can be drawn up or made at least so as to be obliging unless it be by mutual consent and agreement thereto demanded and obtained since betwixt equals there can be no Dominion or Soveraignty and consequently no right to impose terms upon each other But betwixt Superiors and such as are in a state of subjection and dependence the case is far different The Supreme Magistrate if he intend to confer Honours or Preferments upon any of his Subjects or to pardon such as have been disloyal and have rebelled against him he may draw up and propound to them what Conditions or Articles of Agreement he thinks meet provided they be not unjust and unreasonable and not to their prejudice He may require them to make publick acknowledgment of their fault and to promise homage and subjection to all his Laws and Government without asking their leave to do it and they notwithstanding are thereupon obliged to yield their consent thereunto at least iâ— they expect any benefit by his Act of Grace and Pardon Now this is the case betwixt God and the Creature Man he is not only as a Creature necessarily subject to and dependent upon God but as a degenerate Creature he 's fallen under his displeasure and become liable to his anger and vindictive justice And God on the other hand he 's our Soveraign Lord and Governour that hath an absolute Dominion over us yet being withall infinitely gracious and compassionate he hath been pleased to draw up conditions of Peace betwixt himself and fallen Man which is that we call the New Covenant wherein he promiseth to pardon our sins and give us eternal life provided we repent and believe c. This he hath caused to be printed and published by his Ambassadors to all the World and besides that this is a sufficient declaration of his own consent to it he hath also confirmed it to us by his Oath and now requires that we also each man for himself should come and seal to these Conditions which we all do in Baptism and solemnly profess our consent to them upon which but not before we are actually instated in all the Priviledges and Blessings belonging to this Covenant But withall let me add that even they who withhold or deny their consent to it and resolve never to perform the conditions of it are notwithstanding necessarily obliged thereunto not only as it is an act of Grace in the benefits of which they hope to be partakers but also as 't is the Royal Law as the Apostle calls it of that God who is the Supreme Governour of the World from obedience to whose Authority 't is impossible the Creature should be exempted But before I proceed to make this good by further proof it will be necessary to make some short digression for the clearing the sense of one place of Scripture that seems at first view to bear open testimony against what I am now pleading for The place we have Gal. 3.16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made He saith not And to Seeds as of many but as of one And to thy Seed which is Christ Hence some infer and they suppose with no less than unquestionable evidence since 't is in terms exprest That the New Covenant is made with Jesus Christ and not with Believers personally considered and consequently that he is the only party that stands engaged to the Father and not they for the performance of all such terms as this Covenant doth require A strange and dangerous Position which raseth the very foundations of Christianity the great design of this being to teach us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live godly righteously and soberly in this present world Tit. 2.12 To this it might be sufficient by way of answer to reply That since this Text is of doubtful interpretation it cannot in reason be thought sufficient to warrant an opinion of so great importance especially since it not only stands alone without a second to confirm it but that there is abundant evidence both from Scripture and Reason against it as is afterwards to be shewn And 't is a known and safe rule in interpreting Scripture that doubtful and obscure places are and not on the contrary to be tryed and judged by the light and testimony of such as are more clear and evident 1. But further for the better understanding the true sense of this place it is here to be noted that such is the resemblance that Believers have of Christ and that intimate union they have with him as that they are sometimes called by his name as for the same reason Magistrates are called Gods Psal 6.7 and the Children of Jacob are called Jacob Psal 44.4 and Israel Rom. 11.2 7. and Jerusalem the Lord our Righteousness Jer. 33.16 and every man by the name of Adam Psal 144.3 and so upon the like account Believers they are called Christ because of that near alliance there is betwixt them Thus we find this word used by the Apostle 1 Corinth 12.12 Eph. 4.13 Col. 1.24 Heb. 11.25 26. compared Acts 9.4 So that by Christ here we may understand not Christ personal but Christ mystical that is the whole body of Believers whether Jew or Gentile as jointly united and made one in Christ their head as the Apostle expresseth it Eph. 1.22 23. and chap. 2.13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21. And this I take to be that one Seed to whom the promise is here said to be made 2. But secondly As the word may be thus taken without imposing any new sense upon it since 't is elsewhere so used by the Apostle and Scripture delights to transfer the name of any common Head to those that are either derived from or representative of it so it ought also to be taken in this and no other sense in this place and that for these following Reasons which to me render it abundantly evident For 1. This sense of the word here doth best suit with the Apostles design and main intendment in this and the following Chapter which is first to prove that we are justified by Faith in Christ and secondly that this priviledge with the rest annexed to the Covenant of Grace belonged not only to the Jews but to the believing Gentiles also 'T is well known that it was the common opinion of the Jewish Doctors that if a man lived in a due observance of the Law of Moses and if upon any moral miscarriage he were but punctual in offering Sacrifices and Oblations in that case appointed his sins were thereby expiated and he assured of eternal life and consequently that they were saved by their own righteousness and works of the Law And because they were originally descended from Abraham and had the Law and Oracles of God and the holy Temple c. amongst them therefore they rested in the Law and made their boast of God as appropriate to themselves being as they falsly apprehended the only Seed of Abraham
light or a Man without reason which are no better than implicite contradictions I may as well call that a gift which is not given or that a promise where my word is not engaged as that a Covenant where there 's no mutual stipulation or conditions of agreement They are things that eye hath not seen nor ear heard of nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive what they are No I cannot possibly frame the idea of a Sun in my mind without light Nor entertain any formal conceit of a man without including reason in that conception No more can I conceive of a Covenant without conditions since these are essential to the nature definition and common notion of a Covenant 2. The Gospel which is little more but a comment upon the New Covenant doth not only in general declare to us that there are conditions affixed to it but in particular acquaints us what they are And here I shall only instance in these three faith repentance and sincere obedience as inclusive of all the rest First for faith doth not the Gospel expresly tell us that we must believe and that this is the great command of God 1 Joh. 3.16 I but what if we do believe in the name of Christ according to his command What hath God thereupon promised to us What Why that then we shall not perish but have eternal life Joh. 3.16 I but what if we be defective in this particular and do not believe May we not yet hope to be saved by Jesus Christ No He that believeth not is condemned already Joh. 3.18 and the wrath of God abideth upon him ver 36. and he shall be damned Mark 16.16 Here 's one condition you see plain and evident in the New Covenant I but is not faith then the only condition And may not that alone serve the turn without any thing else to invest us in all the priviledges of the Kingdom No there must be also repentance towards God as well as faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ Act. 20.21 This is no less expresly commanded than the former Acts 17.30 Now God commandeth all men every where to repent And the very first doctrine that Jesus Christ himself preached after his most solemn consecration to his Prophetick Office was this of Repentance Matth. 3.13 14 15 16 17. compared with Matth. 4.17 From that time began Jesus to preach and to say Repent for the kingdome of heaven is at hand And as it is in terms no less than faith commanded in the Gospel so you have the same benefits of pardon of sin and eternal life annexed to it Repent saith Peter to the Jews Acts 3.19 and be converted but to what purpose Why that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And God is not willing saith the same Apostle that any should perish I but how may they then escape it How By repenting and turning to God and therefore he there adds but that they should come to repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 And for this reason 't is called repentance unto life Acts 11.18 And repentance unto Salvation 2 Cor. 7.10 Yea but what though we fail in the performance of this duty May not our sins be pardoned and our Souls saved upon the account of Christ for all that No except we repent we must perish Luke 13.3 5. Faith in this case will not save us Well then faith and repentance are conditions that 's manifest from what I have now said I but is there any thing more yet required by the New Covenant as necessary to eternal life Yea we must not only enter in at the strait gate but we must also walk in the narrow way if we would enter into life Nor only be implanted into the true vine but abide in it and bring forth fruit to God Joh. 15. Nor only receive Christ Jesus the Lord but walk in him as we have received him Col. 2.6 By the former faith and repentance we enter in at the strait gate and by holiness and obedience we hold on in the narrow way By those we are ingraffed into the true vine and by this we abide in the vine and become fruitful By an humble faith we receive Christ Jesus the Lord Christ in all his offices and by a sincere obedience we walk in him according to the terms upon which we at first received him And therefore though our actual obedience and holiness which are the work of time be not required to our justification and initial instatement into life only our turning to God and hearty acceptance of Christ as Lord and Saviour to be taught and governed and saved by him in his own way yet is our obedience vertually therein included as all practical conclusions are in their first principles and in order to our actual and compleat fruition of eternal life our actual holiness and obedience is required in the Gospel The former gives us an initial right and this jus aptitudinale a legal fitness That puts us into possession as the delivery of the Key to the Tenant upon sealing the Indentures gives him a legal possession of the House and this continues us in it as paying the rent doth the Tenant afterwards And therefore in order to eternal happiness I know nothing that is said of faith or repentance in Scripture but the same is also said of holiness and obedience Are they positively commanded in the Gospel So is this we must deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and live godly righteously and soberly in this present world Tit. 2.12 13. we must be holy in all manner of conversation even as he that hath called us is holy 1 Pet. 1.15 we must walk after his Commandments 2 Joh. 6. we must perfect holiness in his fear 2 Cor. 7.1 c. 'T is commanded Again is the promise of eternal life made to them So to this also The obedient and holy and pure in heart they shall be blessed Mat. 24.46 They shall be happy Joh. 13.17 They shall see God Matth. 5.8 They shall have right to the Tree of life Rev. 22.14 They shall have eternal life Rom 2.7 8 9 10. And eternal Salvations Heb. 5.9 But what if we be wanting in point of holiness and obedience May not the righteousness of Jesus Christ here make supply and be accepted in the room of it and so Heaven had without it No no more than without faith and repentance For are the unbelieving and impenitent expresly excluded from having any interest in the eternal blessings of the Covenant and laid under an immutable sentence of eternal death So also are the impure and disobedient They shall die Rom. 8.13 They shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Matth. 5.20 They shall not see God Heb. 12.14 They shall be cast into outer darkness Matth. 25.30 They shall have indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish Rom. 2.8 9. They shall be punished with everlasting
and the doctrine of free Grace THis method of Gods saving sinners by way of Covenant as is before explained is very well consistent with and no way derogatory to either the sufficiency of Christs satisfaction and righteousness or to the doctrine of free Grace in Christ I add this because 't is the common fortress to which Men of more loose and debauched lives and principles in Religion are wont to retire when by the evidence of Scripture and reason they are driven from all their other holds Tell them that they must repent and turn to God and amend their evil wayes and doings and bring forth fruits meet for repentance Tell them that they must come to Christ and believe in him and take his yoak and bear his burden and deny themselves and be obedient to his Laws and love him in sincerity Tell them that they must mortifie the deeds of the flesh and deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and live godly and righteously and soberly in this present world and be pure in heart and holy in all manner of conversation as he that hath called them is holy Tell them that there is an indispensable necessity of all this or else their sins cannot be pardoned or their persons accepted or their Souls saved in the day of the Lord Jesus And give them undeniable reason and plain and express Scripture for the proof of all these commands and promises and threatnings all speaking the same language And what is their answer to all this Why The righteousness of Christ is sufficient and the Grace of God in Christ is free and therefore they hope in his mercy and doubt not of their Salvation though they still indulge themselves in sin and continue in a manifest neglect of God and the great duties of Christianity And all that is said to the contrary that might take them off from sin and vanity and perswade them to any greater diligence and exactness in Religion that is immediately condemned and decried for legal doctrine that disthrones Christ and takes the Crown from his head and destroyes the free Grace of God and tends to bring us again in bondage to the Law And that which makes it the more difficult to take Men off from these mistaken notions they have entertained concerning the righteousness of Christ and free Grace is this that they are the only foundation and hold that these Men have for their hopes of pardon and Salvation So that if you beat them off from these you take away all their hopes and confidence yea their Heaven and happiness from them They have nothing then left whereby to stop the mouths of their own awakened consciences or warrant their expectations of Heaven or to keep their Souls from sinking immediately into despair Their hearts they condemn them for their daily neglect of duty and indulgencies to the flesh and disobedience to the Gospel and alas they have nothing within or from the word to witness for them No broken and contrite spirit no mournings in secret for their sins no acts of self-denyal no change of heart or life no spirit of faith or fear or love or adoption to intitle them to the promise and blessings of the Covenant No neither Sun nor Star appears that might encourage them in their way but as it was with Paul in his voyage to Rome all hopes that they should be saved is taken away and therefore 't is that they do with so much constancy and resolution adhere to and contend for these mistaken notions as their only refuge security And thus though they are not able to conquer or encounter those thundering Legions that are brought against them yet whilest they have this strong hold and fortress to retire to they are little moved by the terrors of the Lord but still apprehend themselves safe and well secured against all that thunder and lightning that is from Heaven poured out against them All is but like the shooting of pointed Arrows against the walls of a Castle which are presently beat back again without making any great impression upon the walls And therefore there is little hopes of ever prevaling with these Men to surrender themselves to the powers either of Scripture or reason though on every hand besieged by them unless this Fortress of theirs be demolished and its Towers broken down and consequently their refuge and defence taken away That is in more plain English unless it be discovered that their notions about the sufficiency of Christ's righteousness and the doctrine of Free Grace are false and vain and that neither the conditionality of the New Covenant nor the necessity of our personal performance of the conditions of it in order to eternal life are any way inconsistent with or prejudicial unto either Grace notwithstanding is still free And the satisfaction and righteousness of Jesus Christ is nevertheless sâ—fficient These are the two things that I am now particularly to speak to and to demonstrate The sufficiency of Christs satisfaction and â—ighteousness is no way either contradicted or prejudiced by asserting the Covenant of Grace to be made not with Jesus Christ but with â—elievers themselves upon certain terms and conditions to the actual performance of which they are personally obliged in order to their receiving and enjoying the benefits â—f it That Jesus Christ hath fully satisfied the demands of the first Covenant and fulâ—â—lled all righteousness and finished his work â—s Mediator and perfected our Redemption â—y his death and suffering And that his saâ—â—sfaction and merit is of infinite value and â—â—erefore abundantly sufficient for the ends â—r which it was intended hath been acâ—nowledged and proved in the foregoing â—â—opositions Propos. 2. and 4. And thereâ—ore I shall need to say nothing here for the â—â—claring my assent to or for the vindicatiâ—â— of these particulars That which I have â—ow to do is only to shew in what sense â—â—operly it may be said to be sufficient and 〈◊〉 remove those mistaken apprehensions that â—â—e concerning it For which purpose it is 〈◊〉 the first place to be observed that by sufâ—iciency here we are not to understand the â—â—â—rinsick worth and value of Christs saâ—â—â—faction and righteousness upon which account it may not untruly be said if rightly construed that 't is sufficient for the Salvatioâ— of many worlds And in this very particular mainly lies the mistake The satisfaction oâ— Christ say they is infinite and his righteousness infinite therefore sufficient for the redemption of this and many worlds if they had been made which as to its absolute valuâ— and dignity is acknowledged But whatâ— then Why Therefore they hope and believe that they shall be saved by it And 〈◊〉 they build their faith and hopes immediately upon the absolute worth and merit 〈◊〉 Christs satisfaction But will this foundatioâ— stand or this argument hold good wheâ— it comes to tryal In this sense 't is sufficienâ— to save the Infidels Jews and Turks Tâ— save the spirits now in
nature that creature is truly and formally happy He is so well that he can be no better and therefore capable of no greater felicity But then since mans being and perfections are not originally from himself but borrowed and derived from God as rayes of light from the Sun and streams from the Ocean it thence necessarily follows that God as Original is the only rule and standard by which all perfection is to be measured and consequently the more or less any creature is approximate and conformed to God the more or less perfect As the excellency of a Picture lying in its exact resemblance to the face by which 't is drawn the more like thereto still the more excellent And this is that which gives Man the preheminence above the rest of the creatures in this visible world They are at a far more remote distance from him and partake less of him but Man is more nearly allied to him and admitted to a more full participation of the divine nature The rest as 't is commonly exprest have only some tracks and footsteps of God but Man his Image And by this resemblance of Man to God is his greatest happiness both as innocent and glorified described in Scripture Gen. 1.26 27. So God created Man in his own Image and after his own likeness There is the happiness of Man in his primitive state of innocency And 1 Joh. 3.2 It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is There is the chief happiness of the Saints now in glory And indeed nothing less than this can be the happiness of a reasonable creature And to this all the duties of Christianity are so nearly related as that that they really become an essential part of it For either they are such wherein our likeness to God doth formally consist as the more patient and just and merciful and holy and righteous we are still the more like to God since he is so Or else such wherein we express our conformity to God as humility and reverence and faith and watchfulness c. which hold a suteable correspondence to his greatness Majesty faithfulness omniscience c. In the former we resemble God as the picture doth the face it represents And by the latter as the impression in the wax doth the stamp upon the seal that made it as a late Author hath well exprest it in his most ingenious and learned treatise concerning the blessedness of the righteous Did men therefore as they ought consider either what happiness is or how great a correspondence and affinity their present duties have to it they would be so far from thinking the performance of them any diminution of Gods free Grace as that they would rather esteem it as one of the most signal acts of his Grace and favour that he hath provided such effectual means and afforded them so powerful aids and assistances in order to the making them holy and obedient 'T is doubtless an act of kindness and bounty to heal the wounded and restore eyes to the blind and strength and beauty to the maimed and deformed no less than to forgive a poor Man his debt In justification our debt 's forgiven but in sanctification the ruines of degenerate nature are repaired and the Image of God restored And which of these two do you think is the greater kindness That frees us from prison and arrests from misery but this makes us truly and formally happy But lastly 5. Though our personal performance of the conditions of the Covenant be asserted as indispensably necessary to our eternal Salvation yet not by vertue of our own natural strength and power without the assistance of Divine Grace That is no where affirmed but the contrary What remainders of natural strength and ability there may be left in Man and how far they may be improved by him with reference to his own Salvation is not my business now to enquire or determine He is now 't is acknowledged in a state of degeneracy and by his fall the several powers and faculties of his Soul were impaired and weakened though not wholly lost But yet his obligation to duty is not thereby rescinded but remains intire and therefore he is still bound as much as ever to render love and service to his Maker For man's inability to obey cannot take away Gods right to command nor his Apostasie destroy the law of his creation Man is still Gods creature though degenerate and lives daily in a necessary dependance upon him and therefore 't is impossible he should ever be absolved from his engagement to love and honour and obey him since 't is impossible for a creature to become independent The great design therefore of Gospel Grace is not as some foolishly imagine to exempt us from duty and to dispence with our love to God or obedience to his Laws but to repair our strength and assist our faculties and every way to enable us to the performance of our duty That we may repent and return to God and live in all due subjection and obedience to him as becometh creatures Tit. 2.11 12. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world The same Grace here that is said to bring Salvation the same also teacheth us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts c. And both are alike called by the name of Grace Grace teacheth us this lesson and Grace also assists us both in the learning and practice of it For God is no hard Master he doth not gather where he hath not strewed nor reap where he hath not sown Though he gives not succors to all alike but to some more to others less according to the good pleasure of his will yet he is wanting to none but such as are wanting to themselves His promises are no less extensive than his commands No duty is required of us but God himself is engaged for our assistance in the performance of it Must we repent and turn to God Acts 17.3 He then will give us repentance unto life Act. 5.31 Must we come to Christ and believe in him that we may have life Matth. 11.28 29 He then will draw us Joh 6.44 and make us willing in the day of his power Psal 110.3 Must we cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in his fear 2 Cor. 7.1 He then will pour clean water upon us and cleanse us from our iniquities Ezek. 36.25 and sanctifie us throughout in Body Soul and Spirit 1 Thes 5.21 Must we run with patience the race that is set before us Heb. 12.1 He then will increase our strength that we may run and not be weary and walk and not faint Isa 40.29 and 31. Must we work about our Salvation with fear and