Let me have my Portion of good all in my own hands Thus all Mankind had been secured and not left to the hazard of every single Person betraying himself For it is most apparent by Adam what every one would have done he having all possible Advantages in a fresh Vigorous Holiness an unstained World Such a lively Invitation of the Tree of life Such a short Act of Self-denial or refusing to be a God to himself as he thought to be by Eating of that Forbidden Fruit. But now let us see what all this contributes to the Points we are upon which will be found to be exceeding in Enlightning both the Law and the Gospel to us 1. From hence it appears the Law is an immutable and unchangeable Law of Holiness and of Everlasting Obligation while there is such a Being humane Nature For it arises from the Being of God to be enjoyed in Holiness and Blessedness by Man made so to enjoy And it arises from the Image of God Jesus Christ in and by whom that State was to have been Confirmed and so for ever Enjoyed and by whom it is to be so Recovered 2. From hence it Appears there can be no new Law but what must of Necessity entwine and incorporate into that First Law and merge into it so Adequate to the Being of Man Enjoying the holy and Blessed God by Jesus Christ the Image of God Such was that Law of not Eating the Forbidden Fruit It was a Law of Trust in Christ the Image of God the Way and the Truth and the Life by way of Confirmation and so was immediately Adopted into that Law of Righteousnoss and Holiness The Law of Faith in Christ the Redeemer and of Repentance is in this Sense no new Law but that Old Commandment and a New Commandment only by being new Illustrated by a more glorious Light but it unites with that Law first given of Holiness in and by Christ the Image of God for the enjoying God in Conformity to him now in away of Redemption Expiation and Recovery and thereby a Return to our First State according to the first Law 3. From hence it Appears the Everlasting Covenant of God in Predestinating a Number of Mankind to be Conformed to the Image of his Son cannot be disanulled or added to nor taken from by any Dispensation or manner of Speaking that comes after it according to that Fore-mentioned Rule of the Apostle Gal. 4. 3. understanding it of the Elect of God controlling all Doubts so that what Christ was to do as the Image of God by way of Confirmation He now does by way of Redemption by that mighty Eflectuating Image of the Glory of God in Christ by his Spirit 4. From hence it Appears that Jesus Christ in the first and original Right of being the Head of every Man and the Image of the invisible God by whom and for whom All Things were made and without whom nothing was made that was Made and in whom they consist upholds a present State of the World in the Patience and Long-suffering of God and also bears up as he pleases the Natural Law in which Man was made enforcing the Reasonableness Justice and Equity to Turn by Repentance to that God Who leaves not himself without Witness in giving Fruitful Times and Seasons and filling Mens Hearts with Food and Gladness and so signifies Grace and Mercy and to Recover themselves as far as to the utmost they can to that State of Righteousness of which they find such plain mentions of in their Hearts and finding the shortness of their own Power to cast themselves upon Divine Grace and Help And where the Light of the glorious Gospel comes according to all degrees of Divine Revelation the Obligation rises higher and becomes stronger For the Transgression and Ruin of Humane Nature does not take off the Obligation of Duty but it stands wherein soever God does not immediately execute the Penalty or vouchsafes any Remainder of Power at first given or increase and Advantage of that Remainder and wherein soever Men do not thus there is a Just particular Personal Condemnation But yet it Remains according to the first Standard Law of Creation every Man must be miserable for ever and die the Death whoever is not found in the Image of God in Christ in Righteousness and true Holiness for the Enjoyment of him 5. From hence it lastly Appears The Elect of God in Jesus Christ must be perfectly restored into a state of Righteousness and freedom from Guilt into a state of Holiness and Purity for the Enjoyment of God and seeing this cannot be in Man Fallen Sinful Unholy and so Miserable for ever It must be by the Sacrifice Righteoâ—sness and Obedience of Christ imputed by the Restoration of his Spirit and all according to Grace and Riches of Grace and to the Praise of the Glory of that Grace which Adam first refused but is hereby exalted to a far higher Glory by Jesus Christ appearing thus a Redeemer a Reconciler an Eternal Spirit so closely united and fully declar'd in Redemption For the Lord even Christ and his Increated Spirit is that Spirit changing into his own Image from Glory to Glory by that Spirit who is Himself Jehovah That I may now make a nearer Approach to resolve this great and weighty Question Whether the Gospel can be in true proper and strict Sense stiled a Law I will now propose these Two Heads to discourse it upon 1. I will shew how far the Law as it is a Law must yet needs join its Authority for and with the Gospel according to its eternally Holy and righteous Nature and then I will on the other side shew how far the Gospel without any Abatement of its purest Gospel-Nature makes use of the Law as a most righteous holy Law to its own most graoious Ends. 2. I shall make it yet most evident from Scripture that the Law can never as it is Law in the Scripture Definings and Discourses of it become Gospel Nor on the other side can the Gospel as it is Gospel and drawn out according to the Everlasting Covenant pass into the nature of Law according to Scriptures describing of Law I begin with the First Head to shew how far the Law cannot even as Law but join its Authority to the Gospel 1. That the Law of Reason and Understanding of Righteousness Holiness Goodness that God hath engraven upon the Heart of Man and seated in his Conscience cannot but Establish the Revelation of Christ and Grace by him manifested by such a mighty Power from Heaven and asserted by so many Infallible Proofs to be from God so full of Goodness and Grace above the very Law of Creation it self Implanted in Mans Heart It cannot I say but Establish it as a Faithful Saying and worthy of All Acceptation of both Faith Love and Obedience So that in this very Regard it may be truly and properly stiled a Law of Faith and Obedience to the Gospel
of Grace is to Communicate it self 2. The Gospel having such a Communication of Righteousness so High so Perfect can accept a Sinner by putting upon him a Perfect Righteousness and Obedience and so blot out all his Transgressions and Imperfections by a full and free Pardon the Penalty being fully Answered and discharged by Christs Death and Sufferings even as the Righteousness is fulfilled by him who is that Image of Glory But the Law being only a Rule and no more can accept no less than the whole and Perfect Obedience For the least Offence being as they speak Solutio continui a Convulsion or Breach of the whole Frame of Righteousness the Law can pronounce nothing but Condemnation to a Sinner who hath not that Full and Perfect Righteousness of the Gospel to offer to it but sollicits and stirs up and works Wrath by the discovery of Sin and it stains all Imperfect Righteousness by declaring the Offendor in one Point guilty of all It brings to nothing all outward Righteousness by shewing the very first Desire or Coveting to be Sin 3. The inward Inherent Righteousness so absolutely Necessary to be in every Person redeemed by Christ and united to him is not only enjoin'd upon him by a Letter that Kills by Commanding and giving no Power but is conveyed to him by a Quickning Spirit changing him into the same Image from Beginning Glory to Perfect Glory as by that Lord who is that Spirit Jehovah one with that Spirit and who himself is that Image and that Spirit So every one Redeemed by Christ is the Epistle and Gospel of Christ it self written not with Ink but with the Spirit of the living God This the Law can never do it Commands and supposes the Power which was once given but the Law never considers the Loss by the Fall nor takes Compassion of it So never it can become a Gospel For the Gospel brings every good Work from the Treasury of Eternal Love and Grace from the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant by a meeting of the Spirit of the Gospel in the Heart of every Elected in Christ and from Providential Opportunities and Advantages of such holy Action and good Work according to the Will of God Heb. 13. 4. The Reward therefore and the whole procedure of Judgment is according to the Gospel of and according to meer Grace to all the Elect of God though in and with a Splendor of Holiness and Purity But whatever is done at that day so that the Law hath the Superiority even to and upon Those who enjoy the Gospel all is turned to Condemnation and Aggravation of Punishment even to and upon all those who are not the Evangelized the Children of the Gospel by Election and yet in a way of clearest Justice and Righteousness according to their Works in that Righteous Judgment as shall presently be in a particular Head of this Dscourse made out concerning that great day 5. The Gospel hath this most illustriously peculiar to it that it toucheth nothing even that is in its own Nature most severe and farthest from Grace but it by its high Dominion of Grace it Subordinates it to the Ends Purposes and Service of Grace even the Law Sin and Death that where they Abound Grace does much more Abound where Sin by the Law does Reign unto Death All who receive abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteousness shall much more Reign in Life by Jesus Christ and Grace it self so Reigns As therefore it hath been made out Even the Law is throughout taken into this great Service of the Gospel for the great Ends and Purposes of Grace but now the Law takes nothing under its Cognizance but so far as it comes under its Hand with Relation to Fallen Man it turns it like it self into a Killing Letter and into a Ministration of Condemnation Let us therefore consider the most different Influence of the Law in Three Dispensations that Comprehend all the Dealings or manner of Treaties God hath had with Man since the Transgression of Adam 1. That which is the most Universal Dispensation of God towards all Mankind and is generally stiled the Law or Light of Nature or as the Apostle calls it The Work of the Law written in the Heart wherein All should be doing by Nature the things contained in the Law Men being a Law to themselves And this though it be the lowest of Divine Dispensations to Men in order to recovery of the Elect in order to Humane Society for the Elects sake yet it is general to All Only in Children and Ideots it is hidden and close folded up for want of the Use of the Faculties else it is the same And it is by the Interposal of the Mediator for the Elects sake that there should be a World under the Patience and long-Suffering of God and by the same Patience and long-Suffering there was a Reserve and Reprieve from the utter Loss of the Image of God as from Christ Communicated on account of which he is said to enlighten every Man that comes into the World which Light is capable of more and more degrees of Clearness and Power if closely attended to whereby the World becomes habitable by being under the Government of that Eternal Wisdom by which Kings Reign Princes and all the Judges of the Earth decree Justice Prov. 8. 15. Now this Reserve of the Image of God in Man as it falls under the Law or the strict Rule of Holiness It serves only to Self-Accusation as to every particular Person that he hath not acted up to that Law and Light within and yet still if they did live up to the highest degrees it could not make a Recovery or Restoration of any Man without Christ For without any the least Acceptance of what is done according to it It only Aggravates what was not done to the height so that That Accusation of Thoughts the Apostle speaks of the Law hath its Power over and the Excusings or Apologies of Thoughts are from the Grace of the Gospel which does allow them in Abatement of Condemnation for any good thing found in them or done by them and therefore the Apostle says God will Judge the Secrets of all Hearts at that Day according to this Gospel by Jesus Christ shewing that with Relation to this Light given by the Mediator and for his sake God will proceed with great Gospel Equity and Mercy which may be another and greater Senâ—e of those words before given to all those who have laid together those Remainders or Reserves of the Light of Nature and the Patience and Goodness of God of which he hath given so many Witnesses So that it shall be more Tolerable for such than others who have trodden all these under Foot and run into all Excess of Riot Cruelties and all Uncleanness with Greediness But in all the Elect the Grace of the Gospel makes much a higher use of this Light for it lifts them up above it into a New-Creation
and Regeneration by the Spirit of Life and Grace from Christ and of this the Apostle Discourses after the Mentions of the Law of Nature and the Gentiles Conformity to it in some parts the Grace of the Gospel turns the Uncircumcision into Circumcision of the Spirit as he goes on 2. Let us consider the great difference between the Law and the Gospel in that which Scripture in the New Testament so universally stiles the Law viz. the whole Frame of the Mosaic Law and as this was purely by it self and as it did not look to Christ it is Represented as that rigorous and severe Dispensation that is the Killing Letter the Ministration of Death of Condemnation the Law that worketh Wrath by which is the Knowledge of Sin by which no Flesh can be Justified in his Sight a Law of Works done by our own Power in Number Weight and Measure or else it brings under the Curse A Law therefore that can by no means give life and so Righteousness cannot be by it unto Justification of Life and all the Ceremonies are but so many Labels Hand-writings and Seals against us and contrary to us Binding us to keep the whole Law so opposite to Christ that where they are observed since Reversed by the Gospel he can profit us nothing opposite to Grace so that he that Adheres to them for Righteousness falls from Grace and is under the works of the Law and under the Curse as the Apostle says whoever Sins having the Law perishes by it and with having it It is a Covenant that is found fault with because God finds fault with them who are under it for Breaking it And yet all this time the Law is Holy Just and Good and therefore there was a Glory in regard of its so intimate and essential Goodness that reflected a Glory on Moses his Face when God gave the Two Tables as it were in Remembrance of the first Glory on Adam but it soon vanished into a Ministry of Death and Condemnation shewing how soon Adam fell from the glory of God And yet even this whole Mosaic Frame was designed with all its Ceremonies to lead to Christ according to all the Service of the Law to the Gospel when it is in the hand of the Gospel as hath been before explained in which regard also Moses his Face shone receiving the Raies of the Divine glory in the Face of Christ but because the Efficacy of the Gospel-grace was only to the Elect the Law became Superior and the Ceremonies thickned as a Veil upon that glory Emblemed by the Veil on Moses his Face which hid the glory of Christ which Veil so sadly lies on the Minds of the Jews blinding them to this day But this very Law being in the hand of the Gospel to the Elect was a Law converting the Soul making Wise the Way of Life and all its Ceremonies led to Christ and his glory shone through them although because it was not a Dispensation high and Spiritual enough for that glory oâ— grace They saw That glory was to be done away in Christ not to Remain and therefore even as God did often under-value all the legal State in compare with the Gospel-grace So did his Saints also in the time of the Old-Testament and under the Gospel it is done away But the substantial Goodness of of it was then and ever shall be in the hand of the Gospel as hath been more fully set out in the last Head of Discourse 3. Let us now lastly duly weigh how far even the Dispensation of the Gospel becomes Law to them who by not being in Christ are under the Law although they have the Light of the Gospel vouchsafed to them in the outward Administration For to whomsoever the Gospel is hid or veiled and a Savor of Death they are left to the Dominion of the Law over them However the Gospel be never so clearly offered to them The Law then having nothing to do with the Promises of Grace it urges upon us whatever is to be done by our selves it presses the Acceptance of Christ and of his Righteousness a Conformity to his Holiness and to his holy Precepts as the only way to Recover our selves but it having no Power of Promise according to the Gospel in its own proper Ordination or Dispensation it calls upon us in our own Strength and Improvements of our selves to obtain both Righteousness and the Spirit and so entitles us after the manner of Works only to Pardon of Sin Righteousness and Sanctification by Christ which is turning the Gospel into a Law to all who are not the Children of God by Faith in Jesus Christ Hereupon it proceeds to aggravate Guilt and Condemnation and to make it more Tolerable for any than for those who having had the Gospel have not yet reached Justification and Righteousness and Sanctification and Holiness by and from the Gospel according to it But now the Gospel proceeds quite otherwise with all those who are the Evangelized truly the Children of Promise For it gives all to them freely and as a Ministration of Righteousness of Life and of the Spirit even that very Righteousness and Spirit It does not set the Elect of God to Correct their Faces the Face of their Hearts and Lives by it as by a Glass or Mirror shewing them what they are but it presents Jesus Christ the Image of God who is also the Lord that Spirit changing the Saints into the same Image though indeed it be but a Beginning Glory onwards still to Perfection of Glory So that there are Raies of Glory from Christ upon the Soul and Spirit of every one united to him far greater than the Raies of Glory on Moses his Face shining from God in his Law by his Image Christ but not as Mediator but as the Eternal Word in our Nature and as in the First Creation not our Trustee and Surety in the New-Covenant and New-Creation So That Glory was none being so much exceeded by Christ as Mediator which is also a remaining Glory always going on to the Perfection of Glory Whatever therefore of Righteousness arises any way to or in Man not thus derived from Christ Scripture calls it Flesh as being Man's Righteousness not Gods and Righteousness of Flesh that is of Humane Erection not Gods Righteousness and so the Holiness rising from Mens Faculties and Power is Born of Flesh and so is Flesh and is not Spirit not after the Spirit Therefore it cannot See Enjoy or enter into the Kingdom of God And this must needs be plainly our Lords Sense and thus he does not speak of Flesh Corrupt Flesh as it speaks Lust and foul Corruption for that cannot pretend to have any thing to do in the matter of Righteousness and Holiness but by Flesh is to be understood Creature-Righteousness and Holiness as in our present Fallen State and in regard of this No Flesh that is Man with all his Powers even of Soul in this sinful lapsed
thus I have laid down the great Doctrin of the New-Testament in these Points as I have Reason from such an abundant Scripture Evidence to be assur'd Let me for a Conclusion recommend to all the Ministers of the Gospel the due Consideration of the whole matter For it is of most exceeding Concernment to our Ministry This is our Enablement our Sufficiency as Ministers of the New-Testament to Preach not the Letter but the Spirit to Preach it as a Ministration of Righteousness and not of Condemnation as a Ministration not of the Letter but of the Spirit For the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life Thus we shall Minister it in its Abiding Continuing Glory as it shall continue in the Kingdom of Christ set out in all its Freeness and in all its Efficacy We cannot else Triumph in manifesting the Savor of the Knowledge of Christ nor will our Ministry be of Sufficiency to be a Savor of Death unto Death to the lost as it ought to be according to the Divine Ordination laid down by the Apostle 2 Cor. c. 2 3. For if the Full and true Grace of the Gospel be not set out as a Ministration of Righteousness of Life and of the Spirit It does not offer to Men the great Gospel Experiment whether it is unto them a Savor of Life unto Life or of Death unto Death They have not that high Savor of the knowledge of Christ that is the Instrument of Grace as by a most Divine and heavenly Suffumigation or Perfume of Life to excite and bring to Life such a stream of Life to give Life from the Spirit nor on the other side till This be Administred can it according to this Gospel Canon or Rule be said That the Ministry of it is a savor of Death unto Death for to whomsoever this high savor of Life is not Administred there is not that conclusion to be made it is of Death unto Death herein being the strength of the Crisis or distinction If the highest savor of the Gospel give not Life the only flavor of Life be not effectual to Life be but like a dead Savor effect nothing produce nothing of Life it must needs be argued such are unto Death And even the Gospel Preached concludes them unto Death when it does not prevail if the most irradiant Light of Christ the Image of God shining to Men does not Enlighten Such a hiding demonstrates such Lost and their Case Desperate Rationalizing Moralizing upon the Gospel yea Scripture Legalizing upon it without a continual interweaving this high Spirituality and rich Grace of it cannot thus Conclude Seal and Bind up If the Fountain and Sources of Light and Life be not kept clear and open tho Men do indeed die and perish for want of Life and Light yet they are not Sealed and bound up for Death as the true Preaching of the Grace of the Gospel by this Ordination of God declared here by the Apostle does The close Experiment for want of this Ministration of the New Testament is not made For the Apostle says Who is sufficient so to Preach the Gospel as that it should be if not a Savor of Life unto Life the principal purpose design and scope of it then of Death unto Death This sufficiency saith he is of God who hath therein Sufficientized to Minister the New Testament not as of a Letter that Kills but as of the Spirit that giveth Life so that tho it be not indeed to all a Ministration of the Spirit giving Life to all yet it is not our Male Admistration for we are by such a faithful discharge of our selves a Savor of Death unto Death without which so faithful a Discharge we could not be so for such a Preaching only as was said puts such a Crisis upon Persons makes such a Tremendous Gospel Experiment which the only Wise God hath yet Ordained should be made by the Free Gospel Preaching And that this Experiment may be made saith the Apastle we take great care not to allay the high flavor of the Gospel by any mixture of the Doctrin of Works with that of Grace as they who minding thir own Advantages make a Trade of Debasing what is most Excellent by vending worse in Temperament with Nobler Liquors But with greatest Sincerity as in the sight of God we bring forth only pure Gospel Supream Grace and herein we use all Freedom Clearness Frankness Openness and Boldness in manifesting this No darkned unintelligible Doublings between Grace and Works as Moses who veiled so the Gospel-part of his Ministry that it became a Ministration of Death And because Paul knew how distasteful this purity of Preaching is to the Condemned World that would yet be Righteous and to the proud and stately Powers of Reason and Free Will He says we arm our selves with a Divine Courage and constancy in pursuing this Ministry and will not on any account whatsoever use Art or Guile but with all integrity represent Truth in its own Light and leave to God the Discrimination of the Lost to whom this Preaching is as the Jealousie-Water to discover them when their very Mind the highest Rational Part being Blinded by the God of this World find not the Rays of the Glory of the Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God and all our Perfection is Likeness to Him shining to them Wherein the Apostle manifestly alludes to what he had said of the Superior Glory of the Gospel to that of the Law tho that gave such a Gloâ—y to Moses his Face And he alludes also to the Veil on Moses his Face upon that Glory and to the Veil on the Hearts of the Jews to this day Implying That not to receive this Pure Gospel Light is like Jewish Unbelief who Stumbled at that Stumbling-Block of Exalting Works and their own Righteousness above Christ and Grace It is true indeed this Preaching up of our Works Endeavours relying upon our own Action is very plausible and seems to carry greater force as being more a kin to our first Constitution under the First Adam And of this the Apostle also gives a Secret as we say Gird when in this so great Point he interposes not without great Design We Preach not our selves As if Preaching intermingled with Works and Humane Powers of Holiness were setting up and exalting our selves into a Dominion over mens Consciences but saith He we Preach Christ the only Lord and our selves Servants iâ— so high a Ministry And in this Epistle Chap. 11. They who even with design against the Grace of the Gospel Teach the Law are as the Apostle says in the appearance of Angels of Light and Ministers of Righteousness Zealous enforcers of Holiness and good Life if yet they stop up these Springs and are Enemies of this Grace they are False Apostles and Ministers of Satan Evil Workers as the Apostle calls them in a taunt of their high pretence to Works and others for want of true distinguishing Thoughts desirous and most propended to be Teachers of the Law and yet dare not desert the Grand Gospel-Principles Know not what they Speak nor whereof they affirm that is do not accurately Think nor Speak nor Reconcile themselves to themselves For the Law is good if a Man use it Lawfully that is according to the Gospel direction of it But pure perfect Law is only pointed set against those upon whom the Gospel hath not Effect who are given up by it as Incurable and unto Death This I speak not I appeal to Him who Searcheth Hearts with Reflection on any Person or sort of Persons and least upon Mr. Williams of whom I desire much other Esteem But to move and perswade him and all Preachers of the Gospel to reconcile all their Notions Disputes Preaching the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God commited to their Trust which the Apostle hath defined to be then sufficiently Preached when it is Primarily and till the Gospel hath remanded the Lost under the aggravated Condemnation of the Law for refusing the Grace of the Gospel 'till then I say the New Testament is to be Preached as a Ministration of the Spirit and not of the Letter for the Letter Killeth but the Spirit giveth Life a Ministration of Life not of Death not of Condemnation but of Righteousness which Ministration shall in a short time be with Open Face and all Veils removed the Lord drawing near and all Turning to Him beholding Christ the Image of God and the Glory of God in the Face of Christ we shall be Changed into the same Image from the Glory of a lower degree now to the Glory that shall be in perfection by the mighty Effusions of that Spirit who is Jehovah that shall so soon be Now this high and richest Gospel Treasure we have saith the Apostle at the present but in Vessels of Earth Men of like Corruptions and guilt low and base Appearances of outward Condition and State and of the vile and dying Bodies for Sin that the excellency of Divine Grace and Power may be Exalted alone throughout and throughout For at the present we have as the Apostle saith all this Glory but in hope we see yet but as in a Glass tho with an Open Face this Glory But when the Angelical Ministry Rev. 14. 6. shall in the Kingdom of Christ be Missioned and sent out this Ministration shall so Exceed in Glory that all other Glory of Humane Righteousness shall utterly Disappear and when it comes it shall for ever Remain And this shall he when the Israel of God shall be Called and Turn'd to the Lord and that shall be when 〈◊〉 Times are at an End as Christ says Luke 21. 24. And when the Eclipse on the 〈◊〉 Churches going off they shall have a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full Orbed Light as that Word Rom. 1â— 25. Opposed to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Eclipse in that Chapter properly signifies and All this shall I doubt not begin at 1697. FINIS
God and us but by the Blood of the Lamb offered by the Eternal Spirit and his Appearing in that Blood to the very Face of God for us in Heaven For on the least Failing or Offence the Law hath none to offer us So that there can be nothing but Condemnation On this Account therefore we find in the Gospel so many of the Laws Severities that we may be continually awakened to go to Christ 2. That we may find Inability in our selves to do any thing suitable or agreeable to that holy Law which Commands with an Astonishing and Admirable Excellency of Holiness but gives not the least Power or Strength to perform what it Commands And in both Respects The Apostle may be very well understood If there had been a Law that could have given Life verily Righteousness should have been by the Law But the Law that Commands and gives not Power is therefore called a Letter that Kills 3. That herein the Gospel may shew it self to be a Gospel indeed In the Ministration of Righteousness opposite to the Law the Ministration of Condemnation and in the Ministration of Life and Power by the Spirit giving strength to do what is Commanded and so enabling the Spirits of Saints to become the Epistle and Gospel of Christ Ministred by the Servants of Christ in Preaching the New Testament but written not with Ink or in the Leaves of the Bible but with the Spirit of the Living God and not in Tables of Stone but in the Fleshly Tables of the Heart and therefore is the Gospel in all its most proper ways of Speaking so constantly interlineated with Christ and his Spirit 4. Seeing what even the Spirit is pleased to vouchsafe in the present State is so much below the very Glory the Gospel holds out There is a continual Incitation the Gospel sets before us to desire that Change from the Beginning Glory of the present State to the Glory that shall be in the Perfect State of the Kingdom of Christ And on this Account is that Future State so often mentioned when indeed with a Face perfectedly open we shall behold as in a Mirror not as in ordinary Mirrors our own Natural Faces but Jesus Christ the Image of God in his own Glory and we now are in Degrees and shall be perfectly Changed into the same Image from Glory begun now to the Perfection of the same Glory in the Kingdom of Christ as by that Spirit Jehovah And this gives us the true Excellency of the Gospel The Law like our ordinary Mirrors shews our own Faces by that Light which first indeed represents what we ought to be but we not being that it Reproves and Condemns such Sinners or Imperfect Saints as the Best are but it shews no Glorious Image or not in Christ with an Efficacious Changing Grace and Power But this the Gospel does for us 4. The Gospel takes the Law into it self that it may though it be in it self a Ministration of Righteousness and Life and Spirit Yet that it may by the Law shew the Greatness of the Sin of Unbelief and Impenitency Reâ—â—ection of it self and Refusal of its gracious Offers And this it does on Two great Reasons 1. That all those Manifestations of the Sin and Danger of an Unbelieving Impenitent State may be Rational Instruments and Conveyances in the hand of the Spirit of that Power of Faith and Repentance flowing from it self in the New-Testament into the Hearts of the Elect. 2. That the Gospel may have in Readiness the Law to Revenge every Disobedience against it self and yet preserve its own high Title of the New-Testament and the Covenant of Grace For as the Lord saith I accuse you not You have one that Accuseth you even Moses in whom you Trust and I Judge you not The Words that I have spoken they shall Judge you at the Last Day viz. in the Virtue and the Authority of that Eternal Law of Righteousness which as hath been shewn cannot but pass along with the so gracious Gospel Dispensation And thus when the Gospel hath made offer of it self and all the Grace of it without Saving Effect The Law and Justice according to it Seises upon the Sinner for Sin against that Eternal Righteousness Essential to it self and against the Unspeakable Grace of the Gospel with dreadfullest Aggravations of Condemnation And herein Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God in our Nature is the Righteous Judge at that Day though here on Earth he judged not being Come not to Judge but to Save And his Judgment is according to that Eternal Law seated in the Heart and Thoughts of Men and yet according to the Gospel as the Apostle speaks declaring that his Judgment agreeable with the Law written in Mens Hearts and so in the Word of God which very Law written in the Heart and Thoughts of Men Accusing or Excusing is now in the hand of Christ and of the Gospel to its own great Ends of drawing them to Christ who are his and leading them under the Conduct of his Spirit And God is said there to Judge the Secrets of Mens Hearts according to the Gospel concerning that Light and Sense of Natural Conscience Because the Grace of the Gospel both exalts this Light and because also according to the saving Effects of the Gospel upon these Powers of Natural Conscience so preserved by Christ every Man is found to Honor Praise and Glory or else falls under the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God upon their hard and Impenitent Hearts and Ways by which they have treasured up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. And of all things in both States Jesus Christ is most righteously and propperly constituted the Judge as shall be further made out But notwithstanding the Law and the Gospel do thus far join themselves one to another yet which will come up close to the Decision of this Question The Law can never pass into the Nature of the Gospel nor can the Gospel become a Law For First It is most evident the Law can never become Gospel or of the excellent Nature of it as shall be seen in a brief Compare of the one with other in these following Particulars 1. The Gospel or New-Testament gives the Image of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ an Image of the Admirable Beauty and Life in Christ the Wisdom of God the Righteousness of God and the Power of God Perfect Increated Invariable Eternal ready to communicate it self in Richest Abundance to All the Election of God But the Spirit of God it self Represents the Law a Holy and Righteous Rule It must so needs be But it is Engraven only in Tables of Stone or written with Ink For Jesus Christ the Image of God in which Adam was made withdrew upon the Sin and Fall of Adam and what Adam had was lost and defaced so that there is a Rule of Glory but no Image of Glory as in the Gospel that by the Covenant
of God in Christ by Eternal Election what Qualification or Condition can there be of Cutting out of the Wild Olive or Vine unless to be in the Wild ones or in Darkness are made a Condition Sanctification or making Perfect in every good Work to do his Will and Working in us what is well-pleasing in his sight is as much secured as Glorification is and Justification may as well be called a Condition of Sanctification For God Sanctifies none but whom he Justifies as Calling a Condition of Justification or Sanctification of Glorification Seeing then cutting off only some Particularities as proper to the present State All These are of God in Christ and are found together in the state of Grace here and perfected each distinct in Glorification and Glorification distinct from them All and by it self in that Illustrious state of Saints superadded to all that Perfection of Grace even in Glory I may conclude none of Them is either Qualification or Condition but of and by it self in Free grace And this is Caution Limitation Prevention of Deception sufficient That no one part can be without the other Scripture therefore speaking of these Things so freely so manifoldly It shews All is alike Free-gift Free-grace All is in Connexion and inseparable Concatenation and indefailable Certainty to the Elect and Grace opens sometimes one way sometimes another as to Appearance or Manifestation But whoever is to be advised or directed to the most wise and hopeful Method in Case of Doubt It is to lie at the Foot of God through Christ for All grace from first to last and not to stay for or rest in any of our Preparations or Qualifications but to press up as near and as close to Christ as we can And happy is he whom he Calleth so to do for from whom else can we hope for any for so much as the First Turn of our Souls to God Himself and into the whole way Everlasting as from in and throuâ—h him alone And 〈◊〉 have dispatched the Third Head I proposed and come to the â—ourth and Last I am yet to speak to And that is That the Procedure of the Judgment of Christ at that Great Day However it be Represented in regard of the Exactness Righteousness and Equity of it as if it was and shall be by the Examination of every Mans Works and an Application of those Works to Law and that the Law as vindicating the Gospel Yet from undoubted and undeniable Grounds of Scripture it must needs be that the Good and the Bad are judged by their very Appearance in and out of Christ and so found written or not found written in the Book of Life And that so every Man's Case is determined and yet that the Works of the Servants of Christ Cloath Apparel and adorn them or as the Scripture says Follow them and the Works of Evil Men or their Sin finds them out Comes as Water into their Bowels and as Oil to their Bones is as the Garment that covers them and as the Girdle wherewith they are girded continually Notwithstanding this All these three Things are most admirable in the grand Oeconomy of that Day which the Father only and not so much as the Created Humane Nature of Christ could adjust or set in Order or in that sense knows or hath Cognizance of 1. The Spirits of Good and evil Men re-invested with Bodies must necessarily be understood to return into them with those Resentments they had in the Enjoyment of Christ or in Separation from him the Happiness of the one and Misery of the other For it is not possible to be supposed that such their Re-investiture should stupifie and benum and efface what they were so newly in the full Sense of That to me is the great Argument against Pre-existence that there are no Traces of the Sentiments in that former supposed Existence without which no Improvement can be apprehended to be made of the State before this and the Experiences therein but we are as much Strangers to them as if it were on all sides confessed we never were before This would be much stranger here when the whole Man Spirit Soul and Body are immediately to enter into the full Possession of the Happiness or Misery before enjoyed or sadly felt and therefore can by no means be supposed to lose what they had both in regard of the Justice of God upon that state of Spirits as in Prison and what is to be further executed upon them and much more in regard of his Grace to Spirits that had been as the Apostle says with Christ and that are so immediately to appear in Bodies of Glory 2. The very Company and especially the great Head and Prince under whom and with whom the Saints appear does most illustriously shew their Pardon and perfect Absolution and Justification from all their Sin and the perfected compleated Holiness and inherent Righteousness received from the imputed Righteousness and Spirit communicated by his Spirit of Christ So that they appear in Robes made white in the Blood of the Lamb and with Palms of Victory in their Hands They are Just Men made every way Perfect their Sins are blotted out when the times of Refreshing come from the presence of the Lord Herein they are above Judgment in themselves even as Christ their Head their appearing with Him is their immediate Justification both according to the Eternal law and Everlasting Gospel and with him they Judge Angels and the World But those who have no Interest in Christ not being with him even that is their Condemnation That he knows them not that they are made to depart and to go away from him Thus he that is Justified is for ever Justified and he that is Filthy and unrighteous is so for ever All which is in one view determined by being with or not with Jehovah our Righteousness the Sun of Righteousness arising with Glory in his Rays or Righteousness upon us or Healing in his Wings And this is according to what hath been said and according to all that hath been discoursed of our being found in Christ and receiving all from him and so apprehending that State of Perfection for which we are apprehended of Christ Jesus 3. The very View and Appearance in Bodies of Glory and Light and Purity called Armies of Heaven on White Horses in Linnen white and clean Bodies made like to his glorious Body by that Power of his subduing all things to it self the being made like to Christ by seeing him as he is does without any other Law but the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus set free from the Law of Sin and Death sufficiently declare Saints to be so without laying them to any other Law And all the Wicked are known by their Bodies of Shame and Contempt like Men condemned and known to be so by their Prison Cloths their Chains and Fetters Sheep are presently known and Goats appear Goats by that very Law of Appearance And
The true State of Gospel Truth Established upon the Free Election of God in Christ THE Agreement and yet Difference between Law and Gospel So that the Gospel cannot be stiled Law THE Inconditionateness of the Gospel Salvation THE Procedure of the Day of Judgment In the way of a Conciliatory Discourse upon Mr. Williams his CONCESSIONS By T. Beverley LONDON Printed for William Marshall at the Bible in Newgate street where you may be supplied with most of Mr. Beverley's Works and Dr. Owen's late Pieces viz. His Dominion of Sin and Grace bound 1 s. His Meditations and Discourses concerning the Glory of Christ being the Second Part and Application of the First Part that have been Printed twice Price bound 1 s. Two Discourses lately Printed of the Work of the Spirit that is wanting in Dr. Owen's Folio Both Discourses bound together in Octavo Price 2 s. His Guide to Church Fellowship bound 6 d. You may likewise be supplied with most of Dr. Owen s Books in Print 1693. The PREFACE THat the Jealousie of so many of the Servants of Christ hath been so exceedingly Awakned and Enflamed by Mr. William's suspicious Attempts to obscure the Doctrin of the Free Grace of God in Christ is to me a very great Prognostick of that Kingdom of Redemption drawing nigh and that Philadelphian State to which Christ hath opened a Door which none can shut and they therefore who are now nearest to it are obliged by Christ to hold fast his Word herein that among all the Professors of Protestancy who hold it in this part so loose none should take their Crown who are true Philadelphians Hence it appears that no more disadvantagious a Time could have been Chosen out by those who would Eclipse that Glory of Free Grace for their making an Attack or Impression upon those Doctrins wherein it is concern'd with Success So I hope it does appear No happier time when in this present Sardian State there is but room for dispute concerning them could have been singled out for the Friends of it then now when so many zealous Maintainers and Defenders of it have openly shewn themselves and offered themselves willingly should I say To help the Lord against the Mighty in the high Places of the Field of these Debates for so great Truths And indeed it is a duty on such Occasions to Discover the Foundation of Error and Mistake even to the very Neck and if in this Search some Essays are to find out and to bring out of the Scripture Treasury not only Things Old but New I hope none will be offended seeing as it is a duty at all times so it is more hopeful so near the day dawning and the Day-star arising such humble Offers should not be accounted foolish Fires but some Beams and Rays of that Light that shall appear more and more to the perfect day In the mean Time I have made it my earnest Endeavor not only to preserve herein the Analogy of Faith but to offer as a Key and Clue in all these Disputes these Five grand Principles 1. The whole of our Salvation is from God through God by God and so to God From God in the Majesty of the Father through the Mediation of the Eternal Word and Son of God by the Efficacy of the Eternal Spirit to the Praise of the Glory of his Grace All in All. Thus the Divine Being is the Father of Lights with whom is no Variation or shadow of Turning not only in his own Perfection but always looking full on his Elect. 2. That the Manifestation of this Salvation by that mighty Power and Efficacy of the Spirit is in the due Times and Seasons and in the just order really and effectually vested in the Spirits of the Elect and so joins their several Faculties and so the Action and Conversation according to all that is spoken of in Scripture 3. That the Law is the irrepealable standard of all that Man himself is to do whether imprinted on Man in the very Creation or revealed further by God in any after Manifestation of his Will which the Gospel as occasion requires takes into its own hand and makes use of and whatever is to be found in us according to the Gospel the Law lays its Sanctions upon it 4. The Gospel Commands nothing if strictly and properly taken Requires nothing Commands nothing that yet it declares must be in us in answer to it self nor that it declares must and shall be in us according to the Law but it making use of the law as to all the Commanding part It self gives and conveys all as being the Covenant of Grace from the Father through Christ the Son of the Father in Grace and Truth by the Holy Spirit 5. The Judgment of Christ is according to the Law answered thus by the Gospel as the Covenant of Grace in Relation to his own Elect Children Members and Servants written in the Lambs Book of Life by the Fathers Election from the Foundation of the World and in Relation to the Non-Elect His Judgment is according to the law of Righteousness imprinted on the Hearts of Men and according to that Law obliging upon any Manifestations or Intimations of the Gospel revealed to them Whoever then keeps these great Principles as a Pole-star in his Eye shall find himself guided by them in all the various Disputes of them and not fall into either of those great Errors the Apostle James warns us against of saying when we are Tempted we are Tempted of God who cannot be Tempted of Evil neither Tempts any one Nor the second like to it viz. Not to be sensible every good Gift every degree of good much more every perfect Gift is from Above and does not rise up but comes down Therefore above all the Assistances of the Divine Spirit guiding Us into all Truth and bringing every thing into our Remembrance I most humbly beseech for them and for my self and therein beg the Prayers of All who shall Read with any Approbation this short Discussion of these Truths Books Sold by William Marshall at the Bible in Newgate-street Relating to this Controversie viz. 1. Mr. Beverley's First Conciliatory Judgment concerning Dr. Crisp's Sermons and Mr. Baxter's Dissatisfaction in them Price sticht 2 d. 2. Mr. Beverley's Second Conciliatory Discourse upon Dr. Crisp's Sermons on the Observation of Mr. William's Dissatisfaction in them Price 6 d. 3. Samuel Crisp Esq his Book Entituled Christ alone Exalted in Dr. Crisp's Sermons partly confirmed in Answering Mr. Daniel William's Preface to his Gospel Truth stated How he hath wronged as well the Truth as the said Doctor in the great Point of Justification by the Neonomian Doctrin Price 6 d. 4. Samuel Crisp Esq his other Book Entituled Christ made Sin from 2 Cor. 5. 21. Evinc'd from Scripture upon occasion of an Exception taken at Pinners Hall at Reprinting of Dr. T. Crisp's Sermons Price sticht 1 s. 6 d. bound 2 s. 5. There is lately Published A plain Inquiry
requires Faith and Repentance Holiness and Obedience as Qualifications and Conditions This Publication of the Gospel reduced to the Everlasting Covenant must be Interpreted in Relation to the Elect so that Faith and Repentance may be understood to be no Qualifications Conditions or Means as on our Parts nor dependent on us but as Free and Absolute Gift to us though in us and Rising as from us when so given to us and so Scripture speaks often to the same purpose as is after to be shewn For All was both distinctly and together settled and Established in the same Eternal Council and under the Sanction and unmoveable Confirmation of an Everlasting Covenant whom he Predestinated He Called He Justified He Glorified All in one and the same Eternity in regard of Council in regard of Covenant All was then passed and Christ Enfeoffed in All for us however to be fulfilled in the Order of Time appointed by God with Christ To say then if the Elect do not Believe and Repent They shall be Damned I must confess may receive some Countenance from the Apostle Paul's saying to the Company that Sailed with him to Rome concerning the Shipmen Acts 28. 21. 31. 34. Except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be Saved when by a Prior Oracle He had assured them That there should not be the loss of any Man's life but only of the Ship which certainly included all the necâ—ssary Means of Preservation and so of the Shipmens being â—ept in the Ship that being such a Means before determined and so the Apostle returns to the first Certainty There shall not a Hair fall from any of your Heads Thus in Pressing Faith and Repentance it may very well be said Except ye believe and Repent You shall certainly Perish But concerning the Elâ—â—t it mâ—y be said You shall certainly be Saved as he that Repents and Believes shâ—ll be Saved For they shall certainly Repent and Believe and â—â—â—â—ved And I find not the Scripture is â—elâ— to spâ—â—k to allude to 〈◊〉 of the Arch Angel Jude on any Supposal whatever of the Elects being Damned but as with a Reverence of Election it says To deceive if possible the very Elect and except Those Days had been shortned No Flesh could be Saved but for the Elects sake Those Days shall be shortned For the Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal the Lord knoweth Them that are His This is the Supream or Sovereign Seal And It carries the Exhortation importing the other Seal along with it Let him that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity For that Departure from Iniquity is settled equally by way of Gift in the Everlasting Covenant and not by way of Condition or Limitation but by the same Eternal Council Covenant and Free Gift upon it even as Justification or Glorification One is as free and as Indefailable as the Other and as Self-subsistent without dependance upon our selves or upon one another One as the Other saving yet the Wisdom of the Divine Order And no after manner of Speaking can Turn Gods Hath Called hath Justified hath Glorified into Conditional Dependent and Incertain no more then his Fore-knowledge or Predestination into Conditional or Incertain I therfore deny any of the Graces or Duties Required by the Gospel can be in supream Sense called either Condition or Qualification with Relation to any other part of Salvation or Dependance on our Acts When we speak of them whom Scripture stiles The Election Head 2. I come now to the Second Head which I stile a noble Question whether the Gospel can by it self be stiled a Law according to which Believers are Justified Suppose but upon the very point of Believing or in that they have Believed and Repented and Obeyed that Law of the New Covenant or the Covenant of Grace and with Sincerity though not to Perfection all the Holy Laws and Rules of it And this I undertake the Negative of That it ought not to be stiled a Law And that this Principal Qestion may be duly stated I must first lay down that most Prime Consideration both of the Gospel and Covenant of Grace and also of the Law as an Everlasting Covenant of Righteousness and how these Two both Conspire in the Eternal Salvation and Blessedness of the Elect and yet how they do in some Critical or as I may so call them Nodal Points oppose and Eclipse one the other It is manifest from Scripture by what hath been already said that the First and Supream Point in the Council of God is the Purpose and Grace of having many Sons among the Children of Men whom He would bring to Glory and make Conformable to the Image of his Son and so as to be Holy and without Blame before Him in Love All which was Established in Christ the Eternal Son of God the Eternal Son of His Love and so this Decree and Purpose is properly called the Adoption of Children When this was Decreed by God the Creation of these Heirs of Life must needs be and so of the whole Humane Nature must needs be supposed to stand before and to the Eye of God in that Decree as Created and therefore there must be by any that would distiâ—ctly and stedfastly Understand these Points a most intent and due Consideration of what Scripture hath Revealed to us Concerning the First Creation of Man 1. It must then be acknowledged that Communication of the Divine Glory in the Creating an Intellectual and Immortal Spirit and in Righteousness and True Holiness the most lively Expressions of the Divine Being to us and so to be Happy and Glorious and Blessed in the Enjoyment of Himself in a Perfection of Holiness and Righteousness is the Supream Scripture Account of Creation and It becomes the Immutable and Unchangeable Law upon Man that can no more vary nor alter than the very Being of God and therefore in that great Relation wherein Jesus Christ stood in the Creation of Man It is said 1 Cor. 11. 3. God is the Head of Christ and the Man especially as we shall presently see intending Christ is the Image and Glory of God Christ speaking of himself even as Mediator in the human Nature He says My Father is greater than I while as Mediator in the Divine Nature He thought it no Robbery to be Equal with God John 14. Phil. 2. This is the Primo-Prime as may be said Foundation of Holiness and Happiness To Know and Enjoy the only True God Which Scripture calls the Glory of God 2 Cor. 4. as First in Nature and is before the Face of Christ And the Praise of this Glory is Sovereign even to Election in Christ Eph. 1. Of this Glory Man is fallen short or become destitute Rom. 3. 23. by Sin But neither Sin nor Redemption can bring down this Highest Glory For notwithstanding Sin and even Hell it self An Immortal Intellectual Spirit is eternally Obliged and Redemption is Bringing or Restoring to God and to an Access to the
Nature whatever is not of God in Christ is this Flesh I say no such Flesh shall boast or Glory in his presence as having obtained the glory of God nor be justified in his Sight Now by all this it plainly Appears the Gospel is so distinct in each particular from the Law that it can no more return back into a Law according to Scripture Discourse when it speaks strictly of Law as Law then the Law become Gospel Yet I shall further argue it more particularly that the Gospel cannot be a Law in the proper Scripture Sense of a Law although it be to be acknowledged the Law can never cease to be because it is Eternal Righteousness and it hath and ought to have Power upon all the Reserve of the Light and Law of Nature and upon all the Improvements of it by Common Grace from the helps of Revealed Truth in the Word of God Yea even the very Saints and Servants of Christ are hereby kept within Bounds at any Time or in any Acts wherein the Grace of Christ is not present to them more abundantly they are hereby acted to their Duty and the Supream Wisdom and Grace of the Gospel subordinates it to its own Purposes both in the Elect and in the Non-Elect as hath been shewn And this Answers all Cavils about the Doctrin of Free grace as if the Teaching of it were Antinomianism and let men loose either to Carnal Licentiousness Ease and Security Till the grace of God should come and Work But even while the Eye of the Soul is supreamly upon Free grace the free gift of Righteousness and of the Spirit yet the Law binds every Soul to its Ultimum Posse the All it can do and the Gospel subordinates the Law to engage Men so to do and though this be no Condition or Qualification on which Free grace is determined yet it is oftentimes the way and method of Supream grace to come upon such motion and action of the Soul not for the sake of that but for its own sake therefore to excite thereunto And it is one of the Wise methods of Gods Government of the World to make it Habitable for his Elects sake to Influence the Hearts and Actions of men either by that light of Nature or by his Gospel All which I have prefixed as necessary to remove all Scruple and doubt of what is to come after in the proof of this that the Gospel is not a Law For by what is said it Appears the Gospel and the Law are joined one to and with another in sweetest Consent so that all in Christ are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or under the Law to Christ and neither entrench upon nor enterfere one with the other But if they are divided or set one in Opposition to the other either Antinomianism truly so called Or a Covenant of Works is brought in even as the Jews separating that Law from Christ turned it to their own great Ruin into a Covenant of Works and the Apostle intimates every where the great danger of turning the grace of God into Licentiousness or proclaiming a liberty to Sin that Grace may Abound if we do not join the Law under the Gospel But thus Joining and Setting them in a Consent and Union in the great End the glory of Grace from the Foundation of the World we Honour and Establish both and plainly Understand That the Gospel is only a Covenant of Grace a Ministration of Righteousness Life and Spirit and yet hath so many admirable Rules of Holiness such powerful Commands and Exhortations to it as also to Faith in Christ and Repentance so many dreadful Threatnings and Denunciations and so severe a Judicature at the last not in it self but by the Ministry of the Law In that the Law is so prepared as to serve it fully and adequately thereunto and it self only as hath been said is a Ministration of Righteousness and Life Obj. If any should say By what means can the Gospel thus Preach the Law and hold out all the Perfections and Severities of it both as to it self as a Declaration of Free Grace only or as to the Law as an Eternal Law of Righteousness and not be turned into a Law Answ The Gospel being the manifestation of Life and Salvation it must needs come with a great glory of Light and Truth on every thing wherein the whole nature of Life and Death Happiness and Misery the Humane Nature can be concerned in stands so that tho it is not a Law it is yet a Doctrin of the greatest Amplitude Compass and Extent in all things that pertain to Life and Godliness or on the other side to Sin and Death So that as the Apostle says it hath Brought Life and Immortality to light so it hath brought all the other things any way related thereto to Light So then it is out of all doubt when ever the Gospel comes a great Light comes like the Morning spread on the Mountains It is therefore called the Day spring from on high opposed to Night and Darkness and the Vally of the Shadow of Death and so that there is a support of and in all our greater illuminations of Natural Conscience by that eternal Word Enlightning every man that comes into the World and on this very account were those more Heroick efforts of Natural Light and Moral Philosophy by Seneca Plutarch Plotinus Simplicius about the very time of the spread of the Gospel-Light by the Apostles I come therefore to decide that noble Question as I stile it whether the Gospel can bear or comport with the true Notion or sense of a Law To answer this Question There must be first a due Understanding and Notion of a Law In the general Law may be applied to any Doctrin or determinate Frame Constitution or Settlement that cannot be changed or varied And thus the Gospel may be called a Law But this is but a very general and loose Notion of a Law There is a more strict sense of it and it imports three things 1. A rule of Action given by a just Authority that must be observed 2. It supposes a Power resident in the Person under that Command and therefore it expects Obedience without any further Assistance or Gift of Power to enable in the Obedience 3. Rewards or Punishments are suspended upon the Obedience or Disobedience and a just Judgment must accordingly be given But such a Law as this the Gospel a Covenat of Grace cannot be as may be argued upon these great Accounts Arg. 1. There can be no Law given no rule of holy Action â—ut it must needs merge and fall into the Eternal Law of Righteousness and be the same with it being so perfect and as hath been shewn 〈◊〉 Brâ—â—â— so that upon a supposal of a new proposal of Grace the acceptance and obedience of Faith is as much commanded by the Eternal Law as any of the most Natural Moral Duties of Fear of God or Righteousness and the same