the words of this Law to do them The promises I now make you are full and Glorious enough But these are the Terms on which you must Expect if ever you come to the Fruition of them This is the Substance of the Preface and after Explication that God himself makes unto and concerning the Covenant which he now made with Moses and with Israel even with the whole Body of that People which was by the Finger of God himself Written and Ingraven in Stones And is accordingly mentioned at large Exod. 20. In the several ten Branches Commandments or main Heads thereof § 4. In the next place if we Enquire into the Nature of this Covenant What sort of Covenant it was Whether a Covenant of Grace or a Covenant of Works As it is Evident that it could be no other than a Covenant of Works since we see it required perfect Obedience as the condition of obtaning the mercies therein promis'd wherein the very Essence of that Covenant Consisted So in order to a further discovery of the true nature of the Covenant in question We must compare some passages in Exod. 34. with 2 Cor. 3. and Col. 2. 14. In Exod. 34. 1. The Lord said unto Moses hew the two Tables of Stone like unto the first And I will Write upon these Tables the words that were in the first Tables ver 4. And he hewed two Tables of Stone like unto the first And Moses went up unto the Mount Sinai as the Lord Commanded him and took in his hand the two Tables of Stone ver 28. And he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights and he Wrote upon the Tables the words of the Covenant the ten Commandments And it came to pass when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two Tables of Testimony in Moses's hand when he came down from the Mount that Moses Wist not that the Skin of his Face shone while he talked with him And when Aaron and all the Children of Israel saw Moses behold the Skin of his Face shone and they were afraid to come nigh him If we will know therefore the true Nature of the Covenant we shall find that the Spirit of God by the Apostle doth give us a clear determination thereof in the fore-mentioned 2. Cor. 3. 5 6. Our Sufficiency saith he is of God who hath also made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit that is not of the Law but of the Gospel For the Letter Killeth but the Spirit giveth Life But saith he ver 7. If the Ministration of Death Written and Engraven in Stones was Glorious so that the Children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the Face of Moses for the Glory of his Countenance which Glory was to be done away how shall not the Ministration of the Spirit be rather Glorious So again ver 9. If the Ministration of Condemnation be Glory much more doth the Ministration of Righteousness exceed in Glory Wherein we cannot but observe that the Apostle doth evidently Reflect upon the fore mentioned Passage in Exod. 34 28 29 c. Where we are told that Moses Received from God the two Tables of Stone wherein the words of the Covenant even the Ten Commandments were Written and Engraven by the Finger of God himself and this Expresly under the Denomination of the Covenant which God then made with Israel Deut. 4. 13. Which made Moses his Face to shine so that Aaron and all the Children of Israel were afraid to come nigh him 'T is clear then that this is the Covenant that Paul hear speaks of And what Character or Description doth he give thereof Why saith he The Law Written and Engraven in Stones how Glorious soever it was in it self was of a Killing Nature it was the Ministration of Death and Condemnation and that which was to be done away To which same purpose the same Apostle also tells us Col. 2. 14. That Christ hath Blotted out the Hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and hath took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross Where the Apostle speaks plainly of the same thing and to the same purpose as he doth to the Corinthians for there he speaks of the Law Written in Stones which saith he was a Ministration of Death and Condemnation And hereof the Hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us and contrary to us as the Law must needs be if it was indeed no other than a Ministration of Death and Condemnation as the Apostle describes it But is the Covenant of Faith of this Nature Or was the Covenant of Grace a Ministration of Death and Condemnation as the Apostle Affirms the Law written in Stones to be Was the Covenant of Grace against us Contrary to us and therefore now Blotted out done away taken out of the way and Nailed to the Cross of Christ as the Apostle speaks of the Hand-writing of Ordinances or the Law written in Stones These are Solâ—cisms too strong for Digestion It can never be imagined And yet all this must needs follow if the Law was a Covenant of Grace as is Affirmed 'T is true there was a Covenant of Grace that ran Current therewith as hath been before declared whereby Moses and all the Elect among that People were delivered from the Curse of that Fiery Burning Law that was thus given them But shall we therefore call the Ministration of Death a Ministration of Grace Or the ministration of Condemnation a Ministration of Life and Righteousness which the Apostle doth so plainly set in Opposition thereunto Or shall we say that that which was against us and contrary to us was a Covenant of Grace or for the Substance of it such The Apostle as we have already seen tells us the quite contrary And so he doth Rom. 7. 9 10. When the Commandment came saith he Sin Revived and I Died And the Commandment which was Ordained to Life I found to be unto Death And how then can it be justly Affirmed that the Law was a Covenant of Gospel-Grace or that it was such for the Substance thereof when the Apostle found it by Experience to be a Ministration of Death § 5. Indeed the World Groans under the Burthen of such Subtile Sophistical Distinctions whereby the Truths of the Gospel have been so long Obscured as they have been and are in respect of the present Point a Point of such vast Consequence and Concernment to the Church of God For what can be of greater Moment than the Two Covenants the Truths concerning which are as the two Master Veins that branch themselves forth and lye dispersed up and down throughout the whole Body of the Scriptures If therefore it shall be found that we have been all this while Mistaken in our Notion about the Covenants what they are and which they be or that we have given the Appellation of the Covenant of Grace to a Covenant of Works and hereon
not say to bring us to Christ as our Translation hath it For as we have already said that is the Work of the Covenant of Faith only And therefore that Notion that the Law was Subserviently a Covenant of Faith hath no Foundation Those Words to bring us being unduly added to the Original Text and are accordingly put in a Different Character in our Translation thereof But saith the Apostle in the words immediately following After that Faith is come we are no longer under a School-master But how can that be if the Law was a Covenant of Faith Must the Covenant of Faith cease at least in this World Must the Covenant of Faith Vanish be Blotted out taken out of the way and done away as the Apostle speaks of the Law Or was the Covenant of Faith against us and contrary to us as he speaks of the Hand-writing of Ordinances that is now Blotted out And indeed therefore neither could the Law be so much as Subserviently a Covenant of Faith For if it had the Apostle would never have described it as hath been now declared § 4. And 't is in vain to say That the Law was a Covenant of Faith though propunded in a more dark way and in a manner fitting for the State of that People and that present Time and Condition of the Church as Mr. Sedgwick speaks For the Apostle Expresly affirms that the Law is not of Faith It is not of Faith Absolutely not Comparatively but the man that doth them shall live in them Gal. 3. 12. The Law therefore was no other than a Covenant of Works since not only the Apostle doth here assure us that it is not of Faith but also the same Rule Do this and Live is that still retained therein as at first And it is therefore different from the Covenant of Faith not barely in respect of the Degrees or clearness of the Revelation of Gospel-Grace as is commonly Suggested For the Law as hath been already proved discovers none at all but leaves the guilty Sinner wholly Remediless without the least glimps of Light or Comfort The Law therefore differs from the Covenant of Faith Specifically in respect of the whole Nature or Essence of it In which respect the Law could never be appointed as a School-master to bring us to Christ Well it may convince us of our Necessity of him but bring us to him it cannot § 5. So that then these are the Reasons which the Holy Spirit himself Suggesteth why the Law was added Or why the Covenant of Works was Revived after Man's Fall and even after the Proclaiming of the first Promise concerning the Womans Seed Gen 3. 15. which was renewed to Abraham Gen. 22. 18. It was added saith the Apostle because of Transgressions till the Seed should come to whom the Promise was made And it entered that the Offence might abound It being appointed as a School-master to Christ to convince the Jews of their necessity of a Saviour And since it cannot be denied but that all the Sons and Daughters of Adam must of Necessity be under one or another of the two Covenants either that of Works or that of Grace And since all Men by Nature are Children of Wrath Eph. 2 3. And since it would be utterly absurd to affirm that such are under a Covenant of Grace till-Converted It of necessity follows that unto such the Covenant of Works is still in force and under it they are till wrought upon by the Grace of the Gospel the Law abating nothing but still exacting the utmost Farthing Neither from the Impossibility of Man's yielding that perfect Obedience which that Covenant requires can we justly conclude that therefore it is not still in Force For God hath not forfeited or lost his Right of Dominion though we have lost our Strength or Capacity of Obedience So that it is evident that the Law given upon Mount Sinai to the People of the Wilderness or the Law written in Stones which was a plain and clear Manifestation of the Law written in the Heart of Man at the first was no other than a Covenant of Works Thus it was to the Jews and thus it still continues in its full Power Force and Virtue to all Men in an Unregenerate State For what things soever the Law saith it saith to them that are under the Law that every Month may be stopped and all the World may become Guilty before God Rom. 3. 19. SECT IV. NEither was the Law by the Jews only Interpreted as a Covenant of Works but as it is evident by Moses himself and by Paul also We are told indeed by Mr. Sedgwick in his fore-mentioned Discourse upon the Covenants p. 173. That we must distinguish between the intention of God in giving the Law and the Abuse or Perverting of the Law We grant saith he that many of the Jews did set up a Legal Righteousness for their Justifications and rested upon the Works of the Law as if Life came by them against which Paul doth notably Argue in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians But this saith he was not the intention of God in the Sanction of Law They could never find a justifying Righteousness by the Law or Works of the Law under the Notion of a Covenant of Works nor did God ever propound it for that end § 2. For Answer hereunto we say That since by Mr. Sedgwicks own confession the Jews could never find a Justifying Righteousness by the Law or by the Works of it From hence it inevitably follows that it could not be a Covenant of Faith Sure it is that the Covenant of Faith Justifies all that are under it For being Justified by Faith we have Peace with God c. Rom. 5. 1. That Covenant therefore that could never Justifie any that were under it could never be a Covenant of Faith But the Scripture is Express that by the deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be Justified in God's sight Rom. 3. 20. Therefore that Covenant could never be a Covenant of Faith And yet again that Covenant under which though many were Justified yet none were ever Justified by it or by virtue of it could never be a Covenant of Faith But such was the nature of the Law that though many were Justified under it yet none were ever Justified by it or by virtue of it Rom. 3. 20. Therefore that Covenant could never be a Covenant of Faith And if the Law was not a Covenant of Faith then â—t must of necessity follow that it could be no other than a Covenant of Works And indeed so it was appointed and declared by God himself Lev. 18. 5. Ye shall therefore keep my Statutes and Judgments which if a man do he shall live in them And this the Spirit of God by the Apostle Paul takes special notice of Rom. 10. 5. For Moses saith he describeth the Righteousness which is of the Law That the man that doth these things shall live by them And what
Grace as you may see in Exod. 34. 7. The Lord the Lord Gracious and Merciful Long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving Iniquities Transgressions and Sin § 2. To this we Reply that it is indeed most certain and undeniable that both Moses and all the Elect among that People of Old were under the same Covenant of Grace with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the rest of the Holy Patriarchs before and by that they were Saved and without it there had been no Salvation for them And accordingly we are told Exod. 33. That upon Moses his earnest request unto God that he might see his Glory and that he would afford unto him his Gracious Presence for the more comfortable Conduct of that great and mighty People through that vast and howling Wilderness The Lord is pleased ver 17. to Promise that he would do this thing that Moses had spoken For saith he thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name And he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will shew Mercy to whom I will shew Mercy And accordingly Chap. 34. 5 6 7. The Lord descended in the Cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him and Proclaimed the Lord the Lord God merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Which was absolutely and undeniably a Covenant of Grace which God then made and confirmed unto Moses by Name and unto all that were Elected among that People for it was not to all since God expresly tells Moses that he would be gracious to whom he would be gracious and would shew mercy to whom he would shew mercy And accordingly this was that that God's People then lived upon and were saved by For if there had been no other Covenant made with them than that that was contained in the two Tables of Stone it had been utterly impossible that either Moses or any of the rest could ever have been Saved And this Gospel Cordial seems to have been purposely afforded unto Moses and the rest of the Faithful with him for the Relief of their sinking Spirits under the dread and terror of that Fiery Burning Law Deut. 33 2. The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them he shined forth from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousands of Saints From his right-hand went a Fierâ—e Law that had been before proclaimed by the Mouth of God himself and had been also written with God's own Finger and was now about to be renewed upon the breaking of the first Tables of Stone Which discovery of Gods Infinite Holiness Justice and Righteousness proclaimed with so much Majesty and Glory attended with such Thunderings Blackness Darkness and Tempest was so dreadful and terrible that Moses himself exceedingly fears and quakes at the Sight and Hearing thereof And is accordingly taken Notice of and represented by the Apostle as a Discriminating or Distinguishing Character between that and the Gospel Covenant Heb. 12. 18. c. You are not come saith he to the Mount that might be touched and that Burned with Fire nor unto Blackness and Darkness and Tempest and the sound of a Trumpet and the voice of Words which Voice they that heard intreated that the Word should not be spoken to them any more And so terrible was the Sight that Moses himself said I exceedingly fear and quake But ye are come unto Mount Sion to the City of the Living God to the Heavenly Jerusalem to God the Judge of all to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant c. From whence it is evident that there is an Essential difference between these two the Law and the Gospel so as that what the one is the other is not the Law is not the Gospel nor the Gospel the Law You are not come saith he unto the Legal but unto the Gospel Covenant The Legal Covenant discover'd nothing but Blackness and Darkness and Tempest and a voice of Words that could not be endured For according to the Apostle's own present Description or Character thereof it made no discovery of the least glimps of Gospel Grace at all The Legal Covenant therefore could not be a Covenant of Grace or a Covenant of Faith that made no discovery of any such thing but rather the contrary so as that it makes Moses himself exceedingly Quake and Tremble § 3. However it is certain that both Moses and all the Elect among that People of Old were under the Covenant of Grace as we have already said and by that were saved And accordingly we are told that they did all that is all the Elect among them Eat the same spiritual Meat and did all Drink the same spiritual Drink For they Drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10. 3. 4. And it is as Evident that it was no other than Christ himself that was the Angel of Gods presence that was to go before them and Conduct them in the way they were to go But yet all this notwithstanding it is plain that the Law was a Covenant of Works still and it is also as Evident that it was a distinct Covenant and Essentially different from the Covenant of Grace And was accordingly made with Moses and the whole Body of the Congregation and not with Moses and those that were Elected among them only as the Covenant of Grace was And therefore Exod. 19. 5 6. Saith God there to the whole Body of the Congregation of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai Now therefore if ye will Obey my voice indeed and keep my Covenant then ye shall be a Peculiar Treasure unto me above all People for all the Earth is mine And ye shall be to me a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation These are the Words that thou shalt speak unto the Children of Israel Mark it These are the words that thou shalt speak unto the Children of Israel that is unto the whole Body of that People without Exception of any as being of Universal Concernment unto them all And these are the Words that is these are the Terms on which thou shalt propound these my Promises to them viz. If you will Obey my Voice indeed and keep my Covenant with all your Heart and with all your Soul so as not in the least to vary or step aside from what I have now Commanded you then I will do thus and thus unto and for you and I will give you a Convincing Discovery that I am indeed the Lord your God which have brought you out of the Land of Egypt For upon these and no other terms do I now enter into Covenant with you And Cursed shall he be that Confirmeth not all
3. 10. And is it not as plain that from hence even that from hence it is that the Apostle calls it as he doth a Ministration of Death and Condemnation Against us and Contrary to us c. Besides it ought to be duly considered that the Gospel and Covenant of Grace it self was liable to aâ— great an abuse as the Law by being turned into Lasciviousness as the Scriptures tells us it was and yet the Apostle never thunders against the Gospel as he doth against the Law because Men had abused it 'T is true he tells us concerning the Gospel that to some it is the savour of death unto death to others it is the savour of life unto life that is to those that Reject it it is the savour of death unto death to those that Receive it it is the savour of life unto life But this is vastly different from the character he gives of the Law For saith he By the deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be justified in his sight Rom. 3. 20. And therefore whether it is Received or Rejected it is as the Apostle calls it a Ministration of Death c. Whereas the Gospel is such only to those that Reject it and do not give a saving entertainment to it So that the Distinction we now oppose is altogether without Scripture Warrant and is indeed no other than to impute unfaithfulness to Paul and Moses also in declaring the Nature of the Law as they do And accordingly hence we have just reason to conclude that the Law was never instituted as a Covenant of Faith or as a Covenant of Grace that hath such Epethites fixed thereon by the Spirit of God himself § 3. 'T is true as you say the Law was our School-master to Christ to Convince us of our Necessity of him And Christ is also said to be the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth that is he was the accomplishment thereof he having perfectly fulfilled its Commands submitted to its Curse and answered its Penalty on our behalf whereby it received the Greatest Honour that could be given it a greater by far than ever could be given it by us in our own persons For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for sin or by a Sacrifice for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us that is in the Person of our Sureâ—y for us Rom. 8. 3 4. But then it is so far from being true that the Law was therefore a Covenant of Faith that it is so much the more Convincingly Evident that it was no other than a Covenant of Works For as much as it is plain that as such Christ himself submitted thereunto on our account And it is as plain that as such it would else have lighted on us in our own Persons in the Execution of its most dreadful Curses and Threatnings But if we will rather have the sense of the words to be as you suggest it is that Christ was the End or Scope of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth that is that it was God's design thereby to drive them to Christ their only Remedy by Convincing them of their Necessity of him It still comes to the same Reckoning For though 't is true there is a plain subserviency in the Law towards the promoting of the Designs of the Covenant of Grace yet as we have already seen it no way follows that the Law is therefore the Covenant of Grace it self or the Handmaid the Mistress her self For saith the Apostle Gal. 4. 24. 25 26. These are the two Covenants the one from Mount Sinai which gendereth to Bondage and is in Bondage with her Children The other Answereth to Jerusalem that is above which is free and is the Mother of us all And if these were the two Covenants and those two essentially different the one from the other in the nature and tendency of either as it is plain by the Apostles scope they are so they must be kept Two they were and two they still remain to be so as what the one is the other is not Hagar had indeed a plain subserviency to Sarah But yet as were the Types so are the Antitypes themselves Essentially different so as that the Bondage Covenant can with no more Sense nor Justice be called a Covenant of Faith because it hath a subserviency thereunto than the Covenant of Faith can wish any shadow of pretence be called a Covenant of Bondage § 4. Besides when the Apostle speaks of the two Covenants these were the two Covenants the one from Mount Sinai meaning the Legal the other the Gospel Covenant He doth sufficiently Intimate that there were never but two General Covenants made with Mankind in all that is the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace And if so then if there were any such thing as a Covenant of Works made with our first Parent before the Fall as we all affirm there was it must of necessity be Included in the Sinai Covenant And that both Materially Considered and Intentionally also Else there were three Covenants and those Specifically different each from other whereas the Apostle tells us but of two To say it was Included in the Gospel Covenant is wholly Absurd Therefore it must of necessity be Included in the Sinai Covenant so as that both together make up that first or old Covenant which the Scripture speaks of For when the Apostle Heb. 8. calls the Sinai Covenant by the Name of the first or Old Covenant as he there doth several times over it cannot possibly be understood that it was therefore the first Covenant that God ever made with Men in respect of time for there had been an Express Covenant made with Abraham and with Noah also long before And we also acknowledge that there was an Implicite Covenant of Works made with our first Parent upon his first Creation besides the Promise of Grace that followed soon after the Fall Therefore the Sinai Covenant must of necessity be called the first or old Covenant because of its Congruity Harmony and Identity with the Covenant of Works made with our first Parent And that both in respect of the matter and Intention thereof also Or else iâ— could never with any Propriety or fitness of Expression be called the first or old Covenant as by the Apostle divers times over it is in the forementioned 8th to the Hebrews § 5. The Law therefore could not possibly be a Covenant of Gospel Grace as by many the most Learned and Worthy Divines and it may be the far greater part of Moderns at least it hath been confidently affirmed to be For as we have before acknowledged though there was never any Covenant that God ever made with Men but hath more or less of Grace therein Since it is an Infinite Condescention
Transgression and Sin That Covenant can never be a Covenant of Grace but of Works But the Legal Covenant is plainly in Scripture opposed unto the Gospel Covenant in all these Respects Heb. 12. from the 18th to the 24th Gal. 3. 10 11 12 13 14. Gal. 4. 21 c. Therefore the Legal Covenant could not possibly be a Covenant of Grace but of Works § So that notwithstanding all the most plausible Arguments which are usually urged by way of opposition to what we have now Asserted unless we must shut our Eyes there can be nothing more plain than this That the Law given by Moses to the Seed of Abraham at Mount Sinai instead of being a Covenant of Faith in Christ Jesus or a Covenant of Gospel Grace as many Divines famous for Learning and Piety do confidently affirm it is was no other than a Covenant of Works and that which is therefore now done away 2 Cor. 3. 7 8 9 11. Col. 2. 14. Heb. 8. 7 13. From whence it plainly and undeniably follows that the Covenant of Circumcision mentioned Gen. 17. 7 8 9 10. which God there promised to Establish betwixt Himself Abraham and his Seed after him in their Generations being the same thing and of the same nature as hath been already proved is therefore now also Repealed and done away therewith Acts 15. 10. Gal. 5. 3 4 5. Col. 2. 14. And consequently all the Arguments thence deduced howsoever or by whomsoever formed for the support of Infants Baptism do of themselves vanish THE FIFTH PART Containing a Description of that truly Evangelical Covenant God was pleased to make with Believing Abraham Wherein lies the Sum of the Everlasting Gospel then Preached unto him since Proclaimed by the Apostles and which now remains to be yet further Published unto all Nations for the Obedience of Faith Rom. 16. 25 26. Rev. 14. 6 7 Wherein the true Nature and Difference betwixt the two Covenants that of Works and that of Grace is further Explained Rev. 11. 19. And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven and there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Testament and there were Lightnings and Voices and Thundrings and an Earth-quake and Great Hail SECT I. § 1. BUT though the Covenant of Circumcision which God was pleased to make with Abraham Gen. 17. 7 8 9 10. was no other than a Covenant of Works as the Covenant at Sinai was and are both therefore now done away yet as we have already declared it is evident and undeniable that God was also pleased to enter into a Covenant of Grace with Believing Abraham even such a Covenant as was purely Evengelical and that which never shall be abolished And it is also as evident that this Gospel Covenant had been Established and Preached unto Abraham long before the Covenant of Circumcision was made with him For both Abraham and all true Believers in that Age were in the Covenant of Grace long before the Covenant of Circumcision was made and would have been so if that had never been which Covenant of Grace or Gospel Covenant which God was thus pleased to make with Believing Abraham is indeed the great Charter by which the Believing Gentiles always did and do claim Heaven and Earth and all the Promises they have title to For in this respect it is that the Apostle tells us as he doth Gal. 3. 8. That the Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying in thee shall all Nations be Blessed Which he quoteth not from Gen. 17. 7 8. but from Gen. 12. 2 3. Where before Abraham's removal out of his own Country and therefore long before the Covenant of Circumcision was in being God enters into a solemn Covenant with Abraham saying I will make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee and make thy Name great and thou shalt be a Blessing And I will Bless them that Bless thee and Curse him that Curseth thee and in thee shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed § 2. If we are to seek therefore of the Covenant of Grace that God made with Abraham which is the Great Charter of the Gentiles hope behold and see lo here it is a Covenant of Grace indeed A Covenant truly Evangelical as being every way Extensive Full Free Absolute and without those Conditions that the Covenant of Circumcision was manifestly clogged withal And therefore called the Covenant of Promise in the forementioned 3d of the Galatians for having told us vers 8. of the Promise that God had made unto Abraham that in Him should all Nations be Blessed And having also told us vers 14. 16. that the blessing of Abraham was to come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through Faith He adds vers 17 18. And this I say that the Covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ the Law which was 430 years after cannot disanul that it should make the Promise of none Effect For if the Inheritance be of the Law it is no more of Promise but God gave it to Abraham by Promise Which clearly argues the Absoluteness of this Gospel Covenant For if it had not been Free and Absolute but Conditional as the Covenant of Circumcision was and as the Legal Covenant at Mount Sinai was then according to the Scope of the Apostles Reasoning it had not properly been a Covenant of Promise but a Legal Covenant and so the Inheritance had been of the Law For wherein differs the Law from a free Promise but that the one is Conditional the other Absolute The one promiseth Life upon condition of Obedience the other without Mony and without Price Isa 55. 1. And therefore the Covenant which God made with the Israelites at Mount Sinai though it had many Glorious Promises in it that God would be their God and they should be his peculiar People and Treasure c. Yet these Promises being clogged with Conditions of Obedience impossible to be performed That Covenant therefore is never presented to us in the Scripture under the Notion or Denomination of a Covenant of Promise but under the Denomination of the Law or as a Covenant of Works only For Moses saith the Apostle describeth the Righteousness of the Law that the man that doth these things shall live by them Rom. 10. 5 And so likewise Gal. 3. 10. As many as are of the Works of the Law are under the Curse For it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them And vers 12. The Law is not of Faith but the man that doth them shall live in them And for the same Reason therefore is the Covenant of Circumcision represented to us also under the same Denomination of the Law Rom. 4. 13. as shall be afterward shewn because though it is true it had Promises in it that were
him to make his Name Great that he should be a Blessing that in him should all the Families of the Earth be Blessed that he should be the Father of many Nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy Seed be Gen. 12. 2 3. Gen. 15. 5. And it is evident that these were the Promises upon the account whereof we are told that he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for Righteousness Gen. 15. 6. Circumcision therefore was a Seal only unto Abraham and that of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had in respect of the Promises made him long before his Circumcision and that for this very purpose that he might be the Father of all them that believe which was his Prerogative alone For none besides him had ever before their Circumcision such a Faith which entituled them to such singular Promises § 2. Upon the whole though it must be acknowledged that the Objection seems at first very Plausible How can it be but that the Covenant of Circumcision must needs be a Covenant of Faith since Abraham is said to have received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith Yet we see when it comes to be duly examined there appears no such matter For the only Argument fairly resulting from Rom. 4. 11. can be no other than this That Covenant or those Promises in respect of which Abraham is said to have received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith must needs be a Covenant of Faith But the Scripture is express that Abraham received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had yet being Vncircumcised which must of necessity be understood in respect of the forementioned Promises that had been made him long before his Circumcision and upon the account of which we are expresly told that he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for Righteousness Gen. 15. 6. Therefore that Covenant or those Promises must needs be a Covenant of Faith But then as hath been already observed it follows not that the Promises made unto him and his Seed after him in their Generations upon Condition of his and their Circumcision mentioned Gen. 17. 7 8 9 10. were any part of the Covenant of Faith since the Apostle is express that Faith was not reckoned to him for Righteousness when he was in Circumcision but in Vncircumcision § 3. Circumcision therefore as we have said was a Seal only to Abraham and that in respect of the Promises made him yet being Vncircumcised whereby he was Confirmed in the Assurance of that Peculiar Prerogative that had been before conferred on him and which the Apostle here expresly mentioneth He received saith he the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had yet being Vncircumcised that he might be the Father of all them that believe In respect whereof it is evident that Circumcision was that to the Father of the Faithful in its Extraordinary Institution and in his Extraordinary Circumstances that it could not be to any of his Natural Progeny in its Ordinary Vse It was indeed appointed as a Sign or Token of the Covenant Gen. 17. 7 8 9. and that both unto Abraham himself and the rest that were under it and so the Spirit of God himself expresly stiles it vers 11. Whereby they were obliged unto a Perfect and Universal Obedience to the whole revealed Will and Law of God Gal. 5. 3. For I testifie to every man that is Circumcised that he is a Debtor to do the whole Law and hereof 't is true it was a Sign or Token It being no other than the Restipulation of the Covenant on their part Gen. 17. 9. 10. Thou shalt keep my Covenant therefore thou and thy Seed after thee in their Generations this is my Covenant which ye shall keep Every man-child among you shall be Circumcised But it doth not therefore follow that because it was a Token of that Covenant on their part in respect of their Duty that it was also intended as a Seal unto them of the same Covenant on God's part in respect of God's Promise It being a Seal only unto Abraham and that in respect of those Peculiar Promises made him in Uncircumcision Nor was every ones Circumcision so much as a Token to him of his Right to any of the Promises therein contained as is evident in Ishmael and others the Servants born and bred in Abraham's Family and Strangers bought with Mony who were all to be Circumcised to whom yet nevertheless none of the Promises in that Covenant were made as is plain from Gen. 17. 7 8 20 21 23 27. whereby it is clear that the true Reason why any were Circumcised was the Command not Interest in the Covenant Much less was Circumcision a Seal to all that received it of their interest in the Righteousness of that Faith that Abraham had And it is equally absurd to say that Circumcision was a Seal unto all its Subjects of the Righteousness of Faith which they had while Uncircumcised since many of them were never Possessors of that saying Grace neither before or after as to affirm that it was the Seal of a Paternal Relation to all Believers unto every one that received it this being Abraham's Peculiar Prerogative and Incommunicable to any else And indeed Circumcision was so far from being a Seal of the Gospel Covenant or of their Interest in the Righteousness of Faith to the rest that were under it that it was rather Token unto them of Servitude and Bondage and such a Yoke that as the Apostles tell them neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear it Acts 15. 10 24. Gal. 5. 2. 3. Which yet it had not been had it been to them a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith or of the Gospel Covenant For that brings with it true Christian Liberty and Freedom Gal. 5. 1. SECT VI. AND therefore when the Apostle tells us Gal. 3. 16. that to Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made He saith not unto Seeds as of many but as of one and to thy Seed which is Christ He could not have the Covenant of Circumcision in his Eye as 't is generally concluded he had For as hath been plainly proved that was no other than a Covenant of Works or a Legal Covenant obliging all that were under it to a perfect Obedience to the whole Law Gal. 5. 3. And therefore as the Promise that Abraham should be the Heir of the World was not derived unto him or to his Seed through the Righteousness of that Covenant So neither was Christ the Mediator of it He having obtained a more Excellent Ministry by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which is established upon better Promises Heb. 8. 6. Better Promises not for the Substance of them in themselves considered For as God promised to be a God unto that People in