law as it is the Doctrine of Christ I Now should heartily rejoice to be excus'd from searching any other Records but
Instruction given us not only by the Precepts but the Promises of God The Root from which it is deriv'd proves this to be its genuine meaning for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jarah signifies to cast or throw Darts or any other thing and metaphorically in the Conjugation Hiphil the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Horah signifies to cast the Meaning of one's Mind or a Doctrine and Instruction into the Thoughts of the Hearers as Mercer a Critic beyond exception in this Language very well observes And what is God's teaching us effectually but the throwing the quick and powerful Darts of his Truths into our Souls and his fastning them in our Hearts not to give us any mortal Wound but only a vital piercing Sense to rouze us out of our Lethargy in pernicious Errors and Sin Whereas it is the fiery Darts of the Devil of which the Apostle speaks Eph. 6. 6. corrupt Doctrines which he is so diligent to throw into our Souls which give us our Death's Wounds This is enough to show how natural the Metaphor is that from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jarah he casts Darts in Hiphil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Horah should signify he teacheth or scattereth any Doctrine And thus it is us'd in 2 King 12. 2. and in Ps 119. 102. And from hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moreh a Doctor or Teacher Job 36. 22. And from hence too is the Name of a Place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moriah Gen. 22. 2. Which as Mercer notes signifies the Doctrine of the Lord God which from that Hill it being situated at one side of Mount Sion where the Temple was built was to spread through the World And indeed it was at Mount Zion nay in the Temple it self that our Lord Jesus taught his Glorious Doctrine of the Gospel and there also it was preached by the Apostles before they had a particular Commission to go to the Gentiles And sutable to this is that place in Isa 2. 3. And many People shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his Ways and we will walk in his Paths for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem that is a Doctrine shewing to Sinners the Way of Justification Thus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Horah he teacheth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Torah used in the Old Testament for Law proceeds by a free and unforc'd derivation which is enough to evince that in its original and native Meaning it signifies no more than a Doctrine which is taught us and to confirm it I shall produce several places of Scripture where it is us'd in this Sense By this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Torah sometimes is expressed any Doctrine or Instruction which Parents give to their Children or a Man to his Friend Thus in Prov. 3. 1. Prov. 4. 2. Prov. 7. 3. Prov. 13. 14. In other places it is imploy'd to signify the whole Doctrine of Truth contained in God's Word both of the Old and New Testament Thus in Psal 1. 2. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate Day and Night The Design of the Psalmist being to give the entire Character of a Person truly blessed the Description must be so comprehensive as to take in not only his delighting in the Precepts of the Moral Law which a Turk or Heathen may do and the old Philosophers really did but an inward feeling of a ravishing Pleasure in the Knowledg of the Gospel and in meditating on the admirable free Grace of God display'd in the Salvation of a Sinner And it is this pleasing Sense resulting from the Apprehension of the Doctrine of Grace which is the distinguishing Mark of that blessed Believer whom the Psalmist with such wonderful Eloquence describes So then the Law in which the Believer delights is not the old Law of Works nor a new one of a resembling Nature but it is the Doctrine of the Gospel as opening the hidden and unsearchable Riches of God's Grace and Love in Christ Jesus And thus the most Learn'd Commentators both Papists as well as those of the Reformed Religion explain the word Law in this extensive Meaning as not meerly signifying Precepts and Commands but that delightful Instruction which the Knowledg of Evangelical Truths affords the happy Believer More expresly the Doctrine of Grace in the Gospel is called a Law Psal 19. 7. The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the Simple That it is not a Law of Works but the Word of Grace is evident from Scripture which is the best interpreter of it self For the Apostle Paul who best knew the Psalmist's meaning applies the 4th Verse of this Psalm 19. to illustrate the swift spreading of the Doctrine of the Gospel and the Teaching and Instruction of it coming to all Nations Rom. 10. 17 18. So then Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God But I say Have they not heard Yes verily their Sound went into all the Earth and their Words unto the Ends of the World That as the Sun and Moon and Stars in a Day and Night's Journey look round all the Earth and tell to all the Nations the Power and Wisdom of the Creator tho they say not a Word of his Mercy and Grace So the Preaching of the Gospel shall give a Sound through the whole World not meerly to proclaim the Great Majesty and Goodness of God who made it but his Infinite Grace undiscernable by Reason and the Love of our Saviour which is above all our Thoughts Now then as the plain Intention of the Psalmist is by a Comparison to shew that as the Heavens manifest God's Adorable Perfections so his Law vers 7. hath a more excellent Sound and Instruction in the Discoveries which it makes of his Grace the Apostle's taking one part of this Comparison and applying it to the Word or Doctrine of the Gospel necessarily infers that he understood the Psalmist to intend by his Law no other than this Doctrine of Grace which as the Sun and all the other Lights of Heaven spreads so swiftly and universally If we consider too the Psalmist's Sense as expressed by himself we shall find that the Effects which he ascribes to his Law cannot be produced but by a pure Doctrine of Grace From these Effects of converting the Soul and making wise the Simple it is evident that it cannot be understood a Law of Works in any Sense for that instead of converting the Sinner would but frighten him from God and so far is it from driving the guilty Criminal to Christ that without the Gospel proclaim'd the natural Tendency of it is to hurry him into Despair It could not let into the Soul the least Glimmerings of Hope for such a Law proposeth Salvation
that it condemns and dooms us to Death not to seek Life by it any more and no longer to have the least Commerce with it in the Affairs of our Justification or to be dead to the Law is no more to be obnoxious to its condemning Sentence in that it cannot exact from thee its threaten'd Punishments tho indeed as a Rule of Duty it always unalterably requires Obedience To be dead to the Law is no longer to be under its Dominion and Reign as it is a Covenant of Works Thus a King hath no Authority over a Subject whom Death hath transported out of his Territories into the Regions of another World nor can the Power of the Greatest reach beyond the Confines of the Grave In all these Meanings the Apostle asserts himself to be dead to the Law And what was it made him so What! but the Law or Doctrine of Grace revealed in the Gospel which so happily instructed him in the knowledg of free and compleat Justification by Christ This Sun no sooner riseth but all those little wandering Stars which as false Lights had before so wretchedly misled him do set presently and all his natural and rooted Inclinations to seek Justification by the Works of the Law lessen and at last wholly vanish and disappear at the glorious Appearance of the Sun of Righteousness who comes with healing in his Wings All those treacherous Hopes which he repos'd before in his Obedience to the Law in the severe Observance of its Precepts and strict Performances of Duties are utterly extinguished and all the Sparks of them being quite dead do not scatter any longer the least Glimmerings in his Soul Thus the Law or Doctrine of the Gospel teaching him how that Christ his Surety being made under the Law for him hath redeem'd him from its Curse answered all its Demands and silenced every Accusation hath stopp'd its Mouth and taken away its Strength and not only so but depriv'd it of Life as well as Voice the Apostle's Mind being thus illuminated with the Light of his new Law or Heavenly Doctrine to know more than ever he did before that Christ hath slain the Law as it is a Covenant of Works as well as the Enmity which Sin had caused between God and miserable Sinners he accordingly looks on the Law as a dead Thing which can neither hurt in respect to Condemnation nor do him any good as to Salvation and Life He answerably regards it with other Eyes than before and his former Zeal and Affection he had to it for the Purposes of Justification are not only abated but extirpated out of his Heart not meerly cool'd and damp'd but perfectly quench'd and dead Now then that the Gospel is called a Law by the Apostle not in the strict Sense as importing Works of any kind but as a meer Doctrine of Grace is evident from all these Effects which it produc'd It perfectly mortified him to a Law of Works and therefore could not be one it self unless we can imagine that the Apostle became dead as to seeking Justification by the Works of any Law whatever and that no otherwise than by giving entertainment to and putting himself under the Conduct of a new Law of Works which things do not seem very well to agree And that by Law when the Gospel is so nam'd in this Gal. 2. 19. the Apostle means a pure Doctrine of Grace and not a more moderated Law of Works appears from ver 21. I do not frustrate the Grace of God for if Righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain It is as if he should have said However others despise the Grace of God and think it too mean and ignoble to owe their Life to it it shall be my great Zeal to magnify it to illustrate its Glory and to pay unto it the highest Honour However others are Obstacles to its Progress and endeavour to put a stop to its Victories and Triumphs or attempt to render all its Power and Force vain and ineffectual yet for my part I will neither say nor do any thing to frustrate it and none of my Actions nor any Article of Doctrine which I teach shall in the least degree have such a Tendency I will not let fall a Word which may but seem to lessen or disparage the Favours of my blessed Redeemer who loved me and gave himself for me And can there be a greater Slight than when he hath done and suffered so much to save me not to rest satisfied with his Undertaking and Work as compleat but to be solicitously endeavouring how to supply the Deficiencies and to perfect it my self To esteem Christ as insufficient is certainly to despise him in the highest measure and he doth not suffice me if I join my own Righteousness to his or add Works done by me in Obedience to any Law unto his great Performances Nay if I should assert Righteousness to come by any Law whether New or Old I should dishonour Christ so much as to insinuate that he died very unwisely or unadvisedly For what could be more unadvised than to come and suffer all sorts of Miseries and at last to expire in Torments and that only to the Purpose of effecting what might have been done very well without such expence of his inestimable Blood For if by my Obedience to some Law I may be justified and the Works of that can be my Righteousness why should Christ die or to what purpose was he obedient since no other Ends of his Death and Obedience are assigned but the Justification of a Sinner And if this Business can be effected by this Sinner's own Works of what Nature soever the Blood and Righteousness of Christ comes in uncalled for and when there is no great or urgent need of them But far be it from me to defeat the Designs of the God of all Grace to misprize the greatest Favours which can be bestowed upon a Creature or to darken and obscure the Glory of the Grace it self and therefore I am firm to it and will unmoveably maintain it that Righteousness comes by no Law whatever nor are Sinners justified by the performance of any Conditions in obedience to it And therefore when I before ver 19. call'd the Gospel a Law you must by no means understand it to be a soften'd and milder Law of Works but a Doctrine of Grace in which Sense I also us'd the word Law in my Epistle to the Romans where I call the Gospel a Law of Faith Rom. 3. 27. Thus I have endeavour'd to give briefly the Apostle's Sense in this Text which proves his Meaning in the other where he calls the Gospel a Law that he understands only a Doctrine of Grace by that Word CHAP. IV. That the Fathers of the Primitive Church when they call'd the Gospel a Law meant only a Doctrine by it proved by a few Instances out of Clemens Alexandrinus Eusebius Theodoret Origen and Chrysostom THIS might be enough if my
the Birth of our Redeemer God the Father sends down his Messengers not only to tell us that his Son was born into the World but to assure us that he brought nothing with him but Grace and Peace and the Reconciliation of a God before angry unto lost and desperate Rebels It is thus the Angels who certainly with the greatest Exactness discharg'd their Commission without one word of Christ's being a new Legislator or coming as a second Moses to deliver a new Law from Mount Zion as he did from Sinai proclaim the Gospel to be a most solemn Declaration of God's gracious Designs and Purposes to Sinners unworthy of his Favour Luke 2. 13 14. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth Peace good Will towards Men. Thus in the first delivery of this glad Message there is no Voice but of Peace no stounding Claps of Thunder as from Sinai at the Promulgation of the Law but the Songs of Angels rejoicing in the restor'd Happiness of Elect Men their Fellow-Creatures no affrighting Flashes of Lightning but a soft and gentle Brightness shining from the Face of a reconciled God and diffusing it self through the Air without any hurtful or consuming Flame Luk. 2. 9. And lo the Angel of the Lord came upon them and the Glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid Tho they were a little astonish'd at the first appearance of so strange and unusual a Sight yet the Sense which they had that it was only an innocent lambent Fire about their Heads and the encouraging words of the Angel reassur'd them ver 10 11. It is not a Judg but a Saviour who is come into the World nor are there any Threatnings denounc'd as at the giving of a Law are necessary but they hear Promises of Mercy There is no Sentence of Death given nor Warrants issued out for the Execution of guilty Criminals but God the Father honours his Son's Birth-day with a large and very comprehensive Act of Pardon When this his Son his Solace and Delight in Eternal Ages before any Creatures made steps down from Heaven he doth not meerly declare the great Pleasure and Satisfaction he hath in this glorious God-Man but he evidenceth how dear this infinitely excellent Person is to him in the most surprizing Effects of Goodness and Grace He proclaims that for his sake only he can regard his Elect of Men with Eyes of Favour and Kindness who in their own Persons were only Objects of Detestation and Abhorrence And therefore tho he freely lov'd them from Eternity his Benevolence was never openly publish'd till now As it is only for the sake of Christ whom God infinitely loves that he can take any delight in his chosen Children of Men so 't is not till this his great and adorable Son comes upon Earth that he proclaims Peace and Good-will to Men. Thus God from Heaven and some of the best Men who ever liv'd upon Earth do plainly tell us that the Gospel is no Law but a pure Act of Grace And as God sent these Men into the World to restore his Truth to recover it out of the Darkness of Popery in which the Nations of the Earth had for so many Ages lost themselves and been wretchedly deluded by the worst of Errors dress'd up in the faint Resemblance of Truth they were answerably faithful to the performance of that Work which God had sent them to do They were careful to distinguish the Gospel from a Law and would by no means suffer Works tho insinuating themselves under never so specious pretences to invade the Prerogative of Grace They very well knew as both Chemnitius and Beza inform us that playing with the Ambiguity of the word Law confounded Law and Gospel laid the Root of the most pernicious Errors to spring up and overspread the Church with nothing but Tares or worser Weeds in the room of nourshing Corn. They were aware that the perplexed Thoughts of Law and Gospel chain'd together by the unnatural Mixture gave Birth to that monstrous Metamorphosis by which the Monks transform'd the Gospel into a Law and as they were not at all ignorant that the proper Remedy to cure these distemper'd Thoughts was exactly to distinguish between the one and the other they sutably made a good and successful use of it They would give every thing its proper Name sutable to its Nature If they spoke of Works they meant a Law prescribing them and commanding Obedience under severe Penalties but then in thus thinking speaking or writing the Gospel never came into their Minds nor was form'd in their Voice nor dropp'd from their Pens But whenever an Idea or Notion of Grace arose in their Minds then indeed the next following Thought was the Gospel of Christ By thus reducing these two Notions into due Rank and Order they baffled all the sophistical Cavils of the Monks and afterward of the more cunning Jesuits and made War against Antichrist with Success and Victory for to drive that Man of Sin out of his dark Corners and hiding-Places is indeed to conquer him In pursuing such a Conquest these fam'd Divines of the first Reformation once too much ador'd and now as much despis'd wrote and preach'd the pure sincere Grace of the Gospel to the People It was by this alone Doctrine unassisted by any humane Policy or Force that they blew up all the Forts of the dark Papal Kingdom and conquering all before them planted the glorious Ensigns of our Blessed Lord Jesus in the Room of the Roman Standards Thus Chemnitius who was a perfect Master in the Art of attaquing Antichrist in her strongest Holds since he so prosperously storm'd and demolish'd the Council of Trent shews what were the Instruments of this Spiritual Warfare us'd by him that had the greatest Force What other Light says he hath dispers'd the most thick Darkness of the Papal Kingdom but this chiefly the true Difference of the Law and Gospel before demonstrated And this Difference he had stated that the Law consists purely of Works and the Gospel of all Grace This might be sufficient to inform us in what Sense we are to apprehend the Expressions of any of the Reformed Divines when they give the Name of a Law to the Gospel for since this signifies no more among them than the joyful News of God's Mercy and Love and his being reconciled to Sinners in the Blood of his Son the meaning of the Word Law when attributed to this Gospel that it may be sutable and consistent with such a Notion of it must design nothing more than a Doctrine of Grace and Peace But if I now bring Instances that they tell us in so many express words that when they call the Gospel a Law they intend the Word in no other Sense than this alledg'd it will clear the puzzled Cause and leave no remaining Doubt
own Obstinacy which have this fatal Effect 'T is true indeed that an Unbeliever's Guilt is aggravated by his Contempt of the Gospel and by rejecting Mercy and despising the Riches of God's Grace he lays himself open to a severer Sentence brings an heavier Ruin on his Head and sharpens his own Punishment For as the Fire of Hell is the Wrath of God and the avenging Furies of Conscience those Flames will burn with more fierceness in a Soul which makes terrible Reflections how while it lived in this World it slighted that Grace and that Redeemer by which others were saved Thus a Pardon offer'd to Rebels doth not condemn them for not accepting it the Refusal only leaves them expos'd to the Severity of the Law by which the unpardon'd Offender is judg'd and condemn'd Tho indeed the Criminal recalling to mind the Pardon once offer'd him and his own obstinate Contempt of Mercy will with greater Horrors of Soul at the Place of Execution curse his own Folly and Madness as the Cause of his infamous Death There now remains nothing more than to shew that the Promises of Eternal Life made to the Believer and the Ruin denounc'd against every Unbeliever do not prove the Gospel to be a new Law and that such Expressions as these which we so often meet He who believes shall be sav'd and except you repent you shall all likewise perish do not speak Faith and Repentance to be properly commanded by the Gospel nor promises Pardon and Justification on condition these Precepts are obey'd nor threatens Death if they are neglected That it is not the Gospel but the Law which threatens Death I have already proved that the Promises of the Gospel are not made unto Men on condition of Obedience perform'd to it is evident from this that if they were so they would not differ in their Nature from the Promises of the Law and so the Covenant of Grace would be a Covenant of Works which if the Apostle Paul says true as I really believe he doth is a flat Contradiction Rom. 11. 6. And if by Grace then is it no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace But if it be of Works then is it no more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work For the Promises of the Law were made to Men on condition that its Precepts were obey'd If now the Promises of the Gospel are also made to Men on condition that its Precepts are obey'd then the Promises both of the one and the other are of the same Nature and King being both made to Obedience It is but a poor shifting Evasion to say that there is a great difference because that the Law requires perfect unsinning Obedience and the Gospel insists only on lower degrees of Duty for this will not so much as prove the Obedience to be of different Kinds but only of greater or lesser Measures which as every one knows doth not alter the Species But if it should be granted that Obedience to the Law is of a various Nature from that enjoin'd by the Gospel yet the Promises made to them both must be of the same Kind for both of them are Works since to obey a Precept is to do a Work or I know not what to make of it and all the Difference then is that the Promises of the Covenant of Works were made to Obedience to the old Law and the Promises of the new Covenant of Grace were made to Obedience unto the new Law Both are Promises to the Obedience of Laws and the two Laws will be distinguished no otherwise than that the one proves to be older than the other by many Ages And thus the Gospel will be only the superannuated Law of Works reviv'd with some Abatements of its requir'd Duties And if this be not as utterly false as there is Truth in the Scriptures as I am sure there is let all unprejudic'd Men judg And yet this absurd Confusion of Law and Gospel is the unavoidable Consequence of this Annertion that the Gospel promises Justification and Eternal Life to Men on condition they perform the Obedience which it commands If also from this Proposition He that believeth shall be saved we argue that the Gospel is a new Law promising Life upon the observance of this its Precept it will follow that God in the promulgation of this new Law offers Life universally to all Men to Tartars Negroes and the Savages in America to all the Nations from Peru to Japan on condition they obey the Command of the Gospel and believe and repent For if God in giving his Moral Law to all reasonable Creatures said universally to Angels and Men Do this and you shall live by the same Rule if the Gospel is a new Law God speaks generally to all Men Believe and you shall live Now from this two amazing Absurdities will naturally spring the one is that God should by this his new Law promise Pardon and Life on condition they believe on his Son to People who have never heard that there is such a thing as the Christian Religion in the World nor such a Person as Christ and to whose Ears not so much as the sound of his Name ever arriv'd Doth this become the Wisdom of God to act so preposterously How can we think that the Depths of that Knowledg as the Apostle speaks Rom. 11. 33. hath such shallow Designs as to proclaim a Pardon to all Men on condition they believe and yet to make no Provision that the least Syllable of this gracious Proclamation should ever come to their Ears It is also as repugnant to the Wisdom and Goodness of God to promise a Pardon to all Men on condition they believe when he knows that the Performance is impossible to them all by their mere natural Powers deprav'd as they are when he knows also that without his All-conquering Grace they cannot believe and repent To promise to them all Life on condition they do so and at the same time to resolve to withhold this Grace from the greatest part of Mankind without which it is impossible for them to do it what is this but to illude Men For any one to offer Food to a Wretch who hath not a Limb whole starving in a Dungeon on condition that he would come up and receive it and yet refuse to put forth a Finger to give him the least lift what would this be but to mock him and to make a sport of his Misery To avoid these Absurdities the Arminians who do not want Wit or Reason to discern the Consequences of their Opinions as boldly own and maintain them And as they assert that God offers and promiseth Life to all on condition they perform Obedience to this new Law they speak consistently with themselves and affirm too that all Men have sufficient Means afforded them to do it and that God gives them Helps enough to enable them to believe if they will and whenever themselves please If we are then
fond of any Arminian Opinions we must take the whole System of them together and assert roundly as they do without mincing the Matter what hath an inseparable Connexion with a false Proposition for there are Consequences among Errors as well as Truths and as the one are chain'd the other are link'd together We may then be certain that these Expressions in Scripture He that believeth shall be sav'd but he that believeth not shall be damn'd Mark 16. 16. And whoever believeth on Christ shall receive remission of Sins Acts 10. 43. And except you repent you shall all likewise perish Luke 13. 5. which are urg'd by my Reverend Brother do not signify that God passeth his Word to all Men by a new Law establish'd among them that if they obey it and believe and repent they shall assuredly be saved for God always speaks the Purposes of his Mind and none of his Words contradict his Heart but he never decreed either absolutely or conditionally that all Men should be eternally happy for if he had he would have taken effectual Care that they should be so since the Intents of his Mind and Will always obtain infallibly their desir'd Effect If we also understand that Expression He who believes shall be sav'd that it is promis'd to all that on the performance of this Condition they shall be thus eternally bless'd then by the same Rule we must say that eternal Death and Ruin is threaten'd to them on condition they do not believe But the Threatnings of this Wo are not denounc'd against Men for not believing but as due to them for not perfectly obeying the Law of Works and their Unbelief only leaves them in that perishing Condition wherein they were born as I have prov'd before tho as I said their Unbelief aggravates the Misery and inflames the Anguish of it But what meaning then must we apprehend these Scriptures to bear Why truly they have the same Sense as that Text in Heb. 12. 14. Follow Peace with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. What! is Holiness the Condition of obtaining the Beatifical Vision No tho it doth naturally dispose the Soul and make it meet for and capable of this blissful Enjoyment No more therefore is meant than that Holiness and this Vision of God are inseparably join'd together and that no unholy Soul can possibly come to his Presence and Sight Thus it is also true that he who believes shall be sav'd which imports no more than this that all Believers are sav'd and none but they and that there is such an unchangeable Connexion between the Blessings of the Gospel that Faith Repentance and Holiness are indissolubly fasten'd with Pardon Justification and Eternal Life in the same Person or in a Word that God justifies and saves no Man but whom at his own due appointed Time he makes a Believer brings him to Repentance I speak in this of Adult Persons and sanctifies his Nature and whoever asserts this is no Antinomian nor so much as like to such an execrable Monster however invidious Names are flung about as thick as Stones in the Streets I might insist more largely on this Argument but I begin to think that the Consideration of it will more properly belong to another Discourse wherein I design with the Assistance of my Lord Jesus Christ who hath help'd me in this beyond the natural Abilities of my own Mind to him be all the Glory to prove that the Covenant of Grace doth not promise nor confer the Blessings on condition of performing Duties requir'd CHAP. VIII Those Texts of Scripture which are urg'd by the Apologist as expresly giving the Name of a New Law to the Gospel recover'd to their right Sense His Testimonies out of the Fathers and Protestant Writers evinc'd to be useless to serve his Design I Shall now examine those Texts alledg'd by my Dear Brother wherein the Gospel is call'd a Law and the Citations produc'd by him wherein the Fathers and Protestant Authors give to it the same Name I shall do it but briefly for I need not be large since any Reader who hath with any intention of Mind perus'd my poor Writing may resolve them all at first sight The first Text produc'd is that known one in Rom. 3. 27. Where is boasting then It is excluded By what Law of Works Nay but by the Law of Faith Without looking on the Context we may be satisfied by what the Apostle saith in the same Verse that by the Law of Faith he means no more than that Doctrine of Grace which declares a believing Sinner to be justified by the Righteousness of Christ which by Faith he receiveth for it is such a Law of Faith that excludes all boasting Now then if it commanded Faith and promis'd Justification on condition that this its Precept was obey'd Boasting would not be excluded but rather a great Occasion would be given to promote it For why should not a Man glory in his Faith if it be an Act of Obedience to this new Law which by the Statute of it makes his Justification to depend on this his Performance He may then as well plead that he hath done what was requir'd and so he may as well claim Life and Happiness on the Account of having done all that this new Law made necessary to Salvation as Adam if continuing in his Primitive State might have form'd a Plea of his Right to Life for having discharg'd all that Duty which the Law of Works commanded and propos'd as the Condition of his being eternally Blessed If he might have boasted for having faithfully observ'd the Covenant of Works the Believer too may assume some Glory to himself for having acted his Duty punctually to the Law of Faith if the Constitution of this Law be such that it makes the promis'd Salvation dependant upon this his Obedience in believing It will signify nothing to say that the Law by which Adam was to have been justified enjoin'd Works as the Terms of his being so but that this new Law insists only on two Acts of Obedience Faith and Repentance as all that it requires for our Justification For these two are Works done by us and so we might boast that we have done something tho not arising to that height of Duty incumbent on our first Father by which according to the Tenor of this new Law we are justified By the Opposition which the Apostle makes of the Law of Faith to a Law of Works it is also manifest that by the first he intends a pure Doctrine of Grace and by the other a Law commanding something to be done For if the Law of Faith requires any Works and constituted them to be Conditions of our obtaining the Blessings make these Works as few as you will and call them by what Names you please Faith and Repentance yet this will result from it that both are Laws of Works only with this difference that the one rigorously insists on
till he have set Judgment in the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law That by his Law is meant a Declaration of Free Grace is apparent from the genuine Sense of the Hebrew word which in our English Bibles is translated they shall wait for his Law the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies they shall hope with earnest Desires expect it And thus Piscator who had an unquestionable Skill in that Language renders it We may then by a necessary Consequence conclude that by Law here is meant a publication of Free Grace by Christ since the poor Sinners of the Gentiles could not desire or hope for any other But without any Criticisms on the Hebrew Language the foregoing Verse of the Prophet Isaiah instructs us to a right understanding of the following Isa 42. 3. A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth Now if Christ had brought in a new Law with Precepts superadded to the old One this would have been to break the bruis'd Soul with repeated Strokes in greater strength and fierceness There is another Scripture produc'd by my Learned Brother to be examin'd which he urgeth to prove That the Gospel as a new Law promiseth Blessings to the Performers of its Precepts and threatens to punish all those who neglect them Luke 19. 27. But those mine Enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me Now as I think who am very willing to be better inform'd our blessed Lord Jesus asserts only his Right as Universal Monarch of the World which we are so far from denying that we heartily pray that his Kingdom may come in all the Shine of its Glory as we are sure it will at the determin'd Time Well but to soften the harsh word Law he adds the more allaying one of Grace But this will not do the Business for a Law prescribing Works is no Covenant of Grace if it be true what the Apostle says Rom. 11. 6. And if by Grace then is it no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace But if it be of Works then is it no more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work Therefore his no angry Brethren are in no Passion to hear the Voice of the Law if the old Moral One as a continuing Rule to Believers is meant and they are very glad of the joyful Sound of Grace they only gaze and admire at the strange Prodigy of those two unnaturally join'd together to compound a Covenant of Grace And tho with the greatest rejoicing we most thankfully accept God's new Covenant of Grace yet we cannot own a new Law of his making till we hear it more clearly proclaim'd by God himself I must confess I was a little surpriz'd at what I next read in my Reverend Brother's Learned Discourse The Law of Grace we speak of says he is both New and Old in different respects It is New in respect of the Covenant of Works made with Adam in his State of Innocency What! is it a new Law of a fresher Date that the old One being useless God saw it needful to promulgate another lower'd to lesser degrees of Duty and so suted to the present Estate of Sinners I am confident my Learned Brother will not assert this tho it unhappily falls out that his Words seem to imply it There remains nothing more than to examine his Humane Authorities which I will do tho there is the greatest uncertainty in the Citation of Authors to abet an Opinion when Men only take care and labour to wrack and torture them to a forced Confession of their own Sense For if the Words of the Holy Ghost himself who deliver'd his Meaning most distinctly and with the greatest exactness are yet wrested and perverted to contrary Purposes all Humane Writings are much more liable to be disfigur'd by wrong Interpretations I will yet consider in order the several Authorities alledg'd and first as to that of Justin Martyr Any one who distinctly regards the Design of that Father's Writing will see that however he makes use of the word Law by which to name the Gospel yet by Law he means no more than a new Doctrine or Dispensation of Grace For his Design is to prove against a Jew who was a great Admirer of his own Law and its august Ceremonies and Worship That all that solemn Pomp was excelled by the plain Evangelical Doctrine that this new Discovery of the Blessings of Grace in the real and solid Substance was infinitely preferable to all the old Representations and Shadows of those good Things And therefore by this new Law or this new Instruction of Grace coming those old Rudiments go off as useless to teach us any longer The Gospel as a new Doctrine of Grace appearing the old Institutions of Sacrifices and External Rites civilly are to withdraw to give place to a superiour and better Instructor To prove this is the Design of that Father's Dialogue against the Jew and all that can be gather'd from his calling the Gospel a New Law is only this that it is a fuller and clearer Revelation of the Grace of God in Christ as is evident from what follows a little after those Words cited by my Learned Brother where Justin Martyr expresseth his Meaning about the Gospel's being a New Law that it is so as it is a new and clearer Dispensation of Grace for having cited that Place in Isa 55. 3 4. expressing the Nature of the Gospel and upbraiding the Jew for his Confidence in old Legal Performances in Circumcision in eating unleavened Bread in washing in the Laver of Water in the Blood of Sheep and Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer It is not by these says he that Sinners are purified but by the Blood of Christ and his Death who died for that very Purpose as Esa himself hath spoketh it And then he largely recites the six last Verses of the 52d Chapter and Chap. 53. entire and the six first Verses of the 54th Chapter of that Prophet which contain the most clear and full Discovery of the Doctrine of Grace as is in all the old Testament So that all which the Father intends by the Name of a new Law given to the Gospel is that it is a Doctrine of Grace newly revealed And in this Sense I am very willing to call it so too But let us see if Cyprian gives his Vote for my Learned Brother It is true that he speaks frequently in his 11th Epistle of the Law of the Gospel but it is certain that as he wrote this Epistle to complain of and to rectify the Relaxation of Discipline in the Churches that those who had fallen into great and notorious Sins were yet re-admitted into Communion before they had given any Testimony of their Repentance so by the Law of the Gospel he means only that due Discipline which ought to be
observed in all the Churches of Christ When Cyprian also speaks of a new Law which was to be given he writing against the Jews and proving the Abolition of their Ceremonial Worship means no more by the new Law than what Justin Martyr did that is a new Doctrine and Institution of Grace And this the very words of Cyprian cited by my Learned Brother wherein he calls this new Law Another Administration and that by it the old intolerable Yoke of Ligal Observances was remov'd do evidence The next Father who is forc'd to come in to give witness to this new Law is Augustine But what he says will not at all serve the Cause For in that his Discourse of Grace and Free-will his Design is to prove against the Pelagians that Man by the best use of his natural Powers cannot obey the Precepts of the Moral Law but that the Grace of the Gospel is absolutely necessary to strengthen a Christian to that Obedience which be pays tho imperfectly to the old Law as the Rule of his Actions And that great Light of his Age makes the Difference between the new and old Law to be this that the old Law consisted wholly in Precepts and Commands and so was a killing Letter to the Sinner but the Nature of the Gospel is to promise and give Grace When it is said says he 1 Joh. 4. 7. Let us love one another this is Law when it is said Because Love is of God this is Grace He asserts that there are Precepts in the New Testament and none ever had so little Understanding as to deny it but these Precepts do not properly belong to the pure Nature of the Gospel but are only repeated and urg'd in it but it is that Grace which promises Pardon to the Sinner and that Grace which makes the Believer holy and obedient that are the native Streams which are deriv'd from this Spring And it is apparent from the Words of Augustine cited by my Reverend Brother that this Father makes the old Law to be a Doctrine of Works and so a killing Letter without Grace that is without the Gospel which as a pure Doctrine of Grace shews how the Law is satisfied by Christ and how the Sinner and the Ungodly may be justified and affords Supplies of Grace sutable to all the various Needs of the Believer The other Place cited out of Augustine proves no more than that we are freed from the Condemnation of the Law by the Law of Faith which how it is to be understood of the Doctrine of Faith I have before shewn in resouing Rom. 3. 27. from its perverted Meaning Page 59. of this Discourse Salvian's Testimony proves no more than that the Christian Law or the Doctrine of Grace was dishonour'd by some Mens abusing it to Licentiousness Bradwardine I must confess speaks plainly to my Reverend Brother's Purpose but it is no wonder for tho with incomparable Strength and Closeness of Reason he refuted the Pelagian Heresies yet he was a Papist and consequently firm to the Belief of the Roman Creed the principal Article of which is Merit He accordingly tho utterly disclaiming Works done by Nature yet asserts Works done by Grace to be meritorious To support this Assertion the Writers of the Church of Rome have taken care to lay down another as its main Foundation that the Gospel is a new Law and therefore by obeying of the Precepts of it which are made the Conditions we deservedly as they assert obtain by virtue of God's Covenant stipulated with us on such Terms the promised Rewards Bradwardine accordingly maintains the Gospel to be a new Law and that whoever shall keep this Christian Law shall receive eternal Glory So that this Man's Authority in the present Case however great and excellent he is in other Points will not reflect any Glory on this Hypothesis but rather doth disparage it since it evinceth how near this Opinion of the Gospel's being a new Law approacheth to Popery tho I cannot entertain a thought that any of my Reverend Brethren do designedly make the least advancing step to it As to the Testimony of the Leyden Professors they only mean that the Gospel in a large and improper Sense may be term'd a Law because there are Precepts Commands and Threatnings in the Books of the New Testament But those worthy Professors when they treat of the Gospel in its strict Signification they define it to be only a pure Word of Grace For says Polyander who was one of them The Gospel specially taken and restrain'd to the Exhibition of Christ first denotes the History of Christ manifested in the Flesh Mark 12. Secondly it is us'd for the joyful Doctrine and Preaching concerning the Reconciliation of Men who are Sinners with God by the free Remission of their Sins obtain'd for them by the expiatory Death of Christ indifinitely offer'd to any one reveal'd to the Poor in Spirit and Babes but singularly apply'd to the Believers for their Salvation and for the Manifestation and eternal Glory of the Divine Mercy in Conjunction with Justice 1 Cor. 9. 14 15. This is in the same Disputation cited by my Brother And a little after the same Learned Polyander renounceth the Opinion of the Schoolmen and Monks asserting the Gospel to be a new Law and disclaims the Arminian and Socinian Doctrines which attribute to the Gospel as a new Law new Precepts that are proper and peculiar to it Whether then these Reverend Professors ever once thought the Gospel strictly and properly taken to be a Law let any one judg It is easy also to judg that Gomarus understands the Gospel in its larger Acceptation when he calls it a Law in the Place cited by my Reverend Brother for when before in the same Disputation he defines the Gospel and then to be sure he took it in its strict and proper Sense he makes not the least mention of a Law nor of Commands of Threatnings As I have before given the Instance from his own words Page 34. of this Discourse It is wearisome to follow my Learned Brother through all his Citations and particularly to consider them there is no need to do it largely and tho what he transcribes out of Dr. Twiss takes up almost three Pages yet a short Answer will take off this Testimony too and shew that it is nothing to the Purpose In a word all that can be concluded from the Words of Dr. Twiss is only this that God hath appointed a set and stated Order in our Salvation according to which he proceeds As he is not a God of Confusion he saves us regularly and bestows his Blessings in a due Series so that in a becoming Manner one may follow the other And how the Gospel is such a regular Order and Harmony of Blessings I have shewed before Page 6. of this Discourse And by this Way we may soberly and sincerely deal with a poor dying Sinner to whom my Reverend Brother