of their true Sense and Meaning I will not multiply Citations one or two are enough and indeed Luther and Calvin are an Army alone Luther tells us That all Justiciaries esteem Christ to be a new Legislator and judg the Gospel to be no other than a Book which contains new Laws concerning Works as the Turks dream about their Alcoran But there are Laws enough in Moses The Gospel therefore is a preaching concerning Christ that he forgives Sins gives Grace justifies and saves Sinners But now that Precepts are found in the Gospel those are not the Gospel but Expositions of the Law and Appendixes of the Gospel Now any one would think that this Luther would never call the Gospel a Law and yet so he doth expounding a little after the 19th Verse and is before cited by me And in what Sense he means the Gospel to have that Name he informs us plainly in his Comment on Isa 2. 3. Out of Zion shall go forth the Law This is the Cause says he of the Multiplication of the Church and of the Amplification of Christ's Kingdom viz. the Preaching of the Gospel For he here promiseth a new Word For unless he signified a new Doctrine what need was there at length to promise a Law which had been made so many Years before And he manifestly signifies the difference in that he adds out of Zion As if he should say I first gave a Law in Sinai I will now give another in Mount Zion which shall not be a Doctrine of Works but of Faith not of Laws but of Grace not accusing but bestowing pardon of Sins c. Calvin also agrees with Luther in this And indeed those two Holy Men tho they differed in some things yet they very well accorded in the main Substance of the Gospel They believed on the same Jesus and lov'd the Truth of his Grace Calvin likewise says that when the Gospel is called Law a Doctrine of Salvation is only meant by it For says he explaining Isa 2. 3. since the Rule of Holiness is to be fetch'd from the Law by a Synecdoche they were accustomed to comprehend the whole Doctrine of God under that Name as also the Worship of God under the Name of an Altar Now as it would be absurd to infer that the Ministers of Christ are Levitical Priests because the Apostle says that they ought to be partakers with the Altar and live by the Gospel or to endeavour to prove that the old Jewish Worship is yet standing and that Sacrifices should be offer'd under the New Testament because the Apostle speaks of an Altar too to which Believers came and of which they have right to eat Heb. 13. 10. So the way of arguing would be equally impertinent to conclude from the Gospel's being nam'd a Law that it is a Doctrine of Works Musculus also tells us how we must apprehend the word Law when made use of to signify the Gospel The Prophet says he understands no other by the Law than the Word of the Lord nor by Zion than Jerusalem Nor can it be understood of any other Doctrine than what is Evangelical And Rodolphus Gualther explaining what the Apostle means when he calls the Gospel a Law After the manner of the Jews says he he speaking of a Doctrine useth the word Law and he calls the Law of Works that Doctrine which asserts that we are justified by Works but the Law of Faith that Doctrine which shews Righteousness in the Merit of Christ who is apprehended by Faith alone When the Holy Ghost himself who inspir'd the Minds and guided the Pens both of the Prophets and Apostles and not only suggested things to their Thoughts but the fittest Words too by which to express them If this holy infallible Spirit calling the Gospel a Law means no other than a Doctrine of Grace any one would think that we could not be at a loss how to understand the Word I need not therefore multiply Instances a few more may suffice Zacharias Vrsinus when he calleth the Gospel a new Form of Law takes care to direct us to his right Sense and punctually tells us that he means no more by it than a new Doctrine of Grace The Prophet says he expounding Isa 2. 3. signifies that a new Manifestation of God and a new Form of Law and Worship is to be expected out of Zion that is to say Christ being reveal'd and the Ceremonies abolish'd But when he says that the Law shall go forth out of Zion it is queried Whether by this and the like Places the Opinion of the Papists is established who will have it that Christ came that he might be a new Law-giver who should publish a better and more perfect Law than had been before delivered by Moses that Men for the future living according to that Law might by this their Obedience please God and obtain Eternal Life The Answer is easy from this most usual Phrase in Scripture by which under the Name Law the whole Doctrine is understood c. Therefore that Monkish Opinion is to be avoided as the Plague and Subversion of all Christianity and an obscuring of the Offices and Benefits of Christ and as not differing from the Opinions of Heathens Jews Turks and other Sects concerning our Justification before God Chemnitius also gives direction how to understand the word Law when employ'd to denote the Gospel That also says he is a general signification of the Word when under the name of a Law the universal Doctrine divinely revealed is understood as Psal 19. 8 9. and Psal 119. where the Law is said to comfort and edify Hearts So Esa speaks of the Gospel Chap. 2. v. 3. The Law shall go forth out of Zion Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of Life Rom. 3. 27. The Law of Faith Gal. 2. 19. I by the Law am dead to the Law But it is a Hebrew Phrase in which Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Torah hath its name from Instructing and Teaching To these Antient Worthies I might add the concurrent Testimonies of Modern Divines who are Orthodox in the Faith But whereas I might produce many I will content my self to alledg one which is that of Whittichius the present Learned Professor of Divinity if not lately dead in the University of Leyden and who tho he espous'd the New Philosophy yet it had no Malignant Influences to infect him with any new-contrived Schemes to solve the Phenomena's in Divinity He in his short but full and clear Exposition on the Romans explaining Chap. 3. ver 27. tells us what the Apostle intends by that Phrase a Law of Faith The exclusion of Boasting says he is made by the Law of Faith which here denotes by way of Eminency the Doctrine of Faith as it is taught in the New Testament without Obligation to any Works as the Cause of Justification as the Works of the Moral Law perfectly and constantly perform'd by Adam would
the Old Testament is expressed by this Name John 12. 34. The People answered him We have heard out of the Law that Christ abideth for ever and how saist thou The Son of Man must be lift up Who is this Son of Man Where not the Decalogue or Levitical Book of Statutes is intended but the Doctrine concerning the Redeemer to come as appears from those Texts in Psal 110. 4 5. Isa 9. 6. to which John 12. 34. hath a manifest regard It is then plain from this Place of the Evangelist that among the Jewish People when our Saviour lived on Earth not only Exodus and Leviticus but the Instructions which they had concerning their so much desir'd and expected Messiah and Salvation by him in any of the Books of the Old Testament were call'd and known by the Name of a Law And to this common Notion of the People according to which they nam'd the whole Doctrine reveal'd by God whether it were Precepts or Promises a Law the Apostle Paul accommodates his way of writing in stiling the Gospel a Law in Rom. 3. 27. which I shall afterwards more fully vindicate from my Reverend Brother 's imposed meaning and in Gal. 2. 19. which I now shall consider These are the Apostle's Words Gal. 2. 19. For I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God He writes to the Galatians among whom it was a prevailing Opinion that tho Christ had abated the too rigorous observation of the Law of Works yet Justification was to be obtain'd by some lower degrees of Obedience To shew them how opposite this Doctrine was to the Gospel preach'd by him the Apostle tells them what were the Experiences of his own Soul I am dead says he to the Law of Works and have not the least Heart to seek Justification by it And how was he thus mortified to the Law of Works What by a new Law of Works lower'd to more moderate Conditions No for such an one would rather have cherished and encouraged the Life of his Hopes in his own Obedience By the Law then that is by the pure Doctrine of Grace in the Gospel revealing Christ's Righteousness as that alone by which a Sinner can be justified the Apostle is quite deaden'd as to any hopes of Justification by his own Righteousness and hath not the least motion in his Soul to seek it in that manner What very much weighs with me is That Luther who so excellently hath wrote on this Epistle and who successfully prevailed against the Errors of Antichrist about Merit of Works by subverting the great Foundation of them which is this Assertion of the Gospel's being a milder Law of Works interprets the Apostle to mean by that Law which had such a mortifying Efficacy upon him the pure Doctrine of Grace in the Gospel The Law of the Decalogue says he did bind me against it I have now another Law viz. of Grace which is not a Law to me neither binds me but frees me But it is a Law against the damning LAW THIS it binds that it may no longer bind me If Luther thus calls the Gospel a Law signifying no more by that Name than a pure Doctrine of Grace it is no wonder that others of the Reformed Religion cited by my Reverend Brother call it so too tho not in his Sense but designing Luther's Meaning who ruin'd the greatest Strength of Popery by denying the Gospel to be a new Law of Works and by asserting it on all Occasions to be meerly a Doctrine of Grace But it is not the Authority of this Great Man which solely prevails with me the Design and Scope of the Apostle in this second Chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians hath the greatest Force to perswade me that by the Law which made him dead to the Law of Works he intends the sincere and unmuddied Doctrine of free Justification by Christ's Righteousness alone His Design is plainly to refute an Error prevailing among the Galatians who tho professing the Gospel and to be justified by Faith in Christ yet would make this Gospel to be a new Law exacting Works as necessary to Justification He answerably disclaims every Law of Works whether the old Jewish or that new Evangelical One so lately invented among these Christians and made to look with the polish'd and smooth Face of the Gospel He excludes the Observances of any Duties or any Act of Obedience from having an Interest in our Justification assigning the whole Business of it to Faith alone ver 16. Knowing that a Man is not justified by the Works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ and not by the Works of the Law for by the Works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified It is thus he demonstrates this Proposition That we are not justified by the Works of any Law That they who were Jews to whom the Law was more especially given yet they having been instructed by the Doctrine of Grace that they could not be justified by Obedience to the Law and having by the Gospel which brings in a better Righteousness been convinc'd of the Defects of their own and therefore knowing that God had not appointed any Law whereby he would justify a Sinner they answerably had believed on Christ that so according to the Doctrine of the Gospel they might be justified by his Righteousness alone This is undoubted that we must be justified by some Righteousness or other not by our own for then Justification would be by the Works of a Law and so our Faith in another's Righteousness would be insignificant and to little or no purpose For why should we entirely trust in another Person for that which we could so well accomplish our selves If then not our own it must be Christ's Righteousness only that can have this desir'd Effect and knowing this by the Law or Doctrine of the Gospel we have says the Apostle for this very purpose believ'd on Jesus This without any Shuffles or intricate Windings is the plain Sense of this 16th Verse And among other Causes which mortified in him and the other Believers any Inclinations to seek Justification by the Law Pareus numbers the Doctrine of the Gospel as that which had the strongest and most efficacious Influence It is now then very agreeably that the Apostle says of himself That this Law or Doctrine of Grace had made him dead to the Law of Works but alive unto God What is it to be dead to the Law To renounce it in the Matter of our Justification to be freed from its galling Yoke of Servitude and Bondage whereby it keeps guilty unbelieving Sinners perpetually under the Tortures of slavish Fears and amazing Terrors To be dead to the Law is to disclaim our Justification by Works of our own and not to trust in any Obedience which we can perform to it and being convinced
that it condemns and dooms us to Death not to seek Life by it any more and no longer to have the least Commerce with it in the Affairs of our Justification or to be dead to the Law is no more to be obnoxious to its condemning Sentence in that it cannot exact from thee its threaten'd Punishments tho indeed as a Rule of Duty it always unalterably requires Obedience To be dead to the Law is no longer to be under its Dominion and Reign as it is a Covenant of Works Thus a King hath no Authority over a Subject whom Death hath transported out of his Territories into the Regions of another World nor can the Power of the Greatest reach beyond the Confines of the Grave In all these Meanings the Apostle asserts himself to be dead to the Law And what was it made him so What! but the Law or Doctrine of Grace revealed in the Gospel which so happily instructed him in the knowledg of free and compleat Justification by Christ This Sun no sooner riseth but all those little wandering Stars which as false Lights had before so wretchedly misled him do set presently and all his natural and rooted Inclinations to seek Justification by the Works of the Law lessen and at last wholly vanish and disappear at the glorious Appearance of the Sun of Righteousness who comes with healing in his Wings All those treacherous Hopes which he repos'd before in his Obedience to the Law in the severe Observance of its Precepts and strict Performances of Duties are utterly extinguished and all the Sparks of them being quite dead do not scatter any longer the least Glimmerings in his Soul Thus the Law or Doctrine of the Gospel teaching him how that Christ his Surety being made under the Law for him hath redeem'd him from its Curse answered all its Demands and silenced every Accusation hath stopp'd its Mouth and taken away its Strength and not only so but depriv'd it of Life as well as Voice the Apostle's Mind being thus illuminated with the Light of his new Law or Heavenly Doctrine to know more than ever he did before that Christ hath slain the Law as it is a Covenant of Works as well as the Enmity which Sin had caused between God and miserable Sinners he accordingly looks on the Law as a dead Thing which can neither hurt in respect to Condemnation nor do him any good as to Salvation and Life He answerably regards it with other Eyes than before and his former Zeal and Affection he had to it for the Purposes of Justification are not only abated but extirpated out of his Heart not meerly cool'd and damp'd but perfectly quench'd and dead Now then that the Gospel is called a Law by the Apostle not in the strict Sense as importing Works of any kind but as a meer Doctrine of Grace is evident from all these Effects which it produc'd It perfectly mortified him to a Law of Works and therefore could not be one it self unless we can imagine that the Apostle became dead as to seeking Justification by the Works of any Law whatever and that no otherwise than by giving entertainment to and putting himself under the Conduct of a new Law of Works which things do not seem very well to agree And that by Law when the Gospel is so nam'd in this Gal. 2. 19. the Apostle means a pure Doctrine of Grace and not a more moderated Law of Works appears from ver 21. I do not frustrate the Grace of God for if Righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain It is as if he should have said However others despise the Grace of God and think it too mean and ignoble to owe their Life to it it shall be my great Zeal to magnify it to illustrate its Glory and to pay unto it the highest Honour However others are Obstacles to its Progress and endeavour to put a stop to its Victories and Triumphs or attempt to render all its Power and Force vain and ineffectual yet for my part I will neither say nor do any thing to frustrate it and none of my Actions nor any Article of Doctrine which I teach shall in the least degree have such a Tendency I will not let fall a Word which may but seem to lessen or disparage the Favours of my blessed Redeemer who loved me and gave himself for me And can there be a greater Slight than when he hath done and suffered so much to save me not to rest satisfied with his Undertaking and Work as compleat but to be solicitously endeavouring how to supply the Deficiencies and to perfect it my self To esteem Christ as insufficient is certainly to despise him in the highest measure and he doth not suffice me if I join my own Righteousness to his or add Works done by me in Obedience to any Law unto his great Performances Nay if I should assert Righteousness to come by any Law whether New or Old I should dishonour Christ so much as to insinuate that he died very unwisely or unadvisedly For what could be more unadvised than to come and suffer all sorts of Miseries and at last to expire in Torments and that only to the Purpose of effecting what might have been done very well without such expence of his inestimable Blood For if by my Obedience to some Law I may be justified and the Works of that can be my Righteousness why should Christ die or to what purpose was he obedient since no other Ends of his Death and Obedience are assigned but the Justification of a Sinner And if this Business can be effected by this Sinner's own Works of what Nature soever the Blood and Righteousness of Christ comes in uncalled for and when there is no great or urgent need of them But far be it from me to defeat the Designs of the God of all Grace to misprize the greatest Favours which can be bestowed upon a Creature or to darken and obscure the Glory of the Grace it self and therefore I am firm to it and will unmoveably maintain it that Righteousness comes by no Law whatever nor are Sinners justified by the performance of any Conditions in obedience to it And therefore when I before ver 19. call'd the Gospel a Law you must by no means understand it to be a soften'd and milder Law of Works but a Doctrine of Grace in which Sense I also us'd the word Law in my Epistle to the Romans where I call the Gospel a Law of Faith Rom. 3. 27. Thus I have endeavour'd to give briefly the Apostle's Sense in this Text which proves his Meaning in the other where he calls the Gospel a Law that he understands only a Doctrine of Grace by that Word CHAP. IV. That the Fathers of the Primitive Church when they call'd the Gospel a Law meant only a Doctrine by it proved by a few Instances out of Clemens Alexandrinus Eusebius Theodoret Origen and Chrysostom THIS might be enough if my
justified and sanctified in Christ apprehended by Faith as we have in its proper place copiously demonstrated They viz. the Papists on the contrary think the Evangelical Doctrine to be nothing else but a certain Law more perfect than that of Moses Thus this Pious and Learned Man when he gives the Summary of the Gospel makes not the least Figure to denote Law or Works so that according to his reckoning they belong not to the Sum since he leaves them out in his Account And in the other Instance he with some Indignation rejects the Notion of the Gospel's being a Law as an Article of the Popish Faith The same Worthy Author writing against Sebastianus Castalio for he had not only the perplexing Trouble to refute the Reasons of the Papists but to answer the Cavils of the Semi-Pelagians makes the distinguishing Mark of the Gospel from the Law to be this that the Gospel is no other than the Doctrine of the Free Grace of God For proving that there are two Parts of God's Will reveal'd one which concerns meerly our Duty which is the Law and the other which contains nothing but the joyful discovery of God's gracious Purposes to save us by Christ the Redeemer There is yet no mention says he of this Benefit in the Law For the Declaration of this Will belongs to the other Part of the Divine Word which is called the Gospel This Truth is so rooted in the Hearts of true Christians that it will grow tho in various Climates and Soils where they have different Habitations Tho separated by Seas and vast Lakes and unpassable Mountains all who love Jesus Christ agree in asserting the pure Doctrine of his Grace Henricus Bullingerus one of the known and fam'd Reformers of Religion in Switzerland joins his Testimony to that of Beza in asserting the Gospel to be a pure Doctrine of Grace unmingled with Law or Works The Gospel says he is defin'd almost by all in this manner The Gospel is a good and sweet Word and a most certain Testimony of the Divine Favour towards us in Christ exhibited to Relievers Or The Gospel is the most clear Sentence of the Eternal God brought down to us from Heaven absolving all Believers from their Sins and that freely for Christ's Sake alone and promising Eternal Life Hieronymus Zanchius was an Italian who left his Country with Peter Martyr for the Sake of the Gospel in whose Writings as the Truths for which he suffer'd the loss of all things are nobly vindicated so a Vivacity of Spirit which is so natural to that Nation shines in them And it is a Wonder in him as well as Calvin that a Man who wrote so much should write so well He gives us his Suffrage also for the same Truth and in every Page almost of his three large Volumes he asserts the Gospel to be a sincere Doctrine of Grace without any Mixture And on all Occasions doth clear the distinct Nature of Law and Gospel from that Confusion in which by some in his Time they were involv'd Having first divided the whole Word of God into two Parts Law and Gospel and not to confound the Natures of Things so distinct having describ'd the Law in its Being Properties and Office that 't is peculiar to it to instruct us what Duties to perform what Sins to avoid that it points to us what is a Crime and shews what it deserves and accuseth Sinners and reveals the Wrath of God and threatens the merited Punishment Having thus clearly and distinctly stated the Nature of the Law of which the Gospel partakes not in the least and having assign'd its several Offices with which the Gospel intermeddles not at all nor crowds it self into them he then as distinctly explains the Nature of this Gospel But the Gospel says he which is the other essential Part of the Holy Scripture is a Doctrine or Scripture which declares free Salvation in Christ by Faith And a little after The Office of this is to proclaim that Salvation is to be had freely in Christ through Faith alone And in another Discourse he ascends higher and tells us That the Gospel is the joyful Preaching of that Eternal and free Love of God this is Eternal Election toward us in his beloved Son Christ To these I might add a Cloud of other Witnesses to evince that it was the Faith which universally obtain'd among all the Reformed Churches in several Nations and was earnestly maintain'd by all the Protestant Writers against the Papissts that the Gospel in the peculiar Nature of it is no other than a System of Promises a Disvoery of God's Mercy and Grace in Christ and a Proclamation of Free Pardon and Justification Lambertus Danaeus Martinus Chemnitius Osualdus Myconius David Pareus Daniel Chamier Joannes Gerrardus Antonius Waleus Altingius Andreas Rivetus with innumerable others write harmoniously in the same strain I will yet add the Testimony of our own Whitaker Since the Gospel says he is nothing else but the Narrative and Declaration of the Grace and Mercy of God which Christ merited for us by his Death it cannot be denied that principally to be the Evangelical Doctrine which most fully expounds this Benefit and joyful Message and for that Reason the Gospel to be most copiously and clearly taught in Paul's Epistles and Paul to be the best Evangelist He scruples not to attribute the Title of Gospel more to the Epistles of that Apostle than to the Sermon on the Mount tho preach'd by the Saviour of Men and that on this Account because in these more abundantly are display'd the Mysteries of our Redemption when the Import of that was to explain and urge Precepts which belong properly to the Law But it will be needful to produce one Evidence more who is the more material because it is the same Person whom my Reverend Brother brings as a Witness for the Cause which he maintains of the Gospel's bring a Law It is Gomarus himself who gives this Definition of it The Gospel is a Divine Doctrine in which the secret Covenant of God concerning Salvation out of pure Free Grace by Christ is declar'd to Men fallen into Sin and with the Elect it is begun and preserv'd to their Salvation and the Glory of God the Saviour Here he speaks nothing of the Gospel but that it is meerly a Declaration of Grace and the manifestation of the secret Purposes of it which were before hid in God's Heart when therefore a little after he calls the Gospel a Law in the Place cited by my Reverend Brother he must necessarily understand the word Gospel in the large extensive Sense as it signifies all the second Part of the Bible not in the strict and properest Sense as it implies only God's Covenant of Grace discovered to Man But what need was there that I should mention the Testimonies of Men when Witness offers it self from Heaven At
have been or as the necessary Prerequisite of Justification Well then when we meet with the word Law if we would not be impos'd on by the meer Sound of a Word we must carefully view the Text on all sides and survey and consider all its Circumstances When what is proper to the Gospel is attributed to the Law the word Law is not to be apprehended in the strict Sense as signifying a Rule of Duty and threatning Penalties to the Disobedient or as importing a Doctrine of Works but a Doctrine of Grace Thus when the Law is said to turn the Soul and to rejoice the Heart Psal 19. 8 9. since these are not the Effects of the Law as a Doctrine of Works for that rather effects a Sense of Wrath than any hope in the Heart of a guilty condemned Sinner and its Efficacy is more suted to wound him with anxious Fears or tormenting Despair rather than to comfort him Rom. 4. 15. we must by no means conceive a proper Law consisting of Precepts and Menaces to be meant but the Doctrine of the Mercies of God in Christ which only can have those Virtues and Influences And so when the Apostle too calls the Gospel a Law of Faith since he makes the Righteousness of the Law opposite to the Righteousness which is of Faith Rom. 10. 4 5 6. and Rom. 3. 20 21 22. he must consequently mean not a Law in the strict Sense not a Doctrine of Works but of pure Grace And by this Rule we are to proceed when we find the Gospel call'd a Law we are not to understand it in the strict meaning as a Rule of Duty with a Sanction which is the proper and peculiar Nature of the Moral Law but as a revealed Instruction to us what the Mind of God is concerning our Recovery and Salvation by Christ And when we hear of the Precepts and Threatnings of the Gospel and read them in that part of the Bible which we call the New Testament whether in the Sermons of our Saviour or in the Writings of the Apostles we are not to surmise presently that these are any Parts of the Gospel properly so titled as it is a Word of Grace and the Doctrine of our Redemption by Jesus tho they are contain'd in that Book to which we commonly give that Name For this would be to perplex our Notions of Things which are entirely distinct in their Natures and Idea's and to jumble them so confusedly together that we should not be able upon sight to discern and know one from the other For by the same Method of proceeding I might frame an Imagination to my self and strive to impose it on other Men that the Moral Law is the Gospel because there are so many Declarations of God's Love to Sinners of his Mercies to pardon them and so many Promises of Grace interspers'd in the Psalms and Prophets and other Books of the Old Testament all which tho so much of the Gospel be contain'd in it is so frequently call'd the Law both by Christ and his Apostles the Primitive Fathers and Protestant Divines So that in a Word as the Promises of the Gospel spread through the Books of Moses and the Prophets is no Argument to prove the Law to be the Gospel So it is as false a Demonstration that the Gospel is a Law because there are so many Precepts and Threatnings repeated in the Evangelists and Epistles All that can be concluded is that as there are Promises in one Volume of the Bible so there are Commands and Menaces in the other But yet as it is the Gospel which promises Grace in the First so it is the Law which commands and threatens in the Second And to clear the Equation it is only needful to bring all the Precepts in both to one side and the Promises to another and then we have distinct Law and Gospel CHAP. VII The Arguments us'd by the Apologist to prove the Gospel to be a new Law examin'd That from the Precepts Commands urg'd and Threatnings denounc'd in the New Testament nothing can be concluded to this Purpose IT is now very easy to answer my Reverend Brother's Arguments and with one gentle Stroke to wipe off all his Citations since they all are establish'd meerly upon the Ambiguities of the word Law Such reasoning is very fallacious to endeavour to prove the Gospel to be a new Rule of Duty fortified with a Sanction because we find it to be nam'd a Law both in the Scriptures and Humane Writings for the Sum of the whole Demonstration amounts to no more than this a Law is a Law the Gospel is a Law therefore the Gospel is a Law which is a pretty way of arguing and without doubt unanswerable But the clearing the Sense of the Terms answers all without any more to do which I think I have done and the more largely because I would do all the Justice to a bad Cause as could reasonably be ask'd and allow to it the fullest Scope and Play possible I have therefore offer'd Arguments for it my self I have consider'd what might be alledg'd I have produced those Scriptures which with any colour may be urg'd to prove the Gospel to be a new Law omitted by my Learned Brother and yet as aware that they might be summon'd I have brought them in and endeavour'd to clear their Words from that false Meaning which might be fasten'd on them to so ill a Purpose I shall now particularly consider those which he brings and shew that they do not prove the Matter in Dispute His first set of Scriptures are such as express the Gospel to be either giving Precepts and issuing out Commands and prescribing what is our Duty or reproving the Negligent or threatning the stubborn Offenders or promising Blessings on the Condition of such Duties perform'd as are requir'd It would make this Discourse too large which is I know not how grown under my Hands to a greater Bulk than I first design'd if I should particularly examine every Text it will be enough to shew that however there are Precepts and Commands in the Books of the New Testament yet these are not properly the Gospel but parts of the Law only employ'd in its Service that the Threatnings denounc'd do not properly belong to the Covenant of Grace for what hath Love and Mercy and Favour to do with Wrath and Justice and Expressions of Vengeance but it useth the Ministry only of a violated Law whose proper Office it is to threaten the Disobedient to condemn the Unbelieving and Impenitent Sinner and to demand Justice against him If I also shew at last that those places of Scripture which look like Promises of Blessings to us on condition that we perform the commanded Duties viewed nearly prove to be no more than so many Declarations of the Connexion of the Blessings of Grace and that as Faith is the first bestow'd it goes not alone but is attended with a numerous Off-spring When all this is
fond of any Arminian Opinions we must take the whole System of them together and assert roundly as they do without mincing the Matter what hath an inseparable Connexion with a false Proposition for there are Consequences among Errors as well as Truths and as the one are chain'd the other are link'd together We may then be certain that these Expressions in Scripture He that believeth shall be sav'd but he that believeth not shall be damn'd Mark 16. 16. And whoever believeth on Christ shall receive remission of Sins Acts 10. 43. And except you repent you shall all likewise perish Luke 13. 5. which are urg'd by my Reverend Brother do not signify that God passeth his Word to all Men by a new Law establish'd among them that if they obey it and believe and repent they shall assuredly be saved for God always speaks the Purposes of his Mind and none of his Words contradict his Heart but he never decreed either absolutely or conditionally that all Men should be eternally happy for if he had he would have taken effectual Care that they should be so since the Intents of his Mind and Will always obtain infallibly their desir'd Effect If we also understand that Expression He who believes shall be sav'd that it is promis'd to all that on the performance of this Condition they shall be thus eternally bless'd then by the same Rule we must say that eternal Death and Ruin is threaten'd to them on condition they do not believe But the Threatnings of this Wo are not denounc'd against Men for not believing but as due to them for not perfectly obeying the Law of Works and their Unbelief only leaves them in that perishing Condition wherein they were born as I have prov'd before tho as I said their Unbelief aggravates the Misery and inflames the Anguish of it But what meaning then must we apprehend these Scriptures to bear Why truly they have the same Sense as that Text in Heb. 12. 14. Follow Peace with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. What! is Holiness the Condition of obtaining the Beatifical Vision No tho it doth naturally dispose the Soul and make it meet for and capable of this blissful Enjoyment No more therefore is meant than that Holiness and this Vision of God are inseparably join'd together and that no unholy Soul can possibly come to his Presence and Sight Thus it is also true that he who believes shall be sav'd which imports no more than this that all Believers are sav'd and none but they and that there is such an unchangeable Connexion between the Blessings of the Gospel that Faith Repentance and Holiness are indissolubly fasten'd with Pardon Justification and Eternal Life in the same Person or in a Word that God justifies and saves no Man but whom at his own due appointed Time he makes a Believer brings him to Repentance I speak in this of Adult Persons and sanctifies his Nature and whoever asserts this is no Antinomian nor so much as like to such an execrable Monster however invidious Names are flung about as thick as Stones in the Streets I might insist more largely on this Argument but I begin to think that the Consideration of it will more properly belong to another Discourse wherein I design with the Assistance of my Lord Jesus Christ who hath help'd me in this beyond the natural Abilities of my own Mind to him be all the Glory to prove that the Covenant of Grace doth not promise nor confer the Blessings on condition of performing Duties requir'd CHAP. VIII Those Texts of Scripture which are urg'd by the Apologist as expresly giving the Name of a New Law to the Gospel recover'd to their right Sense His Testimonies out of the Fathers and Protestant Writers evinc'd to be useless to serve his Design I Shall now examine those Texts alledg'd by my Dear Brother wherein the Gospel is call'd a Law and the Citations produc'd by him wherein the Fathers and Protestant Authors give to it the same Name I shall do it but briefly for I need not be large since any Reader who hath with any intention of Mind perus'd my poor Writing may resolve them all at first sight The first Text produc'd is that known one in Rom. 3. 27. Where is boasting then It is excluded By what Law of Works Nay but by the Law of Faith Without looking on the Context we may be satisfied by what the Apostle saith in the same Verse that by the Law of Faith he means no more than that Doctrine of Grace which declares a believing Sinner to be justified by the Righteousness of Christ which by Faith he receiveth for it is such a Law of Faith that excludes all boasting Now then if it commanded Faith and promis'd Justification on condition that this its Precept was obey'd Boasting would not be excluded but rather a great Occasion would be given to promote it For why should not a Man glory in his Faith if it be an Act of Obedience to this new Law which by the Statute of it makes his Justification to depend on this his Performance He may then as well plead that he hath done what was requir'd and so he may as well claim Life and Happiness on the Account of having done all that this new Law made necessary to Salvation as Adam if continuing in his Primitive State might have form'd a Plea of his Right to Life for having discharg'd all that Duty which the Law of Works commanded and propos'd as the Condition of his being eternally Blessed If he might have boasted for having faithfully observ'd the Covenant of Works the Believer too may assume some Glory to himself for having acted his Duty punctually to the Law of Faith if the Constitution of this Law be such that it makes the promis'd Salvation dependant upon this his Obedience in believing It will signify nothing to say that the Law by which Adam was to have been justified enjoin'd Works as the Terms of his being so but that this new Law insists only on two Acts of Obedience Faith and Repentance as all that it requires for our Justification For these two are Works done by us and so we might boast that we have done something tho not arising to that height of Duty incumbent on our first Father by which according to the Tenor of this new Law we are justified By the Opposition which the Apostle makes of the Law of Faith to a Law of Works it is also manifest that by the first he intends a pure Doctrine of Grace and by the other a Law commanding something to be done For if the Law of Faith requires any Works and constituted them to be Conditions of our obtaining the Blessings make these Works as few as you will and call them by what Names you please Faith and Repentance yet this will result from it that both are Laws of Works only with this difference that the one rigorously insists on
till he have set Judgment in the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law That by his Law is meant a Declaration of Free Grace is apparent from the genuine Sense of the Hebrew word which in our English Bibles is translated they shall wait for his Law the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies they shall hope with earnest Desires expect it And thus Piscator who had an unquestionable Skill in that Language renders it We may then by a necessary Consequence conclude that by Law here is meant a publication of Free Grace by Christ since the poor Sinners of the Gentiles could not desire or hope for any other But without any Criticisms on the Hebrew Language the foregoing Verse of the Prophet Isaiah instructs us to a right understanding of the following Isa 42. 3. A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth Now if Christ had brought in a new Law with Precepts superadded to the old One this would have been to break the bruis'd Soul with repeated Strokes in greater strength and fierceness There is another Scripture produc'd by my Learned Brother to be examin'd which he urgeth to prove That the Gospel as a new Law promiseth Blessings to the Performers of its Precepts and threatens to punish all those who neglect them Luke 19. 27. But those mine Enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me Now as I think who am very willing to be better inform'd our blessed Lord Jesus asserts only his Right as Universal Monarch of the World which we are so far from denying that we heartily pray that his Kingdom may come in all the Shine of its Glory as we are sure it will at the determin'd Time Well but to soften the harsh word Law he adds the more allaying one of Grace But this will not do the Business for a Law prescribing Works is no Covenant of Grace if it be true what the Apostle says Rom. 11. 6. And if by Grace then is it no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace But if it be of Works then is it no more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work Therefore his no angry Brethren are in no Passion to hear the Voice of the Law if the old Moral One as a continuing Rule to Believers is meant and they are very glad of the joyful Sound of Grace they only gaze and admire at the strange Prodigy of those two unnaturally join'd together to compound a Covenant of Grace And tho with the greatest rejoicing we most thankfully accept God's new Covenant of Grace yet we cannot own a new Law of his making till we hear it more clearly proclaim'd by God himself I must confess I was a little surpriz'd at what I next read in my Reverend Brother's Learned Discourse The Law of Grace we speak of says he is both New and Old in different respects It is New in respect of the Covenant of Works made with Adam in his State of Innocency What! is it a new Law of a fresher Date that the old One being useless God saw it needful to promulgate another lower'd to lesser degrees of Duty and so suted to the present Estate of Sinners I am confident my Learned Brother will not assert this tho it unhappily falls out that his Words seem to imply it There remains nothing more than to examine his Humane Authorities which I will do tho there is the greatest uncertainty in the Citation of Authors to abet an Opinion when Men only take care and labour to wrack and torture them to a forced Confession of their own Sense For if the Words of the Holy Ghost himself who deliver'd his Meaning most distinctly and with the greatest exactness are yet wrested and perverted to contrary Purposes all Humane Writings are much more liable to be disfigur'd by wrong Interpretations I will yet consider in order the several Authorities alledg'd and first as to that of Justin Martyr Any one who distinctly regards the Design of that Father's Writing will see that however he makes use of the word Law by which to name the Gospel yet by Law he means no more than a new Doctrine or Dispensation of Grace For his Design is to prove against a Jew who was a great Admirer of his own Law and its august Ceremonies and Worship That all that solemn Pomp was excelled by the plain Evangelical Doctrine that this new Discovery of the Blessings of Grace in the real and solid Substance was infinitely preferable to all the old Representations and Shadows of those good Things And therefore by this new Law or this new Instruction of Grace coming those old Rudiments go off as useless to teach us any longer The Gospel as a new Doctrine of Grace appearing the old Institutions of Sacrifices and External Rites civilly are to withdraw to give place to a superiour and better Instructor To prove this is the Design of that Father's Dialogue against the Jew and all that can be gather'd from his calling the Gospel a New Law is only this that it is a fuller and clearer Revelation of the Grace of God in Christ as is evident from what follows a little after those Words cited by my Learned Brother where Justin Martyr expresseth his Meaning about the Gospel's being a New Law that it is so as it is a new and clearer Dispensation of Grace for having cited that Place in Isa 55. 3 4. expressing the Nature of the Gospel and upbraiding the Jew for his Confidence in old Legal Performances in Circumcision in eating unleavened Bread in washing in the Laver of Water in the Blood of Sheep and Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer It is not by these says he that Sinners are purified but by the Blood of Christ and his Death who died for that very Purpose as Esa himself hath spoketh it And then he largely recites the six last Verses of the 52d Chapter and Chap. 53. entire and the six first Verses of the 54th Chapter of that Prophet which contain the most clear and full Discovery of the Doctrine of Grace as is in all the old Testament So that all which the Father intends by the Name of a new Law given to the Gospel is that it is a Doctrine of Grace newly revealed And in this Sense I am very willing to call it so too But let us see if Cyprian gives his Vote for my Learned Brother It is true that he speaks frequently in his 11th Epistle of the Law of the Gospel but it is certain that as he wrote this Epistle to complain of and to rectify the Relaxation of Discipline in the Churches that those who had fallen into great and notorious Sins were yet re-admitted into Communion before they had given any Testimony of their Repentance so by the Law of the Gospel he means only that due Discipline which ought to be
next brings me without encouraging his Presumption in the general Notions which even wicked Men have of God's being merciful and Christ's dying for Sinners or throwing him into the Convulsions of Despair If I should tell him just dying of a new Law which must be obey'd by him before he can entertain any hopes that this new Law requires Obedience from him and till he hath done it he must look for nothing but Condemnation from its severe Sentence If I tell him that one Condition of this Law is that he reform the Course of a Life of which he is come within a point of the Period and that unless he live better he cannot be saved when he hath but a few Moments longer to live He would certainly look very ghastly upon me and think that I made his Mittimus to Hell But if I tell him that the Blessings of the Covenant are inseparable and where God gives one they are followed with all the other That where God confers his Favour he plants Grace too and works Faith in the Heart of those whom he hath decreed to save That this Faith if true is accompanied with Love and the natural Product of that is a sincere Resolution to please Christ and obey him and if he can lay his Hand on his Heart and find these Blessings there he may be assured of his Interest in the other and that believing he is justified by the Obedience of Christ to the Law performed for him This Declaration of the Gospel to a startled Sinner who hath not one Minute longer to promise to his affrighted Spirit may God making it the Power of God unto Salvation revive and give new Life unto-him in the Agonies of Death But to amaze him with a Discourse of new Laws and Commands and Threatnings would be to stab him to the Soul and to murder him more cruelly than his Disease CHAP. IX That this Opinion of the Gospel's being a New Law too much agrees with the Popish and Arminian Doctrines proved by several Instances out of their Authors SINCE Popery and Arminianism under various Names and in pursuit of different Ends make the same stated Opposition to the Design of the Gospel every Opinion which agrees with their Errors deserves to be suspiciously regarded and is unworthy of any favourable reception If it then doth appear that this Doctrine of the Gospel's being a new Law hath been strongly maintain'd by the Romish Church in several Ages as that which lays the surest Foundation for that dear Article of their Faith the Merit of Works and hath all been zealously espoused by the Arminians and Socinians as a most effectual Engine to overthrow Justification by the imputed Righteousness of Christ Then all who love Jesus the Redeemer or are careful of their own Salvation by him will be very wary of giving a welcome Entertainment to this new Law That the Doctors of the Romish Church have all along asserted the Gospel to be a new Law will be evident from a few Instances Petrus Lombardus the Master of the Sentences who flourish'd An. Dom. 1141. explaining the Difference between the Old Law and the New Law the Gospel The Precepts of them says he are different as to Ceremonials For as to Morals they are the same but are more fully contain'd in the Gospel Alexander Alensis who liv'd Anno Dom. 1230. resolving that Question Whether the Observance of the Old or New Law be the most burdensome says That the Precepts of the Gospel simply and absolutely are more difficult and of a greater Burden than the Precepts of the Mosaical Law Gulielmus Altissiodorensis who flourish'd Anno Dom. 1240. resolves the same Question with this Distinction The Difficulty or Weight is twofold one Carnal the other Spiritual As to the Carnal Burdensomness the old Law was heavier than the Gospel but as to the Spiritual Difficulty the new Law is more difficult Albertus Magnus who lived Anno Dom. 1260. clearing how tho the Letter of the Law kills yet the Spirit makes alive The Spirit says he is the Grace of the Spirit in which the Holy Ghost is given and this is given in the making of the new Law not in that of the Old Thomas Aquinas who lived Anno Dom. 1265. in resolving that Question Whether the new Law can justify a Man positively affirms That the Evangelical Law since it is the Grace it self of the Holy Spirit doth necessarily justify a Man Joannes Dunscotus who flourish'd Anno Dom. 1300. explaining how the new Law is easier to be obey'd than the old One tho it hath all the Moral Precepts of that with the superaddition of new Ones But says he on the Part of the new Law the Multitude and Efficacy of the Aids doth more alleviate the Difficulty of its Moral Precepts Raynerius de Pisis who also flourish'd Anno Dom. 1300. discourseth largely about this new Law and its Excellence and eminent Prerogative above the old One Which new Law says he hath four notable and excellent Conditions for it is a Law of Charity of Liberty Facility and Necessity and with a tedious prolixness he insists on all those Particulars The Cardinal Petrus Aureolus who flourish'd Anno Dom. 1317. gives eight Differences between the new Law and the Old and among the rest assigns this That the old Law commanded but afforded no Aid it was intent on the Letter which kills but the New gives Spirit and Grace which quickens That the new Law frees us from the Burdens of the old Law is true says Durandus à S. Porciano who liv'd Anno Dom. 1320. both because it imposeth on us fewer Burdens and also lighter and which belong to the Cure of the Disease of Sin and to the preservation of Spiritual Health There are two Parts of the Divine Law both the Old and the New says Dionysius Carthusianus who lived Anno Dom. 1450. viz. Testimonies and Precepts Testimonies concern things to be believ'd Precepts those which are to be done Dominicus Soto who was Father Confessor to the French King Francis I. Anno Dom. 1535. disputes largely about the New Law or the Evangelical Law and among other things he tells us That it is a Law proper to Christians when the Moral Law written on the Hearts of Men belongs to all Nations That this Law is the Gospel it self And then determining that Question Whether this new Evangelical Law hath the Virtue of justifying a Man he decides it in these two Propositions 1. The Evangelical Law if its pure Instructions and Commands and Substance of its Works be considered doth no more in it self justify than the old Law or the Law of Nature it self 2. The Evangelical Law if its internal Virtue is consider'd justifies a Man Albertus Pighius who lived at the same Time speaking of the Cup in the Sacrament This is the Cup says he not of that old Testament which was then presently to be