something practical at the end That Christ hath redeemed us from the Law or delivered us from it as the Scripture speaks so that we are not Vnder the Law but under Grace is not to be denyed by any and yet that we are still to obey the same is no less certain If thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments The Law therefore may be considered qua Regula or qua Foedus say our Divines which does in the gross state the matter By the Law we mean not the Ceremonial Law which containing things that were but shadows whereof the substance is come is abrogated out of question but we mean the Law Moral the Law of Nature or Law of Works Now this Law as a Rule we say that is as it prescribes us our duty to God our selves and our neighbour cannot cease but be always of force because it is founded on Our Nature and Gods and so long as they are the same this must be so also For ever O Lord thy Law is setled in Heaven But the Law as a Covenant that is as God and Man are obliged thereby so that man must live or dye and God deal with him according to his keeping or breaking it this is not to stand in force but we are delivered from it by Christ To come to the Difficulty There are three things in the Covenant the Precepts the Promise and the Threat The Preceptive part now is and must be still of force because the Law qua Regula is The Comminatory part is of force likewise because Christ tells us those that believe not are condemned already and St. Paul sayes that we are all by Nature the Children of wrath which could not be if the Threat were void The Promisory part then only remains and Divines say therefore that the Capacity of the Subject ceasing that ceases The condition thereof they say cannot be performed and the Promise is void But neither what they say is true nor is it the thing which should be said It is not the thing because the delivery of us from the Law which the Scripture speaks of as the purchase of Christ is the freeing us from the curse and condemnation of it To be freed from the Promisory part what good is that Neither is this true because the Lord Jesus a man as we are did perform the condition and made the reward thereby due to him of debt or merit and accordingly entred into glory This can be gain-said by no body If then Neither the Promise nor Threat nor Precepts are ceased how does the Law cease as a Covenant or we be freed from it Here now is the thing I must speak to and I humbly answer there are two Parties in a Covenant as I have asserted before and consequently there is Our part and there is Gods part in the Covenant On our part the Law qua Regula qua Foedus both being the Law and Covenant of Nature must for ought I see continue and always for when Christ after the day of Judgment shall have delivered up his Mediatory Kingdom and the Laws of it I do believe that man being made perfect in Holiness and confirmed therein this Law is that which he and the blessed Spirits in Heaven shall live by and keep for evermore But as to Gods part now and till the Judgment is past the case is altered We are by this Covenant through our Transgression we and all the world in Gods hands lyable to Wrath and Condemnation and God as Rector is engaged to deal with us according to his Threat But Mans case being verily pittiable he in his Wisdom found out and in his Goodness accepted of a satisfaction to be made by his Son and thereupon he is taken off so as not to inflict the punishment upon us There are two Reasons upon which a Law-giver who also is Rector may forbear the punishing a Delinquent One is when the case of the person is Pittiable and requires Commiseration and the other when his Justice and Honour can be saved also tho' he spare that person Such is the case here If God deal with man according to this Law all mankind must Perish which is pittiable indeed and it pleased Him therefore that the Lord JESUS his Son should interpose who by fulfilling the Law exactly for himself and bearing the punishment of it also in our stead it is made a Righteous Thing hereby without casting any dishonour upon Himself or Law to deal otherwise on his part with us than the Covenant required Here then to speak properly the Law is not Abrogated nor Ceased but Relaxed it is not an Abrogation or a Cessation but a Relaxation or a Dispensation as to the Penalty of it that is so as we shall not be condemned by it It is hitherto then the Point is come and so far doublesly we are in the Right We are not freed from the Law so as that we are no longer to obey it but we are delivered so as God will not deal with us according to it How then will you say does or will he deal with us I Answer by another Law a Remedying Law the law of Grace the Covenant of Forgiveness the law of Faith in opposition to the law of Works Christ sayes to the Father I will Redeem these lost Creatures from the Sentence of the Law by which every mortal man of them else must Perish But I will take the Redeemed into my Hands or under my Government so as they shall not be Lawless for all that They shall have the Law still as in my Hand to live by as well as they can and as far as human frailty will permit but they shall be dealt with in regard to Acceptation according to the Grace I have purchased for them and is promulgated in the Gospel The Law then remains still as a Rule to Live by but not as the Rule we shall be Judged by as a Rule of our Duty but not as the Rule by which we shall be Justified or Condemned There is a Universal Pardon in regard to the Sentence of the Law of Works procured passed and declared in the Gospel upon condition of our Faith and Repentance But the obligation of Obedience to the Precepts of it can never cease I must say still so long as it is the Law of Nature which never ceases The Law of Nature then or the Law of Works is the Norma Officii the Rule of Life but the Law of Grace this Act of Pardon is the Norma Judicii the Rule of Judgment We are not delivered from the Law so as that we are free from living according to it I must inculcate this to be sure I mistake not or be mistaken But we are delivered from it so as we shall not be Judged by it which is all one as not to be Justified or Condemned by it We shall be Judged by the Law of Liberty says St. James and St. Paul According to my Gospel Blessed be God for this
Truth And now I will crave leave for a little descant for the Matter and Use will bear it In all Tryals at our Judicial Courts there is a Statute upon which the Party or Parties accused are indited and according as they are found guilty or not by that Statute they are acquitted or condemned The Law by which Men shall be all tryed at judgment is not the Law of Works I have said but the Law of Grace I have need of saying this more than once because I know the notion of many Protestant Divines in their dispute with the Papist does bend them to another apprehension There is a Constitutive and Sentential Justification Juris Judicis The Law by which we are justified is that Law by which we must be judged It is by Faith we are justified and not by Works and that is all one as by the Law of Faith and not by the Law of Works Both is Scripture To maintain or to have any Conception that the Sentence at Judgment shall pass according to the Law of Works is an Errour and such as does tend to the subverting the Gospel and practical Religion It will be the great and only enquiry of that Day whether thou art a Performer of this Law the Law of Faith this Law of Pardon or Grace that is whether thou art a true or sound Believer If the Devil puts in his Accusation that thou art a sinner that thou hast done thus and thus and so art condemnable by the Law Christ will tell him streight I have put in bayl as to that I have satisfied my self in his behalf for that and there is at my Bar no question as to my part but as to his Not whether I have done mine but whether he hath performed his Have you any thing to prove the Man no Believer or no sound believer that he must be cast according to this Law or this Act Hear the Act read which is all one with Christs Will at his death Father I will that such an Act be passed which shall give a pardon to all the world and for all their sins with this clause in the Act The threat that is in the law of works to the contrary notwithstanding Only I will have every one that reaps the benefit of this Act which is laid in before to receive the Grace when promulgated with such a belief of it as working by love shall shew it self in a serious continued desire and endeavour to forsake their sins and cleave unto God in sincerity of heart and life And I will that such a sincerity shall be accepted notwithstanding all their failings nay very much gross and long sinning which they fall into through infirmity unto Life and Salvation This is the Tenour of this Act this Will of Christ that Law or Covenant of Grace by which we shall be judged Well now As for this servant of mine here at the bar accused by you will Christ say When I was a hungry he fed me and when naked cloathed me That is by such works of Charity as these and so of Piety and Sobriety or Temperance Justice and all other Vertue it does appear the man is a Believer and my Disciple These and these things are Manifestations and Evidences of a Sincere heart and a sound faith and therefore I declare him not guilty of the breach but a performer of this Law this Law of Faith upon which he is tryed By the way not here that the declaring a man righteous according to the Act he is tryed by is the most undoubted proper Justification As for the Mans Sins and the sins of the whole world I have my self bore them will our Judge say on the Cross I have satisfied for them by my death in the behalf of all men and this Act is a Declaration of a Vniversal forgiveness as of my Will upon these Terms Indeed the Act and my Will does require such Terms that all shall believe and repent that partake the advantage And this faith and repentance and upright life appearing in this person I do allow his right to the benefit I do allow that my Righteousness or the merits of my life and the Satisfaction or sacrifice of my Death be imputed to him unto this Effect I pronounce him righteous according to this Act and thereby justified and blessed And the righteous that is according this Law to life everlasting And now Sir there is a day when you and I and all the world must appear before God in judgment a day which for ought we know may last as some Learned Divines have thought a thousand years for a thousand years to God is but as one day I have some things that I have formerly thought on and writ and laid up in my heart as my small store to live upon and uphold me against the fear of that terrible day which is also a blessed day and a good day whensoever it comes It is upon the mercy of God and merits of Christ the most sanctified soul and the most miserable penitent sinner must both stand As David has a Psalm he calls A Psalm to bring to remembrance so shall the rest upon this subject which follows be We know that God hath appointed such a one to be our Judge who is a merciful high Priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities He knows our frame and that we are but dust We know that the Government of God we are all under is a gracious Government a righteous Government and a righteous one because gracious For I have learned this farther than some others that the very Righteousness of God in the New Testament towards fallen man is Grace We know that by the Law of Grace God expects we shall be righteous and that he accepts of an Evangelical obedience according to this Law as Perfection For when all that is ill done and all that is undone is forgiven us and not imputed that which we have done let it be never so little must according to this Law be Perfect We know for all that that the holiness of the most holy man living could never be accepted to Salvation but for the merits of Christ and when it is not for the value of the work done but upon the account of Christs merits that any man is accepted Whether my works be more or less if I be found sincere it is all one in regard to such an Acceptation Let me give my body to be burnt or let me give but a cup of cold water in Christs name if Christ sees integrity in it and his merits be imputed the one will be accepted as well as the other Let me have wrought but one hour or let me have wrought twelve my penny still is of Grace and for Christs sake We know farther that he whom God hath made to be our Judge is also and will be our Advocate and if there be any thing to be accepted as if there be any thing thou hast done
that can be produced for an Evidence of thy sincerity it will be accepted he will plead it for us and be sure not to forget it We know Sir that Sathan will plead against us but Christ for us He will bring the Law Christ the Gospel He will say we have sinned against Law and Gospel But He that pleads for us will distinguish of sinning against the Gospel sub ratione Officii Conditionis between the Duty of the Gospel and the Condition of the Gospel He will make it appear that though we have failed in our Duty we have not failed in the Condition Though we have sinned against the Gosspel in regard to this and that particular precept we shall be cleared from the accusation of Non-performance of the Condition In order to this and above all I am perswaded of so fair a Tryal before God in that day of the declaration of his righteous judgment the like whereof was never in this Earth that God who is so infinitely good and wise as he is will consider every one of us with grains of allowance proportionable to our several tempers conditions temptations so that that shall be found sincerity in some persons which they could not find in their hearts to think till they come to know it with Everlasting joy And seeing it is according to Grace a Law of Grace that we are to be judged who can tell the extent of this Grace Who shall set bounds to Gods infinite and free Grace Of all Points in Casuistical Divinity there is not one of more near importance to a Christian than to be solidly informed what to do or how to live and support the soul under the case when it hath examin'd it self and is in conflict and doubt whether it be in a State of Grace which is all one as whether we be sincere or not They that are light Christians do often talk of their assurance when the more weighty Christians are ready to droop and hang the head as the ears of corn do that are fullest A very Hypocrite John Bradford There are two Conclusions therefore I will come to One is that it is God and God alone knows the heart and can judge of mans integrity It is God alone both in opposition to any other and to a mans own self I know nothing by my self yet am I not thereby justified Again we do know some things by our selves but God alone can lay all things together The other is that in the grand case the great tender case wherein or under which so many the most serious among Christians do pant to wit this case of fear or doubt whether we be sincere or not the way for a gracious Soul to take as the safest unless it hath reached to an higher attainment I mean that it may neither presume dangerously nor despond but maintain it self in some equal state or quiet of mind which is warrantably good is with David to make its appeal unto God Try me O Lord search me if there be any wicked way in me any such as is incontent with sincerity and commit his cause unto Him The Lord is my portion saith my Soul and therefore will I hope in him It is good for a man that he should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. We must leave it to him or there is no end We go to a good God On one hand if with the Pharisee we justify our selves God may condemn us If we condemn our selves with the Publican he may acquit us If we would judge our selves we should not be judged And what then remaines Behold we are at Gods bar and we commit our cause unto our Judge God's bar is a bar or throne of Grace I will cast my self on his Grace And God send us a good deliverance at the Great day SIR BEfore I go off I must needs return a little again to the occasion of this Letter One thing I must hint more as to the General Pardon I speak of above There is a certain term used still by our Divines which does cloud the light I have offer'd and that is the term Actual We usually distinguish thus between Conditional and Actual pardon A Conditional pardon we say is obtained indeed for all but an Actual pardon for none but the present truly penitent believer We should here use another term and instead of Actual say Absolute The truth is let me say as the thing is there is a Pardon and Actual pardon being a Pardon passed long since an Act of Grace a standing Pardon an actually standing Pardon and that Vniversal But this Actual standing Pardon being a Pardon upon Condition it is I must say a Pardon Absolutely made good to no Particular person but upon the condition performed When the condition is performed it is then made to the performer a Compleat Absolute Pardon This is the Fundamental understanding of the point discoursed I will fill what I have said with one Notion of Dr. Davenants which I take to be rare and fit to be noted being also clear and of use Res sub conditione promissa aliquot modo ad eos spectat qui conditionem nunquam implent nimirum quoad jus vendicandi promissum beneficium si implevissent De Morte Christi There are two or three things yet lyes upon my hands by way of surplusage not only as pertinent but even necessary to be added to what is spoken One of them is this From the Vniversality of Redemption there does arise a Government of Grace which God has over the World that is a Government by the Law of Grace which Christ hath purchased as the Instrument of that Government whereby Salvation is made possible to all Mankind or whereby Pardon and Life are made attainable by all men on a Possible Condition If you ask me what that is wherein this Possibility is placed this I perceive is a hard question made but I shall answer easily It is to be placed in the Lowering the Condition to the capacity of all persons having the power and use of their natural faculties so that whosoever he be that lives up sincerely to the light that he has shall be saved * If any be offended at my asserting the possibility of a Heathens Salvation I pray him to look into a book called Peaceable Disquisitions where there is one sheet de industria from p. 55. to 67 upon that Argument and if he be not convinced by it let him but fairly present the whole and answer it and he shall start a generous subject and innocent to exercise the wits of the age Such is the Law of Grace I say purchased by Christ by which we are Governed and shall be Judged that whosoever lives up to the light or means which he has in sincerity shall be saved by it I will add whosoever does but what he can in order to his Salvation is Sincere and Consequently the Condition must be Possible But seeing no