upon the Condition of Obedience to it and yet at the same time convinceth the poor wretched Sinner of his own utter Disability to perform it It is then the pure Doctrine of Grace encouraging the Soul to trust and hope in Christ by directing him to that perfect Saviour for Pardon and Righteousness and Life which is in the properest Sense the converting Law And this Virtue and Efficacy our Lord Christ appropriates to his Gospel John 17. 17. Sanctify them through thy Truth thy Word is Truth By Truth there is more emphatically meant the Doctrine of Free Grace which Christ was sent into the World to teach unto Men and this and this only is the effectual Means which God useth to turn Sinners to himself and really to sanctify them And in other places where David the Man after God's own Heart because of that Evangelical Spirit which was in him speaks of the Delight which he took in God's Law and the inconceivable Pleasure which sprung up in his Soul when his Thoughts were employ'd in meditating on it by the word Law he understands the Gospel and that not as a new Law of Works but a Doctrine of Grace For as such it reveals those astonishing Mysteries concerning the Redeemer and makes those surprising Discoveries of Grace which only are capable of giving that pleasing entertainment of Mind which the Psalmist so much magnifies as having enjoy'd it in his own Thus in Psal 119. 97 98. O how love I thy Law it is my Meditation all the Day Thou through thy Commandments hast made me wiser than mine Enemies for they are ever with me Where it is evident that he speaks of a Doctrine by the Knowledg of which he had arrived to a higher Degree of the most excellent Wisdom than any who lived in the same Age and Nation with him a Wisdom which he pursued with the most eager and inquisitive Search and the discovery of one Mystery did but animate him to an impatient enquiry after more and make him earnest in his Petitions that God would reveal to him higher Measures of that admirable and most useful Knowledg Psal 119. 18. Open thou mine Eyes that I may behold wondrous Things out of thy Law By which especially is meant as Mr. Clark very well remarks the Mysteries of the Gospel Here then we have the Gospel called a Law not as a System of Precepts or a Statute-Book of a new Edition but as it at once instructs and amazes us in the Wonders of our Redemption and affects our Hearts with the thoughts of the Redeemer's Love When the Psalmist also expresses those refreshing Comforts which slow'd into his Soul from the inexhaustible Spring of God's tender Mercies he useth the same word Law and consequently means by it not a Doctrine of Works which can in no sense give any Solace to a guilty Mind but a Doctrine of Grace such as the Gospel which display'd those Riches of Grace to the Psalmist's Sight and in which he so chearfully hop'd and rejoic'd Psal 119. 77. Let thy tender Mercies come unto me that I may live for thy Law is my Delight i. e. Let me experience thy tender Mercies let me feel my own Part and Interest in them that I may live joyfully for my most fervent Desire O Lord is to search into the Depths of thy Mercy and Love and therefore my whole Delight is in that Word of Truth which contains these inestimable Treasures of thy Mercy and exposeth them all open to the view of my Faith Thus again the Gospel is called a Law but no otherwise than as it is a comfortable Instruction to poor convinc'd Sinners what Riches of Mercy there are in store and as it teacheth them how they may trust and hope in the God of all Grace In another place we read the Psalmist informing us what supported his Spirit under inward Troubles and outward Afflictions which oppress'd him And what was it but the Law of God not the Precepts or Commands for how could they have sustain'd his sinking Spirit since they only tell us our Duty but offer us no help in the sad Circumstances of our Case They shew us indeed what God would have us to do but declare nothing what he will do for us and so discover not any support to our languid Spirits fainting under a Calamity This is the Nature and the proper and peculiar Office of the Promises and the Gospel consequently as a Body of them is called by the Psalmist a Law in which he delighted because it thus sustained him under his Afflictions Psal 119. 92. Vnless thy Law had been my Delights I should then have perished in mine Affliction A Law that is as the before-mentioned judicious Annotator observes the whole Word of God chiefly the Promises of Support and Deliverance If we consider those Places which are more expresly urg'd to prove the Gospel to be a new Law it will appear that they only evince it to be a new Doctrine of Grace As 1. That clear Place in the Prophet Esa where by Law is expressed solely the Doctrine of Grace in the Gospel 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 It is manifestly the Design of the Prophet in the first and second Verses to shew how large a Church not straiten'd within the narrow Confines of Judea but spreading through all Nations of the Universe should be gathered and established Then he tells us by what Way and Means such a great and wonderful Work should be accomplished Christ doth not raise Armies to subdue the Earth to himself nor come to give new Laws to the conquered People but he sends his Apostles to preach the glad Tidings of Salvation by him And the Light of this glorious Doctrine of Grace breaks forth from Zion with such Swiftness and Violence as suddenly to illuminate all Parts of the Earth and with a ravishing Sweetness irresistibly to draw every Mind and Heart whom God hath appointed to Salvation to assent to it and embrace it ver 3. It is the Doctrine of Grace alone and not any new Precepts or Commands or any new Sanction of a Law which carries in it so admirable Force able to produce these astonishing Effects This is the Law which goes forth out of Zion so succesfully It is the Doctrine of Grace which is thus victorious and invincibly prevails when the Doctrine of Works in the Experience of many Ages could not subject one stubborn Sinner to God's Kingdom nor make one stiff and hardened Heart to bow to his Scepter of Righteousness And that by the Law out of Zion he means this effectual Doctrine of the Gospel the next words And the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem
as explanatory of the former undeniably prove If we look next on that place of Scripture in Micah 4. 2. which is not meerly parallel to the forecited in Esa but perfectly agreeing with it we shall see it imports Christ not as a new Legislator to have given a new Law of Works on more moderate Terms but to have taught a pure Doctrine of Grace The words of Micah 4. 2. are these And many Nations shall come and say Come and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord and to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his Ways and we will walk in his Paths for the Law shall go forth of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem The Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Torah in our English Version translated Law is by Junius and Tremellius as well as by Piscator rendred Doctrine Out of Zion goes forth the Doctrine And Piscator in his short Notes on the Text critically observes that however the word Torah is rendred by others Law yet it will not accord with the genuine meaning of this Text because it speaks of the Gospel And in his brief Exposition on the next Words And the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem This says he is the Word of Grace i. e. concerning the Grace toward those who believe on Christ Which way of explaining of the former Expression Law to be the Doctrine of the Gospel by the following Words the Word of the Lord as exegetical of those other Calvin that Apostle of the Reformed Religion also takes This says he is but the Repetition of the former Sentence as 't is usual Therefore by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Torah the Prophet intended nothing else but Doctrine But further to shew that all but Papists Socinians and Arminians harmoniously agree in explaining such places after such a manner as may not give the least colour to the Opinion of the Gospel's being a new Law in the sense of the three mentioned Parties Tarnovius a Lutheran between whom and the Calvinists what great and at present irreconcileable Differences in other Points of Religion there are all the World knows perfectly accords with Calvin in this Interpretation of the Prophet Micah It is such a Law of which the Prophet speaks that in the Hebrew says he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Torah which word by the Force of its Etymology notes all and every Doctrine since it is from the Root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jarah which in Hiphil signifies he hath taught that it is frivolous to design from this Text to prove the Gospel to be a new and more perfect Law made by Christ in the New Testament whenas tho indeed by this Hebraism the Gospel is call'd a Law by the Apostle Rom. 8. 2. as also by the Psalmist Psal 19. 8. yet with a Restriction but the Law is never called a Gospel And the latter Words the Word of the Lord he makes consonantly with Calvin to be exegetical of the former Law c. as demonstrating that nothing but the Doctrine of the Gospel is thereby signified But really there need no more than carefully to review the Context to be satisfied that by the word Law here is meant the Doctrine of Grace in the Gospel For all this 4th Chapter of Micah is a Word of Consolation to an afflicted People from the refreshing Springs of its gracious Promises as Junius notes The Law then by consequence must signify the Doctrine wherein those are contained And the Acclamations too of the rejoicing People proclaim the same thing who mutually exhort one another in the second Verse to go up to this glorious Mountain because there Christ would teach them this Doctrine of Grace Micah 4. 2. And many Nations shall come and say Come and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord and to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his Ways and we will walk in his Paths for the Law shall go forth of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem I know it may be objected that the Phrase And we will walk in his Paths seems to imply a Precept and Command and so a Law in the strictest Sense to which they vowed Obedience But this may as easily be denied as 't is asserted precariously for since according to the usual Language of God's Word to walk in God's Paths is to observe his Orders and Appointments the Expression here may denote no more than that they would punctually keep to the Way of Salvation mark'd out by him which I wish with all my Soul was the hearty Resolve of all who hear the Gospel and seek to be justify'd no otherwise than by Christ's Blood and Righteousness as the Law or Doctrine of the Gospel prescribes There is a Difficulty remains arising from the third Verse which at first sight seems to point to us that the Gospel is such a Law by which Christ exerciseth Judgment as on a Tribunal and executes Justice But the Appearance of Difficulty is so slight and thin that it will vanish as soon as seen if we do but consider that the word Judg may very well import no more than that Christ will judg what Course of Salvation is best for us to take that he will determine the Case and it is better for us to acquiesce in the Decision of his unerring Judgment which cannot be deceiv'd nor ever will mislead us than to pursue our own mistaken Apprehensions which bewilder us continually But if we take his Judging as having an Influence or Effect upon those who are under his Kingdom and Judgment it may be considered not as the Act of a Judg pronouncing Sentence and Condemning but as the Administration of a Wise Good and Gracious King preserving and protecting his Subjects and defending them against their Enemies That the word Judging is taken in such a large Sense in the Hebrew Language there needs no more to prove it than that the Princes of Israel whom God rais'd up and spirited to be the Liberators of his People from the Tyranny of Moab Ammon and Midian and to defend them against those cruel and implacable Enemies are not only call'd Judges but the Book which contains the History of their Administration and Government is titled by that Name Or if we attribute to Christ the rigorous Administration of a severe Judg and that he comes in all the terrible Solemnities of Justice yet this doth not belong to the Dispensation of his Gospel but to the Oeconomy of his Laws when he comes to avenge the Violation of them by Sinners To those who live and die under a Covenant of Works he is a Judg to be sure and a dreadful One too and they who seek Righteousness by the Works of any Law he will deal with in that way of Trial which they have put themselves upon and they shall stand at the Bar of Judgment which by their own
of their true Sense and Meaning I will not multiply Citations one or two are enough and indeed Luther and Calvin are an Army alone Luther tells us That all Justiciaries esteem Christ to be a new Legislator and judg the Gospel to be no other than a Book which contains new Laws concerning Works as the Turks dream about their Alcoran But there are Laws enough in Moses The Gospel therefore is a preaching concerning Christ that he forgives Sins gives Grace justifies and saves Sinners But now that Precepts are found in the Gospel those are not the Gospel but Expositions of the Law and Appendixes of the Gospel Now any one would think that this Luther would never call the Gospel a Law and yet so he doth expounding a little after the 19th Verse and is before cited by me And in what Sense he means the Gospel to have that Name he informs us plainly in his Comment on Isa 2. 3. Out of Zion shall go forth the Law This is the Cause says he of the Multiplication of the Church and of the Amplification of Christ's Kingdom viz. the Preaching of the Gospel For he here promiseth a new Word For unless he signified a new Doctrine what need was there at length to promise a Law which had been made so many Years before And he manifestly signifies the difference in that he adds out of Zion As if he should say I first gave a Law in Sinai I will now give another in Mount Zion which shall not be a Doctrine of Works but of Faith not of Laws but of Grace not accusing but bestowing pardon of Sins c. Calvin also agrees with Luther in this And indeed those two Holy Men tho they differed in some things yet they very well accorded in the main Substance of the Gospel They believed on the same Jesus and lov'd the Truth of his Grace Calvin likewise says that when the Gospel is called Law a Doctrine of Salvation is only meant by it For says he explaining Isa 2. 3. since the Rule of Holiness is to be fetch'd from the Law by a Synecdoche they were accustomed to comprehend the whole Doctrine of God under that Name as also the Worship of God under the Name of an Altar Now as it would be absurd to infer that the Ministers of Christ are Levitical Priests because the Apostle says that they ought to be partakers with the Altar and live by the Gospel or to endeavour to prove that the old Jewish Worship is yet standing and that Sacrifices should be offer'd under the New Testament because the Apostle speaks of an Altar too to which Believers came and of which they have right to eat Heb. 13. 10. So the way of arguing would be equally impertinent to conclude from the Gospel's being nam'd a Law that it is a Doctrine of Works Musculus also tells us how we must apprehend the word Law when made use of to signify the Gospel The Prophet says he understands no other by the Law than the Word of the Lord nor by Zion than Jerusalem Nor can it be understood of any other Doctrine than what is Evangelical And Rodolphus Gualther explaining what the Apostle means when he calls the Gospel a Law After the manner of the Jews says he he speaking of a Doctrine useth the word Law and he calls the Law of Works that Doctrine which asserts that we are justified by Works but the Law of Faith that Doctrine which shews Righteousness in the Merit of Christ who is apprehended by Faith alone When the Holy Ghost himself who inspir'd the Minds and guided the Pens both of the Prophets and Apostles and not only suggested things to their Thoughts but the fittest Words too by which to express them If this holy infallible Spirit calling the Gospel a Law means no other than a Doctrine of Grace any one would think that we could not be at a loss how to understand the Word I need not therefore multiply Instances a few more may suffice Zacharias Vrsinus when he calleth the Gospel a new Form of Law takes care to direct us to his right Sense and punctually tells us that he means no more by it than a new Doctrine of Grace The Prophet says he expounding Isa 2. 3. signifies that a new Manifestation of God and a new Form of Law and Worship is to be expected out of Zion that is to say Christ being reveal'd and the Ceremonies abolish'd But when he says that the Law shall go forth out of Zion it is queried Whether by this and the like Places the Opinion of the Papists is established who will have it that Christ came that he might be a new Law-giver who should publish a better and more perfect Law than had been before delivered by Moses that Men for the future living according to that Law might by this their Obedience please God and obtain Eternal Life The Answer is easy from this most usual Phrase in Scripture by which under the Name Law the whole Doctrine is understood c. Therefore that Monkish Opinion is to be avoided as the Plague and Subversion of all Christianity and an obscuring of the Offices and Benefits of Christ and as not differing from the Opinions of Heathens Jews Turks and other Sects concerning our Justification before God Chemnitius also gives direction how to understand the word Law when employ'd to denote the Gospel That also says he is a general signification of the Word when under the name of a Law the universal Doctrine divinely revealed is understood as Psal 19. 8 9. and Psal 119. where the Law is said to comfort and edify Hearts So Esa speaks of the Gospel Chap. 2. v. 3. The Law shall go forth out of Zion Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of Life Rom. 3. 27. The Law of Faith Gal. 2. 19. I by the Law am dead to the Law But it is a Hebrew Phrase in which Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Torah hath its name from Instructing and Teaching To these Antient Worthies I might add the concurrent Testimonies of Modern Divines who are Orthodox in the Faith But whereas I might produce many I will content my self to alledg one which is that of Whittichius the present Learned Professor of Divinity if not lately dead in the University of Leyden and who tho he espous'd the New Philosophy yet it had no Malignant Influences to infect him with any new-contrived Schemes to solve the Phenomena's in Divinity He in his short but full and clear Exposition on the Romans explaining Chap. 3. ver 27. tells us what the Apostle intends by that Phrase a Law of Faith The exclusion of Boasting says he is made by the Law of Faith which here denotes by way of Eminency the Doctrine of Faith as it is taught in the New Testament without Obligation to any Works as the Cause of Justification as the Works of the Moral Law perfectly and constantly perform'd by Adam would
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
those of the Bible if my Learned Brother did not bring me from Greek to Latin Authors whom he musters in greater multitudes To rescue them therefore from his Abuse in fastning on them a Meaning of which they never had a thought it will be needful to state the Sense of the word Law in the Roman Language as well as I have done it in the Hebrew and Greek That Lex or Law may signify any Doctrine as well as a Precept appears from the Derivation of it given by Isidore à Legendo from Reading which agrees very well to a Doctrine And among the Romans their Laws were inscrib'd on Brass Tables and publickly hung up that they might be read by the People and I wish the Doctrine of the Gospel was more commonly read and known The same Word is also sometimes imploy'd to signify the Rules of any Science or Art which are purely instructive but not obliging by the Force of any Sanction Thus Juvenal Sat. 6. v. 450 451 452. Odi Hanc ego quae repetit volvitque Palemonis Artem Servatâ semper Lege ratione loquendi And speaking of himself that he seem'd to transgress the Rules of Satyr by inserting such affrighting Instances of Vice which were fitter for a Tragedy he says Sat. 6. v. 634 335. Scilicet finem egressi Legemque priorum Grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur hiatu Montibus ignotum Rutulis coeloque Latino And yet I am confident the Poet was not apprehensive of his having violated any enacted Law or of being obnoxious to a Penalty did not at all fear the Roman Axes or Fasces tho his Verses did a little deviate from the generally approv'd Doctrine of Satyr Another Roman Poet by the same Word expresseth the due disposition or orderly placing of things Vitta coercebat positos sine Lege Capillos Ovid. Metamorph. lib. 1. v. 477. Innumerable Examples might be given but a few may suffice to shew how little stress is to be laid upon the uncertain sound of a Word which in all these Languages is so variously us'd and to direct us that wherever we find the Gospel nam'd a Law in the Hebrew of the Old Testament or in the Greek of the New or in the Greek and Latin Fathers or Protestant Divines we must not unless we would suffer our selves to be easily impos'd on by an ambiguous Phrase presently imagine it to mean a new Rule of Duty enacted with a Sanction I shall only add that Cicero when he defines a Law in the general Notion of it as comprehending the Law of Nature as well as others makes no mention of a Sanction but describes it only to be the highest Reason implanted in Nature which commands what is to be done and forbids the contrary Thus also the Roman Lawyers of whose vast Volumes lost by the Injuries of Time we have a Breviate in the Pandects define a Law without mentioning a Sanction The Law says Papinian is a common Instruction the Decree of prudent Men. By which no more can be understood than a Doctrine which teacheth us what is best for us to do if we will be taught by the Counsel of those who are wiser than our selves And in this Sense I will easily grant the Gospel to be a Law for it is the Instruction of God whose Wisdom is beyond all denial infinitely superiour to ours to our perishing Souls and thrice blessed is that Person whom his enlightning Grace hath made so wise as to follow it It is too the Decree of God's Eternal Counsel that we shall not be justified by any Righteousness but that of Christ alone Thus also the publish'd Will of the Soveraign may be call'd a Law tho the Sanction is wanting And the Decrees of the Roman Senate might be stil'd by that Name before the Consent of the People obtain'd which was necessary to enact them Nay a Statute is a Law tho no Duty be prescrib'd but only Benefits conferr'd and some Privileges ratified And when the Emperors had the absolute unlimited Power those Edicts which declared a Donative or which gave and confirm'd any Privileges to the People were as well call'd Laws as those which were all Commands and fill'd with Threats against Disobedience Now these are the properest Judges to decide the Signification of a Word in that Language wherein they not only wrote but it was their native Tongue which their Mothers taught them as soon as they were able to form a Voice There then nothing more remains needful to remove my Learned Brother 's multiplied Citations out of the Latin Fathers and Protestant Writers which he thinks to be very much to his Purpose but to shew that they frequently by the word Law mean no more than a Doctrine and when I shall have by some few Instances done this all his Authorities will be easily answer'd Cyprian whom he summons as a Witness for his Cause and the mistaken Evidence we shall afterward examine means no more by the Evangelical Law than the Doctrine which Christ hath given us For having before express'd how Christ had by his Example and Word taught us the manner of administring the Lord's Supper this our Instruction from our Saviour he calls the Evangelical Law And concerning this thing also says he we may send our Epistles to our Brethren that the Evangelical Law and the declar'd Doctrine of our Lord may be observed and that they may not depart from what Christ hath taught and practis'd Augustine the next Testimony who is call'd tells us That by the word Law we may apprehend not meerly a Statute but any other Doctrine since he stiles not only the five Books of Moses but the Prophets in whose Writings there are so many gracious Promises of the Gospel by that Name CHAP. VI. That the Divines of the Reformed Religion assert the Gospel to be a pure Doctrine of Grace When they call it a Law they intend the Word in that Sense I Will now prove that when the Reformed Divines call the Gospel a new Law they mean no more than a fresher and clearer Discovery of God's Mercy and Grace I shall produce Testimonies from their own Words of two forts first To manifest that when they professedly define or describe the Gospel they bring nothing into their Definition but that it is a Revelation of our Salvation and free Justification by Christ and then I shall bring plain Instances that when they sometimes call the Gospel a new Law they tell us also at the same time in express words they mean by it only a Doctrine of Grace First Then if nothing but Grace is express'd in their Definitions of the Gospel it is but reasonable to require that it should be granted me that they never thought the Gospel to be a Law in the strict Sense as including Works in it and being establish'd with Sanction For since it is one of the Rules of a Definition that it should contain the whole Nature of
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
have been or as the necessary Prerequisite of Justification Well then when we meet with the word Law if we would not be impos'd on by the meer Sound of a Word we must carefully view the Text on all sides and survey and consider all its Circumstances When what is proper to the Gospel is attributed to the Law the word Law is not to be apprehended in the strict Sense as signifying a Rule of Duty and threatning Penalties to the Disobedient or as importing a Doctrine of Works but a Doctrine of Grace Thus when the Law is said to turn the Soul and to rejoice the Heart Psal 19. 8 9. since these are not the Effects of the Law as a Doctrine of Works for that rather effects a Sense of Wrath than any hope in the Heart of a guilty condemned Sinner and its Efficacy is more suted to wound him with anxious Fears or tormenting Despair rather than to comfort him Rom. 4. 15. we must by no means conceive a proper Law consisting of Precepts and Menaces to be meant but the Doctrine of the Mercies of God in Christ which only can have those Virtues and Influences And so when the Apostle too calls the Gospel a Law of Faith since he makes the Righteousness of the Law opposite to the Righteousness which is of Faith Rom. 10. 4 5 6. and Rom. 3. 20 21 22. he must consequently mean not a Law in the strict Sense not a Doctrine of Works but of pure Grace And by this Rule we are to proceed when we find the Gospel call'd a Law we are not to understand it in the strict meaning as a Rule of Duty with a Sanction which is the proper and peculiar Nature of the Moral Law but as a revealed Instruction to us what the Mind of God is concerning our Recovery and Salvation by Christ And when we hear of the Precepts and Threatnings of the Gospel and read them in that part of the Bible which we call the New Testament whether in the Sermons of our Saviour or in the Writings of the Apostles we are not to surmise presently that these are any Parts of the Gospel properly so titled as it is a Word of Grace and the Doctrine of our Redemption by Jesus tho they are contain'd in that Book to which we commonly give that Name For this would be to perplex our Notions of Things which are entirely distinct in their Natures and Idea's and to jumble them so confusedly together that we should not be able upon sight to discern and know one from the other For by the same Method of proceeding I might frame an Imagination to my self and strive to impose it on other Men that the Moral Law is the Gospel because there are so many Declarations of God's Love to Sinners of his Mercies to pardon them and so many Promises of Grace interspers'd in the Psalms and Prophets and other Books of the Old Testament all which tho so much of the Gospel be contain'd in it is so frequently call'd the Law both by Christ and his Apostles the Primitive Fathers and Protestant Divines So that in a Word as the Promises of the Gospel spread through the Books of Moses and the Prophets is no Argument to prove the Law to be the Gospel So it is as false a Demonstration that the Gospel is a Law because there are so many Precepts and Threatnings repeated in the Evangelists and Epistles All that can be concluded is that as there are Promises in one Volume of the Bible so there are Commands and Menaces in the other But yet as it is the Gospel which promises Grace in the First so it is the Law which commands and threatens in the Second And to clear the Equation it is only needful to bring all the Precepts in both to one side and the Promises to another and then we have distinct Law and Gospel CHAP. VII The Arguments us'd by the Apologist to prove the Gospel to be a new Law examin'd That from the Precepts Commands urg'd and Threatnings denounc'd in the New Testament nothing can be concluded to this Purpose IT is now very easy to answer my Reverend Brother's Arguments and with one gentle Stroke to wipe off all his Citations since they all are establish'd meerly upon the Ambiguities of the word Law Such reasoning is very fallacious to endeavour to prove the Gospel to be a new Rule of Duty fortified with a Sanction because we find it to be nam'd a Law both in the Scriptures and Humane Writings for the Sum of the whole Demonstration amounts to no more than this a Law is a Law the Gospel is a Law therefore the Gospel is a Law which is a pretty way of arguing and without doubt unanswerable But the clearing the Sense of the Terms answers all without any more to do which I think I have done and the more largely because I would do all the Justice to a bad Cause as could reasonably be ask'd and allow to it the fullest Scope and Play possible I have therefore offer'd Arguments for it my self I have consider'd what might be alledg'd I have produced those Scriptures which with any colour may be urg'd to prove the Gospel to be a new Law omitted by my Learned Brother and yet as aware that they might be summon'd I have brought them in and endeavour'd to clear their Words from that false Meaning which might be fasten'd on them to so ill a Purpose I shall now particularly consider those which he brings and shew that they do not prove the Matter in Dispute His first set of Scriptures are such as express the Gospel to be either giving Precepts and issuing out Commands and prescribing what is our Duty or reproving the Negligent or threatning the stubborn Offenders or promising Blessings on the Condition of such Duties perform'd as are requir'd It would make this Discourse too large which is I know not how grown under my Hands to a greater Bulk than I first design'd if I should particularly examine every Text it will be enough to shew that however there are Precepts and Commands in the Books of the New Testament yet these are not properly the Gospel but parts of the Law only employ'd in its Service that the Threatnings denounc'd do not properly belong to the Covenant of Grace for what hath Love and Mercy and Favour to do with Wrath and Justice and Expressions of Vengeance but it useth the Ministry only of a violated Law whose proper Office it is to threaten the Disobedient to condemn the Unbelieving and Impenitent Sinner and to demand Justice against him If I also shew at last that those places of Scripture which look like Promises of Blessings to us on condition that we perform the commanded Duties viewed nearly prove to be no more than so many Declarations of the Connexion of the Blessings of Grace and that as Faith is the first bestow'd it goes not alone but is attended with a numerous Off-spring When all this is
done then the right Sense of those Texts which seem to infer to be a Condition of our Justification by this Evangelical Law will be fully clear'd the meaning of the alledg'd Scriptures will be so plain as it will appear that they do not so much as look towards the favouring that Opinion of the Gospel being a new Law for which they are produc'd That the Precepts which the Gospel employs are not any Parts of it self but borrowed from the Law will be undoubted if we consider what is their Nature and Use They are design'd as the Rule of our Actions they instruct us what to do they draw the Lines of our Duty and set the Limits of our Obedience and all this is the proper Office of the Moral Law which it compleatly discharges without calling in any Assistance It is the eternal and unalterable Rule of Manners and a Doctrine directing the whole Conduct of Humane Life There is no Defect in it which it was needful to supply by another new Law to assert that would be to impeach the Wisdom of God as deficient as not knowing at first all that was Good and Righteous and necessary to be commanded to his Creatures and to be done by them or as so short in its Foresight as not able to discern at the first all the Duties which Men were bound to perform in the Circumstances of their State but was oblig'd afterward taught by Experience to supply the Failures by a new Law or by an Addition of new Precepts suted to Man's present state of Sin Weakness and Misery If then the Moral Law did not comprehend in it all Precepts of Duties it would not be God's Law for his is perfect he is not like short-sighted Men who cannot foresee what the Consequences of a Law made by them may be within the Compass of one Age nor whether Circumstances of Affairs altering it may not prove hurtful or unnecessary and therefore all Governments find themselves oblig'd to repeal old Laws or to add some Clauses to sute them to a present Posture of Affairs or to make new Ones to repair the Defects to which all Humane Wisdom in her best Provisions is obnoxious for want of a certain Foreknowledg of the Future But who can have such a Thought of God that these Infirmities of a Man should ever befal him in making his Laws that he should be forc'd tho not to repeal what he had made so many Ages before yet to promulgate a new one with additional Precepts accommodated to the present Case of his miserable Creature Man And as it is repugnant to God's Perfections to make new Laws so it would infer that his antiquated Law was imperfect and so no Rule and this would unavoidably follow if any Duties are to be perform'd which it neither regulates nor gives any direction about them But Christ tho as Mediator he is no Law-giver yet perfectly knows the Nature of the Law given at Mount Sinai that the Law contains all Duties for he makes the Sum of it to consist in Love to God and in a due degree of Love to our selves and in loving our Neighbour Matth. 22. 35 36 37 38 39 40. Then one of them which was a Lawyer asked him a question tempting him and saying Master which is the great Commandment in the Law Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind This is the first and great Commandment And the Second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets Now it will be very difficult to give an Instance of any Duty which we owe to him our Great Creator or to our selves or to Men our Fellow-Creatures which are not included in one of those two Tables or to name a Precept which may not be reduced to them The Scripture alledg'd is the more demonstrative for this Reason that our Lord Christ's Answer is to a Man enquiring concerning his Duty and then if at any time there was occasion to mention this new Law and to have told him the additional Precepts had there been any such things But Christ sends him to the Moral Law as comprehending all that Man was to do and as a perfect Rule of Duty sufficient compleatly to instruct him And indeed what more can be requir'd of Man than to love God with all the Powers and Faculties of his Soul and to love himself as he ought to do and his Neighbour in like measure When Christ also comes into the World and was made under the Law which never had before nor will ever have again so glorious a Subject it is this Law he not only explains in its spiritual and comprehensive Meaning but obeys it and therein fulfils all Righteousness Mat. 5. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil Mat. 3. 15. And Jesus answering said unto him Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all Righteousness Then he suffered him And what is that Law imperfect which was the Rule of the most perfect Obedience that ever was and which excell'd that of Angels Are any Precepts wanting in it how then did Christ compleat all Righteousness in the most exact observance of it Well then if the Law be perfect there is no Duty but what comes within the Verge of its Authority and what it enjoins under the severest Penalties and no Precepts were given even by Christ himself but what particularly appertain to it and not to the Gospel as a new Law It is not only our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ but it commands to believe on him for Faith in God and Christ is so is contain'd in its first Precept it not only shews us our Sin and convinceth us of our Misery and lost State but when we have believ'd tho it be no longer a condemning vexing tormenting Law yet 't is a commanding One still It is a Rule of Gratitude it prescribes that we ought to be thankful to Christ in all Returns of Love and Duty it is the Rule of all that Holy Life of a Christian which is the Fruit of Faith and which is call'd Evangelical Obedience not because it is so to the Gospel but in respect of those Principles of Faith and Love from which it flows in respect of the Evangelical Motives which animate and encourage it It is not hurried on by legal Terrors nor prick'd forward by sharp-pointed Threatnings but is sweetly drawn and enliven'd by the Promises It is not the Fruits of Fear but the genuine Effects of the heartiest Affection to Christ and of the most earnest Desires and solicitous Cares to please him I know that it will be said That tho those Precepts in the Gospel which command and direct Moral Duties appertain to the Moral Law yet Faith in Christ the