receiving righteousnesse out of which afterwards we work And so the Law that commands Righteousnesse but doth not communicate Righteousnesse can never justifie us But faith that makes us righteous before we can work righteousnesse it is that which justifies us in the sight of God Now to this Doctrine Paul adds his own Experience to make all clear which kind of arguing though it will not satisfie the reason of the World yet it will satisfie the faith of the Saints Now saith Paul for mine own part I must professe to the Jews themselves and to all the world besides F that I am so far from seeking Righteousnesse by the Law that I am wholly dead to the Law and as a dead man have no more to do with the Law as that hath no more to do with me I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God verse 19. ANIMADVERSION I. A ANd had not Peter too a very clear knowledge in the mystery of Christ He stands indeed charged with dissimulation in the Text Gal. 2.13 but not with ignorance or errour in any degree which yet Mr. Dell seems closely to fasten upon him in this place B No such thing appears to me in the text as is here affirmed by Mr. Dell. The Apostle Gal. 2.17,18 shewed that if professed believers give way to themselves in sin or are by the light of the Gospel discovered to be sinners their sins are not to be charged on Christ as the minister of sin or upon his Gospel but on themselves as transgressours in conformity to his own doctrine Rom. 6.1,2,3,4 This hath nothing to do with any personal errour of Peter greater or lesse whereby he made Christ the minister of sin whereof Mr. Dell causlesly yet confidently proclaims himself guilty C I read of no grosse mistake but of a sad miscarriage of Peter of a dangerous consequence indeed Christians should be tender of casting the reproach of a grosse mistake upon an Apostle without clear evidence In suam ipsius conscientiam peccabat aliud intus sentiens aliud foris simulans Pareus ad Gal. 2.12 He sinned against his own conscience apprehending one thing inwardly feigning another thing outwardly D Let this then stand and be held for a truth that they who are first made righteous can do aright the works of the Law which I think is enough to prove that righteous believers are in some sence alive to the Law since they and they only can do aright the works of the Law yet Mr. Dell afterwards seems very unwillingly to allow so much for truth E Do we work out our justifying righteousness as these words import Is not this to confound justification with sanctification The righteousnesse of God whereby were are justified is in Christ for us Rom. 3.24,25 The righteousnesse out of which we work is from Christ in us through his spirit Eph. 4.24 These two kinds of righteousnesse are inseparably joyned together yet not to be confounded as they are here by Mr. Dell And of the two it is evident that believers work not out of justifying but sanctifying righteousnesse Phil. 1.11 F Wholly is not in the text and were it there it would only shew that the Apostle was excluded wholly from seeking righteousnesse by the Law Gal. 2.21 and 3.21 And this is the acknowledged doctrine of Protestants who generally professe that as to the seeking of righteousnesse by the Law we are wholly dead to it through the faith of the Gospel which holdeth forth Christ as the end of the Law for righteousnesse to every one that believeth Rom. 10.4 In this sense there is no question but every believer may say with the Apostle I through the Law am dead to the Law that I may live unto God But Mr. Dells wholly in this place is of a much larger extent transcending as I conceive the limits of the Scripture SECT II. I Saith Paul through the Law am dead to the Law that is The Law it self makes me dead to the Law For the Law with its wrath and curse and punishments hath slain me it hath through my sin delivered me up to death and hell A without shewing me any way of escape or deliverance it hath done against me what ever it could do it hath fully kill'd and slain me And therefore how can the Law any more give Laws and Commands B to a dead man yea to one whom it self hath slain or how can it expect obedience from such an one And this sense Chrysostom gives of these words But secondly C we conceive these words in another sense after this manner I through the Law am dead to the Law that is I through a new Law am dead to the old Law I am dead to the old Law which was the Law of the Letter written in Tables of stone by a new Law which God hath written in my heart and inwardparts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this is the Law of Grace or the Law of the Spirjt of Life that is in Christ Jesus which is not a Law consisting of Letters words and sentences but is the living word of God written in our hearts by the living spirit of God according to that of Paul touching Believers 2 Cor. 3.3 Ye are the epistle of Christ written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God and the living Spirit writes a living Law D And this Law makes us dead to the Law and a man is never truly dead to the Law of the letter till the Law of the Spirit of life be writ in his heart by the finger of God But when we have the Law of Grace which is a living and almighty Law in our hearts we are then safely dead to the Law of the letter The Law commands all flesh that hath not the living Word or Law of life within it self E but when a Believer hath in him the Law of the Spirit the Law of the letter hath no more power over him that is so far as he is taken up into that other Law of the Spirit F but no further And there is no danger at all in this Doctrine That the new Law makes us dead to or delivers us from the old as ignorant and carnal Christians think there is inasmuch as this new Law imprints in our souls the love of righteousnesse and hatred of iniquity G And he that is thus freed from the Law is the only man that keeps it and fulfils it through the law of love put into his heart by the Spirit And this Law of love doth fulfil the other Law but never break and violate it Wherefore saith Paul I through the Law am dead to the Law ANIMADVERSION 2. A THe Law taken comprehensively for the whole Law of Moses or strictly for the legal Covenant of works sheweth a sinner no way of escape from death and hell in it self without Christ But the Law in the Ceremonial part of it did shew the true way of escape from death
and in all fulnesse go into life eternal Mat. 25.46 F That the life of the Son of God is not confined to our Saviours humanity but hath an influence into all believers for the quickning of them vnto God is an acknowledged truth But that the life of the Son of God is communicated to and to be seen in the flesh of believers as in the flesh of Christ with a difference of measure only allowed between Christ and believers is as I take it to ascribe Godhead to believers in measure as to the Lord Christ in fulness which is new and strange doctrine indeed I should be glad to see how Mr Del can avoid the inference for I hope he will not hold to the conclusion Was not the life of the Son of God so communicated to and seen in our Saviours flesh by reason of the union of his natures as that he was God manifested in the flesh Is this to be affirmed of any other I am very loath to conceive that he thinks so though his words seem to speak so much SECT XVII I live through the faith of the Son of God HEre the Apostle shews the way or means how Christ came to live in him and he in Christ and that is through Faith Christ saith he so lives in me that yet I live in the flesh but the life I live in the flesh is not the life of the flesh but I live in the flesh the life of faith in the Son of God Now touching this excellent Grace of Faith much might be said but I shall endeavour to give you the sum of all in as few words as may be And first I shall shew you That the right faith is not any work of ours but it is wholly the work of God in us and therefore it is called by Paul Col. 2.12 Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the operation of God and that according to that mighty power which he put forth in Christ when he raised him from the dead as the same Apostle speaks in Ephes 1.19.20 It was a work of the mighty power of God to unite Christs humane Nature to the Divine though it were wholly free from sin But it is a greater work of power to unite us to God in Christ who are full of sin and yet God doth this through faith in all true Believers as I shall shew in the next place 2. As faith is wrought in us by God and is his constant work in us so this faith doth apprehend God in Christ even the Divine nature of Christ in the Humane and the Son of the living God in the Son of man as the Apostle shews here saying I live by the faith of the Son of God Shewing that the chief thing that faith respects and apprehends in Christ is the Son of God And Peter in 1 Pet. 1.21 saith that the faithful through Christ do believe in God who raised him from the dead A So that that only is true faith which doth apprehend and receive the true God in Jesus Christ And thus from these two things we may in some measure understand the true nature of faith which is nothing but this The Fathers laying hold on us by his Spirit and drawing us to the Son and inabling us to receive the Son and so making us one with the Son to abide and live in him for ever So that through true faith we have the nearest union and conjunction with the Son of the living God that any Creature can have next after the Humanitie of Christ Now from this Vnion which we have with the Son of God through faith do flow many excellent advantages to Believers some of which I shall name now As 1. B Hereby they are made the Sons of God as John saith John 1. As many as received him that is the Word that was with God and was God and was made flesh as many as received him by believing to them he gave power to become the sons of God As that Word or Son of God coming into the Humanity of Christ which was in all things like ours sin excepted gave it authority and power to become the Son of God so the same Word coming into us through Christ gives us power to become the sons of God in him as the fire gives the iron in which it dwels power to be light and hot And so through faith we have not only the Name but also the Nature of Sons For faith uniting us to Christ changeth us into a new Nature and takes from us what we are in regard of sin and makes us what Christ is in regard of righteousnesse and so it makes us new in heart minde will affections ends and in our whole conversation for it brings Gods Nature into ours and this changeth our nature into its own likenesse C so that whatsoever we do or whatever our condition in the world is we shall still carry our selves in all things as the children of God in some demonstration of the Divine Nature 2. D Through this faith in the Son of God we are made not only Sons but Heirs Heirs of God and joynt-Heirs with Christ That as Christ according to his Humane nature being made One with the Son of God by whom and for whom all things were made was in Him made Heir of all things so we through that faith whereby we receive the Son are made Heirs with Christ in such sort that all things are ours 1 Cor. 3.21 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are ours whilst we are Christs as all is Christs whilst He is Gods Now this is a very glorious inheritance which as faith onely apprehends so faith onely understands And this inheritance happens to us not through the works of the Law that is not through any outward works of outward righteousnesse whatsoever but through the righteousnesse of faith through which faith we are truly made one with the Son of God in Christ as hath been said and in and with Him do truly inherit both God and the Creature 3. E This true faith carrying us into the Son of God and placing us in him to abide in him doth truly carry us out of the utmost reach of all evil things out of the reach of the Law Sin Death and Hell seeing these can have no place nor presence in the Son of God and though these evils may reach us whilst we dwell in our selves yet we are got out of their reach so far forth as by faith we dwell in Him 4. F This right faith carries us into the Son of God and doth carry us into all his Perfections and Excellencies into his nature and life and righteousnesse and wisdom and power and glory and into all the fulnesse of the Son of the living God and so true faith inriches a Believer in Christ with greater treasure then the heart of a carnal Christian can possibly give credit to for