at any time carried aside it is his greatest burthen 2 Sam. 12.8,9 compared with 13. Hath not the Lord sayth Nathan done these and these things for thee Wherefore then hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord Then David confesseth I have sinned It pierced him to the heart to consider it that he should abuse his neighbours wife and kill her husband and above all that he should commit that wickednes against God that had dealt so gratiously with him So that the children of the Covenant of grace will onely tell you that they are free from the Covenant of the Law but not from the Commandment of it for as it is given by Jesus Christ and ratified in the Gospell and as Christ hath given us his Spirit enabling us to keep it wee are under it so farre as to take our selves bound by the Authority of it and if we doe trangresse against it we know it is sin in the sight of God therefore it is that the soule in such a case is sensible of the wrath and displeasure of God whether it be his own sin or the sin of his brethren therefore he runneth unto God for mercy which he would not doe if he did not know that his desert according to the Law did utterly cut him off from mercy else would he never pray for pardon of sin nor rejoyce when the Lord helpeth him to doe that which is right and just in his sight nor blesse the Lord for strengthning him unto obedience unlesse he thought it to be his duty and therefore Vse 2. It is of use also to Teach the servants of God how far we are freed from the Law to wit from the Covenant of it so that we neither looke for justification nor salvation from it and let it not be grievous to any soule that a Christian should say he doth not feare condemnation by his disobedience he will be apt to feare in this kinde untill he be assured of the favour of God but when he knoweth his portion in the Covenant then indeed he doth not feare condemnation by his sin nor doth he thinke that the Lord will cleave unto him because of his fruitfulnes he casteth not off his comfort nor looketh at himselfe as divorced from Christ because of his barrennes nor doth he looke for his daily bread from all his obedience but expecteth all goodnesse and blessing from the treasures of the free grace of God Vse 3. This may also serve to Teach men some discerning of their owne spirits and state if you looke for justification no longer than you are obedient and feare eternall condemnation then you are disobedient if you are afraid of divorce from Christ because of your sins or if you looke for any vertue or challenge right to any promise by vertue of any well-doing of your owne in such a case either you are under a Covenant of workes or you are gone aside to a Covenant of works and if ever the Lord open your eyes and bestow his free grace upon you you will know your redemption from such dependances as these be I know a Christian man that hath not been cleerely taught the distinct differences between these two Covenants may be misled into dangerous wayes that might tend unto the utter undoing of his soule but it is a sin of ignorance and the Lord will not leave his servants but cleare up his truth and grace unto them Vse 4. May serve to Teach the servants of God that desire to walke in a way of constant obedience how to build their faith and hope truly if they be grounded upon your own obedience or righteousnes of sanctification if they depend upon you you will find your hearts ever unsetled you may finde comfort as under the Law you shall for the Law will cast in comforts upon a man because of his obedience if he be marryed to the Law but if you shall believe that Christ is yours and comfort your selves because you have been by the power of the Law constrained to duties and restrained from sin and thereupon build your conjugall communion with Christ you will find your soules full of sadnes and feare ere long especially if you have true grace in your hearts and therefore it is the faithfullnes and tendernes of the grace of God unto his people that when Christians come into this Country though they have been marvellous eminent in our native Country yet here they cannot pray fervently nor heare the word with profit nor receive the Seales with Comfort they wonder what is become of their old prayers and hearings and Sacraments and of their lively spirits in holy duties truly the Lord hath disinabled them as it were from such things because they did build their union and fellowship with Christ upon them that so they might know the freedome of the grace of God that justifieth the ungodly then will the poore soule be glad to seeke after the Lord Jesus Christ and say as the people of God sometimes did Hos 2.7 I will goe and returne to my first husband for then it was better with me than now now the soule will plainly see discerne that he closed not with his true husband when as he built so much hope and comfort upon his duties therefore he will finde himselfe weake and dead as it were to all spirituall duties and can finde no life in them no comfort from them and it is the marvellous goodnes and free grace of God unto such a soule whom the Lord will not suffer to blesse himselfe in his works for if a man should lay the foundatiō of his comforts in them and be ready as it were to take it ill if he should not finde God accepting his works Wherefore have wee fasted and thou regardest it not Isa 58.3 If a man rejoyce in the sparks which he hath kindled this shall he have at the hands of God he shall lie downe in sorrow Isa 50.11 Whereas the light of God shall gratiously breake forth unto the servants of God that wait upon him though they be for present in darknes and see no light trust not therefore in any legall comforts but wait upon the free grace of God both to justifie sanctifie comfort and glorifie your soules This is the way of constant peace and if the Lord doe at any time checke his servants when they walke in by-wayes it is that he might build them upon a sure foundation so that their salvation will not lye upon their obedience nor damnation upon their disobedience This is the way of constant peace and s◅ety unto all the Israel of God Quest 7. This Doctrine may serve in the next place to Answer a seventh Question touching the necessitie of sanctification For it may be demanded If the Lord will give himselfe unto the soule in the Covenant of his grace not onely his Attributes but his Person all that is God is given by vertue of this Covenant If God hath himselfe not onely chosen us
of the sixt Commandment and whosoever shall looke on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart and broken the seventh Commandment Thus Christ hath as it were revived Moses but as the Law given by Christ is not a Covenant of works but a Commandment of well-doing and he having given it we take our selves bound to be subject unto it The Apostle also presseth the morall Law upon severall relations of men Eph. 6.1,2,3 c. It is an honour to Christ that his servants should be holy as he is holy it is for the glory of God and he requireth it the Apostle James presseth it Chap. 2.8 to the end of the Chapter If you fullfill the Royall Law according to the Scripture Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe ye doe well And againe Whosoever shall keepe the whole Law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all Thus wee see the Apostles of Jesus Christ put it upon Christians to keepe the Law of God and Christ himselfe beareth witnes to the Law for God will never justifie sin to be no sin though he will justifie the person of a sinner Now as the Lord Jesus giveth the Law and as it were renueth it so he doth also give his Spirit unto his servants enabling them to keep it Jer. 31.33 and Ezek. 36.27 Now this Law would he not write in the hearts of his people nor give unto them his holy Spirit enabling them to keepe it were it not his will in Jesus Christ that the Law should be the Rule of holines and righteousnes unto his people hence it is that the children of God though they be not under the Covenant of the Law yet take themselves to be bound to the obedience of it for if Christ have given the Law as well as Moses and if he have ratified it by giving them his Spirit to teach and strengthen them to keepe it though not perfectly yet sincerely then they take themselves bound to obey the Law though they be under the Covenant of grace for doe we make voyd the Law through faith God forbid yea we establish the Law for what need have Christians of free justification by Christ if they were not bound unto the obedience of the Law by the Commandment of the Law therefore the free justification of men under a free Covenant of grace doth establish the obedience of the Law otherwise what need they run to Christ to save them from the Curse of the Law Why doe we still run to Christ for the continuance of our Justification but that we find our selves ungodly Creatures against the righteous and holy Law of God Therefore if God have given men the Law his Holy Spirit to strengthen them in the obedience of it and his grace to save them from the curse of it then Christians are to know that they are bound to keep the Law they lye under the authority of it and dare not pluck their necks from under that yoke Now there are divers effects springing from the subjection of Gods people to the Commandement of the Law 1 As they take themselves bound to the obedience of it so they believe and many times feele the fatherly displeasure of God when they transgresse it now the transgression of the Law could not bring them under the displeasure of God unlesse they were bound unto the Commandement of the Law This displeasure David was sensible of Psal 38.1,2,3 c. where he makes many complaints which doe all of them spring from the conscience of the disobedience of the Law which God hath framed in the hearts of his servants whereby they reflect upon their sin as the ground of all the distempers which lye upon their bodies or minds This is the first effect of the subjection of Gods people to his Law they lye under the faith and sense of the danger of the disobedience of it 2 They are under the faith and sense also of Gods gratious acceptance of their wayes when they are sutable to the blessed directions of his word not that they can raise there-from their justified estate but by the same Spirit of God whereby they are helped to obey the Commandements of God they doe see the Lords gratious approbation of them in their poore and weake endeavours for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous that is acknowledgeth and approveth it Psal 1.6 When the Lord by his Spirit boweth the hearts of his people unto obedience then he knoweth and accepteth their obedience Gen. 22.12 Thus the Lord beareth witness unto his Servants that he doth accept their works so that they sensibly know and believe that the Lord doth acknowledge their poorest and weakest endeavours unto which they are carried forth by his Spirit in the Obedience of his word this the Prophet David confirmeth Psal 18.20 to 26. where he speaketh of his righteous dealing with Saul and whereas his enemies laid it to his charge that he was an enemy unto Saul the Lord beareth him witnes that he had walked toward Saul with a good conscience now the Lord having led him an end to deale justly and righteously and purely with Saul having kept him from all the malice and outrage of Saul and maintained his cause against him and delivered him out of his hands whom the Lord had now rejected herein the Prophet seeth the Lord accepting him when in the name of his Son by the power of his Spirit he is helped to attend unto the Commandements of God This is commfortable unto a Christian spirit when the Lord beareth witnesse unto his soule that he hath an eye to all the Commandments of God And all this argueth that the servants of God being in a state of grace in Jesus Christ have looked at themselves as bound by the Commandements of the Law and as being under the Law to Christ who hath given the Law and power unto his servants sincerely to keep it both by writing in their hearts a Law of obedience and by putting his Holy Spirit within them for if the people of God were not sensible of their bounden duty to the observation of the Law of God they would neither have faith nor sence of Gods fatherly displeasure when they negligently breake these Lawes neither would they be sensible of Gods acceptance of their conformity thereunto But we know what the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience c. And truly the Lord doth often beare witnesse unto the integrity of his Servants against the oppositions of men So he did to Abraham to David to Paul and to sundry of the Servants of God though they are not wont to build their safe estate thereupon Yet this kind of Gods acceptance of their wayes and obedience they doe discern c. yet in their best obedience which they doe perform they see the need they have to goe unto God for justifying grace because if they have failed in
Rom. 4.4,5,6 He looketh not for his blessednesse from his works though he should perform all the conditions to which the Promises are made yet he expecteth all his blessing from free Justification and union with the Lord Jesus Christ Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin this is the blessednesse of Christians It is true the Lord doth blesse the workings of his servants and accept them Mat. 25.34,35,36 Thus Christ blesseth them but they are not sensible of their good deeds so as to expect blessings for their obedience sake and therefore they make answere and say Lord when saw we thee an hungry and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink c Neither do they fear the curse of God or that their sins should separate them from God those that are under the law indeed are cursed if they doe not continue in all things that are written in the Law to doe them But this Curse is removed from the Elect by Jesus Christ 3 This also is a third effect of the freedom from the Covenant of works that a Christian doth not look for conjugall comfort from his obedience nor fear conjugall divorce from his disobedience In a Covenant of works it is with a man as it was with Leah Jacobs wife who expected love and fellowship from her Husband because of her fruitfulnes Gen. 29.32,34 but thus doth not a man under a Covenant of grace for when he hath done all he can he is ready to say I am an unprofitable servant Luke 17.10 and doth not chalenge God for any of his dealing with him he seeth he deserveth not his daily bread and so looks for no reward from his good works though the Lord will gratiously acknowledge his servants in what they doe according to his will yet they are not wont to plead any such thing which is very observable in the practice of Jacob Gen. 32.9,10 c. where he doth not presse the performance of Gods Commandement to procure any blessing but acknowledgeth his unworthinesse and looketh for grace from the Promise of God Deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my brother for thou saidst I will surely doe thee good Nor doth a Child of God fear divorce by his disobedience though it have been very great Sometimes the people of God have not onely rejected the servants of God but the Lord himselfe 1 Sam. 8.7 But when Samuel had pressed hard upon them for their sin Cha. 12. and they were truly humbled then Samuel said unto them ver 20 21 22. Fear not c. Therefore feare you not he will not cast you off So that mind you a poor Christian doth not fear divorce from his disobedience for if we should look for blessings from the one or cursings from the other we walk as not under Christ but under the Law But he that is freed from the Covenant of works is freed also from expecting salvation or fearing damnation for what he doth He knoweth the Lord will hide his face from him if he doe evill but he knoweth the Lord will not cast him off for ever yet he dares not commit sin but being under grace he is the more affected if he shall at any time displease God and procure chastisement to himselfe and by this means the Lord doth mortifie his distempers on the other side if he doe well he will not say now my Husband will cleave unto me and dwell with me No no we are freed from the Law Rom. 7.4 But we were not so if we look for conjugall love from God for our obedience to the law it is true if a man be marryed to the Law his obedience unto it will supply comfort unto him but if we be dead unto the Law we have no life in it nor by it but onely in Jesus Christ from whom we expect our comfort indeed we are troubled that we should sin against the grace of God otherwise we look not at our obedience or disobedience to make us accepted or rejected 4 And finally the soule doth not claim his right unto any Conditionall Promise by his performance of the condition nor doth he deny himse fe the blessing that the Promise may reach forth unto him though he be wanting in obedience to this or that Commandement Pregnant for this purpose is the example of Jacob which we mentioned before Gen. 32.9,10 who though he had a plain and a full Promise of God to doe him good if he would returne unto his Countrey and to his kindred yet when he did returne according to the word of God he claimed not his interest in that Promise for that he had done as God commanded him but I am lesse than the least of thy mercies and yet he cometh unto the Lord for the performance of his Promises but upon this ground onely for the sake of mercy and truth Deliver me I pray thee for thou saidst I will surely doe thee good vers 11 12. So that mind you though the soul can make use of a conditionall Promise and come to God for the blessing of it yet not expecting it in the least manner by vertue of his obedience and truly this is the freedome of a Christian soule whereas another man if he have kept the Commandment and performed the condition he then looketh for acceptance from God as if the Lord make this Promise that He that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy This man confesseth his sin unto God and forsaketh it and therefore he looketh for mercy But this is not the manner of Gods people and yet if they look for any mercy it is in the way of God but not for their owne goodnes their hope is in the faithfulnesse and free-grace of God they may make mention to the praise of God how he hath guided them and carryed them an end in his owne wayes yet they chalenge nothing for any thing that they have done but put the Lord in mind of his free Promise that as of his free grace he hath freely promised so from the same grace he may make good what he hath promised Vse 1. If any therefore shall accuse the Doctrine of the Covenant of free grace of Antinomianisme and say it teacheth men freedome from the Law of Moses and if they commit any sin they plead they are not bound unto the Law we see how false such an aspersion would be for all the people of God know that the Lord is an avenger of every such wickednesse There is none under a Covenant of Grace that dare allow himselfe in any fin for if a man should negligently commit any sin the Lord will schoole him throughly and make him sadly to apprehend how unworthily he hath made bold to abuse imbeazle the treasures of the grace of God Shall we continue in sinne that grace may abound God forbid None that have a portion in the grace of God dare allow himselfe in sin but if through strength of temptation he be