to whom all the promises of the Covenant did belong and consequently that the rest of the Nations whom they termed Gentiles could have no lot or portion in this matter but were eternally excluded from all hopes of acceptance with God otherwise than by becoming Proselytes to the Religion of the Jews These were the two great things in debate betwixt the Apostle and the Jewish Rabbies viz. upon what account a sinner might be justified and saved and who were the persons whether Jews or Gentiles or both to whom the Promises of the New Covenant did belong To the first the Apostle makes this reply Gal. 2.16 that a man is not justified by the works of the Lw but by the Faith of Jesus Christ which he makes good to them by several Arguments which I must not now insist upon and particularly from the example of Abraham in whom they so much boasted He himself was justified by faith and not by works Gal. 3.6 And as to the second he proves to them First That they were not therefore to repute themselves the blessed Seed of Abraham and Heirs of the Promise because they were naturally descended from him and so had Abraham to their Father Rom. 9.7 The Seed of Abraham it was multiplex not one but divers one by Ishmael and another by Sarah Now if they were the Children of the Promise quà filii as they were the natural Sons of Abraham then Ishmael as well as Isaac and Esau as well as Jacob should have inherited the Blessing Yea but the Promise was not made to Seeds as of many but to one Seed only which he in this second place proves to be only such whether Jew or Gentile that should as Abraham did believe in Jesus Christ and do the works of Abraham Such as elsewhere 't is exprest that were Jews inwardly and whose circumcision was that of the heart and in the Spirit and not in the letter Rom 2.28 29. Such as were born of the Spirit and not of the Flesh Gal. 4.29 Such as are not only of Israel but Israelites indeed Rom. 9.6 Such as walked in the steps of the Faith of Abraham Rom. 4.12 These he tells them were truly and only to be reputed the Children of Abraham Gal. 3.7 and Heirs of the Promise Gal. 3.29 and the Seed of Abraham in the beginning of the same Verse and the Seed to whom the promise was made ver 19. of the same Chapter and therefore Children of the promise Gal. 4.28 Yea though they were Gentiles and of the most vile and despicable amongst the Gentiles Scythians and Barbarians yet upon believing they were to be owned for the Children and of the blessed Seed of Abraham Gal. 3.26 for there is no difference saith the Apostle to the Romans chap. 2.22 and 10.12 And if no difference no distinction and so still but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Seed And consequently all the Blessings and Priviledges of the Covenant made with Abraham did equally belong to them with the Jews And 't is observable how much the Apostle both here and elsewhere labours in this argument v. 8. of this Chapter The Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith preached before the Gospel to Abraham saying In thee shall all Nations be blessed And ver 9. So then they which be of Faith are blessed with faithful Abraham And ver 13 14. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law c. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ And Rom. 3.29 30. Is he the God of the Jews only Is he not also of the Gentiles yes of the Gentiles also seeing it is one God which shall justifie the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through Faith which he prosecutes more at large chap. 4. ver 9 10 11 12 13.16 17. Thus you see how much the Apostle labours as his great design to demonstrate to the Jews that the Gentiles were included in the Promise made to Abraham and were to be blessed in and with him Yea but upon what account Why because they also were Children of the promise Gal. 4.28 and that Seed to whom the Promise was made Rom. 4.13.16 But how come they to be of his Seed being not of the stock of Israel Why by being of the Faith of Abraham Rom. 4.12.16 that is by believing in Jesus Christ Gal. 3.26 And from hence 't is clearly to be inferred that the Jews had no cause either to boast of their being the Children and Seed of Abraham unless with him they did believe or to exclude the Gentiles from being so if they did believe since 't was not Birth or Nation but Faith that entitled them to be his Seed Thus the Argument runs clear and is convictive But if by Seed here we understand Christ personal and not Christ mystical that is Believers in Christ his argument is neither proper nor conclusive at least not so evident and sutable to the Apostles main intendment in the words 2. This sense of the word is most agreeable to that account which we have here and elsewhere given of this Covenant made with Abraham The great thing promised in this Covenant was the giving of a Messiah in whom all the Nations of the World should be blessed Luke 1 68 69 c. And that by Faith in him their iniquities should be forgiven Rom. 4.7 8. and they justified Gal. 3.8 and freed from the curse ver 13. and receive the Spirit ver 14. and be admitted to the inheritance ver 18. and have righteousness and life ver 21. All which is said to be confirmed of God in Christ ver 17. of the same Chapter Now all these priviledges which are but so many branches of the Covenant they are here made expresly not to Christ but to Believers as the Seed of Abraham Nor can they any way possibly be applicable to Christ himself For he is the person here promised and therefore not the person to whom the promise is made The Father did not Covenant with Christ to give him Christ that 's a Position so absurd that the Reason of man can never give entertainment to it but to give him to Believers they are without doubt the parties to whom God engageth to give the Messiah And 't is as evident also that the several Blessings of the Covenant before mentioned were promised to them and not to him For had he any sins to be forgiven or was he to be freed from the Curse of the Law who therefore came into the World that he might bear the Curse for us or did he stand in need of an inheritance righteousness and life Since therefore the several particulars of this Covenant with Abraham are made over to him and to his Seed and since by his Seed in this place cannot be meant Christ the blessing therein promised being not compatible to him but to Believers it necessarily follows that by Christ in the Text we are to understand not Christ
they are still truly distinguishable in themselves as to their formal notions vocation being one thing and justification another and also in the order in which they are given out to sinners For first they are effectually called then justified then adopted and last of all glorified Betwixt the three former there is at least a priority of nature as the Sun we say is before its light and the fire before its heat But betwixt them and glorification there is a priority of time Thus Enoch we know walked some years with God in a justified state before he was translated And Paul fought long after he was called before he received his Crown This is the unvariable order that God hath fixed wherein to dispense the great blessings of the Covenant to such who are the objects of his elective love He justifies none but the called and adopts none but the justified and glorifies none but the adopted Rom. 8. In the next place the order in which the priviledges of the Covenant are dispensed being stated we must consider in what order the several conditions of the Covenant since â—ot to all alike nor at the same time to all are to be applied for our being actually inâ—eressed in them And first in order to our â—ffectual calling no more is required of us â—han an humble and diligent attendance upon all such means as God hath appointed for that end Our waiting by the pool for the Angels moving upon the waters Isa 55.6 Prov. 2.4 5. Heb. 2.1 Luke 11.9 10 11 12 13. Joh. 5.25 Act. 10.33 Acts 13.44 48. Our actual faith and repentance and holiness cannot here be supposed as a prerequisite to our effectual calling only our attendance upon the means since these are the very things to which we are called Act. 26.18 Rom 10.14 Rom. 1.7 Gal. 1.6 And he that is called to believe and be holy is upon that very account supposed before to be both unbelieving and unholy But then in order to our being justified and adopted there both faith and repentance as hath already been proved are antecedently necessary Or which is all one our humble and penitential acceptance or receiving of Jesus Christ in all his offices as Prophet Priest and King and consequent upon this our reliance upon him for pardon and Salvation Gal. 2.16 Joh. 1.12 and lastly in order to our being actually glorified and made eternally happy in the immediate fruition of God 't is further requisite that we be not only penitent and believing but also actually holy and obedient as hath been said Math. 5.20 Rev. 22.14 First God in the use of means calls sinners to repent and believe and then upon their repenting and believing in answer to his call he justifies and adopts them And then upon their being further purified in obeying the truth as 't is exprest 1 Pet. 1.22 and so made meet to be partakers with the Saints in the inheritance of light they are as the consummation of all their happiness eternally glorified So that you see our repenting and believing necessarily presupposeth our effectual calling and our justification and adoption our repenting and believing and our glorification not only our being justified and adopted but also our being personally holy and conformable to Jesus Christ When therefore 't is said that obedience as well as faith and repentance is a necessary condition in the Covenant of Grace if we understand it as we ought according to the order before explained the great doctrine of justification by faith in Christ which the Apostle so much contends for with the Jews especially in his Epistle to the Romans and Galatians this doctrine I say is hereby secured and preserved inviolable since our obedience is made a condition only with reference to eternal life and not to our justification being in order not â—ntecedent to but consequent upon that We are still justified by faith in Christ without works as the Apostle speaks but yet not saâ—ed by faith alone without works There is more required to make a Soul fit for Heaven than meerly the pardoning of his sins and justifying of his person But is it not often affirmed in Scripture that we are saved as well as justified by faith Joh. 3.16 Eph. 2.8 Mar. 16.16 It 's true and so also we are said to be saved by hope Rom. 8.24 And by calling upon the name of the Lord Rom. 10.13 And to be blessed and have a right to the tree of life by keeping of the commands of Christ Rev. 22.14 If then the argument will hold good that we are saved by faith alone without holiness and obedience because 't is said he that believeth shall be saved we might also by the same rule argue that we are saved by hope without faith or by calling upon God without hope or by our obedience without all the rest since Salvation and blessedness is ascribed to each of these to hoping and calling upon the Lord and obeying as well as believing All therefore that can justly be inferred from hence is only this that faith as well as hope and obedience is necessary to our Salvation And because there is an inseperable connexion betwixt them and a joint subserviency of both to the same end therefore it is that eternal life is sometimes ascribed to one sometimes to the other Sometimes 't is said blessed are they that believe Joh. 20.29 Sometimes blessed are the pure in heart Matth. 5.8 Sometimes blessed is he that feareth the Lord Psal 112.1 Sometimes again blessed are they that keep his testimonies and are undefiled in the way Psal 119.1 2. All which 't is evident must be taken inclusive of each other faith of fear and fear of purity and all as joined with actual obedience That is he that believes and acts sutably to his faith in purifying his heart and keeping the commands of Christ he shall be saved And so again on the other hand he that obeys supposing also that he repents and believes in Jesus Christ he shall be blessed But we cannot possibly without making Scripture to contradict it self appropriate happiness to any one of these conditions not to faith any more than to obedience either by way of opposition to or separation from the rest The plain English of that would be this that a disobedient faith or an unbelieving obedience might be sufficient to qualify us for eternal life Even in justification it self though our actual obedience be not there required yet 't is vertually included in the very nature of that faith by which we are justified But as to our being eternally glorified there our actual obedience together with faith and repentance are alike necessary to give us a perfect and compleat right to it faith and repentance alone as to this are not sufficient A compleat right I say for there is I grant a certain right to life that doth immediately result from faith it self But then we must here distinguish of a double right There is first a primary and
initial secondly a perfect and consummate right or as the Civilians speak there is jus haereditarium and jus aptitudinale Both which are in their respective order alike necessary fully and compleatly to enstate us in one and the same possession Thus for instance He that is lawfully elected to any office of trust and dignity his meer election gives him an initial right to that office yea but for all that before he can receive the several insignia proper to it or exercise any act of authority in it or actually receive the profits and emoluments belonging to it he must solemnly be installed and take the Corporation Oaths and perform such other ceremonies as are usual in the case and this gives him a consummate right to his place and dignity Again he that seals to an Indenture he thereby hath an incipient right and title to the estate therein conveighed But yet to compleat this there must be seisin and delivery and performance of Covenants payment of rent and repairing the premises and this gives him an actual right to it and continues him in the quiet possession of it Take one instance more A Child in his infancy may have right to a Kingdom as some have been Crowned in their Cradles But yet notwithstanding he afterwards remains as the Apostle speaks under Tutors and Governours and little differs the Lord of all from a Servant until he come of age and then his Kingdom and Government is put into his hand Before he had an hereditary and now an aptitudinal right to or legal fitness for government I have brought all these instances to shew that there may be a different right to the same thing arising from different qualifications and conditions and yet both subservient to the same end And so here faith gives right and obedience also gives right to eternal life but in a different manner that begins it but this continues and compleats it Plainly thus Whosoever doth sincerely accept of Jesus Christ upon Gospel terms which is truly faith he is thereupon not only quit from all the demands of the first Covenant which is properly justification but he also hath by vertue of the Gospel-grant an initial right to the eternal Kingdom purchased by Christ But yet before he can enter into the actual possession of it and enjoy all the glories and bliss and joy that belongs to it he must be pure and holy cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and this gives him an aptitudinal and compleat right to it Faith is as our sealing to the Indenture that first founds our right and obedience is as the performance of Covenants that perfects and continues it That by making us Sons Joh. 1.12 makes us also heirs of the Kingdom Rom. 8.17 and so gives us an hereditary right to it But this being the means to make us holy and like to God and as Scripture speaks perfect Men in Christ that is men of ripe age it thereby gives us a fitness or aptitudinal right to the eternal possession of it And thus I have shewn in what order the several conditions of the Covenant are to be applied for the obtaining the great blessings of it according to the method in which they are dispensed which being attended to will further evidence the consistence of free Grace with their being given out to sinners upon such terms But before I conclude this particular it will be requisite especially since it may add some further light to the thing in hand to inquire into and evince the difference which I have all along in this discourse supposed betwixt faith and obedience for I cannot wholly be of their opinion that make them one and the same without distinction nor yet apprehend them so vastly different as some imagine That they are not the same to me is evident since I find them frequently distinguished both by different names and effects in Scripture Acts 15.9 Purifying their hearts by faith Heb. 11.8 Acts 26.18 By faith Abraham obeyed Tit. 3.8 These things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works Therefore also called the obedience of faith Rom. 16.26 Here you see they are distinguished and elsewhere they are opposed Eph. 2.8 9. By grace ye are saved through faith and not of works Phil. 3.9 That I may be found in Christ not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ And more than once in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians where the Apostle treats designedly concerning justification which he there once and again affirms to be by faith and not by the works of the law And can they possibly be the same that are not only distinguish but opposed I know 't is said that the opposition the Apostle there makes betwixt faith and works is only to be understood with respect to Jewish works and that opinion of perfection and merit that they had of them But were the works of Paul and the Ephesians and Abraham of this nature were they Jewish and Levitical or have we any reason to think that they had any such opinion of their obedience as being perfect and meritorious And yet in all these instances we find that faith is opposed to works And though Paul 't is true doth in the third Chapter to the Philippians first instance in his legal priviledges and righteousness yet afterwards he adds his Gospel services and sufferings for Jesus Christ and whatever else you can imagine to make up his obedience and righteousness perfect Phil. 3.8 Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things And yet after all he tells us that he desired to be found not in the righteousness of works but of faith ver 9. Again they are not only distinguished and opposed but also delivered to us under different notions in the Gospel As faith is expressed by receiving of Christ Joh. 1.12 Obedience by walking in him as we have received him Col. 2.6 That by coming to Christ this by taking his yoak and bearing his burden Matth. 11.28 29. That by looking unto Jesus this by running with patience the race that is set before us Heb. 12.1 2. That by eating his flesh and drinking his blood Joh. 6.54 56. this by growing up in him Eph. 2.21 that as the principle of our filiation Gal. 3.26 and this as our imitation of God as dear Children Eph. 6.2 And is there no difference betwixt receiving and walking coming and taking seeing and running eating and drinking and growing Betwixt our being children and performing the duties of Children Even common language as well as Divinity teacheth us to distinguish betwixt the Creed and Ten Commandments the credenda agenda in Religion Betwixt believing and doing Believing we ordinarily say is one thing and doing another But is not faith
trembling Phil. 2.12 He then will work in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure ver 13. Must we be stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 holding fast our confidence firm to the end Heb. 3.6 being faithful unto death Rev. 2.10 and not drawing back lest his soul should have no pleasure in us Heb. 10.38 He therefore hath promised that he will establish us 2 Thes 3.3 and make us fruitful Joh. 15.2 and perfect his own good work in us untill the day of the Lord Jesus Phil. 1.6 and keep us by his power 1 Pet. 1. that we may not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 10.28 From first to last you see we are indebted to Divine Grace for what we do All our works if good are begun and carried on and perfâ—cted by the assistance of the Sacred Spirit And therefore when we have done all we cannot plead desert or merit from any of our actions but still are bound to make Paul's humble acknowledgment 1 Cor. 15.10 By the grace of God I am that I am And not I that laboured so abundantly but the grace of God that was with me Not I that repented and believed and became obedient and holy and fruitful in every good word and work continuing stedfast and unmoveable to the end Not I that did this by vertue of my own natural abilities no but by the aid and assistance of Divine Grace not by might nor by power from nature and reason but by the spirit of the Lord. And in this sense I suppose we are to understand that saying of some Divines that God stands engaged for both parts of the Covenant Engaged first by promise to justifie and save sinners if they repent and believe c. and next also to give repentance and faith by assisting them thereunto that they may be justified and have eternal life And so it may be no contradiction to say that the same thing may be both a benefit and a condition of the same Covenant As he that in the same Indentures wherein he binds his Tenant to repairs may also promise to furnish him with Brick and Morter and other materials for the work Thus faith and repentance are here commanded in the Covenant of Grace and so they become conditions on our own part to be performed But withal strength and assistance is promised enabling us to repent and believe and so they become benefits on Gods part to be given and on ours to be received But still it is to be remembred that Gods promise doth not null our duty nor his assistance supersede our endeavours but necessarily suppose and more strongly enforce them For as we can do nothing without God so he will do nothing for us without our selves 'T is he saith the Apostle that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure in the place before mentioned Phil. 2.13 What then Must we therefore sit still and do nothing Only take our ease and stretch our selves upon beds of Ivory and dream our selves into Abrahams Bosom No we must therefore so the Apostle in the same place argues work about our own Salvation with fear and trembling As 't is still the Tenants duty to repair the ruines of his house though his Landlord hath and indeed therefore the rather because he hath been so kind as to promise sufficient supplies for the building Thus much I thought necessary to add upon this argument that I might vindicate the conditionality of the Covenant from such exceptions as have been made against it and evidence the amicable agreement there is betwixt this doctrine and that of free Grace and sufficiency of Christs righteousness and satisfaction And would Men but be perswaded to lay aside their prejudices and to weigh things in an even ballance Would they as now instructed rightly state their notions of Christs righteousness and free Grace according to the rules and measures of the Gospel and not by the imaginary and unwarrantable sentiments of the carnal and uncatechised world Would they duly distinguish betwixt the causes and conditions of their Salvation which are vastly different and ought not therefore to be confounded that Jesus Christ may still be owned as the sole cause and Author of it and faith and repentance c. only as the necessary means without which it cannot be had Would they observe the order in which the several conditions of the Covenant are to be applied first faith and repentance for the obtaining of pardon and then holiness and obedience for the compleating and continuing our right to eternal life according to the order in which they are dispenced to sinners Would they also duly inform themselves in the nature of true happiness and what a near alliance holiness and obedience have to it that formally consisting in our likeness and conformity to God and these being that whereby we become actually like and conformable to him Would they in the last place to all add the assistance that God by his holy Spirit affords us for the performance of all these duties he requires of us Nothing being done in our own but all by his strength and agency Would Men I say thus distinctly weigh and consider things before they pass sentence upon the Doctrine herein delivered their objections against it would I am confident soon be answered and their scruples removed and their judgments convinced that there is nothing said that doth in the least either contradict or prejudice the Doctrine of Gospel free Grace or derogate from the sufficiency of Christs righteousness Nothing that doth as some have said speak the language of Bellarmine or Socinus or any way favour the opinions of any other who are justly censured as enemies to the Grace of God in Christ Jesus It is true the Church of Rome pretends much to good works and cries them up as the Ephesians sometimes did their great Goddess Diana and muchwhat upon the same design But alas what are those works they so zealously contend for A little bodily exercise and superstitious will-worship Masses and Dirges and Pilgrimages and Ave-Marys and abstinences and whippings and the like But for that which the Apostle calls the power of godliness and life of God that is little preached and less practised by them And yet these works as inconsiderable as they are they call by the name of satisfactions and make them both the matter of their justification before God and the meritorious cause of their own Salvation For according to their Doctors we are justified by works confession charity giving of alms c. as well as by faith in Jesus Christ and may be saved yea and by I know not what redundancy of desert in our good works help to save others too by our own merits The improvement say they of our own natural abilities deserves Grace ex congruâ— and the improvement of Grace so gained merits glory ex condigno This in short is the