than if it had been done in their own persons For since Parents have an undoubted Soveraignty over their Children in their minority they are thereby invested with a right to dispose of them at pleasure provided it be not to their prejudice If Hannah begs and obtains a Son from God she may give him back again to God and devote him to his use and service And if a Father settles an Estate upon his Child he may oblige him to pay such lawful Debts and Annuities as he hath thought meet to charge upon it and hereby the Child is no less engaged to performance than if it had been his own act and deed However in the first and most pure Ages of the Church such as were admitted to Baptism in their infancy when they came to years and were instructed by Catechists particularly appointed for that purpose in the Principles of Christianity they then were brought into the Publick Congregation and there in their own persons did own and ratifie and take upon themselves what their Sureties had promised in their behalf Upon which account Baptism is called by the Apostle the answer of a good Conscience towards God 1 Pet. 3.21 In which words the Apostle hath respect to the questions that were then by the Minister propounded to the party to be baptized and the answer he gave to them Dost thou believe the Articles of the Christian Faith Dost thou renounce the World c. Dost thou give up thy self entirely to Jesus Christ and promise to be faithful to him These were the Questions usually propounded to the Christian Converts at their Baptism to all which they were to answer I do believe I do renounce I do promise And this is that supposing it to be spoken sincerely and from the heart which the Apostle here calls the answer of a good conscience The true Baptism indeed that saves us as he there speaks and not the putting away the filth of the flesh by being either immerst in Water or having that poured upon our Faces Again When we approach to the Table of the Lord and are there admitted to the sacred Communion of the Body and of the Blood of Jesus Christ as the Apostle expresseth it 1 Cor. 10.16 Do we not then renew our Covenant with God and solemnly declare that we take him to be our God and give up our selves also to him to be his People Do we not engage to love him and believe in him and to walk in all ways of holiness and obedience well pleasing in his sight Do we not then say with David Psal 119.94 Lord I am thine His indeed we ever were as made and redeemed by him but now we become his by our own actual choice and solemn dedication of our selves unto him How therefore any that are baptized and admitted to the Lords Supper should imagine that they are not parties that stand engaged to God in the New Covenant I understand not since thereby they do no less solemnly avouch the Lord to be their God and to walk in his ways and to keep his Statutes and Commandments than Israel did at Mount Horeb To me 't is an argument that these men were yet never duly instructed in the nature and use of these Gospel Institutions As Christ told the Woman of Samaria they worshipped they knew not what so we may say to them they know not what it is to be baptized and to partake of the Table of the Lord. 5. Lastly If Believers are not the parties but Christ that stand engaged to God by the New Covenant how then comes it to pass that they are charged with the commission of any sin or in any sense punisht for it That Believers as well as others may and do become guilty of sin is evident from express Scripture For in many things saith the Apostle James we offend all Jam. 3.2 And he that saith he hath no sin he lyeth saith John and the truth is not in him 1 Joh. 1.8 And why else did Jesus Christ instruct his Disciples to pray daily for the remission of their sins Math. 6.12 if they had no sins to be forgiven Sin then they do that 's unquestionable yea and upon their sinning they also become liable to temporal punishments though exempted from those that are eternal Was not Jacob punished for his lying to get the Blessing And Aaron and Moses punished for their passion and disbelief Numb 20.12 And David punished for his Murder and Adultery And the believing Corinthians punished for their undue celebration of the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11.30 But how come they to be guilty of sin or punishable for it For where there is no sin there no punishment can be due and consequently it would be injustice in that case to punish And where there is no Law there can be no sin as the Apostle argues for all sin 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the transgression of some Law as he defines it 1 Joh. 3.4 But what Law is that by which Believers become obliged to Obedience The Old Covenant or Law of Works No. That 's long since abrogated and laid aside by the mediation of Jesus Christ and therefore no more obliging or convictive to such as are in Christ Rom. 6.13 For ye are not under the Law but under Grace By Grace there the Apostle means the Covenant of Grace as by Law the Covenant of Works And such is the opposition betwixt these two that he who is under one cannot be under the other any more than she that 's married can be under the power of another Husband till the first be dead As he further argues in the following Chapter ver 1 2 3 4 5 6. The conclusion from all which is this that being married to Christ we are freed from the Law But how then become Believers obliged to duty or convict of sin By what Law since not by the Law of Works What By the Law of Grace the New Covenant Neither according to the sentiments of such as say that the Covenant was made with Christ and not with Believers For if they be not the parties that stand engaged for service and obedience to it neither can they be charged with guilt in not obeying it Suppose that any one should covenant and agree with a third person in my behalf that if I be put into the possession of such an Office or Estate I shall pay such a Rent or homage by way of acknowledgment my consent and stipulation thereto being not required Who now stands bound he or I for the performance of these Conditions or who shall be charged with breach of Covenant in case of non-performance Gratitude indeed and Ingenuity may perswade me to use all possible endeavours to perform what my friend in kindness hath promised for me Yea but in Law I am not bound thereto but he only that entred into Bonds for me and consequently if I neglect or refuse to pay such Rents and Acknowledgments the default shall be charged
give a Bill of divorce to many of the grand Articles of our Faith But whether it be not exprest by such terms and phrases as do necessarily signifie and import all that which is essential to and is commonly meant and understood by the word Covenant For the proof of which two things we learn from the Scriptures before mentioned that are naked and open to every observanâ— eye First That Jesus Christ engageth in the behalf of those whom the Father had given to him to take their Nature to bear their Infirmities to be wounded for their transgressions and make his Soul an Offering for their sins c. And on the other hand that the Father thereupon promiseth to him by way of reward that he should see of the fruit of his soul and be satisfied that he would divide him a portion with the great and the spoil with the strong and that he would exalt him and make him head over all Principalities and Power and give him a Name above every Name that every knee should bow and every tongue confess him to the glory of God the Father c. And as upon this consideration he was comfortably supported under and joyfully triumphed over all his sufferings Heb. 12.2 So likewise having perfectly accomplishâ—â— the work he undertook upon these terms he pleads it with his Father as the reason why he should be exalted and reassumed to Glory Joh. 17.4 5. And what can all this signifie less than what we commonly understand and express by the word Covenant And when the thing it self is so evidently declared in Scripture why should we scruple to call it by that name any more than we do to call that original sin which we derived from Adam or the Law given to him the natural Covenant or the union of the Divine and Humane Nature in the person of Christ the Hypostatical Union or the three Persons in the Godhead the Trinity or the Lords Supper a Sacrament c. which are words no where to be found in Scriprure Yet since the things themselves which arâ— signified by them may be found there 't is thought sufficient to justifie the use of them I have the rather insisted upon this Argument because the confounding of these two Covenants this I mean of Redemption with that of the Gospel and making them but one which as will afterwards be made more fully to appear are vastly different and consequently to be distinguisht hath been the fundamental cause of those several Controversies and Mistakes that have been concerning the Gospel Covenant PROPOS IV. Of Christ's actual Satisfaction by his Obedience and Sufferings JEsus Christ according to the tenour of this Eternal Covenant did in time assume the Humane Nature and therein as Man's Surety actually do and perform all that the Law of Righteousness required at the hands of the guilâ—y Creature and consequently all that was any way requisite either to the repairing of his Fathers Honour or effecting the Creatures Redemption and Happiness Psal 40.6 7 8. God had for some while taken his Sons word and saved souls upon his single promise of making satisfaction in their behalf and in the interim accepted of typical Sacrifices and Oâ—lations the blood of Bulls and Goats as daily memorials of what he expectâ—d from the hands of hâ—s own Son though not as things pleasing and accâ—ptâ—ble in themselves Yea but now God will no longer admit of these Shadows or be satisfied with Bonds or Promises but requires the actual payment of the Debt and therefore now Christ comes according to his engagement to discharge it Then said I that is Christ Lo I come in the Volume of thy Book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God! And for the full accomplishment of this great Undertaking he cloaths his Divinity with the Humane Nature A body hast thou prepared me for so the Author to the Hebrews chap. 10.5 renders those words of the Psalmist ver 6. Mine ears hast thou digged as was before observed or as the Apostle expresseth it Gal. 4.4 He was made of a Woman made under the Law Yea and being found in fashion as a Man and in the form of a Servant subject to the Law of a Creature he also humbled himself and became obedient saith the same Apostle Phil. 2.8 and that not only in some more signal and momentous instances of Obedience but even to the least tittle and Iota commanded by the Law Math. 5.17 18. He fulfilled all Righteousness and he tells you it behovâ—d him so to do Mat. 3.5 Nor yet did he only thus render himself subject to the Commands of the Law and pay a perfect active obedience to them but he also undertook and suffered the most rigorous penalties that were therein threatned against sinners He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with our griefs He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him Esa 53.3 4 5. He was in all things tempted or afflicted even as we are tempted sin only excepted Heb. 4.15 He loved us and gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Ephes 5.2 He humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross Phil. 2.8 He was made sin for us who knew no sin c. 2 Cor. 4.18 19. Yea a Curse that we might be blessed Gal. 3.13 And all this that he might ransom our souls Math. 20.28 and propitiate God to sinners 1 Joh. 2.2 and vindicate his Fathers Authority Law and Justice his Truth and Holiness that he might consistent with his honour pardon the guilty Creature and reaccept him into favour Rom. 3.25 26. And thus Jesus Christ by his active and passive Obedience which here are not to be separate or distinguished since both were paid solely upon the sinners account finished the whole work which his Father gave him to do in order to Man's recovery Joh. 17.4 and so being made perfect through sufferings he became the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 PROPOS V. Of the application of Christ's Merits to sinners THE saving fruits and benefits intended to sinners by the Obedience and Sufferings of Jesus Christ they do not actually and of necessity become theirs immediately upon the Satisfaction thereby given and the Purchase made in their behalf But before they can be admitted to any actual interest in or reap any comfortable advantage from either there is yet somewhat further on their part to be done and performed by them The Merits of Christ in dying for sinners do not necessarily save any but only as God the Father Son and Spirit shall think meet to communicate and dispense with the issues of them to the Vessels of Mercy For all that properly results from the satisfaction of Christ is only this that the grand obstacle which stood in the way of Mercy and obstructed its communications to
is an act of Grace but Grace is not Grace unless it be free He that pardons an Offender a Traytor a Rebel he may bring him to terms before he pardon him and he that dispenseth Crowns and Scepters to unworthy Persons Beggars and Miscreants he may require homage and observance from them without fear of rendring it no act of Grace The truth is all that Jesus Christ obtained or can in reason be supposed to design by his undertaking to obtain at the hands of his Father in the behalf of sinners was only this that pardon and salvation might be dispensed to them upon such terms and in such a way as might be consistent with the Honour of God and most for the good and interest of the lapsed yet reasonable Creatures whose perfection and happiness lay in his likeness and conformity to his Maker That therefore which we are to consider is not so much what is the intrinsick worth and price of Christs blood or how far it might have been available to the saving sinners but rather to what ends and purposes God hath accepted it and in what way and upon what Conditions 't is made over to us that it may become ours God might by virtue of his Omnipotency have made many Worlds and yet he hath made only one and according to the judgment of some he might by virtue of his absolute Prerogative have pardoned the sinner without the death of his Son and yet he would not do 't without it And possibly he might upon the account of his Sons undertaking have saved sinners by other means and upon other terms than those he hath now declared in the Gospel and yet these he hath only made choice of as they by which they shall be saved And therefore the actual determinations of his Will in this particular which he hath fully made known to us by his Word are the things which we are concerned to observe and attend to if ever we expect to have any lot or portion in the Grace and Glory that Jesus Christ hath purchased PROPOS VII Of God's transacting with Man by Covenant THE particular way and medium that Divine Wisdom hath been pleased to make choice of in and by which to interest sinners in the saving benefits of his Son 's undertaking 't is per modum Foederis by way of Covenant or mutual Compact betwixt himself and the Creature What this Covenant is and whether a Covenant in a proper sense that is afterwards to be enquired into that which now I have to make good is to shew in general that 't is by Covenant that the Fruits of Christ's death are made over to us And here it is to be observed That this is the way in which God hath ever treated Man both before and since his fall For though God by virtue of his absolute Soveraignty and Dominion over the Creature might have imposed what Laws he thought meet upon Man and have exacted perfect and perpetual Obedience at his hands without ever giving much more without obliging himself to give any thing by way of reward for his obedience And though Man by virtue of his necessary and essential dependance upon God from whom he received his all was thereupon indispensably obliged to obey and serve him so long as he had a Being yet such hath been the particular good will and bounty of God to Man that he never yet dealt with him stricto jure or in a way of absolute Right and Dominion but rather hath chosen to encourage him to obedience by the promises of reward That God indeed should give Man a Law that supposing him a reasonable Creature fit for Government seems no less than necessary yea but that God should turn his Laws into a Covenant and thereby make himself a Debtor to his Creature as Augustine speaks that is become ingaged to Man to reward him for that service which was antecedently due to him this is to be deemed an act of meer Grace and infinite condescension But thus was God pleased from the first to treat Adam whilst yet he was in his primitive state of integrity This generally is conceived to be the meaning of those words Gen. 2.16 17. And the Lord God commanded the Man saying Of every Tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat but of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye In these words we have first an express command given to Adam that he should not eat of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil together with a free and gracious concession to eat of the Fruit of every Tree of the Garden excepting that as also a severe commination annexed to this Grant and Command assuring him that if he should dare to eat of the forbidden Fruit he should certainly dye and in this threatning there is a promise also necessarily implyed since all Negatives are judged to include their contrary Affirmatives that if he continued in his obedience to the Law of God he should not dye but live and so we find the Apostle commenting upon the words Rom. 10.5 and Gal. 3.12 And a Positive Law requiring obedience of the Creature to which there is annexed a promise of some good provided he continue to pay and perform the homage and duties required of him together with a threatning of evil and punishment in case of default this according to the proper meaning and import of the word is no other than a Covenant supposing only that both parties do mutually agree and yield their consent to the terms which in the case in hand is sufficiently evident First on Gods part since he made and propounded this Law with its respective immunities and conditions to Man And on Man's part also 't is necessary to be supposed since he being but a Creature essentially depending upon his Maker is thereby essentially obliged to give his consent to whatever he shall please to propose to him But however we shall please to call this whether a Law or Covenant no sooner was this primitive institution made void by Man's transgression in eating of the forbidden fruit but God is pleased to erect a Covenant of Grace for life and salvation with fallen Man the first foundations of which we have laid in that first Evangelical promise Gen. 3.15 The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head The Promise indeed is absolute and nothing therein is mentioned more than that God would raise up a Saviour unto Man from the Seed of the Woman by whom he fell But who knows how far God might or did further discover himself to Adam and the Primitive Ages of the World either as to this or other concerns of his and their duty and reward since 't is abundantly evident that in the Revelations made to Moses God's design was not to make known all the transactions that had before past betwixt himself and the Creature but only such
goes up into the Mount and there receives the Covenant from the mouth of God himself Exod. 19.3 4 5 6. The sum of which as you there read was this viz. That if they would obey the voice of God indeed and keep his Commandments that they should then be a peculiar treasure above all people c. This Moses upon his return propounds to the People from God for their consent ver 7. And Moses came and called for the Elders of the People and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him And the people hereupon declare their consent to these proposals ver 8. And all the people answered together and said All that the Lord hath spoken we will do which Moses again reports back to God in the close of that verse And Moses returned the words of the People unto the Lord. And then having made a more particular rehearsal of the Laws and Statutes which God had commanded them to observe in the four following Chapters he again propounds them to the people and they again declare their acceptance of them Chap. 24. ver 3. And Moses came and told the People all the words of the Lord and all the Judgments And all the People answered with one voice and said All the words which the Lord hath said will we do And thus the Covenant being mutually both on God's part and on the Israelites assented to he immediately causeth an Altar and twelve Pillars to be erected An Altar to the Lord and twelve Pillars as representative of the twelve Tribes of Israel ver 4. who having offered Sacrifice thereon ver 5. he takes one half of the blood thereof and sprinkleth it upon the Altar to signifie the Peoples sealing their part to God ver 6. and the other half he sprinkleth upon the People to signifie Gods sealing on his part to them ver 8. which is therefore called in the close of that verse the Bloud of the Covenant which God had made with them that is the Blood by which the Covenant was mutually ratified and sealed betwixt God and Israel Upon which account Moses tells them that they had avouched the Lord to be their God and to walk in his ways and keep his Statutes c. And that the Lord had avouched them to be his peculiar People as he had promised c. Deut. 26.16 17 18 19. And thus you see in these two famous instances of God's covenanting first with Abraham and then with Israel that not Jesus Christ but Abraham and Israel were the Confederates that became engaged to God for the performance of the terms therein required And were not they for the main under the same Covenant with Believers in the Gospel As to Abraham the case is evident read Gal. 3. and Rom. 4. and then tell me whether he were not under a Covenant of Grace And as to Israel though there were several Appendices Types and Shadows superadded by Moses which are now done away yet is there any other difference betwixt that and the Evangelical Dispensation Are they not essentially and for substance the same Had not they the same Christ exhibited in Types and Sacrifices which we have explicitely revealed in the Gospel And were not the same spiritual Blessings in him as pardon of sin justification and eternal life c. promised to them And were not the same substantial Duties as Repentance and Faith and Obedience required of them And was it not therefore the great business of Christ and his Apostles in their frequent contests with the Jews to demonstrate the conformity of their Doctrine with the Law of Moses and that they taught nothing but what Moses and the Prophets had before revealed to them For proof of this let these following places be consulted Joh. 5.45 46 47. Joh. 6.45 Joh. 10.34 Luke 4.17 18 19 20 21. Luke 16.29 Luke 24.27 and 44. Luke 18.31 and Luke 1.70 Acts 3.18 19.21 22 23. Act. 10 43. Acts 26.22 Acts 24.14 15. Acts 28.23 1 Cor. 10.2 Rom. 1.2 and 3.21 Eph. 2 20. And if Abraham and Israel were for the main under the same Covenant of Grace with us 't is evident that therein Believers themselves were the parties that stood engaged to God and consequently that the Covenant of Grace is made with them and not with their Mediator in their behalf This Argument is so clear and convictive as that 't is impossible to avoid the power of it otherwise than by saying that they were not saved as we by a Covenant of Grace which as it openly affronts the testimony of Christ and his Apostles as may be seen in the places before mentioned and more particularly from what the Apostle Paul hath delivered upon this Argument in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians so it necessarily infers this monstrous conclusion that Old Testament Believers were saved as never any man yet was and as 't is impossible that any since the fall of Adam should be that is by a Covenant of Works For there is no medium betwixt these two If it be not of Works it must be by Grace as the Apostle argues Rom. 11.6 However they covenanted with God each man for himself and what reason can be given that Jesus Christ should undertake or stand engaged more for us than them or that we if saved as they Acts 15.11 should not lye under the same actual engagements to Faith and Obedience especially since our duty is more plain and our knowledge more clear and our reward more express and our assistance by the Spirit more influential and our advantages and obligation to God every way greater and more perswasive But to be short doth not Scripture affirm the self same thing of Gospel Believers Are not they still exprest as Parties where-ever we find either in the Old or New Testament any mention made of the New Covenant Jer. 31.31 Ezek. 34.11.25 c. Ezek. 37.24 25 26 27. Isa 55.3 Isa 61.8 9. Heb. 8.10 11 c. Heb. 10.16 That these Texts speak of the Gospel Covenant is unquestionable or else we have no such thing revealed in Scripture But with whom is it there said to be made with David the Prince and Shepherd as Christ is there stiled by Ezekiel No But with the Sheep and Flock with the House of David and the House of Israel that is with Believers who are exprest under those Old Testament Names of Israel and Jacob and Seed of Abraham c. And whereas some object that 't is constantly called in Scripture God's Covenant and not ours the reason is obvious from what hath been already said viz. That God as absolute Lord and Soveraign he contrives and frames and propounds this Covenant to us and all that we have to do is only to subscribe and seal to it And therefore not properly our Covenant but God's because he made it and not we Though this also is to be here observed that Believers are said not only to enter into Covenant but also to make
will and so absolutely unknown to us that cannot possibly either make any change of our state or become any foundation for any real and forensick distinction betwixt Man and Man 'T is not that which makes this Man a Judas and that Man a Paul The one actually wicked and the other personally righteous And therefore whoever God predestinates saith the Apostle thâ—m also he calls before they are either justified or glorified Rom. 8.30 He makes them to pass under the rod and brings them into the bond of the Covenant and pours clean water upon them and puts his Spirit into them and writes his Laws in their hearts and causeth them to walk in his ways and keep his Judgments before he will own them to be his people and dignify them with the name of Saints and Children and righteous ones Ezek. 36.25 26 27 28. Jer. 31.33 1 Cor. 1.2 Take Paul for an instance He was you know a chosen vessel to the Lord Acts 9.15 Separated in Gods predeterminate counsel from his Mothers womb Gal. 1.15 Yea but was he therefore immediately justified and sanctified and adopted and owned for a Saint a Child of God from his Mothers womb No for all that he will tell you that he was for some years a Pharisee an injurious person a Persecutor a Blasphemer 1 Tim. 1.13 And as he speaks of the Ephesians that he was dead in sins and trespasses a Child of disobedience and of wrath without Christ having no hope and without God in the World Eph. 2.1 2 3 12. To this effect he speaks expresly of himself Tit. 3.3 And may we not now truly say of Paul however elected that he was a wicked Man during his continuance in this state And consequently that he was not righteous since 't is impossible for the same person to be righteous and wicked dead and alive at the same time But how then came Paul to be amongst Gods Jewels his holy ones How God humbles him at the foot of Christ Acts 9.5 6 c. and calls him by his Grace Gal. 1.15 and makes him obedient to his call Acts 26.19 and regenerates him by his Spirit Tit. 3.3 4 5. and causeth him to believe and obey the Gospel Acts 24.14 15 16. and to live intirely to Jesus Christ Philip. 1.21 Thus Paul obtaineth Mercy as he tells you 1 Tim. 1.16 and is listed into the number of the Saints his name now is changed Acts 13.9 'T is no more Saul but Paul no more a Persecutor but an Apostle of Jesus Christ and now he is justified Gal. 2.16 and now he receives a Crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4.8 And thus you see what it is that denominates a man righteous or wicked and what is the only note of distinction betwixt an Heir of wrath and a Child of God not baptism or profession or being in the visible Church or the elective love of God but doing righteousness as John speaks which is nothing else but the actual performance of the Conditions of the New Covenant of which I am treating 4. Why else hath God sent his holy Spirit into the World Is it not plainly for this end that he may help our infirmities Rom. 8.26 and that he may assist us in the actual performance of those duties which are by the New Covenant required of us That we may look upon him whom we have pierced by our sins and mourn Zech. 12.10 that we may believe in Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.13 that we may mortifie the deeds of the flesh Rom. 8.13 that our hearts may be purified in obeying the truth 1 Pet. 1.22 And that we may walk in the wayes and keep the Judgments of God Ezek. 36.27 All this is said to be by the assistance of the Divine Spirit And therefore it is that the ministration of the Spirit is still necessary in order to our Salvation notwithstanding that Jesus Christ hath fully discharged the office and perfâ—cted the work of a Redeemer and Mediator for us Joh. 16.7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth It is expedient for you thâ—t I go away for If I go not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you The Spirit here is expresly promised to be sent in the room of Christ to supply his place and office when he should leave the World as that which should be of more advantage to them than still to enjoy Christs personal presence here on Earth Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away But why expedient For then the Spirit shall come But when he is come what shall he do Why He shall convince the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment ver 8. I but if Jesus Christ hath so done all as that we have nothing at all to do and that his imputed righteousness alone be sufficient to save us without our personal and obediential righteousness to what purpose is the administration of the Spirit His work and office is wholly superseded For what needs a Spirit of mourning to be poured down upon us if so be the Covenant of Grace require us not personally to repent Or a Spirit of Faith as the Apostle calls it 2 Cor. 4.13 if we are not bound to believe Or a Spirit of holiness if it oblige us not to be actually holy Or a spirit of obedience if we may be saved without obeying If then our having of the Spirit and being led or acted by him be indispensably necessary in order to our Salvation so also is our repenting and believing in Christ and loving God and doing of his will and cleansing our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of God and purifying our selves as he is pure since the effecting this in us is the great errand for which he came into the World and the main office he hath undertaken during the time of Christ Mediatory Kingdom The truth is we can no more be saved without the ministration of the spirit than we can without the Mediation of Jesus Christ This argument runs clear in Scripture He that hath not Christ hath not life 1 Joh. 5.12 But he that hath not the spirit hath not Christ Rom. 8.9 And he that is not holy and obedient hath not the spirit Jude ver 19. For where ever the Spirit is he regenerates and sanctifies the whole lump Body Soul and Spirit as the Apostle speaks 1 Thess 5.22 and so becomes in that Soul a Spirit of Faith Holiness and obedience 5. How otherwise shall Believers attain to any evidence or assurance of their Salvation Or come to know that they more than othes are in a state of friendship with God and made Heirs of the promise and vessels of mercy when so great a part of the World are Heirs of wrath and Sons of perdition That they may be thus assured since some undoubtedly have been so and that they all ought to labour for
initial secondly a perfect and consummate right or as the Civilians speak there is jus haereditarium and jus aptitudinale Both which are in their respective order alike necessary fully and compleatly to enstate us in one and the same possession Thus for instance He that is lawfully elected to any office of trust and dignity his meer election gives him an initial right to that office yea but for all that before he can receive the several insignia proper to it or exercise any act of authority in it or actually receive the profits and emoluments belonging to it he must solemnly be installed and take the Corporation Oaths and perform such other ceremonies as are usual in the case and this gives him a consummate right to his place and dignity Again he that seals to an Indenture he thereby hath an incipient right and title to the estate therein conveighed But yet to compleat this there must be seisin and delivery and performance of Covenants payment of rent and repairing the premises and this gives him an actual right to it and continues him in the quiet possession of it Take one instance more A Child in his infancy may have right to a Kingdom as some have been Crowned in their Cradles But yet notwithstanding he afterwards remains as the Apostle speaks under Tutors and Governours and little differs the Lord of all from a Servant until he come of age and then his Kingdom and Government is put into his hand Before he had an hereditary and now an aptitudinal right to or legal fitness for government I have brought all these instances to shew that there may be a different right to the same thing arising from different qualifications and conditions and yet both subservient to the same end And so here faith gives right and obedience also gives right to eternal life but in a different manner that begins it but this continues and compleats it Plainly thus Whosoever doth sincerely accept of Jesus Christ upon Gospel terms which is truly faith he is thereupon not only quit from all the demands of the first Covenant which is properly justification but he also hath by vertue of the Gospel-grant an initial right to the eternal Kingdom purchased by Christ But yet before he can enter into the actual possession of it and enjoy all the glories and bliss and joy that belongs to it he must be pure and holy cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and this gives him an aptitudinal and compleat right to it Faith is as our sealing to the Indenture that first founds our right and obedience is as the performance of Covenants that perfects and continues it That by making us Sons Joh. 1.12 makes us also heirs of the Kingdom Rom. 8.17 and so gives us an hereditary right to it But this being the means to make us holy and like to God and as Scripture speaks perfect Men in Christ that is men of ripe age it thereby gives us a fitness or aptitudinal right to the eternal possession of it And thus I have shewn in what order the several conditions of the Covenant are to be applied for the obtaining the great blessings of it according to the method in which they are dispensed which being attended to will further evidence the consistence of free Grace with their being given out to sinners upon such terms But before I conclude this particular it will be requisite especially since it may add some further light to the thing in hand to inquire into and evince the difference which I have all along in this discourse supposed betwixt faith and obedience for I cannot wholly be of their opinion that make them one and the same without distinction nor yet apprehend them so vastly different as some imagine That they are not the same to me is evident since I find them frequently distinguished both by different names and effects in Scripture Acts 15.9 Purifying their hearts by faith Heb. 11.8 Acts 26.18 By faith Abraham obeyed Tit. 3.8 These things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works Therefore also called the obedience of faith Rom. 16.26 Here you see they are distinguished and elsewhere they are opposed Eph. 2.8 9. By grace ye are saved through faith and not of works Phil. 3.9 That I may be found in Christ not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ And more than once in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians where the Apostle treats designedly concerning justification which he there once and again affirms to be by faith and not by the works of the law And can they possibly be the same that are not only distinguish but opposed I know 't is said that the opposition the Apostle there makes betwixt faith and works is only to be understood with respect to Jewish works and that opinion of perfection and merit that they had of them But were the works of Paul and the Ephesians and Abraham of this nature were they Jewish and Levitical or have we any reason to think that they had any such opinion of their obedience as being perfect and meritorious And yet in all these instances we find that faith is opposed to works And though Paul 't is true doth in the third Chapter to the Philippians first instance in his legal priviledges and righteousness yet afterwards he adds his Gospel services and sufferings for Jesus Christ and whatever else you can imagine to make up his obedience and righteousness perfect Phil. 3.8 Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things And yet after all he tells us that he desired to be found not in the righteousness of works but of faith ver 9. Again they are not only distinguished and opposed but also delivered to us under different notions in the Gospel As faith is expressed by receiving of Christ Joh. 1.12 Obedience by walking in him as we have received him Col. 2.6 That by coming to Christ this by taking his yoak and bearing his burden Matth. 11.28 29. That by looking unto Jesus this by running with patience the race that is set before us Heb. 12.1 2. That by eating his flesh and drinking his blood Joh. 6.54 56. this by growing up in him Eph. 2.21 that as the principle of our filiation Gal. 3.26 and this as our imitation of God as dear Children Eph. 6.2 And is there no difference betwixt receiving and walking coming and taking seeing and running eating and drinking and growing Betwixt our being children and performing the duties of Children Even common language as well as Divinity teacheth us to distinguish betwixt the Creed and Ten Commandments the credenda agenda in Religion Betwixt believing and doing Believing we ordinarily say is one thing and doing another But is not faith