&
OF THK
IT
PRINCETON, N. J.
SAMUEL AGNEW,
OF PHILADELPHIA. PA.
o4t>.
ZfrifiAscX £<£/£* §5%,
»"- — - h ^~-
BX 8915 .B67 1848 v. 7
Boston, Thomas, 1677-1732.
The whole works of the la
Reverend Thomas Boston, of
ite
THE
WHOLE WORKS
LATE REVEREND THOMAS "BOSTON
OF ETTKICK;
NOW FIRST COLLECTED, AND EEPEINTED WITHOUT
ABRIDGMENT ;
INCLUDING
HIS MEMOIRS, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
EDITED BY THE
REV. SAMUEL M'MILLAN.
VOL. VII.
ABERDEEN:
GEORGE AND ROBERT KING, ST. NICHOLAS STREET.
M.DCCC.L.
AN EXPLICATION
OF
THE ASSEMBLY'S
SHORTER CATECHISM.
MARROW OF MODERN DIVINITY,
WITH NOTES.
CHRIST'S EVERLASTING ESPOUSALS
REV. THOMAS BOSTON.
OF ETTIUCK.
ABERDEEN:
GEORGE AND ROBERT KING, ST. NICHOLAS STREET.
1850.
TB
N&
CONTENTS OF VOL. VII.
Page
A BRIEF EXPLICATION OF THE FIRST PART OF THE ASSEMBLY'S
SHORTER CATECHISM. 9
THE MARROW OF MODERN DIVINITY, IN TWO PARTS.
PART I.
Preface, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 146
Advertisement, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 150
Recommendations, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 151
Dedication, ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... 157
Address to the Reader, ... ... .. ... ... ... ... 159
Introduction Sect. 1. Difference about the law, 165. — 2. A threefold law, 166
Chap. I Of the Law of Works, or Covenant of Works.
Sect. 1. The nature of the covenant of works, 171 Sect. 2. Adam's fall, 176
Sect. 3. The sinfulness and misery of mankind by the fall, 177. — Sect. 4. No re-
covery by the law, or covenant of works, 179. — Sect. 5. The covenant of works
binding, though broken, 181.
Chap. II Of the Law of Faith, or Covenant of Grace.
Sect. I. Of the eternal purpose of grace, 183. — Sect. II. Of the promise, 186 — 1. The
promise to Adam, ib 2. The promise renewed to Abraham, 191.. — 3. The law
as the covenant of works, added to the promise, 195. — 4. The promise and co-
venant with Abraham, renewed with the Israelites, 206. — 5. The covenant of grace
under the Mosaic dispensation, 209.. — 6. The natural bias towards the covenant of
works, 224. — 7. The Antinomian faith rejected, 232. — 8. The evil of legalism,
236. — Sect. III. Of the performance of the promise, 239. — 1. Christ's fulfilling
of the law in the room of the elect, 239 2. Believers dead to the law as the co-
venant of works, 246. — 3. The warrant to believe in Christ, 262. — 4- Evangelical
repentance a consequent of faith, 278. — 5. The spiritual marriage with Jesus
Christ, 285. — 6. Justification before faith refuted, 290. — 7. Believers freed from
the commanding and condemning power of the covenant of works, 292.
Chap III. — Of the Law of Christ.
Sect. 1 . The nature of the law of Christ, 306. — 2. The law of the ten commandments
a rule of life to believers, 308. — 3. Antinomian objections answered, 312. — 4.
The necessity of marks and signs of grace, 318. — 5. Antinomian objections
VI. CONTENTS.
answered, 321. — 6. Holiness and good works attained to only by faith, 324. — 7.
Slavish fear and servile hope not the springs of true obedience, 331 . — 8. The
efficacy of faith for holiness of heart and life, 338.— 9. Use of means for strengthen-
ing of faith, 345 10. The distinction of the law of works, and law of Christ,
applied to six paradoxes, 346 11. The use of that distinction in practice, 351. —
12. That distinction a mean betwixt legalism and Antinomianism, 361. — 13. How
to attain to assurance, 362. — 14. Marks and evidences of true faith, 365. — 15.
How to recover lost evidences, 366. — 16. Marks and signs of uuion with Christ,
368.
Chap. IV. — Of the Heart's Happiness, or Soul's Rest.
Sect. 1. No rest for the soul till it come to God, 372.-2. How the soul is kept from
rest in God, 374. — 3. God in Christ the only true rest for the soul, 380.
Page
The Conclusion, . . .. ... ... ... ... ... ... 386
PART II.
Dedication, ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... 391
The Author to the Reader, 393
Introduction, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 397
Ignorant men confine the meaning of the ten commandments, ... ... 398
The ten commandments an epitome of the law of God, ... ... ... 400
Six rules for the right expounding of the ten commandments, ... ... ib.
The sum of the first commandment, &c. ... ... ... ... ... ib.
Wherein the first and second commandments differ, &c. ... ... ... 402
Wherein the second and third commandments differ, &c. ... ... ... 405
The difference betwixt the third and fourth commandments, &c. ... 417
The sum of the fifth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... ... 420
The sum of the sixth commandment, ... ... ... .. ... 427
The sum of the seventh commandment, ... ... ... ' ... ... 430
The sum of the eighth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... 432
The sum of the ninth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... 434
The sum of the tenth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... 436
The Lord requireth perfect obedience to all the ten commandments, ... 439
All men by nature under Bin, wrath, and eternal death, ... ... ... 436
Christ hath redeemed believers from the curse of the law, ... ... ... ib.
Every man's best actions are corrupted and defiled with sin, ... ... 440
The least sinful thought makes man liable to eternal damnation, ... ... 446
Though man cannot be justified by his obedience to the law, yet shall not his obe-
dience be in vain, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 448
Man is naturally apt to think he must do something towards his own justification,
and act accordingly, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 450
Christ requires that believers do desire and endeavour to yield perfect obedience to
all the ten commandments, ... ... ... ... ... ... 453
Believers shall be rewarded for their obedience, and with what, ... ... 454
After what manner believers are to make confession of their sin upon a day of
humiliation, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 457
Why and to what end believers are to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, 458
The Difference bltween the Law and the Gospel, ... ... 459
Atpendix, ... ... ... ... ..... ... 465
CONTENTS.
THE EVERLASTING ESPOUSALS.
Page
Hos. ii. 19. — I will betroth thee unlo me for ever, .. ... 491
THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST IN THE FORM OF A SERVANT.
Philip, ii. 7. — And took upon him the form of a servant. ... ... ... 520
THE PECULIAR MERCY AND BUSINESS OF LIFE OPENED UP
AND APPLIED.
Isaiah xxxviii. 19 — The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day :
tho father to the children shall make known thy truth ... ... ... 447
THE EVIL AND DANGER OF SCHISM.
1 Cor. i. 10. — Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
you, but that ye be perfectly joined together, in the same mind, and in the
same judgment, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 593
THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE
FOR THE BEHOOF OF POOR SINNERS, POINTED OUT AND
ILLUSTRATED.
Psalm Ixxxix. 14. — Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne : mercy
and truth shall go before thy face, ... ... ... ... ... 614
SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, 621
SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, 628
THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF RELIGION IN
THE SOUL DISCOVERED, AND THE METHOD OF ITS CURE
PRESCRIBED.
Rev. iii. 2. — Strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die. ... 636
SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, 643
-
I
BRIEF EXPLICATION
FIRST PART
THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM.
Quest. What is the chief end of Man ?
Answ. Man's chief end is, to glorify God, and to en-
joy him for ever.
EXPLICATION.
By man's chief end is meant, the end which man was chiefly made
for, and which he should chiefly seek to reach unto. It consists
of two parts ; his chief duty, and his chief happiness. Man's chief
duty is to glorify God : 1 Cor. x. 31, " Whether therefore ye eat or
drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Man
glorifies God, hy thinking, speaking, and living to his glory. And
this is man's chief, and last or farthest end. Man's chief happiness
is, to enjoy God as his God : Psalm lxxiii. 25, 26, 27, 28, " Whom
have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire
besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the
strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For lo, they that
are far from thee, shall perish : thou hast destroyed all them that
go a-whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God."
And this is man's chief subordinate end. A sinner can never glo-
rify God, until he first enjoy him as his God : Eph. ii. 12, "At that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the common-wealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope, and without God in the world." Gen. xvii. 1, " The Lord
appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ;
Yol. YII. A
10 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
walk before me, and be thou perfect." Exod. xx. 2, 3, "I am the
Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the laud of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before
me." Now, the sinner can attain to the enjoyment of God, only
through Jesus Christ : John xiv. 6, " Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way, and the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Fa-
ther, but by me." And one may get a saving interest in Christ, by
faith. Moreover, they who enjoy God as their God, are enabled to
glorify him, by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them as members of
Christ : Rom. viii. 26, " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infir-
mities : for we know not what we should pray for as we ought : but
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered." Wherefore, none that are out of Christ, reach
the chief end of man : but they make themselves their chief end.
HoAvbeit, believers do reach it : and they reach it, in so far as they
shall, from the first moment of their believing, for ever enjoy and
glorify God ; imperfectly indeed here, but perfectly in heaven.
Quest. 2. JVhat rule hath God given to direct us, how we may glo-
rify and enjoy him ?
Answ. The Word of God which is contained in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, is the only
Rule to direct us, how we may glorify and enjoy him.
EXPLICATION.
The end for which the Scriptures are given, is, to be a rule to di-
rect us how we may glorify God, and come to the enjoyment of him
as our God. And they are the only rule to direct us in these mat-
ters. Withall they are a certain and infallible rule; and that be-
cause they are the word of God. It appears, that they are the
word of God, by the holiness efficacy of their doctrine, and the mi-
racles wrought to confirm it. And this, although for the most part
they were written by men because all Scripture is given by inspira-
tion of God, 2 Tim. iii. 16. The word Scriptures signifies writings:
but the church had not always the written word, till about Moses'
time. Howbeit, they were supplied, while they wanted it, by extra-
ordinary revelations : and it is the same doctrine that was then so
revealed, which we have now in the Scripture. Nevertheless, the
Scripture is altogether necessary for the church now; and that be-
cause extraordinary revelation of doctrine is ceased, and God hath
bound us to the Scripture as the test or touchstone of doctrine : Isa.
viii. 20. " To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not accord-
OF THE SCOPE OP THE SCRIPTURES. 11
ing to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Neither
will God ever give us another rule : for the Scripture is a testamen-
tary word of God. Now, a testament is the last will of a dying
person. So the Scripture is Christ's testament, confirmed by his
death ; and as a testament, it declares the last will of God con-
cerning man's salvation and duty. Christ's testament is twofold:
namely, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. The books
beginning with Genesis, and ending with Malachi, are Christ's Old
Testament : those beginning with Matthew, and ending with the
Revelation, are Christ's New Testament. These two testaments
are one and the same for substance : for in both, Jesus Christ is the
testator ; eternal life is the legacy ; sinners of mankind are the
legatees ; and faith in Jesus Christ is the way of claiming and ob-
taining the legacy : 1 Jolin v. 11, 12, " And this is the record, that
God hath given to us eternal life : and this life is in his Son. He
that hath the Son hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of God,
hath not life." Prov. viii. 4, " Unto you, men, I call, and my voice
is to the sons of man." But they differ in circumstances ; the new
being more clear and full than the old one. Howbeit, neither the
one nor the other can be savingly understood, without an inward il-
lumination of the mind by the Spirit of Christ : 1 Cor. ii. 14, " But
God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit : for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
Quest. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach ?
Answ. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is
to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires
of man.
EXPLICATION - .
Principally to teach, is chiefly to teach. The things that the
Scriptures teach chiefly, are these two ; Faith, and obedience : 2
Tim. i. 13. " Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast
heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." The faith
which the Scriptures teach, is, " What man is to believe concerning
God :" The obedience which the Scriptures teach, is, " "What duty
God requires of man." Nothing can be an article of faith, necessary
to be done, but what is taught in the Scriptures. Howbeit, not only
what is found in Scripture in express words, but also what ariseth
therefrom, by necessary consequence, is to be reckoned taught there-
in : Matth. xxii. 82. " I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
a 2
12 OF THE NATURE AND PERFECTIONS OF GOD.
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but
of the living."
Quest. 4. What is God ?
Answ. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, andu nchange-
able, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness justice, good-
ness, and truth.
EXPLICATION.
No creature can fully comprehend what God is : Job xi. 7.
" Canst thou by searching find out God ? canst thou find out the Al-
mighty unto perfection ?" But he has revealed so much of himself
in the Scriptures, as is necessary for us to know. For his sort of
being, he is a Spirit : and a Spirit is an immaterial substance, with-
out flesh or bones. He hath not then a body nor any bodily parts :
John iv. 24. " God is a Spirit." Luke xxiv. 39. " Behold my hands
and my feet, that it is I myself : handle me, and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Then eyes,
ears, and such like bodily parts, ascribed to him in Scripture, are
not to be understood properly : But by them we are to understand
an infinite perfection of those powers, which those members serve for
in us. So the eyes of God signify his infinite power of discerning
objects, as by the eye : His ears signify his infinite power of discern-
ing voices, as by the ear. Moreover, God cannot be seen with bodily
eyes ; no not with the eyes of glorified bodies in heaven : hence he
is said to be "invisible, and to dwell in the light which no man can
approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see," 1 Tim. i. 17.
and vi. 16. But God can be seen with the eyes of the mind, en-
lightened with the light of grace here, and the light of glory in hea-
ven : Eph. i. 17, 18. " That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revela-
tion in the knowledge of him : the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and
what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." Fi-
nally, there is nothing which God is like unto ; Isa. xl. 18. " To
whom then will ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare
unto him?" So we may not form any imagination of him in our
minds, as we can do of an absent man. Now, there are other spirits
besides God : and these are angels and the souls of men. But the
difference betwixt God and them, lies here, that God is an infinite,
eternal, and unchangeable Spirit ; and they are not so. The attri-
butes of God, or perfections of the divine nature, are of two sorts ;
OF THE NATURE AND PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 13
incommunicable, and communicable. His incommunicable attri-
butes, whereof tbere is no vestige in tbe creature, are his infinity,
eternity, and unchangeableness. God is infinite, in that he is what-
soever he is : without any bounds or measure : Job xi. 7, " Canst
thou by searching find out God ? canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection V He is eternal, in that he is without beginning
aud without end : Psal. xc. 2. " Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world : even
from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." He is unchangeable
in that he is, and cannot but be always the same, without any alter-
ation whatsoever : James i. 17. " Every good gift and every per-
fect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." He is
then said to repent, not in respect of the atfection of repentance, but
the effect of it : Num. xxiii. 19. " God is not a man, that he should
lie ; neither the son of man, that he should repent : hath ho said
and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it
good ?" in that, without any change of his own nature, mind, or
will, he changeth his dispensations towards the creatines, and makes
changes on them : Gen. vi. 7, " And the Lord said, I will destroy
man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and
beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air : for it re-
penteth me that I have made them." His communicable attributes,
whereof there are some scantlings, or faint images in the creature,
are his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
The difference between these perfections, as they are in God, and as
they are in the creature, lies here, that they are all infinite, eternal,
and unchangeable in God, but in the creature not so. The being of
God is that perfection whereby he is, and is what he is : Exod. iii.
14, " And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM : and he said,
thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me
unto you." His wisdom is that whereby he knows himself, and all
things else, with the way how to dispose of them to the best : Psal.
cxlvii. 5, " Great is our Lord, and of great power : his understand-
ing is infinite." His power is that whereby he can do all things not
inconsistent with his nature : Jer. xxxii. 17, " Ah, Lord God, behold
thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and
stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." His
holiness is the perfect purity of his nature, whereby he delights in
his own purity, and in the resemblance of it in the creature : Hab.
i. 13. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look
on iniquity." His justice is the perfect rectitude of his nature,
whereby he is just in himself, and in all his ways towards the crea-
14 OP THE UNITY OF GOD-
ture : Deut. xxxii. 4. " He is the Rock, his work is perfect : for all
his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity, just
and right is he." It is not consistent with his nature, to let sin pass
unpunished : 2 Thess. i. 6, " It is a righteous thing with God, to re-
compense tribulation to them that trouble you." Compared with
Gen. xviii. 25. " That be far from thee to do after this manner, to
slay the righteous with the wicked; and that the righteous should be
as the wicked, that be far from thee : Shall not the Judge of all the
earth do right ?" His goodness is that whereby he is good in him-
self, and the author of all good to be found in or about the crea-
ture : Matth. xix. 17, " There is none good but one, that is
God." His goodness is consistent with his severity against the
wicked, in that it is the property of goodness to hate and punish
sin : Exod. xxxiii. 19, " And he said, I will make all my goodness
pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before
thee ; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." Compared with chap,
xxxiv. 7, " Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and
transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty."
And it is consistent with the afflictions laid on his own people, in
that they flow from his goodness : Job v. 6, " Affliction cometh not
forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground."
And they tend to their good : Psal. cxix. 71, " It is good for me
that I have been afflicted ; that I might learn thy statutes." His
truth is that whereby he is perfectly faithful, and free from all
falsehood, Tit. i. 2, " In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot
lie, promised before the world began."
Quest. 5. Are there more Gods than one ?
Answ. There is but one only, the living and true
God.
EXPLICATION.
God is called the living God, to distinguish him from dead idols;
and the true God, to distinguish him from all false gods. 1 Thess.
i. 9, " Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true
God." He is the living God, in that all life is in him, and from
him, 1 Tim. vi. 13, " God, who quickeneth all things." To be the
true God, is to be God truly and really; and not in name only, or
in the opinion of men. Now, there is but one true God : 1 Cor.
viii. 4, " We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that
there is none other God but one." And reason teaches, that there
OF THE HOLY TRINITY. 15
can be no more than one, in that there can be but one most perfect
being. So the gods many, mentioned, 1 Cor. viii. 5. are gods in
name only, or in the opinion of their blinded worshippers.
Quest. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead ?
Answ. There are three persons in the Godhead ; the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost : And these three
are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and
glory.
EXPLICATION.
By the Godhead is meant the divine nature. A person in the
Godhead, is the Godhead distinguished by personal properties.
The Godhead is one only in number : But the persons in the God-
head are three ; and they are the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost : 1 John v. 7, " For there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the "Word, and the Holy Ghost : and these
three are one." Jesus Christ is the second of these persons,
namely, the Son. And the Father is true God : the Son is true
God: and the Holy Ghost is true God. Yet they are not three
Gods, but one God, 1 John v. 7, forecited. Howbeit, the Godhead
neither is, nor can be divided into parts : but each of the three
persons hath the one whole indivisible Godhead. They are not
then of a like substance only, but the very same in substance. But
they are distinguished by their personal properties. And it is the
personal property of the Father, to beget the Son : Heb. i. 5, " For
unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee ? and again, I will be to him a
Father, and he shall be to me a Son ?" And it is the personal pro-
perty of the Son, to be begotten of the Father : John i. 14, " The
word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace
and truth." And it is the personal property of the Holy Ghost,
to proceed from the Father and the Son : John xv. 26, il But when
the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me." Gal. iv. 6, "And because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father." The Son and the Holy Ghost are not below the Father,
but equal with him : They are all equally powerful and glorious.
So the personal properties make no inequality among them ; foras-
much as these properties are not temporary and accidental, but
16 OF THE DIVINE DECREES.
eternal and necessary, and could not but be : and every one of the
three persons, is the eternal, the supreme, the most high God.
This appears, in that to the Son and the Holy Ghost, as well as to
the Father, is ascribed the peculiar name of the true God, the
Most High : Is. vi. 3, " And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory."
John xii. 41, " These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and
spake of him." Acts xxviii. 25, 26, " And when they agreed not
among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one
word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet, unto our
fathers, saying, &c." Psalm lxxxiii. 18, " That men may know,
that thou whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all
the earth." And his attributes are ascribed to them : Rev. i. 8, " I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the
Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
Psal. cxxxix. 7, " Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither
shall I flee from thy presence ?" Likewise his works : John i. 3,
" All things were made by him ; and without him was not any thing
made that was made." Matth. xii. 28, " But if I cast out devils by
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." And
also his worship : Heb. i. 8, " But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne,
God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre
of thy kingdom." Matth. xxviii. 19, " Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost."
Quest. 7. What are the decrees of God ?
Answ. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose,
according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his
own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to
pass.
EXPLICATION.
By the decrees of God is meant his purpose foreordaining what
should come to pass. God hath foreordained in his decrees, what-
soever comes to pass : Eph. i. 11, " In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Even the
most free acts of the creature, and the most casual things, are fore-
ordained of God : Prov. xxi. 1, " The king's heart is in the hand of
the Lord, as the rivers of water : he turueth it whithersoever he
OF THE EXECUTION OF THF DIVINE DECREES. 17
will." Chap. xvi. 33, " The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole
disposing thereof is of the Lord." Yea, evil actions, as well as
good ones, fall within the ccmpass of his decree : Acts. ii. 23, " Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain." But with this difference, that he decreed his effecting of
good, and his permitting of ill. Now, whatsoever God hath fore-
ordained infallibly comes to pass. And his decrees are unchange-
able : Isa. xlvi. 10, " Declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Yet men have
no excuse for their sin, from the decree of God, Acts ii. 23, above
cited : for they sin out of free choice, without the least knowledge
of, or force upon them from the decree : Acts xiii. 27, " For they
that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him
not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sab-
bath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him." The de-
sign and end of God's decrees is his own glory : Rom. xi. 36, " For
of him, and through him, and to him, are all things : to whom be
glory for ever." And therefore he will certainly get glory of what-
soever comes to pass, Isa. xlvi. 10, forecited. As to sinful actions
he will get either the glory of his mercy in pardoning them, or
else the glory of his justice in punishing them. For the date of
God's decrees, they are all eternal : and he makes no new decrees
in time : Acts xv. 18, " Known unto God are all his works from the
beginning of the world." The way he decreed all things is accord-
ing to the counsel of his own will, Eph. i. 11. His decrees are said
to be according to his own counsel, as being all laid in the depth of
wisdom, which among men is the result of counsel : Rom. xi. 33
" the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past find-
ing out !" But taking counsel, even in himself, is not competent to
God, in a proper sense ; because his infinite understanding compre-
hends all things perfectly at once. They are said to be according
to the counsel of his will, as depending on nothing without himself:
Rom. xi. 34, " For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who
hath been his counsellor ?"
Quest. 8. How doth God execute his decrees ?
Answ. God executeth his decrees in the works of
creation and providence.
18 OP CREATION IN GENERAL.
EXPLICATION.
God's executing his decrees, means his bringing to pass what he
hath decreed : and he does that in the works of creation and provi-
dence. And nothing falls out in either of thera, but what was de-
creed ; nor otherwise than as it was decreed : Eph. i. 11, " In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated accord-
ing to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will." Zech. vi. 1, " And I turned, and lift up mine
eyes, and looked, and behold, there came four chariots out from be-
tween two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of brass."
Quest. 9. What is the work of creation ?
Answ. The work of creation is, God's making all
things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space
of six days, and all very good.
EXPLICATION.
The world was not eternal, but had a beginning, Gen. i. 1. It will
also have an end ; and it will end by fire, being burnt up, 2 Pet. iii.
10 ; and that in virtue of the curse lying on it for man's sin : Gen.
iii. 17, " And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto
the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I com-
manded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it : cursed is the ground
for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life."
God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, made the world : 1 Cor. viii.
6, " But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we by him." John i. 3, " All things were made by
him : and without him was not any thing made that was made."
Psal. xxxiii. 6, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made:
and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." He made it
in the beginning of time, but a few thousand years ago : Gen. i. 1.
" In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." He then
made all things : and there was no person, nor any thing before
that, but God himself: Col. i. 16, "For by him were all things cre-
ated that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers :
all things were created by him, and for him." So he made them of
nothing ; and that by the word of his power, commanding them to
be : Heb. xi. 3, " Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word of God ; so that things which are seen,
OF THE CREATION OF MAN. 19
were not made of things which do appear." Now, all things were
made in the space of six days : Exod. xx. 11, " For in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is."
The works of the first day were, the highest heavens, Gen. i. 1. with
the angels, the inhabitants thereof, Job xxxviii. 4, 7 ; the shapeless
mass of earth and water, and the light. The works of the second
day were, the firmament, and the dividing thereby the upper and
lower waters. The works of the third day were, the seas, and the
dry land, herbs, and trees. The works of the fourth day were, the
sun, moon, and stars. The works of the fifth day were, fish, and
fowl. The works of the sixth day were, first, the beasts of the
earth; and then, last of all, man, male and female: Gen. i. 1.
throughout. The goodness of God shines forth in this order of the
creation, in that the places were prepared before the dwellers, the
food before the eaters, and all necessary to the use of man before
man himself. As for the case all things were made in, they were
made all very good : Gen. i. 31, " And God saw every thing that he
had made, and behold, it was very good ;" that is to say, very fit
for the ends and uses for which they were made. Wherefore, the
angels were all made holy and happy. And some of them did con-
tinue in that state, 1 Tim. v. 21, " I charge thee before the elect
angels," &c. ; but others of them sinned, and fell, and became devils,
Jude 6, " And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left
their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under
darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." 2 Pet. ii. 4, " God
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judg-
ment."
Quest. How did God create man ?
Answ. God created man male and female, after his
own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness,
with dominion over the creatures.
EXPLICATION.
By male and female, is meant man and woman. The man was
first made, and then the woman, 1 Tim. ii. 13 ; and the woman was
made to be a help to the man, Gen. ii. 18. Adam and Eve were the
first man and woman : and from them all mankind is descended :
Acts xvii. 25, " God hath made of one blood, all nations of men,
for to dwell on all the face of the earth." The parts whereof man
20 OF THE CREATION 01' -MAX.
consists, are a soul and a body. The body of the man was made of
the dust of the ground : Gen. ii. 7, " The Lord God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life ; and man became a living soul." "Which consideration may be
of use to us, to be a cure to our pride, a memorial of our death, and
an emblem of our resurrection. The woman's body was made of a
rib and flesh taken out of the man's side : Gen. ii. 23, " And
Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she
shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man ;" and
that to the end they might be one flesh, ver. 24, " Therefore shall
a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife : and they shall be one flesh." The soul is of a spiritual and
immortal nature : Eccl. xii. 7, " Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was ; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
Their souls were made within them, of nothing : Gen. ii. 7, above
cited, Zech. xii. 1. " The Lord, which formeth the spirit of man
within him." But Moses gives no separate account of the making
of their souls, as of the making of their bodies ; because their souls
were not of a different make, but only their bodies. Neither are
the souls of men since that time generated by the parents, but
created of God within their formed bodies in the womb ; hence
called the Father of Spirits, Heb. xii. 9. Now, man was created in
a holy and happy state ; which appears, in that he was made so far
like God, that he was after his very image, Gen. i. 26. And this
was not peculiar to the man, but common to the man and the
woman, ver. 27, " So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him : male and female created he them."
The image of God wherein man was so like him, consisted in
knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and dominion over the
creatures : Col. iii. 10, " And have put on the new man, which is
renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him."
Eph. iv. 24, " And that ye put on the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness." Gen. i. 26, " God
said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness ; and let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." The parts of the
image of God impressed on his soul, were, knowledge on his mind,
righteousness on his will, and holiness on his affections. His know-
ledge was a sufficient understanding of what was necessary to
make him completely happy, Gen. i. 26; Col. iii. 10. His righte-
ousness was a perfect conformity of his will to the will of God :
And his holiness was the perfect purity of all his affections.
OF THE CREATION OF MAN". 21
Eccl. vii. 29, " God made man upright." That part of the image
of God impressed on the whole man, was dominion oyer the
creatures. The creatures he had dominion over, were the beasts
of the earth, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, Gen.
i. 26. The dominion he had over them, was a right and power
soberly to use them for God's glory and his own comfort. His
charter for this right to the creatures, was the covenant of works,
Gen. ii. 16, 17, compared with chap. i. 28, " Have dominion over the
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth." And in these things man bore
the image of God, as in him he faintly resembled God himself, who
is infinitely knowing, righteous, and holy, and supreme Lord of the
creatures. Now, Adam bore this image as a public person, to propa-
gate it to his posterity : Eccl. vii. 29, " God made man upright."
But it was lost to himself and all mankind, by his fall, 1 Cor. xv.
22, " In Adam all die ;" and that even to the forfeiting of the do-
minion over the creatures ; an evidence of which is, beasts proving
unruly, and hurtful to man. The only way to recover the image of
God, is to unite with Jesus Christ by faith : 1 Cor. xv. 22, " In
Christ shall all be made alive." For he is the image of the invisible
God, and to him as a second Adam is the dominion over the crea-
tures restored : Col. i. 15. " AYho is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of every creature. Psal. viii. 6, 7, 8, " Thou raadest
him to have dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put
all things under his feet : all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of
the field : the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever
passeth through the paths of the seas." Compared with Heb. ii. 7,
8, 9, " Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ; thou
crownedst hirn with glory and honour, and didst set him over the
works of thy hands : thou hast put all things in subjection under his
feet," &c. And he repairs this image in all that believe on him.
The reparation of the lost image of God in their souls is begun in
their sauctification in him, and perfected in their glorification : Col
iii. 10, " And have put on the new man, which is renewed in know-
ledge, after the image of him that created him." Heb. xii. 23, " To
the spirits of just men made perfect." The reparation of the lost
dominion over the creatures, is begun in their getting a new right to
them in their union with him, and perfected in their being put in
full possession of the dominion at the last day : Rom. iv. 13, " For
the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to
Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but through the righteous-
ness of faith." Rev. xxi. 7, " He that overcometh, shall inherit all
things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be ray son." Psalm
22 OF PROVIDENCE.
xlix. 14, " Like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed
on them ; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the
morning." Their charter for this new right to the creatures, is the
covenant of grace, Rom. iv. 13, forceited. But they that are out of
Christ, have no covenant-right to the creatures, but only a provi-
dential right : And that is such a right, as a condemned man hath to
his food, until his execution. The management that men now have
over the beasts, is far short of the original dominion over them :
Gen. ii. 19, " And out of the ground the Lord God formed every
beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto
Adam, to see what he would call them : and whatsoever Adam called
every living creature, that was the name thereof." But such as it
is, it is owing to a new grant made after the fall, for the necessities
of human life ; whieh new grant is found recorded, Gen. ix. 2, " And
the fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of
the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon
the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are
they delivered."
Quest. 11. What are God's xuorks of providence ?
Answ. God's works of providence are, his most holy,
wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his crea-
tures, and all their actions.
EXPLICATION.
There is a divine providence about the creatures. That appears
from their entire dependence on God as their first cause, and from
the exact accomplishment of Scripture prophecies : Acts xvii. 25,
" God is not worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any
thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." Yer.
28, " For in him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain,
also, of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
Isa. xlvi. 9, 10, " Remember the former things of old ; for I am
God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is none like me.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure."
The object which providence is employed about, is all the crea-
tures, and all their actions, Psalm ciii. 19, " His kingdom ruleth over
all." Even devils, and wicked men, are under the providence of
God : Matth. viii. 31, " So the devils besought him, saying, If thou
cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine." And evil
OF PROVIDENCE. 23
actions, as well as good, are within the verge of it : Gen. xlv. 7,
" And God sent me before you, to preserve you a posterity in the
earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." Yea, there
is not any thing whatsoever, be it ever so 3mall or casual, that falls
out without the providence of God : Matth. x. 29, 30, " Are not two
sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall not fall on the
ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are
all numbered."
The works of providence about the creatures, are the preserving
of them, and the governing of them and their actions. Providence
preserves the creatures, sustaining them in being, and providing for
their support : Heb. i. 3, " Upholding all things by the word of his
power." Psalm cxlv. 15, 16, " The eyes of all wait upon thee, and
thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine
hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." No creature
whatsoever could keep itself in being one moment ; but upon God's
withdrawing the upholding hand of his providence, it would imme-
diately return to nothing : Heb. i. 3. Providence governs the crea-
tures and their actions, disposing of them according to the divine
purpose : Prov. xxi. 1, " The king's heart is in the hand of the
Lord, as the rivers of water ; he turneth it whithersoever he will."
Eph. i. 11, " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will." Providence governs sin-
ful actions, permitting them, bounding them, and overruling them
to good: Acts xiv. 16, "Who in times past suffered all nations to
walk in their own ways." Psalm lxxvi. 10, " Surely the wrath of
man shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."
Gen. 1. 20, " But as for you, ye thought evil against me ; but God
meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much
people alive."
The properties of the works of providence are these : They are
most holy, wise, and powerful : Psal. cxlv. 17, " The Lord is
righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Psal. civ.
24, " Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou
made them all." Dan. iv. 35, " He doth according to his own will
in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth :
and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What dost thou ?"
Wherefore, God is not the author of sin ; no more than he who
rides a crooked horse, is the cause of his halting : James i. 13,
" Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for
God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."
All dispensations of providence are wisely ordered : Deut. xxxii.
24 OF THE COVENANT OF WORKS.
4, " He is the rock, his work is perfect : for all his ways are judg-
ment : a God of truth, and without iniquity ; just and right is he."
And providence cannot miss of its designs and ends : Is. xlvi. 10,
" My counsel shall stand, and 1 will do all my pleasure."
The rule of the works of providence, is the decree of God ;
whereof they, and the works of creation, are an exact accomplish-
ment, Eph. i. 11, " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will."
Quest. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise towards
man in the estate wherein he was created ?
Answ. When God had created man, he entered into
a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect
obedience ; forbidding him to eat of the tree of know-
ledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.
EXPLICATION.
The special act of providence towards man newly created, was,
God's making a covenant of life and happiness with him. There
are two covenants for life and happiness to man : and they are, the
covenant of works, and the covenant of grace : Gal. iv. 24, " For
these are the two covenants ; the one from the mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."
The first covenant was the covenant of works. It was made in
paradise, and before the fall. The parties contracting in it, were
God and Adam : Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." But Adam represented all
mankind, as the parties contracted for : Gen. ii. 17, forecited. Com-
pared with Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned." There was no mediator of this covenant ; for as yet
there was no breach, by sin, betwixt God and man.
The condition of the covenant of works, was perfect obedience :
Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith : but, The man that doth
them, shall live in them." And it was to be perfect, in respect of
parts, degrees, and continuance : Gal. iii. 10, "For as many as are
of the works of the law, are under the curse : for it is written,
Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them." Matth. xxii. 37,
" Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
OF TIIE COVENANT OF WORKS. 25
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." So the
least failing in any part or degree of obedience, or for never so
small a time, would have broken this covenant. The law that was
the rule of this obedience, was the law of the ten commands, and
the law forbidding to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil :
Gal. iii. 10, and Gen. ii. 17, forecited. That tree grew in paradise,
Gen. ii. 9. There was no virtue in it to improve men in knowledge,
as the devil falsely suggested, Gen. iii. 5, " For God doth know,
that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened : and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good aud evil." Compared with John
viii. 44, " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do : he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode
not in the truth, because there is no trnth in him. "When he speak-
eth a lie, he speaketh " of his own : for he is a liar, and the father
of it." But that name was put upon this tree, to intimate, that by
eating of it, man would know to his sad experience, the vast differ-
ence between good and ill : wherefore that tree with that name, was
of use, to be a warning-piece to man to beware of evil. Now, Adam
knew the law of the ten commands, as they were impressed on his
heart in his creation : Rom. ii. 15, " Which shew the work of the
law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness,
and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one
another." He knew the law of the forbidden tree by revelation,
Gen. ii. 17, forecited. And he had sufficient ability for the perfect
obedience required, Eccl. vii. 29, " God made man upright."
The promise of the covenant of works, was a promise of life :
Gen. ii. 17, forecited. The life promised was twofold; namely, one
to be afforded him, during the course of his probationary obedience,
another to be afforded him at the perfecting of it. The life to have
been afforded to man during the course of his probationary obe-
dience, was natural life continued in vigour and comfort, and spiri-
tual life continued in favour and fellowship with God, Gen. ii. 17,
forecited. This was the reward of obedience in hand. The life to
have been afforded him at the perfecting of his course, was eternal
life in consummate happiness: Matth. xix. 16, 17, "And behold,
one came and said unto him, Good master, what good thing shall I
do that I may have eternal life ? And he said unto him, If thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And this was the
reward of obedience in hope. Adam, if he had continued obedient,
could have claimed that life upon his obedience ; yet not in the way
of proper merit; because his perfect obedience was no more than
what was due from him by the law of his creation, before he entered
into that covenant : Luke xvii. 9, 10, " Doth he thank that servant,
Vol. VII. b
26 OF ADAJl's FALL.
because he did the things that were commanded him ? I trow not.
So likewise ye, when y i shall have done all those things which are
commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants : we have done
that which was our duty to do." The only way he could have
claimed it, was by compact, namely, in virtue of the covenant-pro-
mise made to this work.
The penalty of the covenant of works was death, Gen. ii. 17,
forecited. The death threatened was also twofold ; namely, one ac-
companying sin at its first entrance, another following after as its
full reward. The death accompanying sin at its first entrance, was
temporal death, in the loss of the vigour and comfort of natural
life ; and spiritual death, in the loss of the image of God with his
favour and fellowship. And Adam died this death, according to
the threatening, that very day he sinned : Gen. iii. 7, 8, 9, 10,
" And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they
were naked : and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made them-
selves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day : and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of
the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto
him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the gar-
den : and I was afraid, because I was naked ; and I hid myself."
The death following after, as the full reward of sin, was the natural
death of the body with the sting in it, and eternal death in the con-
summate misery of soul and body for ever : 1 Cor. xv. 55, " death
where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ?" Matth. xxv.
41, " Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and
his angels." And this was comprehended in the express threaten-
ing of death to accompany sin ; inasmuch as the one was a sure
pledge of the other, natively issuing therein.
Quest. 13. Did our first parents continue in the state wherein they
were created ?
Answ. Our first parents being left to the freedom of
their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were
created, by sinning against God.
EXPLICATION.
Our first parents were Adam and Eve. The state wherein they
were created, was a holy and happy state : but they fell from it ;
and that by their sinning against God : Gen. iii. 6, 7, 8, 10, " And
OF SIN IN GENERAL. 27
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise;
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; and he did eat," &c. The first that sinned was
the woman : 1 Tim. ii. 14, " And Adam was not deceived, but the
woman being deceived was in the transgression." And it was the
devil that ensnared her : Gen. iii. 12. — " And the woman said, the
serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." The woman having sinned, in-
snared Adam, ver. 6, forecited. But their being tempted to sin, did
not excuse them ; because it was of their own free will that they
sinned. Freedom of will is a power in the will, whereby it doth of
its own accord, without it, choose or refuse what is proposed to it by
the understanding. And man hath this freedom of will in whatever
state he be. But this power of the will is not of the same extent in
all states. In the state of innocence, it extended both to good and
evil ; that is to say, man had a freedom of will, whereby he could
wholly turn, either to the one side or the other, to good or evil, pro-
posed by his understanding : And that man was created thus muta-
ble, was sutable to the state of trial. Now, the special act of provi-
dence about the fall of our first parents, was that God left them to
the freedom of their own will , and the use they made of that, was,
that they went freely, of their own accord, to the side of sin. But
in the state of corrupt nature, the power of the will extends only to
evil : Gen. vi. 5, " And God saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually." In the state of grace, it extends
partly to good, and partly to evil : Rom. vii. 23. " But I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bring-
ing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members."
And in the state of glory it extends only to good : Heb. xii. 23.
" To the spirits of just men made perfect."
Quest. 14. Wliat is Sin ?
Answ. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or trans-
gression of, the law of God.
EXPLICATION.
By sin is meant transgression of the law of God ; and therefore
nothing can be sin but what one way or other is a transgression of
some law of God : 1 John iii. 4. " "Whosoever committeth sin,
transgresseth also the law : for sin is the transgression of the law."
Transgression of the law of God, is any want of conformity to it
b2
28 OF THE FIRST SIN IN PARTICULAR.
whatsoever, 1 John iii. 4, forecited. So the least coming short of
the perfection required by the law, is sin ; because so far there is a
want of conformity to the law : Matth. v. 48, " Be ye therefore per-
fect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect." Compared
with 1 John iii. 4, above cited. Now the law of God requires a
twofold conformity to it in the reasonable creatures ; namely a con-
formity of their natures to it, and a conformity of their lives to it :
Psalm xxiv. 3, 4. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? and
who shall stand in his holy place ? He that hath clean hands, and
a pure heart ; who hath not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully." Hence there are two general kinds of sin ; namely
original sin, and actual sin : and each of them is a want of conform-
ity to the law of God. Original sin is a want of conformity of our
natures to the law of God. Actual sin is a want of conformity of
our lives to the law of God, whether by omission or commission.
The chief evil of sin lies in the filthiness of it. The filthiness of sin
is its being the quite contrary of God's holiness expressed in his
law ; whence it is, in the sight of God, the object of his greatest
loathing and abhorrence : Jer. xliv. 4. " Howbeit, I sent unto you
all my servants the prophets, rising early, and sending them, saying,
Oh do not this abominable thing that I hate !"
Quest. 15. What was the Sin whereby our first Parents fell from
the estate wherein they were created ?
A nsw. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the
estate wherein they were created, was their eating the
forbidden fruit.
EXPLICATION.
The sin whereby man fell, was the eating the forbidden fruit :
Gen. ii. 6, " And when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired
to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also unto her husband with her ; and he did eat." There was
no evil in the fruit itself, for which it was forbidden : Gen. i. ult.
" And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was
very good." The evil of the matter lay in man's eating it against
the express command of God. God forbade it to be eaten, for the
trial of man's obedience. And the fitness of taking trial of man
by that mean, appears in that so it was taken in an external thing,
in itself indifferent, wherein man's obedience behoved to turn pre-
OF OUR FALL IN ADAM. 29
cisely upon the point of the will of God. This sin was then in
effect, man's practical declaration that he would not be ruled by-
God's will, but by his own : and therefore it was not a little sin, but
a breaking of the whole law at once: Jam. ii. 10, 11, "For whoso-
ever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all. For he that said, do not commit adultery; said also,
do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou
art become a transgressor of the law."
Quest. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression ?
Answ. The covenant being made with Adam, not
only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind de-
scending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in
him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.
EXPLICATION.
Adam did not fall alone in this transgression : but all mankind,
descending from him by ordinary generation, were involved with
him in the ruins of liis fall : and these are all his posterity, except
the man Christ : 1 Cor. v. 22, " In Adam all die."
Christ as man did indeed descend from Adam : Luke iii. 23,
"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being
(as was supposed) the son of Joseph." Compared with verse last,
" Which was the son of Adam." Bat he did not descend from him
by ordinary, but extraordinary generation. That which was extra-
ordinary in Christ's generation, was, that he was born of a virgin;
Matth. i. 18, " Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise :
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."
All the rest of Adam's posterity fell with him : they fell with
him, from the state of holiness and happiness; both which they had
in hand, and which they had in hope from the promise of the cove-
nant of works : and they so fell, by his first transgression, Rom. v.
18, 19, " By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to con-
demnation. By one man's disobedience many were made sinners."
His first transgression was his eating of the forbidden fruit. His
eating of that fruit, is called his first transgression : because by it
his siu and apostacy begun in his heait, was completed, Gen. iii. 6,
forecited. Now, that transgression cast him and them down from
these states of holiness and happiness, inasmach as by it the cove-
nant of works was broken : Gen. ii. 17- Compared with chap. iii. 10,
11, 12, forecited. The reason why they fell with him by that trans-
30 OF OUK FALL IN ADAM.
gression, was, that in it they sinned in him : So that sin, whereby
the covenant was broken, was our sin as well as his, Rom. v. 12, 19,
" By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For by one
man's disobedience many were made sinners."
It came to be our sin, because he was our covenant head and re-
presentative in the covenant of works ; and that is to say, " The
covenant was made with him, not only for himself, but for his pos-
terity : 1 Cor. xv. " And so it is written, the first man Adam was
made a living soul." The man Christ is not included in that re-
presentation which Adam made as head of the covenant of works,
1 Cor. xv. 22, 45, " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive." ver. 45, " The first man Adam was made a liv-
ing soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit;" and that
because Christ came, not in virtue of the blessing of fruitfulness
given while the covenant of works stood entire, but in virtue of a
special promise made after it was broken : Gen. i. 28, " And God
blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth." And chap. iii. 15, "And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou" shalt bruise his heel."
Adam's sin, then, could not be imputed to the man Christ; since
Adam did not represent him in the covenant. But Adam represen-
ted all the rest of mankind in it : Rom. v. 12, forecited. It is true,
we did not choose him for our representative, but God choose him
for us : and he was the most fit choice for that end ; Eccl. iii. 14, " I
know that whatsoever God doth, it shall be for ever : nothing can
be put to it, nor any thing taken from it : and God doth it, that men
should fear before him." And this he was, in regard he was the na-
tural head of mankind, endowed with sufficient ability : Acts xvii.
26, " God hath made of one blood, all nations of men, for to dwell
on all the face of the earth," &c. Eccl. vii. 29, " God hath made
man upright."
Now, man did not become free from the covenant of works, upon
his breaking of it : For his breaking of it could never free him ;
and the honour of the law barred his discharge, till the breach of it
should be made up , Isa. xlii. 21, " The Lord is well pleased for his
righteousness' sake ; he will magnify the law and make it honour-
able." Matt. v. 18, " Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no ways pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." And
man himself was utterly unable to make up the breach : Rom, v. 6,
or man's estate by the fall. 31
" For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly." All men then by nature are under the broken
covenant of works : Rom. iii. 19, " Now we know that wliat things
soever the law saitli, it saith to them who are under the law ; that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty be-
fore God.
Quest. 17. Into xuhat estate did the fall bring mankind ?
Answ. The fall brought mankind into an estate of
sin and misery.
EXPLICATION.
The natural state of mankind now, under the covenant of works,
is a " state of sin and misery :" And we were brought into it by the
fall : Rom. v. 12, " By one sin entered into the world, and death by
sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all had sinned."
We were all born or conceived in that state : Psal. li. 5, " Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity : and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Eph. ii. 3, " We were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others." There is no true holiness attainable in that our natural
state ; for it is a state of sin. There is no salvation from wrath
attainable in it ; for it is a state of misery. The state we must be
brought into, out of our natural state under the covenant of works,
if we would be saved, is the state of grace in the covenant of grace:
Rom. vi. 14, " For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are
not under the law, but under grace." Those that are brought out
of their natural state, from under the covenant of works, into the
state of grace, are all that are in Christ, converted persons : Rom.
viii. 1, " There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Those
that are still in their natural state, under the covenant of works,
are all that are out of Christ, unconverted : Eph. ii. 12, " At that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world." The power that the covenant of
works hath over such persons, is a commanding, cursing, and con-
demning power. It commands them perfect obedience under pain of
the curse : It curseth and condemneth them for the very least failure :
Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law, are under
the curse : for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them,
Rom. iii. 19, forecited.
32 OP THE SINFULNESS OP
Quest. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto
man fell ?
Answ. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man
fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of
original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole
nature, which is commonly called original sin, together
with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
EXPLICATION.
The state whereinto man fell, is our natural state : and that is
both a sinful, and a miserable state. Our natural state is a sinful
state, in respect of original sin, and in respect of actual trans-
gressions.
Original sin, in its full extent, is the guilt of Adam's first sin,
the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of the whole
nature. All and every one of Adam's natural race, are born or
conceived in it : Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that ail
have sinned." Psalm li. 5, " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity ;
and iu sin did my mother conceive me." It is derived to us from
Adam the original of mankind, Rom. v. 12, forecited. And it is
conveyed to us by natural generation : Job xiv. 4, " "Who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one." Psalm li. 5, fore-
cited. Even holy parents convey it to their children ; because
they procreate their children after their own natural image : Gen.
v. 3, " And Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image ;
and called his name Seth." Now, our natural state is a sinful
state, in respect of original sin ; inasmuch as original sin, being a
fountain of sin, remains entire, in its guilt, filth, and power on
every man, as long as he is in that state. Original sin, consists of
three parts.
The first part of original sin, is the guilt of Adam's first sin.
Adam's first sin was the eating of the forbidden fruit, whereby the
covenant of works was broken. The guilt of that sin is an obliga-
tion to punishment for it. And that guilt lies on all men by
nature : Rom. v. 18, " By the offence of one judgment came upon
all men to condemnation." Now, this guilt of Adam's first sin, is
original sin imputed. The only remedy for it is in Jesus Christ,
1 Cor. xv. 22, " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all
be made alive :" and that from his blood, which removes it in justi-
fication, Eph. i. 7, " In whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."
man's natural state. 33
Rom. iii. 24, " Being justified freely by his grace, through the re-
demption that is in Jesus Christ."
The second part of original sin, is the want of original righteous-
ness. Original righteousness is that righteousness wherein man
was created in the image of God. And all men by nature are
under the want of that: Rom. iii. 23, "For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God." Eph. iv. 18, " Having the un-
derstanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through
the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart." In the want of original righteousness, is included the
want of that knowledge in the understanding, the waut of that
righteousness in the will, and the want of that holiness in the af-
fections, wherewith man was endued at his creation : aud all men
by nature are under these wants : Job xi. 12, " For vain man
would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt." Eccles.
vii. 29, " Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man up-
right ; but they have sought out many inventions." Rom. vii. 18,
" For I know, that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good
thing : for to will is present with me, but how to perform that
which is good, I find not." Now, the want of original righteousness
is a sin; forasmuch as it is a want of conformity to the law of God :
Matth. v. ult., "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect." Compared with 1 John iii. 4, " Whoso-
ever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law : for sin is the
transgression of the law." It can be our sin, who never had that
righteousness in our own persons, because we had it, and lost it in
Adam, sinning in him : and we are justly left under the want of it,
for our guilt of Adam's first sin : Eccles. vii. 29, forecited. Rom.
v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
The third part of original sin is the corruption of the whole
nature : and this is what is commonly called original sin, as being
the worst part of it. The corruption of nature is that vicious qua-
lity in-bred iu us, whereby our nature is utterly disabled for, and
opposite to all spiritual good, and prone to the contrary evils con-
tinually : Rom. v. 6, " For when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly." Chap. viii. 7, " The carnal
mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be." Gen. vi. 5, " And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagina-
tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." And
one may know his own nature to be corrupt, by the backwardness
to good, and forwardness to evil he may find in himself. Now,
34 OF THE SINFULNESS OF, &C.
man's nature, in his natural state, is not corrupted in part only,
but wholly corrupted in every part: Eph. ii. 1, 2, 3, "And you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, accord-
ing to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the de-
sires of the flesh, and of the mind ; and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." Tit. i. 15, " Unto the pure all things
are pure : but unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving, is
nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." For
the case the understanding is in, it is utterly darkened, in point of
spiritual discerning : 1 Cor. ii. 14, " The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him :
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
The will, it is quite opposite to the will of God : Rom. viii. 7, fore-
cited. The affections, they are wholly carnal : Rom. vii. 14, " For
we know that the law is spiritual : but I am carnal, sold under sin."
Chap. viii. 5. " They that are after the flesh, do mind the things of
the flesh." The body and its members, they are instruments of un-
righteousness, and servants to iniquity : Rom. vi. 12, 19, " Let not
sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in
the lusts thereof. I speak after the manner of men, because of the
infirmity of your flesh : for as ye have yielded your members ser-
vants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now
yield your members servants to righteousness, unto holiness."
The want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his
whole nature, are original sin inherent, which the Scripture express-
eth both in negative and positive terms : Eph. iv. 18, " Having the
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God,
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of
their heart." Rom. viii. 7, " The carnal mind is enmity against
God : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
The only remedy for original sin inherent, is in Jesus Christ, 1 Cor.
xv. 22, " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive ; and that from his Spirit ; who begins the removal of it in re-
generation, or quickening of the dead soul, carries it on in sanctifi-
cation, and perfects it in glorification : John xi. 63, " It is the Spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." 1 Cor. vi. 11, " Ye
are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Rom. viii. 23, " And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the
OF THE MISERY OF, &C. 35
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waitiug for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
Actual transgressions are breaches of God's law by omission or
commission, in thoughts, words, or deeds. The fountain which they all
proceed from in us, is the corruption of our nature : Matth. xv. 19,
" For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Our natural state
is a sinful state, in respect of actual transgressions, inasmuch as all
the actions of a natural man are actual transgressions, and the
guilt and filth of them all, and of all his omissions of duty, abide
fast on him as long as he is in that state : Gen. vi. 5, " And God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con-
tinually." Eph. ii. 1, " And you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins." A man in his natural state cannot do any
thing truly good ; because his nature is wholly corrupt : Matth. vii.
18, " A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit : neither can a cor-
rupt tree bring forth good fruit." His natural actions, such as eat-
ing and drinking, are sin : Zech. vii. 6, " And when ye did eat, and
when ye did drink, did ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for
yourselves ?" His civil actions, such as plowing and sowing, are
sin : Prov. xxi. 4, " The plowing of the wicked is sin." And his re-
ligious actions are sin, Prov. xv. 8, " The sacrifice of the wicked is
an abomination to the Lord."
Quest. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
Answ. All mankind, by their fall, lost communion
with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made
liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to
the pains of hell for ever.
EXPLICATION.
Our natural state is a miserable state too. And all mankind is
in that miserable state by nature. That comes to pass, by their
fall in Adam : Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned." Our natural state is a miserable state, in
respect of what loss man sustains, what he lies under, and what he
is liable to, in it.
The loss which man sustains in his natural state, is the loss of
communion with God. Communion with God is a friendly inter-
36 OF THE MISERY OP
course between God and a soul, arising from a peculiar interest in
one another : Cant. ii. 16, " My beloved is mine, and I am his."
man had such communion with God before the fall ; and that with-
out a Mediator : Gal. iii. 20, " Now a mediator is not a mediator of
one ; but God is one." But he lost it, by the fall : Gen. iii. 8,
" And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day : and Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden."
And none attain to this communion again, as long as they are in
their natural state, whatever duties of worship they go about : Eph.
ii. 12, " At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of pro-
mise, having no hope, and without God in the world." It is re-
covered only in the way of union with Jesus Christ, ver. 13, " But
now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off 5 are made nigh
by the blood of Christ."
What man lies under in his natural state, is God's wrath and
curse. The wrath of God he lies under, is revenging wrath ; and
all men in their natural state are under that wrath : Eph. ii. 3,
" We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." John
iii. ult., " He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life : and
he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of
God abideth on him." The curse he lies under, is the sentence of
the broken law, binding over the sinner to revenging wrath, to the
full : and all men in their natural state are under it, Gal. iii. 10,
" Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them."
What man is liable to in his natural state, is, all miseries in this
life, death itself, and the pains of hell for ever, in virtue of the
curse. The miseries in this life the natural man is liable to, are all
inward and outward miseries of life, laid on in virtue of the curse :
Lam. iii. 39, " Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for
the punishment of his sins ?" The inward miseries of life he is so
made liable to, are spiritual plagues, such as blindness of mind,
hardness of heart, vileness of affections, horror of conscience, and
the like : Eph. iv. 18, " Having the understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in
them, because of the blindness of their heart." Rom. ii. 5, " But,
after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself
wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God." Chap. i. 26, " For this cause God gave them up
unto vile affections." Isa. xxxiii. 14, " The sinners in Zion are
afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites : who among us
man's estate. 37
shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who amongst us shall dwell
with everlasting hurnings ?" The outward miseries of life he is so
made liable to, are such as befall the outward man, as sickness, po-
verty, disgrace, and the like: Deut. xxviii. 15, to the end, " But it
shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord
thy God, to observe to do all his commandments, and his statutes
which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come
upon thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city,
and cursed shalt thou be in the field," &c. The death the natural
man is liable to, is the dissolution of the soul and the body in virtuo
of the curse: Rom. vi. 23, "The wages of sin is death." That
kind of death is stinged death : 1 Cor. xv. 5, " The sting of death
is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law." It is true, believers in
Christ also are liable to miseries in this life, and to death itself;
but they are not so made liable to them, not by the curse, not
with the sting in them : 1 Cor. xv. 55, " death, where is thy
sting? grave, where is thy victory?" Howbeit, if man had not
sinned, he would never have died : Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the
day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." The miseries
in this life, and death itself, are, to believers in Christ, marks of
God's displeasure with the sin in them, while yet he loves their per-
sons in Christ: Psal. xcix. 8, "Thou answeredst them, Lord our
God : thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest
vengeance of their inventions." Gen. iii. 15, 17, 18, 19, "And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto
the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I com-
manded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it : cursed is the ground
for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee : and thou shalt
eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou
taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
The pains of hell, that natural men are liable to, are, the pain of
loss, and the pain of sense. The pain of loss in hell, is total and
final separation from God : Matth. xxv. 41, " Then shall he say
also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." That sepa-
ration from God, is not a local separation from him, as if God
should not be in the place where they shall be : Psalm exxxix. 8,
" If I make my led in hell, behold, thou art there." But it is a re-
38 OF THE COVENANT OF OKACE.
lative separation, in an eternal blocking up of all comfortable com-
munication between God and them : and the effect of that will be, a
total eclipse of all light of comfort, and ease whatsoever, of body
and mind, in the damned : Matth. xxii. 13, " Then said the king to
the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast
him into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth." Hos. ix. 12, " Wo to them when I depart from them."
The pain of sense in hell, is unspeakable torment, both in soul and
body, without intermission : Matth. xxv. 41, above cited. Mark ix.
43, 44, "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for
thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go into
hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched : where their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." And these pains of hell
will never have an end with them : Matth. xxv. 41, "Depart — into
everlasting fire."
Q,uest. 20. Did God leave all mankind to pensh in the estate of sin
and misery ?
Answ. God having, out of his mere good pleasure,
from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did
enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of
the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an
estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
EXFLICATION.
The state of sin and misery, is a state wherein all must perish,
who are left of God in it, Eph. ii. 12, " At that time ye were with-
out Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and with-
out God in the world ;" because it is beyond the reach of all created
help, Isa. lxiii. 5, " And I looked, and there was none to help; and
I wondered that there was none to uphold : therefore mine own arm
brought salvation unto me, and my fury, it upheld me." But God
doth not leave all mankind to perish in it. Those whom he doth
not leave to perish in it, are the elect : Rom. viii. 30, " Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called : and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glori-
fied."
The elect are some certain persons of mankind, whom God hath
chosen to everlasting life, passing by others: Acts xiii. 48, "And
as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." Jude, verse 4,
OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE. 39
" For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of
old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and
our Lord Jesus Christ." This election or choice was made from
eternity : Eph. i. 4, " According as he hath chosen us in him, before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, aud without
blame before him in love." And it infallibly secures their eternal
salvation, with all the means leading thereto : Rom. viii. 30, fore-
cited. Nothing foreseen in the creature, neither faith nor good
works, was the cause of election ; but only God's mere good plea-
sure was the cause of it : Eph. i. 6, "To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
Now, the way that God provided the relief, was, that he entered
into a second covenant, the covenant of grace. The desigu of the
covenant of grace, was, " to deliver the elect out of the estate of sin
and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a
Redeemer."
The covenant of grace, then, was made with Jesus Christ, as the
second Adam, party-contractor: Psalm lxxxix. 3, "I have made a
covenant with my chosen." Compared with 1 Cor. xv. 45, " The
last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Gal. iii. 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." Rom. v. 15, to the end. And Christ in this covenant re-
presented all the elect, as his spiritual seed, the parties contracted
for: Gal. iii. 16, forecited. Isa. liii. 10, 11, "Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall pro-
long his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied :
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities." Then the covenant of redemption, and
the covenant of grace, are not two distinct covenants, but two
names of one covenant, under different considerations. That ap-
pears, in that the number of the covenants in Scripture is but two,
whereof the covenant of works is one : Gal. iv. 24, " For these are
the two covenants ; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth
to bondage, which is Agar." By a covenant of redemption is meant
a bargain of buying and selling; and the second covenant was such
a covenant to Christ only : 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, " Forasmuch as ye
know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from
your fathers ; lut with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb
40 OP THE COVENANT OF GRACE.
without blemish aud without spot." By a covenant of grace is
meant a bargain, whereby all is to be had freely ; and it is such a
covenant to poor sinners only: Is. lv. 1, "Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come
ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and
without price." The covenant of grace was made from eternity ;
Tit. i. 2, " In hope of eternal life, which Clod that cannot lie,
promised before the world began." Yet is it the second covenant,
in respect of order and manifestation to the world, though it was
first in being.
The condition of the covenant of grace is Christ's fulfilling all
righteousness : Matth. iii. 15, " And Jesus said, thus it becometh us
to fulfil all righteousness." That righteousness was stated from the
broken covenant of works: Rom. iii. 31, "Do we then make void
the law through faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the law."
The righteousness that the broken covenant of works insists on
as the necessary condition of eternal life to a sinner, is perfect holi-
ness of nature, righteousness of life, and satisfaction for sin : Rev.
xxi. ult. " And there shall in no wise enter into any thing that
defiletli, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie."
Matth. xix. 17, " And Jesus said unto the young man, if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments." Heb. ix. 22, " Without
sheddiug of blood is no remission." It justly so insists for holiness
of nature, because that was given to man at first, and by the condi-
tion of the covenant he was obliged to keep it: Eccl. vii. 29, " God
hath made man upright." It justly so insists for righteousness of
life, for that was the express condition of it: Gal. iii. 12, " and the
law is not of faith : but, the man that doth them, shall live in
them." And it justly so insists for satisfaction, in virtue of the pe-
nalty incurred by the breaking of it : Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in
the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." But nei-
ther Adam, nor any of his fallen offspring, was able to perform that
condition of life : Rom. v. 6, " We were without strength." There-
fore, there is no salvation by the covenant of works : Rom. iii. 20,
" Therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Chap. viii.
3, " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh," &c. But Jesus Christ did accept of that condition, as the
condition of the covenant of grace : Psalm xl. 7, " Then said I, Lo,
I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me." And it was
made the condition of the covenant of grace, that his spiritual seed
might be saved, and the covenant of works fully satisfied for them :
OF THE COVENANT OP ORACE. 41
Rom. viii. 3, 4, " God sent his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit." And Jesus Christ did fully perform it, in that, as a
public person, he was born perfectly holy, lived perfectly holy, and
made complete satisfaction by his death : Luke i. 35, " And the an-
gel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee : therefore
also that holy thing that shall be born of thee, shall be called the
Son of God." 1 Cor. xv. 45, " The last Adam was made a quicken-
ing spirit," Phil. ii. 8, " And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, aud became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross."
The promise of the covenant of grace, is a promise of a glo-
rious reward to Christ himself, and eternal life to his spiritual
seed : Isa. xlix. 4 — 9, " Then I said, Surely my judgment is with
the Lord, and my work with my God," &c. Tit. i. 2, " In hope of
eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world
began." The eternal life promised in the covenant of grace, in-
cluded in it all things necessary to make a sinner happy, in soul and
body, for time and eternity : Rom. x. 5, " For Moses describeth the
righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doth those
things, shall live by them." Compared witli Hab. ii. 4, " The just
shall live by his faith." Even the promise of eternal life to Christ's
spiritual seed, was made to Christ himself immediately, and to them
mediately in him : Tit. i. 2, forceited. Heb. viii. 10, " For this is
the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write
them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people." 2 Tim. i. 9, " God hath saved us, and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus, be-
fore the world began." Gal. iii. 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."
It is necessary to the salvation of a sinner, that he personally
enter into the covenant of grace : Eph. ii. 12, " At that time ye
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world." Accordingly, the administration of the
covenant is committed unto Jesus Christ the Head of it : Isa. xlix.
8, " Thus saith the Lord, I will give thee for a covenant of the
people." And all the benefits of the covenant are lodged in his
Vol. VII. c
42 OF THE COVEXASTT OF GRACE.
hand : Col. i. 19, " For it pleaseth the Father, that in him should all
fulness dwell." And he is impowered to administer the covenant to
sinners of mankind indefinitely : John iii. 17, " God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world
through him might be saved." Prov. viii. 4, " Unto you, men, I
call, and my voice is to the sons of man." Isa. lv. 1, 2, 3, " Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no
money ; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk with-
out money and without price. "Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which satisfieth
not ? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,
and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and
come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."
That Christ is impowered to administer the covenant to sinners of
mankind indefinitely, can very well be, though he represented the
elect only in it ; for the Father is so well pleased with the perfor-
mance of the condition thereof, that Christ crucified is made the or-
dinance of God for salvation, to sinners of mankind indefinitely,
according to the promise of the covenant to him, he being in him-
self sufficient thereto : John iii. 14, 15, 16, "And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be
lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but
have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not
perish, but have everlasting life." Matth. xxii. 4, " Again he sent
forth other servants, saying, tell them which are bidden, behold, I
have prepared my dinner : my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and
and all things are ready: come unto the marriage." 1 John iv. 14,
" And we have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to
be the Saviour of the world." Compared with Isa. xlix. 6, " I will
give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salva-
tion unto the end of the earth." Yer. 8, " I will give thee for a
covenant of the people." Accordingly, Christ actually offers the
covenant of grace to sinners of mankind indefinitely, and that in
the gospel : Mark xvi. 15, 16, " And he said unto them, Go ye iuto
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not,
shall be damned." And a sinner is personally and savingly instated
in the covenant of grace, by faith in Jesus Christ : Acts xvi. 31,
" And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved." The nature then of personal covenanting, in order to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, lies in taking hold of
OF THE COVENANT OP GKACE. 43
God's covenant of grace, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ :
Isa. lvi. 4, " Thns saith the Lord unto the eunucbs that — take hold
of my covenant," &c. Chap. lv. 3, forecited. John x. 9, " I am the
door : by me if any man euter in, he shall be saved." Eph. iii. 17,
" That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And believing
in Christ enters us into the covenant of grace, to partake of all the
benefits thereof, as it unites us to Christ the second Adam, the Head
of the covenant: Eph. iii. 17, forecited. Rom. xi. 17, " And if
some of the branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive-tree,
were graffed in amongst them, and with them partakest of the root
and fatness of the olive-tree."
One cannot, in respect of the state of his soul before God, be
under the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, at one and
the same time: Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but under
grace." Therefore, believers, that moment they enter into the co-
venant of grace, are fully set free from the covenant of works : Rom.
vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you." Chap. vii. 4,
" Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by
the body of Christ ; that ye should be married to another, even to
him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit
unto God." And they are lawfully set free from it, forasmuch as
faith gives it full count and reckoning, pleading and counting up to
it, that righteousness which Christ fulfilled : Rom. iii. 31, " Do we
then make void the law through faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish
the law." Chap. viii. 3, 4, " For what the law could not do, in that
it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son, in the like-
ness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh : that the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit."
The effects of personal entering into the covenant of grace, are,
deliverance out of the state of sin and misery, and being brought
into a state of salvation. The bands of our sin and misery are
loosed in the covenant of grace, through our being set free from the
covenant of works : Rom. vii. 5, 6, " For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the
law, that being dead wherein we were held ; that we should serve in
newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." 1 Cor. xv.
56, 57, " The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the
law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through
our Lord Jesus Christ." And we are settled in a state of salvation
in the covenant of grace, through our being married to Christ : Rom.
c 2
44 OP THE ONLY REDEEMER.
vii. 4, forecited. Col. ii. 9, 10, " For in him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him."
Now, God thus brings his elect out of the estate of sin and misery,
into a state of salvation by a Redeemer. A Redeemer, in Scripture
sense, is one who delivers another by price or by power : Lev. xxv.
51, " If there be yet many years behind ; according unto them he
shall give again the price of his redemption, out of the money that
he was bought for." Exod. vi. 6, " Wherefore say unto the chil-
dren of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bon-
dage : and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with
great judgments." And such a Redeemer was necessary for the elect
as should redeem them, both by price and power. It was necessary
that they should be redeemed by price, because they were debtors to
justice, and criminals in law : Heb. ix. 22, " Without shedding of
blood is no remission." It was necessary that they should be re-
deemed by power, because they were in bondage to sin and Satan :
Luke i. 74, " That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered
out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear."
And such a Redeemer was provided for the elect, in the covenant of
grace : Psal. Ixxxix. 19, " Then thou spakest in vision to thy Holy
One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty : I have
exalted one chosen out of the people.
Quest. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God's elect ?
Answ. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord
Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, be-
came man, and so was and continueth to be God and
man, in two distinct natures, and one person for ever.
EXPLICATION.
The Redeemer of the elect is the head of the covenant of grace,
the Lord Jesus Christ and there is no other Redeemer besides him,
he is the only Redeemer: Acts iv. 12, "Neither is there salvation in
any other : for there is none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved." The first part of his name, to wit
the Lord, signifies Jehovah, the true God, the Most High: Isa. xlvii.
4, " As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy
One of Israel." Chap, xlviii. 17, " Thus saith the Lord thy Redeem-
er, the Holy One of Israel," &c. 1 Cor. xiii. 3, ' : No man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." But the titles our
Lord, one Lord, and the like, denote his dominion : Acts x. 36,
OF THE ONLY KEDEEMEK. 45
" Jesus Christ is Lord of all." The second part of his name, viz
Jesus, signifies a Saviour : and he is so called, because he saves his
people from their sins, and consequently from wrath : Matth. i. 21,
" And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins." 1 Thess. i. 10. — " Je-
sus which delivered us from the wrath to come." The third and
last part of his name, to wit, Christ, signifies anointed : and he is so
called, because he was anointed by the Father, with the Holy Ghost:
Acts x. 31, " God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost,
and with power ;" that is to say, the Father solemnly designed him,
and withal furnished him, for his office, by the Holy Ghost remain-
ing on and in him : John. i. 33, " He that sent me to baptize
with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the
Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which bap-
tizeth with the Holy Ghost." Chap. iii. 34, " For he whom God
hath sent, speaketb the words of God : for God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him." The true interpretation then of the name
of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, is Jehovah, the Saviour, the
anointed One. He was the fit person to meditate between God and
man, because of his common relation to both, peculiar to himself.
His relation to God, was, that he was the eternal Son of God ; and
that by eternal generation of Jehovah the Father : Heb. i. 5, " For
unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this
day have I begotten thee ? And again, I will be to him a Father,
and he shall be to me a Son ?" His relation to us, was, that he was
our near kinsman : Heb. ii. 11, " For both he that sanctifyeth, and
they who are sanctified, are all of one : for which he is not ashamed
to call them brethren." He is then our kinsman-redeemer, who re-
deems by right of kin : Job xix. 25, " I know that my Redeemer liv-
eth." Compared with Ruth iii. 12, " And now it is true, that I am
thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I." Now
the eternal Son of God came to be our kinsman, inasmuch as he be-
came man : Gal. iv. 4, " But when the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son made of a woman." By his becoming man,
he was both God and man : Matth. i. 23, " Behold, a virgin shall be
with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is, God with us." And he will
continue to be God and man for ever : Heb. vii. 24, 25, " But this
man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them."
Our Redeemer then hath two natures; namely, the nature of
46 of Christ's incarnation.
God, and the nature of man : Rom. ix. 5, " Whose are the fathers,
and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all,
God blessed for ever." He was God from all eternity ; but not
man, till he came in the flesh, about the four thousandth year after
the creation of the world : Mic. v. 2, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephra-
tah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out
of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Is-
rael : whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
Matth. i. 17, " So all the generations from Abraham to David, are
fourteen generations : and from David, until the carrying away
into Babylon, are fourteen generations : and from the carrying
away into Babylon unto Christ, are fourteen generations." The
divine and human natures were in no ways turned into one nature,
in Christ becoming man ; but they remain for ever two distinct
natures, having each of them their own distinct properties : 1 Pet.
iii. 18, " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, (that he might bring us to God), being put to death in the
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." Yet are they not divided nei-
ther; but they are united in his person: Jesus Christ our Re-
deemer is not then two persons, but one only : Eph. iv. 5, " There is
one Lord." 1 Tim. ii. 5, " There is one Mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus." It was necessary, that our Redeemer
should be man, that he might be capable to suffer death in our
nature, who had sinned : Heb. ii. 14, " Forasmuch then as the chil-
dren are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same : that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil." 1 Cor. xv. 21, " For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the
dead." It was necessary he should be God, that his sufferings
might be of infinite value : 1 John i. 7, " The blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin." It was necessary he should be
God and man in one person, that what of the work was done by
either of the natures, might be reckoned the deed of the person of
our Redeemer : Acts xx. 28, " Feed the church of God, which he
hath purchased with his own blood." John ii. ult., " Jesus needed
not that any should testify of man : for he knew what was in
man."
Q,uest. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God become man ?
Answ. Christ the Son of God became man, by tak-
ing to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb
of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
of oheist's incarnation. 47
explication.
Christ had a being before he was man : He was the Son of God
by eternal generation : Heb. i. 4, " For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee ? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me
a Son ?" Prov. viii. 22, 23, " The Lord possessed me in the begin-
ning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from ever-
lasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." His becoming
man was a voluntary action in him, wherein himself was willingly
active : Psalm, xl. 6, 7, " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not de-
sire, mine ears hast thou opened: burnt-offeriug and sin-offering
hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come : in the volume
of the book it is written of me." Heb. ii. 16, " He took on him the
seed of Abraham." " He became man, by taking to himself a true
body and a reasonable soul." But he did not thereby take to him-
self a human person ; for then should he have been two persons :
but he did thereby take to himself an entire human nature ; for a
soul and a body are the two parts whereof it consists.
Christ's body was not the appearance only of a body, but a real
human body of flesh, blood, and bones, as our bodies are : Heb. ii. 14,
" Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of the same." Luke xxiv. 39,
"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and
see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." His
divine nature was not instead of a soul to him ; but he had also a
human reasonable soul ; which was a created spirit : Matth. xxvi.
38, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." In Christ
then, there were two understandings, and two wills ; namely, an
infinite understanding and will as he was God, and a finite under-
standing and will as he was man : John xxi. 17 — " Lord, thou
knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." Chap. x. 28,
29, 30, " And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never
perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father
which gave them me, is greater than all : and none is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Mark
xiii. 32, " But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not —
the Son, but the Father." Luke xxii. 42, " Father, if thou be will-
ing, remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not my will, but thine
be done."
He was without father, as he was man : He was without mother,
as he was God : Heb. iii. 3, " Without father, without mother,
without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life ;
48 of Christ's incarnation.
but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually."
But the mother of Christ as man, was the virgin Mary, Matth. i. 18,
22, 23. She was a woman of the seed of Abraham, the tribe of
Judah, and family of David: Luke iii. 23, 31, 33, 34, "And Jesus
himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was sup-
posed, the son of Joseph, — which was the son of David, — which was
the son of Juda,' — which was the son of Abraham." He was con-
ceived in her womb: Luke i. 31, "And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus." But his conception was altogether miraculous ; and was
effected by the power of the Holy Ghost : and the work of the Holy
Ghost in that matter, was, that he formed the body of Christ, in the
womb of his mother : Luke i. 35, " And the angel answered and
said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God."
The Holy Ghost formed the body of Christ not of any substance
sent down from heaven; but of her substance: Gal. iv. 4, "God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman." Gen. iii. 15, "And I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed." Which was necessary, that he might be of the same
human nature with us who have sinned: Heb. ii. 11, "For both he
that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one : for
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Now, the
forming of the body of Christ of the substance of a virgin was an
act of creating power: Jer. xxxi. 22, "The Lord hath created a
new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man." Com-
pared with Gen. ii. 7, " And the Lord God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and
man became a living soul." Yer. 22, " And the rib, which the
Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman." Chap. i. 27>
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God cre-
ated he him : male and female created he them." Christ was born
and brought forth of the virgin, at the usual time after conception :
Luke ii. 6, 7, " And so it was, that the days were accomplished
that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born
son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes," &c. But yet he was
conceived and born without sin : Heb. iv. 15, " For we have not an
high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmi-
ties; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
Chap. vii. 26, " For such an high priest became us, who is holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." For though he was a
son of Adam, by his conception and birth, yet he came not of him
in the way of natural generation."
of Christ's offices in general. 49
Quest. 23. What offices doth. Christ execute as our Redeemer ?
Answ. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices
of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his
estate of humiliation and exaltation.
EXPLICATION.
Christ redeems his people, by price and by power : Hos. xiii. 14,
" I will ransom them from the power of the grave : I will redeem
them from death : death, I will be thy plagues; grave, I will
be thy destruction ; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." He
hath redeemed them by price, giving himself a ransom for them, in
his holy birth, righteous life, and bloody death and other sufferings :
1 Tim. ii. 6, "Jesus gave himself a ransom for all." Gal. iv. 4, 5,
" God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to
redeem them that were under the law." Phil. ii. 7, 8, " [Christ
Jesus] made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross." But that redemption by
price is, in Scripture, sometimes attributed to his blood, as the com-
pleting part of the ransom, including the rest; even as one says, he
hath paid the utmost farthing : John xix. 30, " When Jesus there-
fore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished : and he bowed
his head, and gave up the ghost." He redeems them by power,
rescuing them by strength of light, and by strength of hand, out of
the hands of their enemies : Luke i. 68, " Blessed be the Lord God
of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people;" vers. 70,
71, " As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have
been since the world began ; that we should be saved from our ene-
mies, and from the hand of all that hate us." Vers. 73, 74, " The
oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant
unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear." That redemption by power, is
begun in their conversion, and perfected in their glorious resurrec-
tion, at the last day : Col. i. 13, " [The Father] hath delivered us
from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the king-
dom of his dear Son." Rom. viii. 23, " And not only they, but
ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we our-
selves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body." 1 Cor. xv. 26, " The last enemy that
shall be destroyed, is death.
50 of Christ's offices in general.
To execute an office, is to do or perform what belongs to the
office. And Christ, as our Redeemer, hath and executeth three
offices ; namely, the office of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king :
Acts iii. 22, " For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet
shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like
unto me ; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say
unto you. Heb. v. 6, " Thou art a priest for ever, after the order
of Melchisedec." Psal. ii. 6, " Yet have I set my King upon my
holy hill of Zion." The relation of these offices of Christ to the co-
venant of grace, is, that, in his priestly office, he performed the
condition of the covenant ; in his prophetical and kingly offices, he
administers the covenant : Heb. vii. 20, 22, " And in as much as
not without an oath he was made priest, by so much was Jesus
made a surety of a better testament." Mai. iii. 1, "The Lord
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple : even the messen-
ger of the covenant, whom ye delight in." Isa. lv. 3, 4, " Incline
your ear, and come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live, and I
will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a
leader and commander to the people." It is necessary for our
redemption, that he should execute all these offices : and it is neces-
sary, in respect of the ignorance, guilt, and bondage in our case :
1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption."
True justfying faith receives Christ in all his offices : 1 Cor. i. 30,
forecited. Compared with John i. 12, " As many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name'" But as justifying, it eyes him particularly
in his priestly office : for there only can the convinced sinner see an
atonement, a ransom, and a righteousness, for his justification :
Rom. iii. 25, " Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the re-
mission of sins." Chap. v. 11, " We joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." And
the life of faith lies in a daily use-making of Christ in all his offices :
Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me." Compare with Col. ii. 6, " As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him."
The state of our Redeemer is twofold ; namely, his state of humi-
liation, and his state of exaltation : Phil. ii. 8, 9, " And being found
OF CHRIST AS A FROPHET. 51
ia fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore also God hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name." He was in his state of humiliation when he was on the earth :
he is in his state of exaltation now, when he is in heaven. He did
execute all these offices in his state of humiliation when he was on
earth: Rom. xv. 8, "Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister
of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises
made unto the fathers." Eph. v. 2, " Christ hath given himself for
us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour."
Matth. xxi. 5, " Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy king
cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal
of an ass." And he doth still execute them all, now when he is in
heaven : Heb. xii. 25, " See that ye refuse not him that speaketh :
for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much
more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh
from heaven." Chap. vii. 24, 25, " But this man because he continu-
eth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, see-
ing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Luke i. 33,
" And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his
kingdom there shall be no end." Yea, he did execute them all,
under the Old Testament, before he came in the flesh : 1 Pet. iii.
19, " By which also (the Spirit) he went and preached to spirits in
prison." Zech. i. 12, " Then the angel of the Lord answered and
said, Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jeru-
salem, and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had in-
dignation these threescore and ten years ?" Cant. i. 4, " Draw me,
W3 will run after thee : the king hath brought me into his chambers."
Quest. 24. Hoiv doth Christ execute the office of a prophet ?
Answ. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in
revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God
for our salvation.
EXPLICATION.
The office of prophets was to reveal the will of God to men : Heb.
i. 1, " God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets." And the Lord Jesus
Christ, as our Redeemer, is a prophet : Acts iii. 22, " For Moses
truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God
raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye h e r
52 OF CHRIST AS A PROPHET.
in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." The difference be-
twixt him and the other prophets, lay here, that Christ was the
fountain-head of prophecy, revealing by his own Spirit ; whereas
they were but instruments by whom he spake, through his Spirit
coming on them at times : 1 Pet. i. 10, 11, " Of which salvation the
prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of
the grace that should come unto you : searching what, or what man-
ner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when
it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that
should follow."
The office of a prophet belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer
by power : Psal. ex. 2, " The Lord shall send the rod of thy
strength out of Zion." Compared with Isa. xi. 4, " But with righte-
ousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the
meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his
mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."
And in it he redeems or rescues by strength of light. And he exe-
cutes it, by revealing to us the will of God for our salvation. By
the will of God for our salvation, which Christ reveals, is meant,
the whole will of God in all things concerning our edification and
Salvation: John xv. 15, " Henceforth I call you not servants: for
the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth : but I have called you
friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made
known unto you." Acts xx. 32, " And now, brethren, I commend
you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you
up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanc-
tified." John xx. 31, " But these are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might
have life through his name." We could never of ourselves have
discovered the will of God for our salvation : John i. 18, " No man
hath seen God at any time : the only begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Chap. iii. 13, " And
no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." But our Re-
deemer was fit to reveal it to us, in that, as he was God, he was
from eternity privy to the whole counsel of God, and as he was
man, the Spirit, who searcheth the deep things of God, rested upon
him : John i. 18, above cited. Isa. xi. 2, " And the Spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of the Lord." 1 Cor. ii. 10, " But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God." He reveals to us the will of God for our salvation,
OF CHRIST AS A PEOPHET. 53
externally by his word, and internally by his Spirit : John xx. 31,
"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life
through his name." Chap. xiv. 26, " But the Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you." And by his so executing his
prophetical office, he redeems or rescues us from the power of
spiritual darkness, or ignorance: Col. i. 13, "[The Father] hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us
into the kingdom of his dear Son. Acts xxvi. 18, " To open their
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and
inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."
So Christ hath redeemed none by power, but those who are rescued
from the power of their natural darkness : Matth. iv. 16, " The
people which sat in darkness, saw great light : and to them which
sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." Eph.
v. 8, " For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the
Lord : walk as children of light." His word is the scripture of the
Old and New testament: Col. iii. 16, "Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in
your hearts to the Lord." And the Scripture in his word, in that
it was written by the inspiration of his Spirit : 2 Tim. iii. 16, " All
scripture is given by inspiration of God." 1 Pet. i. 11, " Searching
what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ was in them did
signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory that should follow." He reveals to us the will of God for our
salvation, externally by the word : giving us the Scripture, wherein
we may see it, and the preaching of the word, wherein we may hear
it : John v. 39, " Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
eternal life, and they are they which testify of me," Rom. x. 18,
" But I say, Have they not heard ? Yes, verily, their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." We
ought then to look upon our having the Bible among us, aud the
preaching of the word to us, by his servants, as Christ's executing
his prophetical office among us , Heb. xii. 25, " See that ye refuse
not him that speaketh : for if they escaped not who refused him
that spake on earth, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away
from him that speaketh from heaven." Col. iii. 16, forecited. Luke
x. 16, " He that heareth you, heareth me : and he that despiseth
you, despiseth me : and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that
54 OF CHRIST AS A PRIEST.
sent me." But the external revelation of the will of God for our
salvation, by the word, is not sufficient to redeem or rescue us from
the power of our spiritual darkness : Deut. xxix. 4, " The Lord hath
not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear
until this day." 2 Cor. ii. 16, " To the one we are the savour of
death unto death ; aud to the other, the savour of life unto life :
and who is sufficient for these things ?" Chap. iii. 6, " The letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Because when it is externally re-
vealed, we cannot savingly know it, without an internal illumina-
tion : 1 Cor. ii. 14, " But the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him : neither can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Acts xxvi.
18, forecited. Christ then doth redeem or rescue us from the power
of our spiritual darkness, by joining an internal revelation by his
Spirit, with the external revelation by his word : 1 Cor. ii. 10, " But
God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit : for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," ver. 12, " Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is
of God ; that we might know the things that are freely given to us
of God." 2 Cor. iii. 6, " The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth
life." Yer. 17, " Now the Lord is that Spirit : and where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty."
"We are to receive Christ as our prophet, renouncing our own wis-
dom, and wholly giving up ourselves to him, to be taught in things,
by his word and Spirit : Matth. xvi. 24, " Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me," Acts iii. 22, " For Moses truly
said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up
unto you, of your brethern, like unto me : him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever he shall say unto you." We are to make use of
him, as our prophet, daily applying and trusting to him, for light,
instruction, and direction in all things : Psalm cxix. 18, " Open
thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."
Prov. iii. 5, 6, " Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean
not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Quest. 25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest ?
Answ. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his
once offering up of himself a sacrifice, to satisfy divine
justice, and reconcile us to God ; and in making contin-
ual intercession for us.
OP CHRIST AS A PRIEST. 55
EXPLICATION".
The office of priests was to offer sacrifice, and pray, for the
people : Heb. v. 1, " For every high priest taken from among men,
is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer
both gifts and sacrifices for sins." Num. vi. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
" And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto Aaron and
unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of
Israel, saying unto them, the Lord bless thee, and keep thee ; the
Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the
Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."
Compared with Mai. i. 9, " .And now, I pray yon, beseech God that
he will be gracious unto us : this hath been by your means : will he
regard your persons ? saith the Lord of hosts." And the Lord
Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer, is truly and properly a priest: Heb.
viii. 3, " For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacri-
fices : wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also
to offer." The difference betwixt him and the other priests lay
chiefly here, that they and their priesthood were the types and
shadows, whereof Christ and his priesthood were the substance,
really accomplishing what they shadowed forth : Heb. x. 1, " For
the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very
image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they of-
fered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect."
vers. 9, 10, " Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, God. He
taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the
which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all." Eph. i. 3, " Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spi-
ritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Our Redeemer was
qualified for such an efficacious priesthood, by the infinite dignity
of his person, and his real untainted holiness : Heb. iv. 14, " We
have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the
Son of God." Chap. vii. 26, " For such an high priest became us,
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens." ver. 28, " For the law maketh men high
priests which have infirmity ; but the word of the oath which was
since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."
The office of a priest belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer by
price : 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, " Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by traditiou from your fathers ; but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and
56 OF CHRIST AS A PRIEST.
without spot." And the parts of his priestly office, are two
namely, his oblation, and his intercession. Accordingly, he exe-
cutes his priestly office, in his offering a sacrifice for us, and making
intercession for us.
The first part of Christ's priestly office is his oblation. His obla-
tion is his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine
justice, and reconcile us to God. The sacrifice he offered to God
was himself: Heb. ix. 14, "Christ, through the eternal Spirit, of-
fered himself without spot to God." And he himself was the sac-
rifice, not in his divine nature, but in his human nature : For the
divine nature was not capable of sufferings properly so called: Mai.
iii. 6, " I am the Lord, I change not." But his whole human
nature, soul aud body, was the sacrifice: Heb. x. 10, "By the
which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all." Is. liii. 10, " When thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin," &c. His divine nature was, in that
case, the altar that sanctified the gift, to its necessary value and de-
signed effect : Heb. ix. 14, " How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God ?" Compared with Matth. xxiii. 19, " Ye fools, and blind :
for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the
gift ?" John xvii. 19, " And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that
they also might be sanctified through the truth." He offered up him-
self to God a real sacrifice in his human nature, willingly yielding
himself without any spot of sin, natural or accidental, to suffer for
sin to the utmost: Heb. ix. 14, forecited. He was without any natu-
ral spot of sin in that he was born perfectly holy : he was without
any accidental spot of sin, in that he lived perfectly holy : and he
suffered for sin to the utmost, Rom. viii. 32, " He spared not his own
Son, but delivered him up for us all ;" and that both in soul and body,
Matth. xxvii. 38, " Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death." Chap, xxvii. 46, " And about the ninth
hour Jesus cried with aloud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?
that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" ver.
40, " Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up
the ghost." He did so offer himself a sacrifice only once : Heb. ix.
28, " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." And that
once offering of himself a sacrifice, was begun from his incarnation
in the womb, continued through his whole life, and completed on the
cross, and in the grave : Heb. x. 5. " Wherefore when he cometh
into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but
a body hast thou prepared me." Ver. 7, " Then said I, Lo, I come
OF CHRIST AS A PRIEST. 57
(in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will,
God." Isa. liii. 2, 3, " For he shall grow up before hira as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he hath no form nor come-
liness : and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should
desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from
him ; he was despised and we esteemed him not." 2 Cor. v. 21, " He
hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." The holiness
then of his nature, and the righteousness of his life, were parts of the
price of our redemption, as well as his sufferings : Gal. iv. 4, 5, " God
sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law." And his sufferings through his whole
life, lesser and greater, were parts of the price, as well as his suf-
ferings on the cross, and his lying in the grave : 1 Pet. ii. 21,
" Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should fol-
low his steps." Christ offered himself a sacrifice but once, because
by that once offering, the price of our redemption was fully paid
out : Heb. x. 14, " By one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified." And thereby he redeemed or ransomed us
from guilt, and all evils following it : Heb. ix. 14, " How much
more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit,
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God ?"
The end wherefore Christ offered up himself a sacrifice, was
" to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God : Heb. ix.
28, " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." Chap.
ii. 17, " Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like
unto his brethren ; that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the
sins of the people." There was need of reconciling us to God,
because by sin we were at enmity with God : Isa. lix. 2, " Your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your
sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." God
had a legal enmity against us, such as a just judge hath against
a malefactor, whose person he may love notwithstanding : Matth.
v. 25, " Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in
the way with him : lest at any time the adversary deliver thee
to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou
be cast into prison." We have naturally a real enmity against
God, inconsistent with love to him : Col. i. 21, " You were some
time alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works." And
there could be no reconciliation between God and us, without a
satisfaction to divine justice for our sin : Heb. ix. 22, 23, " And
Vol. YII. d
58 OF CHRIST AS A PEIEST.
almost all things are by the law purged with blood ; and without
shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these ;
but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."
We ourselves could in no wise make that satisfaction : Rom. v. 6*,
" We were without strength." For we could neither make our-
selves holy, nor bear the infinite punishment due to our sin. But
Jesus Christ did, by offering up himself a sacrifice, make that satis-
faction truly and really, Matth. xx. 28, "The Son of man came to
give his life a ransom for many." Heb. ix. 14, " How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works
to serve the living God ?" and that fully and completly : ITeb. ix.
14, forecitcd. For though Christ's sufferings were not infinite in
continuance, yet they were infinite in value. What made them so,
was the infinite dignity of his person, he being God, the Most High,
Acts xx" 28, " Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased
with his own blood." Phil. ii. 6, 7, 8, " Christ Jesus being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God : but
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a ser-
vant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross." The sufferings then of believers
in Christ, are not laid on them, to satisfy God's justice for their sins
in whole or in part : Psalm ii. ult. " Kiss the Son lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but for a
little : Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." But they
are led on them for their trial and correction : 1 Pet. i. 6, 7,
" Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season (if need be)
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That the trial
of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour,
and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Heb. xii. 5, " My son,
despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art re-
buked of him." Now the state of the business of our reconciliation
with God, as soon as Christ's offering up himself was over, was, that
then it was purchased, the price of it fully paid : John xix. 30,
" When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is
finished : and he bowed his head, aud gave up the ghost. Col. i. 20,
" And (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to
reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be
things on earth, or things in heaven." Actual reconciliation be-
tween God and us, is made as soon as we are justified by faith :
OF CHRIST AS A PRIEST. 59
Rom. v. 1, " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." And we are not actually re-
conciled to God, until we believe in Christ, because till then we do
not receive the atonement : Rom. v. 11, " We joy in God, through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atone-
ment." Compared with John i. 12, " But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name."
Now, our Lord Jesus Christ cannot fall short of his design and end
in offering up himself a sacrifice : Isa. liii. 11, " He shall see of the
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many : for he shall bear their iniquities."
John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me."
"Wherefore Christ hath not redeemed any by price who are not, sooner
or later, actually reconciled to God : Rev. v. 9, 10, " A.nd they suno- a
new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof : for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation •
and hast made us unto our God kings and priests." John xvii. 12,
" Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost."
And these are all the elect, and they only: Acts xiii. 48, "As many
as were ordained to eternal life, believed." John x. 15, "I lay
down my life for the sheep." Yers. 26, 27, 28, " But ye believe
not ; because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of my hand."
The second part of Christ's priestly office, is his intercession :
Rom. viii. 34, " It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us." By his making intercession for us, is meant his pleading our
cause in the court of heaven. And none make intercession for us
there, but Christ only: John xiv. 6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, and the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me." Rom. viii. 34, forecited. The Spirit makes interces-
sion for us in our own hearts ; and that, by helping us to pray for
ourselves : Rom. viii. 26, " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our in-
firmities : for we know not what we should pray for as we ought :
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings
which cannot be uttered." The difference then between Christ's in-
tercession and the Spirit's intercession, is such as is between one
that draws a poor man's petition, and another that presents it to the
60 OF CHRIST AS A PRIEST.
king, and gets it granted to him. The first of these the Spirit does
for as ; the last is done by Christ only.
Now, Christ intercedes for us, not as a supplicant on mere mercy,
hut as an advocate pleading law and right : 1 John ii. 1, " If any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous." John xvii. 24, " Father, I will that they also whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold
my glory which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the
foundation of the world." The ground in law upon which be pleads
for us, is the fulfilling the condition of the covenant of grace, by of-
fering up himself a sacrifice for us : John xvii. 4, " I have glorified
thee on the earth : I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do." Therefore he intercedes for those only for whom he offered
up himself a sacrifice : John xvii. 9, " I pray for them : I pray not
for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are
thine." Ver. 20, " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word." Yer. 24, forecited.
His intercession is always effectual: John xi. 43, " I knew that thou
hearest me always." And he will continue it for ever : Heb. vii.
25, " He ever liveth to make intercession for them." Accordingly,
he is called a priest after the order of Melchizedec, because he will
be a priest for ever : Psal. ex. 4, " The Lord hath sworn, and will
not repent, thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchize-
dec." Not a sacrificing priest for ever, but an interceding priest for
ever : Heb. x. 14, " For by one offering he hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified. Chap. vii. 25, forecited. He will be an
interceding priest even after the resurrection, for ever, eternally
willing the continuance of the perfect happiness of the saints, on the
ground of the eternal redemption obtained for them by the sacrifice
of himself: Heb. xi. 12, " Christ by his own blood entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
John xvii. 24, " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given
me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory which
thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation of
the world." Compared with 1 Thess. iv. 17, " Then we which are
alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we be ever with
the Lord."
"We are to receive Christ as our priest, renouncing our own righte-
ousness, and wholly trusting in him, to be saved by his sacrifice of
himself, and intercession : Phil. iii. 3, " For we are the circumcision,
which rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
Heb. x. 21, 22, " And having an high priest over the house of God :
OF CHRIST AS A KING. 61
let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed
with pure water." And we are to make use of him as our priest,
daily applying to him, and trusting in his alone merit and inter-
cession, for the removal of our guilt, and the supply of all our needs
spiritual and temporal : 1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us, righteousness, and redemption."
Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ : Nevertheless I live ; yet
not I, hut Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me."
Quest. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a King ?
Answ. Christ executeth the office of a king, in sub-
duing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in
restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
EXPLICATION.
Christ hath a twofold kingdom ; namely, an essential kingdom,
as he is God; and a mediatory kingdom, as he is our Redeemer.
His essential kingdom is the whole creation : Col. i. 15, 16, " Who
(the Son) is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every
creature : for by him were all things created that are in heaven,
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones,
or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things were created
by him and for him." His mediatory kingdom is the church : Col.
i. 11, " And he is the head of the body, the church : who is the be-
ginning the first-born from the dead ; that in all things he might
have the pre-eminence." Zech. is. 9, " Rejoice greatly, daughter
of Zion ; shout, daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy king cometh
unto thee." Now, it is his mediatory kingdom that bis kingly office
relates to.
The office of kings, whom God anointed and set over his ancient
people, was, to save them by strength of hand from their enemies,
and to rule them as their head : 2 Sam. iii. 17, 18, " And Abner had
communication with the elders of Israel, saying, Ye sought for
David in times past to be king over you. Now then do it; for the
Lord hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant
David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philis-
tines, and out of the hand of all their enemies." 1 Chron. xi. 1, 2,
" Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, say-
ing, In time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that led-
dest out and broughtest in Israel : and the Lord thy God said unto
62 OF CHRIST AS A KING.
thee, Thou slialt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler
over ray people Israel." And Christ, as our Redeemer, is such
a king. Isa. xxxiii. 22, " The Lord is our king, he will save
us, Zech. vi. 13, " Even he (the Branch) shall sit and rule upon
his throne." The difference betwixt Christ and these other kings
lay here, that their kingdom was but a temporal kingdom, for
the temporal safety of their people ; Christ's kingdom is a spiritual
and eternal kingdom, for the eternal salvation of his : John xviii.
36, " Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world : if my king-
dom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should
not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from
hence." Luke i. 33, "And he (the Son of the Highest) shall reign
over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end." Isa. xlv. 17, " Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an
everlasting salvation." Our Redeemer was qualified for such a
kingdom by his infinite wisdom and power, and the Father's com-
mitting the kingdom of providence throughout the whole world into
his hand : Isa. ix. 6, " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder ; and his name
shall be called— Counseller, The Mighty God." Eph. i. 22, « God
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over
all things to the church." 1 Cor. xi. 3, " The head of every man is
Christ." Matth. xxviii. 18, " All power is given unto rae in heaven
and in earth." Compared with ver. 19, " Go ye therefore and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost." John v. 22, 23, " The Father judgeth
no man ; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son : that all
men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father."
Compared with Isa. xliii. 14, 15, " Thus saith the Lord your Re-
deemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent to Baby-
lon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans,
whose cry is in the ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the cre-
ator of Israel, your King." Compare 2 Sam. viii. 1, 2, " And after
this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines and subdued
them : and David took Methegammah out of the hand ot the Philis-
tines. And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting
them down to the ground : even with two lines measured he, to put
to death ; and with one full line to keep alive : and so the Moabites
became David's servants, and brought gifts." Yer. 6, " Then David
put garrisons in Syria of Damascus : and the Syrians became ser-
vants to David, and brought gifts : and the Lord preserved David
whithersover he went." Yers. 14, 15, " And he put garrisons in
Edora ; throughout all Edora put he garrisons, and all they of Edoin
OF CHRIST AS A KING. 53
became David's servants : and the Lord preserved David whither-
soever he went. And David reigned over all Israel, and David exe-
cuted judgment and justice unto all his people." And Psalm xviii.
43, " Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people : and
thou hast made me the head of the heathen : a people whom I have
not known shall serve me." Christ had a right to his mediatory
kingdom, by his own purchase, and his Father's grant: Acts xx.
28, " Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his
own blood." Psalm ii. 6, " Yet have I set my king upon my holv
hill of Zion."
The office of a king belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer by
power: Psalm xlv. 1, "I speak of the things which I have made
touching the king." Yerse 3, " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
most mighty : with thy glory and thy majesty." And in it he re-
deems or rescues by strength of hand: Isa. xl. 10, "Behold the
Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shail rule for
him." Psalm, xxiv. 8, " Who is this King of glory ? the Lord
strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." Those whom he
redeems or rescues by strength of hand, are they whom he hath re-
deemed by the price of his blood : Zech. ix. 11, " As for thee also, by
the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth_ thy prisoners out of
the pit wherein is no water." He redeems or re.' cues them from all
his and their enemies : Luke i. 69, " The Lord hath raised up an
horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David :" ver.
71, " That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand
of all that hate us." His and our enemies are sin, death, the devil
and the world : Heb. xii. 4, " Ye have not yet resisted unto blood
striving against sin." 1 Cor. xv. 26, " The last enemy that shall
be destroyed, is death." Matth. xiii. 30, " The enemy that sowed
them, is the devil." James iv. 4, " Ye adulterers and adulteresses
know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of
God." These are Christ's enemies, in that they are opposite to his
kingdom, though they can hurt him no more. They are our ene-
mies, in that they tend to our destruction.
He begins our rescue from them, rescuing us from their bondage
and dominion: Col. i. 13, "The father hath delivered us from the
power of darkness," &c. "We are by nature under the bondage and
dominion of sin, death, the devil, and the world : Rom. v. 21, "Sin
hath reigned unto death." ver. 17, " By one man's offence, death
reigned by one." Acts xxvi. 18, " To open their eyes, and to turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto
God." 1 John v. 4, 5, " Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh
64 OF CHRIST AS A KING.
the world : and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that be-
lieveth that Jesus is the Son of God ?" He rescues us from their
bondage and dominion, by subduing us to himself; Acts xv. 14.
" Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles,
to take out of them a people for his name." Psal. ex. 3, " Thy
people shall be billing in the day of thy power." There is need of
his subduing us by strength of hand, because by nature we are ut-
terly averse from coming away from them, and submitting to him :
Luke xix. 14, " But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after
him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us." Prov.
viii. ult. " All they that hate me, love death." He subdues us to
himself, by the sword of his word in the hand of his spirit : Rev.
i. 16, " Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." Eph. vi.
17, " Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," &c.
The word so managed by the Spirit, operates as a sword, piercing
the soul, and conquering our obstinacy, and making us willing to
yield : Heb. iv. 12, " The word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Psal. ex. 3,
forecited. He opens the house of our bondage, and breaks their
yoke from off our neck, by his Spirit applying to us his satisfaction :
Zech. ix. 11, " As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have
sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." The
applying of Christ's satisfaction to us, hath that effect, inasmuch as
thereby the law hath full satisfaction, as to us; and the law being
satisfied the strength of sin is broken ; the strength of sin being
broken, the sting of death is taken away ; the sting of death being
taken away the devil loseth his power over us ; and his power over
us being lost the present evil world, his kingdom loseth its power
over us too : 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57, " The sting of death is sin ; and the
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us
the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Heb. ii. 14, 15, " For-
asmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of the same : that through death he
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ;
and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time
subject to bondage." 2 Cor. iv. 4, " In whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them." The state, then, that all whom Christ hath redeemed
by power are in, with respect to sin, death, the devil, and the world,
OF CHRIST AS A KING. 65
is, that they are rescued from the bondage and dominion of them all :
Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are
not under the law, but under grace." John v. 24, " Verily, verily
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condem-
nation ; but is passed from death unto life." Acts xxvi. 11, "To
turn them from the power of Satan unto God." Gal. i. 4, " Jesus
Christ gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this
present evil world." Compared with 1 John v. 19, "And we know
that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness."
He secures us from going back of our own accord, to their bon-
dage and dominion, by ruling us : Micah v. 2, " But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be a ruler in
Israel." Yer. 4, " And he shall stand and feed in the strength of
the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they
shall abide." He so rules us, in the capacity of head of the church,
Eph. v. 23, Hos. i. ult., " Then shall the children of Judah, and the
children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one
head, and they shall come up out of the land." The Church is the
society of us whom he hath called unto himself, out of the world,
wherein sin, death, and the devil reign : Acts xv. 14, " Simeon hath
declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of
them a people for his name." And the supremacy and headship
over the church, is competent to no man nor angel, but Christ him-
self alone : Col. i. 18, " And he [the son of God] is the head of the
body, the church : who is the beginning, the first-born from the
dead ; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." Eph.
iv. 5, " There is one Lord." 1 Cor. viii. 6, " To us there is
but one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
by him." He rules us, as he is head of the church, both ex-
ternally and internally. He rules us, as head of the church, ex-
ternally, giving us laws, and ordinances, and officers to see to
our observing of them. His laws are t'.ie laws of the ten com-
mands : Isa. xxxiii. 22, " The Lord is our lawgiver," &c. com-
pared with Exod. xx. 2, 3 — 17, " I am the Lord thy God, which
have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. &c."
His ordinances are the ordinances of worship, and of discipline, and
government : 1 Cor. xi. 2, " Now I praise you, brethren, that you
keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you." Yer. 23, " I
have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you,
That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed,
66 OT CHRIST AS A KING.
took bread," &c. Mattli. xviii. 17, 18, "And if he shall neglect to
hear them, tell it unto the church : but if he neglect to hear the
church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be
bound in heaven : and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be
loosed in heaven." 1 Cor. xii. 28, "God hath set in the church,
governments," &c. His officers are pastors, teachers, ruling elders,
and deacons: Eph. iv. 11, "And he gave some, apostles: and
some, prophets : and some, evangelists : and some, pastors and
teachers." 1 Tim. v. 17, " Let the elders that rule well, be counted
worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word
and doctrine." Chap. iii. 10, " Let them use the office of a deacon,
being found blameless." He rules us, as head of the church, inter-
nally, by his Spirit within us writing his laws in our hearts, and
making us obedient: Ezek. xxxvi. 27, " And I will put my Spirit
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall
keep my judgments, and do them." Heb. viii. 10, "For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them
in their hearts." He carries on his rule over us, in this life, gra-
ciously rewarding our obedience with his royal favours, and correct-
ing us for our sins: Psal. xix. 11, " In keeping of them [the judg-
ments of the Lord] there is great reward." Rev. iii. 19, " As many
as I love, I rebuke and chasten." He consummates his rule over
us, in the life to come, by making us perfectly holy and happy,
2 Tim. iv. 8, " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righte-
ousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that
day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his
appearing."
He secures us from being carried back, by the force of his and
our enemies, to their bondage and dominion, again, by defending us,
and resti*aining them: Psalm lxxxix. 18, "The Lord is our de-
fence : and the holy One of Israel is our King." And lxxvi. 10,
" Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee : the remainder of
wrath shalt thou restrain." "We need his defence, because they
war against us continually, and we are unable to defend ourselves
against them : 1 Pet. v. 8, " Be sober, be vigilant ; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom
he may devour." 2 Cor. iii. 5, " Not that we are sufficient of our-
selves so think any thing as of ourselves : but our sufficiency is of
God." Christ's defence against them is extended to the whole
church, and to every particular believer. He defends the church
against them, so far that they shall never prevail so but there shall
OF CHRIST AS A KING. 67
be a church while the world stands: Matth. xvi. 18, "And I say
also nnto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
ray church : and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it:"
Chap, xxviii. ult., " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of
the world." He defends every particular believer against them, so
far that none of them shall ever perish : John x. 28, " I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
pluck them out of my hand." He defends the church, and every
particular believer, by the communication of his grace to them, and
the working of his providence for them : 2 Cor. xii. 9, " And he
said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is
made perfect in weakness." Zech. iii. 9, " For behold, the stone
that I have laid before Joshua : upon one stone shall be seven eyes,
behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts,
and I will remove the iniquity of that laud in one day." He
restrains all his and our enemies, bounding them by his power, as
to the kinds, degrees, and continuance of their attacks on us : Job
ii. 6, "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, ho is in thine hand,
but save his life." 1 Cor. x. 13, " There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it." Rev. ii. 10, "Behold, the devil shall cast some of you
into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten
days."
He completes our rescue, by conquering all his and our enemies :
1 Cor. xv. 25, "He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under
his feet." They will be fully conquered at the last day : Rev. xx.
14, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." The
enemy that will longest keep the field against us, is death : 1 Cor.
xv. 26, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death." For
when the soul is in heaven, free from sin, the devil, and the world,
the body lies in the grave under death. But our King will fully
rescue us from death too, by the glorious resurrection of the last
day: 1 Thess. iv. 16, "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
Grod : and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Cor. xv. 52, " In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, (for the
trumpet shall sound), and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed."
We are to receive Christ as our King, renouncing the dominion
of sin, death, the devil, and the world, and wholly giving up our-
selves to him, to be ruled by him as our head : Isa. xxvi. 13, "
68 of Christ's humiliation.
Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us :
but by thee only will we make mention of thy name." Psalm ii.
ult., " Kiss ye the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the
way, when his wrath is kindled but a little : blessed are all they
that put their trust in him." TVe are to make use of him as our
King, daily applying and trusting to him, for life, strength, and de-
fence, and victory over our enemies: 2 Tim. ii. 1, "Thou therefore,
my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2 Cor. i.
10, " God delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver : in
whom we trust that he will deliver us."
Quest. 27. Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist ?
Answ. Christ's humiliation consisted in his being
born, and that in a low condition, made under the law,
undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God,
and the cursed death of the cross ; in being buried, and
continuing under the power of death for a time.
EXPLICATION.
Christ's humiliation belonged to the condition of the covenant of
grace, performed by himself: and it was then a voluntary thing in
him : Phil. ii. 7, 8, " Christ Jesus made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross." He humbled himself, that he might execute his offices,
especially his priestly office : Luke xxiv. 26, " Ought not Christ to
have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory ?" And he
humbled himself, putting himself in a state of humiliation, and
humbling himself in that state.
Christ God-man put himself in a state of humiliation, emptying
himself of his glory, and taking upon him the form of a servant:
Phil. ii. 7, forecited. The form of a servant he took upon him, was
the form of a bond-servant : Psalm xl. 6, " Sacrifice and offering
thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened ;" Marg. digged.
Compared with Exod. xxi. 6, " Then his master shall bring him to
the door, or unto the door-posts : and his master shall bore his ear
through with an awl ; and he shall serve him for ever." He took
upon him the form of a bond-servant, being made under the law :
Gal. iv. 4, 5, " But when the fulness of the time was come, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of Christ's humiliation. 69
of sons." He was made under the law as a bond-servant, to redeem
us that were under the law as bond-servants : Gal. iv. 4, 5, fore-
cited, ver. 7, " Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son ;
and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." He did then
transfer our state of servitude under the law upon himself: Is. xlix.
3, " Thou art my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
And what lay upon him as so made under the law, was, to give it
that perfect obedience in holiness of nature and life, that it required
of us for life, and under the curse of it to bear our punishment :
Matth. iii. 15, " Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us." His obedience then, as well as his suf-
ferings, was a part of his humiliation, Phil. ii. 8, forecited ; foras-
much as he gave it in the form of a bond servant. But his state of
humiliation is now over, and at an end ; and it ended at his resur-
rection, Rom. xiv. 9, " To this end Christ both died, and rose, and
revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."
Christ humbled himself in that state, performing the obedience,
and bearing the punishment that it required. He humbled, per-
forming the obedience which that state required, inasmuch as, in
the form of a bond-servant, he was conceived and born of a woman,
perfectly holy, and lived perfectly righteous : Psalm xl. 6, Marg.
forecited, compared with Heb. x. 5, " Wherefore when he cometh
into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but
a body hast thou prepared me." Gal. iv. 4 ; Phil. ii. 7, 8, both
forecited. His very being conceived and born of a woman, was a
notable piece of humiliation in him; and that because he was the
Son of God, Gal. iv. 4; Phil. ii. 7- He humbled himself, bearing
the punishment which that state required, inasmuch as, all along
from his conception to the grave, he submitted to the effects of the
curse transferred from us on him, Gal. iii. 13, forecited.
He so humbled himself in his conception, being conceived of a
woman of a mean and low state : Luke i. 48, " He hath regarded
the low estate of his handmaiden." An evidence of the mean and
low state of the mother of our Lord, is her being espoused to a car-
penter : Matth. i. 18, " Mary was espoused to Joseph." Compared
with chap. xiii. 55, " Is not this the carpenter's son ? Is not his
mother called Mary.
He so humbled himself in his birth, being born in a low condition.
The low condition he was born in, was, that he was born in the
small town of Bethlehem, in the stable of an Inn, and laid in a
manger instead of a cradle, because there was no room for them in
the Inn : Mic. v. 2, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou
70 of Christ's humilliation.
be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he
come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel." Luke ii. 7,
" And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no
room for them in the inn."
He so humbled himself in the course of his life, undergoing the
miseries of this life. The kind of life that Christ had in the world,
was a poor, sorrowful, despised, tempted, and toiled life, in which
he felt weariness, hunger, and thirst : 2 Cor. viii. 9, " For ye know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich." Compared with Matth. viii. 20, " The foxes have holes, and
the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath not where
to lay his head." Is. liii. 3, " He is despised and rejected of men,
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were
our faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Psalm xxii. 6, "lain a worm, and no man ; a reproach of men,
and despised of the people." Luke iv. 13, " And when the devil
had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season."
Acts x. 38, " Jesus of Nazareth went about doing good, and healing
all that were oppressed of the devil : for God was with him." Com-
pared with Mark iii. 20, " And the multitude cometh together
again, so that they could not so much as eat bread." John iv. 6,
" Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the
well." Matth. iv. 2, " And when Jesus had fasted forty days and
forty nights, he was afterwards an hungered." Compared with
chap. xx. 18, " Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he
hungered."
He so humbled himself to an extremity, in respect of his soul and
his spiritual life, " undergoing the wrath of God :" Is. liii. 10,
" Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief :
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," &c. Psalm lxix.
1, " Save me, God, for the waters are come in unto my soul," and
xviii. 5, " The sorrows of hell compassed me about : the snares of
death prevented me." The wrath of God did operate on his soul,
filling it with trouble, sore amazement, heaviness, and exceeding
sorrow, and casting him into an agony, even to his sweating great
drops of blood, and at length bringing over it a total eclipse of com-
fort, and as it were melting it within him : John xii. 27, " Now is
my soul troubled ; and what shall I say ? Father, save me from
this hour : but for this cause came I unto this hour." Mark xiv. 33,
34, " And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and
began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy, and saith unto them,
of Christ's hujiilliation. 71
My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death." Luke xxii. 44, " And
being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly : and his sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Matth.
xxvii. 46, " And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a lond voice,
saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani ? that is to say, My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me ?" Psalm xxii. 14, " I am poured out
like water, and all my bones are out of joint : my heart is like wax,
it is melted in the midst of my bowels." That was a spiritual
death, such as a holy soul was capable of. Now the wrath of God
could justly fall upon Christ a person perfectly innocent, inasmuch
as he stood surety for sinners : Ileb. vii. 22, " By so much was Jesus
made a surety of a better testament." Compared with Prov. vi. 1,
2, " My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken
thy hand with a stranger, thou art snared with the words of thy
mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth." 2 Cor. v.
ult , " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
He humbled himself to an extremity, in respect of his body, and
his natural life, undergoing the cursed death of the cross : Phil. ii.
8, " And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He did
really die, and not seem to die only : Mark xv. 44, 45, " And Pilate
marvelled if he were already dead : and calling nnto him the cen-
turion, he asked whether he had been any while dead. And when
he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph." His
death was real, in that his soul was separated from his body : Luke
xxiii. 43, " And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, to-
day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Yer. 46, " And when
Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I
commend my spirit : and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."
Yet neither was his soul nor his body separated from his divine na-
ture in his death : Luke xxiii. 43, forecited. John xx. 13, " And
they (the angels) say unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou ? She
saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I
know not where they have laid him." The death he died, was the
death of the cross : Phil. ii. 8, "He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." The death of the cross was a painfnl,
shameful, lingering, and cursed death, Christ's death on the cross
was a painful death, in that his body was fixed to the tree by nails
driven through his hands and his feet : Luke xxiii. 33, " And when
they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they
crucified him." Psalm xxii. 16, " The wicked pierced my hands and
my feet." It was a shameful death, in that he hung on the cross
72 of cueist's humiliation.
stript of his clothing : Matth. xxvii. 35, " And they crucified him,
and parted his garments, casting lots." Heb. xii. 2, " Jesus, for the
joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the
shame," &c. "What that shameful hanging on a tree had a particu-
lar eye to, was our naked first parents' sinning by eating the fruit
of a tree. It was a lingering death, in that the wounds being in
the extreme parts of the body, he was alive on the cross, from the
third to the ninth hour : Mark xv. 25, " And it was the third hour,
and they crucified him." Ver. 34, " And at the ninth hour Jesus
cried with a loud voice," &c. It was a cursed death, inasmuch as
it was written in the law, " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a
tree," Gal. iii. 13, compared with Deut. xxi. 23, " He that is hanged,
is accursed of God." The curse denounced in the law, on those
hanged on a tree, was a ceremonial curse, not hindering the salva-
tion of penitents : Luke xxiii. 33, " And when they were come to
the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified — the male-
factors." Ver. 43, " And Jesus said unto him, Yerily I say unto
thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." But the curse
that lay on Christ in his humiliation, was a real and substantial
one, whereof the tree of the cross was but the sign and badge : Gal.
iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us : for it is written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree." The instruments of the cruel death Christ was
put to, were the Jews and Romans ; Acts iv. 27, " For of a truth
against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were
gathered together." But every point of it was determined before,
in the eternal counsel between the Father and the Son, for the sal-
vation of sinners, ver. 28, " For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy
counsel determined before to be done." Compared with Zech. vi.
13, " Even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear
the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a
priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between
them both." Howbeit, the wicked instruments had no eye to that
in what they did : Acts xiii. 27, " For they that dwell at Jerusa-
lem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices
of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have ful-
filled them in condemning him." Neither did it excuse them from
the guilt of most horrid murder in their crucifyiug the Lord of
glory : Acts ii. 23, " Jesus of Nazareth being delivered by the de-
terminate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Chap. vii. 52, " "Which
of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ? and they have
OF CHRrST's HUMILIATION. 73
slain them which shewed before of the coming of the just One ; of
whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers."
He so humbled himself after his death, in respect of his body
being buried : 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4, " For I delivered unto you first of all,
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins accord-
ing to the Scriptures : and that he was buried," &c. He was buried
in a garden: John xix, 41, 42, " Now in the place where he was
crucified, there was a garden ; and in the garden a new sepulchre,
wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus." "What
his being buried in a garden had a particular eye to, wa.3 man's first
sinning in a garden.
He so humbled himself after his death, in respect to both soul
and body, " continuing under the power of death for a time :" Rom.
vi. 9, " Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more ; death
hath no more dominion over him." He continued under the power
of death for a time, in so far as, for a time, he continued in the
state of the dead, his soul and body remaining separate: Acts ii.
31, "He [David] seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of
Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see
corruption." That is expressed in the creed, in these words, " He
descended into hell." The place where his soul was, during its
separate state, was paradise : Luke xxiii. 43, "To-day shalt thou
be with me in paradise." The time he continued under the power
of death, was three days : Matth. xii. 40, " As Jonas was three
days and three nights in the whale's belly : so shall the Son of man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Yet not
three days complete ; Matth. xvi. 21, "From that time forth began
Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must — be raised again
the third day." Compared with John ii. 19, " Jesus answered and
said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up ;" but only a part of the first day, the whole second, and a
part of the third ; Luke xxiii. 54, " And that day was the prepara-
tion, and the sabbath drew on." Ver. 56, " And they rested the
sabbath-day, according to the commandment." Chap. xxiv. 1,
" Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning,
they came unto the sepulchre." Yer. 6, " He is not here, but is
risen."
The hardest and sharpest of all these steps of Christ's humilia-
tion, was his undergoing the wrath of God in his soul : Prov. xviii.
14, " The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity ; but a wounded
spirit who can bear ?" The lowest of them was his continuing for
a time under the power of death, in the state of the dead : Psalm
xxii. 15, " Thou hast brought me into the dust of death."
Yol. VII. E
74 of Christ's exaltation.
Quest. 28. Wherein consisteth Christ's exaltation ?
Answ. Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising
again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up
into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the
Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last
day.
EXPLICATION.
Christ's exaltation belongs to the promise of the covenant of
grace, to be performed to him by the Father : Isa. Hi. 13, " Behold,
my servant shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high." And
it is the reward of his humiliation for himself: Phil. ii. 8, 9, " And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name." Christ's exaltation was necessary, that he might fully
execute his offices, especially his kingly office : Luke xxiv. 26,
"Ought not Christ to enter into his glory?" Phil. ii. 9, above
cited, vers. 10, 11, " That at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth ; and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
The first step of Christ's exaltation, was his rising again from the
dead, 1 Cor. xv. 4. That Christ rose again from the dead, appears
from the Scripture prophecies of it, and the testimony of hundreds,
who saw him with their eyes accordingly risen : 1 Cor. xv. 3 — 8,
" For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received,
how that Christ rose again the third day according to the Scriptures :
and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that, he
was seen of above five hundred brethren at once. After that, he
was seen of James ; then of all the apostles. And last of all he
was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." The raising
of Christ from the dead, is in the Scripture ascribed to the Father,
to himself, and to the Holy Spirit : Eph. i. 20, " Which he (the Fa-
ther of glory) wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the
dead." John ii. 19, " Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Horn. viii. 11,
" But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell
in you : he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." It is as-
cribed to the Father, as the judge discharging him from prison, as
having fully paid the debt he was laid up for : Acts ii. 24, " Whom
op Christ's exaltation. 75
(Jesus of Nazareth) God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of
death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."
1 Tiui. iii. 16, " And without controversy, great is the mystery of
godliness ; God was justified in the Spirit — received up into glory."
A legal evidence of his being, by the authority of heaven, discharged
from the prison of the grave, was an angel's descending from hea-
ven, and opening the prison door, by rolling away the stone : Matt,
xxviii. 2, " The angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came
and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it." It is
ascribed to Christ himself, forasmuch as he, by his own divine
power, calling back his soul into his body, took his own life again,
and came forth of the grave : John x. 18, " I have power to lay it
(my life) down, and I have power to take it again." Compared
with chap. ii. 19, " Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Mark xvi. 6, " Jesus
of Nazareth is risen, he is not here." It is ascribed to the Holy
Spirit, inasmuch as by him Christ's soul and body were reunited :
1 Pet. iii. 18, " Christ was put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit." He rose the third day after his death, 1 Cor. xv. 4,
forecited. That day was the first day of the week : and he rose
about the dawning of the day : Matth. xxviii. 1, 2, " In the end of
the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week,"
&c. He rose in the very same body he laid down in the grave :
Luke xxiv. 39, " Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:
handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see
me have, John xx. 27, " Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands : and reach hither thy hand, and thrust
it into my side : and be not faithless, but believing." And it had
not been corrupted there in the least : Acts xiii. 37, " He whom
God raised again, saw no corruption." The change made on Christ's
body in its resurrection was, that it rose immortal and glorious ;
Rom. vi. 9, " Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more ;
death hath no more dominion over him." 1 Cor. xv. 20, " Now is
Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that
slept." Ver. 43, " It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : it
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power."
The second step of Christ's exaltation, was, his ascending up into
heaven, Eph. iv. 8, 10. The time of his ascension was forty days
after his resurrection, Acts i. 3, "He tarried so long on earth,
after his rising from the dead, to ascertain the truth of his resur-
rection : he ascertained it in that time, by his frequent appearing
to, and conversing with his apostles, during that time : and in these
conversations with them, he taught them the things concerning his
e 2
76 of Christ's exaltation.
own kingdom : Acts i. 3, " To whom also he shewed himself alive
after his passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom
of God." It was in his human nature that Christ ascended from
earth into heaven; not in his divine nature, because it is always
everywhere present. The place of the earth from which he as-
cended, was the mount of Olives, Acts i. 11, 12. It is observable
concerning that place, that there Christ's humiliation began to come
to an extremity, Luke xxii. 39. The heaven he ascended into, was
the highest heaven, Eph. iv. 10, Christ's soul and body, then, are
now no more on earth, but in the highest heavens : Acts iii. 21,
" "Whom the heavens must receive, until the times of restitution of
all things." Compared with Eph. iv. 10, " He that descended, is
the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might
fill all things." He ascended in a visible and triumphant manner
as a conqueror : Acts i. 9, " "While they beheld, he was taken up,
and a cloud received him out of their sight 1 " Psal. xlvii. 5, " God
is gone up with a shout ; the Lord with the sound of a trumpet."
The action of the Father in that step of Christ's exaltation, was
the receiving him up into heaven, Mark xvi. 19.
The third step of Christ's exaltation, is his sitting at the right
hand of God the Father, Mark xvi. 19. God the Father hath
neither right nor left hand, properly so called, as men have : For
he is a most pure Spirit, without body or bodily parts. But by
Christ's sitting at the right hand of God the Father, is meant, hi3
being, as Mediator, God-man, exalted to the highest dignity and
power, over all creatures, in fulness of joy and glory : Phil. ii. 9,
10, " Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him
a name which is above every name : that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth." 1 Pet. iii. 22, " Jesus Christ is gone
into heaven, and is on the right hand of God, angels, and authori-
ties, and powers being made subject unto him." Acts ii. 28, "Thou
hast made known to me the ways of life ; thou shalt make me full
of joy with thy countenance." Compared with Psalm xvi. nit.
" Thou wilt shew me the path of life : in thy presence is fulness of
joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." John xvii. 5,
" And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine ownself, with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was." And that his
sitting at the right hand of God, will endure for ever : Heb. x. 12,
" This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat
down on the right hand of God." The action of the Father in this
step of Christ's exaltation, w r as, his setting him at his own right hand,
Eph. i. 20.
of cukist's exaltatiox. 77
Now Christ rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth
at the right hand of God, in a public character, as our head and
representative, the same in which he died, was buried, and con-
tinued under the power of death for a time : Eph. ii. 6, " God hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus." Heb. vi. 20, Whither [heaven] the fore-
runner is for us entered, even Jesus," &c. Eph. iv. 10, " He that
descended, is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens,
that he might fill all things." These steps, then, of Christ's exalta-
tion are, for his people, sure pledges of their spiritual and bodily-
resurrection, their ascension into heaven, and sitting for ever with
him in heavenly places: 1 Cor. xv. 22, " In Christ shall all be made
alive," Eph. ii. 6, forecited.
The last step of Christ's exaltation, will be his coming to judge
the world at the last day : Acts i. 11, " Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven." Compared with chap. xvii. 31, " God
hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in
righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he
hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead." Christ will come again a second time, Heb. 9, ult. He
will come the second time, in the character of judge of the world,
Acts xvii. 31, forecited, John v. 22, " The Father judgeth no man ;
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Yer. 27, " And he
hath given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the
Son of man." That coming of Christ will be at the last day :
2 Pet. iii. 10, " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and
all the works therein, shall be burnt up." He will come in the
full manifestation of his own and his Father's glory, Luke ix. 26.
His attendants will be all the holy angels, Matth. xxv. 31. The
awful sound he will descend from heaven with, will be a shout, the
voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, 1 Thess. iv. 16.
Christ's coming to judge the world, will not discontinue or interrupt
his sitting at the right hand of God, but will manifest it to all :
Matth. xxvi. 64, " I [Jesus] say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the
Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the
clouds of heaven." And that his coming will be a part of his exal-
tation, inasmuch as he will then appear and act in the fulness of his
kingly power : Matth. xxv. 34, " Then shall the King say unto
them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
78 OP TIIE APPLICATION
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The
action of the Father in this step of Christ's exaltation, will be, his
sending him again, in fulness of glory, clothed with his authority,
to judge the world: Acts iii. 20, " The Lord shall send Jesus Christ,
which before was preached unto you." Luke ix. 26, " The Son of
man shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the
holy angels." John v. 27, forecited.
Quest. 29. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased
by Christ ?
Answ. We are made partakers of the redemption
purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to
us by his Holy Spirit.
EXPLICATION.
The redemption purchased by Christ, is deliverance from sin,
death, the devil, the world, into a state of holiness and happiness
for ever : Tit. ii. 14, " Jesus Christ gave himself for us, that he
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a pecu-
liar people, zealous of good works." Hos. xiii. 14, " I will ransom
them from the power of the grave : I will redeem them from death :
death, I will be thy plagues : grave, I will be thy destruction ;
repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." Heb. ii. 14, 15, " Foras-
much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also
himself likewise took part of the same : that through death he
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ;
and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their life-time
subject to bondage." Gal. i. 4, " Jesus Christ gave himself for our
sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according
to the will of God and our Father." Heb. ix. 12, " Christ by his
own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eter-
nal redemption for us." To be made partakers of that redemption,
is, to be made sharers of it in our own persons : John xiii. 8, " Jesus
answered him, if I wash thee not, thou hast not part with me."
Acts xxvi. 18, " To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness
to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may re-
ceive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are
sanctified by faith that is in me." And till we are in our own per-
sons made sharers of it, we are still in a state of bondage under sin,
death, the devil, and the world, though it may be purchased for us :
Eph. ii. 12, "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
OF REDEMPTION. 79
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." We are
made sharers of it in our persons, by the effectual application of it
to us in particular : And the application of it to us that is effectual,
is the applying it to us, unto the actual delivering of us, as prison-
ers out of the pit, Zech. ix. 11.
The effectual application of Christ's purchase to sinners, in their
own persons, belongs to the promise of the covenant of grace, made
to Christ for the elect : Isa. liii. 10, 11, " When thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many : for he
shall bear their iniquities." And the effectual application of
Christ's purchase to sinners is begun here, and perfected hereafter :
Eph. i. 7, " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." ver. 14,
" The Holy Spirit of promise is the earnest of our inheritance,
until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory." Chap. iv. 30, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." As the pur-
chasing of redemption was the work of Christ, so the effectual ap-
plication of it to us, is the work of his Holy Spirit : Tit. iii. 5, 6,
" Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and re-
newing of the Holy Ghost ; which he shed on us abundantly,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour." And the closest application of
it made to any, in the gospel-offer, without the applying work of
the Spirit, will be an ineffectual application of it , that is to say,
the prisoners will still remain in the pit, undelivered; John i. 11,
12, " He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name."
Now, the Spirit applies the redemption to all those for whom
Christ hath purchased it : Eph. 13,14, " In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation ;
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his
glory," John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth me, shall come
to me." Ver. 39, " And this is the Father's will which hath sent me,
that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day." And the purchase and
application of redemption are of the very same extent : John x. 15,
80 OF UNION WITH CHRIST.
" I lay down ray life for the slieep." Vers. 27, 28, " My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
pluck them out of my hand."
Quest. 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption fur-
chased by Christ ?
Answ. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption pur-
chased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby
uniting us to Christ, in our effectual calling.
EXPLICATION.
The applying of Christ's purchase to us, is not the work of the
Spirit without us, but the work of the Spirit within us : Ezek.
xxxvi. 27, " And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in ray statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
them." Rom. viii. 9, " Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." We are made par-
takers of the Spirit himself, by the communication of him to us by
Jesus Christ : John xx. 22, " Jesus breathed on the disciples, and
saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 23, " There-
fore beiug by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth
this, which ye now see and hear." "We come to be made partakers
of so great a benefit as the Spirit himself, for applying Christ's pur-
chase to us, because the Spirit is a part, and the leading part, of
Christ's purchase, as well as the applier of it : Luke xxiv. 49,
"And behold, I send the promise of ray Father upon you: but
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endowed with power
from on high." Acts ii. 33, forecited.
The Spirit entering within us, applies Christ's purchase to us, by
uniting us to Christ: 1 Cor. xii. 13, "By one Spirit are we all bap-
tized into one body, — and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit." Compared with Eph. v. 23, " Christ is the head of the
church : and he is the Saviour of the body." The union we have
with Jesus Christ by his Spirit in us, is that whereby, being joined
to Christ as our head, we are made one with him spiritually : 1 Cor.
vi. 17, " He that is joined unto the Lord, is one spirit." Eph. v.
23, above cited. Yer. 30, " We are members of Christ's body, of
his flesh, and of his bones." That union is not a metaphorical, nor
mere relative union, but a most real and proper union, Eph. v. 30,
above cited. Yer. 32, " This is a great mystery : but I speak con-
OF UNION WITH CUEIST. 81
cerning Christ and the church." Compared with Col. i. 27, "To
whom [the saints] God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory." John vi. 56, " He that eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." Chap. xv. 21,
" That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I
in thee ; that they also may be one in us." That union being once
made, it can never be dissolved: Jer. xxxii. 40, "I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from
them, to do them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that
they shall not depart from me." 1 Thess. iv. 14, " If we believe
that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus, will God bring with him." It extends so far, in respect
of the parties united to Christ, that the whole man, body as well as
soul, is united to whole Christ in his divine and human nature :
1 Cor. vi. 15, " Know ye not, that your bodies are the members of
Christ?" Col. i. 27; Eph. v. 30, both forecited. Christ's purchase
comes by that means to be applied to us, because, in union with
Christ, we have communion with him in his purchase : Phil. iii. 9,
"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith." Col. ii. 9, 10, " In Christ
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are com-
plete in him." And there is no effectual application of his pur-
chase to us, without union with himself: 2 Cor. xiii. 5, "Know ye
not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates ? Now, our union with Christ is by the Spirit, inasmuch
as it is made by the communication of the Spirit to us when dead in
sin, and by the agency of the Spirit in us when quickened by that
communication.
The communication of the Spirit to us when dead in sin, is the
Spirit from Christ the head entering into us dead sinners, as a Spi-
rit of life : " 1 Cor. xv. 45, " The last Adam was made a quicken-
ing Spirit." Rom. viii. 2, " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death." We are
united to Christ by that communication of the Spirit from him, in-
asmnch as Christ thereby apprehends us, and knits with us : Phil,
iii. 12, " Not as though I had already attained, either were already
perfect : but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which
also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." 1 John iii. 24, " He that
keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him : and
hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath
given us." Gal. ii. 20, "I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless
82 OF UNIOlf WITH CHRIST.
I live ; yet not I, but Christ livetli in me ; and the life which I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me." We necessarily become one with
Christ, by means of that communication of the Spirit from him,
because so the man Christ and we do both live spiritually by the
self-same Spirit indwelling in both, Rom. viii. 2, forecited. Col. iii.
3, 4, " Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
" When Christ who is our life," &c. And the distance between
Christ the head in heaven, and us on earth, hinders not the indwell-
ing of the same Spirit in both, and our union thereby; in regard the
Spirit is an infinite Spirit.
The agency of the Spirit in us, when quickened by that communi-
cation, is his " working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to
Christ:" Col. ii. 12, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you
are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God. Com-
pared with 2 Cor. iv. 13, " We having the same Spirit of faith, ac-
cording as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken: we
also believe, and therefore speak." Eph. iii. 17, "That Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith." It is not the habit of faith, but actual
believing, by which the Spirit unites us to Christ : Gen. xv. 6, " And
Abram believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righte-
ousness." John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his
name." The Spirit worketh in us that actual believing, producing
it in us immediately out of the spiritual life given us by that com-
munication of himself to us : Phil. ii. 13, " It is God which worketh
in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure," John v. 25,
" Verily, verily I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they
that hear, shall live." Compared with chap. i. 12, forecited. Yer.
13, " Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but
of God." And by that actual believing also we are united to
Christ, inasmuch as thereby we apprehend Christ, and knit with
him, Phil. iii. 12 ; John i. 12 ; Eph. iii. 17, all forecited. But as
for elect infants, idiots, and others, through want of exercise of
their reason, incapable of actual believing, what comes of them in that
case, is, that they are united to Christ by the communication of the
Spirit to them, and Christ's purchase is effectually applied to them
thereupon : Luke i. 15, " John shall be filled with the Holy Ghost,
even from his mother's womb." Compared with 1 Cor. xii. 13, " By
one Sprit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and have been made all to
drink into one Spirit."
OF EFFECTUAL CALLING. 83
The bonds, then, of the spiritual union betwixt Christ and actual
believers, are, the Spirit on Christ's part, and faith on their part :
1 John iii. 24, " He that keepeth his commandments, dwelleth in
him, and he in him : and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by
the Spirit which he hath given us." Eph. iii. 7, " That Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith." And that work of God about us, in
which the Spirit works faith in us, and unites us to Christ, is our
effectual calling.
Quest. 31. What is effectual calling ?
Answ. Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit,
whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlighten-
ing our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing
our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace
Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.
EXPLICATION.
An effectual calling in the general is, when the party called comes
upon the call. The call whereby sinners are invited to partake of
the redemption purchased by Christ, is the call of the gospel :
2 Thess. ii. 14, " Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the ob-
taining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Even the gospel-
call itself is not given to all and every one in the world : Eom. x.
14, 15, " How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed ? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not
heard ? and how shall they hear without a preacher ? and how shall
they preach except they be sent ? as it is written, How beautiful are
the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad
tidings of good things ;" But the gospel call is given to all to whom
the word of God comes, whether written or preached : John v. 39,
" Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life,
and they are they which testify of me," Rom. x. 17, " Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Sinners are, by the gospel-call, called to come out from the world
lying in wickedness : 1 John v. 19, " And we know that the whole
world lieth in wickedness." Compared with 2 Cor. vi. 17, " Where-
fore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing : and I will receive you." And sin-
ners are called to come to Jesus Christ in union and communion
with him: Mattth. xi. 28, ' ; Come unto me all ye that labour, and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Chap. xxii. 4, "^gain
84 OF EFFECTUAL CALLING.
he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are hidden, Be-
hold, I have prepared ray dinner : ray oxen and my fatlings, are
killed, and all things are ready : come unto the marriage." By
that coming to Jesus Christ, is meant, embracing him freely offered
to us in the gospel." Christ offered in the gospel id embraced, by
believing on him : John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name." There is need of calling us to come to Christ, in
union and communion with him, because, by nature, we are far
from God, and fast asleep in sin : Eph. ii. 13, " But now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of
Christ." Compared with Jam. iv. 8, " Draw nigh to God, and he
will draw nigh to you." Eph. v. 14, " Awake thou that sleepest,
aud arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
The gospel-call, to whatever sinner of mankind it comes, is ac-
companied with a sufficient warrant for his coming to Christ, in
union and communion with him. That warrant is the free offer of
Christ to us in the gospel : Prow viii. 4, " Unto you, men, I call,
and my voice is to the sons of man." Mark xvi. 15, 16, " And
Jesus said unto the disciples, Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized,
shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Christ
is offered in the gospel freely, to us mankind-sinners, in that any of
us may, though none but truly sensible sinners will come to him,
and unite with him : John iii. 16, " God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should
not perish, but have everlasing life." Rom. xx. 17, " And the
Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth, say,
Come. And let him that is athirst, come : and whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely." Chap. iii. 19, I counsel thee to
buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou raayest be rich; and
white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of
thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve,
that thou mayest see."
The calling of sinners by the gospel is ineffectual on many. It is
ineffectual on them, in that they come not to Christ upon the call :
Prov. i. 24, " I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out
my hand, and no man regarded." But it is effectual on the elect :
Rom. viii. 30, " Whom he did predestinate, them he also called."
Acts xiii. 48, "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed."
It is effectual on them, in that, sooner or later, they certainly come
to Christ upon the call : John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth
me, shall come to me."
OF EFFECTUAL CALMNO. 85
Our effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit : 1 Thess. i. 4, 5,
" Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." John vi. 63, " It is the Spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." And thereby he doth
persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us
in the gospel. The Spirit renders the gospel-call effectual on us,
powerfully determining us, and putting us in a capacity, to answer
the call, by embracing Christ. He determines us to answer the
gospel-call, by persuading us effectually to embrace Christ: Gen.
ix. 27, " God shall enlarge [marg. persuade] Japheth, and he shall
dwell in the tents of Shem." John vi. 44, 45, " No man can come to
me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him : and I will raise
him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall
be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me." Phil. ii. 13, " It is God
which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
He puts us in a capacity to answer the gospel-call, by enabling us
to embrace Christ, John v. 44, 45 ; Phil. ii. 13, above cited. There
is need of the Spirit's calling us effectually, by persuading and en-
abling us to come to Christ in union or communion with him ; be-
cause, being in ourselves dead in sin, we are neither willing nor able
to come : John v. 25, " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God : and they that hear shall live." Compared with Psalm ex. 3,
" Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Phil. ii.
13 ; John vi. 44, forecited.
The Spirit persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ
freely offered to us in the gospel, by convincing us of our sin and
misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and re-
newing our wills. The work of the Spirit for persuading and en-
abling us to embrace Christ, is threefold ; namely, conviction, sav-
ing illumination, and the renewing of the will. But conviction is
not a work of the Spirit, of the same kind with the other two.
Conviction is a work of the Spirit, acting as " a spirit of bondage
upon us, Rom. viii. 15. The Spirit, acting as a Spirit of bondage,
convinceth us of our sin and misery : John xvi. 8, " And when he is
come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment." Acts ii. 37, " Now when they heard this, they were
pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the
apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" The effect of the
Spirit's work of conviction upon us, is a sight of our sins as heinous
86 OF EFFECTUAL CALLING.
in the sight of God, and of his wrath due to us for them, filling us
with remorse, terror and anxiety, John xvi. 8, Acts ii. 37, forecited.
Chap. xvi. 20, " Then he (the jailor) called for a light, and sprang
in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas." The
word of God by which the Spirit works that conviction, is the law :
Rom, iii. 20, " By the law is the knowledge of sin." He convinceth
us of our sin by it, bringing home on our consciences the commands,
of the law, as of divine authority, and binding on us in particular :
Rom. vii. 7, " What shall we say then ? is the law sin ? God forbid.
Nay, I had not known sin but by the law : for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Compared with Exod.
xx. 1, " And God spake all these words," &c. He convinceth us of
our misery by it, bringing home on our consciences the curse of the
law, as the curse of the Lord himself, binding on us in particular: Gal.
iii. 10, " As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse :
for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them." Compared
with Rom. iii. 19, " Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law : that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
Mai. iii. 9, " Ye are cursed with a curse ; for ye have robbed me."
That law-work doth not issue in faith and conversion, in all whom
it is wrought upon : Matth. xxvii. 3, 4, 5, " Then Judas, which had
betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented him-
self, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief
priests and elders, saying I have sinned, in that I have betrayed
the innocent blood. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the
temple, and departed and went and hanged himself." Acts xxiv. 25,
" And as Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment
to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time ;
when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." Neither is
that law-work of the same measure in all that are converted : Luke
xix. 6, " And Zaccheus made haste, and came down, and received
him joyfully." Compared with Acts ix. 9, " And Saul was three
days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink." But so much
of it is necessary, as brings the soul to see an absolute need of
Christ, and to despair of relief by any other way : Gal. iii. 24,
" Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith," Luke vi. 48, " He is like a man
which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a
rock," &c. The part this law-work of the Spirit hath in persuad-
ing and enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ, is, that it begins the per-
suasion. It begins the persuasion, urging us with our lost and undone
OF EFFECTUAL CALLING. 87
state, and our need of a Saviour : Gal. iii. 23, " But before faith came,
we were kept under the law, shut up unto faith which should after-
wards be revealed." Exod. xx. 18, 19, " And all the people saw the
thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the
mountain smoking : and when the people saw it, they removed, and
stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and
we will hear : but let not God speak with us, lest we die." But
this law-work neither perfects the persuasion, nor enables us to
embrace Christ : Rom. viii. 3, " For what the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." Heb.
vii. 19, " For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of
a better hope did."
Saving illumination, and the renewing of the will, are works of
the Spirit acting as a Spirit of life within us : 2 Cor. iv. 6, " For
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God,
in the face of Jesus." Compared with John viii. 12, " Then spake
Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world ; he that
followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life." Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27, " A new heart also will I give you, and
a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And
I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in ray
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." The
Spirit of life, from Christ the head, is conveyed into us in the word :
John vi. 63, " It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth
nothing the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they
are life." Not in the word of the law, but in the word of the gos-
pel : Gal. iii. 12, " This only would I learn of you, received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ?" 2 Cor.
iii. 7, 8, " But if the ministration of death written and engraven in
stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not sted-
fastly behold the face of Mosss, for the glory of his countenance,
which glory was to be done away: how shall not the administra-
tion of the Spirit be rather glorious ?" The gospel is the word of
the glad tidings of salvation to sinners, through Jesus Christ : Acts
xiii. 26, " To you is the word of this salvation sent." Luke ii. 10,
11, "And the Angel said unto the shepherds, Fear not: for behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which
is Christ the Lord."
The work of the Spirit, in effectual calling, acting as a Spirit of
88 OF EFFECTUAL CALLING.
life within us, is a quickening work giving life to the dead soul :
Eph. ii, 5, " God, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ." Compared with John vi. 63, forecited,
In his saving operation, then, on the mind and will, bringing sin-
ners to Christ, he acts irresistibly, yet without the least violence
done to their will : Jer. xxxi. 18, " I have surely heard Ephraim be-
moaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,
as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke ; turn thou me, and I shall
be turned; for thou art the Lord my God." Cant. i. 4, " Draw me,
we will run after thee." Now, that quickening work is the same
with regeneration taken strictly for the beginning of the new crea-
ture : John i. 12, 13, " As many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name : which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God." Compared with chap. iii. 6,
" That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit."
The quickening or regenerating work of the Spirit on our minds,
is saving illumination or enlightening: John i. 4, " In him was life,
and the life was the light of men." Chap. viii. 12, " Then spake
Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world : he that
followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life." Eph. v. 14, " Wherefore he saith, awake thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
Saving illumination is a quickening work of the Spirit, inasmuch as
it is a renewing of our minds, by nature under the darkness of
death, in point of saving knowledge : Rom. xii. 2, " And be ye not
conformed to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect will of God." 1 John v. 22, " And we know that the
Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we
may know him that is true." Matth. iv. 16, " The people which sat
in darkness, saw great light : and to them which sat in the region
and shadow of death, light is sprung up." Eph. iv. 18, " Having
the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God,
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of
their heart." 1 Cor. ii. 14, " The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him :
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
The effect of saving illumination on us, is the knowledge of Christ,
by way of spiritual sight : Eph. i. 17, 18, " That the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of him : the eyes
of your understanding being enlightened." John vi. 40, " And this
OF EFFECTUAL CALLING. 89
is the will of liim that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son,
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." The sight we
get of Christ by saving illumination, is a sight of him in the tran-
scendent glory of his person and offices, offered to us in particular :
2 Cor. iv. 6, " For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the know-
ledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." John i. 14,
" And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of
grace and truth." 1 Thess. i. 5, " For our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance." It is in the word of the gospel that Christ is so seen
spiritually : 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But we all, with open face, beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord," &c. Compared with Rom. x.
6, 7, 8, " But the righteousness which is of faith, speaketh on this
wise, Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into 'leaven? (that is,
to bring Christ down from above) ; or, "Who shall descend into the
deep ? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead) : But what
saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy
heart : that is the word of faith which we preach." We come to
see Christ in the gospel, in the work of saving illumination, because
in it the Spirit clears and demonstrates the gospel to us, for a
ground of our believing in particular : 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5, " And my
speech, and my preaching, was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power : that your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God." The Spirit clears and demonstrates unto us, the gospel to be
the infallible word of God, and his word to us in particular :
1 Thess. ii. 13, " For this cause also thank we God without ceasing,
because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye
received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of
God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." Chap. i.
5, forecited. And that is an internal attestation of the word of the
gospel unto us, distinct from the clearest external or ministerial
attestation of it : John xv. 26, 27, " When the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth
which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye
also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the be-
ginning."
The quickening or regenerating work of the Spirit on our wills, is
the renewing of them : Ezek. xxxvi. 26, " A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart
Vol. VII. f
90 OF BENEFITS IN THIS LIFE.
of flesh." The effect of the Spirit's renewing our wills, is, their
being made pliable to the gospel-call, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, above cited.
Psalm ex. 3, " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power."
The renewing of our wills is a quickening work of the Spirit, inas-
much as our will is, by nature, under the bands of death, so as it
hath no power to comply with the call of the gospel : John v. 25,
" Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they
that hear shall live." Chap. vi. 44, " No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me, draw him." Eph. ii. 1,
" And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins."
Yer. 5, " Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us
together with Christ."
The part that saving illumination, and the renewing of our wills,
have in the persuading and enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ, is,
that thereby the persuasion is perfected, and we are enabled to em-
brace him accordingly : John vi. 45, " It is written in the prophets,
And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."
Chap. i. 12, 13, " As many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God." And the persuasion being perfected,
and wo enabled to embrace Christ, the Spirit infallibly produceth in
us actual coming to Christ, and embracing him by faith, John vi.
45, forecited. Compared with Phil. ii. 13, " It is God which worketh
in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
And that our coming to Christ by faith infallibly issues in con-
version : 1 Pet. iii. 18, " Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Conversion is a
sinner's turning again unto God, from whom he turned away in
Adam : Acts xxvi. 20, " That they should repent, and turn to God,
and do works meet for repentance." It is brought about, through
our coming to Christ by faith, in that wo come unto God by Christ,
and by him only : Heb. vii. 25, " Wherefore he is able also to save
them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them." John xiv. 6, " Jesus saith
unto Thomas, I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.'
Quest. 32. What benefits do they that are effectually called 'partake
of in this life ?
Answ. They that are effectually called, do, in this
OF JUSTIFICATION. 91
life, partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and
the several benefits which in this life do either accom-
pany or flow from them.
EXPLICATION".
They that are effectually called into union and communion with
Christ, do, in communiou with him, partake of the rest of the bene-
fits of his purchase : Eph. i. 3, " Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual bless-
ings in heavenly places in Christ." Howbeit, these benefits are not
communicated to them in their own persons all at once. But they
get some of them in this life, more at death, and the whole at the
resurrection. But the root-benefit from which they all spring unto
them, and on which they all depend, is their union with Christ :
1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and re-
demption." Rev. xiv. 13, " And I heard a voice from heaven, say-
ing unto me, "Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,
from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
their labours ; and their works do follow them." 1 Thess. iv. 14,
" If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. Compared with Col.
i. 27, "To whom (the saints) God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles ; which is,
Christ in you, the hope of glory." The chief of these benefits, which
the effectually called do, in communion with Christ, partake of, in
this life, are justification, adoption, and sanctification : Rom. viii. 30,
" Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called : and
whom he called, them he also justified." Eph. i. 5, " Having pre-
destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to him-
self." 1 Cor. i. 30, forecited. And there are several other benefits,
which, even in this life, do either accompany these chief ones, or
flow from them. And they partake of them also accordingly in this
life, 1 Cor. i. 30, forecited.
Quest. 33. What is justification ?
Answ. Justification is an act of God's free grace,
wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as
righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of
Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone.
f2
92 OF JUSTIFICATION.
EXPLICATION.
All who are effectually called, are justified : Rom, viii. 30,
" Whom he called, them he also justified." The justifying of a per-
son doth never, in the Scripture sense of the word, signify, to make
one righteous with inherent righteousness or holiness : but com-
monly and ordinarily it signifies, to declare one righteous : Exod.
xxiii. 7, " Keep thee far from a false matter : and the innocent and
the righteous slay thou not : for I will not justify the wicked."
Compared with Rom. iv. 5," To him that worketh not, but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous-
ness." Prcr. xvii. 15, "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that
condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord."
Isa. v. 23, " Wo unto them which justify the wicked for reward,
and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him." The
justifying of a person sometimes signifies, to shew one righteous:
Job xxxiii. 32, " If thou hast any thing to say, answer me : speak,
for I desire to justify thee." Chap, xxxii. 2, " Against Job was
Elihu's wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than
God." Gen. xliv. 16, "And Judah said, How shall we clear our-
selves?" &c. Luke xvi. 15, "And he said unto the Pharisees, Ye
are they which justify yourselves before men ; but God knoweth
your hearts." Rev. xxii. 11, " He that is unjust, let him be unjust
still : — and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still." Now,
since God justifying a sinner cannot be shewing him righteous in
his sight, it must be declaring him righteous in his sight. Where-
fore our justification is not a change of our nature, but of our state.
The state a sinner is brought out of, in his justification, is the
state of condemnation : Rom. viii. 33, 34, " Who shall lay any
thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth : who
is he that condemneth ?" Compared with ver. 1, " There is there-
fore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." All
men, before they are justified, are in a state of condemnation : John
iii. 18, " He that believeth not, is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Compared with Rom. v. 1, " Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." And they
are so, in virtue of the curse of the law still lying on them : Gal. iii.
10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them." Compared with Rom.
iii. 19, " Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law : that every mouth may be
stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." But
sinners are, in their justification, delivered from the curse : Gal. iii.
OF JUSTIFICATION-. 93
13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us.'" Compared with Rom. viii. 33, 34, forecited.
And the curse never returns upon them thereafter, Rom. viii. 1,
forecited. Isa. liv. 9, " As I have sworn that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth : so have I sworn, that I would
not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee."
Justification is not a work carried on by degrees, but an act per-
fected in an instant : John v. 24, " Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed
from death unto life." Compared with Rom. i. 17, " The just shall
live by faith." A sinner is justified in the first instant of his be-
lieving on Christ, and not before, Rom. v. 1, forecited. Chap. iii.
22, " The righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all,
and upon all them that believe." John iii. 18, " He that believeth
on him, is not condemned : but he that believeth not, is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only be-
gotten Son of God."
Justification is the act of God himself: and in it he acts in the
character of a judge : Rom. viii. 33, 34, " Who shall lay any thing
to the charge of God's elect ? it is God that justifieth : who is he that
condemneth : Compared with Dent. xxv. 1, " If there be a contro-
versy between men, and they come into judgment, that the judges
may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn
the wicked." The throne of judgment on which God justifies a sin-
ner, is his throne of grace : Heb. iv. 16, " Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need." And he is to be found on that
throne only in Christ: 2 Cor. v. 19, "God was in Christ, reconcil-
ing the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."
The sinner is brought, for justification, unto the throne of grace, by
the Spirit in effectual calling: 1 Cor. vi. 11, " And such were some
of you : — but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by
the Spirit of our God." The poor sinner comes nnto the throne of
grace, on that occasion, a guilty, self-condemned, and law-condemned
creature : Ezra is. 15, "0 Lord God of Israel, behold, we are be-
fore thee in our trespasses : for we cannot stand before thee, because
of this." Rom. iii. 19, forecited., vers. 23, 24, " All have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God : Being justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ." A law-con-
demned sinner can be justified by a holy God there, by an act of free
grace.
Our justification is an act of God's free grace : And by God's free
94 OF JUSTIFICATION.
grace is meant, his free favour and good-will. Howbeit, it is an act
of free grace, not in respect of Christ, but in respect of us, Rom. iii.
23, 14, above cited. It is purely an act of free grace to us, insomuch
that we are justified before we have done any good work at all:
Rom. iv. 5, " To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
The parts of the act of our justification, passed by Grod the
righteous judge, are two ; namely, his pardoning all our sins, and his
accepting us as righteous in his sight.
Pardon of sin is the freeing of the sinner from the guilt of his sin :
Matth. vi. 12, " And forgive us cur debts, as we forgive our debtors."
The guilt of sin that lies upon us, till such time as we are justified,
is the guilt of revenging wrath, John iii. 18, forecited, ver. 36, " He
that believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of God
abidetii on him." The pardon, then given to a sinner in justification,
is the freeing him from the guilt of the revenging wrath of God,
formerly lying on him : Job. xxxiii. 22, " Yea, his soul draweth near
unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers." Ver. 24, " Deliver
him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom." John v.
24, " "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." And
the sinner once justified, can never fall under the guilt of revenging
wrath again : Rom. viii. 1, 33, 34; John v. 24; Isa. liv. 9, forecited.
Now, in our justification God pardons us all our sins, past and
present : Mic. vii. 19, " Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths
of the sea." Col. ii. 13, "And you being dead in your sins, and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with
him, having forgiven you all trespasses." Rom. iv. 7, " Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."
And the state we are put into, with respect to after sins, is, that
God will not impute them, as to the guilt of revenging wrath : Rom.
iv. 6, " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man
unto whom Grod imputeth righteousness without works." Ver. 8,
*' Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." The
procuring cause of the direct pardon of the one, and of the not im-
puting of the other, is the righteousness of Christ upon us : Rom. iii.
22, " The righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ, uuto all
and upon all them that believe ; for there is no difference." Com-
pared with Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us." The guilt which the justified
do incur by their after sins, is the guilt of fatherly anger : Psalm
lxxxix. 30, 31, 32, 33, " If his children forsake my law, and walk
OF JUSTIFICATION. 95
not in ray judgments ; if they break my statutes, and keep not my
commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod,
and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail."
Acceptance with God in justification, is not the acceptance of our
works, but of our persons : Eph. i. 6, " He hath made us accepted
in the beloved." Compared with Rom. iii. 28, " Therefore we con-
clude, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law."
No work of ours can ever be accepted of God, in point of justifica-
tion : Gal. ii. 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." Nor can any work of ours be
accepted in any case, till once we are justified : Ueb. xi. 6, " With-
out faith it is impossible to please God : for he that coineth to God,
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that dili-
gently seek him." Gen. iv. 4, 5, " And the Lord had respect unto
Abel, and to his offering : but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had
not respect." Compared with Heb. xi. 4, " By faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." God's
acceptance of our persons in justification, is his accepting us unto
eternal life, adjudging it to us : Rom. v. 17, " They which receive
abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in
life by one, Jesus Christ." Ver. 18, " By the righteousness of one
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Tit. iii. 7,
"That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs accord-
ing to the hope of eternal life." JJab. ii. 4, " The just shall live by
his faith." He accepteth us unto eternal life, as persons righteous
in his sight, Rom. v. 17, 18, above cited. Ver. 19, " By the obe-
dience of one, shall many be made righteous." Ver. 21, " Grace
reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our
Lord." Gal. iii. 11, "But that no mail is justified by the law in
the sight of God, it is evident: for, " The just shall live by faith."
Compared with verse 12, "And the law is not of faith: but, The
man that doth them, shall live in them." By the righteous in God's
sight, is meant persons truly righteous in law, in the view of his
piercing eye : Gen. vii. 1, "And the Lord said unto Noah, — Thee
have I seen righteous before me in this generation." 2 Cor. v. 21,
" God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him." And they are
persons truly righteous in law, who have a righteousness fully
96 OF JUSTIFICATION.
answering the demands of the law for righteousness: Phil. iii. 9,
" And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is
of the law; hut that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith." Rom. viii. 3, 4, " For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin
condemned sin in the flesh : that the righteousness of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit."
As to what we are justified for ; we are justified " only for the
righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone."
One coming unto the throne of grace, a law-condemned sinner, is
capable of being justified there, pardoned and accepted, as truly
righteous, inasmuch as uniting us with Christ there, Christ's righte-
ousness is his, and upon him that moment: Phil. iii. 9, forecited.
Rom. iii. 22, " The righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ
unto all, and upon all them that believe ; for there is no differ-
ence."
That for which God justifies us, is not any thing wrought in us,
or done by us : Tit. iii. 5, " Not by works of righteousness, which
we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the wash-
ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Eph. i. 7,
" In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace." But it is " the righte-
ousness of Christ imputed to us :" Phil. iii. 9, " And to make all
men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all
things by Jesus Christ." Compared with Rom. iv. 6, " Even as
David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works." And it is his righte-
ousness only, without any mixture of righteousness inherent in us :
Rom. v. 18, 19, forecited. The righteousness of Christ for which
we are justified, is not his essential righteousness, which he had
from eternity ; but his mediatory righteousness which he fulfilled in
his state of humiliation : Matth. iii. 15, " Thus it becometh us to
fulfil all righteousness." The parts whereof that righteousness of
Christ consists, are, the complete holiness of nature, righteousness
of his life, and satisfaction of his sufferings : Heb. vii. 26, " For
such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separated from sinners." Rom. v. 19, "By the obedience of one,
shall many be made righteous." Phil. ii. 7, 8, " Christ Jesus made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion
OF JUSTIFICATION. 97
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." And, in our justification, the righte-
ousness of Christ is imputed to us, in all the parts thereof, Rom.
viii. 3, 4. Compared with chap. iv. 6.
The party imputing Christ's righteousness to us is God the Judge,
Rom. iv. 6, forecited. God's imputing it to us, is his reckoning it
ours ; Rom. iv. 10, 11, " How was faith then reckoned to Abraham
for righteousness ? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumci-
sion ? not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received
the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet being uncircumcised : that he might be the father
of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised ; that
righteousness might be imputed to them also." Chap. v. 19, fore-
cited. Jer. xxiii. 6, " This is his name whereby he shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." God can reckon Christ's
righteousness ours, because it is ours before he reckon it so ; Rom.
ii. 2, " We are sure that the judgment of God is according to
truth."
The righteousness of Christ becomes ours, through faith ; Phil,
iii. 9 ; Rom. iii. 22, forecited. It is ours through faith, by right of
free gift, and right of communion with Christ himself. The believer
possesseth it as his by right of free gift, inasmuch as Christ's righte-
ousness being made over in the gospel, as Heaven's free gift to sin-
ners, he hath received it by faith; Rom. i. 17, "For therein [the
gospel of Christ] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith ; as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Chap. v. 17 s
" They which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righte-
ousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." He possesseth it
as his by right of communion with Christ himself, inasmuch as,
being united to Christ, he hath a common interest or communion
with him in his righteousness; Eph. iii. 17, " That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith." 1 Cor. i. 9, " God is faithful, by whom ye
were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
Phil. iii. 9, " And be found in him, not having mine own righteous-
ness, which is of the law ; but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Christ's
righteousness, then, is not therefore ours, because it is imputed to
us : but therefore it is imputed to us, because it is ours, Rom. ii. 2,
forecited. Chap. iv. 23, 24, " Now, it was not written for his sake
alone, that it was imputed to him ; but for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from
the dead."
The righteousness of Christ imputed to a law-condemned sinner,
98 OF JUSTIFICATION.
is a good ground for his justification, pardon, and acceptance, as a
person truly righteous, inasmuch as thereby the commanding and
condemning law is judicially found, at the throne of grace, to be
fully satisfied in all its demands for righteousness that it had upon
him; Rom. iii. 31, " Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid : yea, we establish the law." Chap. viii. 3, 4, forecited.
Chap. x. 4, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth." Chap. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye
also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that ye
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the
dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Compared with
Chap. viii. 1, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit."
As to what we are justified by, we are justified by faith alone ;
Gal. ii. 16, " Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of
the law 5 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." To be justified by faith alone, is to be justified
by faith, and not by works, in whole, nor in part ; Rom. iii. 28,
" Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law." Paul's doctrine, that we are justified by faith
alone ; and the doctrine of James, that we are justified by works,
and not by faith only, Jam. ii. 24, do not disagree, (2 Pet. i. 21,
" For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man : but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost");
and that, inasmuch as they speak of very different subjects. "What
Paul speaks of, is God's justifying us by an act of his, declaring us
to be righteous ; Rom. iv. 6 — 8, " Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness with-
out works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin." "What James speaks of, is but our justifying
ourselves, by a course of life shewing us to be righteous ; Jam. ii.
18, " Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew
me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by
my works." Ver. 21, " Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, Avhen he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar ?" Now,
a man justifies or shews himself righteous by faith in the sight of
God, by good works; Jam. ii. 21, forecited; ver. 25, "Likewise also,
was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received
the messengers, and had sent them out another way?" John xv. 1J,
OF JUSTIFICATION. 99
" Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Rom. vi.
14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the
law, but under grace." For though we are justified of God by faith
alone, yet faith is not alone, without good works, in the justified ;
Jam. ii. 17, " Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone." Yer. 26, " For as the body without the spirit is dead, so
faith without works is dead also." Rom. viii. 1, " There is there-
fore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Nevertheless, faith
is alone, without good works, in justification ; Rom. iv. 5, " To him
that worketh not, but belie veth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." That appears, inasmuch as
no man can do a good work, till once he is justified by faith. 1 Tim.
i. 5, " Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure
heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." Luke vii.
47, " Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are for-
given ; for she loved much : but to whom little is forgiven, the same
loveth little." Rom. vii. 4, forecited. No man can do a good work,
till once he is justified by faith, because till then he is under the
curse of the law ; Rom. vii. 5, 6, " For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the
law, that being dead wherein we were held ; that we should serve
in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." The act
of believing, whereby we are justified, cannot be reckoned a good
work done by us, before we are justified, forasmuch as it is the effect
of a quickening or creating act of God in us, by which we pass from
under the curse, into a state of justification ; Eph. i. 19, 20, " That
ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-
ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power;
which he wrought in Christ wiien he raised him from the dead," &c.
John v. 24, " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto
life."
\Ye are not justified by faith, as the righteousness itself for
which we are justified : Rom. v. 18, " By the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Yer. 19,
" By the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous." But
faith is, according to the style of the Scripture, said to be counted
to us for righteousness, (Gen. xv. 6; Rom. iv. 3); not that God
judgeth it to be our righteousness, but because he treats it as if it
were so: Job xix. 15, " They that dwell in mine house, and my
100 OF ADOPTION.
maids, count me for a stranger : I am an alien in their sight."
Chap. xiii. 24, " Wherefore holdest thou me for thine enemy ?"
Chap, xxxiii. 20, " Behold, he counteth me for his enemy." Com-
pared with chap. x. 7, " Thou knowest that I am not wicked." God
treats faith as if it were our righteousness in his sight, in that im-
mediately upon our act of believing he justifies us. But we are
justified by faith, as the alone instrument or mean of our justifica-
tion : John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
Rom. iii. 28, " Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by
faith, without the deeds of the law." Chap. v. 1, " Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." Faith justifies us instrumentally, as it receives the gift of
righteousness, and unites us with Christ whose righteousness it is :
Rom. v. 17, " They which recieve abundance of grace, and of the
gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ."
Phil. iii. 9, " And be found in him, not having mine own righteous-
ness, which is of the law ; but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."
It is in justification that we obtain reconciliation with God :
2 Cor. v. 19, " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto him-
self, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Jam. ii. 23, " Abra-
ham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness :
and he was called the friend of God." The state we are brought
out of, in our reconciliation, is the state of wrath : Rom. v. 9, 10,
" Much more then being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son ; much more being recon-
ciled, we shall be saved by his life." The state we are brought into,
is a state of peace and friendship with God through Christ : Rom.
v. 1, forecited. Isa. xxxii. 17, " And the work of righteousness
shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assur-
ance for ever." Jam. ii. 23, forecited.
Quest. 34. What is adoption ?
Answ. Adoption is an act of God's free grace,
whereby we are received into the number, and have a
right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
EXPLICATION.
All who are effectually called, are adopted into the family of
God : 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. " Wherefore come out from among them,
OF ADOPTION" 101
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be iny sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty." Adoption, in
the general, is a legal act, whereby one doth, to all intents and pur-
poses in law, become wholly the child of another, than him whose
child he was by nature. Adoption, then, is not a change of our na-
ture, but of our state. Neither is it a work carried on by degrees,
but an act perfected in an instant : 1 John iii. 2, " Beloved, now are
we the sons of God," &c. But the full enjoyment of the benefits
thereby coming unto us, will not be till the last day : Rom. viii. 23,
,l And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." We are adopted
into the family of God, in that instant, wherein, believing in Christ,
we are justified, and reconciled to God : John i. 12, " As many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name." Gal. iv. 4, 5, " But when
the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a
woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Eph. ii. 16, " And
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby." Yer. 19, " Now, therefore, ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God."
Our natural father, out of whose family we come, is the devil :
John viii. 44, " Te are of your father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do." Matth. xiii. 38, " The tares are the chil-
dren of the wicked one." Chap, xxiii. 15, " Wo unto you, scribes
and pharisees, hypocrites ; for ye compass sea and land to make one
proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the
child of hell than yourselves." The devil's family is the world
lying in wickedness : 1 John v. 19, " And we know that the whole
world lieth in wickedness." Compared with 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18, fore-
cited. Psalm xlv. 10, " Hearken, daughter, and consider, and
incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's
house." The father who adopts us into his family, is God himself."
2 Cor. vi. 18, forecited. The person of the glorious Trinity, whose
act in a peculiar manner our adoption is, is the first person, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ : Eph. i. 3, 5, " Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ : having pre-
destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to him-
self." Chap. iii. 14, 15, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the
102 or ADOPTION.
Father of oar Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in hea-
ven and earth is named." 1 John iii. 1, "Behold, what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed npon us, that we should be called
the sons of God." His act of adopting us into his family, is an act
of free grace : 1 John iii. 1, above cited. It is an act of free grace,
in that there is nothing in us moving him thereto : Eph. i. 5, 6,
" Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved." But it is consistent with the honour of God, to
adopt into his family us who are by nature children of the devil,
in that he adopts us in Christ, as being in him: Eph. i. 5, 6, above
cited. Gal. iii. 26, 27, " For ye are all the children of God by
faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized
into Christ, have put on Christ." Ileb. ii. 11, " For both he that
sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one, for which
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." It is consistent
with his justice, in that he adopts us for Christ, as redeemed by
him, Gal. iv. 4, 5, forecited.
We are dignified by adoption, in that we are thereby received
into the number of the sons of God : Jer. iii. 19, " But I said, How
shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land,
a goodly heritage of the host of nations ? and I said, Thou shalt
call me, my Father, and shalt not turn away from me." John i. 12,
forecited. The dignity then, which we are by it advanced to, is
sonship to God, Eph. i. 5 ; 2 Cor. vi. 18, forecited. Those that
make up that number into which we are received by adoption,
are, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, the holy angels, and the saints
in heaven and earth: Heb. ii. 11. forecited. Chap. xii. 22, 23,
" But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable com-
pany of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-
born which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect." Eph. iii. 15, fore-
cited. All these are the sons of God. Jesus Christ is the Son of
God, by eternal generation : Psalm ii. 7, " I will declare the de-
cree : the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten thee." John i. 14, " And we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father." The holy angels are the
sons of God, by creation in his image, which is confirmed on them :
Job xxxviii. 7, " The morning stars sang together, and all the sons
of God shouted for joy." Compared with Eph. i. 10, " That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one
OF ADOPTION. 103
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which arc
on earth, even in him." The saints arc the sous and daughters of
God, by spiritual marriage with Christ, by adoption, and by regene-
ration : Psalra xlv. 10, " Hearken, daughter, and consider, and
incline thine ear : forget also thine own people, and thy father's
house." Eph. i. 5, forecited. 1 John iii. 9, 10, " Whosoever is
born of God, doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him :
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children
of God are manifest." And by adoption we are made sons of God
too, Eph. i. 5 ; Gal. iv. 4, 5, forecited.
The peculiar dignity of our Lord Jesus Christ among that num-
ber, is, that he is the first-born, the eldest brother, Rom. viii.
29 ; Col. i. 18. The pre-eminence he has among his brethren, as he
is the first-born, is, that his is the dominion and headship of the
family, the priesthood, the blessing, and the double portion : Heb.
iii. 6, " Christ was faithful as a Son over his own house." Chap. ii. 17,
" Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his bre-
thren ; that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
Psalm xlv. 2, " Thou art fairer than the children of men : grace is
poured into thy lips : therefore God hath blessed thee for ever."
Ver. 7, " Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness : there-
fore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows." The blessing is peculiarly his, though all his brethren
are blessed too, inasmuch as he is the prime receptacle of the bless-
ing, from whence it is conveyed unto his brethren, who are blessed
only in him : Gen. xii. 2, 3, " And I will make of thee a great na-
tion, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt
be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse
them that curseth thee : and in thee shall all the families of the
earth be blessed." Compared with Gal. iii. 8, " And the scripture
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached
before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations
be blessed." Eph. i. 3, " Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ." Phil. ii. 9, 10, " Wherefore God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every nane : that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth."
Compared with Eph. i. 10, " That, in the dispensation of the fulness
of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him.
The advantage we have by the dignity of sonship to God, is, that
104 ADOPTION.
thereby we have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God :
Rom. viii. 17, " And if children, then heirs ; heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ." The pivileges of the sons of God are, access to
him as a Father, his fatherly pity, protection, provision, and cor-
rection, and the eternal inheritance: Eph. iii. 12, "In Christ Jesus
our Lord, we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith
of him." Compared with Matth. vi. 9, " After this manner there-
fore pray ye : Our Father which art in heavan, hallowed be thy
name. Psalm ciii. 13, " Like as a father pitieth his children ; so
the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Prov. xiv. 26, " In the fear
of the Lord is strong confidence : and hi3 children shall have a place
of refuge." Matth. vi. 30, 31, 32, " Wherefore if God so cloth the
grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the
oven, shall he not much more clothe you, ye of little faith ? there-
fore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or what shall we
drink ? or wherewithal shall we be clothed ? for your heavenly Fa-
ther knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Heb. xii. 6,
•'"Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth." Pom. viii. 17, forecited. Our right to these
privileges by adoption, is not our only right to them : We have
another right to them also, by our justification : Hab. ii. 4, " The
just shall live by his faith." Tit. iii. 7, " That being justified by
this grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life." Rom. v. 1, 2, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we
have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in
hope of the glory of God." The difference between these two rights
to these privileges lies here, That our right to them by justification
is our fundamental right, our right to them by adoption is an ho-
norary right of inheritance superadded thereto : Rom. v. 18, " By
the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto jus-
tification of life." Ver. 19, " By the obedience of one shall many be
made righteous." John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name."
The earnest of the eternal inheritance, which God gives to his
adopted children, till they come to the full possession of it, is the
spirit of adoption, Rom. viii. 15. Compared with Eph. i. 13, 14.
The spirit of adoption is the spirit of his Son, sealing them with the
Son's image, and working in them a son-like disposition and affec-
tion towards God : Gal. iv. 6, And because ye are sons, God hath
sent the Spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."
Compared with Eph. i. 13, 14, " In whom [ChristJ ye trusted after
OF SAtfCTIFICATIOX. 105
that yo heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : in
whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory?
And 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But we all, with open face, beholding as
in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image,
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." And
that is done, on and in them, in their sanctification : 2 Cor. i.
21, 22, " Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath
anointed us, is God : who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest
of the Spirit in our hearts." Chap. iii. 3, " Ye are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written, not
with inlc, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables
of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." Yer. 18, forecited.
Quest. 35. What is Sanctification ?
Answ. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace,
whereby we are renewed in the whole man, after the
image of God, and are enabled more and more to die
unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
EXPLICATION.
All who are effectually called, are sanctified : and the effect of
their sanctification on them is, real holiness in their own persons :
1 Thess. v. 23, 24, " And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly : and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." Sanctification
then is not a mere change of our state, but a change of our nature :
2 Cor. iii. 18, " But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Chap. v. 17, " If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things are passed away,
behold, all things are become new."
It is not an act done in an instant, but a work carried on by
degrees : 2 Cor. iv. 16, " Though our outward man perish, yet the
inward man is renewed day by day." And it is never perfected in
this life : 1 John i. 10, " If we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Phil. iii. 12, " Not as
though I had already attained, either were already perfect : but I
follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus." Sanctification then doth differ from
Von. VII. G
106 OF SANCTIFICATION.
regeneration taken strictly for the beginning of the new creature :
for regeneration so taken, being the quickening of the dead soul, is
done in an instant : Eph. ii. 5, " God, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." Compared with
John v. 25. But sanctification differeth not from, but is the same
with regenei*ation taken largely for the forming and advancing of
the new creature in all its parts : Tit. iii. 5, 6, " Not by works of
righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost : which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our
Saviour." Compared with Eph. v. 26, " That he might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." 2 Cor. v.
17, forecited.
No man without real holiness in his own person, shall ever see
the Lord, Heb. xii. 14. llowbeit, no unsanctifled person can, by
any endeavours of his, work his own sanctification, or make him-
self holy: Jer. xiii. 23, " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots ? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed
to do evil." John xv. 5, 6, " I am the vine, ye are the branches :
he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit : for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in
me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered." Tit. i. 15, 16,
" Unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving, is nothing pure ; but
even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they
know God ; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and
disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Our sanctifica-
tion then is the work of God only, 1 Thess. v. 23, forecited.
It is a work of God's free grace: Eph. i. 4, "According as he
hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we
should bo holy, and without blame before him in love." And it is
such a work, in that there is no personal worth in us moving him
thereto, Tit. iii. 5, forecited. Wherefore the worst and vilest- of
sinners may be sanctified: 1 Cor. vi. 11, "And such were some of
you : but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified," &c. The person of
the glorious Trinity, whose work in a peculiar manner our sanctifi-
cation is, is the Holy Spirit: 2 Thess. ii. 13, "God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the
Spirit, and belief of the truth." Tit. iii. 5, forecited.
They whom the Spirit sanctifies, are believers united to Christ,
justified, reconciled, and adopted into the family of God. Our
sanctification depends on our faith, in that it is by faith, as the
instrumental cause, that we are sanctified: Acts xxvi. 18, — "That
they may receive inheritance among them which are sanctified by
of ,SAN T cTincATroy. 107
faith tliat is in me." Chap .xv. 9, — "Purifying their hearts by-
faith." Our sanctification depends on our nuion with Christ, in
that it is in Christ we are sanctified, as members of his body :
1 Cor. i. 2, — " To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus." Eph.
ii. 10, " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them." Our sanctification depends on our justification, in that
we are sanctified immediately, through tbe efficacy of the blood of
Christ sprinkled on our consciences : Heb. ix. 14, " JJow much
more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit,
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God ?" 1 Pet. i. 2, " Elect accord-
ing to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ." Compared with 1 John i. 7, " The blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin." The blood of Christ sprinkled
on our consciences bath a sanctifying efficacy on us, inasmuch as
removing the curse of the law, and the guilt of sin, it breaks the
strength of sin, and the dominion of it : 1 Cor. xv. 56, " The sting
of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law." Compared
with Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you : for yc
are not under the law, but under grace." John xix. 34, " One of
the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there
out blood and water." Compared with ITcb. x. 22, " Let us draw
near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water." Gal. iii. 13, 14, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree : that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Our sanctification
depends on our reconciliation, inasmuch as the sanctifying virtue of
the blood of Christ springs from its atoning virtue: Heb. ix. 14,
forecited. 1 Thess. v. 23, " And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly." Rom. v. 10, 11, "For if when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son ; much more being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we
also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have
now received the atonement." Compared with Matth. i. 21, " And
she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus:
for he shall save his people from their sins." Our sanctification
depends on our adoption, in that being adopted into the family of
God, we receive the Spirit of his Son, conforming us to his image
g2
108 OF SANCTIFICATION'.
as our elder brother, and so sanctifying us : Rom. viii. 29, " For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be coufonned to
the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many
brethren." Compared with Gal. iv. 6, " And because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father." And 2 Cor. iii. 18, "But we all, with open face,
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord."
The work of sanctification is twofold ; namely, habitual sanctifi-
cation, producing in us habitual holiness ; and actual sanctification,
producing in us the acts and duties of holiness.
Habitual sanctification is the work of the Spirit, whereby we are
renewed in the whole man after the image of God. Sanctification
is not a bare amending of our life ; but it is also a renewing of our
nature : Eph. iv. 23, 24, " And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness." In sanctification we are re-
newed in the whole man ; that is to say, in our whole person, soul
and body : 1 Thess. v. 23, " And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, aud body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The soul is renewed, not in respect of its substance, but in respect
of its qualities of the mind, will, and affections, Eph. iv. 23, 24,
forecited. The body is renewed, in communion with the renewed
soul, whereby its members become instruments of righteousness:
1 Thess. v. 23, forecited. Compared with Rom. vi. 13, " Neither
yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin :
but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the
dead ; and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God." The result of that renewing in the whole man, is the new
creature, or new man of grace on us : 2 Cor. v. 17, " If any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away, behold,
all things are become new." Eph. ii. 10, " We are God's work-
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them." Chap. iv. 24, fore-
cited.
The new creature is formed after the image of God. And the
image of God restored in sanctification, consists in the new quali-
ties, of knowledge in the mind, righteousness in the will, and
holiness in the affections: Col. iii. 10, "And have put on the new
man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that
created him." Eph. iv. 24, " And that ye put on the new man,
OF SANCTIFICATION. 109
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
But that restored image is expressed on us immediately, from
Jesus Christ the second Adam, who is the image of the invisible
God : Gal. iv. 19, " My little children, of whom I travail in birth
again, until Christ be formed in you." 1 Cor. xv. 49, " As we
have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly." Compared with Col. i. 15, " The Son is the
image of the invisible God." Compare 1 Cor. xi. 7, " Man is the
image and glory of God ;" with Gen. i. 26, " And God said, let us
make man in our image, after our likeness." Ver. 27, " So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him."
The difference between the renewing in effectual calling, and the
renewing in sanctification, lies here, that in the former new vital
powers, in the latter new qualities and habits of grace are infused
into us : John v. 25, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God : and they that hear shall live." Compared with 1 Cor. 5,
6, <; Know ye not, that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ?
Heb. viii. 10, 11, 12, " For this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will
put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts : and I
will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they
shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his bro-
ther, saying, know the Lord : for all shall know me, from the least
to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."
These new qualities and habits of grace, are the seeds of repentance
unto life, and of all other saving graces, making an entire new
creature, or new man : 1 John iii. 9, " Whosoever is born of God,
doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him ; and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God." Acts xi. 18, " Then hath God
also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 2 Cor. v. 17 ;
Eph. iv. 24, both forecited. These new qualities and habits of
grace are derived to us, from the all-fullness of grace in the man
Christ : Col. i. 19, " For it pleased the Father, that in him should
all fulness dwell." Compared with John i. 16, " And of his fulness
have all we received, and grace for grace." And they are commu-
nicated from Christ unto us, by his Spirit: John xvi. 14, 15, " The
Spirit of truth shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and
shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath, are mine :
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto
you." The effect of that communication is, that we are sealed with
110 OF SANCTIFICATION.
the image of Christ, receiving grace for grace in Christ, as the wax
doth point for point in the seal : Eph. i. 13, " In Christ ye also
trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye helieved, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise." Compared with 2 Cor. iii. 18,
" But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." And John i. 16 ; Gal. iv. 19,
forecited. And by that means our union with Christ issues in our
being one Spirit with Christ, as really as Eve was one flesh with
Adam, being formed of him : 1 Cor. vi. 17, " He that is joined unto
the Lord, is one spirit." Compared with Eph. v. 30, 31, 32, " For
we are members of the Lord's body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a
great mystery : but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
Now, to be one Spirit with Christ, is to be of one and the same spi-
ritual nature with him, as his spiritual seed: Heb. ii. 11, "For
both he that sauctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of
one : for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Compared with John iii. 6, " That which is born of the Spirit, is
spirit." And Isa. liii. 10, " When thou shalt make his soul an of-
fering for sin, he shall see his seed."
But though, in sanctification, we are renewed in the whole man, yet
we are not renewed wholly in any part: but there are remains of cor-
ruption still indwelling in every part : Rom. vii. 18, " For I know,
that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing : for to will
is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find
not." Vers. 23, 24, " I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the
law of sin, which is in my members. wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death !" Eph. iv. 22,
" Put off concerning the former conversation, the old man which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." That is to say, there are
remains of corruption still in the mind, will, and affections, and in
the body byway of communion with the unrenewed part; 1 Cor. xiii,
9, " We know in part." Gal. v. 17, " The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the
one to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
Horn, vii. 14, " I am carnal, sold under sin." Phil. iii. 21, " The
Lord Jesus Christ shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body."
What ensues on these two contrary principles of grace and cor-
OF SANCTIFICATION-. Ill
ruption, being together in every part of the renewed man, is, the
the continual combat between the flesh and the Spirit, Gal. v. 17,
forecited. The difference betwixt that combat and the struggle
against sin, sometime found in the unregenerate, lies here, that in
the former, the conflict is between the flesh and the Spirit in one and
the same part ; in the latter, it is between the flesh in one part,
lusting, and the flesh in another part fearing ; Rom. vii. 15, 16,
" That which I do, I allow not : for what I would, that do I not;
but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I
consent unto the law, that it is good." 2 Pet. ii. 15, " Which have
forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of
Balaam the son Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness."
Compared with Num. xxii. 18, " And Balaam answered and said
unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his housefull
of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my
God, to do less or more." The immediate issue of the combat be-
tween the flesh and the Spirit, is, that neither the one principle, nor
the other, carries the action to the perfection it tends unto, Gal. v.
17, forecited. And in that combat, the remaining corruption may
prevail for a time, Rom. vii. 23, forecited. But the renewed part
overcomes; Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace." 1 John v. 4,
" Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world : and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
The state we are in, with respect to sin and righteousness, by means
of the renewing in sanctification, is, a state of death unto sin, and
of life unto righteousness.
The state of death unto sin, for the kind of it, is such a state of
death as a crucified man is in, who being nailed to the cross, shall
never come down till he breathe out his last : Rom. vi. 6, " Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceiorth we should not serve sin." Gal.
vi. 14, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I
unto the world." And we are, by the renewing in sanctification, put
into such a state of death unto sin, inasmuch as thereby the domi-
nion or reigning power of the whole body of sins is destroyed, and
the pollution or defilement of sin is purged away from off the whole
man, though not perfectly in any part: Rom. vi. 6, 14, forecited.
Tit. iii. 5, " Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Compared with John xiii. 10
"Jesus saith to him, He that is washed, needeth not, save to wash
112 OF SANCTIFIUATION.
his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean but not all."
The dominion or reiguing power of sin is destroyed in us, by means
of the renewing in sanctification, in that a contrary reigning prin-
ciple of grace is thereby set in us: Rom. vi. 14, forecited. 1 John
iii. 9, " Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin ; for his
seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of
God." The pollution or defilement of sin is purged away by the
same means, inasmuch as the restored image of God in us, makes us
really pure and clean in the sight of God, as far as it goes : Tit. iii.
5, above cited. Compared with Col. iii. 10, " And have put on the
new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him
that created him." And we are in that state of death unto sin, in
respect of our unrenewed part, Gal. vi. 14. Compared with Rom.
vi. 6, above cited.
The state of life unto righteousness, for the kind of it, is such as
a man is iu, who, being not only quickened, but risen and come forth
of the grave, is in an immediate disposition for the common actions
of life : Rom. vi. 4, " Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Col. iii. 1, " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." Com-
pared with Matth. xxviii. 6, " Jesus is not here : for he is risen as
he said." John xi. 44, " And he that was dead came forth, bound
hand and foot with grave-clothes : and his face was bound about
with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go."
And we are, by renewing in sanctification, put into such a state of
life unto righteousness, inasmuch as thereby we are endowed with
infused habits of grace, the immediate principles of gracious actions :
Deut. xxx. 6, " And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart,
and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine
heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Heb. viii. 10,
" For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind
and write thein in their hearts." 2 Pet. i. 4, " Whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises ; that by these you
might be partakers of the divine nature, ^having escaped the corrup-
tion that is in the world through lust." We are in that state of life
unto righteousness, in respect of our renewed part : Gal. ii. 20, " I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Compared with Rom. vii. 17, "Now, then it is no more I that do it,
but that sin that dwelleth in me."
OF SANCXIFICATION. 113
Actual sanctification is the work of the Spirit, whereby we are
enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
Actual holiness, proceeding from that state of death and life, consists
in more and more dying unto sin, and living unto righteousness : Gal.
v. 24, " And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the
affections and lusts." Rom. vi. 4, " Therefore we are buried with him
by baptism into death : that like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life." Ver. 6, " Knowing this, that our old man is cruci-
fied with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence-
forth we should not serve sin." Compared with Prov. iv. 18, " The
path of the just is as the shinning light, that shinneth more and
more unto the perfect day."
Dying unto sin more and more, lies in our mortifying sin, un-
til it die out : Rom. viii. 13, " If ye through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live." Col. iii. 5, " Mortify therefore
your members which are upon the earth ; fornication, &c. The sins
which true mortification is aimed against, are, the whole body of the
sins of the flesh, Col. ii. 11; Gal. v. 25, forecited. We mortify
them, by refusing compliance with them, and acting the contrary
graces: Gal. v. 16, 17, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and
ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary
the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
Tit. ii. 11, 12, "The grace of God that bringeth salvation, hath
appeared to all men; teaching us, that, denying ungodliness, and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world." They are mortified that way, because in that way
they are starved, and grace is strengthened : Rom. xiii. 14, " Put ye
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfil the lusts thereof." Heb. v. 13, " Strong meat belongeth to
them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
Living unto righteousness more and more, lies in our practising
acts of holy obedience, or good works, until we arive at perfec-
tion therein: 1 Pet. i. 1, 2, "He that hath suffered in the flesh,
hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his
time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God."
Prov. iv. 18, forecited. Phil. iii. 12, " Not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect : but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus." Ver. 14, " I press toward the mark, for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus." And that practice of obe-
114
OF SANCTIFICATION.
dience extends to the whole known will of God : Acts xiii. 22,
" And God said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after
mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." Col. iv. 12, " Epa-
phras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always
labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect,
and complete in all the will of God." Chap. i. 10, " That ye might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every
good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."
A good work, or an act of holy obedience, is, any thought, word,
or deed, agreeable to the will of God, and pleasing in his sight :
Phil. iv. 8, " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what-
soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things
are of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if there be any
praise, think on these things." Heb. xiii. 21, " Now the God of
peace make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working
in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus
Christ." And such works are, those which are commanded in God's
word, done in faith, and directed to his glory : Matth. xv. 2, " In
vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men." Rom. xiv. 23, " Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin."
Compared with Heb. \i. 6, " "Without faith it is impossible to please
God : for he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." 1 Cor. x. 31,
" Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God." Wherefore, no works whatsoever of an unsanc-
tified man, are truly good, or pleasing in the sight of God : John
xv. 5, " I am the vine, ye are the branches : " He that abideth in
me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for without
me ye can do nothing." Tit. i. 15, " Unto them that are denied and
unbelieviug, is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is
defiled." Rom. viii. 7, " The carnal mind is enmity against God :
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
And that, because though the matter of them may be good, yet they
are not done in a right manner, nor to a right end : 1 Cor. xiii. 3,
" Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me no-
thing." Matth. vi. 2, " Therefore, when thou dost thine alms, do
not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the syna-
gogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory of men."
Zech. vii. 5, 6, " When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and se-
venth month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me,
even to me ? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not
OF SANCTIFICATIOK. 115
ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves ?" The good works
of sanctified persons, are none of them perfectly good, or free from
sinful mixture : Isa. Ixiv. 6, " All our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags." Gal. v. 17, " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the
other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Howbeit,
they are accepted of God, for the sake of Christ, being fruits of the
branches in him : 1 Pet. ii. 5, " Ye also, as lively stones, are built
up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacri-
fices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Gen. iv. 4, " And the
Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering." Compared with
Heb. xi. 4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacri-
fice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts." 2 Cor. ii. 15, "For we are unto God
a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish." There is a difference then between the two covenants, in
the point of acceptance with God. The method of acceptance with
God in the covenant of works, is, that first the work be accepted for
its own perfection, and then the person for his work's sake: Gal.
iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith : but, The man that doth them,
shall live in them." The method of acceptance in the covenant of
grace, is, that first the person be accepted for Christ's sake, in jus-
tification, and then his work, for Christ's sake too, in point of sanc-
tification : Eph. i. 6, "He hath made us accepted in the beloved."
Heb. xi. 4, forecited. Rev. vii. 14, " And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Where-
fore God's accepting the will for the deed, or any work that is not
perfect, is the peculiar privilege of those who are in the covenant of
grace, by true faith : 2 Cor. viii. 12, " If there be first a willing
mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not accord-
ing to that he hath not." Compared with ver. 7, " Therefore as ye
abound in every thing, in faith, in utterance, and knowledge, and in
all diligence, and in your love to us ; see that ye abound in this
grace also." And God will accept of no work at the hand of an
unbeliever ; and that because he is under the covenant of works,
and his work is not perfect: Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of
the works of the law, are under the curse : for it is written, Cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in
the book of the law to do them." Compared with Rom. iii. 19,
" Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to
them who are under the law : that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God."
116 OF SANCTIFICATIOX.
Our ability for acts of mortification, and obedience, wherein we
die unto sin, and live unto righteousness, is not at all of ourselves :
John xv. 4, " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine : no more can ye, ex-
cept ye abide in me." When we are put into a state of death unto
sin, and life unto righteousness, through the habits of grace infused
into us by the Spirit, even then we are not able, of ourselves, for
acts of mortification or obedience : 2 Cor. iii. 4, 5, " And such trust
we have through Christ to God-ward. Not " that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves : but our sufficiency
is of God." Even of our gracious selves we can do nothing, or bring
forth no frnit of grace : John xv. 4, above cited. Ver. 5, " I am
the vine, ye are the branches : He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can do no-
thing." But we are enabled to the several acts of mortification and
obedience, by the Spirit : Rom. viii. 13, " If ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Phil. ii. 13, " It is
God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good plea-
sure." The Spirit enables us to acts of mortification and obedience,
by exciting, increasing, and strengthening our inherent graces there-
to : Cant. v. 4, " My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door,
and my bowels were moved for him." Col. i. 10, " That ye might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every
good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." Eph. iii. 16,
" That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to
be strengthened with might, by his Spirit in the inner man." The
Spirit excites, increases, and strengthens our inherent graces, to acts
of mortification and obedience, by communicating new supplies of
grace to us, from Christ our head : Col. ii. 19, " And not holding
the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having
nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the in-
crease of God." 2 Cor. xii. 9, " My grace is sufficient for thee : for
my strength is made perfect in weakness." Phil. i. 19, " I know
that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Ver. 11, " Being filled with
the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the
glory and praise of God." Compared with John xv. 4, 5, forecited.
"Wherefore every gracious act, or good work, done by us, is a fruit
of the Spirit, produced by him in us : Gal. v. 22, 23, " The fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance." Eph. v. 9, "The fruit of the Spirit
is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth." Gal. v. 17, " The
Spirit lusteth against the flesh." Compared with ver. 16, " "Walk
OF SANCTIFICATION. 117
in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Ver. 18,
" If ye be led by the Spirit ye are not under the law." And Rom.
viii. 26, "Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities: for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself
raakelh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
And the way how we derive supplies of grace from Christ, through
the Spirit, is, by faith trusting on him, in the word of promise : Gal.
ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ : Nevertheless I live ; yet not I
but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh,
I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me, and gave him-
self for me." Jer. xvii. 7, 8, " Blessed is the man that trusteth in
the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and
shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from
yielding fruit." Psalm xxviii. 7, " The Lord is my strength and
my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am helped." 2 Pet. i. 4,
" Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises;
that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature."
The spring of all grace to us, from Christ, for our sanctification
habitual and actual, is, our communion with Christ, in his death
and resurrection, by virtue of our union with him: Col. ii. 11, 12,
" In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made
without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by
the circumcision of Christ : buried with him in baptism, wherein
also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead." Rom. vi. 4, 5, 6,
e: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we
have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be
also in the likeness of his resurrection : knowing this, that our old
man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin." There is a power or vir-
tue in the death and resurrection of Christ, for sanctifying of his
members, applied to them by the Spirit : Gal. vi. 14, " God forbid
that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Phil,
iii. 10, " That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto
his death." Compared with John xvi. 15, "All things that the
Father hath, are mine : therefore said I, that he [the Spirit of
truth] shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." That power
118 BENEFITS OF BELIEVERS IN THIS LIFE.
or virtue is a power or virtue whereby his members are made con-
formable to him in his death and resurrection, to the sanctifying of
them effectually, Phil. iii. 10, compared with Rom. vi. 5, 6, fore-
cited. We are made conformable to him in his death, dying unto
sin, as Christ died for sin, a violent death, lingering, and painful,
yet voluntary, Gal. vi. 14, above cited. Compared with chap. v. 24,
"And they that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affec-
tions and lusts." We are made conformable to him in his resurrec-
tion, rising from our sins to a new manner of life, continued during
our abode in the world, and perfected in glory; as Christ rose from
the dead, to a new manner of life, contiuued till his ascension :
Rom. vi. 4, forecited. 2 Cor. v. 17, " If any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature : old things are passed away, behold, all things
are become new." Now, in applying that power and virtue of
Christ's death and resurrection unto us, there must be a communica-
tion of habitual and actual grace from him unto us : and that
because without it we cannot be so conformed to him in his death
and resurrection : John xv. 4, 5, " Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide iu the
vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye
are the branches : He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
The death and resurrection of Christ come to have such a conform-
ing virtue and power on his members, inasmuch as he died and rose
again as a public person, their Head, and merited this their confor-
mation to his image : See Rom. vi. 4, to ver. 12. Wherefore, as
there is in Adam's sin and death a virtue conforming his natural
offspring unto him therein, to their defilement; so there is in
Christ's death and resurrection a virtue conforming his members
unto him in them, to their sanctification : 1 Cor. xv. 22, "As in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Yer. 47,
48, 49, " The first man is of the earth, earthy : the second man is
the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that
are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are hea-
venly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly." Gal. ii. 20, forecited.
Qrr.sT. 36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or
fioiu from justification, adoption, and sanctification ?
Answ. The benefits which in this life do accompany
or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification,
are, Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy
BENEFITS OF BFLIEVEUS IN THIS LIFE. 119
in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance
therein to the end.
EXPLICATION.
These benefits accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and
sanctification, with this difference, That some of them may proceed
on the mere reality of grace, others of them require also the evi-
dence of grace.
Those of them that require the evidence of grace, are, assurance
of God's love, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
The " assurance of God's love" that accompanies or flows from
justification, adoption, and sanctification, is, That whereby a true
believer is certainly assured of God's love of complacency in him,
and that he is in the state of grace, and shall persevere therein :
Rom. v. 1, 2, " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God." Ver. 5, " And hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us." 1 John iii. 14, " "We know that we
have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."
Chap. v. 13, " These things have I written unto you that believe on
the name of the Son of God ; that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God." A believer may attain unto this assurance, in the use of or-
dinary means, without extraordinary revelation : 2 Pet. i. 10,
" Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your cal-
ling and election sure." Heb. vi. 11, "And we desire that every
one of you do shew the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope
unto the end." And the special means for that end, are close walk-
ing with God, self-examination, and the right use of the holy sacra-
ments : John xiv. 21, " He that hath my commandments, and keep-
eth them, he it is that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and
I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." 2 Cor. xiii. 5,
" Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith ; prove your own
selves : know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ
is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Rom. iv. 11, "And he
[Abraham] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righte-
ousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised." Com-
pared with Acts viii. 39, " And when they were come up out of
the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the
eunuch saw him no more : and he went on his way rejoicing." And
1 Cor. x. 16, " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the com-
120 OF ASSURANCE.
munioii of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it
not the communion of the body of Christ ?" The grounds from
whence a believer may raise this assurance, are, the infallible truth
of the word of grace to him in the scriptures, and the evidence of
grace in his own heart: 1 John v. 13; chap. iii. 14, forecited. Yer.
18, 19, " My little children, let us not love in word, neither in
tongue, but in deed, and in truth. And hereby we know that we
are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." And a
believer is enabled to discern these grounds of assurance, so as to
be assured upon them, by the Spirit's shining in his heart, on the
word of grace, and in the work of grace there : Luke xxiv. 45,
" Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand
the scriptures." 1 Cor. ii. 12, " Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God." For so the
Spirit attests, and he sees the one to be the Spirit's own in-
fallible word to him, and the other his gracious work in him ;
Rom. viii. 16, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God." Compared witli John ii. 22,
"When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remem-
bered that he had said this unto them : and they believed the scrip-
ture and the word which Jesus had said." 1 Cor. ii. 12, above cited
True assurance distinguishes itself from presumption, by its humbl-
ing the soul, making the conscience tender, and the heart heavenly :
Gal. ii. 20, "I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me." Cant. ii. 7, " I charge you, ye daughters of
Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not
up nor awake my love, till he please." Gal. vi. 14, " God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." And
it is a necessary duty to seek true assurance : 2 Pet. i. 10, " Where-
fore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling
and election sure." The excellency of it in the Christian life,
is, that it fits men to live most usefully for God, and most
comfortably for themselves : Psalm, cxix. 82, " I will run the
way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart."
And iv. 6, 7, " There may be many that say, Who will shew us any
good ? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that
their corn and their wine increased." But there may be true faith,
justification, adoption, and sanctification, without this assurance ;
OF ASSURANCE. 121
1 John v. 13, " These things have I written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, land that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God." Isa. 1. 10, " Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that
obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath
no light ? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his
God."
Howbeit, there is some assurance in justifying faith itself:
1 Thess. i. 5, " Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also
in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Heb. x.
22, " Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water." Jer. iii. 19, " But I said, How shall I
put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly
heritage of the hosts of nations ? And I said, Thou shalt call
me, My father, and shalt not turn away from me." Hos. ii. 23,
" And I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my
people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." Rom. iv. 20 — 24,
" Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief :
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God : and being fully per-
suaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it
was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him: but
for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." The assurance which is
in justifying faith itself, is that whereby, in believing on Christ for
salvation, the party is persuaded, in greater or lesser measure, of
God's love of good-will to him, and that Christ will save him from
sin and wrath : 1 John iv. 14, " And we have seen, and do testify,
that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." Ver.
16, " And we have known and believed the love that God hath to
us." Chap. v. 10, 11, " He that believeth on the Son of God, hath
the witness in himself : he that believeth not God, hath made him
a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his
Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life :
and this life is in his Son." John iii. 16, 17, "God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent
not his Son into the world to condemn the world : but that the
world through him might be saved." Compared with 1 Thess. i. 5,
" Our gospel came not unto you in world only, but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Acts xv. 11, " We
believe, that, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall
Vol. VII. h
122 OF PEACE OP CONSCIENCE.
be saved even as they." James i. 6, 7, " But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering : for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea,
driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive any thing of the Lord." The ground from whence
this assurance is raised, is, the word of the gospel allenarly, demon-
strated by the Spirit in the work of saving illumination : 1 Cor. ii.
4, 5, " And my speech, and my preaching was not with enticing
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of
power : that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but
in the power of God. There may be doubting of God's good-will
and of salvation, where this assurance of them hath place : Matth.
xiv. 31, " And immediately Jesus said unto Peter, thou of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?" And that may be, inasmuch
as they are contraries capable of various degrees, the one weakened
as the other gathers strength : Mark ix. 24, " And straightway the
father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe ;
help thou mine unbelief." 1 Thess. i. 5 ; Matth. xiv. 31, above cited.
But where doubts are reigning, to the barring of any assurance of
these things at all, true faith is barred too, James i. 6, 7; Is. 1. 10;
1 John v. 10, 11, forecited.
True peace of conscience is the calm that ensues in the conscience
purged from guilt by the blood of Christ : Isa. xxxiii. ult. " And the
inhabitant shall not say, I am sick : the people that dwell therein,
shall be forgiven their iniquity." Heb. x. 2, " The worshippers
once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins." Chap. ix.
14, " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the
eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your con-
science from dead works to serve the living God ?" The ground of
true peace of conscience, is peace with God : Rom. v. 1, " Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord
Jesus Christ." Compared with Col. iii. 15, " Let the peace of God
rule in your hearts." It is discerned from false peace, in that it is
strengthened by the light of the word, and not maintained without
warring against sin : John iii. 20, 21, "Every one that doth evil, hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be re-
proved. But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds
may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." Psalm cxix.
165, " Great peace have they which love thy law : and nothing shall
offend them." Compared with Gal. v. 17, " The flesh lusteth against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary
the one to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
By joy in the Holy Ghost is meant, spiritual joy, whereof the
Holy Ghost is the author: Rom. xiv. 17, "The kingdom of God is
OF JOY IX TIIE HOLT GHOST. 123
not meat and drink, bat righteousness, and peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost." Compared with Gal. v. 22, " The fruit of the Spirit
is joy." Psalm xlv. 7, " God, thy God, hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Compared with John iii. 34,
" God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." The spring of
joy in the Holy Ghost is, sense of grace received, and hope of glory :
Is. lxi. 10, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be
joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of sal-
vation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorn-
eth herself with her jewels." Rom. v. 2, " We rejoice in hope of
the glory of God." It is discerned from the delusive joy of hypo-
crites, in that victory over sin, felt and hoped for, is a chief spring
of it, spirituality and vigour in duties of obedience are the effects of
it : 1 Pet. i. 8, 9, " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable, and full of glory : receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls." 1 Cor. xv. 55, 56, 57, "0 death,
where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of
death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to
God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Compared with Rev. v. 9, 10, " And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof :
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out
of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast
made us unto our God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the
earth." Phil. iii. 3, " We are the circumcision, which worship God
in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in
the flesh." Neh. viii. 10, " The joy of the Lord is your strength."
Compared with Psalm cxix. 32, " I will run the way of thy com-
mandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart."
None can have true peace of conscience, nor joy in the Holy
Ghost, but true believers : lsa. lvii. ult. " There is no peace, saith
my God, to the wicked." And when they have attained them, they
may lose them again : Psalm li. 8, " Make me to hear joy and glad-
ness: that the bones which thou hast broken, may rejoice." But
the seed of them, from whence they may be revived, cannot be lost,
but abides with believers in all cases: Psalmxcvii.il, " Light is
sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart."
Compared with 1 John iii. 9, " Whosoever is born of God, doth not
commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God." The abiding seed of peace of con-
science in believers, is, their state of peace with God : Jer. xxxii.
h2
124 OF INCREASE OF GRACE.
40, " And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I
will not turn away from them, to do them good ; but I will put my
fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." The
abiding seed of joy in the Holy Ghost in them, is, their saving inte-
rest in the fulness of Christ: 1 John i. 3, 4, " That which we have
seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellow-
ship with us : and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that
your joy may be full." And out of these they may recover their
lost peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost, by the renewed
actings of faith and repentance : Rom. xv. 13, " Now the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Matth. v.
4, " Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted."
Compared with Psalm cxxvi. 5, " They that sow in tears, shall reap
in joy." And they may maintain and preserve them, by a holy
tender walk, and the daily exercise of faith and repentance : Acts
xxiv. 16, "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a con-
science void of offence toward God, aud toward men." Compared
with 2 Cor. i. 12, " For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our
conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in
the world, and more abundantly to you-wards." John xiii. 10,
" Jesus saith to Peter, He that is washed, needeth not, save to wash
his feet, but is clean every whit." Psalm xix. 12, " "Who can
understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults."
The benefits flowing from justification, adoption, and sanctifica-
tion, which may proceed on the mere reality of grace, without the
evidence of it, are, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to
the end.
It is of the nature of grace, as of a seed, or the morning light, to
increase or grow, till it come to perfection : 1 John iii. 9, " Who-
soever is born of God, doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth
in him : and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Compared
with Mark iv. 26, 27, " And Jesus said, So is the kingdom of God,
as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep, and
rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up he
knoweth not how." Prov. iv. 18, " The path of the just is as the
shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
John iv. 14, " The water that I shall give him, shall be in him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life." Eph. iv. 13,
" Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
OF INCREASE OP GRACE. 125
stature of the fulness of Christ." And it doth grow accordingly,
Prov. iv. 18, above cited. Nevertheless, it doth not therefore grow
at all times, but is liable to decays : Rev. ii. 4, " I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." The actual in-
crease or growth of it depends on supplies of grace from Christ the
head, communicated to us by the Spirit : Hos. xiv. 5, " I will be as
the dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his
roots as Lebanon." Compared with Isa. xliv. 3, 4, " I will pour
water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I
will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine off-
spring : and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by
the water-courses." John xv. 5, " I am the vine, ye are the
branches : He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit : for without me ye can do nothing." Howbeit, it
is our duty to grow in grace : 2 Pet. iii. 18, " Grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." A Chris-
tian shall grow in grace, by exercising it, and using the means of it,
diligently : Matth. xxv. 29, Unto every one that hath shall be
given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not,
shall be taken away even that which he hath." Psalm xcii. 13,
" Those that be planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish
in the courts of our God." The graces, the exercise whereof doth
especially influence the growth of all the rest, as well as their own,
are, first, faith, and then love : Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with
Christ : Nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me :
and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." 2 Cor. v. 14,
15, " For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge,
that if one died for all, then were all dead : and that he died for
all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto them-
selves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 1 Tim.
i. 5, " Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure
heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." True
spiritual growth is discerned from false growth, in that it is propor-
tionable in all the parts of the new creature, and rests at no pitch
attained till it come to perfection : Eph, iv. 15, " But speaking the
truth in love, may grow up unto him in all things, which is the
head, even Christ." Philip, iii. 13, 14, " Brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended : but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus."
By perseverance in grace to the end, is meant, a constant continu-
126 0E PERSEVERANCE.
ance in grace, all along till death : Col. i. 23, " If ye continue in
the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven." Matth. x. 22, " He that
endureth to the end, shall be saved." All who are once endowed
with true grace, shall infallibly persevere in it to the end, notwith-
standing of Satan's temptations, the world's snares, and their own
corruptions : John x. 28, 29, " And I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my
hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all : and
none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." 1 Pet. i. 5,
" Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
1 John ii. 19, " They we^rt out from ns, but they were not of us :
for if they had be^ii of us, they would no doubt have continued
with us : but 'diey went out, that they might be made mani-
fest, that J^ey were not all of us." Chap. iii. 9, " Whosoever is
born o£ God, doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him :
and he cannot siu, because he is born of God." They may lose the
evidence, and much of the measure and exercise of their grace : Isa.
1. 10, " Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the
the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no
light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his
God." Rev. ii. 4, 5, " I have somewhat against thee, because thou
hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art
fallen, and repent, and do the first works." Cant. v. 2, 3, " I sleep,
but my heart waketh : it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh,
saying, open to ine, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled : for
my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the
night. I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on ? I have
washed my feet, how shall I defile them ?" But they can never fall
away from grace finally, so as never to recover it : 1 Pet. i. 5, fore-
cited. John vi. 39, " And this is the Father's will which hath sent
me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day." Chap. viii. 35, " The
servant abideth not in the house for ever ; but the Son abideth
ever." Nor can they fall away from it totally, so as to lose it alto-
gether for shorter or longer time, 1 John iii. 9, above cited.
Jer. xxxii. 40, " And I will make an everlasting covenant with
them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good :
but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart
from me." Those then who fall away totally and finally, from the
faith or holiness of the gospel they sometimes seemed to have, are
such as never had true grace, 1 Johu ii. 19, forecited. This perse-
OF BENEFITS AT DEATH. 127
verance of the saints doth not arise from the nature of grace itself
implanted in them ; for of itself it would wither away and die out
if it were not fed : Isa. xxvii. 3, " I the Lord do keep it, I will wa-
ter it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day."
John xv. 5, 6, " I am the vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for with-
out me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth
as a branch, and is withered." But it ariseth from their insepar-
able union with Christ, the perpetual indwelling of his Spirit in
them, the continual intercession of Christ for them, and the nature
of the covenant of grace, aud decree of election : 1 Cor. i. 8, 9,
" Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye
were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
Compared with John xiv. 19, " Because I live ye shall live also."
And ver. 16, " I will pray the Father, and he shall give you ano-
ther Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." Compared
with chap. xvi. 15, " All things that the Father hath, are mine :
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto
you." Heb. vii. 25, " Wherefore he is able to save them to the
uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to
make intercession for them." Compared with Luke xxii. 32, " I
have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Jer. xxxii. 40,
forecited. 2 Tim. ii. 19, " The foundation of God standeth sure,
having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his." The ground
in law on which this privilege of perseverance is thus secured to
them, is that Christ the second Adam hath perfectly fulfilled the
condition of the covenant : Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of
faith : but the man that doth them, shall live in them." Compared
with Heb. x. 38, 39, " Now the just shall live by faith : but if any
man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are
not of them who draw back unto perdition : but of them that beli-
eve, to the saving of the soul." And Rom. x. 4, " For Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
Quest. 37, What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death ?
Answ. The souls of believers are at their death, made
perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory ;
and their bodies being still united to Christ, do rest in
their graves till the resurrection.
128
OF BENEFITS AT DEATIi.
EXPLICATION.
Death came into the world by sin : Rom. y. 12, " "Wherefore as by
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin : and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." They who, being
out of Christ, die in their sins, die in virtue of the curse of the bro-
ken law or covenant of works : Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Compared with
Eom. iii. 19, " Now we know that what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law : that every mouth may be
stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Chap.
vi. 23, " The wages of sin is death." Compared with 1 Cor. xv. 56,
" The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law."
And the state their souls are in, from death until the resurrection,
is, that being cast into hell, they remain there in torments and ut-
ter darkness: Luke xvi. 23, 24, "And in hell he [the rich man]
lifted up his eyes being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and
Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and said, Father Abraham,
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue ; for I am tormented in this
flame." Jude 6, 7, " And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. Even
as Soddora and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in like manner
giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh,
are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
The state their bodies are in, in the grave, is, that they are kept
there as in their prison, Jude 6, 7, forecited.
They that are effectually called into union and communion with
Christ, do not die in virtue of the curse of the broken law, or cove-
nant of works ; Rom. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are
become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that
we should bring forth fruit unto God." Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."
Compared with Rev. xiv. 13, "And I heard a voice from heaven,
saying unto me, "Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord
from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
their labours : and their works do follow them." And John viii.
51, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he
shall never see death." But they die in conformity to Christ their
head, that as death came in by sin, sin may go out by death.
Rom. viii. 29, " For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
OF BENEFITS AT DEATH. 129
to' be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-
born among many brethren." Compared with Col. i. 18, " And he
is the head of the body, the church : who is the beginning, the first-
born from the dead ; that in all things he might have the pre-
eminence." And 1 Cor. xv. 20, " Now is Christ risen from the
dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept ;" ver. 23, "But
every man in his own order : Christ the first fruits, afterward they
that are Christ's, at his coming." Rom. viii. 10, " And if Christ be
in you, the body is dead, because of sin ; but the Spirit is life, be-
cause of righteousness." Death then doth not stop the course of
their partaking of the benefits of Christ's purchase, but opens it
further.
Both the souls and bodies of believers, or them that are ef-
fectually called, justified, adopted, and sanctified in their life, do
receive or partake of more benefits of Christ's purchase, at their
death.
The benefits of Christ's purchase that their souls receive at death,
are, that then " they are made perfect in holiness, and do imme-
diately pass into glory." Heb. xii. 23, " Ye are come to the spirits
of just men made perfect." Luke xxiii. 43, " And Jesus said unto
him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in
paradise."
The begun work of saDctification in the souls of believers is per-
fected at death ; so that their souls are, upon their separation from
the body, made perfect in holiness, Heb. xii. 23, above cited.
Sanctification perfected in the souls of believers at death, is the
work of God's free grace, whereby they are wholly renewed in
every part, after the image of God, to the utter abolishing of the
remains of sin in them, and are enabled eternally to live unto
righteousness in perfection ; Rev. vii. 14, 15, " And he said to me,
These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and
night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall
dwell among them." 2 Cor. iv. 16, "Though our outward man
perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." Compared with
Heb. xii. 23, forecited. And Rev. vii. 15, above cited; compared
with 1 Cor. xiii. 8, 9, 10, " Charity never faileth : but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they
shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that
which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away." It is the same Spirit of Christ, who begins and carries on
\
130 OF BENEFITS AT DEATH.
their sanctification in life, that perfects their sanctification at death ;
Philip, i. 6, " Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in yon, will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ." Psalm cxxxviii. ult., " The Lord will perfect that
which concerneth me." The Spirit wholly renews the souls of be-
lievers in every part, after the image of God, to the utter abolishing
of the remains of sin in them, by communicating to them from Christ
their head, a fulness of grace for grace in Christ, to the perfecting
of his image on them ; Eph. iv. 13, " Till we all come in the unity of
the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
1 Cor. xv. 49, " As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly." Chap. xiii. 10, " When that
which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away." The Spirit enables them eternally to live unto righteous-
ness in perfection, eternally communicating to them, from Christ
their head, supplies of grace in full measure. Rev. vii. ult., " The
Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall
lead them unto living fountains of waters." Compared with John
xvi. 14, " He [the Spirit of truth] shall glorify me : for he shall re-
ceive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." 1 Cor. xiii. 10, above
cited. It appears, that there shall be such an eternal communica-
tions of supplies of grace, from Christ, to the saints, by the Spirit,
in that they continue for ever members of Christ ; and members can-
not act but by continued communication of influences from their
head ; John xiv. 16, 17, " And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever ;
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwell-
eth with you, and shall be in you." Chap. xv. 4, 5, " Abide in me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the
vine ye are the branches : He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can do nothing."
The glory that the souls of believers pass into at death, is, a glo-
rious state, a glorious place, and a glorious society. The glorious
state they pass into, is, a state of shining in the perfect purity of
the divine image : 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But we all with open face,
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image, from glory to glory, even a3 by the Spirit of the Lord."
Compared with Heb. xii. 23, " Ye are come to the spirits of just
men made perfect." The glorious place they pass into, is, the high-
est heavens : Phil. i. 23, " I am in a strait betwixt two, having
OF BENEFITS AT DEATH. 131
a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better."
Compared with Eph. iv. 10, " He that descended, is the same also
that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all
things." And they are carried into it by angels : Luke xvi. 22,
"And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the
angels into Abraham's bosom." The glory of that place they are
carried into, is, the glory of God and of the man Christ, shining in
it : Rev. xxi. 23, " And the city had no need of the sun, neither of
the moon to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and
the Lamb is the light thereof." But they are made perfect in holi-
ness, before they enter there, not after they are entered : Rev. xxi.
27, " And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defil-
eth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie : but
they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." The glorious
society they pass into, is, the society of God and Christ there, and
of the holy angels, and glorified saints : 2 Cor. v. 8, " We are con-
fident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to
be present with the Lord." Heb. xii. 22, 23, 24, " Ye are come
unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the gene-
ral assembly and church of the first-born which are written in hea-
ven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of
Abel." And this their passing into glory, is immediately after
death, Luke xvi. 22; chap, xxiii. 43, forecited. There is no middle
state then, between believers their dying in Christ, and their pass-
ing into glory, 2 Cor. v. 8; Phil. i. 23, forecited. Rev. xiv. 13,
" And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth : Tea, saith
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works
do follow them."
The benefit of Christ's purchase that the bodies of believers
receive at death, is, that being still united to Christ, they rest in
their graves till the resurrection. The grave is a place of rest to
the bodies of believers : and they rest in their graves, otherwise
than the wicked do in theirs, in that they rest in them, as in their
beds perfumed by Christ's lying in the grave : Isa. lvii. 2, " He
shall enttr into peace : they shall rest in their beds, each one walk-
ing in his uprightness." Compared with Rev. i. 17, 18, " And
when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead : and he laid his right
hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear net; I am the first and the
last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for
132 OF BENEFITS AT DEATH.
evermore. Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death." That
the grave is such a resting place to the bodies of believers, while it
is a prison to others, is from their being still united to Christ : Isa.
lvii. 2, above cited. Compared with 1 Thess. iv. 14, " If we believe
that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus, will God bring with him." The dissolving of their bodies
into smallest dust scattered here and there, doth not dissolve the
union between Christ and their bodies in that case, 1 Thess. iv. 14,
above cited : and that because the bond of their union with him, is
his infinite Spirit everywhere present: Rom. viii. 11, " If the Spirit
of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he
that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your
mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Compared with
Psalm cxxxix. 7, " Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither
shall I flee from thy presence ?" And they are to rest so in their
graves, till the resurrection : Job xix. 26, 27, " And though after
my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God :
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not
another ; though my reins be consumed within me."
The dead will rise again : Acts xxiv. 16, " There shall be a re-
surrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." John v. 28,
29, " The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation." And the resurrection of the dead will
be at the last day, when Christ comes again to judgment : 1 Thess.
iv. 15, 16, " For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall
not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall de-
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
aud with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
Some will be then found alive, as at this day : 1 Cor. xv. 51, " Be-
hold, I shew you a mystery : we shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed." And they shall not die and rise again ; but instead
of dying and rising again, they shall be changed, 1 Cor. xv. 51,
above cited. They that shall rise again, are, all the dead, small and
great, just and unjust, John v. 28, forecited. Rev. xx. 12, " And I
saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." Acts xxiv. 15,
forecited. The dead will be raised by the power of God : 1 Cor. vi.
14, " And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up
us by his own power." God will not make them new bodies, but
they shall rise agaiu with the self-same bodies that were laid in the
grave : 1 Cor. xv. 53, " This corruptible must put ou incorruptiou,
and this mortal must put on immortality." Job xix. 26, forecited.
OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION. 133
The possibility of such a resurrection of the dead appears, from the
omniscience and almighty power of God : Heb. iv. 13, " Neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in his sight : but all things
are Daked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
Rev. iv. 8, " And the four beasts had each of them six wings about
him, and they were full of eyes within ; and they rest not day and
night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, which was, and
is, and is to come." The concern that the omniscience of God hath
in the resurrection of the dead, is, to discern every one's dust from
another's, and from the common dust of the earth. And that is all
the odds, between the first forming of man's body, and the forming
it anew at the resurrection : for man's body was originally dust
lying here and there on the ground : Gen. ii. 7, " And the Lord
God formed man of the dust of the ground." Chap. iii. 19, " In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return." The concern that the almighty power of
God hath in it, is, to bring together all the dust of the same body,
form it again into a body, and reunite the soul thereto. The cer-
tainty of such a resurrection appears, from the truth and faithful-
ness of God, who has said it : John v. 28, 29, forecited. Dan. xii. 2
" And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt." The raising of the dead, and the changing of those then
alive, will be done in a moment, at the sound of the last trumpet :
1 Cor. xv. 52, " In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump, (for the trumpet shall sound); and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Compared with 1 Thess.
iv. 16, 17, " The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God :
and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which are alive and
remain, shall be caught up together with them iu the clouds to meet
the Lord iu the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And
the raised and the changed bodies will differ from what they were
before, during this life, in their qualities, though not in their sub-
stance, 1 Cor. xv. 52, 53, forecited.
Quest. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the
resurrection ?
Answ. At the resurrection, believers being raised up
in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in
the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the
full enjoying of God to all eternity.
134 OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION.
EXPLICATION.
Believers, or they that are effectually called, justified, adopted,
and sanctified in their life, shall receive or partake of the whole
benefits of Christ's purchase at the resurrection : And they shall
then receive the whole, by these degrees ; to wit, some in the resur-
rection itself, more in the judgment, and the completing benefit
after judgment.
The benefit of Christ's purchase they shall receive in the resur-
rection itself, is, that they shall be raised up in glory : 1 Cor. xv.
43, " It is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory." The way how
they will be raised, is, that Christ will raise them as his own mem-
bers, by his Spirit dwelling in them, even as one awaking draws his
limbs to him : Rom. viii. 11, " If the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead, dwell in you ; he that raised up Christ from
the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you." The likeness in which their bodies shall be fa-
shioned anew in the resurrection, is, the likeness of the glorious
body of the second Adam : 1 Cor. xv. 49, " As we have borne the
image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."
Compared with Philip, iii. 21, " Jesus Christ shall change our vile
bodv, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." They
will be raised incorruptible, glorious, strong, and spiritual bodies :
1 Cor. xv. 42, 43, 44, "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in in-
corruption : it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : it is sown
in weakness, it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, it is
raised a spiritual body."
But the wicked shall be raised in dishonour : and the way how
they will be raised, is by the power of Christ as an offended judge :
John v. 29, " And shall come forth, they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation." Matth. xxv. 33, " And the Son of
man shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Immediately after the resurrection will follow the general judg-
ment : Rev. xx. 13, " And the sea gave up the dead which were in
it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them :
and they were judged every man according to their works.
There will be a day of general judgment ; Acts xvii. 31, " God
hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in
righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he
hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead." The man Christ will be the Judge : Acts xvii. 31, above
cited; compared with Rom. xiv. 10, "We shall all stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ." And he will be seen with the bodily
eyes of all : Job. xix. 26, 27, " And though after ray skin, worms
OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION. 135
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; whom I shall
for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another ; though
my reins be consumed within me." Rev. i. 7, " Behold, he cometh
with clouds ; and every eye shall see bim, and they also which
pierced him." At his coming to judgment, the world will be going
on in their ordinary course and business of life ; Luke xvii. 26, 27,
28, 30, "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in
the days of the son of man. They did eat, they drank, they mar-
ried wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot,
they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they
builded ; even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is
revealed." Matth. xxiv. 40, 41, " Then shall two be in the field ;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be
grinding at the mill ; the one shall be taken, and the other left."
The parties that shall be judged, are, Men and devils ; 2 Cor. v. 10,
" "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." Jude 6,
" And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their
own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under dark-
ness, unto the judgment of the great day." The summons will be
given to the quick and the dead, by the sound of the last trumpet,
1 Tbess. iv. 16, 17, forecited. The effect of that will be, that the
dead shall be raised, and those that are alive changed, 1 Cor. xv.
52, forecited. They will be gathered from all airths, unto the
place of the judgment, by the ministry of angels; Mark xiii. 27,
" And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together
his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the
earth to the uttermost part of heaven." Matth. xiii. 40, 41, " As
therefore the tares are gathered, and burnt in the fire; so shall
it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth
his angels, and they shall gather ont of his kingdom all things
that offend, and them which do iniquity." The righteous will
meet the Lord Christ the Judge in the air, 1 Thess. iv. 17, fore-
cited. And he will seat himself for the judgment, on a glorious
throne : Matth. xxv. 31, " When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the
throne of his glory." The parties will be placed before him ; the
righteous on his right hand, in the air ; the wicked on his left,
upon the earth : Matth. xxv. 33, " And the Son of man shall set
the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." Com-
pared with 1 Thess. iv. 17, " We which are alive and remain, shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air." And Matth. xxiv. 40, " Then shall two be in the field :
136 OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION.
the one shall be taken, and the other left." What men mnst give
an account of then, is their thoughts, words and deeds done in the
body : 1 Cor. iv. 5, " Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and
will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." Matth. xii. 36, 37,
"But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy
words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be con-
demned." Eccl. xii. 14, " God shall briDg every work into judg-
ment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it
be evil. And judgment will be given on men, according to
their works, good or bad : Rev. xx. 12, " The dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works." 2 Cor. v. 10, " We must all ap-
pear before the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one may
receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done
whether it he good or bad." Ilowbeit the good works of the right-
eous will not be considered in the judgment, as the ground of their
right to heaven ; bnt as the evidences of it : Eph. ii. 8, 9, " By grace
are ye saved, through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift
of God : not of works, lest any man should boast." Rev. xxii.
14, " Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates
into the city." Compared with Mark iv. 25, " He that hath, to him
shall be given : and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even
that which he hath." And Matth. v. 45, " That ye may be the chil-
dren of your father which is in heaven." But the ill works of the
unrighteous will be considered in it, as the just grounds of their
damnation : Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the
law, are under the curse : for it is written, cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them." Compared with Matth. xxv. 41, " Then shall he
say also unto them on she left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Sentence
will be pronounced on the righteous first : Matth. xxv. 33, 34, " And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the king say unto them on the right hand, come, ye bles-
sed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world."
The benefit of Christ's purchase they shall receive in the judg-
ment, is, that they shall be opeuly acknowledged and acquitted.
They will be acknowledged and acquitted by Jesus Christ the judge :
Matth. x. 32, " Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,
OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION. 137
him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven."
Chap. xxv. 34, above cited. He will acknowledge them to be his
faithful servants, and the persons whose names are written in his
book of life, for whom he died : Matth. xxv. 23, " His Lord said
unto him, well done, good and faithful servant ; thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Rev. xx. 12, " And another
book was opened, which is the book of life." Compared with Chap,
iii. 5, " He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white rai-
ment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but
I will confess his name before my father, and before his angels."
And he will acquit them from the guilt of all their sins : Acts iii.
19, " Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the pre-
sence of the Lord." They are really so acknowledged and acquit-
ted by him already : John xvii. 9, 10, " I pray for them : I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am
glorified in them." Rom. viii. 33, 34, " "Who shall lay any thing to
the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth : who is he that
condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us." But they will be acknowledged and acquitted by him, in
that day, openly ; namely, before his father, angels and men : and
he will do it, by a sentence pronounced and published, with his own
mouth, from the throne : Rev. iii. 5, forecited. Matth. xxv. 31, 32,
" "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.
And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats." Yer, 34, The sentence will be, " Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world," Matth. xxv. 34. The ground on which they will be
openly acquitted in the day of judgment, will be the very same on
which they are acquitted now, to wit, the righteousness of Christ
upon them : Philip, iii. 9, " And be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."
Rom. v. 21, " That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might
grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ
our Lord." Chap. vi. 22, 23, " But now being made free from sin,
and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and
the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death : but the
Vol. VII. i
138 OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION.
gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." He
will so acknowledge and acquit them openly, to wipe off the asper-
sions now cast on them by the men of the world : Isa. lxvi. 5,
" Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word, your bre-
thren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said,
let the Lord be glorified : but he shall appear to your joy, and they
shall be ashamed." The honour to be put upon them, immediately
after that acknowledgment and acquittance, is, that they shall join
with Christ, as assessors, in judging devils and wicked men : 1 Cor.
vi. 2, 3, " Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world ? —
know ye not that we shall judge angels ?" Psal. xlix. 15, " The
upright shall have dominion over them in the morning." And
cxlix. 6, 7, 8, 9, " Let the high praises of God be in their mouth
and a two-edged sword in their hand ; to execute vengeance upon
the heathen, and punishments upon the people ; to bind their kings
with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron ; to execute upon
them the judgment written : this honour have all his saints."
It will be the lot of the wicked in the judgment, to be openly dis-
owned and condemned by Jesus Christ. And that will be done, by
sentence pronounced and published with his mouth, from the throne :
Matth. vii. 23, " And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Chap. xxv. 41.
That sentence will be, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matth. xxv. 41. The
grouuds on which they will be condemned, are, their sins and un-
godliness in their hearts, lips, and lives : Rom. ii. 16, " In the day
when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according
to my gospel." Jude 14, 15, " Behold, the Lord cometh, with ten
thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to con-
vince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds
which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches,
which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." The evidence on
which their condemnation shall proceed, will be, clear evidence, and
full conviction of their own consciences : Rom. ii. 15, " Which shew
the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also
bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else
excusing one another." Ver. 16 ; Jude 14, 15, above cited.
The particular place and time of the general judgment are not
known to men : Luke xvii. 37, " And they answered and said unto
him, Where, Lord ? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body
is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." 1 Thess. v. 1, 2,
" But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I
write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the
OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION. 139
Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." The time of it is kept se-
cret, that men may watch, and be always ready : Matth. xxiv. 42 ,
«' "Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth
come." Ver. 44, " Therefore be ye also ready : for in such an hour
as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."
Immediately after the judgment, follows the full execution of the
sentences, and the end of the world by the general conflagation :
Matth. xxv. ult., " And these shall go away into everlasting punish-
ment, but the righteous into life eternal." 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, " Then
cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to
God even the Father ; when he shall have put down all rule, and
all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all
enemies under his feet." Compared with 2 Pet. iii. 10, " The day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night : in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat ; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall
be burnt up." But God will make new heavens and a new earth :
2 Pet. iii. 13, " Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for
new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
The party that shall go off first from the place of the judgment, is,
the damned, the saints seeing all their enemies turn their backs,
Matth. xxv. ult. forecited. The fearful sentence will he put in exe-
cution against them, in their being cast out from the favourable pre-
sence of God, and the glorious fellowship of Christ, his saints and
angels, into hell : Rev. xx. ult. " And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." Com-
pared with Matth. xxv. 41, " Then shall he say also unto them on
the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre-
pared for the devil and his angels." And Luke xvi. 26, " And be-
sides all this, between us and you there is a great gulph fixed : so
that they which would pass from hence to you cannot ; neither can
they pass to us that would come from thence." And they will be
punished there with unspeakable torments both of body and soul :
2 Thess. i. 7 — 9, " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,
with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ : who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." These
their torments will never have an end : Mark ix. 43, 44, " If thy
hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life
maimed, than having two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that
never shall be quenched : where their worm dieth not, and the
fire is not quenched." Rev. xx. 10, " And the devil that de-
i2
140 OP BENEFITS AT THE RESUKRECTIOIT.
ceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are ; and shall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever." And in that their miserable state, for
eternity, they will have the society of the devil and his angels,
Matth. xxv. 41, forecited.
The completing benefit of Christ's purchase believers shall receive
after the judgment, is, that they shall be made perfectly blessed, in
full enjoying of God to all eternity. They will go away with
Christ, after the judgment, into heaven, the seat of the blessed :
1 Thess. iv. 17, " Then we which are alive and remain, shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Matth. xxv. ult.,
" The righteous shall go away into life eternal." Psal. xlv. 15,
" With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought : they shall
enter into the king's palace." And they will be there, in a state of
perfect blessedness, or complete happiness, both in soul and body :
Matth. xiii. 43, " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in
the kingdom of their Father." They will be made perfectly blessed,
or completely happy in their being for ever freed from all sin and
misery, want and imperfection, and filled to the brim with all their
souls can desire : Eph. v. 25 — 27, " Christ loved the church, and
gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but
that it should be holy, and without blemish." Rev. xxi. 4, " And
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be
any more pain : for the former things are passed away." Ver. 7,
" He that overcometh, shall inherit all things ; and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son." Chap. vii. 16, 17, " They shall hun-
ger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on
them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the
throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of
waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
"What shall make them perfectly blessed, or completely happy, is,
full enjoying of God to all eternity : Psal. xvi. ult. " In thy pre-
sence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for
evermore." And xvii. ult., " As for me, I will behold thy face in
righteousness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness."
Rev. xxi. 7, above cited. They will enjoy God in heaven, by sight
of the divine glory, to the complete satisfying of their understand-
ing; and by experience of the divine goodness, to the complete sa-
tisfying of their will : Matth. v. 8, " Blessed are the pure in heart :
OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION". 141
for they shall see God." Compared with Psalm xvii. ult., above
cited. Rev. vii. 16, 17, forecited. The sight they will have of the
divine glory, is, a full and clear knowledge of God, as by seeing face
to face : Exod. xxxiii. 18, " And Moses said, I beseech thee, shew me
thy glory." Yer. 20, " And he said, thou canst not see my face : for
there shall no man see me, and live." Compared with Rev. xxii. 4,
" And they shall see his face." And 1 Cor. xiii. 12, " Now we see
through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face : now I know in
part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." The ex-
perience they will have of the divine goodness, is an unrestrained
partaking of the all-fulness thereof: Psalm xxxvi. 8, 9, "They
shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house : and
thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For
with thee is the fountain of life : in thy light shall we see light."
Rev. xxi. 3, " And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, be-
hold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God."
The creature's understanding and experience can never, in any
case, reach all the glory and goodness that is in God ; because it is
infinite : Job. xi. 7, " Canst thou by searching find out God, canst
thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" But the glorified
saints will enjoy him fully, enjoying him to the utmost of their
enlarged capacities, Psal. xvi. ult. and xxxvi. 8, forecited. And
they will enjoy him immediately : 1 John iii. 2, " Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and 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." Not that they will ever enjoy him,
otherwise than through the mediator Christ their Head : John xvii.
2, 3, " As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Rev. vii. ult., " The Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead
them unto living fountains of waters." Chap. xxi. 23, " And the
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it : for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."
But they will enjoy him without the intervention of outward means,
1 Cor. xiii. 12, forecited. And that their full and immediate enjoy-
ment of God will last to all eternity : 1 Thess. iv. 17, " And so
shall we ever be with the Lord." Psal. xvi. ult., forecited.
The end for which the saints shall be made completely happy, in
full enjoying of God, is God's glory : Prov. xvi. 4, " The Lord hath
142 OF BENEFITS AT THE RESURRECTION.
made all things for himself." Rom. xi. ult. "For of him, and
through him, and to him are all things : to whom be glory for ever.
Amen." And they being made perfectly blessed, or completely
happy, in full enjoying of God to all eternity, will answer that end,
in glorifying God, by loving, praising, and serving him, perfectly, to
all eternity : Psalm lxxxvi. 12, 13, " I will praise thee, Lord my
God, with all my heart : and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
For great is thy mercy toward me : and thou hast delivered my
soul from the lowest hell." Rev. vii. 9, 10, " After this I beheld,
and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms
in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to
our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Yer.
15, " Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him
day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them." Chap, xxiii. 3, "And there shall be no
more curse : but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ;
and his servants shall serve him."
MARROW
MODERN DIYINITY
THE FIRST PART.
TOUCHING BOTH THE COVENANT OF
WORKS AND THE COVENANT OF GRACE : WITH THEIR
USE AND END, BOTH IN THE TIME OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND IN THE
TIME OF THE NEW. CLEARLY DESCRIBING THE WAY TO
ETERNAL LIFE BY JESDS CHRISTs
A DIALOGUE
BETWIXT
EVANGELISTA, a minister of j ANTINOMISTA, an antinomian.
THE GOSPEL. AND AND
NOMISTA, A LEGALIST. j NEOPHITUS, A YOUNG CHRISTIAN.
BY
EDWARD FISHER, M.A.
WITH NOTES,
BY
THE LATE REV. THOMAS BOSTON.
MR. CARYL'S RECOMMENDATION AND IMPRIMATUR.
I hate perused this ensuing Dialogue, and find it tending to peace
and holiness ; the author endeavouring to reconcile and heal those
unhappy differences, which have lately broken out afresh amongst
us, about the points therein handled and cleared : for which cause
I allow it to be printed, and recommend it to the reader, as a dis-
course stored with many necessary and seasonable truths, confirmed
by Scripture, and avowed by many approved writers ; all composed
in a familiar, plain, moderate style, without bitterness against, or
uncomely reflections upon, others : which flies have lately corrupted
many boxes of (otherwise precious) ointment.
Jos. Caryl.
May 1, 1645.
The marrow of the second bone is like that of the first, sweet and
good. The commandments of God are marrow to the saints, as
well as the promises ; and they shall never taste the marrow of the
promise who distaste the commandments. This little treatise break-
eth the bone, the hard part of commandments by a plain exposition,
that so all, even babes in Christ, yea, such as are yet out of Christ,
may suck out and feed upon the marrow by profitable meditation.
Jos. Caryl.
Sept. 6, 1648.
PREFACE.
"Whosoever thou art into whose hands this book shall come, I pre-
sume to put thee in mind of the divine commaad, binding on thy
conscience, Deut. i. 17, " Ye shall not respect persons in judgment,
but vou shall hear the small as well as the great." Reject not the
book with contempt, nor with indignation neither, when thou find-
est it entitled, " The Marrow of Modern Divinity," lest thou do it
to thine own hurt. Remember that our blessed Lord himself was
accounted " a friend of publicans and sinners," Matth. xi. 19,
" Many said of him, he hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye him?"
John x. 20, the apostle Paul was slanderously reported to be an
Antinomian ; one who, by his doctrine, encouraged men to do evil,
and, "made void the law," Rom. iii. 8, 31. And the first martyr
in the days of the gospel, was stoned for pretended " blasphemous
words against Moses, and against the law," Acts vi. 11, 13.
The gospel method of sanctification, as well as of justification,
lies so far out of the ken of natural reason, that if all the rational-
ists in the world, philosophers and divines, had consulted together
to lay down a plan, for repairing the lost image of God in man,
they had never hit upon that which the divine wisdom had pitched
upon, viz., That sinners should be sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor.
i. 2, by faith in him, Acts xxvi. 18. Nay, being laid before them,
they would have rejected it with disdain as foolishness, 1 Cor. i. 23.
In all views which fallen man has, towards the means of his
own recovery, the natural bent is to the way of the covenant of
works. This is evident in the case of the vast multitudes through-
out the world embracing Judaism, Paganism, Mahometanism, and
Popery. All these agree in this one principle, " That it is by doing
men must live," though they hugely differ as to the things to be
done for life.
The Jews, in the time of Julian the Apostate, attempted to re-
PKEFACE. 147
build their temple, after it had lain many years in ruins, by the
decree of heaven never to be built again : and ceased not, till, by
an earthquake which shook the old foundation, and turned all
down to the ground, they were forced to forbear, as Socrates the
historian tells us. But the Jews were never more addicted to
that temple, than mankind naturally is to the buildiug on the first
covenant ; and Adam's children will by no means quit it, until
mount Sinai, where they desire to work what they do work, be all
on a fire about them. that those, who have been frightened from
it, were not so ready to go back towards it !
Howbeit, that can never be the channel of sauctification, what-
soever way men prepare it, and fit it out for that purpose ; because
it is not, by divine appointment, the ministration of righteousness
and life, 2 Cor. iii.
And hence it is always to be observed, that as the doctrine of the
gospel is corrupted, to introduce a more rational sort of religion, the
flood of looseness and licentiousness swells proportionably ; inso-
much that morality brought in for doctrine, in room and stead of
the gospel of the grace of God, never fails to be, in effect, a signal
for an inundation of immorality and practice. A plain instance
hereof is to be seen in the grand apostacy from the truth and holi-
ness of the gospel, as exemplified in Popery. And on the other
hand, real and thorough reformation in churches is always the effect
of gospel light, breaking forth again, from under the cloud which
had gone over it ; and hereof the Church of Scotland, among others,
has oftener than once had comfortable experience.
The real friends of true holiness then do exceedingly mistake their
measures, in affording a handle, on any occasion whatsoever, for ad-
vancing the principles of legalism, for bringing under contempt the
good old way, in which our fathers found rest to their souls, and for
removing the ancient landmarks which they set.
It is now above fourscore years since this book made its first ap-
pearance into the world, under the title of " The Marrow of Modern
Divinity," at that time, not unfitly prefixed to it: but it is too evident,
it has outlived the fitness of that title. The truth is, the divinity
therein taught is now no longer the modern, but the ancient divinity
148 PREFACE.
as it was recovered from underneath the Antichristian darkness;
and as it stood before the tools of the late refiners on the Protes-
tant doctrine were lifted up upon it; a doctrine which, being from
God, must needs be according to godliness.
It was to contribute towards the preserving of this doctrine, and
the withstanding of its being run down, under the odious name of
Antinomianism, in the disadvantageous situation it has in this
book, whose undeserved lot it is to be everywhere spoken against,
that the following notes were written.
And herein two things chiefly have had weight. One is, lest that
doctrine, being put into such an ill name, should become the object
of the settled aversion of sober persons, and they be thereby be-
trayed into legalism. The other is, lest in these days of God's in-
dignation, so much appearing in spiritual judgments, some taking
up the principles of it, from the hand of this author and ancient
divines, for truths : should take the sense, scope, and design of
them, from (now) common fame : and so be betrayed unto real An-
tinomianism.
Reader, lay aside prejudices, look and see with thine own eyes,
call things by their own names, and do not reckon Anti-Baxterian-
ism, or Anti-Neonomianism to be Antinomianism ; and thou shalt
find no Antinomianism taught here ; but thou wilt be perhaps sur-
prised to find that that tale is told of Luther, and other famous Pro-
testant divines, under the borrowed name of the despised Mr. Fisher
author of the " Marrow of Modern Divinity."
In the notes, obsolete or ambiguous words, phrases, and things
are explained; truth cleared, confirmed, and vindicated; the anno-
tator making no scruple of declaring his dissent from the author,
where he he saw just ground for it.
I make no question but he will be thought by some to have con-
structed too favourably of several passages : but as it is nothing
strange that he incline to the charitable side, the book having been
many years ago blessed of God to his own soul : so, if he has erred on
that side, it is the safest of the two, for thee and me, judging of the
words of another man, whose intentions, I believe, with Mr. Bur-
roughs, to have been " very sincere for God, and the readers good."
PREFACE. 149
However, I am satisfied he has dealt candidly in that matter, accord-
ing to his light.
Be advised always to read over a lesser section of the book,
before reading any of the notes thereupon, that you may have the
more clear understanding of the whole.
I conclude this preface, in the words of two eminent professors
of theology, deserving our serious regard : —
" I dread mightily that a rational sort of religion is coming
in among us ; I mean by it, a religion that consists in a bare atten-
dance on outward duties and ordinances, without the power of
godliness ; and thence people shall fall into a way of serving God,
which is mere deism, having no relation to Jesus Christ and the
Spirit of God." — Memoirs of Mr. Halyburton's life, p. 199.
" I warn each one of you, and especially such as are to be directors
of the conscience, that you exercise yourselves in study, read-
ing, meditation and prayer, so as you may be able to instruct and
comfort both your own and others consciences in the time of
temptation, and to bring them back from the law to grace, from
the active (or working) righteousness, to the passive (or received)
righteousness ; in a word, from Moses to Christ." — Luth. comment.
in epist. ad Gal. p. 27.
ADVERTISEMENT.
"Whereas it has been handed about, and by some published, to
diminish the credit of the ensuing book, That the author, Edward
Fisher, was a poor illiterate barber, without any authority to vouch
it ; it is thought proper to prefix the following account of him, from
"Wood's Athence Oxoniensis, "Vol. II. page 198.
" Edward Fisher, the eldest son of a knight, became a gentleman-
commoner of Brasen-nose College, Aug. 25, 1627; took = on his
degree in arts, and soon after left that house. Afterwards, being
called home by his relations, who were then, as I have been in-
formed, much in debt; he improved that learning, which he had
obtained in the university, so much, that he became a noted person
among the learned, for his great reading in ecclesiastical history,
and in the fathers, and for his admirable skill in the Greek and
Ilebrew languages. His works are,
I. " An appeal to the conscience, as thou wilt answer it at the
great and dreadful day of Jesus Christ." Oxford, 1644. Quarto.
II. " The marrow of modern divinity." 1646. Octavo.
III. " A Christian caveat to old and new Sabbatarians." 1650.
IV. " An answer to sixteen queries, touching the rise and obser-
vation of Christmas."
RECOMMENDATIONS.
If thou wilt please to peruse this little boot, thou shalt find
great worth in it. There is a line of a gracious spirit drawn
through it, which has fastened many precious truths together, and
presented them to thy view : according to the variety of men's spi-
rits, the various ways of presenting known truths are profitable.
The grace of God has helped this author in making his work ; if
it in like manner help thee in reading, thou shalt have cause to
bless God for these truths thus brought to thee, and for the labours
of this good man, whose ends, I believe, are very sincere for God
and thy good.
Jer. Burroughs.
Occasionally lighting upon this Dialogue, under the approbation of
a learned and judicious divine ; I was thereby induced to read it,
and afterwards, on a serious consideration of the usefulness of it, to
commend it to the people in my public ministry.
Two things in it especially took with me : First, The matter, the
main substance being distinctly to discover the nature of the two
covenants, upon which all the mysteries, both of the law and gos-
pel, depend. To seethe first Adam to be primus fcederatus in the
one, and the second Adam in the other ; to distinguish rightly
betwixt the law standing alone as a covenant, and standing in sub-
ordination to the gospel as a servant; this I assure myself to be the
key which opens the hidden treasure of the gospel. As soon as
God had given Luther but a glimpse hereof, he professes that he
seemed to be brought into paradise again; and the whole face
152 KECCOMMENDATIONS.
of the Scripture to be changed to him ; and he looked npon every
truth with another eye. \
Secondly, The manner ; because it is an irenicum, and tends to an
accommodation and a right understanding. Times of reformation
have always been times of division : Satan will cast out a flood
after the woman, as knowing that more die by the disagreement of
the humours of their own bodies, than by the sword; and that,
if men be once engaged, they will contend, if not for truth, yet for
victory.
Now, if the difference be in things of lesser consequence, the best
way to quench it were silence. But if the difference be of greater
concernment than this is, the best way to decide it, is to bring in
more light; which this author has done, with much evidence of
Scripture, backed with the authority of most modern divines. So
that whoever desires to have his judgment cleared, in the main
controversy between us and the Antinomians, with a small ex-
pense, either of money or time, he may here receive ample satisfac-
tion. This I testify upon request, professing myself a friend both
to truth and peace.
W. Stbong.
This book, at first well accommodated with so valuable a testimony
as Mr. Caryl's ; besides its better approving itself to the choicer
spirits every where, by the speedy distribution of the whole impres-
sion ; it might seem a needless or superfluous thing to add any more
to the praise thereof; yet meeting with detracting language from
some few, by reason of some phrases, by them either not duly pon-
dered, or not rightly understood, it is thought meet, in this second
impression, to relieve that worthy testimony, which still stands to
it, with fresh supplies; not for any need the truth therein contained
hath thereof, but because either the prejudice or darkness of some
men's judgments doth require it : T therefore, having thoroughly
perused it, cannot but testify, that, if I have any the least judgment
liECOMMENDATIONS. 153
or relish of truth, " he that finds this book, finds a good thing," and
not unworthy of its title ; and may account the saints to have ob-
tained favour with the Lord in the ministration of it ; as that which
with great plainness and evidence of truth, comprises the chief
(if not all) the differences that have been lately engendered about
the law. It has, I must confess, not only fortified my judgment,
but also warmed my heart, in the reading of it ; as indeed incul-
cating throughout the whole dialogue, the clear and familiar no-
tion of those things by which we live, (as Ezek. xvi. speaks in
another case) ; and it appeareth to me to be written from much
experimental knowledge of Christ, and teaching of the Spirit.
Let all men, that taste the fruit of it, confess, to the glory of God,
" He is no respecter of persons ;" and endeavour to know " no man
henceforth after the flesh," nor envy the compiler thereof the
honour to be accounted, as God has made him in this point, a
healer of breaches, and a restorer of the overgrown paths of the
gospel. As for my own part, I am so satisfied in this testimony I
lend, that I reckon whatever credit is thus pawned, will be a glory
to the name that stands by, and avows this truth, so long as the
book shall endure to record it.
Joshua Sprigge.
I have, according to your desire, read over your book, and find it
full of evangelical light and life ; and I doubt not but the oftener
I read it, the more true comfort I shall find in the knowledge of
Christ thereby : the matter is pure, the method is apostolical, where-
in the works of love, in the right place, after the life of faith, be
effectually required. God hath endowed his Fisher with the net of a
trying understanding, and discerning judgment and discretion;
whereby, out of the crystaline streams of the well of life, you have
taken a mess of the sweetest and wholesomest fish that the world
can afford ; which if I could daily have enough of, I should not
care for the flesh or the works thereof.
Samuel Puettie.
Vol. VII. k
154 KECOMMENDATIONS.
This book came to my hand by a merciful and most unexpected
disposure of providence, and 1 read it with great and sweet com-
placence. It contains a great deal of the marrow of revealed and
gospel truth, selected from authors of great note, clearly en-
lightened, and of most digested experience ; and some of them were
honoured to do eminent and heroical services in their day. Thus
the Christian reader has the flower of their labours communicated
to him very briefly, yet clearly and powerfully. And the manner
of conveyance, being by way of amicable conference, is not only
fitted to afford delight to the judicious reader, but lays him also at
the advantage of trying, through grace, his own heart the more
exactly, according to what echo it gives, or how it relishes, or is
displeased with the several speeches of the communers. Here we
have the greatest depths, and most painted delusions of hell, in
opposition to the only way of salvation, discovered with marvellous
brevity and evidence, and that by the concurring suffrages of burn-
ing lights, men of the clearest experience, and honoured of Grod to
do eminent service in their day, for advancing the interests of our
Lord's kingdom and gospel.
The relucence of gospel light has beeu the choice mean blessed by
the Lord, for the effecting of great things, in the several periods of
the Church, since that light brake up in paradise, after our first sin
and fall ; and ever since, the balance has swayed, and will sway,
according to the better or worse state of matters in that important
regard. When gospel-light is clear, and attended with power,
Satan's kingdom cannot stand before it ; the prince and powers of
darkness must fall as lightning from heaven. And upon the con-
'trary, according to the recessions from thence, Christian churches
went off, by degrees, from the only foundation, even from the rock
Christ, until the man of sin, the great Atichrist, did mount the
throne. Nevertheless, while the world is wandering after the beast,
behold ! evangelical light breaks forth in the midst of papal dark-
ness, and hereupon antichrist's throne shakes, and is at the point
of falling ; yet his wounds are cured, and he recovers new strength
RECOMMENDATIONS. 155
and spirits, through a darkening of the glorious gospel, and perver-
sion thereof, by anti-evangelical errors and heresies.
That the tares of such errors are sown in the reformed churches,
and by men who profess reformed faith, is beyond debate ; and
these, who lay to heart the purity of gospel doctrine. Such dregs
of Antichristianism do yet remain, or are brought in amongst us.
Herein the words of the apostle are verified, viz. " Of your own
selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away dis-
ciples after them :" and as this renders the essays for a further
diffusion of evangelical light the more necessary and seasonable, so
there is ground to hope, that in these ways the churches of Christ
will gradually get the ascendant over their enemies, until the great
Antichrist shall fall, as a trophy before a gospel-dispensation. For
the Lord will " destroy him by the breath of his month, and with
the brightness of his coming." That this excellent and spiritual
piece may be blessed to the reader, is the prayer of their sincere
well-wisher and servant in the work of the gospel,
James Hog.
Carnock, December 3, 17J7.
The Act about the " Marrow" occasioned great thoughts of heart
among us. I have been acquainted with that book about 18 or 19
years, and many times have admired the gracious conduct of holy
Providence which brought it to my hand, having occasionally
lighted upon it in a house of the parish Avhere I was first settled.
As to any distinct uptakings of the doctrine of the gospel I have,
such as they are, I owe them to that book. — Extract of a Letter
from Mr. Boston to Mr. Hog.
I nevek read the " Marrow" with Mr. Boston's Notes, till this
present time (1755) ; and I find, by not having read it, I have sus-
tained a considerable loss. It is a most valuable book ; the doc-
trines it contains are the life of my soul, and the joy of my heart.
Might my tongue or my pen be made instrumental to recom-
mend and illustrate, to support and propagate such precious
k2
156 RECOMMENDATIONS.
truths, I should bless the day wherein I was born. Mr. Boston's
Notes on the " Marrow" are, in my opinion, some of the most,
judicious and valuable that ever were penned. — Extract of a Letter
from Mr. Hervey to Mr. William Hogg.
I have frequently perused, with great satisfaction, the " Marrow
of Modern Divinity," first and second parts ; and, as far as I can
judge, it will be found, by those that read it, very useful for illus-
trating the difference between the law and the gospel, and prevent-
ing them from splitting, either on the rock of legality on the one
hand, or that of Antinomianism on the other; and, accordingly,
recommend it (by desire) as a book filled with precious, seasonable,
and necessary truth, clearly founded upon the sacred oracles.
John Belfrage.
Falkirk, December 9, 1788.
HON. COLONEL JOHN DOWNES,
One of the Members of the Honourable House of Commons, fyc. t E, B .
wishes the true knowledge of God in Jesus Christ.
Most Honourable Sir,
Although I do observe, that new editions, accompanied
with new additions, are sometimes published with new dedications ;
yet so long as he who formerly owned the subject doth yet live,
and hath the same affections towards it, I conceive there is no need
of a new patron, but of a new epistle.
Be pleased then, most honoured Sir, to give me leave to tell you,
that your eminency of place did somewhat induce me, both now and
before, to make choice of you for its patron ; but your endowments
with grace did invite me to it, God having bestowed upon you
special spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ : for it has
been declared unto me by them that knew you, when you was but a
youth, how Christ met with you then ; and, by sending his Spirit
into your heart, first convinced you of sin ; as was manifest by
those conflicts, which your soul then had, both with Satan and itself,
whilst you did not believe in Christ ; secondly, of righteousness, as
was manifest by the peace and comfort which you afterwards had,
by believing that Christ was gone to the Father, and appeared in
his presence as your advocate and surety that had undertaken for
you ; thirdly, of judgment, as has been manifest ever since, in that
you have been careful with the true godly man, (Psalm cxii. 5.) to
" guide your affairs with judgment," in walking according to the
mind of Christ.
I have not forgotten what desires you have expressed to know the
true difference between the covenant of works and the covenant of
grace ; and experimentally to be acquainted with the doctrine of
free grace, the mysteries of Christ, and the life of faith. Witness
158 DEDICATION.
not only your high approving of some heads of a sermon, which I
once heard a godly minister preach, and repeated in your hearing,
of the life of faith ; but also your earnest request to me to write
them out fair, and send them to you into the country ; yea, witness
your highly approving of this dialogue, when I first acquainted you
with the contents thereof, encouraging me to expidite it to the press,
and your kind acceptance, together with your cordial thanks for my
love manifested in dedicating it to your honoured name.
Sith then, worthy sir, it has pleased the Lord to enable me both
to amend and enlarge it, I hope your affection will also be enlarged
towards the matter therein contained, considering that it tends to
the clearing of those foreuamed truths, and, through the blessing of
God, may be a means to root them more deeply in your heart. And
truly, sir, I am confident, the more they grow and flourish in any
man's heart, the more will all heart-corruptions wither and decay.
sir, if the truths contained in this dialogue were but as much in
my heart, as they are in my head, I were a happy man ; for then
should I be more free from pride, vain glory, wrath, anger, self-love,
and love of the world, than I am ; and then should I have more
humility, meekness, and love, both to God and man, than I have.
Oh ! then, should I be content with Christ alone, and live above all
things in the world ; — then should I experimentally know both how
to abound and how to want ; — and then should I be fit for any con-
dition ; nothing could come amiss unto me. that the Lord would
be pleased to write them in our hearts by his blessed Spirit !
Most humbly beseeching you still to pardon my boldness, and
vouchsafe to take it into your patronage and protection, I humbly
take my leave of you, and remain, your obliged servant, to be com-
mended,
Edward Fisher.
To all such Humble-hearted Readers as see any need either to knoiv
themselves, or God in Christ.
V
Loving Christians,
Consider, I pray yon, that as the first Adam did, as a
common person, enter into covenant with God for all mankind, and
Drake it, whereby they became sinful and guilty of everlasting death
and damnation ; even so Jesus Christ the second Adam, did, as a com-
mon person, enter into covenant with God his Father, for all the
elect, a that is to say, all those that have, or shall believe on his
name, b and for them kept it, c whereby they become righteous, and
heirs of everlasting life and salvation : d and therefore it is our
greatest wisdom, and ought to be our greatest care and endeavour,
to come out c and from the first Adam, unto and into the second
Adam :/ that so we " may have life through his name," John xx. 31.
And yet alas ! there is no point in all practical divinity that we
are naturally so much averse and backward to as unto this ; neither
does Satan strive to hinder us so much from doing any thing else as
this : and hence it is, that we are all of us naturally apt to abide
and continue in that sinful and miserable state that the first Adam
plunged us into, without either taking any notice of it, or being at all
a " The covenant (viz. of works) being made with Adam, not only for himself but
for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in
him, and fell with him in his first transgression." — Shorter Catechism, quest. 16,
*' The covenant of grace was made with Christ, as the second Adam, and in him, with
all the elect, as his seed." — Larger Cat. quest. 31.
b See chap. 2. sect. 3. note 7.
c Namely, by doing and dying for them, viz. the elect.
d Thus the impetration or purchase of redemption, and the application of it, aie
taught to be of the same extent; even as Adam's representation, and the ruins by his
fall are : the former extending to the elect, as the latter unto all mankind.
e Of.
/Uniting with Christ by fuith.
160 TO THE READER.
affected with it, so far are we from coming out of it. And if the Lord
be pleased by any means to open our eyes to see our misery, and we do
thereupon begin to step out of it, yet, alas ! we are prone rather to
go backwards towards the first Adam's pure state g, in striving and
struggling to leave sin, and perform duties, and do good works ;
hoping thereby to make ourselves so righteous and holy, that God
will let us into paradise again, to eat of the tree of life, and live for
ever: and this we do, until we see the "flaming sword at Eden's
gate turning every way to keep the way of the tree of life," ft Gen.
iii. 24. It is not ordinary, when the Lord convinceth a man of his
sin (either by means of his word or his rod) to cry after this man-
ner : I am a sinful man ! for I have lived a very wicked life, and
therefore surely the Lord is angry with me, and will damn me in
hell ! what shall I do to save my soul ? And is there not at hand
some ignorant, miserable comforter, ready to say, Yet do not de-
spair, man, but repent of thy sins, and ask God's forgiveness, and
reform your life, and doubt not but he will be merciful unto you; i
c/ That is, to the way of the covenant of works, which innocent Adam was set upon.
h That is, till we lie brought to despair of obtaining salvation in the way of the co-
venant of works. Mark here the spring of legalism, namely, the natural bias of man's
heart towards the way of the law, as a covenant of works, and ignorance of the law,
in its spirituality and vast extent. Rom. vii. 9; x. 2, 3.
i There is not one vvoid of Jesus Christ the glorious Mediator, nor of faith in his
blood, in all the advice given by this causist to the afflicted ; and agreeable thereto is
the effect it has upon the afflicted, who takes comfort to himself without looking unto
the Lord Jesus Christ at all, as appears from the next paragraph.
Behold the Scripture pattern in such a case : Acts ii. 37, 38, " Men and brethren,
what shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." Chap. yvi. 30, 31,
" Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved." And thus the Directory, title " Concerning visitation of the
sick." " If it appear that he hath not a due sense of his sins, endeavours ought
to be used to convince him of his sins — to make known the danger of deferring re-
pentance, and of salvation at any time offered, to awaken the conscience, and to
rouse him out of a stupid and secure condition, to apprehend the justice and wrath of
God" — (here this miserable comforter finds the afflicted, and should have taught him
concerning an offended God, as there immediately follows) — " before whom none can
stand but he that, being lost in himself, layeth hold upon Christ by faith."
TO THE READER. 161
for he has promised you know, " that at time soever a sinner re-
penteth him of his sins, he will forgive him." j
And does he not hereupon comfort himself, and say in his heart
at least, ! if the Lord will but spare my life, and lengthen out
my days, I will become a new man ! I am very sorry that I have
lived such a sinful life ; but I will never do as I havs done for all
the world ! ! you shall see a great change in me ! believe it.
And hereupon he betakes himself to a new course of life ; and, it
may be, becomes a zealous professor of religion, performing all
Christian exercises, both public and private, and leaves off his old
companions, and keeps company with religious men ; and so, it may
be, goes on till his dying day, and thinks himself sure of heaven
and eternal happiness ; and yet. it may be, all this while is igno-
rant of Christ and his righteousness, and therefore established his
own.
"Where is the man, or where is the woman that is truly come to
Christ, that has not had some experience in themselves of such a
disposition as this ? If there be any that have reformed their lives,
and are become professors of religion, and have not taken notice of
this in themselves more, or less, I wish they have gone beyond a
legal professor, or one still under the covenant of works.
Nay, where is the man or woman, that is truly in Christ, that
findeth not in themselves an aptness to withdraw their hearts from
Christ, and to put some confidence in their own works and doings ?
If there be any that do not find it, I wish their hearts decieve them
not.
Let me confess ingenuously ; I was a professor of religion at
least a dozen of years before I knew any other way to eternal life,
than to be sorry for my sins, and ask forgiveness, and strive and
endeavour to fulfil the law, and keep the commandments, according
j This sentence, taken from tbe English service-book, is in the " Practice of Piety,"
p. 122. cited from Ezek. xxxiii. 14, 16, and is reckoned amongst these scriptures, an
ignorant mistake of which keeps back a sinner from the practice of piety. But the
truth is, it is not to be found in the Old or New Testament ; and therefore it was ob-
jected against, as standing in the service-book under the name of a " Sentence of
Scripture," pretended to be cited from Ezek. xviii. 21, 22. — Reasons shoiving the ne-
cessity of reformation, &c. p. 26.
162 TO THE READER.
as Mr. Dod and other godly men had expounded them ; and truly,
I remember I was in hope I should at last attain to the perfect
fulfilling of them ; and, in the mean time, I conceived that God
would accept the will for the deed ; or what I could not do, Christ
had doue for me.
And though at last, by means of conferring with Mr. Thomas
Hooker in private, the Lord was pleased to convince me that I was
yet but a proud Pharisee, and to show me the \?ay of faith and
salvation by Christ alone, and to give me (I hope) a heart in some
measure to embrace it ; yet alas ! through the weakness of my faith,
I have been, and am still apt to turn aside to the covenant of
works ; and therefore have not attained to that joy and peace in
believing, nor that measure of love to Christ, and man for Christ's
sake, as I am confident many of God's saints do attain unto in the
time of this life. The Lord be merciful unto me, and increase my
faith !
And are there not others, though I hope but few, who being en-
lightened to see their misery, by reason of the guilt of sin, though
not by reason of the filth of sin, and hearing of justification freely
by grace, through tlie redemption which is in Jesus Christ, do ap-
plaud and magnify that doctrine, following them that do most
preach and press the same, seeming to be, as it \iere, ravished with
the hearing thereof, out of a conceit that they are by Christ freely
justified from the guilt of sin, though still they retain the filth of
sin ? a These are they that content themselves with a gospel know-
ledge, with mere notions in the head, but not in the heart ; glory-
ing and rejoicing in free grace and justification by faith alone ;
professing faith in Christ, and yet are not possessed of Christ ; —
these are they that can talk like believers, and yet do not walk
like believers ; — these are they that liave language like saints, and
yet have conversation like devils ; — these are they that are not obe-
a Mark here the spring of Antinomianism ; namely, the want of a sound conviction
of the odiousness aed filthiness of sin, rendering the soul loathsome and ahorainahle
in the sight of a holy God. Hence, as the sinner sees not his need of, so neither
will he receive and rest on Christ for all his salvation, hut will go about to halve
it, grasping at his justifying blood, neglecting his sanctifying Spirit, and so falls short
of all part or lot in that matter.
TO THE READER. 163
dieut to the law of Christ, and therefore are justly called Antino-
mians.
Now, both these paths h leading from Christ, have been justly-
judged as erroneous ; and, to ray knowledge, not only a matter of
eighteen or twenty years ago, but also within these three or four
years, there has been much ado, both by preaching, writing, and
disputing, both to reduce men out of them, and to keep them from
them ; and hot contentions have been on both sides, and all, I fear,
to little purpose : for has not the strict professor according to the law,
whilst he has striven to reduce the loose professor according to the
gospel out of the Antinomian path entangled both himself and
others the faster in the yoke of bondage ? Gal. v. 1. And has not
the loose professor according to the gospel, whilst he has striven to
reduce the strict professor according to the law out of the legal
path, "by promising liberty from the law, taught others, and been
himself the servant of corruption ?" 2 Pet. ii. 19.
For this cause I, though I be nothing, have by the grace of God
endeavoured, in this dialogue, to walk as a middle man betwixt
them both, in showing to each of them his erroneous path, with the
middle path (which is Jesus Christ received truly, and walked in
answerably m) as a means to bring them both unto him, and make
them both one in him ; and ! that the Lord would be pleased so
to bless it to them, that it might be a means to produce this effect !
b Namely, legalism and Antinomianism.
m A short and pithy description of the middle path, the only path-way to heaven —
"Jesus Christ (the way, John xiv. 6.) received truly (by faith, John i. 12 ; this is
overlooked by the legalist) and walked in answerably," by holiness of heart and life,
Col. ii. 6 : this is neglected by the Antinomian. The Antinomian's faith is but pre-
tended, and nut true faith, since he walks not in Christ answerably. The legalist's ho-
liness is but pretended, and not true holiness, since he hath not " received Christ" truly,
and therefore is incapable of walking in Christ, which is the only true holiness competent
to fallen mankind. Thus, both the legalist and the Antinomian are each of them desti-
tute of true faith and true holiness ; forasmuch as there can be no walking in Christ,
without a true receiving of him ; and there cannot be a true receiving of him, without
walking in him : so both of them are off the only way of salvation, and, continuing so
must needs perish. Wherefore it concerns every one who has a value for his own
soul, to take heed that he be found in the middle path.
164
TO THE READER.
I have (as you may see) gathered much of it out of known and
approved authors ; and yet have therein wronged no man ; for I
have restored it to the right owner again. Some part of it my ma-
nuscripts have afforded me ; and of the rest I hope I may say, as
Jacob did of his venison, Gen. xxvi. 20, " the Lord hath brought it
unto me." Let me speak it without vain-glory, I have endeavoured
herein to imitate the laborious bee, who out of divers flowers ga-
thers honey and wax, and thereof makes one comb : if any soul feel
any sweetness in it, let them praise God, and pray for me, who am
weak in faith, and cold in love.
Edward Fisher.
A Catalogue of those writer's names, out of whom I have collected much
of the matter contained in this ensuing Dialogue.
Mr. Ainsworth
Dr. Ames
Bishop Babington
Mr. Ball
Mr. Bastingius
Mr. Beza
Mr. Robert Bolton
Mr. Samuel Bolton
Mr. Bradford
Mr. Bullinger
Mr. Calvin
Mr. Careless
Mr. Caryl
Mr. Cornwall
Mr. Cotton
Mr. Culverwell
Mr. Dent
Dr. Diodate
Mr. D. Dixon
Mr. Downham
Mr. Du Plesse
Mr. Dyke
Mr. Elton
Mr. Forbes
Mr. Fox
Mr. Frith
Mr. Gibbons
Mr. Thos. Godwin
Mr. Gray,jun.
Mr. Greenham
Mr. Grotius
Bishop Hall
Mr. Thos. Hooker
Mr. Lsestanno
Mr. Lightfoot
Dr. Luther
Mr. Marbeck
Mr. Marshall
Peter Martyr
Dr. Mayer
Wolfangius Musculus
Bernardine Ochine
Mr. Wilson.
Dr. Pemble
Mr. Perkins
Mr. Polanus
Dr. Preston
Mr. Reynold
Mr. Rollock
Mr. Rouse
Dr. Sibs
Mr. Slater
Dr. Smith
Mr. Stock
Mr. Tindal
Mr. Robert Town
Mr. Vaughan
Mr. Vaumeth
Dr. Urban Regius
Dr. Ursinus
Mr. Walker
Mr. Ward
Dr. Willet
Dr. Williams
M A R K Wi
MODERN DIVINITY
Evangei.ista, a Minister of the Gospel.
Nomista, a Legalist.
Antinomista, an Antinomian.
Neophitus, a Young Christian.
INTRODUCTION.
Sect. 1. Differences about the Law 2. A threefold Law.
Nomista. Sir, my neighbour Neophitus and I having lately had
some conference with this our friend and acquaintance Antinomista,
about some points of religion, wherein he, differing from us both, at
last said, he would be contented to be judged by our minister :
therefore have we made bold to come unto you, all three of us, to
pray you to hear us, and judge of our differences.
Evan. You are all of you very welcome to me ; and if you please
to let me hear what your differences are, I will tell you what I
think.
§ 1. Nom. The truth is, sir, he and I differ in very many things ;
but more especially about the law : for I say, the law ought to be a
rule of life to a believer; and he says, it ought not.
Neo. And surely, sir, the greatest difference betwixt him and I,
is this; — he would persuade me to believe in Christ; and bids me
rejoice in the Lord, and live merrily, though I feel never so many
corruptions in my heart, yea, though I be never so sinful in my life ;
the which I cannot do, nor, I think, ought to do ; but rather to fear,
and sorrow, and lament, for my sins.
Ant. The truth is, sir, the greatest difference betwixt my friend
Nomista and I, is about the law ; and therefore that is the greatest
matter we come to you about.
166 THE MARROW OF
Evan. I remember the apostle Paul willeth Titus to " avoid con-
teutions and strivings about the law, because they are unprofitable
and vain," Tit. iii. 2; and so I fear yours have been.
Nom. Sir, for my own part, I hold it very meet, that every true
Christian should be very zealous for the holy law of God ; espe-
cially now, when a company of these Antinomians do set themselves
against it, and do what they can quite to abolish it, and utterly to
root it out of the church : surely, sir, I think it not meet they
should live in a Christian commonwealth.
Evan. I pray you, neighbour Nomista, be not so hot, neither let
us have such unchristian-like expressions amongst us ; but let us
reason together in love, and with the spirit of meekness, 1 Cor. iv.
21, as Christians ought to do. I confess with the apostle, " It is
good to be zealously affected always in a good thing," Gal. iv. 18.
But yet, as the same apostle said of the Jews, so I fear I may say
of some Christians, that "they are zealous of the law," Acts xxi.
20; yea, some would be doctors of the law, and yet neither under-
stand " what they say, nor whereof they affirm," 1 Tim. i. 7.
Nom. Sir, I make no doubt but that 1 both know what I say, and
whereof I affirm, when I say and affirm that the holy law of God
ought to be a rule of life to a believer; for I dare pawn my soul on
the truth of it.
Evan. But what law do yon mean ?
Nom. Why, sir, what law do you think I mean ? Is there any
more laws than one ?
§ 2. Evan. Yea, in the Scriptures there is mention made of divers
laws, but they may all be comprised under these three, viz. — the
law of works, the law of faith, and the law of Christ; a Rom. iii.
a These terms are scriptural, as appears from the whole texts quoted by our author,
namely, Rom. iii. 27, " Where is boasting then? it is excluded; by what law? of
works? nay, but by the law of faith." Gal. vi. 2, " Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfil the law of Christ." By the law of works is meant the law of the ten
commandments, as the covenant of works. By the law of faith, the gospel, or cove-
nant of grace ; for justification being the point upon which the apostle there states the
opposition betwixt these two laws, it is evident that the former only is the law that
doth not exclude boasting; and the latter only is it, by which a sinner is justified in
a way that doth exclude boasting. By the law of Christ, is meant the same law of
the ten commandments, as a rule of life, in the hand of a Mediator, to believers
already justified, and not any one command of the law only ; for " bearing one
another's burdens" is a " fulfilling of the law of Christ," as it is a loving one another;
but, according to the Scripture, that love is not a fulfilling of one command only, but
of the whole law of the ten commands, Roin. xiii. 8 — 10, " He that loveth another
hath fulfilled the law. For this, thou shalt uot commit adultery, thou shalt not kill,
thou shult not steal, thou shalt uot bear false witness, thou shalt uot covet ; and if
MODERN DIVINITY. 16?
27; Gral. vi. 2; and therefore, I pray you, tell me, when you say
the law ought to be a rule of life to a believer, which of these three
laws you mean.
Norn. Sir, I know not the difference betwixt them ; but this I
know, that the law of the ten commandments, commonly called the
moral law, ought to be a rule of life to a believer.
there be smy other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
It is a fulfilling of the second table directly, and of the first table indirectly and con-
sequentially : therefore by the law of Christ is meant, not one command only, but the
whole law.
The law of works is the law to be done, that one may be saved ; the law of faith is
the law to be believed, that one may be saved ; the law of Christ is the law of the
Saviour, binding his saved people to all the duties of obedience, Gal. iii. 12; Acts
xvi. 31.
The term law is not here used univocally ; for the law of faith is neither in the
Scripture sense, nor in the sense of our author, a law, properly so called. The apostle
uses that phrase only in imitation of the Jews' manner of speaking, who had the law
continually in their mouths. But since the promise of the gospel proposed to faith,
is called in Scripture '' the law of faith," our author was sufficiently warranted to call
it so too. So the law of faith is not a proper perceptive law.
The law of works, and the law of Christ, are in substance but one law, even the
law of the ten commandments — the moral law — the law which was from the beginning,
continuing still the same in its own nature, but vested with different forms. And
since the law is perfect, and sin " is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of
it," whatever form it be vested with, whether as the law of works or as the law of
Christ, all commands of God unto men must needs be comprehended under it, and par-
ticularly the command to repent, common to all mankind, pagans not excepted, who
doubtless are obliged, as well as others, to turn from sin unto God; as also the com-
mand to believe in Christ, binding all to whom the gospel revelation comes, though in
the meantime this law stands under different forms to those who are in a state of union
with Christ by faith, and to those who are not so. The law of Christ is not a new
proper preceptive law, but the old proper preceptive law, which was from the begin-
ning, under a new accidental form.
The distinction between the law of works and the law of faith cannot be contro-
verted, since the apostle doth so clearly distinguish them, Rom. iii. 27.
The distinction between the law of works and the law of Christ, as above explained
according to the Scriptures, and the mind of our author, is the same in effect with
that of the law, as a covenant of works, and as a rule of life to believers, and ought to
be admitted, (Westm. Confess, chap. 19, art. b'.) For (1.) Believers aie not under,
but dead to the law of works. Rom. vi. 14, " For ye are not under the law, but
under grace." Chap. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to
the law. But they are under the law to Christ; ye also are become dead to the law
— that ye should be married to another, even to him who is r.iised from the dead."
1 Cor. ix. 21, " Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." Some
copies read here '' of God," and "' of Christ ;" which I mention, not out of any regard
to that different reading, but that upou the occasion thereof the sense is owned by the
learned to be the same either way. To be under the law to God is, without question,
168 THE MAKROW OF
Evan. But the law of the ten commandments, or moral law, may
be either said to be the matter of the law of works, or the matter of
the law of Christ : and therefore I pray you tell me, in whether of
these senses you conceive it ought to be a rule of life to a believer ?
Nom. Sir, I must confess, I do not know what you mean by this
distinction : but this I know that God requires that every Christian
to be under the law of God ; whatever it may be judged to import more, it can import
no less ; therefore to be under the law to Christ, is to be under the law of Christ.
This text gives a plain and descisive answer to the question, " How the believer is under
the law of God ?" namely, as he is under the law to Christ. f2.) The law of Christ
is an " easy yoke," and a " light burden," Matth. xi. 30 ; but the law of works, to a
sinner, is an insupportable burden, requiring works as the condition of justi6cation and
acceptance with God, as is clear from the whole of the apostle's reasoning, Rom. iii.
(and therefore it is called the law of works, for otherwise the law of Christ requires
works too) and cursing " every one that continues not in all things written in it to do
them," Gal. iii. 10. The apostle assures us, that " what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law," Rom. iii. 19. The duties of the law of
works, as such, are, as I conceive, called by our Lord himself, " heavy burdens, and
grievous to be borne," Matth. xxiii. 4, " For they," viz. the Scribes and Pharisees,
''bind heavy burden*, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders;
but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." These heavy bur-
dens were not human traditions, and rites devised by men ; for Christ would not have
commanded the observing and doing of these, as in this case he did, ver. 3, " What-
soever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; neither were they the Mosaic rites
and ceremonies, which were not then abrogated, for the Scribes and Pharisees were so
far from not moving these burdens with their own fingers, that the whole of their re-
ligion was confined to them, namely to the rites and ceremonies of Moses' law, and
those of their own devising. But the duties of the moral law they laid on others,
binding them on with the tie of the law of works, yet made no conscience of them in
their own practice : the which duties nevertheless our Lord Jesus commanded to be
observed and done.
" He who hath believed on Jesus Christ, (though he be freed from the curse of the
law,) is not freed from the command and obedience of the law, but tied thereunto by
a new obligation, and a new command from Christ. Which new command from
Christ importeth help to obey the command." — Practical Use of Saving Knowledge,
title, The Third Warrant to Believe, fig. 5.
What this distinction amounts to is, that thereby a difference is constituted betwixt
the ten commandments as coming from an absolute God out of Christ unto sinners,
and the same ten commandments as coming from God in Christ unto them ; a differ-
ence whieh the children of God, assisting their consciences before him to " receive
the law at his mouth," will value as their life, however they disagree about it in words
and manner of expression. But that the original indispensable obligation of the law of
the ten commandments is in any measure weakened by the believer's taking it as the
law of Christ, and not a9 the law of works ; or that the sovereign authority of God the
Creator, which is inseparable fiom it for the ages of eternity, in what channel soever
it be conveyed unto men, is thereby laid aside. — will appear utterly groundless, uprn
an iuipaitial consideration of the matter. For is not our Lord Jesus Christ, equally
with the Father and the Holy Spiiit, JtHOVAH, the Sovereign, Supreme, IMost High
MODKKN DIVINITY. 169
should frame and lead his life according to the ten commandments ;
the which if he do, then may he expect the blessing of God both
upon his own soul and body ; and if he do not, then can he expect
nothing else but his wrath and curse upon them both.
Evan. The truth is, Nomista, the law of the ten commandments,
as it is the matter of the law of works, ought not to be a rule of life
to a believer. But in thus saying, you have affirmed that it ought;
and therefore therein you have erred from the truth. And now,
Autinomista, that I may also know your judgment, when you say
the law ought not to be a rule of life to a believer, pray tell me
what law you mean ?
Ant. Why, I mean the law of the ten commandments.
Evan. But whether do yon mean that law, as it is the matter of
the law of works, or as it is the matter of the law of Christ ?
Ant. Surely, sir, 1 do conceive, that the ten commandments are
no way to be a rule of life to a believer ; for Christ hath delivered
him from them.
Evan. But the truth is, the law of the ten commandments, as it is
the matter of the law of Christ, ought to be a rule of life to a be-
liever; b and therefore you having affirmed the contrary, have
therein also erred from the truth.
God, Creator of the world? lsa. xlvii. 4; Jer. xxiii. 6 ; with Psalm lxxxiii. 18;
John i. 3 ; Rev. iii. 14. Is not the name (or sovereign authority) of God in Christ;
Exod. xxiii. 21. Is not he in the Father, and the Father in him? John xiv.
Nay, doth not all the fulness of the Godhead dwell in him ? Col. ii. 9. How then
can the original obligation of the law of the ten commandments, arising from the
authority of the Creator, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be weakened by its being
issued unto the believer from and by that blessed channel, the Lord Jesus Christ)'
As for the distinction betwixt the law of faith aud the law of Christ, the latter is
subordinated unto the former. All men by nature are under the law of works ; but
taking the benefit of the law of faith, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are
set free from the law of works, and brought under the law of Christ. Matth. xi. 28,
29, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden — take my yoke upon
you."
b The law of the ten commandments, being the natural law, was written on Adam's
heart on his creation ; while as yet it was neither the law of works, nor the law of
Christ, in the sense wherein these terms are used in Scripture, and by our author. But
after man was created, and put into the garden, this natural law, having made man
liable to fall away from God, a threatening of eternal death in case of disobedience,
had also a promise of eternal life annexed to it in case of obedience ; in virtue of
which he, having done his work, might thereupon plead and demand the reward of
eternal life. Thus it became the law of woiks, whereof the ten cemmandments were,
and are still the matter. All mankind being ruined by the breach of this law, Jesus
Christ obeys and dies in the room of the elect, that they might be saved ; they bei'iif
united to him by faith, are, through his obedience and satisfaction imputed to thtm,
Vol. VII. h
170 THE MARROW OF
Nom. The truth is, sir, I must confess, I never took any notice of
this threefold law, which, it seems, is mentioned in the New Testa-
ment.
Ant. And I must confess, if I took any notice of them, I never
understood them.
Evan. Well, give me leave to tell yon, that so far as any man
comes short of the true knowledge of this threefold law, c so far he
comes short both of the true knowledge of God and of himself; and
therefore I wish you both to consider of it.
Nom. Sir, if it be so, you may do well to be a means to inform us,
and help us to the true knowledge of this threefold law ; and there-
fore, I pray you first tell us what is meant by the law of works.
freed from eternal death, and become heirs of everlasting life ; so that the law of
works being fully satisfied, expires as to them, as it would have done of course in the
case of Adam's having stood the time of his trial ; howbeit it remains in full force as
to unbelievers. But the natural law of the ten commandments (which can never ex-
pire or determine, but is obligatory in all possible states of the creature, in earth,
heaven, or bell) is, from the moment the law of works expires as to believers, issued
forth to them (still liable to infirmities, though not to falling away like Adam) in the
channel of the covenant of grace, bearing a promise of help to obey, (Ezek. xxxvi. 27,)
and, agreeable to their state before the Lord, having annexed to it a promise of the
tokens of God's fatherly love, for the sake of Christ, in case of that obedience ; and a
threatening of God's fatherly displeasure in case of their disobedience. John xiv. 21.
" He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and
he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father ; and I will love him and will manifest
myself to him." Psalm lxxxix. 31 — 33. " If they break my statutes, and keep not
my commandments ; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their ini-
quity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from
him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." Thus it becomes the law of Christ to them ;
of which law also the same ten commandments are likewise the matter. In the threat-
enings of this law there is no revenging wrath ; and in the promises of it no proper
conditionally of works j but here is the order in the covenant of grace, to which the
law of Christ belongs ; a beautiful order of grace, obedience, particular favours, and
chastisements for disobedience. Thus the ten commandments stand, both in the law
of works and in the law of Christ at the same time, being the common matter of both ;
but as they are the matter of (i. e. stand in) the law of works, they are actually a part
of the law of works ; howbeit, as they are the matter of, or stand in, the law of Christ,
they are actually a part, not of the law of works, but of the law of Christ. And ;is
they stand in the law of Christ, our author expressly asserts, against the Antinomi.in,
that they ought to be a rule of life to a believer ; but that they ought to be a rule of
life to a believer, as they stand in the law of works, he justly denies, against the legal-
ist. Even as when one and the same crime stands forbidden in the laws of different
independent kingdoms, it is manifest that the rule of life to the subjects in that particu-
lar is the prohibition, as it stands in the law of that kingdom, whereof they are sub-
jects respectively, and not as it stands in the law of that kingdom of which they are
not subjects.
c Not of the terms here used to express it by, but of the things thereby meant, viz.
th e covenant of works, the covenant of grace, and the law as a rule of life to believ-
ers, in whatever terms these things be expressed.
MODERN DIVINITY. 171
CHAPTER I.
OF THE LAW, OR COVENANT OF WORKS.
Sect. I. The nature of the Covenant of Works 2. Adam's Fall. — 3. The Sinful-
ness and Misery of Mankind by the Fall. — 4. No recovery by the Law, or Cove-
nant of Works. — 5. The Covenant of Works binding, though broken.
§ 1. Evan. The law of works, opposed to the law of faith, (Rom.
iii. 27,) holds forth as much as the covenant of works ; for it is
manifest, says Musculns, that the word which signifies covenant, or
bargain, is put for law: so that you see, the law of works is as
much as to say, the covenant of works ; the which covenant the
Lord made with all mankind in Adam before his fall; the sum
whereof was, " Do this, and thou shalt live," Lev. xviii. 5, " And if
thou do it not, thou shalt die the death," Gen. ii. 17. In which
covenant there was contained, first, a precept, " Do this ;" secondly,
a promise joined unto it, " If thou do it thou shalt live ;" thirdly, a
like threatening, " If thou do it not, thou shalt die the death."
Imagine, says Musculus, that God had said to Adam, Lo, to the
intent that thou mayest live, I have given thee liberty to eat, and
have given thee abundantly to eat : let all the fruits of paradise be
in thy power, one tree excepted, which see thou touch not, for that
I keep to mine own authority : the same is " the tree of knowledge
of good and evil ;" if thou touch it, the meat thereof shall not be
life, but death.
Norn. But, sir, you said, that the law of the ten commandments,
or moral law, may be said to be the matter of the law of works ;
and you have also said, that the law of works is as much as to say
the covenant of works ; whereby it seems to me, you hold that the
law of the ten commandments was the matter of the covenant of
works, which God made with all mankind in Adam before his fall.
Evan. That is a truth agreed upou by all authors and interpre-
ters that I know. And indeed the law of works (as a learned
author says,) signifies the moral law ; and the moral law, strictly
and properly taken, signifies the covenant of works, d
d The moral law is an ambiguous term among divines. (1.) The moral law is
taken for the decalogue, or ten commandments, simply. So the law in the ten
commandments is owned to be commonly called the moral law, Westmin Confes.
chap. six. art. 2, 3. And thus our author has hitherto used that term, reckoning the
moral law not the covenant of works itself, but only the matter of it. (2.1 The
moral law is taken for the ten commandments, having the promise of life, and threat,
ening of death annexed to ihem ; that is for the law, or covenant, of works. Thus
l2
172 THE MARROW OF
Nom. But, sir, what is the reason you call it but the matter of
the covenant of works ?
Evan. The reason why I rather choose to call the law of the ten
commandments the matter of the covenant of works, than the cove-
nant itself, is, because I conceive that the matter of it cannot pro-
perly be called the covenant of works, except the form be put upon
it; that is to say, except the Lord require, and man undertake to
yield perfect obedience thereunto, upon condition of eternal life and
death.
And therefore, till then, it was not a covenant of works betwixt
God and all mankind in Adam; as, for example, you know, that
although a servant e have an ability to do a master's work ; and
though a master have wages to bestow upon him for it, yet is there
not a covenant betwixt them till they have thereupon agreed.
Even so, though a man at the first had power to yield perfect and
perpetual obedience to all the ten commandments, and God had an
eternal life to bestow upon him; yet was there not a covenaut
betwixt them till they were thereupon agreed.
Nom. But, sir, you know there is no mention made in the book
of Genesis of this covenant of works, which, you say, was made
with man at first.
the moral law is described to be, " Tbe declaration of tbc will of God to mankind,
directing and binding every one to personal, perfect, and perpetual conformity and
obedience thereunto, in tbe frame and disposition of the whole man, soul and body,
and in performance of all tbese duties of boliness and righteousness, wbich he oweth to
God and man ; promising life upon the fulfilling, and threatening death upon the
breach of it." — Larger Catech. quest. 93. That this is the covenant of works, is
clear from Westm. Confes. chap. xix. art. 1, " God gave to Adam a law, as a cove-
nant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity, to personal, entire,
exact, and perpetual obedience ; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened
death upon the breach of it." And this our author owns to be the sense of that term,
strictly and properly taken ; tbe reason whereof I conceive to be, that the moral law
properly signifying tbe law of manners, answers to the Sciipture term, the law of
works, by which is meant the covenant of works. And if he had added, that in this
sense believers are delivered from it, he had no more said than the Larger Catechism
doth, in these words ; " They that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered
from the moral law as a covenant of works." Quest. 97. But in the meantime it is
evident, he does not here use that term in this sense ; and in the next paragraph,
save one, he gives a reason why he doth not so use it.
e Not a hired servant, for there is a covenant betwixt such an one and tbe master ;
but a bond-servant, bought with money, of another person, or born in the master's
house ; who is obliged to serve his master, and is liable to punishment in case he do
not, but cannot demand wages, since there is no covenant between them.
This was the case of mankind, with relation to the Creator, before the covenant of
works was made.
V
MODERN DIVINITY. 173
Evan. Though we read not the word " covenant" betwixt God
and man, yet have we there recorded what may amount to as much ;
for God provided and promised to Adam eternal happiness, and
called for perfect obedience ; which appears from God's threaten-
ing, Gen. ii. 17 ; for if man must die if he disobeyed, it implies
strongly, that God's covenant was with him for life, if he obeyed.
Norn. But, sir, you know the word " covenant" signifies a mu-
tual promise, bargain, and obligation betwixt two parties. Now,
though it is implied, that God promised man to give him life if he
obeyed, yet we read not, that man promised to be obedient.
Evan. I pray take notice, that God does not always tie man to
verbal expressions, but doth often contract the covenant in real im-
pressions in the heart and frame of the creature,/ and this was the
manner of covenanting with man at the first; g for God had fur-
nished his soul with an understanding mind, whereby he might \
discern good from evil, and right from wrong : and not only so, but
also in his will was most great uprightness, Eccl. vii. 29, and his
instrumental parts h were orderly framed to obedience. The truth
is, God did engrave in man's soul wisdom and knowledge of his
will and works, and integrity in the whole soul, and such a fitness
in all the powers thereof, that neither the mind did conceive, nor
the heart desire, nor the body put in execution, any thing but that
which was acceptable to God ; so that man, endued with these
qualities, was able to serve God perfectly.
Nom. But, sir, how could the law of the ten commandments be
the matter of this covenant of works, when they were not written,
as you know, till the time of Moses ?
Evan. Though they were not written in tables of stone until the
time of Moses, yet were they written in the tables of man's heart
in the time of Adam : for we read that man was created in the
image or likeness of God, Gen. i. 27. And the ten commandments
are a doctrine agreeing with the eternal wisdom and justice that is
/The soul approving, embracing, and consenting to the covenant; which, without
any more, is plain language, though not unto men, yet unto God, who knoweth the
heart.
g The covenant being revealed to man created after God's own image, he could not
but perceive the equity and benefit of it ; and so heartily approve, embrace, accept,
and consent to it. And this accepting is plainly intimated in Eve's words to the ser-
pent, Gen. iii. 2, 3, " We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden ; but of
the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, ye shall not
eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
h Executive faculties and powers, whereby the good known and willed was to be
done.
^
174
THE MARROW OF
in God ; wherein he hath so painted out his own nature, that it
does in a manner express the very image of God, Col. iii. 10. And
does not the apostle say, (Eph. iv. 24.) that the image of God con-
| sists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness ? And is not
knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, the perfection of hoth
the tables of the law ? And indeed, says Mr. Rollock, it could not
well stand with the justice of God, to make a covenant with man,
under the condition of holy and good works, and perfect obedience
to his law, except he had first created man holy and pure, and
engraven his law in his heart, whence those good works should
proceed.
Nom. But yet I cannot but marvel that God, in making the cove-
nant with man, did make mention of no other commandment than
that of the forbidden fruit.
Evan. Do not marvel at it : for by that one species of sin, the
whole genus or kind is shown ; as the same law, being more clearly
unfolded, doth express, Deut. xxviii. 26; Gal. iii. 10. And, indeed,
in that one commandment the whole worship of God did consist; as
obedience, honour, love, confidence, and religious fear ; together
with the outward abstinence from sin, and reverend respect to the
voice of God ; yea, herein also consisted his love, and so his whole
duty to his neighbour ; i so that, as a learned writer says, Adam
I heard as much (of the law) in the garden, as Israel did at Sinai ;
I but only in fewer words, and without thunder.
Nom. But, sir, ought not man to have yielded perfect obedience
to God, though this covenant had not been made betwixt them.
Evan. Yea, indeed ; perfect and perpetual obedience was due
from man unto God, though God had made no promise to man ; for
when God created man at first, he put forth an excellency from him-
self into him ; and therefore it was the bond and tie that lay upon
man to return that again unto God ; k so that man being God's
creature, by the law of creation, he owed all obedience and subjec-
tion to God his creator.
Nom. Why then was it needful that the Lord should make a
covenant with him, by promising him life, and threatening him with
death ?
i That one commandment was in effect a summary of the whole duty of man ; the
which clearly appears, if one considers that the breach of it was a transgressing of all
the ten commandments at once, as our author afterwards distinctly shows.
k God having given man a being after his own image, a glorious excellency, it was
his natural duty to make suitable returns thereof unto the giver, in a way of duty,
being, and acting for him ; even as the waters, which originally are from the sea, do
m brooks and rivtrs return to the sea again. Man, being of God as his first cause,
behoved to be to him as his chief and ultimate end, Rom. xi. 36.
MODERN DIVINITY. 175
Evan. For answer hereunto in the first place, I pray you under-
stand, that man was a reasonable creature; and so, out of judgment,
discretion, and election, able to make choice of his way; and there-
fore it was meet there should be such a covenant made with him,
that he might, according to God's appointment serve him after a
reasonable manner. Secondly, It was meet there should be such a
covenant made with him, to show that he was not such a prince on
earth, but that he had a sovereign Lord ; therefore God set a pun-
ishment upon the breach of his commandment ; I that man might
know his inferiority, and that things betwixt him and God were not
as betwixt equals. Thirdly, It was meet there should be such a co-
venant made with him, to show that he had nothing by personal, imme-
diate, and underived right, but all by gift and gentleness : so that
you see it was an equal covenant, m which God, out of his preroga-
tive-royal, made with mankind in Adam before his fall.
Nam. Well, sir, I do perceive that Adam and all mankind in him
were created most holy.
Evan. Yea, and most happy too : for God placed him in paradise
in the midst of all delightful pleasures and contents, wherein he did
enjoy most near and sweet communion with his Creator, in whose
presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures
evermore, Psal. xvi. 11. So that if Adam had received of the tree
of life, by taking and eating of it, while ho stood in the state of in-
nocency before his fall, he had certainly been established in a happy
estate for ever, and could not have been seduced and supplanted by
Satan, as some learned men do think, and as God's own words seem
to imply, Gen. iii. 22. n
l The punishment of death, upon the breach of his commandment touching the for-
bidden fruit.
m That is, an equitable covenant, fair and reasonable.
n The author says, that some learned men think so, and that the words, Gen. iii.
22, seem to imply so much; but all this amounts not to a positive determination of
the point. The words are these, " Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know
good and evil ; and now lest he put forth bis hand, and take also of the tree of life, and
eat, and live for ever," &c. Whether or not these words seem to imply some such
things, I leave to the judgment of the reader, whom I incline not to entertain with
mine own or others' conjectures upon this head ; but three things I take to be plain,
and beyond conjecture, in this text, (1.) That there is no irony nor scoff here, as
many thiuk there is; but on the contrary a most pathetic lamentation over fallen man.
The literal version and sense of the former part of the text runs thus : " Behold the
man that was one of us," &c. compare for the version, Lam. iii. 1 ; Psal. iii. 7, and
for the sense, Gen. i. 26, 27, "And God said, Let Us make man in our onn image
So God created man in his own image," &c. The latter part of the text I would read
thus, " And eat that he may live for ever." Compare for this version, Exod. iv. 23 ;
176 THE JIAKEOW OF
§ 2. Norn. But it seemetli that Adam did not continue in that
holy and happy estate.
Evan. No indeed; for he disobeyed God's express command, in
eating the forbidden fruit, and so became guilty of the breach of the
covenant.
Nom. But, sir, how could Adam, who had his understanding so
sound, and his will so free to choose good, be so disobedient to God's
express command.
Evan. Though he and his will were both good, yet were they mutably
good ; so that he might stand or fall at his own election or choice.
Nom. But why then did not the Lord create him immutable? or
why did he not so overrule him in that action, that he might not
have eaten the forbidden fruit ? o
Evan. The reason why the Lord did not create him immutable,
was because he would be obeyed out of judgment and free choice
and not by fatal necessity and absolute determination ; p and withal,
let me tell you, it was not reasonable to restrain God to this point,
to make them such an one as would not, nor could not sin at all, for
it was at his choice to create him how he pleased. But why he did
not uphold him with strength of stedfast continuance ; that resteth
hidden in God's secret council./) Howbeit, this we may certainly
] Sam. vi. 8. It is evident the sentence is broken off abruptly, tbe words, *' I wilj
drive him out," being suppressed ; even as in the case of a father, with sighs, sobs, and
tears, putting his son out of doors. (2.) That it was God's design, to prevent Adam's
eating of the tree of life, as he had of the forbidden tree, " lest he take also of the tree
of life ;" thereby mercifully taking care that our fallen father, to whom the covenant of
grace was now proclaimed, might not, according to the corrupt natural inclination to
fallen mankind, run back to the covenant of works for life and salvation, by partaking
of the tree of life, a sacrament of that covenant, and so reject the covenant of grace,
by eating of that tree now, as he had before broken the covenant of works, by eating
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (3.) That at this time Adam did think,
that by eating of the tree of life he might live for ever. Farther I dip not here in
this matter.
o These are two distinct questions, both of them Datively arising from a legal tem-
per of Spirit: and I doubt if ever the heart of a sinner shall receive a satisfying an-
swer as to either of them, until it come to embrace the gospel-way of salvation : taking
up its everlasting rest in Christ, for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp-
tion.
p Immutability, properly so called, or absolute unchangeableness, is an incommuni-
cable attribute of God, Mai. iii. 6; Jam. i. 17, and mutability, or changeableness, is
so of the nature of a creature, that it should cease to be a creature, or a dependant
being, if it should cease to be mutable. But there is an immutability, improperly
so called, which is competent to the creature, whereby it is free from beiDg
actually liable to change in some respect; the which, in reference to man may
be considered two ways; 1. As putting him beyond the hazard of change by ano-
ther band than bis own. 2. As putting him beyond the hazard of change by hiuis. It.
In the former sense, man nas indeed made immutable in point of moral goodness; for
MODERN DIVINITY. 177
conclude, that Adam's state was such as served to take away from
him all excuse; for he received so much, that of his own will he
wrought his own destruction ; q because this act of his was a wilful
transgression of a law, under the precepts whereof he was most
justly created; and unto the malediction whereof he was as neces-
sarily and righteously subject, if he transgressed : for, as being
God's creature, he was to be subject to his will ; so by being God's
prisoner, he was as justly subject to his wrath ; and that so much
the more, by how much the precept was most just, the obedience
more easy, the transgression more unreasonable, and the punishment
more certain.
§ 3. Norn. And was Adam's sin and punishment imputed unto his
whole offspring ?
Evan. Yea, indeed ; for says the apostle, Rom. v. 12, " Death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned ;" or, in whom all
have sinned, that is, in Adam. The very truth is, Adam by his
fall threw down our whole nature r headlong into the same destruc-
tion, and drowned his whole offspring in the same gulf of misery, s
And the reeson is, because, by God's appointment, he was not to
stand or fall as a single person only, but as a common public
person, representing all mankind to come of him : t therefore as all
that happiness, all those gifts, and endowments, which were be-
stowed upon him, were not bestowed upon him alone, but also upon
the whole nature of man, r and as that covenant which was made
with him, was made with the whole of mankind ; even so he by
lie could only be made sinful or evil by himself, and not by any other. If he had been
made immutable in the latter sense, that immutability behoved either to have been
woven into his very nature, or else to have arisen from confirming grace. Now God
did not create man thus immutable in his nature ; which is it at the first question aims ;
and that for this very good reason, viz. that, at that rate man would have obeyed by
fatal necessity and absolute determination, as one not having so much as a remote
power in his nature to change himself. And neither glorified saints, nor angels are
thus immutable ; their immutability in goodness entirely depending on confirming
grace. As for immutability by confirming grace, which is it that the second question
aims at, it is conferred on glorified saints and angels ; but why it was not afforded to
Ailam at his creation, our author wisely declines to give any reason. "The reason,
says he, why the Lord did not create him immutable was, because, &c. ; but why he
i!id uphold him with strength of stedfast continuance, that resteth hidden in God's se-
cret cuunsel.'
q That is, he received so much strength, that it was not of weakness, but wilfulness,
that he destroyed himself.
r That is, all mankind. s With himself.
t By virtue of the blessing of fruitfulness given before the fall.
178 THE MARROW OF
breaking covenant lost all, as well for us as for himself. As he
received all for himself and us, so he lost all both for himself
and us.
Nom. Then, sir, it seemeth, by Adam's breach of covenant, all
mankind were brought into a miserable condition ?
Evan. All mankind by the fall of Adam received a twofold
damage : First, A deprivation of all original goodness. Secondly,
An habitual natural proneness to all kind of wickedness. For the
image of God, after which they were created, was forthwith blotted
out ; and in place of wisdom, righteousness, and true holiness, came
blindness, uncleanness, falsehood, and injustice. The very truth is,
our whole nature u was thereby corrupted, defiled, deformed, depraved,
infected, made infirm, frail, malignant, full of venom, contrary to
God ; yea, enemies and rebels unto him. So that, says Luther, this
is the title we have received from Adam : in this one thing may we
glory, and in nothing else at all ; namely, that every infant that is
born into this world, is wholly in the power of sin, death, Satan,
hell, and everlasting damnation. Nay, says Musculus, " The whirl-
pool of man's sin in paradise is bottomless and unsearchable."
Nom. But, sir, methinks it is a strange thing that so small an
offence, as eating of the forbidden fruit seems to be, should plunge
the whole of mankind into such a gulf of misery.
Evan. Though at the first glance it seems to be a small offence,
yet, if we look more wistfully v upon the matter, it will appear to
be an exceeding great offence ; for thereby intolerable injury was
done unto God ; as first, His dominion and authority in his holy
command was violated. Secondly, His justice, truth and power, in
his most righteous threatenings, were despised. Thirdly, His most
pure and perfect image, wherein man was created in righteousness
and true holiness, was utterly defaced. Fourthly, His glory, which,
by an active service, the creature should have brought to him, was
lost and despoiled. Nay, how could there be a greater sin com-
mitted than that, when Adam at that one clap broke all the ten
commandments ?
Nom. Did he break all the commandments, say you ? Sir, I
beseech you shew me wherein.
Evan. 1. He chose himself another God when he follows the
devil.
2. He idolized and deified his own belly ; iu as the apostle's phrase
is, " He made his belly his God."
3. He took the name of God in vain, when he believed him not.
u That is, all mankind.
v That is, earnestly. u' That is, as the aposlle'n, &c.
MODERN DIVINITY. 179
4. He kept not the rest and estate wherein God had set him.
5. He dishonoured his Father who was in heaven ; and therefore
his days were not prolonged in that land which the Lord his God
had given him.
6. He massacred himself and all his posterity.
7. From Eve he was a virgin, but in eyes and mind he committed
spiritual fornication.
8. He stole, like Achan, that which God had set aside not to be
middled with ; and this his stealth is that which troubles all Israel, :
— the whole world.
9. He bear witness against God, when he believed the witness of
the devil before him.
10. He coveted an evil covetousness, like Ammon, which cost him
his life, x and all his progeny. Now, whosoever considers what a
nest of evils here were committed at one blow, must needs, with
Musculus, see our case to be such, that we are compelled every way
to commend the justice of God, y and to condemn the sin of our first
parents, saying concerning all mankind, as the prophet Hosea
does concerning Israel, " Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself,"
Hos. xiii. 9.
§ 4. Nom. But, sir, had it not been possible for Adam both to
have holpen himself and all his posterity out of this misery, by
renewing the same covenant with God, and keeping it so after-
wards ?
Evan. No, by no means ; for the covenant of works was a cove-
nant no way capable of renovation. * When he had once broke it,
he was gone for ever ; because it was a covenant between two
friends, but now fallen man was become au enemy. And besides, it
was an impossible thing for Adam to have performed the conditions
which now the justice of God did necessarily require at his hands ;
for he was now become liable to the payment of a double debt, viz.
the debt of satisfaction for his sin committed in time past, and the
debt of perfect and perpetual obedience for the time to come ; and
he was utterly unable to pay either of them.
x 2 Sam. xiii. y That is, to justify God.
2 The covenant of works could by no means be renewed by fallen Adam, so as
thereby to help himself and his posterity out of this misery, the which is the only
hing in question here; otherwise, indeed, it might have been renewed, which is evi-
dent by this sad token, that many do actually renew it in their covenanting with God,
being prompted thereto by their ignorance of the high demands of the law, their own
utter inability, and the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. And from the same princi-
ple our legalist here makes no question but Adam might have renewed it, and kept it
ton, for the after-time ; only, he questions whether or not Adam might thereby have
helped himself, and his posterity too, out of the misery they were brought iuto by his
sin.
180 THE MARROW OF
Nom. "Why was he unable to pay the debt of satisfaction for his
sin committed in time past ?
Evan. Because his sin in eating the forbidden fruit (for that is
the sin I mean,) a was committed against an infinite and eternal
God, and therefore merited an infinite and eternal satisfaction ;
which was to be either some temporal punishmeut, equivalent to
eternal damnation, or eternal damnation itself. Now Adam was a
finite creature, therefore, between finite and infinite there could be
no proportion ; so that it was impossible for Adam to have made
satisfaction by any temporal punishment; and if he had undertaken
to have satisfied by an eternal punishment, he should always have
been satisfying, and never have satisfied, as is the case of the
damned in hell.
Nom. And why was he unable to pay the debt of perfect and per-
petual obedience for the time to come ?
Evan. Because his former power to obey was by his fall utterly
impaired ; for thereby his understanding was both enfeebled and
drowned in darkness : and his will was made perverse, and utterly
deprived of all power to will well ; and his affections were quite set
out of order; and all things belonging to the blessed life of the
soul were extinguished, both in him and us ; so that he was become
impotent, yea, dead, and therefore not able to stand in the lowest
terms to perform the meanest condition. The very truth is, our
father Adam falling from God, did, by his fall, so dash him and us
all in pieces, that there was no whole part left, either in him or us,
fit to ground such a covenant upon. And this the apostle witness-
eth, both when he says " We are of no strength ;" and, " The law
was made weak, because of the flesh," Rom. v. 6, and viii. 3.
Nom. But, sir, might not the Lord have pardoned Adam's sin
without satisfaction ?
Evan. no ! for justice is essential in God, and it is a righteous
thing with God, that every transgression receive a just recom-
pense : b and if recompense be just, it is unjust to pardon sin with-
out satisfaction. And though the Lord had pardoned and forgiven
his former transgression, and so set him in his former condition of
amity and friendship, yet, having no power to keep the law per-
fectly, he could not have continued therein, c
a That being the sin in which all mankind fell with him, Rom. v. 15.
6 2 Thess. i. 6, " Seeing it is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribula-
tion to them that trouble you." Heb. ii. 2, "Every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense."
c But would have sinned again, and so fallen under the curse anew.
MODERN DIVINITY. 181
Norn. And is it also impossible for any of his posterity to keep
the law perfectly ?
Evan. Yea, indeed, it is impossible for any mere man in the time
of this life to keep it perfectly ; yea, though he be a regenerate
man ; for the law requireth of man that he " love the Lord with all
his heart, soul, and might;" and there is not the holiest man that
lives, but he is flesh as well as spirit in all parts and faculties of his
soul, and therefore cannot love the Lord perfectly. Yea, and the
law forbiddeth all habitual concupiscence, not only saying, " Thou
shalt not consent to lust," but, " Thou shalt not lust :" it doth not
only command the binding of lust, but forbids also the being of
lust : and who in this case can say, My heart is clean ?
Ant. Then, Nomista, take notice, I pray, that as it was altogether
impossible for Adam to return into that holy and happy estate
wherein he was created by the same way went from it, d so is it
for any of his posterity ; and therefore I remember one says very
wittily, " The law was Adam's lease when God made him tenant of
Eden ; the conditions of which bond when he kept not, he forfeited
himself and all of us." God read a lecture of the law to him before
he fell, to be a hedge to him to keep him in paradise; but when
Adam would not keep within compass, this law is now become as
the flaming sword at Eden's gate, to keep him and his posterity out.
§ 5. Norn. But, sir, you know, that when a covenant is broken,
the parties that were bound are freed and released from their en-
gagements ; and, therefore, methinks, both Adam and his posterity
should have been released from the covenant of works when it was
broken, especially considering they have no strength to perform tie
condition of it.
Evan. Indeed it is true, in every covenant, if either party fail in
his duty, and perform not his condition, the other party is thereby
freed from his part, but the party failing is not freed till the other
[release him ; and, therefore, though the Lord be freed from perform-
ing his condition, that is, from giving to man eternal life, yet so is
not man from his part ; no, though strength to obey be lost, yet
man having lost it by his own default, the obligation to obedience
remains still ; so that Adam and his offspring are no more dis-
d Walking back by the way of the covenant of works, which he left by his sinning.
Object. " Do we then make void the law," (Rotn. iii. 31.) leaving an imputation
of dishonour upon it, as a disregarded path, by pretending to return another way ?
Answ. Sinners, being united to Christ by faith, return, being carried back the same
way they came ; only their own feet never touch the ground, but the glorious Medi-
ator, sustaining the persons of them all, walked every bit of the road exactly, Gal. iv.
5. Thus, in Christ, the way of free grace, and of the law, sweetly meet together ;
and through faith we establish the law.
182 TIIE MARROW OF
charged of their duties, because they have no strength to do them,
than a debtor is quitted of his bond, because he wants money to pay
it. And thus, Nomista, I have, according to your desire, endea-
voured to help you to a true knowledge of the law of works.
CHAPTER II.
OF THE LAW OF FAITH, OR COVENANT OF GRACE.
Sect. 1. Of the eternal purpose of Grace 2. Of the Promise Of the performance
of the Promise.
Ant. I beseech you, sir, proceed to help us to the true knowledge
of the law of faith.
Evan. The law of faith is as much as to say the covenant of
grace, or the gospel, which signifies good, merry, glad, and joyfid
tidings ; that is to say, that God, to whose eternal knowledge all
things are present, and nothing past or to come, foreseeing man's
fall, before all time purposed, e and in time promised,/ and in the
fulness of time performed, g the sending of his Son Jesus Christ into
the world, to help and deliver fallen mankind, h
e2 Tim. i. 9, " Who had saved us according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Eph. iii. 11, " According to
the eternal purpose, which be purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
/Rom, i. 1,2, " The gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets
in the holy Scriptures."
g Gal. iv. 4, 5, " But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law."
h These are the good tidings, this is the law of faith i. e. the law to be believed for
salvation, which the apostle plainly teacheth. Rom. i. 16, " The gospel is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ;" and, verse 17, " For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." In this last text, clouded with
a great variety ef interpretations, I think there is a transposition of words to be ad-
mitted, and would read the whole verse thus : " For therein is revealed the righteous-
ness of God by faith, unto faith ; as it is written, But the just by faith shall live."
The key to this construction and reading of the words in the former part <f the verse,
is, the testimony adduced by the apostle in the latter part of it, from Hab. ii. 4, where
the original text appears to me to determine the version of that testimony as here
offered. The sense is, the righteousness which is by faith, namely, the righteousness
of Christ, the only righteousnsss in which a sinner can stand before God, is in the
gospel revealed unto faith, i. e. to be believed. See a like phrase, 1 Tim iv. 3,
translated after this manner.
MODERN DIVINITY. 183
SECT. I. OF THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OP GRACE.
Ant. I beseech you, sir, let us hear more of these things ; and
first of all, show how we are to conceive of God's eternal purpose,
in sending of Jesus Christ.
Evan. Why, here the learned frame a kind of conflict in God's
holy attributes ; and by a liberty, which the Holy Ghost, from the
language of the holy Scripture, alloweth them, they speak of God
after the manner of men, as if he were reduced to some straits and
difficulties, by the cross demands of his several attributes, i For
Truth and Justice stood up and said, that man had sinned, and
therefore man must die ; and so called for a condemnation of a sin-
ful, and therefore worthily a cursed creature ; or else they must be
violated : for thou saidst, (said they to God) " In that day that
thou eatest of the tree of the knowlege of good and evil, thou shalt
die the death." Mercy, on the other side, pleaded for favour, and
appeals to the great court in heaven : and there it pleads, saying,
"Wisdom and power, and goodness, have been all manifest in the
creation : and anger and justice, have been maguified in man's
misery that he is now plunged into by his fall : but I have not yet
been manifested, j let favour and compassion be shown towards
man, wofully seduced and overthrown by Satan ! ! said they k
unto God, it is a royal thing to relieve the distressed ; and the
greater any one is, the more placable and gentle he ought to be.
But Justice replied, If I be offended, I must be satisfied and have my
right : and therefore I require, that man, who hath lost himself by
his disobedience, should, for remedy, set obedience against it, and
so satisfy the judgment of God. Therefore the wisdom of God be-
came an umpire, and devised a way to reconcile them : concluding,
that before there could be reconciliation made, there must be two
things effected : (1.) A satisfaction of God's justice. (2.) A repa-
ration of man's nature : which two things, must needs be effected by
such a middle and common person that had both zeal towards God,
that he might be satisfied ; and compassion towards man, that he
might be repaired : such a person, as having man's guilt and punish-
ment translated on him, might satisfy the justice of God, and as
having a fulness of God's Spirit and holiness in him, sanctify and
i " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? How shall I deliver thee Israel ? How
Bhall 1 make thee as Admah ? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned
within me, my repentings are kindled together." Hos. xi. 8.
j Mercy requires an object in misery.
A Favour and compassion.
184 THE MARROW OF
repair the nature of man. I And this could be none other but
Jesus Christ, one of the three persons of the blessed Trinity; there-
fore he, by his Father's ordination, his own voluntary offering, and
the Holy Spirit's sanctification, was fitted for the business. Where-
upon there was a special covenant, or mutual agreement made be-
tween God and Christ, as is expressed, Isa. liii. 10, that if Christ
would make himself a sacrifice for sin, then he should " see his seed,
he should prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord should
prosper by him." So in Psalm Ixxxix. 19, the mercies of this co-
venant between God and Christ, under the type of God's covenant
with David, are set forth : " Thou speakest in vision to thy holy
One, and saidst, I have laid help upon One that is mighty :" or, as
the Chaldee expounds it, " One mighty in the law." As if God
had said concerning his elect, I know that these will break, and
never be able to satisfy me ; but thou art a mighty and substantial
person, able to pay me, therefore I will look for my debt of thee, m
As Pareus well observes, God did, as it were, say to Christ, What
they owe me I require all at thy hands. Then said Christ, " Lo I
come to do thy will ? in the volume of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do thy will, my God ! yea thy law is in my heart,"
Psalm xi. 7, 8. Thus Christ assented, and from everlasting struck
hands with God, to put upon him man's person, and to take upon
him his name, and to enter in his stead in obeying his Father, and
to do all for man that he should require, and to yield in man's
flesh the price of the satisfaction of the just judgment of God, and,
l As man lay in ruins by the fall, guilty and unclean, there stood in the way of his
salvation by mercy designed, 1. The justice of God, which could not admit the
guilty creature ; and, 2. The holiness of God, which could not admit the unclean
and unholy creature to communion with him. Therefore, in the contrivance of his
salvation, it was necessary that provision should be made for the satisfaction of God's
justice, by payment of the double debt mentioned above ; namely, the debt of punish-
ment, and the debt of perfect obedience. It was also necessary that provision should
be made for the sanctification of the sinner, the repairing of the lost image of God in
him. And man being as unable to sanctify himself, as to satisfy justice, (a truth
which proud nature cannot digest,) the Saviour behoved, not only to obey and suffer
in his stead, but also to have a fulness of the Spirit of holiness in him to communi-
cate to the sinner, that his nature might be repaired through sanctification of the
Spirit. Thus was the gioundwork of man's salvation laid in the eternal counsel ; the
sanctification of the sinner, according to our author, being as necessary to his salva-
tion as the satisfaction of justice; for indeed the necessity of the former, as well as
of the latter, ariseth from the nature of God, and therefore is an absolute necessity.
m That is, the debt which the elect owe to me. Thus was the covenant made be-
twixt the Father and the Son for the elect, that he should obey for them and die fur
thom.
MODERN DIVINITY. 135
in the same flesh, to suffer the punishment that man had deserved;
and this he undertook under the penalty that lay upon man to
have undergone, n And thus was justice satisfied, and mercy by the
Lord Jesus Christ; and so God took Christ's single bond; whence
Christ is not only called the " surety of the covenant for us," Heb.
vii. 22, but the covenant itself, Isa. xlix. 8. And God laid all upon
him, that he might be sure of satisfaction ; protesting that he would
not deal with us, nor so much as expect any payment from us ; such
was his grace. And thus did our Lord Jesus Christ enter into the
same covenant of works that Adam did to deliver believers from
it : o he was contented to be under all that commanding, revenging
authority, which that covenant had over them, to free them from
the penalty of it ; and in that respect, Adam is said to be a type of
Christ, as you have it, Rom. v, 14, " "Who was the type of him that
was to come." To which purpose, the titles which the apostle gives
these two, Christ and Adam, are exceeding observable : he calls
Adam the " first man," and Christ our Lord the " second man,"
1 Cor. xv. 47: speaking of them as if there never had been any
more men in the world besides these two; thereby making them the
n The Son of God consented to put himself in man's stead, in obeying his Father,
and so to do all for man that his Father should require, that satisfaction should be
made : farther he consented in man's nature, to satisfy and suffer the deserved pun-
ishment : that the same nature that sinned might satisfy: and yet farther, he under-
took to bear the very same penalty that lay upon man, by virtue of the covenant of
works, to have undergone ; so sisting himself a property sure for them, who as the
author observes, must pay the same sum of money that the debtor oweth. This I take
to be the author's meaning; but the expression of "Christ's undertaking under the
penalty," &c. is harsh and unguarded.
o Our Lord Jesus Christ became surety for the elect in the second covenant, Heb.
viii. 22; and in virtue of that suretyship, whereby he put himself in the room of the
principal debtors, he came under the same covenant of works that Adam did; in so far
as the fulfilling of that covenant in their stead was- the very condition required of him
as the second Adam in the second covenant. Gal. iv. 4, 5, " God sent forth his
Son — made under the law to redeem them that were under the law." Thus Christ
put his neck uuder the yoke of the law as a covenant of works, to redeem them
who were under it as such. Hence he is said to be the " end of the law for righte T
ousness to every one that believeth," Rom. x. 4; namely the end for consummation,
or perfect fulfilling of it by his obedi ence and death, which pre-supposeth his coming
under it. And thus the law as a covenant of works was magnified and made honour-
able ; and it clearly appears how " by faith we establish the law," Rom. iii. 31. How
then is the second covenant a covenant of grace? In respect of Christ, it was most
properly and strictly a covenant of works, in that he made a proper, real, and full
satisfaction in behalf of the elect ; but, in respect of them, it is purely a covenant of
richest grace, in as much as God accepted the satisfaction from a surety, which he
might have demanded of them ; provided the surety himself, and gives all to them
lreely for his sake.
Vol. VII. m
186 THE MARROW OF
head and root of all mankind, they having, as it were, the rest of
the sons of men included in them. The first man is called the
"earthy man;" the second man, Christ, is called the " Lord from
heaven," 1 Cor. xv. 47. The earthy man had all the sons of men
born into the world included in him, and is so called, in conformity
unto them, the " first man ;"p the second man, Christ, is called the
" Lord from heaven," who had all the elect included in him, who
are said to be the " first-born," and to have their " names written in
heaven," Heb. xii. 23, and therefore are oppositely called "heavenly
men :" so that these two, in God's account, stood for all the rest, q
And thus you see, that the Lord, willing to show mercy to the fallen
creature, and withal to maintain the authority of his law, took such
a course as might best manifest his clemency and severity. Christ
entered into covenant, and became surety for man, and so became
liable to man's engagements : for he that answers as a surety must
pay the same sum of money that the debtor oweth.
And thus have I endeavoured to show you, how we are to conceive
of God's eternal purpose in sending of Jesus Christ to help and de-
liver fallen mankind. «,
SECT. II. — OF THE PROMISE.
Sect. 1. The Promise made to Adam. — 2. The Promise renewed to Abraham. — 3.
The law, as the Covenant of Works, added to the Promise. — 4. The Promise and
Covenant with Abraham renewed with the Israelites. — 5. The Covenant of Grace
under the Mosaic dispensation 6. The natural bias towards the Covenant of
Works. — 7. The Antinomian faith rejected. — 8. The evil of Legalism.
Sect. 1. Ant. I beseech you, sir, proceed also to the second thing;
and first tell us, when the Lord began to make a promise to help
and deliver fallen mankind.
Evan. Even the same day that he sinned, r which, as I suppose
p And so in relation to them, is called the "first man."
q Thus Adam represented all mankind in the first covenant, and Christ represented
all the elect in the second covenant. — See the first note on the Preface.
r This our author does here positively assert, and afterwards confirm. And there
is plain evidence for it from the holy Scriptures, which determines the time of the
Lord's calling our guilty first parents before him, at the which time he gave them the
promise. Gen. iii. 8, "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day ;" (Heb. " At the wind of that day," as Junius and
Tremellius, Piscator, and Picherellus read it) ; the which, as soon as it began to
blow, might convince them that their aprons of fig-leaves were not fit covers for their
nakedness.
MODERN DIVINITY. 187
was the very same day he was created, s For Adam, by his sin,
being become the child of wrath, and both in body and in soul sub-
ject to the curse, and seeing nothing due to him but the wrath and
vengeance of God, he was " afraid, and sought to hide himself from
the presence of God," Gen. iii. 10; whereupon the Lord promised
Christ unto him, saying to the serpent, " I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;" he (that
is to say, the seed of the woman, for so is the Hebrew text), " shall
break thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This promise of
Christ, the woman's seed, (ver. 15,) was the gospel; and the only
comfort of Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, and the rest of the godly
fathers, until the time of Abraham, t
s Our author is far from being singular in this opinion. The learned Gataker
(upud Pol. Synop. Crit. in Gen. iii. 23,) owns it to be the common opinion, though
he himself is of another mind, " That man fell, and was cast out of paradise, the
same day in which he was created." And he tells us, (Ibid, in Psalm xlix. ]3,)
that " Broughton does most confidently assert Adam not to have stood in his integrity
so much as one day , and that he saith, out of Maimonides, This is held by all the
Jews, as also by the Greek fathers." That this opinion is less received than formerly,
is, if 1 mistake not, not a little owing to the cavils of the Dei->ts; who, to weaken the
credit of the inspired history, allege it to be incredible that the events recorded Gen.
i. 24 — 26; and ii. 7, 18, to the end of the third chapter, could all be crowded into
one day (See Nichol's Conference with a Theist.) The reasons to support it,
take from the learned Sharp, one of the six ministers banished in the year 1606.
(Curs. Theol. Loc. de Peccato.) "Because of the devil's envy, who, it is likely
could not long endure to see man in a happy state. 2. If man had stood more days,
the blessing of marriage would have taken place, Adam would have known his wife,
and begot a child without original sin. 3. The Sabbath was not so much appointed
for meditating on the works of creation, as on the work of redemption. 4. It appears
from the words of the serpent, and of the woman, that she had not yet tasted any
fruit. 5. When the Holy Ghost speaks of the sixth day, Gen. i. and of the day of
the fall, it is with He emphatic. (Compare Gen. i. ult. and iii. 8.) 6. He fell so
soon, that the work of redemption might be the more illustrious, since man could not
stand one day without the Mediator's help." How the Sabbath was broken by
Adam's sin, though committed the day before, may be learned from the Larger Cate-
chism, on the fourth commandment, which teaches, that " The Sabbath is to be sanc-
tified — and to that end we are to prepare our hearts — that we may be the more fit for
the duties of that day;" and that "the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment,
are all omissions of the duties required," &c.
t In this promise was revealed, 1. Man's restoration unto the favour of God, and
his salvation ; not to be effected by man himself, and his own works, but by another.
For our first parents, standing condemned for breaking of the covenant of works, are
not sent back to it, to essay the mending of the matter, which they had marred
before; but a new covenant is purposed, — a Saviour promised as their only hope. 2.
That this Saviour was to be incarnate, to become man, " the seed of the woman."
3. That he behoved to suffer; his heel, namely, his humanity, to be bruised to death.
4. That by his death he should make a full conquest over the devil, and destroy his
m2
188 THE MARROW OF
Norn. I pray you, sir, what ground have you to think that Adam
fell the same day he was created?
Evan. My ground for this opinion is Psalm xlix. 12; which text
Mr. Ainsworth makes to be the 13th verse, and reads it thus, "But
man in honour doth not lodge a night; he is likened unto beasts
that are silenced." w That maybe minded, says he, both for the
first man Adam, who continued not in his dignity, and for all his
children.
Ant. But, sir, do you think that Adam and those others did un-
derstand that promised seed to be meant of Christ ?
works, who had now overcome and destroyed mankind ; and so recover the captives
out of his hand: "he shall bruise thy head, viz. while thou bruisest his heel."
This encounter was on the cross: there Christ treading on the serpent, it bruised his
heel, but he bruised its head. 5. That he should not be held by death, but Satan's
power should be broken irrecoverably; the Saviour being only bruised in the heel,
but the serpent in the head. 6. That the saving interest in him, and his salvation, is
by faith alone, believing tfce promise with particular application to one's self, and so
receiving him, forasmuch as these things are revealed by way of a simple promise.
w " From this text the Hebrew doctors, also in Bereshit Rabba, do gather, that
the glory of the first man did not night with him, and that in the beginning of the
Sabbath his splendour was taken away from him, and he was driven out of Eden." —
(Cartioright apud Pol. Synops. Crit. in Loc.) The learned Leigh, (in his Crit.
Facr. in voc. Lun,~) citing this text, says, " Adam lodged not one night in honour,
for so are the words, if they be properly translated." He repeats the same in his
annotations on the book of Psalms, and points his reader to Ainsworth, whose version
does evidently favour this opinion, and is here faithfully cited by our author, though
without the marks of composition — " lodge a night," there being no such marks in my
copy of Ainsworth's version or annotations, printed at London 1G39. However the
word /are may signify, to abide or continue, it is certain the proper and primary signi-
fication of it is, to-night, (at, in, or with.) T must be allowed the use of this word to
express the true import of the original one. Thus we have it rendered, Gen. xxviii.
11, "tarried all night." Judg. xix. 9, 10, 13, " Tarry all night — tarry that night —
lodged all night." And since this is the proper and primary signification of the
word, it is not to be receded from, without necessity ; the which I cannot discover
here. The text seems to me to stand thus, word for word, the propriety of the tenses
also observed : " Yet Adam in honour could not night; he became like as the beasts,
they were alke." Compare the Septuagint, and the vulgar Latin; with which,
according to Pool, (in St/nop. Crit.') the Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic, do agree,
though unhappy in not observing the difference between this and the last verse of the
Psalm. Nothing can be more agreeable to the scope and context. Worldly men
boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, verse 6, as if their houses should
continue for ever, verse 1 1 ; and yet Adam, as happy as he was in paradise, con-
tinued not one night in his honour; it quickly left him; yea, he died, and in that
respect became like the beasts; compare verse 14, " Like sheep they are laid in the
grave, death shall feed upon them." And after showing that the worldly man shall
die, notwithstanding of his worldly wealth and honour, verse 19, this suitable memorial
tor Adam's sons is repeated with a very small variation, verse 20, 21, " Adam was i n
honour, but could not understand ; ho became," &c.
MODERN .DIVINITY. 183
Evan. Who can make doubt, but that the Lord had acquainted
Adam with Christ, betwixt the time of his sinning and the time of
his sacrificing, though both on one day ?
Ant. But did Adam offer sacrifice ?
Evan. Can you make any question, but that the bodies of those
beasts, whose skins went for a covering for his body, were imme-
diately before offered in sacrifice for his soul ? Surely these skins
could be none other but of beasts slain, and offered in sacrifice ; for
before Adam fell, beasts were not subject to mortality nor slaying.
And God's clothing of Adam and his wife with skins signified, that
their sin and shame was covered with Christ's righteousness. And,
questionless, the Lord had taught him, that his sacrifice did signify
his acknowledgment of his sin, and that he looked for the seed of
the woman, promised to be slain in the evening of the world,
thereby to appease the wrath of God for his offence ; the which, un-
doubtedly, he acquainted his sons Cain and Abel with, when he
taught them also to offer sacrifice.
Ant. But how doth it appear that this his sacrificing was the very
same day that he sinned ?
Evan. It is said, John vii. 3, concerning Christ, " That they
sought to take him, yet no man laid hands on him, because his
hour was not yet come ;" but after that, when the time of his suf-
fering was at hand, he himself said, John xii. 23, " The hour is
come ;" which day is expressly set down by the Evangelist Mark to
be the sixth day, and ninth hour of that day, when "Christ through
the eternal Spirit offered up himself without spot to God," Mark
xv. 34, 42. Now, if you compare this with Exod. xii. 6 ; you shall
find that the paschal lamb, a most lively type of Christ was offered
the very same day and hour, even the sixth day, and ninth hour of
the day, which was at three of the clock in the afternoon : and the
Scripture testifies, that Adam was created the very same sixth day;
and gives us ground to think that he sinned the same day. And do
not the before alleged Scriptures afford us warrant to believe that
it was the very same hour of that day, Gen. i. 26 ; when Christ
entered mystically and typically upon the work of redemption, in
being offered as a sacrifice for Adam's sin ? x And surely we may
x That the promise was given the same day that Adam sinned, was evinced before:
and from the history, Gen. iii. and the nature of the thing itself, one may reasonably
conclude, that the sacrifices were annexed to the promise. And since the hour of
Christ's death was all along the time of the evening sacrifice, it is very natural to
reckon that it was also the hour of the first sacrifice ; even as the place on which the
temple stood was at first designed by an extraordinory sacrifice on that spot, 1 Chron.
xx. 18 — 28. and xxii, 1, "At three o'clock in the afternoon, Christ yielded up the
190 THE MARROW OF
suppose, that the covenant (as you heard) being broken between
God and Adam, justice would not have admitted of one hour's
respite, before it had proceeded to execution, to the destruction
both of Adam and the whole creation, had not Christ, at that very
time, stood as the ram (or rather the lamb) in the bush, and
stepped in to perform the work of the covenant. And hence I
conceive it is, that Saint?/ John calls him the " Lamb slain" from
the beginning of the world, z Rev. xiii. 8. For as the first state
of creation was confirmed by the covenant which God made with
man, and all creatures were to be upheld by means of observing the
law and condition of that covenant ; so that covenant being broken
by man, the world should have come to ruin, had it not been as it
were created anew, and upheld by the covenant of grace in Christ.
Ant. Then, sir, you do think that Adam was saved ?
Evan. The Hebrew doctors hold that Adam was a repentant sin-
ner, and say, that he was by wisdom (that is to say by faith in
Christ,) brought out of his fall ; yea, and the Church of God doth
hold, and that for necessary causes, that he was saved by the death
of Christ ; yea, says Mr. Vaughan, it is certain he believed the pro-
mise concerning Christ, in whose commemoration he offered con-
tinual sacrifice ; and in the assurance thereof he named his wife
Hevah, that is to say, life, a and he called his son Seth, settled, or
persuaded in Christ.
Ghost, (Mark xv. 34.) the very time when Adam had received the promise of this his
passion for his redemption." — Liylitfoot on Acts ii. I .
y This word might well have been spared here ; notwithstanding that we so read in
the title of the hook of the Revelation in our English Bibles ; and in like manner, in
the titles of other books of the Testament, St. (J., e. Saint) Matthew, St. Luke, &c. ;
it is evident, there is not such a word to be found in the titles of these books in the
original Greek : and the Dutch translators have justly discarded it out of their trans-
lations. If it is to be retained, because John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, &c, were,
without controversy, saints, why not on the same grounnd, Saint Moses, Saint Aaron,
(expressly called " the Saint of the Lord ?" Psalm cvi. 16.) &c. No reason can
he given of the difference made in this point, but that it pleased Antichrist to cano-
nize these New Testament saints, but not the Old Testament ones. Canonizing is an
act or sentence of the Pope, decreeing religious worship aud honours to such men or
women departed, as he sees meet to confer the honour of saintship on. These honours
are seven, and the first of them is, " That they are inrolled in the catalogue of saints,
and must be accounted and called saints by all." — Billarmin Disp. torn. 1. Col. 1496.
z The benefits thereof (viz, of Christ's redemption) " were communicated unto the
elect from the beginning of the world in and by those promises, types, and sacrifices,
wherein he was revealed, and signified to be the Seed of the woman which should
bruise the serpent's head, and the Lamb slain from the banning of the world." —
West. Confess, chap. 8. art. 6.
a So the Septuagint expounds it. Others, an enlivener, not doubting but Adam,
in giving her this name, had the promised life-giving Seed, our Lord Jesus Christ,
particularly in view, amongst the all living she was to be mother of.
MODERN DIVINITY. 191
Ant. Well, I am peasuaded that Adam did understand this seed
of the woman to be meant of Christ.
Evan. Assure yourself, that not only Adam, but all the rest of
the godly fathers did so understand it, as is manifest in the Thar-
gum, or Chaldee Bible, which is the ancient translation of Jerusa-
lem, has it thus: "Between thy son and her son :" adding further
by way of comment, " So long, serpent, as the woman's children
keep the law, they kill thee ! and when they cease to do so, thou
stingest them in the heel, and hast power to hurt them much ; but
whereas for their harm there is a sure remedy, for thee there is
none ; for in the last days they shall crush thee all to pieces, by
means of Christ their king." And this was it which did support
and uphold their faith until the time of Abraham.
§ 2. Ant. What followed then ?
Evan. Why, then, the promise was turned into a covenant with
Abraham and his seed, and oftentimes repeated, that in his seed all
nations should be blessed, b (Gen. xii. 3 ; xviii. 18 ; and xxii. 18.)
which promise and covenant was the very voice itself of the gospel,
it being a true testimony of Jesus Christ; as the apostle Paul
beareth witness, saying, the Scripture foreseeing that God would
justify the Gentiles through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, (Gal. iii. 8.) saying, " In thee shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed." And the better to confirm Abraham's faith in this
promise of Christ, it is said, (Gen. xiv. 19,) that Melchisedec came forth
and met him, and blessed him. Now, says the apostle, (Ileb. vii. 1 — 3,
and vi. 20,) " This Melchisedec was a priest of the most high God,
and king of righteousness, and king of peace, without father and
without mother, and so like unto the Son of God, who is a priest
for ever, after the order of Melchisedec ;" and both king of righte-
b The ancient promise given to Adam was the first gospel, the covenant of grace ;
for man, by his fall, " having made himself incapable of life by the covenant of works,
the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant jof grace,''
Gen. iii. 15. — IVestm. Confess, chap. 7, art. 3. When that promise or covenant, in
which the persons it respected were not expressly designed, was renewed, Abraham
and his seed were designed exprsssly therein ; and so it became a covenant with Abra-
ham and his seed. And the promise being still the same as to the substance of it,
was often repeated, and in the repitition more fully and clearly opened. So Jesus
Christ, revealed to Adam only as the seed of the woman, was thereafter revealed to
Abraham as Abraham's own seed ; and thus was it believed and embraced unto salva-
tion in the various revelations thereof. " God did seek Adam again, call upon him,
rebuke his sin, convict him of the same; and, in the end, made unto him a most joy-
ful promise, viz. that the seed of the woman should break down the serpent's head;
that is, he should destroy the works of the devil ; which promise, as it was repeated,
and made more clear from time to time, so was it embraced with joy, and may con-
192 THE MARROW OF
ousness and king of peace, ( Jer. xxiii. 6 ; Isa. ix. 6) ; yea, and
without father as touching his manhood, and without mother as
touching his godhead. Whereby we are given to understand, that
it was the purpose of God that Melchisedec should in these particu-
lars, resemble the person and office of Jesus Christ the Son of God ;
and so, by God's own appointment, be a type of him to Abraham, to
ratify and confirm the promise made to him and his seed, in respect
of the eternal covenant, c namely, that he and his believing seed
should be so blessed in Christ, as Melchisedec had blessed him. d
Nay, let me tell you more, some have thought it most probable, yea,
and have said, if we search out this truth without partiality, we
shall find that this Melchisedec, which appeared unto Abraham, was
none other than the Son of God, manifest by a special dispensation
and privilege unto Abraham in the flesh, who is therefore said to
have " seen his day and rejoiced," e John viii. 56. Moreover, in Gen.
xv. we read that the Lord did again confirm this covenant with
Abraham ; for when Abraham had divided the beasts, God came
between the parts like a smoking furnace and a burning lamp,
which,/ as some have thought, did primarily typify the torment and
rending of Christ ; and the furnace and fiery lamp did typify the
wrath of God running between, and yet did not consume the rent
and torn nature. And the blood of circumcision did typify the
blood of Christ; g and the resolved sacrificing of Isaac on Mount
Moriah, by God's appointment, did prefigure aud foreshow, that by
the offering up of Christ, the promised seed, in the very same place
all nations should be saved. Now, this covenant thus made and con-
firmed with Abraham, was renewed with Isaac, (Gen. xxvi. 4,)
stantly {i. e. most stedfastly) be received of all the faithful, from Adam to Noe, and
from Noe to Abraham, from Abraham to David, and so forth to the incarnation of
Christ Jesus." — Old Confess, art. 4.
c That passed betwixt the Father and the Son from everlasting.
d Melchisedec was unto Abraham a type, to confirm him in the faith, that he and
bis believing seed should be as really blessed in Christ, as he was by Melchisedec.
e This seems to me to be a more than groundless opinion, as being inconsistent with
the Scripture account of Melchisedec, Gen. xiv. 18; Heb. vii. 1 — 4; howbeit it wants
no patrons among the learned; the declaring of which is no just ground to fix it on
our author, especially after his speaking so plainly of Christ and Melchisedec as two
different persons a little before. The text, (John viii. 56,) alleged by the patrons of
that opinion, makes nothing for their purpose: " for all (we mean the faithful fathers
under the law) did see (viz. by faith) the joyful day of Christ Jesus, and did rejoice."
Old Confess, art. 4.
f Namely, the passing of the furnace and burning Ian lp between the pieces.
g Heb. ix. 2'2, " And almost all things are by the law purged with blood : and
without shedding of blood is no remission." Compare Gen. xvii. 14, " The uncir-
cumciscd man-child shall be cut off from his people : he hath broken my covenant."
MODEEN DIVINITY. 193
and made known unto Jesns Christ himself; for that man which
wrestled with Jacob was none other but the man Christ Jesus; for
himself said, that Jacob should be called Israel, a wrestler and pre-
vailer with God ; and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, be-
cause he had " seen God face to face." Gen. xxxii. 28, 30. And
Jacob left it by his last will unto his children in these words, " The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between
his feet, till Shiloh come," Gen. xlix. 10; that is to say, of Judah
shall kings come one after another, and many in number, till at last
the Lord Jesus come, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords ; or,
as the Targum of Jerusalem and Onkelos do translate it, until Christ
the anointed come.
Nom. But, sir, are you sure that this promised seed was meant of
Christ ?
Evan. The apostle puts that out of doubt, Gal. iii. 16, saying,
" Now unto Abraham and to his seed were these promises made, h
He says not — and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and thy seed
which is Christ." i And so no doubt but these godly patriarchs did
understand it. w
Ant. But, sir, the great promise that was made to them, as I con-
ceive, and which they seemed to have most regard to, was the land
of Canaan.
Evan. There is no doubt but these godly patriarchs did see their
heavenly inheritance (by Christ) through the promise of the land of
Canaan, as the apostle testifies of Abraham, (Heb. xi. 9, 10,) say-
ing, " He sojourned in a strange country, and looked for a city hav-
ing foundations, whose builder is God." " "Whereby it is evident,"
says Calvin, (Instit. p. 204,) " that the height and eminency of
Abraham's faith was the looking for an everlasting life in heaven."
The like testimony he gives of Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, " All
these died in the faith, j Heb. xi. 13; implying that they did
not expect to receive the fruit of the promise till after death. And,
therefore, in all their travels they had before their eyes the blessed-
ness of the life to come ; and which caused old Jacob to say at his
h Namely of the promises of the everlasting inheritance, typifyed by the land of Ca-
naan : the which promises see Gen. xii, 7 ; and xiii. 15.
i That is, Christ mystical, Christ and the Church, the head and the members ; vet
so as the dignity of the head being still reserved — he is to be understood here prim-
arily, which is sufficient for our author's purposes; and his members secondarily only.
j That these three, together with Abraham, are here meant by the apostle, and
not these mentioned in the first seven verses of the chapter, if it is considered, that
of them he spnke last, vers. 9, II. To none before them was the promise of Canaan
given ; and they were the persons who had opportunity to have returned to the coun-
try whence they came out, ver. 15.
194 THE MARROW OF
death, " Lord, I have waited for thy salvation," Gen. xlix. 18.
The which speech the Chaldee paraphrase expounds thus, " Our fa-
ther Jacob said not, I expect the salvation of Gideon, son of Joash,
which is a temporal salvation, nor the salvation of Saiuson, son of
Manoah, which is a transitory salvation, hut the salvation of Christ
the Son of David, who shall come, and bring unto himself the sons
of Israel, whose salvation my soul desireth." And so you see that
this covenant, made with Abraham in Christ, was the comfort and
support of these and the rest of the godly fathers, until their de-
parture out of Egypt.
Ant. And what followed then ?
Evan. Why, then, Christ Jesus was most clearly manifested unto
them in the passover lamb; for, as that lamb was to be without spot
or blemish, (Exod. xii. 5.) even so was Christ, (1 Pet. i. 19.) And
as that lamb was taken up the tenth day of the first new moon in
March, even so on the very same day of the same month came Christ
to Jerusalem to suffer his passion. And as that lamb was killed on
the fourteenth day at even, just then, on the same day, and at the
same hour, did Christ give up the ghost ; and as the blood of that
lamb was to be sprinkled on the Israelites' doors, (Exod. xii. 7-)
even so is the blood of Christ sprinkled on believers' hearts by faith.
1 Pet. i. 2. And their deliverance out of Egypt was a figure of
their redemption by Christ, k their passiug through the Red Sea
was a type of baptism, I when Christ should come in the flesh, and
their manna in the wilderness, and water out of the rock, did resem-
ble the sacrament of the Lord's supper ; and hence it is that the
apostle says, (1 Cor. x. 2 — 4.) " They did all eat the same spiritual
meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of
k That is, the deliverance of the Israelites oat of Egypt was a figure of the redemp-
tion of believers by Christ.
I Not that it prefigured or represented baptism as a proper and prophetical type there-
of, though some orthodox divines seem to be of that mind ; but that (as the author
expresses himself, in the case of the manna and the water out of the rock) it resem-
bled baptism, being a like figure (or type) thereunto, as the apostle Peter determines,
concerning Noah's ark with the waters of the deluge, (1 Pet. iii. 21.) even as the
printer's types are types of the letters impressed on the paper, both signifying one and
the same word. For the ancient church is expressly said to have been " baptized in
the sea," (1 Cor. x. 1, 2.) and as the rock, with the waters flowing from it, did not
signify the Lord's Supper, but the thing signified by that New Testament Sacrament,
namely, Christ, (ver. 4.) so their baptism in the sea did not signify our baptism itself,
but the thing represented thereby. And thus it was a type or figure answering to and
resembling the baptism of the New Testament church; the one being an extraordinary
sacrament of the Old Testament, and the other an ordinary sacrament of the New,
both representing the same thing.
MODEEN DIVINITY. 195
that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ."
And when they were come to Mount Sinai, the Lord delivered the
ten commandments unto them.
§ 3. Ant. But whether were the ten commandments, as they were
delivered to them on Mount Sinai, the covenant of works or no ?
Evan. They were delivered to them as the covenant of works, m
Nom. But, by your favour, sir, you know that these people were
the posterity of Abraham, and therefore under that covenant of
grace which God made with their father ; and therefore I do not
think that they were delivered to them as the covenant of works ;
for you know the Lord never delivers the covenant of works to any
that are under the covenant of grace.
Evan. Indeed it is true, the Lord did manifest so much love to
the body of this nation, that all the natural seed of Abraham were
externally, and by profession under the covenant of grace made
with their father Abraham ; though, it is to be feared, many of
m As to this point, there are different sentiments among orthodox divines ; though
all of them do not agree, that the way of salvation was the same under the Old and
New Testament, and that the Sinai covenant, whatever it was, carried no prejudice to
the promise made unto Abraham, and the way of salvation therein revealed, but served
to lead men to Jesus Christ. Our Author is far from being singular in this decision of
this question. I adduce only the testimonies of three late learned writers. " That
God made such a covenant (viz. the covenant of works) with our first parents, is con-
firmed by several parts of Scripture, Hos. vi. 7 Gal. iv. 24." — Willisons Sacr.
Cat. p. 3. The words of the text last quoted are these : " For these are the two
covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage." Hence it
appears, that in the judgment of this author, the covenant from Mount Sinai was the
covenant of works, otherwise there is no shadow of reason from this text for what it is
adduced to prove. The Rev. Messrs Flint and M'Claren, in their elaborate and sea-
sonable treatises against Professor Simpson's doctrine, (for which I make no question
but their names will be in honour with posterity,) speak to the same purpose. The
former having adduced the forecited text, Gal. iv. 24. says, Jam dua fozdera, Sfc.
that is, " Now here are two covenants mentioned, the first the legal one, by sin ren-
dered ineffectual, entered into with Adam, and now again promulgate." (Exam.
Doctr. D. Job. Simp. p. 125.) And afterwards, speaking of the law of works, he
adds, Atque hoc est Mud fcedus, Sfc. that is, " And this is that covenant promulgate
on Mount Sinai, which is called one of the covenants," Gal. iv. 24. Ibid. p. 131.
The words of the latter, speaking of the covenant of works, are these, " Yea, it is ex-
pressly called a covenant," Hos. vi. and Gal. iv. And Mr. Gillespie proves strongly,
that Gal. iv. is understood of the covenant of works and grace. See his Ark of the
Testament, part 1. chap. 5. p. 180. The New scheme examined, p. 176. The de-
livering of the ten commandments on Mount Sinai as the covenant of works, neces-
sarily includes in it the delivering of them as a perfect rule of righteousness; foras-
much as that covenant did always contain in it such a rule, the true knowledge of
which the Israelites were at that time in great want of, as our author afterwards
teaches.
196 THE MARROW OF
them were still under the covenant of works made with their father
Adam, n
Norn. But, sir, you know, in the preface to the ten commandments
the Lord calls himself by the name of their God in general ; and
therefore it should seem that they were all of them the people of
God. o
Evan. That is nothing to the purpose : p for many wicked and
n The strength of the objection in the preceding paragraph lies here, namely, that at
this rate, the same persons, at one and the same time, were both under the covenant of
works, and under the covenant of grace, which is absurd. Answ. The unbelieving
Israelites were under the covenant of grace made with their father Abraham extenally
and by profession, in respect of their visible .church state ; but under the covenant of
works made with their father Adam internally and really, in respect of the state of their
souls before the Lord. Herein there is no absurdity ; for to this day many in the visible
church are thus, in these different respects, under both covenants. Farther, as to be-
lievers among them, they were internally and really, as well as externally, under
the covenant of grace; and only externally under the covenant of works, and that,
not as a covenant co-ordinate with, but subordinate and subservient unto, the covenant
of grace : and in this there is no more inconsistency than in the former.
o As delivered from the covenant of works, by virtue of the covenant of grace.
p That will not, indeed, prove them all to have been the people of God in the sense
before given, for the reason here adduced by our author.
Howbeit, the preface to the ten commandments deserves a particular notice, in the
matter, of the Sinai transaction, Exod. xx. 2, " 1 am the Lord thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Hence it is evi-
dent to me, that the covenant of grace was delivered to the Israelites on Mount Sinai.
For the Son of God, the messenger of the covenant of grace, spoke these words to a
select people, the natural seed of Abraham, typical of his whole spiritual seed. He
avoucheth himself to be their God ; namely, in virtue of the promise, or covenant
made with Abraham, Gen. xvii. 7, " I will establish my covenant — to be a God unto
thee, and to thy seed after thee : and their God, which brought them out of the land
of Egypt ; according to the promise made to Abraham at the most solemn renewal of
the covenant with him, Gen. xv. 14, " Afterward shall they come out with great sub-
stance." And he first declares himself their God, and then requires obedience, ac-
cording to the manner of the covenant with Abraham, Gen. xvii. 1, " 1 am the Al-
mighty God (i e. in the language of the covenant, The almighty God to thee, to make
thee for ever blessed through the promised seed) walk thou before me, and be thou
perfect."
But that the covenant of works was also, for special ends, repeated and delivered to
the Israelites on Mount Sinai, I cannot refuse, 1. Because of the apostle's testimony,
Gal. iv. 24, " These are the two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai, which gen-
dereth to bondage." For the children of this Sinai covenant the apostle here treats
of, are excluded from the eternal inheritance, as Ishmael was from Canaan, the type of
it, ver. 30, " Cast out the bond-woman and her son ; for the son of the bond-woman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman ;" but this could never be said of the
children of the covenant of grace under any dispensation, though both the law and co-
venant from Sinai itself, and its children, were even before the coming of Christ under
a sentence of exclusion, to be execute on them respectively in due time. 2. The Da-
modern divinity. 197
ungodly men, being in the visible church, and under the external
covenant, are called the chosen of God, and the people of God,
though they be not so. In like manner were many of these
ture of the covenant of works is most expressly in the New Testament brought in,
propounded, and explained, from the Mosaical dispensation. The commands of it
from Exod. xx. by our blessed Saviour, Matth. xix. 17 — 19, " If thou wilt enter into
life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which ? Jesus said, Thou shalt
do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery," &c. The promise of it, Rom. x. 5,
" Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doth these
things shall live by them." The commands and promise of it together, see Luke x.
25 — 28. The terrible sanction of it, Gal. iii. 10, " For it is written, (viz. Deut.
xxvii. 26,) Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them." 3. To this may be added the opposition betwixt
the law and grace so frequently inculcated in the New Testament, especially in Paul's
epistles. See one text for all, Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith, but the man
that doeth them shall live in them." 4. The law from Mount Sinai was a covenant,
Gal. iv. 24, " These are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai ;" and such
a covenant as had a semblance of disannuling the covenant of grace, Gal. iii. 17,
" The covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was 430 years
after, cannot disannul ;" yea, such a one as did, in his own nature, bear a method of
obtaining the inheritance, >o far different from that of the promise, that it was incon-
sistent with it ; " For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise,"
Gal. iii. 18, wherefore the covenant of the law from Mount Sinai could not be
the covenant of grace, unless one will make this last not only a covenant seeming
to destroy itself, but really inconsistent ; but it was the covenant of works, which indeed
had such a semblance, anil in its own nature did bear such a method as before noted ;
howbeit, as Ainswoith says, " The covenant of the law now given could not disannul
the covenant of grace," Gal. iii. 17. — Annot. on Exod. xix. I.
Wherefore I conceive the two covenants to have been both delivered on Mount
Sinai to the Israelites. First, The covenant of grace made with Abraham, con-
tained in the preface, repeated and promulgate there unto Israel, to be believed and
embraced by faith, that they might be saved ; to which were annexed the ten com-
mandments, given by the Mediator Christ, the head of the covenant, as a rule of life
to his covenant people. Secondly, The covenant of works made with Adam, con-
tained in the same ten commands, delivered with thunderings and lightnings, the
meaning of which was afterwards cleared by Moses, describing the righteousness of the
law aud sanction thereof, repeated and promulgate to the Israelites there, as the ori-
ginal perfect rule of righteousness, to be obeyed ; and yet were they no more bound
hereby to seek righteousness by the law than the young man was by our Saviour's
saying to him, Mat. xix. 17, 18, '' If thou wilt enter into life, keep the command-
ments — Thou shalt do no murdur," &c. The latter was a repetition of the former.
Thus there is no confounding of the two covenants of grace and works ; but the
latter was added to the former as subservient unto it, to turn their eyes towards the
promise, or covenant of grace: "God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore
then serveth the law ? it was added, because of transgressions, till the Seed should
come," Gal. iii. lo, 19. So it was unto the promise given to Abraham, that this
subservient covenant was added ; and that promise we have found in the preface to
the ten commands. To it, then, was the subservient covenant, according to the
apostle, added, put, or set to, as the word properly signifies. So that it was no part
198 THE MARROW OF
Israelites called the people of God, though indeed they were not so.
Nam. But, sir, was the same covenant of works made with them
that was made with Adam ?
Evan. For the general substance of the duty, the law delivered on
Mount Sinai, and formerly engraven in man's heart, was one and
the same ; so that at Mount Sinai the Lord delivered no new thing,
only it came more gently to Adam before his fall, but after his fall
came thunder with it.
Nom. Ay, sir, but yourself said, the ten commandments, as they
were written in Adam's heart, were but the matter of the covenant
of works, and not the covenant itself, till the form was annexed to
them, that is to say, till God and man were thereupon agreed : now
we do not find that God and these people did agree upon such terms
at mount Sinai.
Evan. No ; q say you so ? do you not remember that the Lord
of the covenant of grace, the which was entire to the fathers, before the time that it
was set to it; and yet is, to the New Testament church, after that it is taken away
from it: for, says the apostle, " It was added till the Seed should come." Hence it
appears, that the covenant of grace wa9, both in itself, and in God's intention, the
principal part of the Sinai transaction : nevertheless the covenant of works was the
most conspicuous part of it, and lay most open to the view of the people.
According to this account of the Sinai transaction, the ten commands, there
delivered, must come under a twofold notion or consideration; namely, as the law of
Christ, and as the law of works : and this is not strange, if it is considered, that they
were twice written on tables of stone, by the Lord himself, — the first tables the
work of God, Exod. xxxii. 16, which were broken in pieces, verse 19, called the
tables of the covenant, Deut. ix. 11, 15, — the second tables the work of Mose9, the
typical Mediator, Exod. xxxiv. 1 ; deposited at first (it would seem) in the tabernacle,
mentioned chap, xxxiii. 7, afterward, at the rearing of the tabernacle with all its fur-
niture, laid up in the ark within the tabernacle, chap. xxv. 16 ; and whether or not
some such thing is intimated, by the double accentuation of the decalogue, let the
learned determine ; but to the ocular inspection it is evident, that the preface to the
ten commands, Exod. xx. 2, and Deut. v. 6, stands in the original, both as a part of
a sentence joined to the first command, and also as an entire sentence separated from
it, and shut up by itself.
Upon the whole, one may compare with this the first promulgation of the covenant
of grace, by the messenger of the covenant in paradise, Gen. iii. 15, and the flaming
sword placed there by the same hand, " turning every way to keep the way of the
Tree of Life."
q Here there is a large aJdition in the 9th edition of this book, London, 1699.
It well deserves a place, and is as follows; " I do not say, God made the covenant of
works with them, that they might obtain life and salvation thereby ; no, the law
was become weak through the flesh, as to any such purpose, Rom. viii. 3. But he
repeated, or gave a new edition of the law, and that as a covenant of works, for their
humbling and conviction; and so do his ministers preach the law to unconverted sin-
ners still, that they who " desire to be under the law may hear what the law says,
Gal. iv. 21. And as to what you say of their not agreeing to this covenant, I pray
MODERN DIVINITY. 199
consented and agreed, when he said, (Lev. xviii. 5.) " Ye shall
therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do,
he shall live in them ;" and in Dent, xxvii. 26, when he said,
" Cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this law, to do
them ?" And do you not remember that the people consented,
(Exod. xix. 8.) and agreed, when they said, " All that the Lord hath
spoken we will do ?" And doth not the apostle Paul give evidence
that these words were the form of the covenant of works, when he
says, (Rom. x. 5.) " Moses describeth the righteousness which is of
the law, that the man that doeth these things shall live in them ;"
and when he says, (Gal. iii. 10.) " For it is written, Cursed is every
one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them." r And in Deut. iv. 13, Moses in express terms calls it
a covenant, saying, *' And he declared unto you his covenant, which
he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments, and
he wrote them upon tables of stone." Now, this was not the co-
venant of grace ; for Moses afterwards, (Deut. v. 3.) speaking of
this covenant, says, " God made not this covenant with your fathers,
but with you ;" and by " fathers" all the patriarchs unto Adam may
be meant, (says Mr. Ainsworth,) who had the promise of the co-
venant of Christ, s Therefore, if it had been the covenant of grace,
take notice, that the covenant of works was made with Adam, not for himself only,
but as he was a public person representing all his posterity, and so that covenant was
made with the whole nature of man in him, as appears by Adam's sin and curse
coming upon all, Rom. v. 12, &c. ; Gai. iii. 10. Hence all men are born under that
covenant, whether they agree to it or no ; though indeed there is by nature such a
proneness in all to desire to be under that covenant, and to work for life, that if
natural men's consent were asked, they would readily (though ignorantly) take upon
them to do all that the Lord requireth ; for do you not remember," &c.
r That the conditional promise, Lev. xviii. 5. (to which agrees Exod. xix. 8, and
the dreadful threatening, Deut. xxvii. 26.) were both given to the Israelites, as well
as the ten commands, is beyond question ; and that according to the apostle, Rom. x.
5. Gal. iii. 10, they were the form of the covenant of works, is as evident as the re-
peating of the words, and expounding them so, can make it. How then one can refuse
the covenant of works to have been given to the Israelites, I cannot see. Mark the
Westminster Confession upon the head of the covenant of works : " The first cove-
nant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam,
and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience." And
this account of the being and nature of that covenant is there proven from these very
texts among others, Rom. x. 5. Gal. iii. 10. chap. 7. art. 2.
s " But the covenant of the law (adds he) came after, as the apostle observeth,
Gen. iii. 17 They had a greater benefit than their fathers ; for though the law could
not give them life, yet is was a school master unto (i. e.) to bring them unto Christ,
Gal. iii. 21 — 24." Unsworth on Deut. v. 3.
200 the xabrow
he would have said, God did make this covenant with them, rather
than that he did not. t
Norn. And do any of our godly and modern writers agree with
you on this point?
Evan. Yes, indeed. Polanus says, " The covenant of works is
that in which God promiseth everlasting life unto a man that in all
respects performeth perfect obebience to the law of works, adding
thereunto threatenings of eternal death, if he shall not perform per-
fect obedience thereto. God made this covenant in the beginning
with the first man Adam, whilst he was in the first estate of integ-
rity : the same covenant God did repeat and make again by Moses
with the people of Israel." And Dr. Preston, on the New Cove-
nant, (p. 317-) says, "The covenant of works runs iu these terms,
" Do this aud thou shalt live, and I will be thy God." This was
the covenant which was made with Adam, and the covenant that is
expressed by Moses in the moral law." And Mr. Pemble (Yind.
Fid. p. 152.) says, " By the covenant of works we understand what
we call in one word, "the law," namely, that means of bringing man
to salvation, which is by perfect obedience unto the will of God.
Hereof there are also two several administrations : the first is with
Adam before his fall, when immortality and happiness was promised
to man, and confirmed by an external symbol of the tree of life,
upon condition that he continued obedient to God, as well in all
other things, as in that particular commandment of not eating of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The second administration
of this covenant was the renewing thereof with the Israelites at
Mount Sinai : where, after the light of nature began to grow darker
and corruption had in time worn out the characters of religion aud
virtue first graven in man's heart, u God revived the law by a com-
pendious and full declaration of all duties required of man towards
t The transaction at Sinai or Horeb (for they are but one mountain) was a mixed
dispensation ; there was the promise or covenant of grace, and also the law ; the one
a covenant to be believed, the otber a covenant to be done, and thus the apostle states
the difference betwixt these two, Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith, but the
man that doeth them shall live in them. As to the former, viz. the covenant to be
believed it was given to their fathers as well as to them. Of the latter, viz. the cove-
nant to be done. Moses speaks expressly, Deut. iv. 12, 13. '* The Lord spake unto
you out of the midst of the fire, and he declared unto you his covenant, which he com-
manded you to perform (<>r do) even ten commandments." And chap. v. 3, he tells
the people no less expressly, that " The Lord made not this covenant with their
fathers. "
it That is, had worn them out, in the same measure and degree as the light of na-
ture was darkened ; but neither the one nor the other was ever fully done, Rom. ii.
14, 15.
MODERN DIVINITY.
201
God or his neighbour, expressed in the decalogue ; according to the
tenor of which law God entered into covenant with the Israelites,
promising to be their God in bestowing upon them all blessings
of life and happiness, upon condition that they would be his peo-
ple, obeying all things that he had commanded; which condi-
tion they accepted of, promising an absolute obedience, (Exod.
xix. 8.) "All thiugs which the Lord hath said we will do;"
and also submitting themselves to all punishment in case they
disobeyed, saying 'Amen' to the curse of the law, 'cursed is
every one that confirmeth not all the words of the law; and all the
people shall say Amen.' " And Mr. "Walker on the covenant,
(p. 128.) says, that " the first part of the covenant, which God made
with Israel at Horeb, was nothing else but a renewing of the old
covenant of works v which God made with Adam in paradise." And
it is generally laid down by our divines, that we are by Christ de-
livered from the law as it is a covenant, w
Norn. But, sir, were the children of Israel at this time better
able to perform the condition of the covenant of works, than either
Adam or any of the old patriarchs were, that God renewed it now
with them, rather than before ?
Evan. No, indeed ; God did not renew it with them now, and not
before, because they were better able to keep it, but because they
had more need to be made acquainted what the covenant of works
is, than those before. For though it is true the ten commandments,
which were at first perfectly written in Adam's heart, were much
obliterated x by his fall, yet some impressions and relics thereof still
remained ; y and Adam himself was very sensible of his fall, and
the rest of the fathers were holpen by tradition ; z and, says
v Wherein 1 differ from this learned author as to this point, and for what reasons
mav be seen, p. 196, note p.
w But not as it is a rule of life, which is the other member of that distinction.
x Both in the heart of Adam himself, and of his descendants in the first ages of the world.
y Both with him and them.
z The doctrine of the fall, with whatsoever other doctrine was necessary to salva-
tion, was handed down from Adam, the fathers communicating the same to their chil-
dren and children's children. There were but eleven patriarchs before the flood; 1.
Adam, 2. Seth, 3. Enos, 4. Cainan, 5. Mahalaleel, 6. Jared, 7. Enoch, 8. Methuselah,
9. Lamech, JO. Noah, 1 1 . Shem. Adam having lived 930 years, Gen. v. 5, wag known
to Lamech, Noah's father, with whom he lived 66 years, and much longer with
the rest of the fathers before him ; so that Lamech, and those before him, might have
the doctrine from Adam's own mouth. Methuselah lived with Adam 243 years, and
with Shem 98 years before the deluge. See Gen. v. And what Shem (who after the
deluge, lived 502 years, Gen. xi. 10, 11,) had learned from Methuselah, he had oc-
casion to teach Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham,
Isaac, Gen. xxi. 5, and Jacob, to whose 51st year he (viz. Shem) reached, Gen. xi.
Vol. VII. n
202 THE MARROW OF
Cameron, " God did speak to the patriarchs from heaven, yea, and
he spake unto them hy his angels :"« but now, by this time, sin
had almost obliterated and defaced the impressions of the law writ-
ten in their hearts ; b and by their being so long in Egypt, they
were so corrupted, that the instructions and ordinances of their
fathers were almost worn out of mind ; and their fall in Adam was
almost forgotten, as the apostle testifies, Rom. v. 13, 14. saying,
"Before the time of the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not
imputed when there is no law." Nay, in that long course of time
betwixt Adam and Moses, men had forgotten what was sin ; so,
although God had made a promise of blessing to Abraham, and to all
his seed, that would plead interest in it, c yet these people at this
time were proud and secure, and heedless of their estate ; and though
" sin was in them, and death reigned over them," yet they being
without a law to evidence this sin and death unto ther consciences, d
they did not impute it unto themselves, they would not own it, nor
charge themselves with it ; and so by consequence found no need
of pleading the promise made to Abraham ; e Rom. v. 20. therefore,
" the law entered," that Adam's offeuce and their own actual trans-
gression might abound, so that now the Lord saw it needful, that
there should be a new edition and publication of the covenant of
works, the sooner to compel the elect unbelievers to come to Christ
the promised seed, and that the grace of God in Christ to the elect
believers might appear the more exceeding glorious. So that you
see the Lord's intention therein was, that they, by looking upon
this covenant, might be put in mind what was their duty of old,
when they were in Adam's loins; yea and what was their duty still,
if they would stand to that covenant, and so go the old and natural
10; and xxi. 5 ; and xxv. 26, compared, (Vid. Bail. Op. Hist. Chrou. p. 2, 3.)
Thus one may perceive, how the nature of the law and covenant of works given to
Adam, might be far better known to them, than to the Israelites after their long bon-
dage in Egypt.
a That is, and besides all this, God spake to the patriarchs immediately and by
angels. But neither of these do we find during the time of the bondage in Egypt
until the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the bush, and ordered him to go and
bring the people out of Egypt, Exod. iii.
b The remaining impressions of the law on the hearts of the Israelites.
c By faith ; believing, embracing, and appropriating it to themselves, Heb. xi. 13 ;
Jer. iii. 4.
d Inasmuch as the remaining impressions of the law on their hearts were so weak,
that they were not sufficient for the purpose.
e By faith proponing it as their only defence, and opponing it to the demands of the
law or covenant of works, as their only plea.
MODERN DIVINITY. 2U3
way to work ; yea, and hereby they were also to see what was their
present infirmity in not doing their duty :/ that so they seeing an
impossibility of obtaining life by that way of works, first appointed
in Paradise, they might be humbled, and more heedfully mind the
promise made to their father Abraham, and hasten to lay hold on
the Messiah, or promised seed.
Nom. Then, sir, it seems that the Lord did not renew the cove-
nant of works with them, to the intent that they should obtain
eternal life by their yielding obedience to it?
Evan. No, indeed ; God never made the covenant of works with
any man since the fall, either with expectation that he should fulfil
it, g or to give him life by it; for God never appoints any thing to
an end, to the which it is utterly unsuitable and improper. Now
the law, as it is the covenant of works, is become weak and unpro-
fitable to the purpose of salvation; A and therefore God never
appointed it to man, since the fall, to that end. And besides, it is
manifest that the purpose of God, in the covenant made with
Abraham, was to give life and salvation by grace and promise ;
and therefore his purpose in renewing the covenant of works, was
not, neither could be, to give life and salvation by working; for
then there would have been contradictions in the covenants, and
instability in him that made them. Wherefore let no man imagine
that God published the covenant of works on Mount Sinai, as
though he had been mutable, and so changed his determination in
that covenant made with Abraham ; neither yet let any man sup-
pose, that God now in process of time had found out a better way
for man's salvation than he knew before; for as the covenant of
grace made with Abraham had been needless, if the covenant of
works made with Adam would have given him and his believing
seed life ; so, after the covenant of grace was once made, it was
needless to renew the covenant of works, to the end that righteous-
ness and life should be had by the observation of it. The which
will yet more evidently appear, if we consider, that the apostle,
speaking of the covenant of works as it was given on Mount Sinai,
says, " It was added because of transgressions," Gal. iii. 19. It
was not set up as a solid rule of righteousness, as it was given to
y^How far they came short of, aod could not reach unto the obedience they owed
unto God, according to the perfection of the holy law.
<7 Nor before the fall neither, properly speaking ; but the expression is agreeable to
Scripture style, Isa. v. 4, " Wherefore when I looked it should bring forth grapes,
brought it forth wild grapes?"
h Rom. viii. 3, " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh; God sending his own Son," &c.
N 2
204 THE MARROW OP
Adam in paradise, but was added or put to ; i it was not set up as a
thing in gross by itself.
Norn. Then, sir, it would seem that the covenant of works was
added to the covenant of grace, to make it more complete ?
Evan. 0, no! you are not so to understand the apostle, as though
it were added by way of ingrediency as a part of the covenant of
grace, as if that covenant had been incomplete without the covenant
of works ; for then the same covenant should have consisted of con-
tradictory materials, and so it should have overthrown itself; for,
says the apostle, " If it be by grace, then it is no more of works ;
otherwise grace is no more grace : but if it be of works, then it is
no more of grace ; otherwise work is no more work," Rom. xi. 6.
But it was added by way of subserviency and attendance, the better
to advance and make effectual the covenant of grace ; so that
although the same covenant that was made with Adam was renewed
on Mount Sinai, yet I say still, it was not for the same purpose.
For this was it that God aimed at, in making the covenant of works
with man in innocency, to have that which was his due from man :j
but God made it with the Israelites for no other end, than that man
being thereby convinced of his weakness, might flee to Christ. .So
that it was renewed only to help forward and introduce another and
a better covenant ; and so to be a manuduction unto Christ, viz. to
discover sin, to waken the conscience, and to convince them of their
own impotency, and so to drive them out of themselves to Christ.
Know it then, I beseech you, that all this while there was no other
way of life given, either in whole or in part, than the covenant of
grace. All this while God did but pursue the design of his own
grace ; and therefore was there no inconsistency either in God's will
or acts ; only such was his mercy, that he subordinated the cove-
nant of works, and made it subservient to the covenant of grace,
and so to tend to evangelical purposes.
Nom. But yet, sir, raethinks it is somewhat strange that the Lord
i It was not set up by itself as an entire rule of righteousness, to which alone they
were to look who desired righteousness and salvation, as it was in the case of upright
Adam, " For no man, since the fall, can attain to righteousness and life by the moral
law," Lar. Cat. ques. 94. But it was added to the covenant of grace, that by look-
ing at it men might see what kind of righteousness it is by which they can be justified
in the sight of God ; and that by means thereof, finding themselves destitute of that
righteousness, they might be moved to embrace the covenant of grace, in which that
righteousness is held forth to be received by faith.
;' This was the end of the work, namely, of making the covenant of works with
Adam, but not of the repeating of it at Sinai ; it was also the end or design of the
worker, namely of God, who made that covenant with Adam, to have his due from
man, and he got it from the Man Christ Jesus.
MODERN DIVINITY. 205
should put them upon doing the law, and also promise them life for
doing, and yet never intend it.
Evan. Though he did so, yet did he neither require of them that
which was unjust, nor yet dissemble with them in the promise ; for
the Lord may justly require perfect obedience at all men's hands, by
virtue of that covenant which was made with them in Adam ; and
if any man could yield perfect obedience to the law, both in doing
and suffering, he should have eternal life ; for we may not deny
(says Calvin) but that the reward of eternal salvation belongeth to
the upright obedience of the law. k But God knew well enough
that the Israelites were never able to yield such an obedience ; and
yet he saw it meet to propound eternal life to them upon these
terms ; that so he might speak to them in their own humour, as in-
deed it was meet : for they swelled with mad assurance in them-
selves, saying, " All that the Lord commandeth we will do," and be
obedient, Exod. xix. 8. Well, said the Lord, if ycu will needs be
doing, why here is a law to be kept ; and if you can fully observe
the righteousness of it, you shall be saved : sending them of pur-
pose to the law, to awaken and convince them, to sentence and
humble them, and to make them see their own folly in seeking for
life that way ; in short, to make them see the terms under which
they stood, that so they might be brought out of themselves, and
expect nothing from the law, in relation to life, but all from Christ.
For how should a man see his need of life by Christ, if he do not
first see that he is fallen from the way of life ? and how should he
understand how far he had strayed from the way of life, unless he
do first find what is that way of life ? therefore it was needful that
the Lord should deal with them after such a manner to drive them
out of themselves, and from all confidence in the works of the law ;
that so, by faith in Christ, they might obtain righteousness and life.
And just so did our Saviour also deal with that young expounder of
the law, Matth. xix. 16, who, it seems, was sick of the same disease,
" Good Master," says he, " what shall I do that I may inherit eter-
nal life ?" He doth not, says Calvin, simply ask, which way, or by
what means he should come to eternal life, but what good he should
do to get it ; whereby it appears, that he was a proud justiciary,
one that swelled in fleshly opinion that he could keep the law and
be saved by it ; therefore he is worthily sent to the law to work
himself weary, and so see need to come to Christ for rest. And
thus you see the Lord, to the former promises made to the fathers,
A That is, the perfect obedience of the law, as it is saiil, Eccl, vii. 29, " God made
man upright."
206 THE MARROW OF
added a fiery law, which he gave from Mount Sinai, in thundering
and lightning, and with a terrible voice, to the stubborn and stiff-
necked Israel ; whereby to break and tame them, and to make them
sigh and long for the promised Redeemer.
§ 4. Ant. And, sir, did the law produce this effect in them ?
Evan. Yea, indeed, it did ; as will appear if you consider, that
although, before the publishing of this covenant, they were exceed-
ing proud and confident of their own strength to do all that the
Lord would have them do ; yet when the Lord came to deal with
them as men under the covenant of works, in showiug himself a
terrible judge sitting on the throne of justice, like a mountain
burning with fire, summoning them to come before him by the sound
of a trumpet (yet not to touch the mountain without a mediator,)
Heb. xii. 19, 20, they were not able to endure the voice of words,
nor yet to abide that which was commanded, insomuch as Moses
himself did fear and quake; and they did all of them so fear,
and shake, and shiver, that their peacock-feathers were now pulled
down. This terrible show wherein God gave his law on Mount
Sinai, says Luther, did represent the use of the law: there was
in the people of Israel that came out of Egypt a singular holi-
ness ; they gloried, and said, " We are the people of God, we
will do all that the Lord commandeth." Moreover, Moses sanc-
tified them, and bade them wash their garments, and purify them-
selves, and prepare themselves against the third day : there was
not one of them but was full of holiness. The third day Moses
briugeth the people out of their tents to the mountain in the sight
of the Lord, that they might hear his voice. What followed then ?
why, when they beheld the horrible sight of the mountain smoking
and burning, the black clouds, and the lightnings flashing up and
down in this horrible darkness, and heard the sound of the trumpet
blowing long, and waxing louder and louder, they were afraid, and
standing afar off, they said not to Moses as before, " All that the
Lord commandeth we will do; but talk thou with us, and we will
hear, but let not God talk with ns lest we die." So that now they
saw that they were sinners, and had offended God ; and therefore
stood in need of a mediator to negociate peace, and entreat for re-
conciliation between God and them ; and the Lord highly approved
of their words, as you may see, (Deut. v. 28,) where Moses repeat-
ing what they had said, adds further " The Lord heard the voice of
your word, when ye spake to me, and the Lord said unto me, I have
heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken
unto thee, they have well said, all that they have spoken," viz. in
desiring a mediator. Wherefore I pray you take notice, that they
MODERN DIVINITY. 2l>7
were not commended for saying, " All that the Lord commandeth
we will do." "No," says a godly writer, "they were not praised
for any other thing, than for desiring a mediator ;" I whereupon the
Lord promised Christ unto them, even as Moses testifies, saying,
" The Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee a Prophet like unto
me, from among you, even of your brethren : unto him shall you
hearken, according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in
Horeb, in the day of the assembly, when thou saidst, " Let me hear
the voice of the Lord my God no more, nor see this great fire any
more, that I die not : and the Lord said unto me, They have well
spoken, I will raise them up a Pophet from among their brethren
like unto thee, and I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall
speak unto them all that I command him;" and to assure us that
Christ was the prophet here spoken of, he himself says unto the
Jews, John v. 46, " If you had believed Moses, you would have be-
lieved me ; for he wrote of me ;" and this was it which he wrote of
him, the apostle Peter witnesses, Acts iii. 22; and so doth the
martyr Stephen, Acts vii. 37- Thus you see, when the Lord had,
by means of the covenant of works made with Adam, humbled them,
and made them sigh for Christ the promised seed, he renewed the
promise with them, yea, and the covenant of grace made with
Abraham, m
l I see no warrant for restraining the sense of this text to their desiring of a medi-
ator. The universal term, "all that they have spoken," includes also their engaging
to receive the law at the mouth of the mediator, which is joined with that their desire,
ver. 27, " Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say ; and speak
thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear and
do." ver. 28, " And the Lord said, They have well said all that they have spoken."
But there is a palpable difference between what they spoke, (Exod. xix. 8,) and what
they spoke here, relative to their own practice. The former runs thus, " All that the
Lord hath spoken we will do;" the latter thus, " And we will hear and do;" the ori-
ginal text bears no more. The one relates to obedience only, the other to faith also,
— " We will hear," i.e. believe, Isa. lv. 3 ; John ix. 27. Hence the object of faith.
that which is to be believed, is called a report, properly a hearing, Isa. liii. 1 ; Rom.
x. 16. The former speaks much blind self-confidence ; the latter a sense of duty
and a willing mind, but with all a sense of weakness, and fear of mismanagement.
w Making a promise of Christ to them, not only as " the seed of the woman," but
as "the seed of Abraham," and yet more particularly, "as the seed of Israel: the
Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy bre-
thren," Deut. xviii. 15. And here it is to be observed, that this renewing of the pro-
mise and covenant of grace with them was immediately upon the back of the giving of
the law on mount Sinai, fur at that time was their speech which the Lord commended
as well spoken : this appears from Exod. xx. 18, 19, compared with Deut. v. 23 — 28,
and upon that speech of theirs was that renewal made, which is clear from Deut. xviii.
17, 18.
208 THE MARROW OF
Ant. I pray, sir, how doth it appear that the Lord renewed that
covenant with them ?
Evan. It plainly appears in this, that the Lord gave them by
Moses the Levitical laws, and ordained the tabernacle, the ark, and
the mercy-seat, which were all types of Christ. Moreover, (Lev.
i. 1,) " The Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the
tabernacle," n and commanded him to write the Levitical laws, and
the tabernacle ordinances; telling him withal, Exod. xxxiv. 27,
" That after the tenor of these words, he had made a covenant with
him, and with Israel." o So Moses wrote those laws, (Exod. xxiy.
4,) not in tables of stone, but in authentical book,^ says Ainsworth,
called the Book of the Covenant, which book Moses read in the
audience of the people, (Exod xxiv. 7,) and the people consented
unto it. Then Moses having before sent young men of the children
n From the mercy seat, which was within the tabernacle. The tabernacle was an
eminent type of Christ, (Heb ix. 11.) as the temple also was, John ii. 19, 21. So
this represented God's speaking in a Mediator, in Jesus Christ. Here was a change
agreeable to the people's desire on Mount Sinai. God speaks, not from a burning
mountain as before, but out of the tabernacle ; not with terrible thunderings as at
Sinai, but in a still small voice, intimated to us, and intimated by the extraordinary
smallness of one letter in the original word rendered called, as the Hebrew doctors do
account for that irregularity of writing in that word.
o Moses exceedingly feared and quaked (Heb. xxii. 21,) while he stood amongst
the rest of the Israelites at Mount Sinai during the giving of the law, Exod. xix. 25,
with chap. xx. 21. But here he is represented as Israel's federal head in this cove-
nant, he being the typical mediator; which plainly intimates the covenant of grace to
have been made with Christ, and in him with all the elect ; " I have made a covenant
with thee and with Israel," says the text. — See the first note on the preface, in the
Larger Catechism, quest. 31,
p Moses was twice on the monnt with God forty days. In the time of the second
forty days he recived the order to write, mentioned, Exod. xxxiv. 27, as appears by
comparing ver. 27, with 28. This comprehended his writings of the Levitical laws,
but not of the decalogue or ten commandments ; for these last God himself wrote
on tables of stone, ver. 28, compared with ver. 1. This peremptory divine order, Moses
no doubt did obey ; understanding it of writing in a book since he was not commanded
So, in a like case, before he went up into the Mount for the first forty days, he wrote
Levitical laws in a book called the Book of the Covenant. Exod. xxxiv. 4. 7, " And
Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. — And he took the book of the covenant and
read." Compare verse 18. This writing also comprehended Levitical laws, but not
the ten commandments. For all the words of the Lord which Moses wrote, were all
the words of the Lord which Moses told the people. And what these were, appears
from his commissiou received for that effect, chap. xx. 21, 22. "And the people
stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was; and the
Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel," &c. So all
the words were these which follow to the end of the 23d chapter.
MODERN DIVINITY. 209
of Israel, who were first-born, q and therefore priests until the time
of the Levites, to offer sacrifies of burnt-offerings and peace-offer-
ings unto the Lord, " he took the blood and sprinkled it on the peo-
ple and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath
made with you concerning these things ;" whereby they are taught,
that by virtue of blood, this covenant betwixt God and them was
confirmed, and that Christ, by his blood shed, should satisfy for their
sins ; for indeed the covenant of grace was, before the coming of
Christ, sealed by his blood in types and figures, r
§ 5. Ant. But, sir, was this every way the same covenant that
was made with Abraham ?
Evan. Surely I do believe, that reverend Bullinger spake very
truly, when he said that God gave unto these people no other re-
ligion, in nature, substance, and matter itself, differing from the
laws of their fathers ; though, for some respects, he added thereunto
many ceremonies and certain ordinances ; the which he did to keep
their minds in expectation of the coming of Christ, whom he had
promised unto them ; and to confirm them in looking for him, lest
they should wax faint. And as the Lord did thus by the ceremo-
nies, as it were, lead them by the hand to Christ ; so did he make
them a promise of the land of Canaan, and outward prosperity in it,
as a type of heaven, and eternal happiness ; so that the Lord dealt
with them as with children in their infancy and underage, leading
them on by the help of earthly things, to heavenly and spiritual,
because they were but young and tender, s and had not that mea-
sure and abundance of the Spirit which he had bestowed upon his
people now under the gospel.
Ant. And, sir, do you think that these Israelites at this time did
see Christ and salvation by him in these types and shadows ?
Evan. Yes ; there is no doubt but Moses and the rest of the be-
believers among the Jews did see Christ in them, " For," says
Tindal, " though all the sacrifices and ceremonies had a star-light of
Christ, yet some of them had the light of the broad day, a little be-
fore the sun rising;" and did express him, with the circumstances
and virtue of his death, as plainly as if his passion had been acted
upon a scaffold : " Insomuch," says he, " that I am fully persuaded,
and cannot but believe, that God had showed Moses the secrets of
q In the original text, (verse 5.) they are called emphatically the young men for
ministers, or servants, 1 Sam. ii. 13, 15. Esth. ii. 2.) of the children of Israel, to
signify that they were first-born. And so Onkelos reads it " the first-born of the
children of Israel.
r The blood of the sacrifices representing the precious blood of Christ.
s The church was in her minority under the law. Gal. iv. 1 — 3.
210 THE MARROW OF
Christ, and the very manner of his death aforehand :" and there-
fore, no doubt but that they offered their sacrifices by faith in the
Messiah, as the apostle testifies of Abel, Heb. xi. 4. I say, there is
no question but every spiritual believing Jew, when he brought his
sacrifice to be offered, and according to the Lord's command laid his
hands upon it whilst it was yet alive, (Lev. i. 4.) he did, from his
heart acknowledge that he himself had deserved to die ; but by the
mercy of God he was saved, t and his desert laid upon the beast ; u
and as that beast was to die, and be offered in sacrifice for him, so
did he believe that the Messiah should come and die for him, upon
whom he put his hands, that is, laid all his iniquities by the hand
of faith, v So that, as Beza on Job i. says, " The sacrifices were to
them holy mysteries, in which, as in certain glasses, they did both
see themselves to their own condemnation before God, w and also be-
held the mercy of God in the promised Messiah, in time to be ex-
hibited :" "And therefore," says Calvin, Instit. p. 239, " the sa-
tisfactory offerings were called Ashemoth, which word properly sig-
niges sin itself, to show that Jesus Christ was to come and perform
a perfect expiation, by giving his own soul to be an asham, that is,
a satisfactory oblation"
Wherefore you may assure yourself, that as Christ was always
set before the fathers in the Old Testament, to whom they might
direct their faith, and as God never put them in hope of any grace
or mercy, nor ever showed himself good unto them without Christ : x
even so the godly in the Old Testament knew Christ by whom they
did enjoy these promises of God, and were joined to him. y And,
indeed, the promise of salvation never stood firm till it came to
Christ, z And there was their comfort in all their troubles and dis-
tresses, according as it is said of Moses, Heb. xi. 26, 27, " He en-
t From the death he had deserved by his sin.
u Typically.
v " The mystical signification of the sacrifices, and especially this rite, some think
the apostle means by the doctrine of ' laying on of hands,' (Heb. vi. 2.) which typi-
fied evangelical faith." Henry on Lev. i. 4. It is evident that the offerer, by laying
his hand on the head of the sacrifice, did legally unite it ; laid his sin, or transferred
his guilt upon it, in a typical or ceremonial way, (Lev. xvi. 21.) ; the substance and
truth of which ceremonial action plainly appears to be faith, or believing on Jesus
Christ, which is the soul's assenting, for its own part, to and acquiescing in the glo-
rious device of " the Lord's laying on him the iniquities of us all," Isa. liii. 6.
w That is, they saw themselves, as in themselves condemned by the holy law.
x That is. as an absolute God out of Christ, but always as a God in Christ.
;/ To Christ, by faith.
2 It stood, at first, on man's own obedience : which ground quickly failed : then it
came to Christ, where it stood firm. Gen. iii. 15. It (namely, "the seed of the
tvmuan) shall bruise thy head,'' viz. the serpent's head.
MODERN DIVINITY. 211
dured as seeing liim who is invisibles esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect
to the recompense of reward."
And so (as Ignatius says) the prophets were Christ's servants,
who, foreseeing him in spirit, both waited for him as their master,
and looked for him as their Lord and Saviour, saying, "He shall
come and save us."
And so says Calvin, (Institut. p. 207) " So oft as the prophets
speak of the blessedness of the faithful, the perfect image that they
have painted t'tereof was such as would ravish men's minds out of
the earth, and of necessity raise them up to the consideration of the
felicity of the life to come ;" so that we may assuredly conclude,
with Luther, that all the fathers, prophets, and holy kings, were
righteous, and saved by faith in Christ to come ; and so indeed, as
Calvin says, (Institut. p. 198.) " were partakers of all one salvation
with us."
Ant. But, sir, the Scriptures seem to hold forth as though they
were saved one way, and we another way ; for you know the pro-
phet Jeremiah makes mention of a twofold covenant ; therefore it
is somewhat strange to me, that they should be partakers of one
way of salvation with us.
Evan. Indeed it is true, the Lord did bequeath unto the fathers,
righteousness, life, and eternal salvation, in and through Christ the
Mediator, being not yet come in the flesh, but promised : and unto
us in the New Testament he gives and bequeaths them to us in and
through Christ, being already come, and having actually purchased
them for us ; and the covenant of grace was, before the coming of
Christ, sealed by his blood in types and figure?; and at his death,
in his flesh, b it was sealed and ratified b y his very blo od, actually
and in verydeed shed for our sins. And the old covenant, in res-
pect of the outward form and manner of sealing, was temporary
and changeable ; and therefore the types ceased, and only the sub-
stance remains firm; but the seals of the new are unchangeable,
being commemorative, and shall show the Lord's death until his
coming again. And their covenant did first and chiefly promise
eaithly blessings c and in and under these it did signify and pro-
mise all spiritual blessings and salvation ; but our covenant promises
a " Faith presenting to his view at all times the great angel of the covenant, God
the Son, the Redeemer of him and Israel." — Suppl. Poole's Annot. on the Text.
b " Christ— being put to death in the flesh," 1 Pet. iii. 18.
c Chiefly ; in so far as, in that dispensation of the covenant of grace, the promises
of earthly blessings were chiefly insisted on ; and the promises of spiritual blessings
and salvation more sparingly.
212 THE MARROW OF
Christ and his blessings in the first place, and after them earthly
blessings.
These, and other circumstantial differences in regard to administra-
tion, there was betwixt their way of salvation, or covenant of grace,
and ours; which moved the author to the Hebrews, (Heb. viii. 8.)
to call theirs old, and ours new ; but in regard to substance they
were all one and the very same ; d for in all covenants this is a cer-
tain rule, " If the subject matter, the fruit and the conditions, be
the same, then is the covenant the same :" but in these covenants
Jesus Christ is the subject matter of both, salvation the fruit of
both, and faith the condition of both : e therefore I say, though they
be called two, yet they are but one ; the which is confirmed by two
faithful witnesses ; the one is the apostle Peter, who says, Acts xv.
11, " We believe, that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as they ;" meaning the fathers in the Old
Testament, as is evident in the verse next before. The other is the
apostle Paul, who says, Gal. iii. 6, 7, " Abraham believed God, and
it was accounted unto him for righteousness ; know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abra-
ham :" by which testimony, says Luther on the Galatians, p. 116,
" we may see that the faith of our fathers in the Old Testament,
and ours in the New, is all one in substance."
Ant. But could they that lived so long before Christ apprehend
his righteousness by faith for their justification and salvation ?
Evan. Yea, indeed ; for as Mr. Forbes, on Justification, p. 90,
d " There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance ; but one
an<i the same under various dispensations." — Westm. Confess, chap. 7. art. 6. And
their covenant of grace, confirmed by the sprinkling of blood, Exod. xxiv ; Heb. ix.
19, 20, (the which covenant they brake, by their unbelief frustrating the manner in
which it was administered to them) was given to them when the Lord had led them
cut of Egypt, and at Sinai too, as well as the ten commandments delivered to them,
as the covenant of works. This is evident from Exod. xx. 1 — 17; compared with
Deut. v. 2 — 22 ; and Exod. xx. 20, 21 ; compared with chap. xxiv. 3 — 8. See
page, 208 note/).
e Not in a strict and proper sense, as that, upon the performance of which the right
and title to the benefits of the covenant are founded and pleadable ; as perfect obedi-
ence was the condition of the covenant of works. Christ's fulfilling of the law, by his
obeditnce and death, is the only condition of the covenant of grace, in that sense.
But in a large and improper sense, as that whereby one accepts and embraces the cove-
nant and the proper condition thereof, and is savingly interested in Jesus Christ, the
head of the covenant. " The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in
that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners a Mediator, and life and salvation by
him ; and requireth faith as the condition to interest them in him," &c. Larg. Cat.
quest. 32.
MODERN DIVINITY. 213
truly says, it is as easy for faith to apprehend righteousness to
come, as it is to apprehend righteousness that is past : wherefore as
Christ's birth, obedience, and death, were in the Old Testament as
effectual to save sinners, as they are now; so all the faithful fore-
fathers, from the beginning, did partake of the same grace with us,
by believing in the same Jesus Christ; and so were justified by his
righteousness, and saved eternally by faith in him. It was by
virtue of the death of Christ, that Enoch was translated that he
should not see death ; and Elias was taken up into heaven by vir-
tue of Christ's resurrection and ascension. So that from the world's
beginning to the end thereof, the salvation of sinners is only by
Jesus Christ; as it is written, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
and to-day, and for ever," Heb. xiii. 8.
Ant. Why then, sir, it seems that those who were saved amongst
the Jews were not saved by the works of the law ?
Evan. No, indeed; they were neither justified nor saved, either
by the works of the moral law, or the ceremonial law. For, as you
heard before, the moral law being delivered unto them with great
terror, and under most dreadful penalties, they did find in them-
selves an impossibility of keeping it : and so were driven to seek
help of a Mediator, even Jesus Christ, of whom Moses was to them
a typical mediator:/ so that the moral law did drive them to the
ceremonial law, which was their gospel, and their Christ in a figure ;
for that the ceremonies did prefigure Christ, direct unto him, and
require faith in him, is a thing acknowledged and confessed by all
men.
Nom. But, sir, I suppose, thongh believers among the Jews were
not justified and saved by the works of the law, yet was it a rule of
their obedience ?
Evan. It is very true indeed ; the law of the ten commandments
was a rule for their obedience ; g yet not as it came from Mount
Sinai ; h but rather as it came from Mount Zion ; nor as it was the
law or covenant of works, but as it was the law of Christ. The
which will appear, if you consider, that after the Lord had renewed
with them the covenant of grace, as you heard before, (Exod. xxiv.
at the beginning) the Lord said unto Moses, verse 12, " Come up to
me into the mount, and be there, and I will give thee tables of
stone, and a law that thou mayest teach them ;" and after the Lord
/That is, a type, he heing to them a typical Mediator.
g The obedience of the believing Jews.
h That is, in the sense of our author, not as the covenant of works, but of the two-
fold notion or consideration under which the ten commandments were delivered from
Mount Sinai. See page 196, note p.
214 THE MARROW OF
had thus written them the second time with his own finger, he
delivered them to Moses, commanding him to provide an ark to put
them into; which was not only for the safe keeping of them, (Deut.
ix. 10; x. 5.) but also to cover the form of the covenant of works
that was formerly upon them, that believers might not perceive it ;
for the ark was a notable type of Christ; and therefore the putting
of them therein did show that they were perfectly fulfilled in him,
Christ being " the end of the law for righteousness to every one
that believeth," Rom. x. 4. The which was yet more clearly mani-
fest, in that the book of the law was placed between the cherubim,
and upon the mercy-seat, to assure believers that the law now came
to them from the mercy-seat ;i for there the Lord promised to meet
Moses, and to commune with him of all things which he would give
him in commandment to them, Exod. xxv. 22.
Ant. But, sir, was the form quite taken away, so as the ten com-
mandments were no more the covenant of works ?
Evan. Oh no ! you are not so to understand it. For the form of
the covenant of works, j as well as the matter (on God's part, A:)
came immediately from God himself, and so consequently it is eter-
nal, like himself; whence it is that our Saviour says, Matth. v. 18,
" Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no ways
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." So that either man him-
self, or some other for him, must perform or fulfil the condition of
the law, as it is the covenant of works, or else he remains still
under it in a damnable condition : but now Christ hath fulfilled it
for all believers ; and therefore, T said, the form of the covenant of
works was covered or taken away, as touching the believing Jews;
but yet it was neither taken away in itself, nor yet as touching the
unbelieving Jews.
i From an atoned God in Christ, binding them to obedience with the strongest ties,
arising from their creation and redemption jointly; but not with the bond of the
curse, binding them over to eternal death in case of transgression, as the law or cove-
nant of works does with them who are under it, Gal. iii. 10. The mercy-seat was
the cover of the ark, and both the one and the other types of Christ. Within the
ark, under the cover of it, were the tables of the law laid up. Thus was the throne
of grace, which could not have stood on mere mercy, firmly established in Jesus
Christ; according to Psalm lxxxix. 14, '* Justice and judgment are the habitation
[marg. "establishment"] of thy throne." The word properly signifies a base, sup-
porter, stay, or foundation, on which a thing stands firm, Ezra ii. 68, and iii. 3 ;
Psalm civ. 5. The sense is, O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Psalm
lxxxix. 19,) justice satisfied, and judgment fully executed in the person of the Media-
tor, are the foundation and base which thy throne of grace stands upon.
j Namely the promissory and penal sanction of eternal life and death in which God's
truth was engaged.
h Man's part was lii> consenting to the terms set before him by his Creator.
MODERN DIVINITY. 215
Xom. Was the law then still of use to thera, as it was the cove-
nant of works?
Evan. Yea, indeed.
Ant. I pray yon, sir, show of what u. e it was to them.
Evan. I remember Luther, (on the Gal. p. 171,) says, "There be
two sorts of unrighteous persons or unbelievers ; the one to be jus-
tified, and the other not to be justified : even so was there among
the Jews." Now to them that were to be justified, as yon have
heard, it was still of use to bring them to Christ, as the apostle
says, Gal. iii. 24, " The law was our schoolmaster until Christ, I that
we might be made righteous by faith :" that is to say, the moral
lawm did teach and show them what they should do, and so what
they did not; and this made thera go to the ceremonial law ; n and
by that they were taught that Christ had done it for them ; o the
which they believing, p were made righteous by faith in him. And
to the second sort it was of use, to show them what was good, and
what was evil ; and to be as a bridle to them, to restrain them from
evil, and as a motive to move them to good, for fear of punishment, q
or hope of reward in this life ; which, though it was but a forced
and constrained obedience, yet was it necessary for the public com-
monwealth, the quiet thereof being thereby the better maintained.
And though thereby they could neither escape death, uor yet obtain
eternal life, for want of perfect obedience, yet the more obedience
they yielded thereunto, the more they were freed from temporal ca-
lamities, and possessed with temporal blessings, according as the
Lord promised and threatened, Deut. xxviii.
Ant. But, sir, in that place the Lord seeraeth to speak to his own
people, aud yet to speak according to the tenor of the covenant of
works, which has made me think, that believers in the Old Testa-
ment were partly under the covenant of works.
Evan. Do you not remember how I told you before, that the Lord
did manifest so much love to the body of that nation, that the
l That is, to bring us unto Christ, as we read it with the supplement.
m As the covenant of works, so the author uses that terra here, as it is used.
— Larg. Cat. quest. 93, above cited.
n Broken under the sense of guilt, the curse of the law, and their utter ioabilitv to
help themselves by doing or suffering.
o Christ's satisfying the law for sinners by his obedience and death, being the great
lesson taught by the ceremonial law, which was the gospel written in plain characters,
to those whose eyes were opened.
p Appropriating and applying to themselves by faith Christ's satisfaction held forth
and exhibited to them in these divine ordinances.
</ Both in time and eternity.
216 THE MARROW OF
whole posterity of Abraham r were brought under a state-covenant
or national church : so that for the believer's sakes he infolded un-
believers in the compact, whereupon the Lord was pleased to call
them all by the name of his people, as well unbelievers as believers,
and to be called their God ? And though the Lord did there speak
according to the tenor of the covenant of works, yet I see no reason
why he might not direct and intend his speech to believers also, and
yet they remain only under the covenant of grace.
Ant. "Why, sir, you said that the Lord did speak to them out of
the tabernacle, and from the mercy-seat ; and that, doubtless, was
according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, and not according
to the tenor of the covenant of works.
Evan. I pray you take notice, that after the Lord had pronounced
all those blessings and curses, Deut. xxviii. in the beginning of the
29th chapter, it is said, " These are the words of the covenant,
which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of
Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with
them in Horeb." Whereby it doth appear to me, that this was not
the covenant of works which was delivered to them on mount
Sinai ; s for the form of that covenant was eternal blessings and
curses, t but the form of this covenant was temporal blessings and
curses, u So that this rather seems to be the pedagogy of the law,
than the covenant of works; for at that time these people seemed
to be carried by temporal promises in the way of obedience, and de-
r Wh ; ch were of tbat nation, according to Gen. xxi. 12, " In Isaac shall thy seed
be called." And chap, xxviii. 13, " I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and
the God of Isaac ; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed."
s The author does not make the covenant at Horeb distinct from that at Sinai : for
he takes Horeb and Sinai for one and the same mountain, according to the Holy Scrip-
tures, (Exod. xix. 20, compared with Deut. v. 2.) and therefore, because the text
speaks of this covenant in the land of Moab as another covenant beside that in Horeb,
he infers that it was not the same ; not the covenant of works delivered on Mount
Sinai, otherwise called Horeb. And howbeit there are but two covenants containing
the only two ways to happiness, the author cannot, on that accouut, be justly blamed
for distinguishing this covenant from them both, unless temporal blessings do make
men happy ; the which blessings, with curses of the same kind, he takes to be the
form of this covenant.
t Deut. xxvii. 26, " Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to
do them." Compare Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law are
under the curse ;" for it is written, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things written in the book of the law to do them.
w See Deut. xxviii. throughout. Chap. xxix. 9, " Keep, therefore, the words of
this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do." And here ends a
great section of the law.
MODERN DIVINITY. 217
terred by temporal threatenings from the ways of disobedience, God
dealing with them as in their infancy and under age, and so leads
them on, and allures them, and fears them, by such respects as
these, because they had but a small measure of the Spirit.
Nom. But, sir, was not the matter of that covenant and this all
one ?
Evan. Yea, indeed ; the ten commandments were the matter of
both covenants, only they differed in the forms.
Ant. Then, sir, it seems that the promises and threatenings con-
tained in the Old Testament were but temporary and terrestrial,
only concerning the good and evil things of this life ?
Evan. This we are to know, that like as the Lord by his prophets
gave the people in the Old Testament many exhortations to be obe-
dient to his commandments, and many dehortations from disobe-
dience thereunto ; even so did he back them with many promises
and threatenings, concerning things temporal, as these and the
like Scriptures do witness, Isa. i. 10, "Hear the word of the Lord,
ye rulers of Sodom ; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of
Gomorrah ;" ver. 19, 20, " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall
eat the good things of the land ; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall
be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it." And Jer. vii. 3, 9, 20, " Amend your ways and your doings,
and I will cause you to dwell in this place. "Will you steal, mur-
der, and commit adultery, and swear falsely by my name ? There-
fore thus saith the Lord God, behold mine anger and my fury shall
be poured out upon this place." And surely there be two reasons
why the Lord did so: first, because as all men are born under the
covenant of works, they are naturally prone to conceive, that the
favour of God and all good things, do depend and follow upon their
obedience to the law, v and that the wrath of God, and all evil
things do depend upon and follow their disobedience to it, w and
that man's chief happiness is to be had and found in terrestrial
paradise, even in the good things of this life. So the people of the
Old Testament being nearest to Adam's covenant and paradise,
were most prone to such conceits. And secondly, because the cove-
nant of grace and celestial paradise were but little mentioned in the
Old Testament, they, for the most part, x had but a glimmering
knowledge of them, and so could not yield obedience freely as
v Not a saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.
w Not considering the great sin of unbelief; and that the wrath of God, due to
them for disobedienee, may be averted by their fleeing to Christ for refuse.
x For the more eminent saints in the Old Testament times are to be excepted, such
as David and others.
Vol. VII. o
218 THE MARROW OF
sons.?/ Therefore the Lord saw it meet to move them to yield obe-
dience to his laws by their own motives, z and as servants or chil-
dren nnder age. a
Ant. And were both believers and unbelievers, that is, such as
were under the covenant of grace, and such as were under the cove-
nant of works, equally and alike subject, as well to have the cala-
mities of this life inflicted npon them for their disobedience, as the
blessings of this life conferred upon them for their obedience ?
Evan. Surely the words of the preacher do take place here, when
he says, (Eccl. ix. 2,) " All things come alike to all ; there is one
event to the righteous and to the wicked." Were not Moses and
Aaron, for their disobedience, hindered from entering into the land
of Canaan, as well as others? Num. xx. 12. And was not Josiah,
for his disobedience to God's command, slain in the valley of Me-
giddo? 2 Chron. xxxv. 21, 22. Therefore assure yourself, that
when believers in the Old Testament did transgress God's com-
mandments, God's temporal wrath g went out against them, and was
manifest in temporal calamities that befel them as well as others,
(Num. xvi. 46.) Only here was the difference, the believers' tempo-
ral calamities had no eternal calamities included in them, nor fol-
lowing of them, and their temporal blessings had eternal blessings
included in them, and following of them ; h and the unbelievers'
temporal blessings had no eternal blessings included in them, and
their temporal calamities had eternal calamities included in them,
and following of them, i
Ant. Then, sir, it seems that all obedience that any of the Jews
did yield to God's commandments, was for fear of temporal punish-
ment, and in hope of temporal reward?
Evan. Surely the Scriptures seem to hold forth, that there were
d Having but a small measure of knowledge of the celestial paradise, the eternal
inheritance, and of the covenant of grace, (the divine disposition containing their
right to do it,) they could not yield obedience freely, in the measure that sons do,
wbo are come of age, and know well their own privileges ; but only as little children,
who in some measure yield obedience freely, namely, in proportion to the knowledge
of these things, but (that measure being very small) must be drawn also to obedience
bv motives of a lower kind. And this the apostle plainly teaches, Gal. iv. 1 5.
Compare Westm. Confess, chap. 20, art. I, "The liberty of Christians is further
enlarged, in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the
law did ordinarily partake of.
x Promises and threatenings concerning things temporal.
a By fear of punishment and hope of reward.
b That is, God's fatherly anger, whereby temporal judgments fall on his own people.
c By virtue of the covenant of grace which they were under.
d By virtuo of the covenant of works which they were under.
MODERN DIVINITY. 219
three several sorts of people among the Jews, who endeavoured to
keep the law of God, and they did all of them differ in their ends.
The first of them were true believers, who, according to the mea-
sure of their faith, did believe the resurrection of their bodies after
death, and eternal life in glory, and that it was to be obtained,
not by the works of the law, but by faith in the Messiah or pro-
mised seed; and answerably as they believed this, answerably
they yielded obedience to the law freely, without fear of punish-
ment or hope of reward : but, alas ! the spirit of faith was very
weak in most of them, and the spirit of bondage very strong, and
therefore they stood in need to be induced and constrained to obe-
dience, by fear of punishment and hope of reward, e
The second sort of them were the Sadducees and their sect, and
these did not believe that there was any resurrection, (Matt. xxii.
23.) nor any life but the life of this world ; and yet they endea-
voured to keep the law, that God might bless them here, and that
it might go well with them in this present life.
The third sort, and indeed the greatest number of them in the
future ages after Moses, were the Scribes and Pharisees, and their
sects ; and they held and maintained, that there was a resurrection
to be looked for, and an eternal life after death, and therefore they
e The Author does not say, of believers under the Old Testament, simply, and with-
out any qualification, that they " yield obedience to the law, without fear of punish-
ment or hope of reward," as if he minded to assert, that they were not at all moved to
their obedience by these ; the scope of these words is to teach just the contrary.
Compare page 218. But on good grounds he affirms, that " answerable to their faith,
their obedience was yielded freely, without fear of punishment or hope of reward."
And thus, the freeness of their obedience always bearing proportion to the measure of
their faith ; the greater measure of faith any Old Testament saint had attained unto,
his obedience was the less influenced by fear of punishment or hope of reward, and the
smaller his measure of faith was, his obedience was the more influenced by these ; ac-
cordingly, such as had no saving faith at all, were moved to obedience only by fear of
punishment or hope of reward ; and the meanest saint's faith, being once perfected by
the beatific vision in heaven, these ceased altogether to be motives of obedience to
him, though he aeases not to obey from the strongest and most powerful motives. And
thus the apostle John teaches concerning love which flows from faith. 1 John v. 18,
" Perfect love casteth out fear, because fear doth torment : he that feareth, is not
erfect in love." The more there is of the one, there is still less of the other.
In the meantime, according to our author, the measure of faith in the most part of
believers under the Old Testament was very small, (and the strongest faith was im-
perfect,) and the servile aed childish disposition, which moves to obedience from fear
of punishment and hope of reward, was very strong in them, (Gal. iv. 1 — 5.) and
therefore, as they stood in need of such inducement and constraint, there could not
fail to be a great mixture of the influence of fear of punishment and hope of re-
ward in their obedience
o2
220 THE MARROW OF
endeavoured to keep the law, not only to obtain temporal happiness,
but eternal also. For though it had pleased the Lord to make
known unto his people, by the ministry of Moses, that the law was
given, not to retain men in the confidence of their own works, but
to drive them out of themselves, and to lead them to Christ the
promised seed ; yet after that time, the priests and the Levites,
who were the expounders of the law, and to whom the Scribes and
Pharisees succeeded, did so conceive and teach of God's intention
in giving the law, as though it had been, that they, by their obe-
dience to it, should obtain righteousness and eternal life ; and this
opinion was so confidently maintained, and so generally embraced
amongst them, that in their book Mechilta, they say and affirm, that
there is no other covenant than the law : and so, in very deed, they
conceived that there was no other way to eternal life than the cove-
nant of works.
Ant. Surely, then, it seems they did not understand and consider
that the law, as it is the covenant of works, does not only bind the
outward man, but also the inward man, even the soul and spirit ;
and requires all holy thoughts, motions, and dispositions of the
heart and soul ?
Evan. 0, no ; they neither taught it nor understood it so spiri-
tually ; neither could they be persuaded that the law requires so
much at man's hands. For they first laid this down for a certain
truth, that God gave the law for man to be justified and saved by
his obedience to it; and that therefore there must needs be a power
in man to do all that it requires, or else God would never have re-
quired it ; and therefore, whereas they should have first considered
what a straight rule the law of God is, and then have brought
man's heart, and have laid it to it, they, contrariwise, first con-
sidered what a crooked rule man's heart is, and then sought to
make the law like it : and so indeed they expounded the law lite-
rally, teaching and holding, that the righteousness which the law
required was but an external righteousness, consisting in the out-
ward observation of the law, as you may see by the testimony of
our Saviour, Matt, v ; so that, according to their exposition, it was
possible for a man to fulfil the law perfectly, and so to be justified
and saved by his obedience to it.
Ant. But, sir, do you thiuk the Scribes and Pharisees, and their
sect, did yield perfect obedience to the law, according to their own
exposition ?
Evan. No, indeed, I think very few of them, if any at all.
Ant. Why, what hopes could they then have to be justified and
saved, when they transgressed any of the commandments ?
MODERN DIVINITY. 221
Evan. Peter Martyr tells us, that when they chanced to trans-
gress any of the ten commandments,/ they had their sacrifices to
make satisfaction, (as they conceived ;) for they looked upon their
sacrifices without their significations, and so had a false faith in
them, thinking that the bare work was a sacrifice acceptable unto God:
in a word, they conceived the blood of bulls and goats would take
away sin ; and so what they wanted of fulfilling the moral law, they
thought to make up in the ceremonial law. And thus they sepa-
rated Christ from their sacrifices, thinking they had discharged their
duty very well, when they had sacrificed and offered their offerings;
not considering that the imperfectiou of the typical law, which, as
the apostle says, made nothing perfect, should have led them to find
perfection in Christ, Heb. vii. 19; but they generally rested in the
work done in the ceremonial law, even as they had done in the moral
law, though they themselves were unable to do the one, g and the other
was as insufficient to help them. And thus, " Israel, which followed
the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law of righteousness,
because they sought it not by faith," but, as it were, by the works
of the law. For they being ignorant of the righteousness of God,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, did not submit
themselves to the righteousness of God; Rom. ix. 31 ; and x. 3.
Ant. Then, sir, it seems there were but very few of them h that
had a clear sight and knowledge of Christ ?
Evan. It is very true indeed; for generally there was such a vail
of ignorance over their hearts, or such a vail of blindness over their
minds, that it made their spiritual eyesight so weak and dim, that
they were no more able to see Christ, the son of righteousness, as
the end of the law, i (Mai. iv. 2,) than the weak eye of man is able
to behold the bright sun which shineth in its full strength. And
therefore we read, Exod. xxxiv. 30, that when Moses' face did shine,
by reason of the Lord's talking with him, and telling him of the
glorious riches of his free grace in Jesus Christ, and giving unto
him the ten commandments, written in tables of stone, as the cove-
nant of works ;j to drive the people out of confidence in themselves,
/That is, according to tbeir own exposition.
y To do any work of the mural law aright.
h Namely, of the Jews in general.
i That is, having in himself a fulness of righteousness, answering the law to the ut-
most extent of its demands ; as the sun has a fulness of light.
j Therefore they are called by the apostle, the "ministration of death, written and
engraven on stones,'' 2 Cor. iii. 7. Now, it is evident, the ten commandments are
not the ministration of death, but as they are the covenant of works. And as such,
they were given to Moses to be laid up in the ark, to signify the fulfilling of them by
Jesus Christ alone, and the removing of that covenant-form from them, as to believers ;
and so they served to drive sinners out of themselves to Christ.
222 THE MARROW OP
and their own legal righteousness, unto Jesus Christ and his righte-
ousness, the people were not able to behold his face; that is to say, k
by reason of the weakness and dimness of their spiritual eyesight,
they were not able to see and understand the spiritual sense of the
law; namely that the Lord's end or intent in giving them the law
as a covenant of works, and as the apostle calk, it " the ministra-
tion and condemnation and death," 2 Cor. iii. 7, 9, was to drive
them out of themselves to Christ, and that then I it was to be abo-
lished to them, as it was the covenant of works, ver. 13, and there-
fore Moses put the vail of shadowing ceremonies over his face, Exod.
xxxiv. 35, that they might be the better able to behold it ; that is to
say, that they might be the better able to see through them, and un-
derstand that " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth," Rom. x. 4. For Moses' face, says godly Tindal,
! is the law rightly understood. And yet alas ! by reason that the
priests and Levites in former times, and the Scribes and Pharisees
in after times, " were the blind leaders of the blind," (Matth. xv. 14,)
the generality of them were addicted to the letter of the law, (and
that botli moral m and ceremonial) that they used it not as a peda-
gogy to Christ, but terminated their eye in the letter and shadow,
and did not see through them to the spiritual substance, which is
Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. iii. 13, especially in the future ages after Moses :
for at the time of Christ's coming in the flesh, I remember but two,
namely, Simeon and Anna, that desired him, or looked for him as a
spiritual Saviour to save them from sin and wrath. For though all of
them had in their mouths the Messiah, (says Calvin) and the blessed
state of the kingdom of David ; yet they dreamed that this Messiah
should be some great monarch that should come in outward pomp and
power, and save and deliver them from that bondage which they were
in under the Romans,of which bondage they were sensible and weary;
but as for their spiritual bondage under the law, sin, and wrath, they
were not at all sensible ; and all because their blind guides had turned
the whole law into a covenant of works, to be done for justification and
salvation ; n yea, and such a covenant as they were able to keep and
fulfil, if not by the doing of the moral law, yet by their offering
sacrifices in the ceremonial law. And for this cause, our Saviour, in
his sermon upon the mount, took occasion to expound the moral law
truly and spiritually, removing that false literal gloss which the
k That is, this is the mystery of that typical event.
/ When they should be driven out of themselves to Jesus Christ.
m As the covenant of works.
n And so they quite perverted the great end of the giving of the law to them.
MODERN DIVINITY. 223
Scribes and Pharisees had put upon it, that men might see how im-
possible it is for any mere man to fulfil it, and so consequently to
have justification and salvation by it. And at the death of Christ,
the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,
to show, says Tindal, " that the shadows of Moses' law should now
vanish away at the flourishing light of the gospel," Matth. xxvii.
51. And after the death of Christ, his apostles did, both by their
preaching and writing, labour to make men understand, that all the
sacrifices and ceremonies were but types of Christ ; and therefore he
being now come, they were of no futher use : witness that divine
and spiritual epistle written to the Hebrews. Yet, notwithstand-
ing, we may say of the Jews at this day, as the apostle did in his
time, " even until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away
in the reading of Moses." The Lord in mercy remove it in his due
time." o
o The history of the vail on Moses' face is famous in the Old Testament, and the
mystery of it in the New. The former, as I gather it from the words of the inspired
penman, Exod. xxxiv. stands thus briefly. Theie was a shining glory on the face of
Moses in the mount ; but be himself knew it not while God spake with him there,
ver. 29, and that by reason of the excelling divine glory, 2 Cor. iii. 10; {.Or.) even
as the light of a candle is darkened before the shining sun : but when " Moses, being
come forth from the excelling glory, was coming down from the mount, with the tables
in his hand, his face shone so as to send forth rays like horns," Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30,
so that he could not but be conscious of it. " Aaron and all the people perceiving
Moses returning to them, went to meet him; but seeing an astonishing glory, in his
countenance, which they were not able to look at, they were afraid, and retired," ver.
30, 31, "But Moses called to them to return, and goes into the tabernacle;
whereupon the multitude not daring to return for all this, Aaron and the princes alone
return to him, being now in the tabernacle. Ver. 41 , the middle part of which, I think,
is to be read thus, " And Aaron and all the princes returned unto him in the testi-
mony," i.e. in the tabernacle of the testimony, as it is called, chap, xxxviii. 21 ;
Rev. xv. 5. From out of the tabernacle Moses speaks to them, ordering (it would
seem) the people to be gathered together unto that place, ver. 31, 32. The people
being convened at the tabernacle, he preached to them all that he had received of the
Lord on the mount, ver. 32. But in the mean time, none of them saw his face, for-
asmuch as the tabernacle, within which he was, served instead of a vail to it. Having
done speaking, he puts a vail over his face, and comes out to them, ver. 33. Marg.
Heb. " And Moses ceased from speaking with them, and put a vail on his face."
Compare ver. 34, " But when Moes went in before the Lord to speak with them, he
took the vail off until he came out."
The mystery of this typical event the apostle treats of, 2 Cor. iii. The shining
glory of Moses' face did not prefigure nor signify the glory of Christ ; for " the glory
of the Lord Christ," ver. 18, is evidently opposed to the glory of Moses' countenance,
ver. 7, and the open (or uncovered) face of the former, ver. 18, as Vetablus seems to
me rightly to understand it) to the vailed face of the latter, ver. 13. The glory of
the one is beheld as in a glass, ver. 18, the sight of the face itself being reserved for
heaven : but the glory of the face of the other was not to be beheld at all, being vailed-
224 THE MARROW OF
§ 6. Ant. Well, sir, I had thought that God's covenant with the
Jews had been a mixt covenant, and that they had been partly
under the covenant of works ; but now I perceive there was little
difference betwixt their covenant of grace and ours.
Evan. Truly the opposition between the Jews' covenant of grace
and ours was chiefly of their own making. They should have been
driven to Christ by the law : but they expected life in obedience to
it, and this was their great error and mistake.
Ant. And surely, sir, it is no great marvel, though they in this
point did so much err and mistake, who had the covenant of grace
made known to them so darkly ; when many amongst us, who have
it more clearly manifested, do the like.
Evan. And, truly, it is no marvel, though all men naturally do
so : for man naturally doth apprehend God to be the great Master
of heaven, and himself to be his servant ; and that therefore he
must do his work before he can have his wages ; and the more work
he doth, the better wages he shall have. And hence it was, that
when Aristotle came to speak of blessedness, and to pitch upon the
next means to that end, he said, " It was operation and working ;"
with whom also agrees Pythagoras, when he says, " It is man's feli-
city to be like unto God, (as how ?) by becoming righteous and
holy." And let us not marvel that these men did so err, who never
heard of Christ, nor of the covenant of grace, when those to whom
it was made known by the apostles of Christ did the like ; witness
those to whom the apostle Paul wrote his epistles, and especially
But that glory signified the law given to the Israelites, as the covenant of works, the
glory of the ministration of death, ver. 7, agreeable to what the author tells us from
Tindal, namely, that Moses face is the law rightly understood. This Mosaic glory
while it was most fresh, was darkened by the excelling glory of the Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, ver. 18, compared with Exod, xxxiv. 29, howbeit, the discovery of
it to sinners makes their hearts to tremble, they are not able to bear it. That glori-
ous form of the law must be hid in Christ the true tabernacle, and from theuce only
must the law come to them, or else they are not able to receive it ; though before that
discovery is made to them they are ready to embrace the law under that form, as the
people were to receive Moses with the tables in his hand, till they found themselves
unable to bear the shining glory of his face. The vail which Moses put on his face,
keeping the Israelites from beholding the glory of it, signifies that their minds were
t blinded, ver. 14, not perceiving the glory of the law given them as a covenant of
works. And hence it was " that the children of Israel fastened not their eyes, (Luke
iv. 20; Acts iii. 4,) on (Christ) the end of that which is abolished," 2 Cor. iii. 13,
(Gr.} for had they seen that glory to purpose, they would have fastened their eyes on
him, as a malefactor at the stake would fix his eyes on the face of one bringing a re-
mission. And that is the vail that is upon Moses's face, and their hearts, unto this
day, ver. 14, 15, which nevertheless, in the Lord's appointed time, shall be taken
away, ver. 16.
MODERN DIVINITY. 225
the Galatians : for although he had by his preaching, when he was
present with them, made known nnto them the covenant of grace ;
yet after his departure, through the seducement of false teachers,
they were soon turned to the covenant of works, and sought to be
justified, either in whole or in part by it; as you may see if you
seriously consider that epistle. Nay, what says Luther? It is,
says he, the general opinion of man's reason throughout the whole
world, that righteousness is gotten by the works of the law ; and
the reason is, because the covenant was engendered in the minds of
men in the very creation, p so that man naturally can judge no
otherwise of the law than as of a covenant of works, which was
given to make righteous, and to give life and salvation. This per-
nicious opinion of the law, that it justifieth and maketh righteous
before God, (says Luther again) " is so deeply rooted in man's rea-
son, and all mankind so wrapped in it, that they can hardly get
out; yea, I myself, says he, have now preached the gospel nearly
twenty years, and have been exercised in the same daily, by read-
ing and writing, so that I may well seem to be rid of this wicked
opinion; yet notwithstanding, I now and then feel this old filth
cleave to my heart, whereby it cometh to pass that I would will-
ingly have so to do with God, that I would bring something with
myself, because of which he should give me his grace." Nay, it is
to be feared, that, as you said, many amongst us, (who have more
means of light ordinarily, than ever Luther, or any before him
had, q yet notwithstanding) do either wholly, or in part, expect jus-
tification and acceptation by the works of the law.
Ant. Sir, I am verily persuaded, that there be very many in the
city of London that are carried with a blind preposterous zeal after
their own good works and well-doings, secretly seeking to become
holy, just, and righteous, before God, by their diligent keeping, and
careful walking in all God's commandments; r and yet no man can
p This is not to be understood strictly of the very moment of man's creation, in
which the natural law was impressed on his heart, but with some latitude, the cove-
nant of works being made with man newly created ; and so divines call it the covenant
of nature — See Dickson's Therap. Sacr. book 1. chap. 5, p. 116.
q This is not to insinuate, that Luther had arrived but to a small measure of the
knowledge of the doctrine of justification and acceptation of a sinner before God, in
comparison with those of later times; I make no question but he understood that doc-
trine as well as any man has done since ; and doubt not but our author was of the
same mind anent him : but it is to show, that that great man of God, and others who
went before him, found their way out of the midnight darkness of Popery in that
point, with less means of light by far than men now have, who notwithstanding can-
not hold off from it.
r By which means they put their own works in the room of Christ, " who of God is
226 THE HARROW OF
persuade them that they do so : and truly, sir, I am verily per-
suaded that this our neighbour aud friend, Noniista, is one of them.
Evan. Alas ! there are a thousand in the world that make a
Christ of their works ; and here is their undoing, &c. They look
for righteousness and acceptation more in the precept than in the
promise, in the law than in the gospel, in working than in believ-
ing ; and so miscarry. Many poor ignorant souls amongst us, when
we bid them obey and do duties, they can think of nothing but
working themselves to life; when they are troubled, they must lick
themselves whole, when wounded, they must run to the salve of
duties, and stream of performances, and neglect Christ. Nay, it is
to be feared that there be divers who in words are able to distin-
guish between the law and gospel, and in their judgments hold and
maintain, that man is justified by faith without the works of the
law ; and yet in effect and practice, that is to say, in heart and con-
science, do otherwise, s And there is some touch of this in us all ;
otherwise we should not be so up and down in our comforts and
believing as we are still, and cast down with every weakness, as we
are. t But what say you, neighbour Nomista, are you guilty of
these things, think you ?
Norn. Truly, sir, I must needs confess, I begin to be somewhat
jealous of myself that I am so ; and because I desire your judgment
touching my condition, I would entreat you to give me leave to
relate it unto you.
Evan. With great good will.
Nom. Sir, I have been born and brought up in a country where
there was very little preaching, the Lord knoweth I lived a great
while in ignorance and blindness, and yet, because I did often re-
peat the Lord's prayer, the apostle's creed, and the ten command-
ments, and in that I came sometimes to divine service, as they call
it, and at Easter received the communion, I thought my condition to
be good. But at last, by means of hearing a zealous and godly mi-
made unto us righteousness and sanctification," 1 Cor. i. 30. According to the
Scripture plan of justification and sanctification, a sinner is justified by his blood,
Rom. v. 9, sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. i. 2, through sanctification of the Spirit,
2 Thess. ii. 13, sanctified by faith, Acts xxvi. 18.
s It is indeed the practice of every unregenerate man, whatever be his knowledge
or professed principles ; for the contrary practice is the practice of the saints, and of
them only, Mat. v. 3, " Blessed are the poor in spirit." Phil. iii. 3, " We are the
circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have
no confidence in flesh.
t For these flow from our building so much on something in ourselves, which is
always very variable ; and so little on the " grace that is in Christ Jesus," (2 Tim. ii.
1.) which is an immoveable foundation.
MODERN DIVINITY. 227
nister in this city, not long after my coming hither, I was convinced
that my present condition was not good, and therefore I went to the
same minister, and told him what I thought of myself; so he told
me that I must frequent the hearing of sermons, and keep the Sab-
bath very strictly, and leave off swearing by my faith and troth,
and such like oaths, and beware of lying, and all idle words and
communication ; yea, and said he, you must get good books to read
on, as Mr. Dodd on the Commandments, Mr. Bolton's Directions for
Comfortable Walking with God, Mr. Brinsley's True Watch, and
such like ; and many similar exhortations and directions he gave
me, the which I liked very well, and therefore endeavoured ray-
self to follow them. So I fell to the hearing of the most godly,
zealous, and powerful preachers that were in the city, and wrote
their sermons after them ; and when God gave me a family, I
prayed with them, and instructed them, and repeated sermons
to them, and spent the Lord's day in public and private exercises,
and left off swearing, and lying, and idle talking ; and, according
to exhortation, in few words, I did so reform myself and my life,
that whereas before I had been only careful to perform the duties of
the second table of the law, and that to the end I might gain
favour and respect from civil honest men, and to avoid the penalties
of man's law, or temporal punishment, now I was also careful to
perform the duties required in the first table of the law, and that to
gain favour and respect from religious honest men, and to avoid the
penalty of God's law, even eternal torments in hell. Xow, when
professors of religion observed this change in me, they came to my
house, and gave unto me the right hand of fellowship, and counted
me one of that number ; and then I invited godly ministers to my
table, and made much of them ; and then, with that same Micah
mentioned in the book of Judges, I was persuaded the Lord would
be merciful unto me, bacause I had gotten a Levite to be my priest,
Judges xvii. 13. In a word, I did now yield such an outward obe-
dience and conformity to both tables of the law, that all godly mi-
nisters and religious honest men who knew me, did think very well
of me, counting me to be a very honest man, and a good Christian ;
and indeed I thought so myself, especially because I had their
approbation. And thus I went on bravely a great while, even
until I read in Mr. Bolton's works, the outward righteousness of the
Scribes and Pharisees was famous in those times, for, besides their
forbearing and protesting against gross sins, as murder, theft,
adultery, idolatry, and the like, they were frequent and constant in
prayer, fasting, and alras-deeds, so that, without question, many of
thera were persuaded that their doing would purchase heaven and
happiness. Whereupon I concluded, that I had as yet done no
228 THE MARROW OF
more than they ; and withal I considered, that our Saviour says,
" Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes
and Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God, Matth. v.
20 ; yea, and I also considered that the apostle says, " He is not a
Jew that is one outwardly, but he that is one inwardly, whose praise
not of men, but of God," Rom. ii. 28, 29. Then did I conclude that as
I was not yet a true Christian ; for, said I in my heart, I have con-
tented myself with the praise of men, and so have lost all my la-
bour and pains in performing duties ; for they have been no better
than outside performances, and therefore they must all fall down in
a moment. I have not served God with all my heart, and therefore
I see I must either go further, or else I shall never be happy.
Whereupon I set about the keeping of the law in good earnest, and
laboured to perform duties, not only outwardly, but also inwardly
from my heart; I heard, and read, and prayed, and laboured, to
bring my heart, and forced my soul to every duty ; I called upon
the Lord in good earnest, and told him, that whatsoever he would
have me to do, I would do it with all my heart, if he would but save
my soul. And then I also took notice of the inward corruptions of
my heart, the which I had not formerly done, and was careful to
govern my thoughts, to moderate my passions, and to suppress the
motions and risings of lusts, to banish pride and speculative wanton-
ness, and all vain and sinful desires of my heart ; and then I thought
myself not only an outside Christian, bnt also an inside Christian,
and therefore a true Christian indeed. And so I went on comfort-
ably a good while till I considered that the law of God requires
passive obedience as well as active ; and therefore I must be a suf-
ferer as well as a doer, or else I could not be a Christian indeed ;
whereupon I began to bo troubled at my impatience under God's
correcting hand, and at those inward murmurings and discontents
which I found in my spirit in time of any outward calamity that
befel me ; and then I laboured to bridle my passions, and to submit
myself quietly to the will of God in every condition ; and then did
I also, as it were, begin to take penance upon myself, by abstinence,
fasting, and afflicting my soul ; and made pitiful lamentations in
my prayers, which were sometimes also accompanied with tears, the
which I was persuaded the LoM did take notice of, and would re-
ward me for it ; and then I was persuaded that I did keep the law,
in yielding obedience both actively and passively. And then was I
confident I was a true Christian, until I considered, that those Jews,
of whom the Lord complains, Isa. Iviii. did so much as I; and that
caused me to fear that all was not right with me as yet. Where-
upon I went to another minister, and told him that though I had
MODERN DIVINITY. 229
done thus and thus, and suffered thus and thus ; yet was I per-
suaded I was in no better condition than those Jews. yes ! said
he ; you are in a better condition than they : for they were hypo-
crites, and served not God with all their hearts as you do. Then I
went home contentedly, and so went on in my wonted course of do-
ing and suffering, and thought all was well with me, until I be-
thought myself, that before the time of my conversion, I had been a
transgressor from the womb ; yea, in the womb, in that I was guilty
of Adam's transgression : so that I considered that although I kept
even with God for the time present and to come, yet that would not
free me from the guiltiness of that which was done before ; where-
upon I was much troubled and disquieted in my mind. Then I went
to a third minister of God's holy word, and told how the case stood
with me, and what I thought of my state and condition. He cheered
me up, bidding me be of good comfort : for however my obedience
since my conversion would not satisfy for my former sins ; yet, in-
asmuch as, at my conversion, I had confessed, lamented, deplored,
bewailed, and forsaken them, God, according to his rich mercy and
gracious promise, had mercifully pardoned and forgiven them. Then
I returned home to my house again, and went to God by earnest
prayer and supplication, and besought him to give me assurance of
the pardon and forgiveness of ray guiltiness of Adam's sin, and all
my actual transgressions before my conversion; and as I had endea-
voured myself to be a good servant before, so I would still continue
in doing my duty most exactly ; and so, being assured that the Lord
had granted this my request, I fell to my business according to
my promise ; I heard, I read, I prayed, I fasted, I mourned, I
sighed, and groaned ; and watched over ray heart, my tongue,
and ways, in all my doings, actions^ and dealings, both with God
and man. But after a while, I growing better acquainted with
the spiritualuess of the law and the inward corruptions of my
own heart, I perceived that I had deceived myself, in thinking
that I had kept the law perfectly ; for, do what I could, I
found many imperfections in my obedience ; for I had been, and
was still subject to sleepiness, drowsiness, and heaviness, in pray-
ers and hearing, and so in other duties ; I failed in the manner
of performance of them, and in the end why I performed them,
seeking myself in every thing I did : and my conscience told me I
failed in my duty to God in this, and in my duty to my neigh-
bour in that. And then I was much troubled again : for I considered
that the law of God requires, and is not satisfied without, an exact
and perfect obedience. And then I weut to the same minister again
and told him how I had purposed, promised, striven and endea-
230 THE MARROW OF
vonred, as much as possible I could, to keep the law of God per-
fectly ; and yet by woful experience I had found, that I had, and
did still transgress in many ways ; and therefore I feared hell and
damnation. " Oh ! but," said he, " do not fear, for the best of
Christians have their failings, and no man keepeth the law of God
perfectly ; and therefore go on, and do as you have done, in striv-
ing to keep the law perfectly ; and in what you cannot do, God will
accept the will for the deed ; and wherein you come short, Christ
will help you out." And this satisfied and contented me very much.
So I returned home again, and fell to prayer, and told the Lord,
that now I saw I could not yield perfect obedience to his law, and
yet I would not despair, because I did believe, that what I could
not do Christ had done for me : and then I did certainly conclude,
that I was now a Christian indeed, though I was not so before : and
so have I been persuaded ever since. And thus, sir, you see I have
declared unto you, both how it hath been with me formerly and how
it is with me for the present ; wherefore I would entreat you to tell
me plainly and truly what you think of my condition, u
Evan. Why, truly, I must tell you, it appears to me by this rela-
tion, that you have gone as far in the way of the covenant of works
as the apostle Paul did before his conversion ; but yet, for aught I
see, you have not gone the right way to the truth of the gospel ; and
therefore I question whether you be as yet truly come to Christ.
u It is not necessary, for saving this account of Nomista's case from the odious
charge of forgery, that the particulars therein mentioned should have heen real facts;
more than (not to speak of scripture parables,) it is necessary to save the whole book
from the same imputation, that the speeches therein contained should have passed, at
a certain time, in a real conference of four men, called Evangelista, Nomista, Antino-
mista, and Neophetus ; yet I make no question but it is grounded on matters of fact,
falling out by some casuist's inadvertency, excess of charity to, or shifting converse
with the afflicted, as to their soul-exercise, or by means of corrupt principles. And as
the former are incident to good men of sound principles at any time, which calls minis-
ters on such occasions to take heed to the frame of their own spirits, and to be much
in the exercise of dependence on the Lord, lest they do hurt to souls instead of doing
them good ; so the latter is at no time to be thought strange, since there were found,
even in the primitive apostolical churches, some who were reputed godly zealous gos-
pel ministers, especially by such as had little savour of Christ on their own souls, who
nevertheless, in their zeal for the law, perverted the gospel of Christ, Gal. i. 6, 7,
and iv. 17. Whether Nomista was of opinion, that the covenant of works was still in
force or not, our Lord Jesus Christ taught that it was, Luke x. 25 — 28, and so does
the apostle, Gal. iii. 10; and unbelievers will find it so to their everlasting ruin. For,
" our Lord Jesus, who now offers to be Mediator for them who believe on him, shall,
at the last day, come armed with flaming fire, to judge, condemn, and destroy all them
who have not believed God, have not received the offer of grace made in the gospel
nor obeyed the doctrine thereof, but remain in their natural state under the law or
covenant of works." — Practical use of Saving Knowledge, tit. For convincing a man
of Judgment by the Law, part. 2.
MODERN DIVINITY. 231
Neoph. Good sir, give me leave to speak a few words. By the
hearing of your discourse concerning the covenant of works, and the
covenant of grace, I was moved to fear that I was out of the right
way ; but now having heard my neighbour Nomista make such an
excellent relation, and yet you to question whether he truly be come
to Christ or no, makes me conclude absolutely that I am far from
Christ. Surely if he, upon whom the Lord hath bestowed such ex-
cellent gifts and graces, and who hath lived such a godly life as I
am sure he hath done, be not right, then woe be unto me.
Evan. Truly, for aught I know, you may be in Christ before him.
Nom. But, I pray you, sir, consider, that though I am now tho-
roughly convinced, that till of late I went on in the way of the cove-
nant of works ; yet seeing that I at last came to see my need of
Christ, and have verily believed that in what I come short of fulfil-
ling the law he will help me out, methinks I should be truly come
to Christ.
Evan. Yerily, I do conceive that this gives you no surer evidence
of your being truly come to Christ, than some of your strict Papists
have. For it is the doctrine of the Church of Rome, that if a man
exercise his power, and do his best to fulfil the law, then God for
Christ's sake, will pardon all his infirmities, and save his soul. And
therefore you shall see many of your Papists strict and zealous in the
performance of duties, morning and evening, so many Ave Maries
and so many Pater Nosters ; yea, and many of them do great deeds
of charity, and great works of hospitality ; and all upon such grounds
and to such ends as these. The Papists (says Calvin) cannot abide
this saying, " By faith alone ;" for they think that their own works
are in a part a cause of their salvation, and so they make a hotch-
potch and mingle-mangle, that is neither fish nor flesh as men say.
Nom. But stay, sir, I pray ; you are mistaken in me ; for though
I hold that God doth accept of my doing my best to fulfil the law,
yet I do not hold with the Papists, that my doings are meritorious ;
for I believe that God accepts not what I do, either for the work or
worker's sake, but only for Christ's sake.
Evan. Yet do you but still go hand in hand with the Papists; for
though they do hold that their works are not meritorious, yet they say
it is by the merit of Christ that they become meritorious; or as
some of the moderate sort of them say, " Our works, sprinkled with
the blood of Christ, become meritorious." But this you are to know
that as the justice of God requires a perfect obedience, so does it re-
quire that this perfect obedience be a personal one ; viz. it must be
the obedience of one person only ; the obedience of two must not be
232 THE MARROW OF
put together, to make up a perfect obedience ; v so that, if you desire
to be justified before God, you must either bring him to a perfect
righteousness of your own, and wholly renounce Christ ; or else you
must bring the perfect righteousness of Christ, and wholly renounce
your own.
Ant. But believe me, sir, I would advise him to bring Christ's,
and wholly renounce his own, as, I thank the Lord, I have done.
Evan. You say very well ; for, indeed, the covenant of grace
terminates itself only on Christ and his righteousness ; God will
have none to have a hand in the justification and salvation of a siu-
ner, but Christ only. And to say as the thing is, neighbour
Nomista, Christ Jesus will either be a whole Saviour, or no Saviour;
he will either save you alone, or not save you at all. Acts iv. 12.
"For among men there is given no other name under heaven,
whereby we must be saved," says the apostle Peter ; and Jesus
Christ himself says, John xiv. 6. " I am the way, the truth, and the
life ; and no man cometh to the father but by me." So that, as
Luther truly says, " besides this way Christ, there is no way but
wandering, no verity but hypocrisy, no life but eternal death."
And verily says another godly writer , " we can neither come to God
the Father, be reconciled unto him, nor have anything to do with
him, by any other way or means, but only by Jesus Christ; for we
shall not any where find the favour of God, true innocency, righte-
ousness, satisfaction for sin, help, comfort, life, or salvation, any
where but only in Jesus Christ; he is the sum and centre of all
divine and evangelical truths : and therefore as there is no know-
ledge or wisdom so excellent, necessary, or heavenly, as the know-
ledge of Christ, as the apostle plainly gives us to understand, 1 Cor.
ii. 2, that he " determined to know nothing amongst them, but only
Jesus Christ and him crucified ;" so there is nothing to be preached
unto men, as an object of their faith, or necessary element of their
salvation which doth not in some way or other, either meet in
Christ, or refer unto him."ru
§ 7- -Ant. 0, sir, you please me wondrous well in thus attributing
all to Christ : and surely, though of late you have not been so
evangelical in your teaching as some others in this city, which has
caused me to leave off hearing you to hear them, yet I have formerly
v For in that case, the obedience both of the one and of the other is imperfect, and
so is not conform to the law ; therefore it can in nowise be accepted for righteousness ;
but according to justice proceeding upon it, the soul that hath it must die, because a
sinful soul, Ezek. xviii. 4.
w Eph. iv. 20, 21. " Bot ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have
heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus."
MODERN DIVINITY. 233
perceived, and now also perceive, that you have more knowledge
of the doctrine of free grace than any other ministers of this city
have ; and, to tell you the truth, sir, it was hy your means that 1
was first brought to renounce mine own righteousness, and cleave
only to the righteousness of Jesus Christ.* And thus it was : after
that I had been a good while a legal professor, just like my friend
Nomista, and heard none but your legal preachers, who built me up
in works and doings, as they did him, aud as their manner is ; at
last, a familiar acquaintance of mine, who had some knowledge of
the doctrine of free grace, did commend you for an excellent
preacher ; and at last prevailed with me to go with him and hear
you ; and your text that day, I well remember, was Tit. iii. 5, " Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us ;" whence you observed, and plainly proved, that
man's own righteousness had no hand in his justification and salva-
tion ; whereupon you dehorted us from putting any confidence in
our own works and doings, and exhorted us by faith to lay hold
upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ only ; at the hearing whereof
it pleased the Lord so to work upon me, that I plainly perceived
that there was no need at all of my works and doings, nor any
thing else, but only to believe in Jesus Christ, y And indeed my
x What this is, in the sense of the speaker, he himself immediately explains at large
— in a word, in his sense, it is to be an Antinomian indeed. The sum of his compli-
ment made to Evangelista, or the author, which you please, lies here ; namely, that
he had left off htaring him, because he did not preach the gospel so purely as some
others in the place ; yet in his opinion, he understood it better than many others ; and
(to carry the compliment to the highest pitch) it was by his means he turned down-
Tight Antinomian. One would think, that whatever was the measure of our author's
pride or humility, self-denial, or self-seeking, he had as much common sense as would
render this address not very taking with him, or at least would teach him, that the pub-
lishing of it was none of the most proper means for commending himself. So that the pub-
lishing of it may rather be imputed to the author's self-denial than to the want thereof;
though I presume the considering reader will neither impute it to the one nor to the
other.
y The preacher taught, according to his text, The man's own righteousness had no
hand in his justification and salvation; he dehorted from putting confidence in good
works ; and exhorted by faith to lay hold on Christ's righteousness only. And this
hearer thence inferred, that there was no need at all of good works ; as if one should
conclude, that because it is the eye only that seeth, therefore there is no need at all
of hand or foot. So the apostle Paul's doctrine was misconstrued ; Rom. iii. 8,
" Some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that good may come." Yea, in the apostles'
days, the doctrine of free grace was actually thus abused to Antinomianism, by some
" turning the grace of God into lasciviousness," Ju'le 4. The apostle was aware of
the danger on that side through the corruption of the hearts of men; Gal. v. 13,
" Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty ; only use not liberty for an occasion to
the flesh." And ministers of Christ (who himself was accounted "a friend of publi-
Vol. VII. P
234 1MB KABBOW OF
heart assented to it immediately, so that I went home with abundance
of peace and joy in believing, and gave thanks to the Lord for that
he had set my soul at liberty from such a sore bondage as I had
been under. And I told all my acquaintance what a slavish life I
lived in, being under the law ; for if I did commit any sin, I was
presently troubled and disquieted in my conscience, and could have
no peace till I made humble confession thereof unto God, craved
pardon and forgiveness, and promised amendment. But now I told
them, that whatsoever sins I committed, I was no whit troubled at
them, nor indeed am I at this day ; for I do verily believe that God,
for Christ's sake, has freely and fully pardoned all my sins, both
past, present and to come ; so that I am confident, that whatsoever
sin or sins I commit, they shall never be laid to my charge, being
very well assured, that I am so perfectly clothed with the robes of
Christ's righteousness, that God can see no sin in me at all. And
therefore now I can rejoice evermore in Christ, as the apostle ex-
horts me, and live merrily, though I be never so vile or sinful a
creature ; and indeed I pity them that are in the same slavish con-
dition I was in ; and would have them to believe as I have done,
that so they may rejoice with me in Christ, z And thus, sir, you
see I have declared unto you my condition ; and therefore I entreat
you to tell me what you think of me.
Evan. There is in this city, at this day, much talk about Antino-
mian3; and though I hope there be but few that do justly deserve
that title, yet, I pray, give me leave to tell you, that I fear I may
say unto you in this case, as it was once said unto Peter in ano-
ther case, " Surely thou art one of them, for thy speech bewrayeth
thee," Matth. xxvi. 73. And therefore, to tell you truly, I make
some question whether you have truly believed in Christ, for all
your confidence ; and indeed I am the rather moved to question it,
cans and sinners," &c. Matth, xi. 19,) followers of Paul's doctrine, which, in the eyes
of carnal men, had a show and semblance of favouring sinful liberty, ought to set the
apostle'3 example in this matter before them in a special manner ; with fear and trem-
bling, keeping a jealous eye on the danger from that part ; especially in this day,
wherein the Lord's indignation is visibly going out in spiritual strokes, for a despised
gospel; knowing that the gospel of Christ is to some " the savour of death unto
death," 2 Cor. ii. 16, and that " there are who wrest the Scriptures (themselves,)
unto their own destruction," 2 Pet. ii. 17.
z How easy is the passage from legalism to Antinomianism ! Had this poor man,
under his trouble and disquiet of conscience, fled to Jesus Christ, for the purging of
his conscience from guilt by his blood, and the sanctifying of bis Dature by his Spirit ;
and not put his own confessions of sins, prayers for pardon, and promises of amend-
ment, in the room of Christ's atoning blood ; and his blind and faithless resolutions
to amend, in the room of the sanctifying spirit of Christ ; he had escaped this snare of
the devil, Heb. ix. 14 ; Rom. vii. 4 — 6.
.MODERN DIVINITY. 235
by calling to mind, that, as I have heard, " your conversation is not
such as becometh the gospel of Christ," Phil. i. 27-
Ant. Why, sir, do you think it is possible for a man to have such
peace and joy in Christ as I have had, and I thank the Lord have
still, and not to have truly believed in Christ?
Evan. Yes, indeed, I think it is possible; for does not our
Saviour tell us, that those hearers, to whom he resembles the
" stony ground, — immediately received the word with joy, and yet
had no root in themselves," (Mark iv. 16, 17,) and so indeed were
not true believers? and does not the apostle give us to understand,
that as there is a form of godliness without the power of godliness,
(2 Tim. iii. 5.) so there is a form of faith without the power of
faith ; and therefore he prays that God would grant unto the Thes-
salonians "the work of faith with power," 2 Thess. i. 11. And as
the same apostle gives us to understand, " there is a faith that is
not feigned," 1 Tim. i. 5; so, doubtless, there is a faith that is
feigned. And surely when our Saviour says, Mark iv. 26 — 28,
" the kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed into the
ground, and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed
should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how, first the blade,
then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear ;" he giveth us to
understand, that true faith is produced by the secret power of God,
by little and little ; so that sometimes a true believer himself
neither knows the time when, nor the manner how, it was wrought.
So that we may perceive, that true faith is not ordinarily begun,
increased, and finished, all in a moment, as it seems yours was, but
grows by degrees, according to that of the apostle, Rom. i. 17,
" The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith," that is,
from one degree of faith to another ; a from a weak faith to a
strong faith, and from faith beginning to faith increasing towards
perfection ; or from faith of adherence to faith of evidence ; but so
was not yours. And again, true faith, according to the measure of
it, produces holiness of life ; but it seems yours does not so ; and
therefore, though you have had, and have still much peace and joy,
yet that is no infallible sign that your faith is true ; for a man may
have great raptures, yea, he may have great joy, as if he were lifted
up into the third heaven, and have a great and strong persuasion
that his state is good, and yet be but a hypocrite for all that. And
therefore, I beseech you, in the words of the apostle, " examine
yourself, whether you be in the faith, prove your own self: know
you not your own self, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you
be a reprobate ?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5, " And if Christ is in you, the body
a See note h, page 182.
p2
236 THK MARROW OP
is dead because of sin, bnt the spirit is life because of righteous-
ness, b Rom. viii. 10.
Ant. But, sir, if my friend Nomista went wrong in seeking to be
justified by the works of the law, then, methinks, I should have
gone right in seeking to be justified by faith ; and yet you speak as
if we had both gone wrong.
Evan. I remember Luther says, that in his time, if they taught
in a sermon, that salvation consisted not in our works or life, but
in the gift of God, some men took occasion thence to be slow to
good works, and to live a dishonest life. And if they preached of
a godly and honest life, others did by and by attempt to build lad-
ders to heaven, c And moreover, he says, that in the year 1525,
there were some fantastical spirits that stirred up the rustical peo-
ple to sedition, saying, That the freedom of the gospel giveth
liberty to all men from all manner of laws ; and there were others
that did attribute the force of justification to the law. Now, says
he, both these sorts offend against the law ; the one on the right
hand, who would be justified by the law, and the other on the left
hand, who would be clean delivered from the law. Now, I suppose,
this saying of Lather's may be fitly applied to you too ; for it
appears to me, friend Antinoraista, that you have offended on the
left hand, in not walking according to the matter of the law ; and
it is evident to me, neighbour Nomista, that you have offended on
the right hand, in seeking to be justified by your obedience to it. d
§ 8. Nom. But, sir, if seeking justification by the works of the
law be an error, yet it seems, that, by Luther's own confession it is
but an error on the right hand.
Evan. But yet I tell you, it is such an error, that, by the apostle
b This doctrine of our author is far from cherishing of presumption, or opening of a
gap to licentiousness.
c That is, to scale and get into it bv their own good works.
d The offences of these men here taxed, were both against the law, (or covenant)
of works ; for they must need* have been against that law which they were under,
and not another; and both of them were as yet under the law, or covenant of works,
as being both unbelievers, the which was told Antinomista, page 234, as it was to
Nomista, page 235 ; wherefore it is manifest, that by the matter of the law here, is
not meant the law of Christ, but the matter of the law of works, that is, the ten com-
mandments, as they stand in the covenant of works, which Antinomista had no regard
to in his conversation, though they had all the authority and binding force upon him
found in that covenant. And as he offended against the matter of it, so did Nomista
against the form, in seeking to be justified by his obedience; for the covenant of
works never bound a sinner to seek to be justified by his obedience to it ; but, on the
contrary, always condemned that as presumption, staking down the guilty under the
curse, without remedy, till satisfaction be made bv another hand.
MODERN DIVINITY. 237
Paul's own confession, so far forth as any man is guilty of it, he
makes his services his saviours, and rejects the grace of God, and
makes the death of Christ of none effect, and perverteth the Lord's
intention, both in giving the law and in giving the gospel ; and
keeps himself under the curse of the law, and maketh himself the
son of a bond-woman, a servant, yea, and a slave, and hinders hi in-
self in the course of well-doing," Gal. v. 4; iii. 19 ; i. 7; i ii - 10:
iv. 25 ; v. 7, and ii. 11 ; and in short, he goeth about an impossible
thing, and so loseth all his labour.
Nom. Why then, sir, it would seem that all my seeking to please
God by my good works, all my strict walking, according to the law,
and all my honest course of life, has rather done me hurt than
good ?
Evan. The apostle says, that " without faith it is impossible to
please God," Heb. xi. 6; that is, says Calvin, (Instit. p. 370.)
" Whatsoever a man thinketh, purposeth, or doeth, before he be re-
conciled to God by faith in Christ, it is accursed, and not only of no
value to righteousness, but of certain deserving to damnation." So
that, says Luther on Gal. p. 63, " Whosoever goeth about to please
God with works going before faith, goeth about to please God with
sin ; which is nothing else but to heap sin upon sin, to mock God,
and to provoke him to wrath. — Nay, (says the same Luther, on the
Galatians, p. 23.) " if thou be without Christ, thy wisdom is double
foolishness, thy righteousness is double sin and iniquity." And
therefore, though you have walked very strictly according to the
law, and led an honest life, yet if you have rested and put confi-
dence therein, and so come short of Christ, then hath it indeed ra-
ther done you hurt than good. For, says a godly writer, a virtuous
life according to the light of nature, turneth a man further off from
God, if he add not thereto the effectual working of his Spirit. And,
says Luther, " they which have respect only to an honest life, it
were better for them to be adulterers and adulteresses, and to wal-
low in the mire." e And surely for this cause it is, that our Savi-
our tells the strict Scribes and Pharisees, who sought justification
by works, and rejected Christ, that " publicans and harlots should
enter into the kingdom of God before them," Matt. xxi. 31. And
e This comparison is not stated betwixt these too, considered simply, as to their dif-
ferent manner of life ; but in point ot pliableness to receive conviction, wherein the
latter hath the advantage of the former ; which the Scripture oftener than once takes
notice of, Matt. xxi. 31, quoted in the following sentence, " I would thou wert cold
or hot," Rev. iii. 15. The passage is to be found in his sermon upon the Hymn of
Zacharias, page 50.
238 THE MARROW OF
for this cause it was that I said, For aught I know, my neighbour
Neophitus might be in Christ before you.
Norn. But how can that be, when, as you know, he hath confessed
that he is ignorant and full of corruption, and comes far short of
me in gifts and graces ?
Evan. Because, as the Pharisee bad more to do before he could
come at Christ than the Publican had, so I conceive you have more
to do than be hath.
Nom. Why, sir, I pray you, what have I to do, or what would
you advise me to do ? for truly I would be contented to be ruled by
you.
Evan. Why, that which you have to do, before you can come to
Christ, is to undo all that ever you have done already ; that is to
say, whereas you have endeavoured to travel towards heaven by the
way of the covenant of works, and so have gone a wrong way ; you
must go quite back again all the way you have gone, before you cau
tread one step in the right way. And whereas you have attempted
to build up the ruins of old Adam, and that upon yourself, and so,
like a foolish builder, to build a tottering house upon the sands, —
you must throw down and utterly demolish all that building, and
not leave a stone upon a stone, before you can begin to build anew.
And whereas you have conceived that there is some sufficiency in
yourself, to help to justify and to save yourself, you must conclude,
that in that case there is not only in you an insufficiency, but
also a non-sufficiency ; / yea, and that sufficiency that seemed to
be in you, to be your loss. In plain terms, you must deny your-
self, as our Saviour says, Matth. xvi. 24, that is, " you must utterly
renounce all that ever you are, and all that ever you have done ;"
all your knowledge and gifts all your hearing, reading, praying,
fasting, weeping, and mourning; all your wandering in the way of
works, and strict walking, must fall to the ground in a moment :
briefly, whatsoever you have counted gain to you in the case of jus-
tification, you must now, with the apostle Pa*ul, Philip iii. 7 — 9,
" count loss for Christ," and judge it to be " dung, that you may win
Christ, and be found in him, not having your own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith."
f That is, you are not only unable to do enough, but also, that you are not able to
Ho any thing. " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of our-
selves." 2 Cor. iii. 5,
MODERN DIVINITY. 239
SECT. III. — OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PROMISE.
Sect. 1. — Christ's fulfilling of the law in the room of the elect 2. Believers dead to
the law as the covenant of works. — 3. The warrant to helieve in Christ. — 4. Evan-
gelical repentance a consequent of faith 5. The spiritual marriage with Jesus
Christ 6. Justification before faith refuted 7. Believers freed from the com-
manding and condemning power of the covenant of works.
Neo. But, sir, what would you advise me to do ?
Evan. Why, man, what aileth you?
Neo. Why, sir, as you have been pleased to hear those two de-
clare their condition unto you, so I beseech you to give rae leave to
do the same : and then you will perceive how it is with me. Sir,
not long since, it pleased the Lord to visit me with a great fit of
sickness ; so that, indeed, both in mine own judgment, and in the
judgment of all that came to visit me, I was sick unto death.
Whereupon I began to consider whither my soul was to go after its
departure out of my body : and I thought with myself, that there
were but two places, heaven and hell ; and therefore it must needs
go to one of them. Then my wicked and sinful life, which indeed I
had lived, came into my mind, which caused me to conclude, that
hell was the place provided for it ; the which caused me to be very
fearful, and to be very sorry that I had so lived ; and I desired of
the Lord to let me live a little longer, and I would not fail to re-
form my life, and amend my ways ; and the Lord was pleased to
grant me my desire. Since which time, though indeed it is true I
have not lived so wickedly as formerly I had done, yet, alas! I
have come far short of that godly and religious life which I see
other men live, and especially my neighbour Nomista; and yet you
seem to conceive that he is not in a good condition, and therefore
surely I must needs be in a miserable condition. Alas, sir, what do
you think will become of me ?
§ 1. Evan. I do now perceive that it is time for me to show how
God, in the fulness of time performed that which he purposed before
all time, and promised in time, concerning the help and delivering
of fallen mankind. And touching this point, the Scripture testifies,
that God " did, in the fulness of time, send forth his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law," &c, Gal. iv. 1. That is to say, look how mankind by nature
are under the law, as it is the covenant of works; so was Christ, as
man's surety, contented to be ; so that now, according to that eter-
nal and mutual agreement that was betwixt God the Father and
240 THE MAKROW OF
him, lie put himself in the room and place of all the faithful, <jr Isa.
liii. 6, " And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Then came the law as it is the covenant of works, and said, " I
find him a sinner, h yea, such an one as hath taken upon him the
sins of all men,i therefore let him die upon the cross." Then said
g That is, all those who have, or shall believe, or all the elect, which is one and the
same in reality, and in the judgment of our author, expressly declared in the first sen-
tence of his preface.
h By imputation and law-reckoning ; no otherwise, as a sinner believing in him is
righteous before God. (Thus Isaac Ambrose, speaking of justification, says, " This
righteousness makes a sinner sinless ;" i. e. as to guilt.) This must be owned to be
the meaning of this expression, unless one will shut one's eyes to the immediately
foregoing and following words, — I find him a sinner, said the law ; such an one as
hath taken sin upon him. They are the words of Luther, and he was not the first
who spoke so ) " He made him who was righteous to be made a sinner, that he might
make sinners righteous," says Chrysostom ; on 2 Cor. v; Horn. 11 cit. Owen on Jus-
tification, p 39. Famous Protestant divines have also used the expression after him.
" When our divines," says Rutherford, " say, Christ took our place, and we have his
condition, — Christ was made us, and made the sinner; it is true, only in a legal sense.
He (Christ) was debitor /actus, — a sinner, a debtor by imputation, a debtor by law,
by place, by office." — Trial and Triumph of Faith, p. 245, 257. Charnock argues
the point thus; " How could he die, if he were not a reputed sinner '! Had he not
first have had a relation to our sin, he could not in justice have undergone our pun-
ishment. He must, in the order of justice, be supposed a sinner really, or by imputa-
tion. Really, he was not; by imputation then he was." — Vol. ii. p. 547, Serm. on
1 Cor. v. 7. " Though personally he was no sinner, yet by imputation he was,"
says the Contin. of Poole's Annot. on 2 Cor. v. 21. " What lllyricus wrote, (says
Rivet,) that Christ might most truly be called a sinner, Bellaimine calls blasphemy
and cursed impudence. Wow Bellarmine himself contends, that Christ might attribute
our sins to himself, therefore he might also truly call himself a sinner, while in him-
self innocent, he did represent our person. What blasphemy, what impiety is here?'
— Comment on P&ahn xxii. I. The Scripture phrase to this purpose is more forcible,
2 Cor. v. 21, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him." For as it is more to say we are
made righteousness, than to say we are made righteous, since the former plainly im-
ports a perfection of righteousness, if I may be allowed the phrase, righteousness not
being propeily capable of degrees; so it is more to say, Christ was made sin for the
elect world, than to say he was made a sinner, since the first of these doth accordingly
point at the universality and complete tale of the elect's sins, from the first to the last
of them laid on our spotless Redeemer. Compare Lev. xvi. 21, 22, " And Aaron
shall confess over him, (viz. the scape-goat, which the apostle hath an eye to here)
all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins,
putting them upon the head of the goat. And the goat shall bear upon him all their
iniquities." Isa. liii. 6, " And the Lord (marg.) hath made the iniquity of us all to
meet on (Heb. in) him." These two texts give the just notion of the true import of
that phrase, " He was made sin for us."
i Our Lord Jesus Ch ist died not for, nor took upon him the sins of all and every
individual man, but he died for, and took upon him the sins of all the elect, John x.
15. and xv. 13 ; Acts xx 28 ; Eph. v. 25 ; Tit. ii. 14, and no other doctrine i> here
MODERN DIVINITY. 241
Christ, " Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast
thou prepared me ; in burnt-offeriugs and sacrifices for sin thou hast
no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, Lord !"
taught by our author touching the extent of the death of Christ. In the preceediug
paragraph, where was the proper place fur giving his judgment on that head, he pur-
posely declares it. He had before taught, that Jesus Christ did from eternity become
man's surety in the covenant that passed betwixt him and the Father, p. 22 — 24. A
surety puts himself in the place of those for whom he becomes surety, to pay their
debt, Gen. xliv. 32, 33. Prov. xxii. 26, 27. And our author tells us, that now, when
the prefixed time of Christ's fulfilling the eternal covenant, paying the debt he had
taken on him, and purchasing man's redemption by his sufferings, was come, he did,
according to the tenor of that covenant, which stated the extent of his suretiship, put
himself iu the room and place, — he says not, of all men, but — of all the faithful, or
elect of God ; (see note g. ) Jesus Christ thus standing in their room and place, actually
to take on the burden. " The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all ;" the which
Scripture text can bear no other sense in the connexion of it here, than what is the
genuine sense of it, as it stands in the Holy Scripture, namely, that the Father laid
on Christ the iniquities of all the spiritual Israel of God, of all nations, ranks, and con-
ditions ; for no iniquities could be laid on him but theirs in whose room and place he
sisted himself to receive the buideu, according to the eternal and mutual agreement.
These iniquities being thus laid on the Mediator, the law came and said, 1 find him
such an one as had taken on him the sins of all men. This is but an incident expres-
sion on the head of the extent of Christ's death, and it is a scriptural one too. 1 Tim.
ii. 6. " Who gave himself a ransom for all," i. e. tor all sorts of men, not ior all of
every sort. Heb. ii. 9. " That he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man," i. e. for every man of those whom the apostle is there treating of, namely sons
brought or to be brought unio glory, verse 10 ; those who are sanctified, Christ's
brethren, verse 11 ; given to him, verse 13; and the sense of the phrase, as used
here by the author, can be no other ; for the sins, which the law found that he had
taken on him, could be no other but the sins that the Lord had laid on him ; and the
sins the Lord had laid on him were the sins of all the faithful or elect, according to the
author ; wherefore, in the author's sense, the sins of all men which the law lound in
Christ were the sins of all the elect, according to the genuine sense of the Scripture
phraseology on that head. And an incident expression, in words which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, and determined in its connexion to the orthodox scriptural meaning,
can never import any prejudice to his sentiment upon that point purposely declared be-
fore in its proper place. It is true, the author, when speaking ol those in whose room
Christ puts himself, useth not the word aloue ; and iu the holy Scripture it is not used
neither on that subject. And it may be observed, that the Spirit ol God in the word,
doth not open the doctrine of election and reprobation, but upon man'« rejecting or
embracing the gospel offer; the which different events are then seasonably accounted
for, from the depths of the eternal counsel of God. See Luke x. 17 — 22; Matt.
xxii. 1 — 14 ; Rom. ix. throughout ; Eph. i. 3 — 5. To every thing there is a season.
The author hitherto hath been dealing with the parties, to bring them to Christ : and
particularly here, he is speaking for the instruction and direction of a convinced tremb-
ling sinner, namely, Neophitus ; and therefore, like a wise and tender man in such a
case, he useth a manner of speaking, which being warranted by the word, was fitted
to evite the awakening of the ordinary scruples in that case, namely, " It may be 1 am
not elected, — it may be Christ died nut for me ;" and which pointed at the duty of all,
242 THE MARROW OF
Heb. x. 5 — 7. And so the law proceeding in full scope against him,
set upon him, and killed him : and by this means, was the justice of
God fully satisfied, his wrath appeased, and all true believers acquit-
ted from all their sins, both past, present, and to come.j
and the encouragement that all have to come to Christ. And all this, after he had,
in his very first words to the reader, sufficiently provided for his using such a manner
of expression, without prejudice to the truth. Further, the law adds, " Therefore let
him die upon the cross." Wherefore ? For their sins, of the laying of which upon him
there is no mention made ; or for the sins of those in whose room he is expressly said
to have put himself, according to the eternal agreement betwixt the Father and him.
Then said Christ, " Lo ! I come ;" viz. actually to pay the debt for which I have be-
come surety in the eternal compact ; the which, whose it was, according to our
author, is already sufficiently declared. The law then set upon him, and killed him ;
for whom, according to our author? For these, surely, in whose room and place he
put himself, and so stood. If one considers his account of the effect of all this, one
does not find it to be, as Arminians say, " That Christ, by the merit of his death, hath
so far forth reconciled God the Father to all mankind, that the Father, by reason of the
Son's merit, both could and would, and did enter and establish, a new and gracious
covenant with sinful man, liable to condemnation." (Examination of Tilenus, p. 164,
art. 2, sect. 2.) " And obtained for all and every man a restoration into a state of
grace and salvation ; so that none will be condemned, nor are liable to condemnation
for original sin, but all are free from the guilt of that sin." (Teste Turret, loc. 14,
ques. 14, th. 5.) Neither does he tell us, that Christ died to "render sin re-
missible to all persons, and them savable," as the Continuator of Pool's An-
notations on Hebrews, (chapter ii. 9,) says, with other Universalists. By this
means, says our author, " was the justice of God fully satisfied, his wrath appeased,
and all true believers acquitted." Compare Westm. Confess, chap. 8. art. 4, 5,
" This office (viz. of a surety) the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which that
he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfil it, endured
most grievous torments, &c. — The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience, and sacrifice
of himself — hath fully satisfied the justice of his Father; and purchased not only re-
conciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those
whom the Father hath given unto him. — Christ by his obedience and death, did fully
discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified." Chap. xi. art. 3. Wherefore
the author does not here teach an universal redemption or atonement. Of this more
afterward.
j Pardon is the removing of the guilt of sin. Guilt is twofold : I, The guilt of
eternal wrath, by which the sinner is bound over to the eternal revenging wrath of
God ; and this, by orthodox divines, is called the guilt of sin by way of emiuency.
2. The guilt of fatherly anger, whereby the sinner is bound over to God's fatherly
anger and chastisements for sin. Accordingly there is twofold pardon ; the one is the
removal of the guilt of eternal wrath, and is called legal pardon ; the other, the remo-
val of the guilt of fatherly anger, and is called gospel pardon. As to the latter, the
believer is daily to sue out his pardon, since he is daily contracting new guilt of that
kind ; and this the author plainly teaches afterwards in its proper place. As to the
former, of which only he speaks here, all the sins of a believer, past, present and to
come, are pardoned together, and at once, in the first instance of his believing ; that
is to say, the guilt of eternal wrath for sin then past and present is actually and for-
.MODERN DIVINITY. 243
So that the law, as it is the covenant of works, hath not anything
to say to any true believer, k for indeed they are dead to it, and it
is dead to them.
Nom. But, sir, how could the sufferings of Christ, which in
mally done away ; the obligation to that wrath which he was lying under for these
sins is dissolved, and the guilt of eternal wrath for sins then to come is effectually
prevented from that moment for ever, so that he can never come under that kind of
guilt any more ; and this pardon as it relates to these sins, is but a pardon improperly
so called, being rather a not imputing of them, than a formal remission, forasmuch as
a formal remission being a dissolution of guilt actually contracted, agrees only to sins
already committed. Therefore our author here uses the word acquitted, which is of
a more extensive signification. All pardon of sin is an acquittance, but all acquittance
of sin is not a formal pardon of it: " For at the resurrection, believers being raised
up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment.
Short. Cat. But they will not then be formally pardoned. Now this is the doctrine
of the Holy Scriptures, Rom. iv. 48, " Even as David also descriheth the blessedness
of the man unto whom God imputeth rigteousuess without works, saying, Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Chap. viii. 1. " There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." That is, not only they shall
never be actually damned, i.e. sent to hell, as that phrase is ordinarily taken, for that
is the privilege of all the elect, even before they believe, while yet they are under
condemnation according to the Scripture ; but there is no binding over of them that
are in Christ to eternal wrath v no guilt of that kind to them. Compare John iii. 18,
" He that believeth on him is not condemmned ; but he that believeth not is con-
demned already." " The one (viz. justification) doth equally free all believers from
the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into
condemnation." Larg. Cat. quest. 77. "Albeit sin remain, and continually abide
in these our mortal bodies, yet it is not imputed unto us, but is remitted and covered
with Christ's justice," {i.e. righteousness.) Old Confess, art. 25. Q. " What
then is our only joy in life and death ? A. That all our sins, by-past, present, and
to come, are buried ; and Christ only is our wisdom, justification, sanctificatiou, and
redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30, Craig's Cat. quest, 43, "The liberty which Christ
hath purchased for believers, under the gospel, consists in their freedom from the
guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law." Westmin.
Confess, chap. xx. art. 1. See chap. xi. art. 5. chap. xvii. art. 3, "They (the
Arminians) so utterly deny, that no sins of the faithful, how great and grievous so-
ever thpy be, are imputed unto them, or that all their sins present and future are for-
given them." Exam, of Tilen. p. 226. art. 5. sect. 5.
It " What things soever it saith, it saith to them that are under it," Rom. iii. 19.
But believers are not under it, not under the law of the covenant of works, (chap. vi.
14.) therefore it saith nothing to them. As such, it said all to Christ in their room
and place; and, without the Mediator's dishonour, it cannot repeat its demands on
them which it made upon him as their surety. Meanwhile the law, as a rule of life to
believers, saith to them all, in the name and authority of God the Creator and
Redeemer, (Matt. v. 48.) " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect." Howbeit, they are under a covenant, under which though no lean
is required, yet less is accepted, for the sake of Christ their cuvenant-head.
244 THE MAKBOW OF
respect of time were but finite, make full satisfaction to the justice
of God, which is infinite ?
Evan. Though the sufferings of Christ, in respect of time, were
but finite, yet in respect of the person that suffered, his sufferings
came to be of infinite value ; for Christ was God and man in one
person, and therefore his sufferings were a sufficient and full ransom
for man's soul, being of more value than the death and destruction
of all creatures.
Nom. But, sir, you know that the covenant of works requires
man's own obedience or punishment, when it says, " He that doeth
these things shall live in them ;" and, " Cursed is every one that
coutinueth not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them :" how then, could believers be acquitted from their
sins by the death of Christ?
Evan. For answer, I pray you consider, that though the covenant
of works requires man's ov?n obedience or punishment, yet it no-
where disallows or excludes that which is done or suffered by ano-
ther in his behalf; neither is it repugnant to the justice of God for
so there be a satisfaction performed by man, through a sufficient
punishment for the disobedience of man, the law is satisfied, and the
justice of God permitteth that the offending party be received into
favour ; and God acknowledges him, after such satisfaction made, as
a just man, and no transgressor of the law ; and though the satis-
faction be made by a surety, yet when it is done, the principal is,
by the law, acquitted. But yt t for the further proof and confirma-
tion of this point, we are to consider, that as Jesus Christ, the
second Adam, entered into the same covenant that the first Adam
did, I so by him was done whatsoever the first Adam had undone.
So the case stands thus, — that as whatsoever the first Adam did, or
befel him, was reckoned as done by all mankind, and to have befal-
len them, even so, whatsoever Christ did, or befel him, is to be reck-
oned as to have been done by all believers, and to have befallen
them. So that as sin cometh from Adam alone to all mankind, as
he in whom all have sinned ; so from Jesus Christ alone cometh
righteousness unto all that are in him, as he in whom they all have
satisfied the justice of God ; for as being in Adam, and one with
him, all did, in him and with him, transgress the commandment of
God ; even so, in respect of faith, whereby believers are ingrafted
into Christ, and spiritually made one with him, they did all,
in him, and with him, satisfy the justice of God, in his death
and sufferings, m And whosoever reckons thus, reckons according
l See the note n t page 196.
>n Namely, in the sense of the law; for in the law -reckoning, as to the payment of
modern divinity. 245
to Scripture ; for in Rom. v. 12. all are said to have sinned in
Adam's sin ; in whom all have sinned, says the text, namely,
in Adam as in a public person: all men's acts were iucluded in
his, because their persons were included in his. So likewise in
the same chapter it is said, ' ; that death passed upon all men ;"
namely for this, that Adam's sin was reckoned for theirs. Even
so (Rom. vi. 10.) the apostle, speaking of Christ, says, " In that
he died, he died unto sin ; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto
a debt, and fulfilling of a covenant, or any the like purpo-es, tbe surety and the origi-
nal debtor, the federal head or the representative, and the represented, are but one
person. And thus the Scripture, determining Adam to be the figure (or type) of
Christ, (Rom. v. 14.) teaches upon the one hand, that all mankind sinned in Adam
(verse 12.) and died in him, (l Cor. xv. 22) ; and on the other hand, that believers
were crucified with Christ, (Gal. ii. 20.) and raised up in him. Eph. ii. 6, " The
covenant (of works) being made with Adam as a public person — all mankind sinned
in him." — Lar. Cat. Quest. 22. " The covenant of grace was made with Christ as
the second Adam," Quest. 31. " He — satisfied Divine justice — the which he did as
a public person, the head of his Churcb," {quest. 52.) "that the righteousness of the
law," says the apostle, " might be fulfilled in us," (Rom. viii. 4) ; so believers satis-
tied in him, as they sinned in Adam. "The threatening of death (Gen. ii. 17.) is
fulfilled in the elect, so that they die, and yet their lives are spared: they die, and
yet they live, for they are reckoned in law to have died when Christ their surety died
for them." — Ferguson on Gal. ii. 20. " Although thou," says Beza, " hast satisfied
for the pain of thy sins in the person of Jesus Christ." — Bezds Confess, point. 4.
art. 12. " What challenges Satan or conscience can make against the believer
hear an answer; I was condemned, I was judged, I was crucified for sin when my
surety Christ was condemned, judged, and crucified for my sins. — I have paid all, be-
cause my surety has paid all." — Rutherford's Trial and Triumph of Faith, serm. xix.
p. 268. " As in Christ we satisfied, so likewise in Adam we sinned." — Flint. Exam,
p. 144. This doctrine, and the doctrine of the formal imputation of Christ's righte-
ousness to believers stand and fall together. For if believers be reckoned in law to have
satisfied in Christ, then his righteousness, which is the result of his satisfaction, must
needs be accounted theirs, but if there be no such law-reckoning, Christ's righteous-
ness cannot be imputed to them otherwise than as to the effects of it, for the judgment
of God is always according to truth." Rom. ii. 2. This the Neonomians are aware
of, and deny both, reckoning them Antinomian principles, as they do many other Pro-
testant doctrines. Hear Mr. Gibbons : " They, (viz. the Antinomians) are danger-
ously mistaken in thinking that a believer is righteous in the sight of God with the
self-fame active and passive righteousness wherewith Christ was righteous, as though
believers suffered in Christ, and obeyed in Christ." — Morn. Exer. Method, ser. 19.
p. 423. On the other hand, the Westminster divines teach both as sound and ortho-
dox principles, affirming Christ's righteousness, obedience, and satisfaction, them-
selves, to be imputed to believers, or reckoned their righteousness, obedience, and
satisfaction. "Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all
our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of
Christ imputed to us." — Short. Cut. " Onlv for the perfect obedience and full satis-
faction of Christ by God imputed to them." — Larg. Cut. quest. 70. '' By imputing
the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them. — Westmin. Confess, chap. xi.
ait. 1.
246 THE MARROW OF
God :" so likewise, says he in the next verse, " Reckon ye your-
selves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord." And so, as touching the resurrection of Christ, the
apostle argues, (1 Cor. xv. 20.) that all believers must and shall
arise, because " Christ is risen, and is become the first fruits of them
that sleep." Christ, as the first-fruits, arises, and that in the name
and stead of all believers ; and so they rise in him and with him
for Christ did not rise as a private person, but he arose as the pub-
lic head of the church ; so that in his arising all believers did vir-
tually arise. And as Christ, at his resurrection, was justified and
quitted from all the sins of all believers by God his father, as hav-
ing now fully satisfied for them, even so were they, n And thus
you see obedience of Christ being imputed unto believers by God
for their righteousness, it puts them into the same estate and case,
touching righteousness unto life before God, o wherein they should
have been, if they had perfectly performed the perfect obedience of
the covenant of works, " Do this, and thou shalt live." p
Sect. 2. Norn. But, sir, are all believers dead to the law, and the
law dead to them, say you ?
Evan. Believe it, as the law is the covenant of works, all true be-
n Virtually justified, not actually, in his justification, even as in his resurrection they
did virtually arise. That this is the author's meaning is evident from his own
words, when, speaking of Neophitus, he says expressly, " He was justified meritori-
ously in the death and resurrectiou of Christ, but yet he was not justified actually,
till he did actually believe in Christ.
o So called to distinguish it from inherent righteousness, which is righteousness from
life.
p This is a weighty point, the plan and native result of what is said, namely, that
since Jesus Christ hath fully accomplished what was to have been done by man him-
self for life according to the covenant of works, and that the same is imputed to believ-
ers ; therefore believers are in the same state, as to righteousness unto life, that they
would have been in if man himself had stood the whole time appointed for his trial.
And here is the true ground in law of the infalible perseverance of the saints, their
time of trial for life is over in their Head the second Adam — the prize is wonj!
Hence the just by faith are entitled to the same benefit which Adam by his perfect
obedience would have been entitled to. Compare Rom. x. 5, " The man that doth
these things shall live," with Hab. ii. 4, " The just by his faith shall live ;" the which
is the true reading according to the original. And here, for clearing of the following
purpose of the believer's freedom from the law, as it is the covenant of works, let it
be considered, that if Adam had stood till the time of his trial had been expired, the
covenant of works would indeed from that time have remained his everlasting security
for eternal life, like a contract held fulfilled by the one party ; but, as in the same
case it could have no longer remained to be the rule of his obedience ! namely, in the
state of confirmation. The reason is obvious, viz. that the subjecting of him still to
the covenant of works as the rule of his obqrfieuce, would have been a reducing him to
MODERN DIVINITY. 247
lievers are dead unto it, and it is dead unto them ; q for they being
incorporated into Christ, what the law or covenant of works did to
him, it did the same to them ; so that when Christ hanged on the
cross, all believers, after a sort, hanged there with him. And there-
fore the apostle Paul having said, Gal. ii. 10, " I through the law
am dead to the law," adds in the next verse, "I am crucified with
Christ;" which words the apostle brings as an argument to prove
that he was dead to the law, for the law had crucified him with
Christ. Upon which text Luther on the Galatians, (p. 81.) says, " I
likewise am crucified and dead to the law, forasmuch as I am cru-
cified and dead with Christ. .And again, "I believing in Christ, am
also crucified with Christ." In like manner, the apostle says to
the believing Romans, " So ye, my brethren, are dead also to the
law by the body of Christ," Rom. vii. 4. Now, by the body of
Christ, is meant the passion of Christ upon the cross, or which is all
one, the suffering of Christ in his human nature. And, therefore
certainly we may conclude with Tindal on the text, that all such
are dead concerning the law, as by faith crucified with Christ.
Nom. But, I pray you, sir, how do you prove that the law is
dead to a believer ?
Evan. Why, as I conceive, the apostle confirms it, Rom. vii. 1 — 6.
Nom. Surely, sir, you do mistake ; for I remember the words of
the first verse are, " how that the law hath dominion over a man as
long as he liveth ;" and the words of the sixth verse are, " but now
arewe delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
holden," &c.
the state of trial he was in before, and the setting him anew to work for what was
already his own, in virtue of his (supposed) fulfilling of that covenant. Nevertheless
it is absolutely impossible but the creature, in any state whatsoever, must be bound to
and owe obedience unto the Creator ; and being still bound to obedience, (>f necessity
he behoved to have had a rule of that obedience ; as to which rule, since the cove-
nant of works could not be it, what remains but that the rule of obedience, in the
state of confirmation, would have been the law of nature, suited to man's state of im-
mutability, improperly so called, and so divested of the form of the covenant of works,
namely, in promise of eternal life, and threatening of eternal death, as it is, and will
be in heaven, for ever. The application is easy, making always as the rule of believ-
ers' obedience, suitable reserves for the imperfection of their state, in respect of in-
herent righteousness ; the which imperfection, as it leaves room for promises of fa-
therly smiles, and threatenings of fatherly chastisements, so it makes them necessary ;
but these also shall be doue away in heaven, when their real estate shall be perfect
as their relative state is now.
q Rom. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also become dead to the law." Gal.
ii. 19, "I through the law am dead to the law." And this, acording to the nature,
of correlates, concludes the law, as it is the covenant of works ; to be dead also to
believers. Col. ii. 14, " Nailing it to his cross."
248 THE MARROW OF
Evan. I know right well, that in our last translation the words
are so rendered ; but the learned Tindal renders it thus, " Remem-
ber ye not, brethren, that the law hath dominion over a man as
long as it eudureth ?" And Bishop Hall paraphrases upon it thus,
" Know ye not, brethren, that the Mosaical law hath dominion over
a man that is not subject unto it, so long as the said law is in
force ?" So likewise Origen, Ambrose, and Erasmus, do all agree,
that, by these words, while " he" or " it" liveth, we are to under-
stand, as long as the law remaineth. And Peter Martyr is of opi-
nion, that these words, while " he" or " it" liveth, are differently
referred, either to the law, or to the man ; for says he, " the man is
said to be dead," ver. 4. " and the law is said to be dead," ver. 6.
Even so because the word " he" or " it" mentioned verse 1. signi-
fies both sexes in the Greek, Chrysostom thinks, that the death both
of the law and the man is insinuated. And Theophylact, Erasmus,
Bucer, and Calvin, do all understand the sixth verse, of the law
beinw dead. And as the death of a believer to the law was accom-
plished by the death of Christ, even so also was the law's death to
him ; as Mr. Fox in his sermon of Christ crucified, testifies, saying,
" Here have we upon one cross two crucifixes, two of the most
excellent potentates that ever were, the Son of God and the law of
God, wrestling together about man's salvation — both cast down and
both slain upon one cross ; howbeit, not after a like sort. First,
the Son of God was cast doTn, and took the fall, not for any weak-
ness in himself, but was content to take it for our victory. By this
fall, the law of God, in casting him down was caught in his own
trip, and so was fast nailed hand and foot to the cross, according as
we read in St. Paul's words, Col. ii. 14." And so Luther on the
Galatians, (p. 184.) speaking to the same point, says, " This was a
a wonderful combat, where the law, being a creature, giveth such
assault to his Creator, iu practising his whole tyranny upon the
Son of God. Now, therefore, because the law did so horribly and
cursedly sin against his God, it is accused and arraigned, and, as a
thief and cursed murderer of the Son of God, loses all its right, and
deserves to be condemned. The law therefore is bound, dead, and
crucified to me. It is not only overcome, condemned, and slain
unto Christ, but also to me, believing in him unto whom he hath
freely given this victory." r Now, then, although according to the
r This is cited from Luther on the epistle to the Galatians, according to the English
translation, and is to be found there, fol. 1 14. p. 1, 2. fol. 185. p. 1. fol. 82. p. 1.
His own words from the Latin original, after he had lectured on that epistle a second
time, as I find them in my copy, printed at Frankfort 1563, are here subjoined.
" Hoc profecto mirabile duellum est, ulji lex creatura cum Creatore sic congreditur,
MODEBN DIVINITY. 249
apostle's intimation, (Roin. vii. at the baginning,) the covenant of
works, and man by nature, be mutually engaged each to other, so
long as they both live ; yet if, when the wife be dead, the husband
be free, then much more when he is dead also.
et praeter omne jus, omnem tyrannidem suam in Filio Dei exercet, qnam in nobis fil-
liis, irae exercuit." Luth Comment, in Gal. iv. 4,5. p. 598. " Ideo lex, tanquam
letro et sacrileijus hornicida Filii Dei, amittit jus, et meretur damnari," lb. p. 600.
" Ergo lex, est mihi surda, ligata, mortua et crucifixa." lb. cap ii. 20. p. 280.
" Conscientia apprenendens hoc apostoli verbum, Christus a lege nos redemit — sancta
quadam subt-rbia insultat legi, dicens — nunc in posterum non solum Christo victa et
strangulata es, sed etiam mihi credenti in eum, cui donavit banc victoriam," Page 600.
That great man of Go'l, a third Elias, and a second Paul, (if I may venture the ex-
pression,) though he was no inspired teacher, was endued with a great measure of the
spirit of them both, being raised up of God for the extraordinary work of the Re-
formation of religion from Popery, while all the world wondered after the Beast.
The lively savour he had of the truths of the gospel in his own soul, and the
fervour of his spirit in delivering them, did indeed carry him as far from the modern
politeness of expression, as the admiration and affectation of this last is like to carry
us off from the former. What he designed by all this triumph of faith is summed up
in a few words, immediately following these last cited : " This, the law, (viz. as
it is the covenant of works) is gone for ever as to us, providing we abide in Christ."
This he chose to express in such figurative terms, that that great gospel truth might be
the more impressed on his own heart, and the hearts of his scholars, being prompted
thereto by his experience of the necessity, and withal of the difficulty of applying it
by faith to his own case, in his frequent deep soul exercises and conflicts of conscience.
" Therefore (says he) feeling thy terrors and threatening, O law ! I dip my conscience
over head and ears, into the wounds, blood, death, resurrection, and victory of Christ;
besides him I will see and hear nothing at all. This faith is our victory, whereby we
overcome the terrors of the law, sin, death, and all evils, but not without a great con-
flict." Ibid. p. 597. And speaking on the same subject elsewhere, he has these re-
markable words, " It is easy to speak these things, but happy he that could know them
aright in the conflict of conscience." — Comment, on Gal. ii. 19. p. 259. Now, to
turn outward the wrong side of the picture of his discourse, to make it false, horrid,
profane and blasphemous, is hard. At this rate, many scripture texts must suffer, not
to speak of approven human writers. I instance only that of Elias, 1 Kings xviii.
27. " He (Baal) is a god ; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he
is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." Yet 1
compare not Luther's commentary to the inspired writing; only where the holy
Scripture goes before, one would think he might be allowed to follow. Here
is an irony, a rhetorical figure, and there is a prosopopoeia, or feigning of a
person, another rhetorical figure ; and the learned and holy man tells us withal, that
Paul used it before him on the same subject, representing the law " as a most potent
personage, who condemned and killed Christ, whom he (having overcome death) did
in the like manner conquer, condemn, and kill;" for which he cites Eph. ii. iv.
epistles to the Rom Cor. Col. p. 599. Now, albeit the law, as it is the covenant
of works, not being a person indeed, but a most holy law of God, was incapable of
real arraignment, sin, theft, or murder ; yet one being allowed to speak figuratively
of it, as such a person before mentioned ; and finding the Spirit of God to teach that
it was crucified, Jesus Christ " nailing it to his cross," Col. ii. 14. What impiety
Vol. VII. q
250 THE MARROW OF
Nom. But, sir, what are we to understand by this double death,
or wherein does this freedom from the law consist?
Evan. Death is nothing else but a dissolution, or untying of a
compound, or a separation between matter and form ; and, there-
fore, when the soul and body of man is separated, we say he is
dead : so that, by this double death, we are to understand nothing
else, but that the bargain, or covenant, which was made between God
and man at first, is dissolved or untied ; or that the matter and form
of the covenant of works is separated to a believer. So that the law
of the ten commandments neither promises eternal life, nor threatens
eternal death to a believer, upon condition of his obedience or dis-
obedience to it; s neither does a believer, as he is a believer, either
what blasphemy is there in assigning crimes to it for which it was crucified, crimes of
the same nature with its crucifixion, that is, not really ami literally so, but figuratively
only ? And the crucifying of a person, as it presupposeth his arraignment, accusation,
and condemnation, so it implies his binding and death ; all which the decency of the
parable requires. And the same decency requiring the rhetorical feigning of crimes
as the causes of that crucifixion, they could be no other but these tbat are assigned ;
forasmuch as Jesus Christ is here considered, not as a sinner by imputation, but as
absolutely without guilt, though in the meantime the sins of all the elect were really
to him, the which in reality justified the holy law's procedure against him. More-
over, upon the crucifixion, it may be remembered how the apostle proves Christ to
have been " made a curse for us ;" for, says he, it is written, " Cursed is every one
that hangeth on a tree," Gal. iii. 13 ; the which if any should apply to the law as the
covenant of works in a figurative manner, as its crucifixion must be understood, it
could import no more, by reason of the nature of the thing, than an utter abolition of
it with respect to believers, which is a great gospel truth. And here one may call to
mind the Scripture phrases, Rom. vii 5, " The motions of sin which were by the
law ;" — chap. viii. 2, " The law of sin and death ;" — " The covenant of works, called
the law of sin and death," Confess, p. 382, fiff. 3. '' The strength of sin is the law,"
1 Cor. xv. 56.
After all, for my part, I would neither use some of these expressions of Luther's,
nor dare I so much as in my heart condemn them in him ; the reason is one ; because
of the want of that measure of the influences of grace which I conceive he had when
he uttered these words. And the same I would say of the several expressions of the
great Rutherford, and of many eminent ministers, in their day signally countenanced
of God in their administrations. Here Luther himself, in his preface to that book,
page {mihi) 10, " These our thoughts," says he, " on this epistle do come forth, not
so much against those, (viz. the church's enemies) as for the sake of our own, (viz.
her friends) who will either thank me for my diligence, or will pardon my weakness
and rashness." It is a pity the just expectation of one, whose name will be in honour
in the church of Christ while the memory of the Reformation from Popery is kept up,
should be frustrated.
s The law of the ten commandments given to Adam, as the covenant of works, pro-
mised eternal life, upon condition of obedience, and threatened eternal death in case
of disobedience ; and this was it that made it the covenant of works. Now, this cove-
nant frame of the law of the ten commandments being dissolvod as to believers, it can
MODERN DIVINITY. 251
hope for eternal life, or fear eternal death, upon any such terms, t
No; " we may assure ourselves, that whatsoever the law saith," on
any such terms, it " saith to them who are under the law," (Rom.
iii. 19.) ; but believers " are not under the law, but under grace,"
(Rom. vi. 14.) and so have escaped eternal death, and obtained eter-
nal life, only by faith in Jesus Christ; u " for by him all that be-
no more promise nor threaten them at any rate. The Scripture indeed testifies, that
" godliness hath the promise, not only of the life that now is, but also of that which
is to come," (1 Tim. iv. 8,) there being an infallible connexion between godliness and
the glorious life in heaven established by promise in the covenant of grace ; but in the
meantime, it is the obedience and satisfaction of Christ apprehended by faith, and not
our godliness, that is the condition upon which that life is promised, and upon which
a real Christian in a dying hour will venture to plead for a share in that life. It is
likewise certain that not only are believers, in virtue of the covenant of works which
they remain under, liable to et rnal death as the just reward of sin, but there is by
that covenant a twofold connexion established, the one betwixt a state of unbelief ir-
regeneracy, impenitency, and unholiness, and eternal death ; the other, betwixt acts
of disobedience and eternal death. The former is absolutely indissoluble, and cannot
but eternally remain ; so that whosoever are in that state of sin, while they are in it
they must needs be in a state of death, bound over to the wratb of God bv virtue of
the threatening of the law ; but then it is impossible that believers in Christ can be in
that state of sin. So these and the like sentences, — " He that believeth shall not be
damned," Mark xvi. 16. "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish," Luke xiii. 3.
" If ye live after the flesh ye shall die," Rom. viii. 3 ; do indeed bind over unbeliev-
ers to eternal death ; but they do no otherwise concern believers than as they set be-
fore them a certain connexion of two events, neither of which can ever be found in
their case ; and yet the serious consideration of them is of great and manifold use to
believers, as a serious view of every part of the covenant of works is, particularly to
move them to grow up more and more into Christ, and to make their calling and elec-
tion sure As to the latter connexion, viz. betwixt acts of disobedience and eternal
death, it is dissoluble, and in the case of the believer, actually dissolved ; so that none
have warrant to say to a believer, If thou sin, thou shalt die eternally ; forasmuch as
the threatening of eternal death, as to the believer, being already satisfied in the sa-
tisfaction of Christ, by faith apprehended and imputed of God to him, it cannot be
renewed on him, more than one debt can be twice charged, namely, for double pay-
ment.
t But on the having, or wanting of a saving interest in Christ.
u This is a full proof of the whole matter. For how can the law of the ten com-
mandments promise eternal life, or threaten eternal death, upon condition of obedience
or disobedience, to those who have already escaped eternal death, and obtained eternal
life by faith in Christ V The words which the Holy Ghost teaches, are so far from
restraining the notion of eternal life to glorification, and of eternal death to the
misery of the damned in hell, that they declare the soul upon its union with Christ to
be as really possessed of eternal life as the saints in heaven are ; and without that
state of union, to be as really under death, and the wrath of God, as the damned in
hell are, though not in that measure. (The term " eternal death" is not, as far as I
remember, used in Scripture.) And this agreeable to the nature of the things ; for as
here is no mids betwixt life and death in a subjrct capable of either, so it is evident,
q2
252 THE MARROW OF
lieve are justified from all tilings, from which they could not be jus-
tified by the law of Moses." Acts xiii. 39. " For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life." John iii. 16.
And this is that covenant of grace which, as I told you, was
made with the fathers by way of promise, and so but darkly ; but
now the fulness of time being come, it was more fully opened and
promulgated.
Ant. "Well, sir, you have made it evident and plain, that Christ
hath delivered all believers from the law, as it is the covenant of
works ; and that therefore they have nothing at all to do with it.
Evan. No, indeed ; none of Christ's are to have any thing to do
with the covenant of works, but Christ only. For although in the
making of the covenant of works at first, God was one party, and
man another, yet, in making it the second time, God was on both
sides: — God, simply considered in his essence, was the party op-
posed to man ; and God, the second person, having taken upon him
to be incarnate, and to work man's redemption, was on man's side,
and takes part with man, that he may reconcile him to God, by
bearing man's sins, aud satisfying God's justice for them. And
Christ paid God v till he said be had enough ; he was fully satisfied,
fully contented, (Matth. iii. 17.) "This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased," Yea, God the Father was well pleased, and
fully satisfied from all eternity, by virtue of that covenant that
was made betwixt them. And thereupou all Christ's people were
given to them in their election. Eph. i. 4, " Thine they were," w
says Christ, " and thou gavest them me," John xvii. 6. And
the life communicated to the sou], in its union with Christ the quickening Head, can
never be extinguished for the ages of eternity, (John xiv. 19.) ; and the sinner's
death under the guilt and power of sin, is in its own nature eternal, and can never end
hut by a work of Almighty power, which raiseth the dead, and calleth things that are
not, to he as if they were. 1 Thess. i. 10, " Jesus which delivered us from the wrath
to come.' 1 John iii. 14, " We know that we have passed from death unto life."
John iii. 36, " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believ-
eth not on the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Chap,
v. 24, " He that believeth — hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna-
tion, but is passed from death unto life." Chap. vi. 47, " He that believeth on me
hath everlasting life." Verse 54, " Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
hath eternal life." 1 John v 12, 13, " He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life."
See Rom. viii. J ; John iii. 16 — 18, aud xvii. 3.
v All the demands of the covenant of works on the elect world.
w That he taking on their nature, might answer the demands of the covenant of
woiks for them, (Eph. i. 14.) *' According as he has chosen us in him." We are
MODERN DIVINITY. 253
agaiu, says he, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all
things into his hands," (John iii. 35.) ; that is, he hath intrusted
him with the economic and actual administration of that power in
the Church, which originally belonged unto himself. And hence it
is that Christ also says, " The Father judgeth no man, but hath
committed all judgment unto the Son." John v. 22. So that all
the covenant that believers are to have regard to, for life and sal-
vation, is the free and gracious covenant that is betwixt Christ (or
God in Christ) and them, x And in this covenant there is not any
condition or law to be performed on man's part, by himself; y no,
said to be chosen in Christ, not that Christ is the cause of election, but that electing
love, flowing immediately from God to all the objects of it, the Father did, in one and
the same degree of election, choose the head and the members of the happy body ; yet
Christ the head first, (in the order of nature,) then all those who make up this body,
who were thereby given to him, to be redeemed and saved, by his obedience and
death; the which, being by him accepted, he, as Elect-Mediator and Head of elect-
men, had full power and furniture for the work made over to him. And thus may we
conceive the second covenant to have been concluded, agreeably to the Scripture account
of that mystery. This, the author says, was done thereupon, not upon the Father's
being well pleased and fully satisfied, by virtue of the covenant made ; the which is
the effect of the covenant, whereas this is one of the transactions or parts of the cove-
nant, as all the following words brought to illustrate it do plainly carry it ; but upon
God the Son, being on the other side in making the second covenant, the which is the
principal purpose in this paragraph, the explication whereof was interrupted by the
adding of a sentence concerning the execution and effect of the glorious contrivance.
In making of the second covenant, the second person of the ever blessed Trinity, con-
sidered simply as such, is one of the parties. Thereupon, in the decree of election, de-
signing, as is said, both head and members, he is chosen Mediator and head of the elec-
tion, to be their incarnate Redeemer; the which headship accepted, he, as Mediator aud
Head of the election, took upon him to be incarnate, and in their nature to satisfy the
demands of the covenant of works for them. Isa. xlii. 1 ; Eph. i. 4 ; Psal. xl. 6,
Westmin. Confess, chap. viii. art. 1. "It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to
choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Sun, to be the Mediator between
God and man — the Head and Saviour of his church — unto whom he did, from all eter-
nity, give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed," &c. chap. iii.
art. 5. " Those of mankiud that are predestinated unto life — God hath chosen in
Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love." Compare what
the author writes on this subject, p. 21 — 25.
x That is, the covenant of grace only, not the covenaut of works.
y Namely, for life and salvation ; the same being already performed by Jesus
Christ; he, having in the second covenant, undertaken to satisfy all the demands of
the covenant of works, did do all that was to be done or wrought for our life and sal-
vation. And if it had not been so, life and salvation had remained eternally without
our reach ; for how is it possible we should perform, do, or work, until we get life
and salvation ? what condition or law are we fit for performing while we are dead,
and not saved from, hut lying under sin, the wrath and curse of God? See the fol-
lowing note.
254 THE MAKKOW OF
there 13 no more for him to do, but only to know and believe that
Christ hath done all for him. z
Wherefore, my dear Neophitus, to turn my speech particularly
2 Namely, all that was to be done for life and salvation. And neither repentance,
nor sincere (imperfect) obedience, nay, nor yet believing itself, is of that sort :
though all of these are indispensably necessary in subjects capable of them. This
expression bears a kind of imitation, usual in conversation, and used by our blessed
Saviour on this subject, John vi. 28, 29, " Th%n said they unto him, what shall we
do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them,
This is the work of God, that ye believe." The design of it plainly is, to con-
front the humour that is naturally in all men, for doing and working for life and
salvation, when once they begin to lay these things to heart; there is no more, says
the author, for him to do, but only to know and believe that Christ hath done all
for him; and therefore the expression is not to be strained besides its scope. How-
ever, this is true faith, according to the Scripture, whether all saving faith be such a
knowledge and believing or not ; and that knowledge and believing are capable of
decrees of certainty, and may be mixed with doubting, without overturning the reality
of them. Isa. liii. 11, " By his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many."
John xvii. 3, " This is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Gal. ii. 20, " I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Rom. x. 9, " If thou shalt believe
in thine hfart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." To
believe that God hath raised him from the dead is to believe that he has perfected the
work, and done all that was to be done for life and salvation to sinners: but is this
enough to constitute saving faith? Surely it is not; for devils may believe that:
therefore it must be believed with particular application to oneself, intimated in the
phrase, " Believing in thine heart;" and this is what devils and reprobates never
reach unto, howbeit these last may pretend to know and believe, that Christ is raised
from the dead for them, and so hath done all for them, even as they also may pretend
to receive and rest on him alone for salvation. But in all this, one who truly believes
may yet have ground to say with tears, " Lord, I believe ! help thou mine unbelief,"
Mark ix. 24.
Nevertheless, under this covenant there is much to do ; a law to be performed and
obeyed, though not for life and salvation, but from, life and salvation received; even
the law of the ten commandments in the full extent thereof, as the author doth at
large expressly teach, in its proper place, in this and the second part.
This is the good old wav, (according to the Scriptures, Acts xvi. 30, 31 ; Matt. xi.
28 29; Tit. ii. 11, 12.) if the famous Mr. John Davidson understood the Protestant
doctrine. Q. "Then the salvation of man" says he, "is so fully wrought and per-
fectly accomplished by Christ in his own person, that nothing is left to be done or
wrought by us in our persons, to be any cause of the least part thereof? A. That is
most certain." — Mr. John Davidson s Catechism, Edin. Edit. 1708. p. 15. "So
we are perfectly saved by the works which Christ did for us in his own person, and no
ways by the good works which he works in us, with and after faith. (Marg. Here is
the main point and ground of our disagreement with the Papists.) Rests then any-
thing for us to do after that we are perfectly justified in God's sight by faith in
Christ ? Disciple. Yes, very much, albeit no ways to merit salvation ; but only to
witnesB, by the effects of thankfulness, that we are truly saved." — Ibid. p. 46, 48,
49.
MODERN DIVINITY.
255
to you, (because I see you are in heaviness,) I beseech yon to be
persuaded that here you are to work nothing, here you are to do
nothing, here you are to render nothing unto God, but only to
receive the treasure, which is Jesus Christ, and apprehend him in
your heart by faith, although you be never so great a sinner; a and
so shall you obtain forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal
happiness, not as an agent, but as a patient, not by doing but by re-
ceiving, b Nothing here comes betwixt but faith only, apprehend-
ing Christ in the promise, c This then is perfect righteousness, to
hear nothing, to know nothing, to do nothing of the law of works,
but only to know and believe that Jesus Christ is now gone to the
Father, and sitteth at his right hand, not as a judge, but is made
unto you of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemp-
tion, d Wherefore, as Paul and Silas said to the jailor, so say I
unto you, " Beliave on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved :" that is, be verily persuaded in your heart that Jesus Christ
is yours, and that you shall have life and salvation by him ; that
whatsoever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for
you. e
a See the two foregoing notes. And hear another passage from the same book
whence this is taken, namely, the English translation of Luther's Commentary on the
Epistle to the Galatians, fol. 75, " Good works ought to be done — the example of
Christ is to be followed. — Well, all these things will I gladly do. What th>.-n follow-
eth ? Thou shalt then be saved, and obtain everlasting life. Nay, not so I grant
indeed, that I ought to do good works, patieutlv to suffer troubles and afflictions, and
to shed my blood also, if need be, for Christ's cause; but yet am I not justified
neither do I obtain salvation thereby."
b This is the style of the same Luther, who useth to distinguish betwixt active and
passive righteousness, i.e. the righteousness of the law, and the righteousness of faith ;
agreeable to Rom. iv. 5, " But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
c The passage at more length is this : " The marriage is made up without all pomp
and solemnity ; that is to say, nothing at all comes between ; no law nor work is here
required. — Here is nothing else but the Father promising — and I receiving — but these
things, without experience and practice, cannot be understood." — Luther, ubi sup. fol.
194.
d These words also are Luther's, in his argument on the epistle to the Galatians, p.
24, of the Latin copy, and fol. 7 of the translation ; but what our author reads,
" Nothing of the law of works," is, in Luther's own words, "Nothing of the law,
or of works;" the sense is the same. What concerns the assurance in the nature of
faith, which these words seem to bear, we will meet with anon.
e In this definition of saving faith, there is the general nature or kind of it, viz.
a real persuasion, agreeing to all sorts of faith, divine and human, — " Be verily per-
suaded ;" the more special nature of it, an appropriating persuasion, or special
application to oneself, agreeing to a convinced sinner's faith or belief of the law's curse,
(Gal. iii. 10.) as well as to it — "Be verily persuaded in your heart;" thus, Rom.
x. 9, " If thou shalt believe in thine heart, that God, &c. thou shalt be Baved ;" and
256 THE MAltKOW OF
finally the most special nature of it, whereby it is distinguished from all other, namely,
an appropriating persuasion of Christ being yours, &c. And as one's believing in
one's heart, or appropriating persuasion of the dreadful tidings of tbe law, imports not
only an assent to them as true, but an honor of them as evil ; so believing in the
heart, or an appropriating persuasion of the glad tidings of the gospel, bears not only
an assent to them as true, but a relish of them as good.
The parts of this appropriating persuasion, according to our author, are, ), " That
Jesus Christ is yours," viz. by the deed of gift and grant made to mankind lost, or
(which is the same thing in other words,) by the authentic gospel offer, in the Lord's
own word ; the which offer is the foundation of faith, and the ground and warrant of
the ministerial offer, without wljich it could avail nothing. That this is the meaning
appears from the answer to the question immediately following, touching the warrant
to believe. By this offer, or deed of gift and grant, Christ is ours before we believe,
not that we have a saving interest in him, or are in a state of grace, but that we have
a common interest in him and the common salvation, which fallen angels have not,
Jude 3 ; so that it is lawful and warrantable for us, not for them, to take possession of
Christ and his salvation. Even as when one presents a piece of gold to a poor man,
saying, " Take it, it is yours;" the offer makes the piece really his in the sense and
to the effect before declared ; nevertheless, while the poor man does not accept or re-
ceive it; whether apprehending the offer too great to be real, or that he has no liking
of the necessary consequents of the accepting ; it is not his in possession, nor hath he
the benefit of it; but, on the contrary, must starve for it all, and that so much the
more miserably, that he hath slighted the offer and refused the gift. So this act
of faith is nothing else but to "believe God," 1 John v. 10; " to believe the Son,"
John iii. 36 ; "to believe the report" concerning Christ, Isa. liii. 1 ; "or to believe
the gospel," Mark i. 15 ; not as devils believe the same, knowing Christ to be Jesus
a Saviour, but not their Saviour, but with an appropriating persuasion, or special ap-
plication, believing him to be our Saviour. Now, what this gospel report, record, or
testimony of God, to be believed by all, is, the inspired penman expressly declares,
'' This is the Tecord, that God bath given to us eternal life ; and this life is in his
Son," John v. 11. The giving here mentioned, is not giving in possession in greater
or lesser measure, but giving by way of grant, whereupon one may take possession.
And the party to whom, is not the election only, but mankind lost. For this record
is the gospel, the foundation of faith, and warrant to all, to believe in the Son of God
and lay hold on eternal life in him ; but that God hath given eternal life to the elect
can be no such foundation nor warrant ; for that a gift is made to certain select men,
can never be a foundation or warrant for all men to accept and take it. The great
sin of unbelief lies in not believing this record or testimony, and so making God a
liar; " He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record," &c. 1 John v. 10, II.
On the other hand, " He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that
God is true," John iii. 33. But the great sin of unbelief lies, not in nut believing
that God hath given eternal life to the elect — for the most desperate unbelievers such
as Judas and Spira, believe that, and the belief of it adds to their anguish and tor-
ment of spirit ; yet they do not set to their seal that God is true — but, on the con-
trary, they make God a liar, in not believing that to lost mankind, and to themselves
in particular, God hath given eternal life in the way of grant, so as they, as well as
others, are warranted and welcome to take possession of it, so fleeing in the face
of God's record and testimony in the gospel. Isa. ix. 6; John iii. 16; Acts iv.
12; Prov. viii. 4 ; Rev. xxii. 17. In believing this, not in believing the former,
MODERN DIVINITY. 257
lies the difficulty, in tbe agonies of conscience; the which, nevertheless,' till one do
in a greater or lesser measure surmount, one can never believe on Christ, receive and
rest upon him for salvation. The truth is, the receiving of Christ doth necessarily
pre-suppose this giving of him. There may indeed be a giving where there is no re-
ceiving, for a gift may be refused ; and there may be a taking where there is no
giving, the which is a presumptuous action without warrant ; but there can be no place
for receiving Christ where there is not a giving of him before. ' In the matter of
faith, (says Rollock, Lect. x. on Thess. p. 126,) there are two things — first there
is a giver, and next there is a receiver. God gives, and the soul receives." The
Scripture is express to this purpose: " A man can receive nothing, except it be given
him from heaven," John iii. 27.
2. " And that you shall have life and salvation by him ;" namely, a life of holiness,
as well as of happiness, — salvation from sin as well as from wrath, — not in heaven
only, but begun here and completed hereafter. That this is the author's notion of life
and salvation, agreeably to the Scripture, we have had sufficient evidence already, and
will find more in our progress. Wherefore, this persuasion of faith is inconsistent
with an unwillingness to part with sin, a bent or purpose of heart to continue in sin,
even as receiving and resting on Christ for salvation is. One finds it expressed almost
in so many words, Acts xv. II," We believe that through the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ we shall be saved." It is fitly placed after the former, for it cannot go
before it, but follows upon it. The former is a believing of God, or believing the
Son : this is a believing on the Son, and so is the same with receiving of Christ,
as that receiving is explained, John i. 2, " But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
It doth also evidently bear tbe soul's resting on Christ for salvation, for it is nof pos-
sible to conceive a soul resting on Christ for salvation, without a persuasion that it
shall have life and salvation by him ; namely, a persuasion which is of the same mea-
sure and degree as the resting is. And thus it appears, that there can be no saving
faith without this persuasion in greater or lesser measure. But withal it is to be re-
membered, as to what concerns the habit, actings, exercise, strength, weakness, and
intermitting of the exercise of saving faith, the same is to be said of this persuasion
in all points.
3. " That whatsoever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for
you. — " I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me," Gal. ii. 20. This comes in tbe last place ; and I think none will question, but
whosoever believes in the manner before explained, may and ought to believe this, in
this order. And it is believed, if not explicitly, yet virtually, by all who receive and
rest on Christ for salvation.
From what is said, it appears that this definition of faith is the same, for substance
and matter, though in different words, with that of the Shorter Catechism, which de-
fines it, by " receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation, as he is offered to
us in the Gospel." In which, though the offer to us is mentioned last, yet it is evident
it is to be believed first.
Object. But the author's definition makes assurance to be of the essence of faith ?
Answ. Be it so : however, he uses not the word assurance or assured in his defini-
tion ; nor will any thing contained in it amount to the idea now commonly affixed to
that word, or to what is now in our days commonly understood by assurance. And,
(1.) He doth not here teach that assurance of faith whereby believers are certainly
assured that they are in the state of giace, the which is founded upon the evidence of
grace, of which kind of assurance the Westminster Confession expressly treats, chop.
258 THE MARROW OF
18, art. 1 — 3 ; but an assurance which is in faith, in the direct acts theroof, founded
upon the word allenarly, Mark xvi. 15, 16 ; John iii. 16 ; and this is nothing else but
a fiducial appropriating persuasion. (2.) He doth not determine this assurance or per-
suasion to be full, or to exclude doubting: he sa^s not, be fully persuaded, but, be
verily persuaded, which speaks only the reality of the persuasion, and doth not at all
concern the degree of it. And it is manifest, from his distinguishing between faith of
adherence, and faith of evidence, (p. 79,) that, according to him, saving faith may be
without evidence. And so one may have this assurance or persuasion, and yet not
know assuredly that he hath it, but need marks to discover it by ; for though a man
cannot but be conscious of an act of his own soul as to the substance of the act, yet he
may be in the dark as to the specific nature of it, than which nothing is more ordi-
dary among serious Christians. And thus, as a real saint is conscious of his own
heart's moving in affection towards God, yet sometimes doth not assuredly know it to
be the true love of God in him, but fears it be an hypocritical flash of affection ; so he
may be conscious of his persuasion, and yet doubt if it is the true persuasion of faith,
and not that of the hypocrite.
This notion of assurance, or persuasion in faith, is so agreeable to the nature of
the thing called believing, and to the style of the holy Scripture, that sometimes where
the original text reads — faith or believing, we read — assurance, according to the
genuine sense of the original phrase: Acts xvii. 31, " Whereof he hath given as-
surance ;" orig. " faith," as is noted in the margin of our Bibles. Deut. xxviii. 66,
" Thou shalt have none assurance of thy life ;" orig. " Thou shalt not believe in thy
life." This observation shows, that to believe, in the style of the Holy Scripture, as
well as in the common usage of mankind in all other matters, is to be assured or per-
suaded, namely, according to the measure of one's believing.
And the doctrine of assurance, or an appropriating persuasion in saving faith, as it is
the doctrine of the Holy Scripture, (Rom. x. 9; Acts xv. 11 ; Gal. ii. 20,) so it is a
Protestant doctrine, taught by Protestant divines against the Papists, sealed with the
blood of martyrs in Popish flames ; it is the doctrine of reformed Churches abroad,
and the doctrine of the Church of Scotland.
The nature of this work will not allow multiplying testimonies on all these heads.
Upon the first, it shall suffice to adduce the testimony of Essenius, in his Compendium
Theologies, the system of divinity taught the students in the College of Edinburgh by
Professor Campbell. " There is therefore," says he, '' in saving faith, a special ap-
plication of gospel benefits. This is proved against the Papists, (1.) From the profes-
sion of believers, Gal. ii. 20, ' I live by that faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me." Psalm xxiii. 1, ' The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
want; in cotes of budding grass he makes me to lie down, &c. Though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear evil; for thou art with me,' &c.
And Job xix. 25; Phil. i. 21— 23 ; Rom. viii. 33 — 39; x. 9, 10; 2 Cor. v. 1—6;
with 2 Cor. iv. 13, &c." — Essen. Comp. Theol. chap. ii. sect. 12. And speaking
of the method of faith, he says, it is, " 4. That according to the promises of the
gospel, out of that spiritual desire, the Holy Spirit also bearing witness in us, we ac-
knowledge Christ to be our Saviour, and so receive and apply him, every one to
ourselves, apprehending him again, who first apprehended us ; 2 Cor. iv. 13; Rom.
viii. 16; John i. 12 ; 2 Tim. i. 12 ; Gal. ii. 20; Phil. iii. 12. The which is the
formal act of saving faith. 5. Furthermore, that we acknowledge ourselves to be in
communion with Christ, partakers of all and every one of his benefits. — The which is
the latter act of saving faith, yet also a proper and elicit act of it. — 7. That we
observe all these acts above mentioned, and the sincerity of them in us; and
MODERN DIVINITY. 259
thence gather, that we are true believers, brought into the state of grace," &c.
Ibid. sect. 2 I . Observe here the two kinds of assurance before distinguished.
Peter Burlie, burnt at Tournay, anno 1545, when he was sent for out of prison to
be examined, the friars interrogating him before the magistrate, he answered, —
" How it is faith that bringeth unto us salvation ; that is, when we trust unto God's
promises, and believe stedfastly, that for Christ his Son's sake our sins are forgiven
us." — Skid. Comment, in English, book 16. fol. 217.
Mr. Patrick Hamilton, burnt at St. Andrews about the year 1527. " Faith," say9
he, " is a sureness ; faith is a sure confidence of things which are hoped for, and a
certaiuty of things which are not seen. The faith of Christ is to believe in him, that
is, to believe in his word, and to believe that he will help thee in all thy need, and de-
liver thee from all evil." — Mr. Patrick's Articles, Knox's History, Ato. p. 9.
For the doctrine of foreign churches on this point, I shall instance only in that of
the Church of Holland, and the Reformed Church of France. — " Q. What is a sincere
faith ? A. It is a sure knowledge of God and his promises revealed to us in the Gos-
pel, and a hearty confidence that all my sins are forgiven me for Christ's sake." —
Dutch Brief Compend. of Christian Religion, Vra. 19. bound up with the Dutch
Bible.
" Minister. Since we have the foundation upon which the faith is grounded, can we
rightly from thence conclude what the true faith is? Child. Yes ; namely, a certain
and steady knowledge of the love of God towards us, according as, by his Gospel, he
declares himself to be our Father and Saviour, by the means of Jesus Christ. ' — Cate-
chism of the Reformed Church of France, bound vp with the French Bible, Dimanche
18. To obviate a common prejudice, whereby this is taken for an easy effort of
fancy and imagination, it will not be amiss to subjoin the question immediately follow-
ing there.
" M. Can we have it of ourselves, or cometh it from God ? C. The Scripture
teacheth us that it is a singular gift of the Holy Spirit, and experience also showeth
it." — Ibid.
Follows the doctrine of the Church of Scotland on this head.
" Regeneration is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost, working in the hearts
of the elect of God an assured faith in the promise of God, revealed to us in his word ;
by which faith we apprehend Christ Jesus, with the graces and benefits promised in
him." — Old Confess, art. 3.
" This our faith, and the assurance of the same, proceeds not from flesh and blood,
that is to say, from no natural powers within U9, but is the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost." — Ibid. art. 12.
For the better understanding of this, take the words of that eminent servant of
Christ, Mr. John Davidson, minister of Salt-Preston, alias Prestonpans (of whom see
the Fulfilling of the Scripture, p. 361.) in his Catechism, p. 20. as follows, — "And
certain it is, that both the enlightening of the mind to acknowledge the truth of the
promise of salvation to us in Christ, and the sealing up of the certainty thereof in our
hearts and minds, (of the which two parts, as it were, faith consists) are the works and
effects of the Spirit of God, and neither of nature nor art."
The Old Confession above mentioned is, " The Confession of Faith, professed and
believed by the Protestants within the realm of Scotland, published by them in
Parliament, and by the estates thereof ratified and approved, as wholesome and sound
doctrine, grounded upon the infallible truth of God." — Knox's Hist. lib. 3. p. 263.
It was ratified at Edinburgh, July 17, 1560. Ibid. p. 279. And this is the Confes-
sion of our Faith, mentioned and sworn to in the national covenant, framed about
twenty years after it.
260 THE MARROW OF
In the same national covenant, with relation to this particular head (if doctrine, we
have these words following, viz. " We detest and refuse the usurped authority of that
Roman antichrist — his general and doubtsome faith." However the general and doubt-
some faith of the Papists may be clouded, one may, without much ado, draw these
two plain conclusions from these words : 1. That since the Popish faith adjured is a
doubtsome faith, the Protestant faith, sworn to be maintained, is an assured faith, as
we heard before from the Old Confession, to which the covenant refers. 2. That since
the Popish faith is a general one, the Protestant faith must needs be an appropriating
persuasion, or a faith of special application, which, we heard already from Essenius,
the Papists do deny. As for a belief and persuasion of the mercy of God in Christ,
and of Christ's ability and willingness to save all that come unto him, as it is altogether
general, and had nothing of appropriation or special application in it, so I doubt if the
Papists will refuse it. Sure, the Council of Trent, which fixed and established the
abominations of Popery, affirms, that no pious man ought to doubt of the mercy of
God, of the merits of Christ, nor of the virtue and efficacy of the sacraments."
Concil. trid. cap. 9. I hope none will think the council allows impious men to doubt
of these ; but withal they tell us, " It is not to be affirmed, that no man is absolved
from sin and justified, but he who assuredly believes, that he himself is absolved and
justified." Here they overturn the assurance and appropriation, or special application
of saving faith maintained by the Protestants ; and they thunder their anathemas
against those who hold these in opposition to their general and doubtsome faith. " If
any shall say, that justifying faith is nothing else but a confidence of the mercy of God
pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that that confidence is it alone by which they
are justified, let him be accursed." Ibid. cap. 13. can. 12. " If any shall say, that
a man is absolved from sin, and justified by that, that he assuredly believes himself to
be absolved and justified — let him be accursed." — Ibid. can. 14.
Moreover, in the national covenant, as it was renewed in the year 1 638 and 1639,
mention is made of public catechisms, in which the true religion, as expressed in the
Confession of Faith (there) above written, (i. e. the national covenant, otherwise
called the Confession of Faith and former Larger Confession, (viz. the Old Confes-
sion,) is said to be set down. The doctrine on this head, contained in these cate-
chisms, is here subjoined.
" M . Which is the first point ? C To put our whole confidence in God. M.
How may that be? C. When we have an assured knowledge that he is almighty, and
perfectly good. M. And is that sufficient? C. No. M. What is then further re-
quired ? C. That every one of us be fully assured in his conscience, that he is be-
loved of God, and that he will be both his Father and Saviour." Calvin's Cat.
used by the Kiik of Scotland, and approved by first book of discipline, quest. 8 — 12.
This is the catechism of the Reformed Church of France, mentioned before. " M.
Since we have the foundation whereupon our faith is builded, we may well gather
hereof what is the right faith 'i C. Yea, verily ; that is to say, it is a sure persuasion
and stedfast knowledge of God's tender love towards us, according as he hath plainly
uttered in his gospel, that he will be both a Father and a Saviour to us, through the
means of Jesus Christ." — Ibid, quest. 111.
" M. By what means may we attain unto him there V C. By faith, which God's
Spirit worketh in our heart*, assuring us of God's promises made to us in his holy
gospel The manner to examine children before they be admitted to the supper of the
Lord, quest. 16. This is called the Little Catechism, Assembly 1592, sess. 10. Q.
" What is true faith?" A. It is not only a knowledge, by which I do stedfastly
assent to all things which Cod hath revealed unto us in his word ; but also an assured
MoDEKN DIVINITY. 261
affiance, kindled in my heart by the Holy Ghost, by which 1 rest upon God, making
sure account, that forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness, and life, is bestowed,
not only upon others, but also upon me, and that freely by the mercy of God, for the
merit and desert of Christ alone." — The Palatine Catechism, printed by public au-
thority , for the use of Scotland. This famous Catechism is used in most of the Re-
formed Churches and schools; particularly in the Reformed Churches of the Nether-
lands, and is bound up with the Dutch Bible. " As for the Church of Scotland, the
Palatine Catechism," says Mr. Wodrow in the dedication of his History, " was adopted
by us, till we had the happiness to join with the venerable Assembly at Westminster.
Then indeed it gave place to the Larger and Shorter Catechisms in the Church ;
nevertheless it continued to be taught in grammar schools."
" Q. What thing is faith in Christ? A. A sure persuasion that he is the only
Saviour of the world, but ours in special, who believe in him." — Craig's Catechism,
approven by the General Assembly, 1592.
To these may be added the three following testimonies. " Q. What is faith ?
A. When I am persuaded that God loves me and all bis saints, and freely giveth us
Christ, with all his benefits." — Sammula Catechismi, still annexed to the Rudiments
of the Latin tongue, and taught in grammar schools to this day, (172fi) since the
Reformation.
" What is thy faith ? My sure belief that God both may and will save me in the
blood of Jesus Christ, because he is almighty, and has promised so to do." — Mr. James
Melvil's Catechism in his propine of a Pastor to his People, p 44, published in the
year 1598.
" Q. What is this faith, that is the only instrument of this strait conjunction be-
tween Christ crucified and us ? D. It is the sure persuasion of the heart, that Christ
by his death and resurrection hath taken away our sins, and clothing us with his own
righteousness, has thoroughly restored us to the favour of God." — Mr. John David-
son's Catechism, p. 46.
In the same national covenant, as it was renewed 1638 and 1639, is expressed an
agreement and resolution to labour to recover the purity of the gospel, as it was estab-
lished and professed before the (there) foresaid novations ; the which, in the time of
Prelacy, then cast out, had been corrupted by a set of men in Scotland addicted to
the faction of Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. In the year 1640, Mr. Robert
Baily, then minister of Kilwinning, afterwards one of the Commissioners from Scot-
land to the Westminster Assembly, wrote against that faction, proving them guilty of
Popery, Arminianism, &c. and on the head of Popery, thus represents their doctrine
concerning the nature of faith, viz. " That faith is only a bare assent, and requires no
application, no personal confidence; and that that personal application is mere pre-
sumption, and the fiction of a crazy brain." — Hist. Motuum in Regno Scotia, p. 517.
Thus, as above declared, stood the doctrine of the church of Scotland, in this point,
in her confessions, and in public catechisms, confirmed by the renewing of the national
Covenant, when in the year 1643, it was anew confirmed by the first article of the
Solemn League and Covenant, binding to (not the Reformation, but) the preservation
of the Reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, &c. and that before
the Westminster Confession, Larger and Shorter Catechism, were in being.
When the Westminster Confession was received, anno 1647, and the Larger and
Shorter Catechisms, anno 1648, the General Assembly did, in their three acts, re-
spectively approving them, expressly declare them to be in nothing contrary to the
received doctrine of this Kirk. And put the case they were contrary thereto in any
point, they could not in that point be reckoned the judgment of the Church of Scot-
262 THE MARROW OF
§ 3. Neo. But, sir, hath such a one as I any warrant to believe in
Christ ?
Evan. I beseech you consider, that God the Father, as he is in his
Son Jesus Christ, moved with nothing but with his free love to man-
kind lost, hath made a deed of gift and grant unto them all, that
whosoever of them all shall believe in this his Son, shall not perish,
but have eternal life./ And hence it was, that Jesus Christ himself
land, since they were received by her, as in nothing contrary to previous standards of
doctrine, to which she stands bound by the covenants aforesaid. But the truth is, the
doctrine is the same in them all.
" This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong ; — growing in many to the at-
tainment of a full assurance." — Westmin. Confess, chap. 14, art. 3. Now, how
faith can grow in any to a full assurance, if there be no assurance in the nature of it,
I cannot comprehend.
" Faith justifies a sinner — only as it is an instrument, by which he receiveth and
applieth Christ and his righteousness." — Larg. Cat. Q. 73. " By faith they receive
and apply unto themselves Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death." — Ibid.
Q. 170.
" Q. When do we by faith receive and apply to ourselves the body of Christ cruci-
fied ? A. While we are persuaded, that the death and crucifixion of Christ do no less
belong to us, than if we ourselves had been crucified for our own sins ; now this per-
suasion is that of true faith." — Sum. Cutech.
" Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him
alone for savation, as he is offered to us in the gospel." — Sltort. Cat.
Now, to perceive the entire harmony between this and the old definitions of faith,
compare with it, as to the receiving therein mentioned, the definition above cited from
the Old Confession, art. 3, viz. " An assured faith in the promise — by which — they
apprehend Christ, &c. Mr. John Davidson joins them thus: Q, What is faith ? A.
It is a hearty assurance, that our sins are freely forgiven us in Christ. Or after this
manner: It is the hearty receiving of Christ offered in the preaching of the word and
sacraments, by the working of the Holy Spirit, for the remission of sins, whereby, he
becomes one with us, and we one with him, he our head, and we his members." — Mr.
John Davidson s Catechism, p. 24. As to the resting mentioned in the Westminster
definition, compare the definition above cited from the Palatine Catecliism, viz. '' A
sure confidence — whereby I rest in God, assuredly concluding, that — to me — is giveu
forgiveness," &c. quest. 21. See also Larger Catechism quest, last. " We by faith
are emboldened to plead with him that he-would, and quietly to rely upon him that he
will, fulfil our request ; and to testify this our desire and assurance, we say. Amen"
In which words, it is manifest, that quietly to rely upon him that he will, &c. (the
same with resting on him for, &c.) is assurance, in the sense of the Westminster
divines.
_/*Mr. Culverwell's words, here cited, stand thus at large. — " The matter to be be-
lieved unto salvation is this, that God the Father, moved by nothing but his free love
to mankind lost, hath made a deed of gift and grant of his Son Christ Jesus unto man-
kind, that whosoever of all mankind shall receive this gift, by a true and lively faith,
he shaM not perish, but have everlasting life." Dr. Gouge, in his preface to this
treatise of that author, has these remarkable words concerning him, ''Never any
took such piins to so good purpose, in and about the foundation of faith, as he hath
done."
MODERN DIVINITY. 263
said unto his disciples, Mark xvi. 15, " Go and preach the gospel to
every creature under heaven : g that is, Go and tell every man,
without exception, that here is good news for him ! Christ is dead
for him ! and if he will take him, and accept of his righteousness,
he shall have him. h Therefore, says a godly writer, " Forasmuch
This deed of gift and grant, or authentic gospel-offer (of which see the preceding
notee,) is expressed in so many words, John iii. 16, " For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." Where the gospel comes, this grant is published,
and the ministerial offer made; and there is no exception of any of all mankind in the
grant. If there was, no ministerial offer of Christ could be warrantably made to the
party excepted, more than to the fallen angels : and, without question, the publishing
and proclaiming of heaven's grant unto any, by way of ministerial offer, pre-supposeth
the grant, in the first place, to be made to them : otherwise, it would be of no more
value than the crier's offering of the king's pardon to one who is not comprehended in
it. This is the good old way of discovering to sinners their warrant to believe in
Christ ; and it doth indeed bear the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ for all, and
that Christ crucified is the ordinance of God for salvation unto all mankind, in the
use-making of which only they can be saved ; but not an universal atonement or re-
demption. " What is thy faith? My sure belief that God both may and will save
me, &c. Tell me the promise whereon thou leanest assuredly? ' Whoever (says God)
will believe in the death of my Son Jesus, shall not perish, but get eternal life.' " —
Mr. James Melvil's Cat. ubi. sup. " He freely offereth unto sinners life and sal-
vation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved. Mark
xvi. 15, 16 ; John iii. 16." — Westm. Confess, chap. 7. art. 3. '' The visible church
hath the privilege — of enjoying — offers of grace by Christ to all the members of it
in the ministry of the gospel, testifying, that whosoever believes in him shall be
saved." — Larger Catechism, quest 63. " This general offer, in substance, is equiva-
lent to a special offer made to every one in particular, as appears by the apostle making
use of it, Acts. xvi. 31. The reason of which offer is given, John iii. 16." — Praci.
Use of Sav. Knowledge : Confess, p. 380. The Synod of Dort may be heard with-
out prejudice on this head. " It is the promise of the gospel (say they,) that whoso-
ever believeth in Christ crucified should not perish, but have life everlasting : which
promise, together with the injunction of repentance and faith, ought promiscuously,
and without distinction, to be declared, and published to all men and people, to whom
God in his pleasure sends the gospel." — Chap. 2, art. 5. But forasmuch as manv,
being called by the gospel, do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in their in-
fidelity, this comes not. to pass for want of, or by any other insufficiency, of the sacri-
fice of Christ offered upon the cross, but by their own defaults," art. 6.
g That is, from this deed of gift and grant it was that the ministerial offer was ap-
pointed to be made in the most extensive terms.
h That the reader may have a more clear view of this passage, which is taken from
Dr. Preston's treatise of faith, I shall transcribe the whole paragraph in which it is
found. That eminent divine, speaking of that righteousness by which alone we can
be saved, and having shown that it is communicated by gift, says, " But when vou
hear this righteousness is given, the next question will be, to whom is it given? If it
be only given to some, what comfort is this to me? But, (which is the ground of all
comfort,) it is given to every man, — there is not a man excepted ; for which we have
264 THE HARROW OF
as the Holy Scripture speaketh to all in general, none of us ought
to distrust himself, but believe that it doth belong particularly to
the sure word of God, which will not fail. When you have the charter of a king well
confirmed, you reckon it a matter of great moment: what is it then when you have the
charter of God himself, which you shall evidently see in those two places, Mark xvi.
15, ' Go and preach the gospel to every creature under heaven.' What is that? Go
and tell every man, without exception, that here is good news for him, Christ is dead
for him; and if he will take him, and accept of his righteousness, he shall have it;
restraint is not; but go tell every man under heaven. The other text is, Rev. xxii.
17 ' Whosoever will, let him come, and take of the water of life freely.' There is a
qnicunqne vult, whosoever will come (none excepted) may have life, and it shall cost
him nothing. Many other places of Scripture there be to prove the generality of the
offer ; and having a sure word for it, consider it." — p. 7 , 8. The words " under hpa-
ven" are taken from Col. i. 23. The scope here is the same with that of our author,
not to determine concerning the extent of Christ's death, but to discover the warrant
sinners have to believe in Christ, namely, that the offer of Chri?t is general, the deed
of gift or grant is to every man. This necessarily supposeth Christ crucified to be the
ordinance of God for salvation, to which lost mankind is allowed access and not fallen
angels, for whom there is none provided : even as the city of refuge was the ordinance
of God for the safety of the man -slayer, who had killed any person unawares, Numb.
xxxv. 16 ; and the brazen serpent for the cure of those bitten by a serpent, chap. xxi.
8. Therefore he says not, '* Tell every man Christ died for him ;" but, Tell every
man " Christ is dead for him :" that is, for him to come to, and believe on ; a Saviour
is provided for him ; there is a crucified Christ for him, the ordinance of heaven for sal-
vation for lost mau, iu the use-making of which he may be saved ; even as one had said
of old, tell every man that hath slain any person unawares, that the city of refuge is pre-
pared for him, namely, to flee to, that he may be safe ; and every one bitten with a ser-
pent, that the brazen serpent is set up on a pole for him, namely, to look unto, that he
may be healed. Both these were eminent types of Christ; and upon the latter, the
Scripture is full and clear in this very point. Num. xxi. 8, " And the Lord said unto
Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass, that
every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. John iii. 14 — 16,
''And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be
lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso-
ever," &c.
Thus, what (according to Dr. Presti n and our author) is to be told every man, is
no more than what ministers of the gospel have in commission from their great
Master. Matt. xxii. 4, " Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my
dinner; my oxen and my fadings are killed, and all things are ready, come unto the
marriage." There is a crucified Saviour, with all saving benefits, for them to come
to, feed upon, and partake of freely. See also Luke ii. 30, 31 ; Prov. ix. 2 — 4;
Isa. xxv. 6.
To confirm this to be the true and designed sense of the phrase in question, com-
pare the following three passages, of the same treatise, giving the import of the same
text, Mark xvi. " Christ hath provided a righteousness and salvation, that is his
work that he hath done already. Now, if ye will believe, and take him upon these
terms that he is offered, you shall be saved. This, I say, belongs to all men. This
you have expressed in the gospel in many places: 'If you believe, you shall be
MODERN DIVINITY. 265
himself, i And to the end, that this point, wherein lies and consists
the whole mystery of our holy faith, may be understood the better,
let us put the case, that some good and holy king should cause a
saved ;" as it is Mark xvi. ' Go and preach the gospel to every creature under hea-
ven ; he that will believe shall be saved.' " — Preston on Faith, p. 32. " You must
first have Christ himself, before you can partake of those benefits by him : and that
I take to be the meaning of that in Mai k xvi. ' Go and preach the gospel to every crea-
ture under heaven ; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;' that is, that he
will believe, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and that he is offered to mankind
for a Saviour, and will be baptized; that will give up himself to him, that will take
his mark upon him, — shall be saved." — Ibid. p. 46. " Go and preach the gospel to
every creature ; go and tell every man under heaven, that Christ is offered to him, he
is freely given to him by God the Father ; and there is nothing required of you but
that you marry him, nothing but to accept of him." — Ibid. p. 75.
Thus it appears, that universal atonement, or redemption, is not taught here,
neither by our author. But that the candid reader may be satisfied as to his sentiments
touching the question, — " for whom Christ died ?" let him weigh these two things :
1. Our author puts a man's being persuaded that Christ died for him in particular,
in the definition of saving faith, and that as the last and highest step of it. But
Arminians, and other Universalists, might as well put there a man's being persuaded
that he was created, or is preserved by Jesus Christ; since in being persuaded that
Christ died for him, he applies no more to himself than what, according to their
principles, is common to all mankind, as in the case of creation and preservation.
Hear Grotius upon this head: " Some," says he, "have here interpreted faith to bo
persuasion, whereby a man believes that Jesus died for him in particular, and to pur-
chase salvation all manner of ways for him, or (what with them is the same thine;)
that he is elected ; when, on the contrary, Paul in many places teacheth, ' that Christ
died for all men ;' and such a faith as they talk of, has not in it any thing true or pro-
fitable." — Grotius apud pol. Si/nop. Those whom this learned adversary here taxes,
are Protestant anti-Arminian divines. Those were they who defined faith by such
a persuasion, and not the Universalists. On the contrary, he argues against that
definition of faith from the doctrine of universal atonement or redemption. He re-
jects that definition of it, as in his opinion having nothing in it true, namely, accord-
ing to the principles of those who gave it, viz. that Christ died, not for all and every
man in particular, but for the elect only, and as having nothing in it profitable ; that
being, according to his principles, the common privilege of all mankind.
2. He teaches plainly throughout the book, that they were the elect, the chosen, or
believers, whom Christ represented, and obeyed, and suffered for. See among others,
pages 23, 24, 56, 89. I shall repeat only two passages ; the one, page 84 : " Ac-
cording to that eternal and mutual agreement that was betwixt God the Father and
him, be put himself in the room and place of all the faithful." The other in the first
sentence of his own preface, viz. "Jesus Christ, the second Adam, did, as a common
person, enter into covenant with God his Father for all the elect, (that is to say, all
those that have or shall believe on his name) and for them kept it." What can be
more plain than that, in the judgment of our author, they were the elect whom Jesus
Christ the second Adam entered into covenant with God for ; that it was in the elect's
room he put himself when he came actually to obey and suffer, and that it was for
the elect he kept that covenant, by doing and suffering what was required of him as
Vol. YII. e
266 THE MARROW OF
proclamation to be made through his whole kingdom by the sound of
a trumpet, that all rebels and banished men shall safely return home
to their houses ; because that, at the suit and desert of some dear
friend of theirs, it had pleased the king to pardon them ; certainly,
none of these rebels ought to doubt, but that he shall obtaiu true
pardon for his rebellion ; and so return home, and live under the
shadow of that gracious king. Even so, our good King, the Lord
of heaven and earth, has, for the obedience and desert of our good
Brother Jesus Christ, pardoned all our sins, j and made a proclama-
our Redeemer ? As for the description, or character he gives of the elect, viz. that
by the elect he understands all that have or shall believe in it, he follows our Lord
himself, (John xvii. 20.) "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me ;" and so doing, he is accompanied with orthodox divines.
" Thus did the sins of all God's elect, or all true believers, (for of such, and only
such, he there, viz. Isa. liii. 6. speaks) meet together upon the head of their common
surety, the Lord Christ." — Brinsley's Meshes, p. 64. " The Father is well satisfied
with the undertakings of the Son, who entered Redeemer and Surety to pay the ran-
som of believers." — Pract. Use of Saving Kit owl. tit. 4. "The invisible church is
the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one,
under Christ the head." — Larg. Cat. quest. 64, " Christ's Church, wherein standeth
only remission of sins, purchased by Christ'3 blood to all them that believe." — The
Confess, of Faith used in Geneva, approven by the Church of Scotland, sect. 4.
§ ult. But Arminians neither will nor can, in consistency with their principles touch-
ing election and the falling away of believers, admit that descripton or character of
the elect, else they are widely mistaken by one of their own, who tells us, that,
" Upon the consideration of his (viz. Christ's) blood, as shed, he (viz. God, decreed
that all those who should believe in that Redeemer, and persevere in that faith,
should, through mercy and grace, by him be made partakers of salvation." — Exam, of
Tilen. p. 139. " Brought into faith, and persevere therein ; this being the condition
required in every one that is to be elected unto eternal life." — Ibid. p. 139. Behold
the Armiuian election : " They do utterly deny that God did destine, by an absolute
decree, to give Christ a Mediator only to the elect, and to give faith to them alone."
— Ibid. p. 149. As for Universalists, not Arminians, " They contend, that the
decree of the death of Christ did go before the decree of election, aod that God, in
sending of Christ, had no respect unto some, more than others, but destined Christ for
a Saviour to all men alike. This account of their principles is given us by Turretine,
loc. 14. q. 14. th. 6. I leave it to the impartial reader to judge of the evident con-
trariety betwixt this and our author's words above repeated.
i Namely, the deed of gift and grant, or the offer of Christ in the word, of which
our author is all along speaking. And if there be any man to whom it doth not belong
particularly, that man hath no warrant to believe on Jesus Christ : and whosoever
pretends to believe on him, without believing that the grant or offer belongs to him-
self particularly, does but act presumptuously, as seeing no warrant he has to believe
on Christ, whatever others may have.
j So far as he hath made the deed of gift and grant, or authentic gospel-offer of the
pardon of all our sins, as of all other saving benefits in Christ. Such a thing, among
men, is called the king's pardon, though, in the meantime, none have the benefit of
it but such as come in upon its being proclaimed, and accept of it ; and why may not
MODERN DIVINITY. 267
tion throughout the whole world, k that every one of us may safely
return to God in Jesus Christ : wherefore, I beseech you, make no
doubt of it, but " draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith," I Heb. x. 22.
Neo. 0, but, sir, in this similitude the case is not alike. For
when the earthly king sends forth such a proclamation, it may be
thought, that he indeed intends to pardon all ; but it cannot be
thought that the King of heaven does so : for do not the Scriptures
say, that " some men are ordained before to condemation ?" Jude 4.
And does not Christ himself say, that " many are called, but few
it be called the King of heaven's pardon ? The Holy Scripture warrants this manner
of expression. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,"
(l John v. 11); in which life, without question, the pardon of all onr sins is included :
" Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins," Acts xiii. 38. The
preaching of the gospel is the proclaiming of pardon to condemned sinners. But pardon
of sin cannot be preached or proclaimed, unless, in the first place, it be granted, even
as the king's pardon must be, before one can proclaim it to the rebels.
That this is all that is meant by pardon here, and not a formal personal pardon, is evi-
dent from the whole strain of the author's discourse upon it. In the proposal of the
simile, whereof this passage is the application, he tells us, that after it hath pleased the
king (thus) to pardon the rebels, they ought not to doubt but they shall obtain pardon ;
and in the following paragraph he brings in Neophitus objecting, that in such a case an
earthly king doth indeed intend to pardon all, but the King of heaven doth Dot so ; the
which Evangelistain his answer grants. So that, for all this general pardon, the for-
mal personal pardon remains to be obtained by the sinner, namely, by his accepting of
the pardon offered. And in the foresaid answer, he expounds the pardon in question,
of the Lord's offering pardon generally to all. This, one would think, may well be
admitted as a fruit of Christ's obedience and desert, without supposing an universal
atonement or redemption. And to restrain it to any set of men whatsoever under hea-
ven, is to restrain the authentic gospel-offer : — of which before.
k Col. i. 23, " The gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every
creature which is under heaven."
I Make uo doubt of the pardon offered, or of the proclamation, bearing, that every
one of us may safely return to God in Christ ; but thereupon draw near to him in full
assurance of faith. That there can be no saving faith, no acceptance with God, where
there is any doubting, is what can hardly enter into the head of any sober Christian,
if he is not under a grievous temptatiou, in his own soul's case, nor is it in the least
insinuated here. Nevertheless, the doubting mixed with faith is sin, and dishonour-
eth God, and believers have ground to be humbled for it, and ashamed of it, before
the Lord ; and therefore the full assurance of faith is duty. The Papists indeed con-
tend earnestly for doubting, and they know very well wherefore they so do ; for doubt-
ing being removed, and the assurance of faith in the promise of the gospel brought into
its room, their market is marred, their gain by indulgences, masses, pilgrimages, &c.
is gone, and the fire of purgatory extinguished. But, as Protestant divines prove
against them, the Holy Scripture condemns it. Matth. xiv. 31, " O thou of little
faith! wherefore didst thou doubt?" Luke xii. 29, "Neither be ye of doubtful
mind." 1 Tim. ii. 8, " Lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."
k2
268 THE MABE0W OF
are chosen?" Matth. xxii. 14. And therefore it may be, I am one
of them that are ordained to condemnation ; and therefore, though
I be called, I shall never be chosen, and so shall not be saved.
Evan. I beseech you to consider, that although some men be or-
dained to condemnation, yet so long as the Lord has concealed their
names, and not set a mark upon any man in particular, but offers
the pardon generally to all, without having any respect either to
election or reprobation, surely it is great folly in any man to say, —
It may be I am not elected, and therefore shall not have benefit by
it; and therefore I will not accept of it, nor come in : m for it should
rather move every man to give diligence " to make his calling and
election sure," by believing it, (2 Pet. i. 10,) for fear we come
short of it, n according to that of the apostle, " let us therefore
fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of
us should seem to come short of it," Heb. iv. 1. Wherefore, I be-
seech you, do not you say, it maybe I am not elected, and therefore
I will not believe in Christ; but rather say, I do believe in Christ,
and therefore I am sure I am elected, o And check your own heart
for meddling with God's secrets, and prying into his hidden counsel,
and go no more beyond your bounds, as you have done, in this
point : for election and reprobation is a secret ; and the Scripture
tells us, " that secret things belong unto God, but those things that
are revealed belong unto us," Dent. xxix. 29. Now this is God's
revealed will, for indeed it is his express command, " That you
should believe on the name of his Son," 1 John iii. 23 ; and it is his
promise, " That if you believe, you shall not perish, but have
everlasting life," John iii. 16. Wherefore, you having so good a
warrant as God's command, and so great an encouragement as his
promise, do your duty ; p and by the doing thereof you may put itq
out of question, and be sure that you are also one of God's elect.
Say, theu, I beseech you. with a firm faith, The righteousness
of Jesus Christ belongs to all that believe; but I believe, r and
therefore it belongs to me. Yea, say with Paul, " I live by the
m Had the author once dreamt of an universal pardon, otherwise than that God offers
the pardon generally to all, all this had been needless ; it would have furnished him
with a short answer, viz. That God hath parduned all already.
n By believing the offered pardon, with particular application to himself; without
which one can never accept of it, but will undoubtedly come short of it.
o Like that man, mentioned Mark is. 24. who at once did and said.
p Believe on the name of Christ.
q Namely, your believing.
r This is what is commonly called the reflex act of faith, which pre-supposes, and
here concludes the direct act, namely, a man's doing of his dutv, in obedience to the
command to believe on Christ; by reflecting on which, he m.iv put it out of question
MODERN DIVINITY. 269
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me,"
Gal. ii. 20. "He saw in me (says Luther on the text,) nothing but
wickedness, going astray, and fleeing from him. Yet this good
Lord had mercy on me, and of his mere mercy he loved me, yea so
loved me, that he gave himself for me. Who is this me ? Even I,
a wretched and damnable sinner, was so dearly beloved of the Son of
God, that he gave himself for me."
0! print this word "me" in your heart, and apply it to your
own self, not doubting but that you are one of those to whom this
" me" belongs. 5
Neo. But may such a vile and sinful wretch as I am be persuaded
that God commands me to believe, and that he hath made a promise
to me ? t
Evan. Why do you make a question, where there is none to be
made? "Go," says Christ, "and preach the gospel to every creature
under heaven," that is, go tell every man without exception, what-
soever his sins be, whatsoever his rebellions be, go and tell him
these glad tidings, that if he will come in, I will accept of him, his
sins shall be forgiven him, and he shall be saved; if he will come
in and take me, and receive me, I will be his loving husband and
he shall be mine own dear spouse. Let me therefore say unto you,
in the words of the apostle, " Now then, I as an ambassador for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by me, I pray you, in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled unto God; for he hath made him to be sin
for you, who knew no sin, t'.iat you might be made the righteousness
of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 20, 21.
Neo. But do you say, sir, that if I believe I shall be espoused
unto Christ ?
Evan. Yea, indeed shall you : for faith coupleth the soul with
Christ, even as the spouse with her husband ; by which means
Christ and the soul are made one : for as, in corporal marriage,
man and wife are made one flesh, even so in this spiritual and
mystical marriage, Christ and his spouse are made one spirit.
And this marriage, of all others, is most perfect, and absolutely
that he is a believer, one of God's elsct, and one of those for whom Christ died ; the
which he insists upon in the following words. See the foregoing notey. This passage
is taken out of Dr Preston's Treatise of Faith, p. 8.
« " This manner of applying," says Luther, " is the very true force and power of
faith."
t He had told him, that for his warrant to believe on Christ, he had God's command,
1 John iii. 23. And for his encouragement, God's promise, John iii. 16. Thereupon
this question is moved ; the particular application to oneself being a matter of no small
difficulty, in the experience of many who lay salvation to heart.
270 THE MARROW OP
accomplished between them; for the marriage between man and
wife is but a slender figure of tlm union ; wherefore, I beseech you
to believe it, and then you shall be sure to enjoy it. u
Neo. But, sir, if David said, " Seemeth it to you a light thing to
be an earthly king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and
lightly esteemed?" 1 Sam. xviii. 23; then surely 1 have much
more cause to say, Seemeth it a light thing to be a heavenly king's
daughter-in-law, seeing that I am such a poor sinful wretch ? surely,
sir, I cannot be persuaded to believe it.
Evan. Alas, man, how much are you mistaken ! for you look upon
God, and upon yourself, with the eye of reason ; and so as stand-
ing in relation to each other, according to the tenor of the covenant
of works ; whereas you being now in the case of justification and
reconciliation, you are to look both upon God and upon yourself with
the eye of faith ; and so standing in relation to each other, accord-
ing to the tenor of the covenant of grace. For, says the apostle,
" God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imput-
ing their sins unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19 ; as if he had said, Because
as God stands in relation to man, according to the tenor of the co-
venant of works, and so out of Christ, he could not, without preju-
dice to his justice, he reconciled unto them, nor have anything to do
with them, otherwise than in wrath and indignation; therefore to
the intent that Justice and Mercy might meet together, and Righte-
ousness and peace might embrace each other, and so God stand in
relation to man, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace; he
put himself into his Son Jesus Christ, and shrouded himself there,
that so he might speak peace to his people, Psalm Ixxxv. 8 — 10.
Sweetly says Luther, " Because the nature of God was otherwise
higher than that we are able to attain unto it, therefore hath he
humbled himself for us, and taken our nature upon him, and so put
himself into Christ. Here he looketh for us, here he will receive us,
and he that seeketh him here shall find him." v " This," says God
u Believe the word of promise, the offer of the spiritual marriage, which is
Christ's declared consent to be yours. Believe that it is made to you in particular,
and that it shall be made out to you ; the which is, to embrace the offer, to receive
Christ, as the evangelist teaches, John i. 12, (which was adverted to before ;) so
shall you be indeed married or espoused to Christ. Thus the Holy Scripture proposes
this matter, lsa. lv. 3, " Hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlast-
ing covenant with you;" to persuade us of the reality of the covenant betwixt God
and the believer of his word, "the Father hath made a fourfold gift," &c. — Pract.
Use of Sav. Knowl. tit. Warrant to Believe, fig. 7. Compare lsa. liii. 1; Heb. iv.
1, 2.
v An eminent type of this glorious mystery was that tabernacle so often mentioned
in the Old Testament under the name of the tabernacle of the con^rega'ion, or ra-
MODERN DIVINITY. 271
the Father, " is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Matt,
iii. 17; whereupon the same Luther says in another place, "We
must not think and persuade ourselves that this voice came from
heaven for Christ's own sake, but for our sakes, even as Christ him-
self says, John xii. 30, ' This voice came not because of me, but for
your sakes.' The truth is, Christ had no need that it should be said
unto him, ' This is my beloved Son,' he knew that from all eternity,
and that he should still so remain, though these words had not been
spoken from heaven ; therefore, by these words, God the Father, in
Christ his Son, cheers the hearts of poor sinners, and greatly de-
lights them with singular comfort and heavenly sweetness, assuring
them, that whosoever is married unto Christ, and so in him by faith,
he is as acceptable to God the Father as Christ himself; w accord-
ing to that of the apostle, " He hath made us acceptable in his be-
loved," Eph. i. 6. Wherefore, if you would be acceptable to God
and be made his dear child, then by faith cleave unto his beloved
Son Christ, and hang about his neck, yea, and creep into his bosom;
and so shall the love and favour of God be as deeply insinuated
into you as it is into Christ himself; w and so shall God the Father,
together with his beloved Son, wholly possess you, and be possessed
of you ; and so God and Christ, and you, shall become one entire
thing, according to Christ's prayer, ,: that they may be one in us,
as thou and I are one," John s.vii. 21. x
ther the tabernacle of meeting, as the original word bears ; and the Lord himself seems
to give the reason of the name, Exod. xxx. 36, " In the tabernacle of the congrega-
tion, where I will meet with thee;" or, "in the tabernacle of meeting, where I will
be met with by thee." Chap, xxxiii. 7, " And it came to pass, that every one which
sought the Lord, went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation," or meeting.
w The acceptation, love, and favour of God here treated of, do not refer to the real
state of believers, but to the relative slate, to their justification, reconciliation, and
adoption: and so they have no respect to any qualities inherent in them, good or evil,
to be increased by the one, or diminished by the other ; but they proceed purely upon
the righteousness of Christ, which is theirs in virtue of their union with him and is
imputed to them ; the which righteousness is the self-same righteousness wherewith
Christ, as the Mediator and Surety for elect sinners, pleased the Father. And there-
fore, says one, whom nobody suspects of Antinomianism, " We are as perfctly righte-
ous as Christ the righteous," citing 1 John iii. 7, " He that doth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous," Isaac Ambrose's Media, chap. J. sect. 2. p.
4. This I take to be the true meaning of these passages of our author and Isaac
Ambrose, expressed in terms stronger than 1 would desire to use. There is a danger
in expressing concerning God even what is true.
x The original word, here rendered " one," indeed signifies " one thing." And it
is evident from the text, that believers are united to God as well as to Christ. '' Faith
is that grace by which we are united to, and made one with God in Christ," says the
author of the supplement to Pool's Annot. on the place. Sec 1 John iv. 16 ; Cor.
272 THE MARROW OF
And by tliia means you may have sufficient ground and warrant
to say, (in the matter of reconciliation with God, at any time, when-
soever you are disputing with yourself, how God is to be found, that
justifies and saves sinners) I know no other God, neither will I
know any other God, besides this God, that came down from heaven
and clothed himself with my flesh, y unto " whom all power is given,
both in heaven and in earth," who is my judge ; " for the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son," John
v. 22. So that Christ may do with me whatsoever he liketh, and
determine of me according to his own mind : and I am sure he hath
said, " he came not to judge the world, but to save the world," John
xii. 47. And therefore I do believe that he will save me. z
iv. 16, compared with Eph. iii. 17. And whosoever owns Jesus Christ to be one with
the Father, must needs grant this, or else deny believers to be united to Christ.
This derogates nothing from the prerogative of our Lord Jesus, who is one with the
Father ; for he is one with him, as the Holy Ghost also is, by the adorable substantial
union ; but believers are so only by mystical union. Neither does it intrench upon
God's supremacy, more than their confessed union with Christ does ; who notwith-
standing of believers' union with him, remains to be, with the Father and Holy Spirit,
the only supreme, and most high God.
" Whosoever therefore cleaveth to Christ through faith, he abideth in the favour
of God, he also shall be made beloved and acceptable as Christ is, and shall have fel-
lowship with the father and the Son." — Luther's Chosen Sermons, Sermon of the
appearing of Christ, p. 23. " Here I will abide in the arms of Christ, cleaving inse-
parably about his neck, and creeping into his bosom, whatsoever the law shall say,
and my heart shall feel." Ibid. Sermon of the lost sheep, p. 81. " Seeing therefore
that Christ the beloved Son, being in so great favour with God in all things that he
does, is, thine. — without doubt, thou art in the same favour and love of God that
Christ himself is in." And again, " the favour and love of God are insinuated to
thee as deeply as to Christ, that now God, together with his beloved Son, does wholly
possess thee, and thou hast him again wholly ; that so God, Christ, and thou, do be-
come as one certain thing, — that they may be one in us, as thou and I are one, John
xvii." — Ibid. Sermon of the appearing of Christ, p. 25.
y Luther from whom this is taken in the place quoted by our author, confirms it
thus: " For he that is a searcher of God's majesty, shall be overwhelmed of his
glory, I know (adds he) by experience, nhat I say. But these vain spirits, which
so deal with God, that they exclude the Mediator, do not believe me." And on Psal.
cxxx. he has these remarkable words, " Ego s<epe, et libenter hoc inculco, ut extra
Christum, oculus et aures claudatis, et dicatis nullum vos scire Deum ni?i qui fuit in
gremio Mariae, et suxit ubera ejus :" that is, " Often and willingly do 1 inculcate this,
that you should shut your eyes and your ears, and say, you know no God out of
Christ, none but he that was in the lap of Mary, and suckled her breasts." He means
none out of him Burroughs on Hos. iii. 5. (p. 729.)
2 This is the conclusion of that which one, " by faith cleaving unto Christ, and
and hanging about his neck," has by that means warrant to say, according to our au-
thor. Whether or not there is sufficient warrant for it, according to the Scripture,
let the reader judge: what shadow of the doctrine of universal atonement, or univer-
sal pardon, is in it, I see not.
MODERN DIVINITY. 273
Neo. Indeed, sir, if I were so holy and so righteous as some men
are, and had such power over my sins and corruptions as some men
have, then I could easily believe it ; but alas ! I am so sinful and
so unworthy a wretch, that I dare not presume to believe that Christ
will accept of me, so as to justify and save me.
Evan. Alas ! man, in thus saying, you seem to contradict and
gainsay both the apostle Paul, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself;
and that against your own soul : for whereas the apostle Paul says,
" that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," (1 Tim. i.
15.) and doth justify the ungodly, (Rom. iv. 5.) why, you seem to
hold, and do in effect say, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save the righteous, and to justify the godly. And whereas our
Saviour says, the whole need not a physician, but the sick ; and
that he cqppe not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,
(Matth. ix. 12.) ; why, yon seem to hold, and do in effect say, that
the sick need not a physician, but the whole : and that he came not
to call sinners but the righteous to repentance. And indeed, in so
saying, you seem to conceive, that Christ's spouse must be purified,
washed, and cleansed from all her filthiness, and adorned with a
rich robe of righteousness, before lie will accept of her; whereas he
himself said unto her, Ezek. xvi. 4 — 8, " As for thy nativity, in the
day that thou wast born, thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou
washed with water to supple thee ; thou wast not swaddled at all,
nor salted at all. No eye pitied thee to do any of these things
unto thee ; but when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, be-
hold thy time was a time of love. And I spread my skirt over
thee, and covered thy nakedness; yea, and I sware unto thee, and
entered into covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine." Hos.
ii. 19, " And I will marry thee unto me for ever; yea, I will marry
thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and
compassion."
Wherefore, I beseech you, revoke this yonr erroneous opinion,
and contradict the word of truth no longer : but conclude for a cer-
tainty, that it is not the righteous and godly man, but the sinful
and ungodly man a that Christ came to call, justify, and save; so
that if you were a righteous and godly man, you were neither ca-
pable of calling, justifying, or saving by Christ: but being a sinful
and ungodly man, I will be bold to say unto you, as the people said
unto blind Bartimeus, Mark x. 49, " Be of good comfort; arise, he
calleth thee," and will justify and save thee, b Go then unto him,
a That is, such as are really so, and not in their own opinion, only respectively.
b As the people, observing Christ's call to Bartimeus, bid him be of good comfort,
(or be confident) and arise ; intimating, that upon his going so unto Christ, he would
27i THE JIARR0W OF
I beseech you ; and if he come and meet thee (as his manner is)
then do not you unadvisedly say, with Peter, " Depart from me, for
I am a sinful man, Lord !" Luke v. 8 ; but say, in plain terms,
come unto me ! for I am a sinful man, Lord ! Yea, go on fur-
ther, and say, as Luther bids you, Most gracious Jesus and sweet
Christ, I am a miserable poor sinner, and therefore do judge myself
unworthy of thy grace ; but yet T, having learned from thy word
that thy salvation belongs unto such a one, therefore do I come unto
thee, to claim that right which, through thy gracious promise be-
longs unto me. c Assure yourself, man, that Jesus Christ requires
no portion with his spouse ; no, verily, he requires nothing with her
but mere poverty : " the rich he sends empty away," Luke i. 53 ;
but the poor are by him enriched. And indeed, says Luther, " the
more miserable, sinful, and distressed a man doth feel himself, and
judge himself to be, the more willing is Christ to receive him and re-
lieve him." So that, says he, in judging thyself unworthy, thou
dost thereby become truly worthy ; and so indeed hast gotten a grea-
ter occasion of coming to him. Wherefore, then, in the words of the
apostle, I do exhort and beseech you to " come boldly unto the
throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
in time of need," Heb. iv. 16.
Neo. But, truly, sir, my heart, as it were, trembles within me, to
think of coming to Christ after such a bold manner ; and surely,
sir, if I should so come unto him, it would argue much pride and
presumption in me.
Evan. Indeed, if yon should be encouraged to come unto Christ,
and to speak thus unto him, because of any godliness, righteousness,
or worthiness, that you conceive to be in you ; that, I confess, were
proud presumption in you. But to come to Christ, by believing that
he will accept of you, justify and save you freely by his grace, ac-
cording to his gracious promise, this is neither pride nor presump-
tion : d for Christ having tendered and offered it to you freely,
believe it, it is true humility of heart to take what Christ offers
you.
Norn. But, by your favour, sir, I pray you give me leave to speak
cure him ; so one, observing the gospel call, may with all boldness bid a sinner com-
ply with it confidently ; assuring him that thereupon Christ will justify and save him.
c See the note on the Definition of Faith, fig. 1.
d It is to believe the offer of the gospel, with particular application; to embrace it,
and therein to receive Christ. And no man can ever receive and rest on Christ for
salvation, without believing, in greater or lesser measure, that Christ will accept of him
to justification and salvation. Remove that gospel-truth, that Christ will accept of
hitn, and his faith has no ground left to stand upon. See the noie on the Definition
of Faith, notes U, v.
MODEKN DIVINITY. 275
a word by the way. I know my neighbour Neophitus, it may be,
better than you do ; yet I do not intend to charge him with any sin,
otherwise than by way of supposition (as thus :) suppose he has
been guilty of the committing of gross and grievous sins, will Christ
accept of him, and justify and save him for all that ?
Evan. Yes, indeed ; for there is no limitation of God's grace in
Jesus Christ, except the sin against the Holy Ghost, e Christ
" stands at the door and knocks," Rev. iii. 20. And if any murder-
ing Manasseh, or any persecuting and blaspheming Saul, (1 Tim. i.
13,) or any adulterous Mary Magdalene, " will open unto him, he
will come in," and bring comfort with him, " and will sup with
him." " Seek from the one end of the heavens to the other," says
Hooker ; " turn all the Bible over, and see if the words of Christ be
not true, ' Him that cometh unto me, I will in no ways cast out,' "
John vi. 37.
Norn. Why then, sir, it seems you hold, that the vilest siuner in
the world ought not to be discouraged from coming unto Christ, and
believing in him, by reason of his sins.
Evan. Surely, if " Christ carao into the world to seek, and call,
and save sinners, and to justify the nngodly," as you have heard ;
and if the more sinful, miserable, and distressed a man judge him-
self to be, the more willing Christ is to receive him and relieve him ;
then I see no reason why the vilest sinner should be discouraged
from believing on the name of Jesus Christ by reason of his sins.
Nay, let me say more ; the greater any man's sins are, either in
number or nature, the more haste he should make to come unto
Christ, and to say with David, " For thy name's sake, Lord, par-
don mine iniquity, for it is great ; Psalm xxv. 11.
Ant. Surely, sir, if my friend Neophitus did rightly consider these
things, and were assuredly persuaded of the truth of them, me-
e 1 doubt if the sin against the Holy Ghost can justly be said to Le a limitation of
God's grace in Jesus Christ. For in the original authentic gospel-offer, in which is
the proper place for such a limitation (if there was any) that grace is so laid open to
all men without exception, that no man is excluded ; but there is free access to it for
every man in the way of believing, John iii. 15, 16 ; Rev. xxii. 17 ; and this offer is
sometime intimated to these reprobates who fall into that sin, else they should not be
capable of it. It is true, that sin is a bar in the way of the guilty, so as they can
never partake of the grace of God in Christ ; for it shall never be forgiven, Matth.
xii. 31 ; Mark iii. 29; and any further ministerial application of the offer to them
seems to cease to be lawful or warranted, 1 John v. 16. But all this arises from their
own wilful, obstinate, despiteful, and malicious rejecting of the offer ; and fighting
against the Holy Ghost, whose office it is to apply the grace of Christ ; and not from
any limitation or exclusive clause in the offer, for still it remains true, " Whosoever
shall believe, shall not perish."
276 THE MARROW OP
thinks lie should not be so backward from coining to Christ, by be-
lieving on his name, as he is ; for if the greatness of his sins should
be so far from hindering his coming to Christ, that they should
further his coming, then I know not what should hinder him.
Evan. You speak very truly indeed. And therefore, I beseech
you, neighbour Neophitus, consider seriously of it ; and neither let
your own accusing conscience, nor Satan the accuser of the brethren,
hinder you any longer from Christ. For what though they should
accuse you of pride, infidelity, covetousness, lust, anger, envy,
and hypocrisy ? yea, what though they should accuse you of whore-
dom, theft, drunkenness, and such like ? yea, do what they can,
they can make no worse a man of you than a sinner, or the chief of
sinners, or an ungodly person ; and so, consequently, such an one
Christ came to justify and save ; so that in very deed, if you do
rightly consider of it, they do you more good than hurt by their ac-
cusations. / And therefore, I beseech you, in all such cases or con-
flicts, take the counsel of Luther, who, on the Galatians, (p 20,)
says, " "When thy conscience is thorougly afraid with the remem-
brance of thy sins past, and the devil assaileth thee with great vio-
lence, going about to overwhelm thee with heaps, floods, and whole
seas of sins to terrify thee, and to draw thee from Christ ; then arm
thyself with such sentences as these : — Christ the Son of God was
given, not for the holy, righteous, worthy, and such as were his
friends ; but for the wicked sinners, for the unworthy, and for his
enemies. Wherefore, if the devil say, Thou art a sinner, and there-
fore must be damned, then answer thou, and say, Because thou say-
est I am a sinner, therefore will I be righteous and saved. And if
he reply, Nay, sinners must be damned; then answer thou and say,
No, for I flee to Christ, who hath given himself for my sins; and
therefore, Satan, in that thou sayest I am a sinner, thou givest me
armour and weapons against thyself, that with thine own sword I
may cut thy throat, and tread thee under my feet." g And thus
you see it is the counsel of Luther, that your sins should rather drive
you to Christ than keep you from him.
Nom. But, sir, suppose he hath not as yet truly repented of his
/Which may put you in mind that you are one of that sort which " Christ Jesus
came into the world to save," 1 Tim. i. 15, and in pleading for mercy, may furnish
you with such an argument as David used, Psalm xxv. 11, and the woman of Canaan,
Matt. xv. 27. "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs," &c.
g He adds, in the place quoted, these weighty words, " I say not this for nought,
for I have oftentimes proved by experience, and I daily find what an hard matter it is,
to believe (especially in the conflict of conscience) that Christ was given, not for the
holy, righteous, worthy, and such as were his friends ; but for wicked sinners, for the
unworthy, and for his enemies."
MODEJKN DIVINITY. 277
many and great sins, hath he any warrant to come unto Christ by
believing, till he has done so ?
Evan. I tell you truly, that whatsoever a man is, or whatsoever
he hath done or not done, he hath warrant enough to come unto
Christ by believing, if he can ; h for Christ makes a general procla-
mation, saying, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters; and he that hath no money, come, buy and eat; yea, come
buy wine and milk without money, and without price." This, you
see, is the condition, " buy wine and milk," that is, grace and salva-
tion, " without money," that is, without any sufficiency of your
h It is not in vain added, "if he can ;" for there is, in this matter, a great differ-
ence betwixt what a sinner may do, in point of warrant, and what he will or can do,
in point of the event. " If we say to a mau, the physician is ready to heal you ;
before you will be healed, you must have a sense of your sickness: this sense is not
required by the physician, (for the physician is ready to heal him) ; but if be be not
sick, and have a sense of it, he will uut come to the physician." — Preston on Faith,
p. 12. I make no question, but before a sinner will come to Christ by believing, he
must be an awakened, convinced, sensible sinner; pricked in his heart with a sense
of his siu and misery ; made to groan under his buiden, to despair of relief from the
law himself, or any other creature, and to desire and thirst after Christ and his righte-
ousness; and this our author teaches afterwards on this subject. (These things also
are required of the sinner in point of duty.) And therefore the law must be preached
by all those who would preach Christ aright. But that these, or any other things in
the sinner, are required to warrant him, that he may come to Christ by believing, is
what I conceive the Scripture teaches not; but the general offer of the gospel, of
which before, warrants every man that he may come. And in practice, it will be
found, that requiring of such and such qualifications in sinners, to warrant them to
believe in Christ, is no great help to them in their way towards bim; forasmuch as it
engages them ic a doubtful disputation, as to the being, kind, measure, and degree of
their qualifications for coming to Christ ; the time spent in which might be better
improved in their going forward to Christ for all, by believing. And since no man
can ever believe in Christ, without knowing that he has a warrant for believing in
him, otherwise he can but act presumptuously : to tell sinners, that none may come to
Christ, or have warrant to believe, but such as have a true repentance, must needs,
in a special manner, entangle distressed consciences, so as they dare not believe,
until they know their repentance to be true repentance. This must inevitably be the
issue in that case ; unless they do either reject that principle, or else venture to be-
lieve without seeing their warrant. For, howbeit they hear of Christ and his salvation
offered in the gospel, these will be to them as forbidden fruit, which they are not
allowed to touch, till once they are persuaded, that the) have true repentance. And
before they can attain to this, it must be made out to their consciences, that their
repentance is not legal but evangelical, having such characters as distinguish it from
the repentance of the Ninevites, Judas, and many reprobates. So that, one would
think, the suggesting of this principle is but a bad office done to a soul brought to
" the place of the breaking forth of children." Let no man say, that, arguing at this
rate, one must know also the truth of his faith, before he can come to Christ; for
faith is not a qualification for coming to Christ, but the coming itself, which will have
its saving effects on the sinner, whether he knows the truth of it or not.
278 THE MARROW OF
own ; i only " incline your ear and hear, and your souls shall live ;"
yea, live by hearing that " Christ will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David."
§ 4. Nom. But yet, sir, you, see that Christ requires a thirsting,
before a man come unto him, the which, I conceive, cannot be with-
out true repentance.
Evan. In the last chapter of the Revelations, verse 17, Christ
makes the same general proclamation, saying, " Let him that is
athirst come ;" and as if the Holy Grhost had so long since answered
the same objection that yours is, it follows in the next words,
" And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely,"
even without thirsting, if he will; for "him that cometh unto me,
I will in nowise cast out,",; John vi. 37- But because it seems you
conceive he ought to repent before he believe, I pray tell me what
you do conceive repentance to be, or wherein does it consist ?
Nom. Why, I conceive that repentance consists in a man's hum-
bling himself before God, aud sorrowing and grieving for offending
him by his sins, and in turning from them all to the Lord.
Evan. And would you have a man to do all this truly k before he
come to Christ by believing ?
i Take them freely, and possess them; which every one sees to be no proper con-
dition.
j That gospel-offer, Isa. lv. 1. is the most solemn one to be found in all the Old
Testament: and that recorded, Rev. xxii. 17, is the parting offer made to sinners by
Jesus Christ, at the closing of the canon of the Scripture, and manifestly looks to the
former ; in the which I can see no ground to think, that the thirsting therein men-
tioned does any way restrict the offer ; or that the thirsty there invited, are convinced,
sensible sinners, who are thirsting after Christ and his righteousness; the which
would leave without the compass of this solemn invitation, not only the far greater
part of mankind, but even of the visible church. The context seems decisive in this
point; for the thirsting ones invited, are such as are "spending money for that which
is not bread, aud their labour for that which satisfieth not," (verses 1, 2 ;) but con-
vinced, sensible sinners who are thirsting after Christ and his righteousness, are not
spending their labour and money at that rate ; but on the contrary, for that which is
bread and satisfieth, namely, for Christ. Wherefore the thirsting there mentioned,
must be more extensive, comprehending, yea, and principally aiming at that thirst
after happiness and satisfaction, which, being natural, is common to all mankind.
Wen pained with this thirst (or hunger) are naturally running, for quenching thereof
to the empty creation, and their fulsome lusts ; " so spending money for that which is
not bread, and their labour for that which satisfieth not," their hungry souls find no
food, but what is meagre and lean, bad and unwholesome, and cannot satisfy their
appetite. Compare Luke xv. 16. In this wretched case Adam left all mankind, and
Christ finds them. Whereupon the gospel-proclamation is issued forth, inviting them
to come away from the broken cisterns, filthy puddles, to the waters of life, even to
Jesus Christ, where they may have bread, fatness, what is good, and will satisfy that
their painful thirst, John iv. 14, and vi. 35.
k That is, in such a manner as it shall be true evangelical repentance, a gracious
MODERN DIVINITY. 279
Nom. Yea, indeed, I think it is very meet he should.
Evan. Why,' then, I tell you truly, you would have him to do
that which is impossible. I
For, first of all, godly humiliation, in true penitents, proceed?
from the love of God their good Father, and so from the hatred
of that sin which has displeased him ; and this cannot be without
faith. m
Idly, Sorrow and grief for displeasing God by sin, necessarily
argue the love of God ; and it is impossible we should ever love
God, till by faith we know ourselves loved of God. n
humiliation, sorrow, and turning, acceptable in the sight of God. This question
(grounded on Nomista's pretending that Neophitus had no warrant to believe, unless
he had truly repented) supposes that there is a kind of repentance, humiliation, sor-
row for sin, and turning from it, which goes before faith, but that they are not " after
a godly sort," as the apostle's phrase is, 2 Cor. viii. 1 1.
II think it nothing strange to find the author so very peremptory in this point,
which is of greater weight than many are aware of True repentance is a turning unto
God, a corning back to him again ; a returning even unto the Lord, according to an
usual Old Testament phrase, fuund, Hos. xiv. 1, and rightly so translated, Isa. six.
22. But no man can come unto God " but by Christ," Heb. vii. 2a. " He is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him," John xiv. 6. " No
man cometh unto the Father but by me." We must take Christ in our way to the Fa-
ther, else it is impossible that we guilty creatures can reach unto him. And no man can
come unto Christ, but by believing in him, (John vi. 35.) therefore it is impossible
that a man can truly repent before he believe in Christ. " Him hath God exalted
with his right hand, to be a Prince (or Leader} and a Saviour, for to give repentance
to Israel, and forgiveness of sins," Acts v. 31. One would think this to be a suffi-
cient intimation, that sinners not only may, but ought to go to him for true repentance ;
and not stand off from him until they get it to bring along with them ; especially since
repentance, as well as remission of sin, is a part of that salvation, which he as a
Saviour is exalted to give, and consequently, which sinners are to receive and rest
upon him for ; and likewise that it is that by which he, as a leader, doth lead back sin-
ners even unto God, from whom they were lead away in the first Adam, the head of the
apostacy. And if one inquires anent the way of his giving repentance to Israel, the
prophet Zechariah showed it before to be by faith. Zech. xii. 10. " And they shall
look upon me whom they have have pierced, and they shall mourn."
to This the Scripture teacheth, determining in the general, that without faith one
can do nothing acceptable in the sight of God, John xv. 5. " Without me," i. e.
separate from me, " ye can do nothing." Heb. xi. 6. " Without faith it is impos-
sible to please him:" and particularly with respect to this case, Luke vii. 37 — 47.
" And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat
at meat, stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears,
and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet — And he turned to
the woman, and said unto Simon, — Her sins which are many, are forgiven, for she
loved much ; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." " It is an argu-
ment gathered of the effect following, whereby any thing is proved by signs ensuing."
— Calvin. Inst. lib. 3 cap. 4, sect. 37.
n There is a knowledge in faith, as our divines teach against the Papists, and the
280 THE MARROW OF
'idly, No man can turn to God, except lie be first turned of God ;
and after he is turned, he repents ; so Ephraim says, " After I was
converted, I repented," o Jer. xxxi. 19. The truth is, a repentant
sinner first believes that God will do that which he promiseth,
namely, pardon his sin, and take away his iniquity ; then he rests
in the hope of it ; and from that, and for it, he leaves sin, and will
forsake his old course, p because it is displeasing to God ; and will
Scripture maketh manifest. Isa. Hi. 11, " By his knowledge shall my righteous Ser-
vant justify many." Heb. xi. 3, " Through faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God." Now, saving faith, being a persuasion that we shall
have life and salvation by Christ, or a receiving and resting on him for salvation, in-
cludes in it a knowledge of our being beloved of God : the former cannot be without
the latter. In the meantime, such as the strength or weakness of that persuasion is,
the steadiness or unsteadiness of that receiving and resting, just so is this knowledge,
clear, or unclear, free of, or accompanied with doubtings. They are still of the same
measure and decree. So that this is no more in effect, but that faith in Christ is the
spring of true love to God; the which, how it is attained by a guilty sou], men will
the better know, if they consider well what it is. The true love of God is not a
love to him only for his benefits, and for our own sake, but a love to him for him-
self, for his own sake ; a liking of, and complacency in, his glorious attributes and
perfections, his infinite, eternal, and unchangeable being, wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodnpss, and truth. If a convinced sinner is void of any of the least mea-
sure of persuasion of life and salvation by Christ, and of the love of this God to him ;
but apprehends, as he cannot miss to do in this case, that he hates him, is the enemy,
and will prove so at last; this cannot fail of filling his whole soul with slavish fear of
God ; and how then shall this love of God spring up in one's heart, in such a case
for slavish fear and true love are so opposite the one to the other, that, according to
the measure in which the one prevails, the other cannot have access. 2 Tim. i. 7,
" God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound
mind." 1 John iv. 18, " There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear;
because fear hath torment." But when once life and salvation, and remission of sin,
is with application believed by the convinced sinner, and thereby the love of God to-
wards him is known ; then according to the measure of that faith and knowledge, sla-
vish fear of God is expelled, and the heart is kindly drawn to love him, not only for
his benefits, but for himself, having a complacency in his glorious perfections. " We
love him, because he first loved us," I John iv. 19, The love of God to us is the in-
ducement of our love to him : but love utterly unknown to the party beloved can ne-
ver be an inducement to him to love again. Now, in consequence hereof, the sinner's
bands are loosed, and his heart, which before was still hard as a stone, though broken
in pieces by legal terrors, is broken in another manner, softened and kindly melted
in sorrow for displeasing this gracious God.
a God's turning a sinner first brings him to Christ. John vi. 44, 45, " No man
can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." And then he
comes to God by Christ : John. xiv. 26, " No man cometh unto the Father but bv
me."
p In a right manner, in the manner immediately after mentioned.
MODERN DIVINITY. 281
do that which is pleasing and acceptable to him. q So that first
of all, God's favour is apprehended, and remission of sins believed ; r
then upon that cometh alteration of life and conversation, s
q Faith cometh of the word of God ; hope cometh of faith ; and charity springeth
of them both. Faith believes that word ; hope trusteth after that which is promised
by the word; and charity doth good unto her neighbour. — Mr. Patrick Hamilton's
Articles in Knox's Hist. p. 11.
r Not as that they are pardoned already ; but that one must so apprehend the
favour of God, as to believe that God will pardon — his Bin, as the author speaks ex-
pressly in the premises from whence this conclusion is drawn ; or that God doth par-
don his sin in the present time. See note, chap. 3. sec. 6. Now, remission of sin is
a part of that salvation which faith receives and rests on Christ for. See the note on
the Definition of faith. As for the phrase the author uses to express this, it is
most agreeable to the Scripture phrase, " Remission of sins preached," Luke xxiv.
47 ; Acts xiii. 38.
s Namely, such an alteration as is pleasing and acceptable in the sight or God, the
which he has described in the preceding sentence. Otherwise, he has already taught
us, that there are notable alterations of life and conversation which do not proceed
from faith; and therefore are not accepted of God. And of these we shall hear more
anon.
Tt will not be amiss here to observe how our author, in his account of the relation
betwixt faith and repentance, treads in the ancient paths, according to his manner.
" It ought to be out of question," says Calvin, " that repentance doth not only im-
mediately follow faith, but also spring out of it. — As for them that think that repent-
ance doth rather go before faith, than flow or spring forth of it, as a fruit out of a
tree, they never knew the force thereof, and are moved with too weak an argument, to
think so. Christ and John, (say they) in their preachings, first exhort the people to
repentance, &c. — A man cannot earnestly apply himself to repentance, unless he
know himself to be of God : but no man is truly persuaded that he is of God but he
that hath first received his grace. — No man shall ever reverently fear God, but he
that trusteth that God is merciful to him : no man will willingly prepare himself to the
keeping of the law, but he that is persuaded that his services please him." — Instit. b.
3. chap. 3. sec. 1, 2.
" How soon that ever the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, which God's elect children re-
ceive by true faith, takes possession in the heart of any man, so soon doth he regene-
rate and renew the same man. So that he begins to hate that which before he
loved, and begins to love that which before he hated ; and from thence comes that
continual battle which is betwixt the flesh and the spirit." — Old Confess, art. 13.
" Being in Christ, we must be new creatures — so that we must hate and flee that
which before we loved and embraced, and we must love and follow that which before
we hated aud abhorred. — All which is impossible to them that have no faith, and have
but a dead faith."— Mr. John Davidson's Cat. p. 29.
" Quest. When I shall ask you then what is craved of us, after that we are joined
to Christ by faith, and made truly righteous in him? ye shall answer, A. We must
repent and become new persons, that we may show forth the virtues of him that hath
called us." — Ibid. p. 35.
" What is thy repentance ? The effect of this faith, working a sorrow for my sins
by-past, and purpose to amend in time to come." — Mr. James Melvil's Cat. in his
Propine, &c. p. 44.
Vol. VII. s
282 THE MARROW OF
Norn. But, sir, as I conceive, the Scripture holds forth, that the
Lord has appointed repentance to go before faith ; for is it not said,
Mark i. 15, " Repent and believe the gospel ?"
Evan. To the intent that you may have a true and satisfactory
answer to this your objection, I would pray you to consider two
things :
First, That the word "repent" in the original, signifies a change of
our minds from false ways to the right, and of our hearts from evil
to good ; as that son in the gospel said, " He would not go" work
in his father's vineyard ; yet afterwards, says the text, " he re-
pented and went," Matth. xxi. 29 ; that is, he changed his mind and
went.
Secondly, That in those days, when John the Baptist and our
Saviour preached, their hearers were most of them erroneous in
their minds and judgments; for they being leavened with the doc-
trine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, of which our Saviour bade his
disciples take heed and beware, (Matth. xvi. 6, 12.) the most of
them were of opinion, that the Messiah whom they looked for should
be some great and mighty monarch, who should deliver them from
their temporal bondage, as I showed before. And many of them
were of the opinion of the Pharisees, who held, that as an outward
conformity to the letter of the law was sufficient to gain favour and
" Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of the true sense of
his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief and hatred of
sin, turn from it unto God." — Shorter Cat.
" M. This is then thy saying, That unto the time that God hath received us to
mercy, and regenerate us by his Spirit, we can do nothing but sin ; even as an evil
tree can bring forth no fruit but that which is evil, Matth. vii. 17. C. Even so it
]<." Calvin's Cat. quest. 117. " He doth receive us into his favour, of his bounti-
ful mercy, through the merits of our Saviour Christ, accounting his righteousness to
be ours, and for his sake imputeth not our faults unto us." — Ibid, quest. 118.
" Quest. What is the first fruit of this union?" (namely of union with Christ by-
faith.) A. A remission of our sins, and imputation of justice. Q. What is the next
fruit of our union with him? A. Our sanctification and regeneration to the image of
God." — Craig's Cat. q, 24, 25. " Q. What is sanctification ? A. Sanctification is
a work af God's grace, whereby they — are — renewed in the whole man, after the ituage
of God, having the seeds of repentance unto life, and of all other saving graces, put into
their hearts." — Larger Cat. quest, lb.
" We would beware of Mr. Baxter's order of setting repentance and works of
new obedience before justification, which is indeed a new covenant of works." —
Rutherford's Influences of the Life of Grace, p. 346.
t This is taken word for word out of the English Annotations on Matt. iii. 12;
which are cited for it by our author under the name of the Last Annotations, because
they were printed in the year 1645, about which time this book also was first pub-
lished. How the author applies it, will appear anon.
MODERN DIVINITY. 283
estimation from men, so it was sufficient for their justification and
acceptation before God, and so, consequently, to bring them to
heaven and eternal happiness : and therefore, for these ends, they
were very diligent in fasting and prayer, (Luke xviii. 12 — 14.) and
very careful to pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, and yet did
omit the weightier matters of the law, as judgment, mercy, faith,
and the love of God. Matth. xxiii. 23 ; Luke xi. 42. And so
as our Saviour told them, Matth. xxiii. 25. " they made clean the
outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they were full of
extortion and excess."
And divers of them were of the opinion of the Sadducees, Acts
xxiii. 8. who held " that there was no resurrection, neither angel,
nor spirit;" and so had all their hopes and comfort in the things of
this life, not believing any other.
Now our Saviour, preaching to these people, said, " The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye and believe
the gospel." As if he had said, the time set by the prophets for
the manifestation of the Messiah is fully come; and his kingdom,
which is a spiritual and heavenly kingdom, is at hand; therefore
change your minds from false ways to right, and your hearts from
evil to good ; u and do not any longer imagine, that the Messiah you
look for, shall be one that shall save and deliver you from your
temporal enemies ; but from your spiritual, that is, from your sins,
and from the wrath of God, and from eternal damnation ; and
therefore put your confidence no longer in your own righteousness,
though you walk never so exactly according to the letter of the
law ; but believe the glad tidings that are now brought to you,
namely, that this Messiah shall save you from sin, wrath, death,
the devil, and hell, and bring you to eternal life and glory. Neither
let any of you any longer imagine, that there is to be no resurrec-
tion of the dead, and so have your hopes only in this life : but
believe these glad tidings, that are now brought unto you, concern-
ing the Messiah ; and he shall raise you up at the last day, and give
you an eternal life. Now, with submission to better judgments, I
do conceive, that if there be in the book of God any repentance ex-
horted unto, before faith in Christ; or if any repentance go, either
in order of nature or time, before faith in Christ, it is only such a
like repentance as this, v
u The word rendered repent, is, " To change one's mind, and to lay aside false
opinions, which they had drunk in, whether from the Pharisees, concerning the righte-
ousness of works, traditions, worship, &c. ; or from the Sadducees, concerning the re-
surrection," &c Lucus Brugensis, apud. Pol. St/nop. Crit. Matt. iii. 2.
v That the reader may further see how little weight there is in the objection raised
«9.
284 THE MARROW OF
Xom. But, sir, do you think that there is such a like repentance
that goes before faith in Christ, in men now-a-days ?
Evan. Tea, indeed, I think there is. As for example, when a
profane sensual man (who lives as though, with the Sadducees, he did
not believe any resurrection of the dead, neither hell nor heaven,)
is convinced in his conscience, that if he go on in making a god of
his belly, and in minding only earthly things, his end shall be dam-
nation ; sometimes such a man thereupon changes his mind, and of
a profane man, becomes a strict Pharisee, or (as some call them) a
legal professor; but being convinced, that all his own righteousness
will avail him nothing, in the case of justification, and that it is
only the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is available in that case,
then he changes his mind, and, with the apostle, " desires to be
found in Christ, not having his own righteousness which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, even the righte-
ousness which is of God through faith," Phil. iii. 9. Now, I con-
ceive, that a man that does this, changes his mind from false ways
to the right way, and his heart from evil to good ; and so, conse-
quently, doth truly repent, w
Nom. But, sir, do not you hold, that although repentance, ac-
cording to my definition, goes not before faith in Christ, yet it fol-
lows after ?
Evan. Yes, indeed; I hold,- that although it go not before, as an
antecedent of faith, yet it follows as a consequent. For when a
man believes the love of God to him in Christ, then he loves God
because he loved him first ; and that love constrains him to humble
himself at the Lord's footstool, and to acknowledge himself to be
less than the least of all his mercies ; yea, and then will he " re-
member his own evil ways and doings, that were not good, and will
from Mark i. 15. I subjoin the words of two learned commentators on the text " Re-
pent ye, turn from the wickedness of your ways and believe. — There is a repentance
that must go before faith, that is, the applicative of the promise of pardoning mercy to
the soul ; though true evangelical repetance, which is sorrow for sin, flowing from the
sense of the love of God in Christ, be the fruit and effect of faith." — Coutin. of
Poole's Annot. on the place. " Faith or believing, in order of the work of grace,
is before repentance, that being the first and mother grace of all others ; yet is here
and in other places, named the latter : first, because though faith be first wrought, yet
repentance is first seen and evidenced," &c. — Lightfoot's Harmony, part. 3. p. 164.
4/o.
w That is, his repentance is true in its kind, though not saving. There is a change
of his mind and heart, in that, upon a conviction, he turns from profanity to strictness
of life, and upon farther conviction, from a conceit of his own righteousness to a desire
after the righteousness of Christ: nevertheless, all this is but selfish, and cannot
please God while the man is void of faith. Heb. xi. 6.
MOOEKN DIVINITY. 285
loathe himself in his own sight for his iniquities, and for his abomi-
nations," Ezek. xxxvi. 31 ; yea, and then he will also cleanse him-
self from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the
fear of God, having respect unto all God's commandments." x 2 Cor.
vii. 1 ; Psalm cxix. 6.
Nom. "Well, sir, I am answered.
§ 5. Neo. And truly, sir, you have so declared and set forth
Christ's disposition towards poor sinners, and so answered all my
doubts and objections, that I am now verily persuaded that Christ
is willing to entertain me ; and surely I am willing to come unto
him, and receive him; but, alas! I want power.
Evan. But tell me truly, are you resolved to put forth all your
power to believe, and so to take Christ ?y
Neo. Truly, sir, methinks my resolution is much like the resolu-
tion of the four lepers, who sat at the gate of Samaria ; for as they
said, " If we enter into the city, the famine is in the city, and we
shall die there ; and if we sit still here, we die also ; now, therefore,
let us fall into the host of tho Syrians ; if they save us, we shall
live, and if they kill us, we shall but die," 2 Kings vii. 4 ; even so
say I in mine heart, if I go back to the covenant of works to seek
justification thereby, I shall die there; and if I sit still and seek it
no way, I shall die also ; now therefore, though I be somewhat fear-
ful, yet am I resolved to go unto Christ ; and if I perish, I perish, z
x See note k, p. 279.
y His conviction of his lost and undone state was before represented in its proper
place. After much disputing whether such a vile and sinful wretch as he had any
warrant to come to Christ, he appears, in his immediately foregoing speech, to be so
far enlightened in the knowledge of Christ, that he is verily persuaded that Christ is
willing to entertain him ; and to have his heart and will so overcome by divine grace
that he is willing to come unto Christ: yet after all, he, through weakness of judg-
ment, apprehends himself to want power to believe; whereas it is by these very means
that a soul is persuaded, and enabled too, to believe in Jesus Christ. Hereupon the
author waiving the dispute anent his power to believe, wisely asks him, If he was
resolved to put forth the power he had? forasmuch as it was evident from the account
given of the present condition of his soul, that it had felt " a day of power," Psalm
ex. 3. and that he was " drawn of the Father, and therefore could come to Christ,"
John vi. 44. For " effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby convincing
us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and re-
newing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ." — Short.
Cut. " Savingly enlightening their minds, renewing, and powerfully determining
their wills, so as they — are hereby made willing and able." — Larg. Cat. quest. 67.
z See the foregoing note. This is the concluding point in this matter : the man
being drawn by efficacious grace, though he is not without doubts and fears as to the
event, yet is no more in doubt, whether to embrace the offer or not. And the inward
motion of his heart breaking through the remaining doubts and fears, after a long
286 THE MARROW OF
Evan. "Why, now I tell you, the match is made ; Christ is yours, a
and you are his, " this day is salvation come to your house," (your
soul I mean :) for what though you have not that power to come so
fast to Christ, and lay such firm hold on him, as you desire ; y e *
coming with such a resolution to take Christ, as you do, you need
nor care for power to do it, inasmuch as Christ will enable you to do
it; b for is it not said, John i. 12, "But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name ?" c therefore, I beseech you, stand no
longer disputing ; but be peremptory and resolute in your faith, and
in casting yourself upon Grod in Christ for mercy ; and let the issue
be what it will. Yet let me tell you, to your comfort, that such a
resolution shall never go to hell, d Nay, I will say more ; if any
soul have room in heaven, such a soul shall ; for God cannot find in
his heart to damn such a one. I might then, with as much true
confidence say unto you, as John Careless said to John Bradford, in
a letter to him, " Hearken, heavens, and thou earth, give ear,
and bear me witness, at the great day, that I do here faithfully and
truly declare the Lord's message unto his dear servant and singu-
larly beloved John Bradford, saying, ' John Bradford, thou man so
specially beloved of God, I do pronounce and testify unto thee, in
the word and name of the Lord Jehovah, that all thy sins, whatso-
ever they be, though never so many, grievous, or great, be fully and
freely pardoned, released, and forgiven thee, by the mercy of God
in Jesus Christ, the only Lord and sweet Saviour, in whom thou
dost undoubtedly believe ; as truly as the Lord liveth, he will not
struggle, unto Jesus Christ in the free promise, being in itself indiscernible, but to
God and one's own soul, it is agreeably enough to one's way in that case : discovered
in that expression of a conquered soul, Now am I resolved to go unto Christ, now am
I determined to believe ; the which cannot but represent to him who deals with the
exercised person, the whole soul going out unto Jesus Christ. Hence the match may
justly thereupon be declared to be made, as our author does in the words immediately
following. Thus, Job in his distress expresseth his faith, Job xiii. 15, " Though he
slay me, yet will I trust in him." Compare Acts xi. 33, " That with purpose of
heart they would cleave unto the Lord."
a In possession.
b That is, you need not, holding back your hand, stand disputing with yourself how
you will get power; but with the power given, stretch forth the withered hand, and
Christ will strengthen it, and enable you to take a firm hold. John xii. 32, " And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Isa. zl. 29., " He
giveth power to the faint ; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
c The power here mentioned, seems rather to denote right or privilege (as the ori-
ginal word is rendered in the margin of our Bibles,) than strength or ability.
d See the preceding note, 6
MODERN DIVINITY. 287
have tliee die the death ; but hath verily purposed, determined, and
decreed, that thou shalt live with him for ever.' "
Neo. 0, sir, if I have as good warrant to apply this saying to
myself as Mr. Bradford had to himself, then I am a happy man !
Evan. I tell you from Christ, and under the hand of the Spirit,
that your person is accepted, your sins are done away, and you shall
be saved ; and if an angel from heaven should tell you otherwise,
let him be accursed. Therefore you may (without doubt) conclude
that you are a happy man ; for by means of this your matching
with Christ, you are become one with him, and one in him, you
" dwell in him, and he in you," 1 John iv. 13. He is " your well-
beloved, and you are his," Cant. ii. 16. So that the marriage-union
betwixt Christ and you is more than a bare notion or apprehension
of your mind ; for it is a special, spiritual, and real union : it is an
union betwixt the nature of Christ, God and man, and you ; e it is a
knitting and closing, not only of your apprehension with a Savi-
our, but also of your soul with a Saviour. Whence it must needs
follow that you cannot be condemned, except Christ be condemned
with you ; neither can Christ be saved, except you be saved with
him./ And as by means of corporal marriage all things become
common betwixt man and wife ; even so, by means of this spiri-
tual marriage, all things become common betwixt Christ and you ;
for when Christ hath married his spouse unto himself he pas-
seth over all his estate unto her ; so that whatsoever Christ is, or
hath, you may boldly challenge as your own, " He is made unto
e That is, an union with whole Christ, God-Man; 1 Cor. vi. 17, " He that is joined
to the Lord, is one Spirit." Eph. v. 38, "For we are members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones."
/"Jesus Christ and the believer, being one person in the eye of the law, there is no
separating of them in law, in point of life and death. John xiv. 19, " Because I live,
ye shall live also." I have adventured this once to add one syllable to the text of
the author, and so to read " condemned" for " damned." The words are of the same
signification ; only, the latter has an idea of horror affixed to it, which the former has
not; and which perhaps it had not neither, in the days of our forefathers, when godly
Tindal used the expression, as our author informs us. And I take this liberty, the ra-
ther that a like expression of John Careless, in a letter to William Tyms, seems to me
t o run more smooth, by means of the same addition, though I doubt if the word stood
so in the original copy, " Christ (says he) is made unto us holiness, righteousness,
and justification ; he hath clothed us in all his merits — and taken to himself all our
sin — so that, if any should be now condemned for the same, it must needs be Jesus
Christ, who hath taken them upon him." — The Offerer's Mirror, p. G6. And
the Old Confession of Faith, art. 9, according to the ancient copies, it is said, " The
clean innocent Lamb of God was damned in the presence of au earthly judge, that we
should be absolved before the tribunal-seat of our God." But in the copy standing in
Knox's History, reprinted at Edinburgh, anno. 1644, it is read " condemned."
288 THE MARROW OF
you, of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,"
1 Cor. i. 30. And surely, by virtue of this near union it is, that as
Christ is called " the Lord our righteousness," ( Jer. xxxiii. 6,) even
so is the church called, " The Lord our righteonsnes," (ver. 16,) I
tell you, you may by virtue of this union, boldly take upon your-
self as your own, Christ's watching, abstinence, travails, prayers,
persecutions, and slanders; yea, his tears, his sweat, his blood, and
all that ever he did and suffered in the space of three and thirty
years, with his passion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension ;
for they are all yours. And as Christ passes over all his estate
unto his spouse, so does he require that she should pass over all unto
him. Wherefore, you being now married unto Christ, you must
give all that you have of your own unto him; and truly you have
nothing of your own but sin, and therefore you must give him that.
I beseech you, then, say unto Christ with bold confidence, I give unto
thee, my dear husband, my unbelief, my mistrust, my pride, my ar-
rogancy, my ambition, my wrath, and anger, my envy, my covetous-
ness, my evil thoughts, affections, and desires ; I make one bundle
of these and all my other offences, and give them unto thee, g And
g This gift would indeed be a very unsuitable return for all' the benefits received
from Christ by virtue of the spiritual marriage, if he did not deal with us in the way
of free grace ; like unto a physician, who desires nothing of a poor man full of sores,
but that he will employ him in the cure of them. But this gift, such as it is, as it is
all we have of our own to give, so one needs make no question but it will be very ac-
ceptable. Ptalm lv. 22, " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee,"
not only thy burden of duty, suffering, and success, but of sin too, wherewith thou art
heavy laden, Matt. si. 2S. We are allowed, not only to give him our burden, but to
cast it upon him. He knows very well that all these evils mentioned, and many more,
are in the heart of the best : yet doth he say, Prov. xxiii. 26, " My son, give me thine
heart ;' notwithstanding of the wretched stuff he knows to be in it. In the language of
the Holy Ghost, these things, as black as they are, are a gift by divine appointment to
be given. Lev. xvi. 21, speaking of the scape-goat, an eminent type of Christ, he says,
" And Aaron shall — confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and
all their transgressions, and all their sins : and he shall give them upon the head of
the goat." Thus the original expresses what we read, " putting them," &c. View
ugain, note v, p. 210.
Now, the end for which the sinner is to give these to Christ is twofold ; (l.) For
removing the guilt of them. (2.) For the mortifying of them. And though this
is not an easy way of mortification, since the way of believing is not easy, but more
difficult than all the Popish austerites, forasmuch as these last are more agreeable to
nature, yet indeed it is the short way to mortification, because it is the only way ; with-
out which, the practice of all other directions will be but as so many cyphers, without a
figure standing at their head, signifying nothing, for true Christian mortification.
Acts xv. 9, " Purifying their hearts by faith - " Rom. vi. 6, " Knowing this that our
old man is crucified with him." And viii. 13, '' If ye through the Spirit do mortify
the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Gal. v. 24, " And they that are Christ's have
HODEUN DIVINITY. 289
thus was Christ made " sin for us, that knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him," h 2 Cor. v. 21. " Now
then," says Luther, " Let us compare these things together, and we
shall find inestimable treasure. Christ is full of grace, life, and sav-
ing health ; and the soul is freight-full of all sin, death and dam-
nation ; but let faith come betwixt these two, and it shall come to
pass, that Christ shall be laden with sin, death, and hell ; and unto
the soul shall be imputed grace, life and salvation. Who then is
able to value the royalty of this marriage accordingly ? who is able
to comprehend the glorious riches of his grace, where this rich and
righteous husband, Christ, doth take unto wife this poor and wicked
harlot, redeeming her from all devils, and garnishing her with all his
own jewels? So that you, through the assuredness of your faith in
Christ your husband, are delivered from all sins, made safe from
death, guarded from hell, and endowed with the everlasting righte-
ousness, life, and saving health of this your husband Christ." And
therefore you are now under the covenant of grace, and freed from
the law, as it is the covenant of works; for (as Mr. Ball truly says)
at one and the same time, a man canuot be under the covenant of
works and the covenant of grace.
Neo. Sir, I do not yet well know how to conceive of this freedom
from the law, as it is the covenant of works ; and therefore I pray
you make it as plain to me as you can.
Evan. For the true and clear understanding of this point, you
are to consider, that when Jesus Christ the second Adam, had, in
the behalf of his chosen, perfectly fulfilled the law, as it is the cove-
nant of works ; i divine justice delivered that bond in to Christ,
who utterly cancelled that hand-writing, Col. ii. 14; so that none of
his chosen were to have any more to do with it, nor it with them.
And now, you, by your believing in Christ, having manifested that
you are one, who was chosen in him " before the foundation of the
world," (Eph. i. 4.) his fulfilling of that covenant, and cancelling
that hand-writing, is imputed unto you ; and so yon are acquitted
and absolved from all your transactions against that covenant,
crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts ;" namely, nailing them to the cross
of Christ by faith.
h Thus, namely, by the giving of our sins to him, not by believers, but by his
Father, as says the text, " He (not we) made him to be sin for us." Nevertheless,
the Lord's laying our iniquities upon Christ is good warrant for every believer to lay
his sins in particular upon him ; the latter being a cordial falling in with, a practical
approbation, and taking the benefit of the former.
i Namely, by doing perfectly what it demanded to be done, by virtue of its com-
manding power, and suffering completely what it demanded to be borne, by virtue of
its condemning power.
290 THE MARROW OF
either past, present, or to come ; j and so you are justified, as the
the apostle says, " freely by his grace, through the redemption that
is in Jesus Christ," Rom. iii. 24.
8 6. Ant. I pray you, sir, give me leave to speak a word by the
way ; was not he justified before this time ?
Evan. If he did not believe in Christ before this time, as I con-
ceive he did not, then certainly he was not justified before this time.
Ant. But, sir, you know, as the apostle says, " it is God that jus-
tified ;" and God is eternal ; and as you have shown, Christ may
be said to have fulfilled the covenant of works from all eternity,
and if he be Christ's now, then he was Christ's from all eternity.
And therefore, as I conceive, he was justified from all eternity.
Evan. Indeed, God is from all eternity, and in respect of God's
accepting of Christ's undertaking to fulfil the covenant of works, he
fulfilled it from all eternity; and in respect of God's electing of him
he was Christ's from all eternity. And therefore it is true, in res-
pect of God's decree, he was justified from all eternity : k and he
j Although believers in the first moment of their union with Christ by faith, are
delivered from the law, as it is the covenant of works, and therefore their after sins
neither are, nor can be formally transgressions of that covenant ; yet they are inter-
pretatively so, giving a plain proof of what they would have done against that covenant
had they been under it still. And forasmuch as they could never have been freed
from it, had not the glorious Mediator wrought their deliverance, by fulfilling it in
their room and stead ; all their sins whatsoever, from their birth to their death, after
as well as before their union with Christ, were charged upon him, as transgressions
against that covenant ; and such as are pardoned to them in their justification. Even
as he who redeems a slave must pay in proportion to the service which it i3 supposed
he would have done his master during life ; and the slave is loosed from all obligation
so these several pieces of service, unto that master, upon the ransom paid, in compen-
sation of all and every one of them. And thus our author says, that a believer, in
his justification, is acquitted from all his transgressions against the covenant of works,
not only past and present, but to come. So that he leaves no ground to question, but
Christ satisfied for all the sins of believers whatsoever, whether in their state of regen-
eracy or irregeneracy. Nor does he make the least insinuation, that the sins of be-
lievers, after their union with Chribt, are not properly transgressions of that law which
was (yea, and to unbelievers still is) in the covenant of works : but, on the contrary
expressly teaches, that it is the very same law of the ten commands which is the law
of Christ, and which the believer transgresseth, that was, and is in the covenant
of works. And although the revenging wrath of God, and eternal death, are nut
threatened against the sins of believers after their union with Christ ; and that for this
one reason, That that wrath, and that death (the eternity whereof rose not from the
nature of the thing, but the infirmity of the sufferer, and therefore could have no
place in the Son of God) were not only threatened before, but executed too upon their
surety Jesus Christ, to whom they are united : it is manifest, that there was great
need of Christ's being made a curse for these sins of believers, as well as for those
preceding their union with him.
/. " The sentence of justification war. as it were, conceived iu the mind of God bjf
MODERN DIVINITY. 291
was justified meritoriously in the death and resurrection of Christ; I
but yet he was not justified actually, till he did actually believe in
Christ; for, says the apostle, Acts xiii. 39, "By him all that believe
are justified." m So that in the act of justifying, faith and Christ
must have a mutual relation, and must always concur and meet to-
gether; faith as the action which apprehendeth, and Christ the
object which is apprehended; for neither doth Christ justify with-
out faith, neither doth faith, except it be in Christ.
Ant. Truly, sir, you have indifferently well satisfied me in this
the decree of justifying, Gal. iii. 8, " The Scripture foreseeing tbat God would justify
the heathen through faith," — Ames. Med. cap. xxxvii. sec, 9. " In which sense
grace is said to be given us in Christ before the world began," 2 Tim. i. 9 Turret.
loc. 16. q. 9. th. 11. " Sins were pardoned from eternity in the mind of God."
Rutherford's E.ver. Apolog ex. 1. cap. 2. sec. 21. p. 53. The same Rutherford adds,
" It is one thing for a man to be justified in Christ, and that from eternity ; and an-
other for a man to be justified in Christ in time, according to the gospel covenant. —
Faith is not so much as the instrument of the eternal and immanent justification and
remission of sins." — Ibid. p. 55.
/" Justification may be considered as to the execution of it in time; and that
again, either as to the purchase of it, which was made by the death of Christ on the
cross, concerning which it is said, Rom. v. 9, 10, " That we are justified and recon-
ciled to God by the blood of Christ ; and that Christ reconciled all things unto God
by the blood of the cross," Col. i. 20. And elsewhere Christ is said to be " raised
again for our justification," Rom. iv. 25. Because, as in him dying, "we died, so in
him raised again and justified, we are justified ; that is, we have a certain and un-
doubted pledge and foundation of our justification. — Or as to the application of it,"
&c. — Turret, ubi. sup. " The sentence of justification was pronounced in Christ our
head, risen from the dead," 2 Cor. v. 19. — Ames, ubi sup. " We were virtually jus-
tified, especially when Christ having finished the purchase of our salvation, was justi-
fied, and we in him as our head," 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; 2 Cor. v. 19." — Essen. Comp. cap.
xv. sect. 25.
m " Actual justification is done in time, and follows faith." — Turret, loc. 16. q. 7.
th. 3. "Justification is done formally, when an elect man, effectually called, and so
apprehended of Christ, apprehends Christ again, Rom. viii. 30. — Essen, ubi supra.
" The sentence of justification is pronounced virtually from that first relation which
ariseth from faith," Rom. viii. 1. — Ames, ubi supra.
Upon the whole, it is evident our author keeps the path trodden by orthodox
divines on the subject: and though, in order to answer the objections of his adversary,
he uses the school terms, of being justified in respect of God's decree, meritoriously,
and actually, agreeably to the practice of other sound divines-; yet otherwise he begins
and ends his decision of this controversy, by asserting in plain and simple terms, with-
out any distinction at all, " That a man is not justified before he believe, or without
faith." So his answer amounts just to this, " That God did, from all eternity, decree
to justify all the elect; and Christ did, in the fulness of time, die for their sins, and
rise again for their justification : nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy
Spirit duth in due time actually apply Christ unto them." — Westmin. Confess, chap.
1 1. art. 4.
292 THE MAEKOW OF
point ; and surely I like it marvellously well, that you conclude no
faith justifies, hut that whose object is Christ.
Evan. The very truth is, though a man believe that God is merci-
ful and true to his promise, and that he has his elect number from
the beginning, and that he himself is one of that number, yet if this
faith do not eye Christ, if it be not in God as he is in Christ, it will
not serve the turn ; for God cannot be comfortably thought upon
out of Christ our Mediator; "for if we find not God in Christ,"
says Calvin, (Instit. p. 155.) " salvation cannot be known." Where-
fore, Neophitus, I will say unto you, as Mr. Bradford said unto a
gentlewoman in your case, " Thus, then, if you would be quiet, and
certain in conscience, then let your faith burst forth through all
things, not only that you have within you, but also whatsoever is
in heaven, earth, and hell ; and never rest until it come to Christ
crucified, and the eternal sweet mercy and goodness of God in
Christ."
§ 7- Neo. But, sir, I am not satisfied concerning the point you
touched before ; and therefore, I pray you, proceed to show me how
far forth I am delivered from the law, as it is the covenant of
works.
Evan. Truly, as it is the covenant of works, you are wholly and
altogether delivered and set free from it ; you are dead to it, and it
is dead to you ; and if it be dead to you, then it can do you neither
good nor hurt; and if you be dead to it, you can expect neither
good nor hurt from it. n Consider, man, I pray you, that, as I said
n Concerning the deliverance from the law, which, according to the Scripture, is the
privilege of believers purchased unto them by Jesus Christ, there are two opinions
equally contrary to the word of God, and to one another. The one of the Legalist,
That believers are under the law, even as it is the covenant of works ; the other of
the Antinomian, That believers are not at all unJer the law, no, not as it is a rule of
life. Betwixt these extremes, both of them destructive of true holiness and gospel-
obedience, our author, with other orthodox divines, holds the middle path ; asserting
(and in the proper place proving) that believers are under the law, as a rule of life,
but free from it as it is the covenant of works. To be delivered from the law as it is
the covenant of works, is no more but to be delivered from the covenant of works.
And the asserting, that believers are delivered from the law as it is the covenant of
works, doth necessarily import, that they are under the law, in some other respect
thereto contra-distinguished. And forasmuch as the author teaches, that believers
are under the law, as it is the law of Christ, and a rule of life to them, it is reasonable
to conclude that to be it. He must needs, under the term, " the covenant of works,"
understand and comprehend the law of the ten commandments ; because no man,
understanding what the covenant of works is, can speak of it, but he must, under that
term, understand and comprehend the ten commandments, even as none can speak of
a man, with knowledge of a sense of that word, but under that term must understand
and comprehend an organic body, as well as a soul. But it is manifest, that the law
MODERN DIVINITY. 293
before, you are now under another covenant, viz. the covenant of
grace; and you cannot bo under two covenants at once, neither
wholly nor partly ; and therefore, as, before you believed, you were
of the ten commandments, without the form of the covenant of works upon it, is not
the thing he understands by that term, " the covenant of works." Neither is the
form of the covenant of works (which is no more the covenant itself, than the soul
without the body is the man) essential to the ten commandments, so that they cannot
be without it. See note b, p. 169. If it be said, that the author, by the covenant of
works, understands the moral law, as it is denned, (Lar. Cat. q. 92.) it is granted;
but then it amounts to no more, but that, by the covenant of works, he understands
the covenant of works ; for by the moral law there, is understood the covenant of
works, as has been already evinced See note a, p. 166.
The doctrine of believers' freedom from the covenant of works, or from the law as
that covenant, is of the greatest importance, and is expressly taught. — Lar. Cat.
q. 97. "They that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the
moral law, as a covenant of works," Rom. vi. 14; Rom. vii. 4, 6; Gal. iv. 4, 5.
— Westmin. Confess, chap. xix. art. 6. "True believers be not under the law as a
covenant of works." To these I subjoin one testimony, from the Pract. Use of Saving
Knowledge, tit, " For strengthening the Man's Faith," &c. Rom. viii. (note k, p. 290,)
" Albeit the apostle himself (brought in here for example's cause) and all other true be-
lievers in Christ, be by nature under the law of sin and death, or under the covenant
of works (called the law of sin and death, because it bindeth sin and death upon us,
till Christ set us free) yet the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, or the covenant
of grace, (so called because it doth enable and quicken a man to a spiritual life through
Christ) doth set the apostle, and all true believers, free from the covenant of works,
or the law of sin and death." See note I, p. 291. As also tit. " For convincing
a man of judgment by the law," par. 2. and last. And tit. " Evidences of true fuith.
And tit. " For the first," &c. — note to, Ibid.
Now, delivering from a covenant being the dissolution of a relation which admits
not of degrees, believers being delivered from the covenant of works, must be wholly
and altogether set free from it.
This appears also from the believer's being dead to it, and it dead to him, of which
before at large.
There is a twofold death competent to a believer, with respect to the law, as it is
the covenant of works; and so to the law as such, with respect to the believer. (1.)
The believer is dead to it really, and in point of duty, while he carries himself as one
who is dead to it. And this I take to be comprehended in that saying of the apostle,
Gal. ii. 19, " I through the law am dead to the law." In the best of the children of
God here, there are such remains of the legal disposition and inclination of heart to
the way of the covenant of works, that as they are never quite free of it in their best
duties, so at sometimes their services smell so rank of it, as if they were alive to the
law, and still dead to Christ. And sometimes the Lord for their correction, trial, and
exercise of faith, suffers the ghost of the dead husband, the law, as a covenant of
works, to come in upon their souls and make demands on them, command, threaten,
and affright them, as if they were alive to it, and it to them. And it is one of the
hardest pieces of practical religion, to be dead to the law in such cases. This death
to it admits of degrees, is not alike in all believers, and is perfect in none till the death
of the body. But of this kind of death to the law, the question proceeds not here.
(2.) The believer is dead to it relatively, and in point of privilege ; the relation be-
294 THE MARROW OF
wholly under the covenant of works, as Adam left both you and all
his posterity after his fall ; so now, since you have believed, you
are wholly under the covenant of grace. Assure yourself then, that
no minister, or preacher of God's word has any warrant to say unto
you hereafter, " Either do this and that duty contained in the law,
and avoid this and that sin forbidden in the law, and God will jus-
tify thee and save thy soul : or do it not, and he will condemn thee
and damn thee ?" o No, no, you are now set free both from the com-
manding and condemning power of the covenant of works, p So
that I will say unto you, as the apostle says unto the believing
twist him and it is dissolved, even as the relation between a husband and wife is dis-
solved by death; Rom vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to
the law, by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another." This can ad-
mit of no degrees, but is perfect in all believers ; so that they are wholly and alto-
gether set free from it, in point of privilege, upon which the question here proceeds,
and in this respect they can expect neither good nor hurt from it.
o See p. 250, note s. " Believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works,
to be thereby justified or condemned." — Westmin. Confess, chap. xix. art. 6.
p From the general conclusion already laid down and proven, namely, That be-
lievers are wholly and altogether set free from the covenant of works, or from the law
as it is that covenant, this necessarily follows. But to consider particulars, for
further clearing this weighty point, (I.) That the covenant of works hath no" power
to justify a sinner, in regard to his utter inability to pay the penalty, and to fulfil the
condition of it, is clear from the apostle's testimony, Rom. viii. 3, " What the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son," &c.
(2.) That the believer is not under the condemning power of it, appears from Gal.
iii. 23, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us." Rom. viii. 1, " There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus." Verse 33, 34, " It is God that justifieth ; who is he that condemn-
eth ?" (3.) As to its commanding power, believers are not under it neither; for, 1.
Its commanding and condemning power, in case of transgression, are inseparable ; for,
by the sentence of that covenant, every breaker of its commands is bound over to
death. Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law, to do them." " And whatsoever it saith, it saith to
them that are under it," Rom. iii. 19. Therefore, if believers be under its command-
ing power, they must needs be under its condemning power, yea, and actually bound
over to death ; forasmuch as they are, without question, breakers of its command, if
they be indeed under its commanding power.
2. If, as to any set of men, the justifying and condemning power be removed from
that law which God gave to Adam as a covenant of works, and to all mankind in him,
than the covenant-form of that law is done away as to them ; so that there is not a
covenant of works in being unto them, to have a commanding power over them ; but
such is the case of believers, that law can neither justify them, nor condemn them;
therefore, there is no covenant of works in being betwixt God and them, to have a
commanding power over them; our Lord Jesus " blotted out the hand-writing, took
it out of the way, nailing it to his cross," Col. ii. 14.
3. Believers are dead to the law, as it is the covenant of works, and " married to
MODERN DIVINITY. 295
Hebrews, Heb. xii. 18, 22, 24, " You are not come to Mount Sinai
that might not be touched, and that burned with fire ; nor unto
blackness, and darkness, and tempests ; but you are come unto
Mount Zion, the city of the living God : and to Jesus, the Mediator
of the new covenaut." So that (to speak with holy reverence) God
cannot, by virtue of the covenant of works, either require of you
any obedience, or punish you for any disobedience ; no, he cannot,
by virtue of that covenant, so much as threaten you, or give you
an angry word, or show you an angry look ; for indeed he can see
no sin in you, as a transgression of that covenant ; for, says the
apostle, " Where there is no law, there is no transgression," Rom.
iv. 15. q And therefore, though hereafter you do through frailty
transgress any of all the ten commandments, r yet do you not
another," Rom. vii. 4. Therefore they are set free from the commanding power of
the first husband, the covenant of works.
4. They are not under it; Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but under
grace :" how then can it have a commanding power ever them ?
5. The consideration of the nature of the commands of the covenant of works may
sufficiently clear this point. Its commands bind to perfect obedience, under the pain
of the curse, which on every slip, is bound upon the transgressor. Gal. iii. 10.
" Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things," &c. But Christ hath re-
deemed believers from the curse, verse 13 ; and the law they are under speaks in softer
terms, Psalm lxxxix. 31, 32. " If they break my statutes — then will I visit their
transgression with my rod," &c. Moreover, it commands obedience upon the ground
of the strength to perform, given to mankind in Adam, which is now gone, and affords
no new strength; for there is no promise of strength for duty belonging to the cove-
nant of works ; and to state believers under the covenant of works, to receive com-
mands for their duty, and under the covenant of grace, for the promise of strength to
perform, looks very unlike to the beautiful order of the dispensation of grace, held
forth to us in the word ; Rom. vi. 14. " Ye are not under the law, but under grace."
Lastly, Our Lord Jesus put himself under the commanding power of the covenant
of works, and gave it perfect obedience, to deliver his people from under it; Gal. iv.
4, 5, " God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
tbem that were under the law." That they then should put their necks under that
yoke again, cannot but be highly dishonouring " to this crucified Christ, who dis-
armed the law of its thunders, defaced the obligation of it as a covenant, and, as it
were, grinded the stones upon which it was wrought to powder." — Cliarnock, vol.
2. q. 531.
q And therefore since there is no covenant of works (or law of works, as it is called,
Rom. iii. 27.) betwixt God and the believer, it is manifest there can be no transgress-
ing of it, in their case. God requires obedience of believers, and not only threatens
them, gives them angry words and looks, but brings heavy judgments on them for
their disobedience ; but the promise of strength, and penalty of fatherly wrath only,
annexed to the commands requiring obedience of them, and the anger of God against
them, purged of the curse, do evidently discover, that none of these come to them, in
the channel of the covenant of works.
r And though all the sins of believers are not sins of daily infirmity, yet they are all
296 THE MARROW OF
thereby transgress the covenant of works : there is no such cove-
nant now betwixt God and you. s
And therefore, though hereafter you shall hear such a voice as
this, " If thou wilt be saved, keep the commandments :" or " Cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in
the book of the law to do them ;" nay, though you hear the voice of
thunder and a fearful noise ; nay, though you see blackness and
darkness, and feel a great tempest ; that is to say, though you hear
us that are preachers, according to our commission, (Isa. lviii. 1,)
" lift up our voice like a trumpet," in threatening hell and damna-
tion to sinners and transgressors of the law; though these be the
words of Grod, yet are you not to think that they are spoken to
you. t No, no ; the apostle assures you that there is no condemna-
tion to them that are in Christ Jesus, Rom. viii. 1. Believe it, God
never threatens eternal death, after he has given to a man eternal
life, u Nay, the truth is, God never speaks to a believer out of Christ;
and in Christ he speaks not a word in the terms of the covenant
of works, v And if the law, of itself should presume to come into
your conscience, and say, " Herein and herein thou hast trans-
gressed, and broken me, and therefore thou owest so much and so
much to Divine justice, which must be satisfied, or else I will take
hold on thee ; then answer you and say, " law ! be it known unto
thee, that I am now married unto Christ, and so I am under covert ;
and therefore if thou charge me with any debt, thou must enter thine
action against my husband Christ, for the wife is not sueable at the
law, but the husband. But the truth is, I through him am dead to
thee, law ! and thou art dead to me ; and therefore justice hath
nothing to do with me, for it judgeth according to the law." w And
sins of frailty ; Gal. v. 17. " For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit
against the flesh — so that ye cannot do the things that ye would ;" Rom. vii. 19. " The
evil which I would not, that I do." — See chap. v. 15, 17, and vi. 12.
s Thus far of the believer's complete deliverance from the covenant of works, or
from the law, namely, as it is the covenant of works. Follows the practical use to be
made of it by the believer. And, 1. In the hearing of the word.
t Though they are God's own sayings, found in his written word, and spoken by his
servants, as having commission from him for that effect ; yet, forasmuch as they are
the lano-ua^e of the law, as it is his covenant of works, they are directed only to those
who are under that covenant, Rom. iii. 19, and not to believers, who are not under it.
u And to believers he hath given eternal life already, according to the Scripture.
See p. 251, note u.
v Follows, II. The use of it, in conflicts of conscience with the law in its demands,
sin in its guilt, Satan in his accusations, death in its terrors.
w He begins with the conflict with the law ; for as the apostle teaches, " the sting
of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law," 1 Cor. xv. 56. While the law re-
tains its power over a man, death has its sting, and sin its strength against him ; but
MODERN DIVINITY. 297
if it yet reply, and say, " Ay, bat good works must be done and the
commandments must be kept, if thou wilt obtain salvation ;" x then
if once he is dead to the law, wholly and altogether set free from it, as it is the cove-
nant of works ; then sin hath lost its strength, death its sting, and Satan his plea
against him. That the author still speaks of the law as it is the covenant of works,
from the commanding and condemning power of which believers are delivered, and no
otherwise, cannot reasonably be questioned, since he is still pursuing the practical use
of the ductrine anent it as such ; and having before spoken of it as acting by commis-
sion from God, he treats of it here, as acting (as it were) of its own proper motion,
and not by any such commission. To those who are under the law, the law speaks its
demands and terrors, as sent from God : but to believers, who are not under it, it can-
not so speak, but of itself. Rom. viii. 15, " For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear." See p. 292, note n, fig. 1.
Now, in the conflict the believer has with the law or covenant of works, the author
puts two cases ; in the which the conscience needs to be soundly directed, as in cases
of the utmost weight.
The first case is this, The law attempting to exercise its condemning power over
him, accuses him of transgression, demands of him satisfaction to the justice of God
for his sin, and threatens to hale him to execution. In this case the author dare not
advise the afflicted to say with the servant in the parable, Matth. xviii 26, " Have pa-
tience with me, and I will pay thee all ;" but he teaches him to devolve his burden
wholly upon his Surety : he bids him plead, that since he is " married to Christ,"
whatever action the law may pretend to be competent to it, for the satisfaction of jus-
tice, upou the account of his sin, it must lie betwixt the law and Christ, the husband ;
but that in very deed, there remains no place for such action, forasmuch as, through
Jesus Christ's suffering and satisfying to the full, he is set free from the law, and owes
nothing to justice nor to the law, upon that score. If any man will venture to deal in
other terms with the law in this case, his experience will at length sufficiently discover
his mistake. Now it is manifest that this relates to the case of justification.
x Here is the second case, namely the law attempting to exercise its commanding
power over the believer requires him to do good works, and to keep the command-
ments, if he will obtain salvation. This comes in natively in the second place. The
author could not, reasonably rest satisfied with the believer's being delivered from the
curse of the covenant of works, from the debt owing to Divine Justice, according to
the penal sanction : if he had ; he would have left the afflicted still in the lurch, in
the point of justification, and of inheriting eternal life ; he would have proposed
Christ to him only as a half Saviour, and left as much of the law's plea behind with-
out an answer as would have concluded him incapable of being justified before God,
and made an heir of eternal life : for the law, as it is the covenant of works, being
broken, has a twofold demand on the sinner, each of which must be answered, before
he can be justified. The one is a demand of satisfaction for sin, arising from, and ac-
cording to its penal sanction ; this demand was made in the preceding case, and solidly
answered. But there remains yet another, namely, the demand of perfect obedience,
arisin" from, and according to the settled condition of that covenant ; and the afflicted
must have wherewith to answer it also ; otherwise he shall still sink in the deep mire,
where there is no standing. For as no judge can absolve a man, merely on his having
paid the penalty of a broken contract, to which he was obliged, by and attour the ful-
filling of the condition, so no man can be justified before God, nor have a right to
life, till this demand of the law be also satisfied in his case. Then, and not till then,
Vol. VII. t
298 THE MARROW OF
is the law's mouth stopped, in point of his justification. Thus Adam, before his fall,
was free from the curse ; yet neither wa3, nor could be justified and entitled to life,
until he had run the course of his obedience, prescribed by him by the law as a cove-
nant of works. Accordingly, we are taught that " God justifies sinners, not only by
imputing the satisfaction, but also the obedience of Christ unto them." — Westm.
Confess, chap. 11, art. I. And that " justification is an act of God's free grace,
wherein he not only pardoneth all our sins, but accepteth us as righteous in his sight,"
Short. Catech.
Here then is the second demand of the law, namely, the demand of perfect obedi-
ence, respecting the case of justification, no less than the demand of satisfaction for
sin. And it is proposed in such terms as the Scripture uses to express the self-same
thing by, Luke x. 28, "This do and thou shalt live." Mat. xix. 17, "If thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments." In both which passages our Lord proposeth
this demand of the covenant of works, for the conviction of the proud legalists with
whom he there had to do. And the truth is, that the terms in which this demand
stands here conceived are so very agreeable to the style and language of the covenant
of works, expressed in these texts and elsewhere, that the law, without receding in
the least from the propriety of expression, might have addressed innocent Adam in
the ver" same terms ; changing only the word salvation into life, because he was
not yet miserable; and so saying to him, Good works must he done, and the com-
mandments must be kept, if thou wilt obtain life. What impropriety there could have
been in this saying, while as yet there was no covenant known in the world, but the
covenant of works, I see not. Even innocent Adam was not, by his works, to obtain
life, in the way of proper merit ; but in virtue of compact only.
Now, this being the case, one may plainly perceive, that in the true answer to it,
there can be no place for bringing in any holiness, righteousness, good works, and
keeping of the commandments, but Christ's only ; for nothing else can satisfy this
demand of the law. And if a believer should acknowledge the necessity of his own
holiness and good works, in this point, and so set about them, in order to answer
this demand ; then he should grossly and abominably pervert the end for which the
Lord requires them of him; putting his own holiness and obedience in the room of
Christ's imputed obedience ; and so should he fix himself in the mire, out of which he
could never escape, until he gave over that way and betook himself again to what
Christ alone has done for satisfying this demand of the law. But that the excluding
of our holiness, good works, and keeping of the commandments, from any part in this
matter, militates nothing against the absolute necessity of holiness in its proper place,
(without which, in men's own persons, no man shall see the Lord,) is a point too clear
among sound Protestant divines, to be here insisted upon.
And hence our author could not instruct Neophitus to say, in this conflict with the
law or covenant of works, " It is my sincere resolution, in the strength of grace, to
follow peace with all men, and holiness." Neither would any sound Protestant
divine have put such an answer into the mouth of the afflicted in this case; knowing
that our evangelical holiness and good works, (suppose we could attain unto them
before justification) would be rejected by the law, as filthy rags : forasmuch as the
law acknowledges no holiness, no good works, no keeping of the commandments, but
what is everv way perfect, and will never be satisfied with sincere resolutions, to do,
in the strength of grace to be given; but requires doing in perfection, in the strength
of grace given already, Gal. iii. 10. Therefore our author sends the afflicted unto
Jesus Christ, the surety for all that is demanded of him by the law or covenant of
works : and teaches him in this case, to plead Christ's works, and keeping of the
MODERN DIVINITY. 299
answer you and say, " I ara already saved before thou earnest ; y
commands: and this is the only safe way, which all true Christians will find them-
selves obliged to take at long-run, in this conflict.
The difficulty raised on this head is owing to that anti-scriptural principle, " That
believers are under the commanding power of the covenant of works;" which is over-
thrown before.
The case itself, and the answer to it at large, is taken from Luther's Sermon of the
Lost Sheep, p. 77, 78, and Sermon upon the Hymn of Zacharias, p. 50.
y Saved, namely, really, though not perfectly; even as a drowning man is saved,
when his head is got above the water, and he, leaning on his deliverer, is making
towards the shore ; in this case, the believer has no more need of the law, or covenant
of works, than such a man has of one, who, to save him, would lay a weight upon
him, that would make him sink again beneath the stream. Observe the manner of
speaking and reasoning used on this head. Tit. iii. 5, " Not by works of righteous-
ness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing
of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Eph. ii. 8 — 10, "For by
grace are ye saved, through faith — not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works." Heref'l.) It
is undeniable, especially according to the original words, that the apostle asserts
believers to be saved already. (2.) Denying that we are saved by works which we
have done, he plainly enough intimates, that we are saved by the works which Christ
has done. (3.) He argues against salvation by our works, upon this very ground,
that our good works are the fruit following our being saved, and the end for which
we are saved. Thus he at once overthrows the doctrine of salvation by our good
works, and establishes the necessity of them, as of breathings and other actions of life
to a man saved from death. (4.) He shows, that inherent holiness is an essential
part of salvation, without which it can no more consist, than a man without a reason-
able soul ; for. according to the apostle, " We are saved by oui being regenerated,
renewed, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works." And so is our justification also,
with all the privileges depending thereupon. In one word, the salvation bestowed on
believers, comprehends both holiness and happiness. Thus the apostle Peter dis-
proves that principle, (Acts xv. 1, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of
Moses, ye cannot be saved,") from his own observation of the contrary, namely, that
God purified the hearts of the Gentiles by faith, (ver 9.) adding for the part of the
Jews, who were circumcised, (ver. 11.) " We believe, that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they ;" that is, even as they were saved,
namely, by faith without the works of the law. And the apostle Paul, encountering
the same error, carries on the dispute in these terms, that a man is not justified by
works, Gal. ii. and iii. From whence one may conclude, that justification does no
further differ from salvation, in the Scripture sense, than an essential part from the
whole.
This is the doctriue of holy Luther, and of our author after him, upon this head,
here and elsewhere. And the disuse of this manner of speaking, and the setting of
salvation so far from justification, as heaven is from earth, are not without danger, as
leaving room for works to obtain salvation thereby.
" They that believe, have already everlasting life, and therefore undoubtedly are
justified and holy, without all their own labour." — Luther's Chos. Sermons, serin. 10.
page {mihi) 133. " How has God, then, remedied thy misery V He has forgiven all
my sins, and freed mc from the reward thereof, and made me righteous, holy, and
T 2
300 THE MARROW OF
and therefore I have no need of thy presence, z for in Christ I have
all things at once ; neither need I any thing more that is necessary a
happy, to live for ever, and that of his free grace alone, by the merits of Jesus Christ,
and workiog of the Holy Ghost." — (Mr. James Melvil's Cat. Propine of a Pastor,
p. 44.) " Now, being made truly and really partakers of Christ, and his righteous-
ness, by faith only, and so justified, saved, and counted truly righteous — we are to see,
what God craveth of us in our own part, to witness our thankfulness." — (Mr. John
Davidson's Cat. p. 27.) — (See Patat. Cat. q. 86.) "God delivereth his elect out
of it (viz. the estate of sin and misery) and bringeth them into an estate of salvation
by the second covenant." — (Lar. Cat. q. 30.) And surely one cannot be in a state of
salvation who is not really saved ; more than one can be in a state of health and
liberty, who is not really saved from sickness and slavery. " Those whom God hatb
predestinated unto life, and those only he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted
time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in
which they are by nature, to grace and salvation — effectually drawing them to Jesus
Christ." (JFestm. Confess, chap. 10. art. 1.) Whence one may easily perceive,
that a sinner drawn to Jesus Christ, is saved; though not yet carried to heaven.
z A good reason why a soul united to Jesus Christ, and already saved by him really,
though not perfectly, hath no need of the presence of her first husband the law, or
covenant of works : namely, because she hath in Christ her head and present husband,
all things necessary to save her perfectly, that is> to make her completely holy and
happy. If it were not so, believers might yet despair of attaining to it : since Christ
shareth his office of Saviour with none; neither is there salvation in any other,
whether in whole or in part, Acts iv. 12. But surely believers have all that is neces-
sary to complete this salvation, in Jesus Christ: forasmuch as he " of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption;' in the com-
pass of which, there is sufficient provision for all the wants of all his people. It is
the great ground of their comfort, that "it pleased the Father, that in him should all
fulness dwell," Col. i. 19. And it becomes them, with their whole hearts to approve
of the design and end of that glorious and happy constitution, namely, that "he that
glorieth, glory in the Lord," 1 Cor. i. 31. It is true, that fulness is so far from
being actually conveyed, in the measure of every part, into the persons of believers at
once ; that the stream of conveyance will run through all the ages of eternity, in hea-
ven as well as on earth. Nevertheless, whole Christ, with all his fulness, is given to
them at once, and therefore they have all necessary for them at once, in him as their
head. I Cor. iii. 21, "All things are yours." Phil. iv. 18, "I have all, and
abound." 2 Cor. vi. 10, " As having nothing, yet possessing all things." Col. ii.
10 " And ye are complete in him, which is the Head."
a But are not personal holiness, and godliness, good works, and perseverance in holy
obedience, jostled out at this rate as unnecessary? No, by no means. For Christ is
the onlv fountain of holiness, and the cause of good works, in those who are united to
him ; so that, where union with Christ is, there is personal holiness infallibly ; there
they do good works (if capable of them) and persevere therein ; and where it is not,
all pretences to these things are utterly vain. Therefore are ministers directed to pro-
secute such doctriues, and make choice of such uses especially, '' as may most draw
souls to Christ, the fountain of light, holiness and comfort." — Directory tit. " Of the
preaching of the word." "As we willingly spoil ourselves of all honour and glory of
our own creation and redemption, so do we also of our regeneration and sanctification ;
for of ourstlves we are not sufficient to think one good thought ; but he who has begun
MoDEKN DIVINITY. 301
to salvation. He is my righteousness, my treasure and my work : 6
the work in us, is only he that continues us in the same, to the praise and glory of his
undeserved grace. So that the cause of good works, we confess to be, not our free will
but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, who, dwelling in our hearts by true faith, brin«eth
forth such works, as God has prepared for us to walk in. For this we must boldly
affirm, that blasphemy it is to say, that Christ abideth in the hearts of such, as in whom
there is no spirit of sanctification." — Old Confess, art. 12, 13. " M. What is the
effect of thy faith? C. That Jesus Christ his Son came down into this world, and
accomplished all things which were necessary for our salvation." — The manner to
examine children, &c. quest. 3. " Whether we look to our justification or sanctifi-
cation, they are wholly wrought and perfected by Christ, in whom we are complete,
howbeit after a divers sort." — Mr. John Davidsons Cat. p. 34. The truth is, personal
holiness, godliness, and perseverance, are parts of the salvation already bestowed on
the believer, and good works begun, the necessary fruit thereof. See the preceding
note, and p. 250. note s. And he hath, in Christ his head, what infallibly secures the
conversation of his personal holiness and godliness : his bringing forth of good works
still, and perseverance in holy obedience, and the bringing of the whole to perfection
in another life, and so completing the begun salvation. If men will, without warrant
from the word, restrain the term salvation to happiness in heaveu, then all these, ac-
cording to the doctrine here taught, are necessary to salvation, as what of necessity
must go before it, in subjects capable; since, in a salvation carried on by degrees,
what is by the unalterable order of the covenant first conferred on a man, must neces-
sarily go before that which, by the same unalterable order, is conferred on him in the
last place. But, in the sense of Luther and our author, all these are comprehended
in the salvation itself. For justifying of which, one may observe, that when the sal-
vation is completed, they are perfected ; and the saints in glory work perfectly good
works, without interruption, throughout all eternity ; for they were the great end God
designed to bring about by the means of salvation. To the Scripture texts adduced,
in the preceding note, add 2 Tim. ii. 10, " I endure all things, for the elect's sake,
that they also may obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory."
Here is a spiritual salvation, plainly distinguished from eternal glory. Compare 1
Pet. i. 8, 9, " Believing, ye rejoice — Receiving the end of your faith, even the salva-
tion of your souls." This receiving of salvation, in the present time, is but the ac-
complishment of that promise, in part; Acts xvi. 31, " Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved ;" which, 1 make no question, bears a great deal of
salvation, communicated on this side death, as well as beyond it; Matt. i. 21, "He
shall save his people from their sins." Thus, salvation comprehends personal holi-
ness and godliness. And the Scripture holds out good works, as things that accom-
pany salvation, (Heb. vi. 9,) and as the fruit of it, Luke i. 71 — 75, " That we should
be saved from our enemies — being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might
serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our
life." For it is an everlasting salvation, (Isa. xlv. 17,) importing a perseverance in
holy obedience to the end.
b i\Jy righteousness, upon which I am justified, my treasure, out of which all my
debt to the law, or covenant of works, is paid, and my work, whence my righteousness
arises, and which I can, with safety and comfort, oppose to the law-demand of work.
" The law of God we confess and acknowledge most just, most equal, most holy, most
perfect, commanding these things, which being wrought in perfection, were able to give
life, and able to bring man to eternal felicity. But our nature is so corrupt, so weak,
302 THE MARROW OF
I confess, law ! that I am neither godly, nor righteous, c but yet
this I am sure of, that he is godly and righteous for me. d And to
tell the truth, law! I am now with him in the bride-chamber,
where it maketh no matter what I am, e or what I have done ; but
what Cbrist my sweet husband is, has done, and does for me :/ and
therefore leave off, law, to dispute with me, for by faith " I appre-
hend him who hath apprehended me," and put me into his bosom.
Wherefore I will be bold to bid Moses with his tables, and all law-
yers with their books, and all men with their works, hold their
peace and give place: g so that I say unto thee, law ! be gone."
and so imperfect, that we are never able to fulfil the works of the law in perfection, —
and therefore it behoves us to apprehend Christ Jesus, with his justice (i. e. righte-
ousness) and satisfaction, who is the end and accomplishment of the law." — Old Con-
fess, art. 15.
c Namely, in the eye of the law, which acknowledgeth no godliness nor righteous-
ness, but what is everv way perfect ; (Rom. iv. 5.) " Believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly." And to plead any other sort of godliness or righteousness, in the
conflict of conscience with the law, is vain. Gal. iii. 10.
d That is, Christ hath perfect purity of nature and life, which is all that the law
can demand in point of conformity and obedience to its commandments ; he was born
holy, and he lived holy in perfection. Now, both these are imputed to believers, not
in point of sanctification, but of justification ; for without the imputation of them both,
no flesh could be justified before God, because the law demands of every man purity of
nature, as well as purity of life, and both of them in perfection; and since we have
neither the one nor the other in ourselves, we must have both by imputation, else we
must remain under the coudemnation of the law. So the Palatine Catechism. — " Q.
How art thou righteous before God? A. The perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and
holiness of Christ, is imputed and given unto me, as if I had neither committed
any sin, neither were there any blot or corruption cleaving unto me. Q. 60. The
use — if Satan yet lay to my charge, although in Christ Jesus thou hast satisfied the
punishment which thy sins deserved, and hast put on his righteousness by faith, yet
thou canst not deny, but that thy nature is corrupt, so that thou art prone to all ill,
and thou hast in thee the 6eed of all vices. Against this temptation this answer is suf-
ficient, that by the goodness of God, not only perfect righteousness, but even the holi-
ness of Christ also, is imputed and given unto me," &c. — Ibid. " The satisfaction,
righteousness, and holiness of Cbrist alone is my righteousness, in the sight of God."
— Ibid, quest. 61.
e Namely, to the law or covenant of works, which has no power over me, who am
now married to another.
/Luther expresses it thus, " What am I, or what ought I to do, and what not to
do ; but what Christ himself is, ought to do, and doth."
g Moses with his tables, here, is no more, in the sense of Luther and our author,
but the law, as it is the covenant of works; the which, whoso in the conflict of con-
science with it, can treat at this rate, he is strong in faith, and happy is he. Consider
the Scripture phrase, John v. 45, " There is one that accuseth you, even Moses,
in whom ye trust." Compare Rom. ii. 17, "Behold, thou art called a Jew, and
restest in the law." By Moses here, is not meant the person of Moses, but Moses'
law, which the carnal Jews trusted to be saved and justified by ; that is plainly, by the
MODERN DIVINITY. 303
And if it will not be gone, then thrust it out by force, says Luther. h
And if sin offer to take hold of you, as David said his did on him,
Psal. xl. 12 ; then say you unto it, "Thy strength sin, is the law,
(1 Cor. xv. 56.) and the law is dead to me. So that, sin, thy
strength is gone ; and therefore be sure thou shalt never be able to
prevail against me, nor do mo any hurt at all." i
And if Satan take you by the throat, and by violence draw you
before God's judgment-seat, then call to your husband Christ, and
say, " Lord, I suffer violence, make answer for me, and help me."
And by this help you shall be enabled to plead for yourself, after
this manner: God the Father! I am thy Son Christ's; thou
gavest me unto him, and thou hast given unto him "all power, both
law, as it is the covenant of works. And in our author's judgment, the law was given
on Mount Sinai as the covenant of works. And he shows, that although Luther, and
Calvin too, do thus exempt a believer from the law, in the case of justification, and as
it is the covenant of works, yet do they not so out of the case of justification, and a s
it is the law of Christ — p. 164 — 166. And so, at once, clears them and himself from
that odious charge which some might find in their hearts to fix upon them from such
expressions.
h Luther's words are, " Then it is time to send it (the law) away, and if it will not
give place," &c. See the preceding note.
i Here is the use to be made of the same former doctrine, in the conflict of con-
science with sin. Guilt, even the guilt of revenging wrath is the handle by which, in
this conflict, sin offers to take hold of the believer, as it did of David, Psalm xl. 12 ;
who, in that Psalm, speaks as a type of Christ, on whom the guilt of the elects' sin
was laid. Now, in respect of that guilt, the strength of sin is the law, or covenant of
works, with its cursing and condemning power, from which, since believers are de-
livered, that strength of sin is gone as to them ; they are free from the guilt of sin, the
condemning wrath of God." — Westm. Confess, chap. 20, art. 1. "The revenging
wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life." — Larg. Cut. quest. 11. Whence it
necessarily follows, that sin, in this attack, can never prevail nor really hurt them in
this point, since there neither is, nor can be. any such guilt remaining upon them.
How sin may otherwise prevail against a believer, and what hurt it may do him in
other respects, the author expressly teaches here and elsewhere. In the manner of
expression, he follows famous divines, whose names are in honour in the church of
Christ. " God saith unto me, I will forgive thee thy sin, neither shall thy sins hurt
thee ' — Luther, Clios. Serm. p. 40. " Forasmuch as Jesus Christ hath, by one in-
finite obedience, made satisfaction to the infinite majesty of God, it followeth, that my
iniquities can no more fray nor trouble me, my accounts being assuredly razed by the
precious blood of Christ." — Beza, Confess, point 4, art. 10. ''Even as the viper
that was upon Paul's hand, though the nature of it was to kill presently, yet when God
had charmed it, you see it hurt him not; so it is with sin, though it be in us, and
though it hang upon us, yet the venom of it is taken away, it hurts us not, it con-
demns us not." — Dr. Preston on Faith, p. 51. Hear the language of the Spirit of
God. (Luke x. 19.) " And nothing shall by any means hurt you." " Nothing shall
hurt their souls, as to the favour of God, and their eternal happiness,," says the author
of the Supplement to Poole's Annot, on the Text.
304 THE MAKROW OF
in heaven and in earth, and hast committed all judgment to him ;"
and therefore I will stand to his judgment, who says, " he came not
to judge the world, but to save it ;" and therefore he will save me,
according to his office. And if the jury j should k bring in their
verdict that they have found you guilty, then speak to the Judge,
and say, in case any must be condemned for my transgresions, it
must needs be Christ, and not I; I for albeit I have committed
them, yet he hath undertaken and bound himself to answer for
them, and that by the consent and good-will of God his Father :
and indeed he hath fully satisfied for them. And if all this will
not serve the turn to acquit you, then add, moreover, and say, " As
a woman, that is conceived with child, must not suffer death because
of the child that is within her, no more must I, because I have con-
ceived Christ in my heart, though I have committed all the sins in
the world." m
And if death creep upon you, and attempt to devour you ; then
say, " Thy sting, death, is sin ; and Christ my husband has fully
vanquished sin, and so deprived thee of thy sting ; and therefore
do I not fear any hurt that thou, death ! canst do unto me."
And thus you may triumph with the apostle, saying, " Thanks be
unto God, who hath given me the victory, through oar Lord Jesus
Christ," 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57.
And thus have I also declared unto you how Christ, in the fulness
of time, performed that which God before all time purposed, and in
time promised, touching the helping and delivering of fallen man-
kind.
And so have I also done with the " Law of Faith."
The ten commandments.
h By your own conscience.
I See page 287, note g.
m Gal. iv. 19, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ
be formed iu you." (Col. i. 27.) " Christ, in you, the hope of glory."
MODERN DIVINITY. 305
CHAPTER III.
OF THE LAW OF CHRIST.
Sec. 1. The nature of the law of Christ. — 2. The law of the ten commandments a
rule of life to believers. — 3. Antinomian objections answered. — 4. — The necessity
of marks and signs of grace. — 5. Antinomian objections answered. — 6. Holiness
and good works attained to only by faith. — 7. Slavish fear and servile hope not
the springs of true obedience. — 8. The efficacy of faith for holiness of heart and
life. — 9. Use of means for strengthening of faith 10. The distinction of the law
of works, and law of Christ, applied to six paradoxes. — 11. The use of that distinc-
tion in practice 12. That distinction a mean betwixt Legalism and Antinomian-
ism. — 13. How to attain to assurance. — 14. Marks and evidences of true faith. —
15. How to recover lost evidences. — 16. Marks and signs of union with Christ.
§ 1. Nom. Then, sir, I pray you proceed to speak of the law of
Christ ; and first let us hear what the law of Christ is.
Evan. The law of Christ, in regard of substance and matter, is
all one with the law of works, or covenant of works. Which mat-
ter is scattered through the whole Bible, and summed up in the
decalogue, or ten commandments, commonly called the moral law,
containing such things as are agreeable to the mind and will of God,
that is, piety towards God, charity towards our neighbour, and
sobriety towards ourselves. And therefore was it given of God to
be a true and eternal rule of righteousness, for all men, of all
nations, and at all times. So that evangelical grace directs a man
to no other obedience than that whereof the law of the ten com-
mandments is to be the rule, n
n The author here teaches, that the matter of the law of works and of the law of
Christ, is one, namely, the ten commandments, commonly called the moral law. — See
page 171, note d. And that this law of the ten commandments was given of God, and
so of Divine authority, to be a rule of righteousness for men to walk by ; a true rule,
agreeable in all things to the Divine nature and will ; an eternal rule, indispensable,
ever to continue, without interruption for any one moment; and that for all men, good
and bad, saints and sinners, of all nations, Jews and Gentiles, and at all times, in all
ages, from the moment of man's creation, before the fall, and after the fall ; before
the covenant of works, under the covenant of works, and under the covenant of grace,
in its several periods. Thus he asserts this great truth, in terms used by orthodox
divines, but with a greater variety of expression than is generally used upon this head,
the which serves to inculcate it the more. And speaking of the ten commandments,
he declares in these words, " That neither hath Christ delivered believers any other-
wise from them, than as they are the covenant of works." The scope of this part of
the book, is to show that believers ought to receive them as the law of Christ, whom
we believe to be with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, the eternal Jehovah, the
Supreme, the most High God ; and consequently as a law having a commanding
306 THE MARROW OF
Nom. But yet, sir, I conceive, that though (as you say) the law
of Christ, in regard of substance and matter, be all one with the
law of works, yet their forms do differ.
Evan. True, indeed ; for (as you have heard) the law of works
speaks on this wise, "Do this and thou shalt live; and if thou do
it not, then thou shalt die the death :" but the law of Christ speak-
eth on this wise, Ezek. xvi. 6, " And when I passed by thee, and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live." John xi. 2b', " And whosoever liveth and
believeth in me, shall never die." o Eph. v. 1, 2, " Be ye therefore
followers of God, as dear children : and walk in love, as Christ hath
power, and binding force, upon the believer, from the authority of God, and not as a
simple passive rule, like a workman's rule, that hath no authority over him, to com-
mand and bind him to follow its direction. Nay, our author owns the ten command-
ments to be a law to believers, as well as others, again and again commanding,
requiring forbidding, reproving, condemning sin, to which believers must yield ole-
dience, and fenced with a penalty, which transgressing believers are not to fear, as
being under the law to Christ. These things are so manifest, that it is quite beyond
my reach to conceive how, from the author's doctrine on this head, and especially
from the passage we are now upon, it can be inferred that he teaches, that the believer
is not under the law as a rule of life ; or can be affirmed that he does not acknowledge
the laws commanding power and binding force upon the believer, but makes it a sim-
ple passive rule to him ; unless the meaning be, that the author teaches, " That the
believer is not under the covenant of works as a rule of life r" or, " That the law, as
it is the covenant of works, is not a rule of life to the believer ; and that he does not
acknowledge the commanding piwer, and binding force of the covenant of works, upon
the believer ; nor that obedience is commanded him upon the pain of the curse, and
bound upon him with the cords of the threatening of eternal death in hell." For,
otherwise, it is evident that he teaches the law of the ten commandments to be a rule
of life to a believer, and to have a commanding and binding power over him. Now,
if these bs errors, the author is undoubtedly guilty ; and if his sentiments on these
heads were proposed in those terms, as the thing itself doth require, no wrong would
be done him therein ; but that these are gospel-trutlis, appears from what is already
said : and the contrary doctrines do all issue out of the womb of that dangerous posi-
tion, " That the believer is not set free both from the commanding and condemning
power of the covenant of works," — of which before. See p. 166. note a, and p. 169.
note b.
o These texts are adduced to show, that they to whom the law of the ten com-
mandments is given, as the law of Christ, are those who have already received life,
even life that shall never end ; and that of God's free gift, before they were capable
of doing good works; who therefore need not to work for life, but from life. " The
preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, that because God is the lord, and our
god, and redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments." Luke
i. 74, " That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him
without fear." 1 Pet. i. 15, " As he that hath called you is holy, so be ye holy ;
because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. Forasmuch as ye know, that ye were
not redeemed with corruptible things — but with the precious blood of Christ." — Short.
Cat. with the Scriptures at large.
MODERN DIVINITY. 307
loved us." And "if ye love me, keep my commandments," John
xiv. 15. And " if they break my statues, and keep not my com-
mandments, then will I visit their transgression with a rod, and their
iniquity with stripes ; nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not ut-
terly take away from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail," Psal.
Ixxxix. 31 — 23. Thus, you see, that both these laws agree in say-
ing, " Do this." But here is the difference ; the one saith, " Do this,
and live ;" and the other saith, " Live, and do this ;" the one saith,
Do this for life; the other saith, Do this from life: the one saith,
" If thou do it not, thou shalt die ;" the other saith, " If thou do it
not, I will chastise thee with the rod."p The one is to be delivered
by God as he is Creator out of Christ, only to such as are out of
Christ ; the other is to be delivered by God, as he is a Redeemer in
Christ, only to such as are in Christ, q Wherefore, neighbour
p See pages 250, 251, notes s, u. — Of this penalty of the law of Christ, the auihor
t teats afterwards.
q To direct the believer how to receive the law of the ten commandments with ap-
plication to himself, he assigns this difference betwixt the law of works and the
law of Christ. The one, namely, the law of works, is the law of the ten commandments,
but supposed to be delivered by God as he is Creator out of Christ; and so standing
in relation to man, ODly as Creator, not as Redeemer; the other, namely, the law of
Christ, is the same law of the ten commandments, but supposed to be delivered by
God, as he is not only Creator but Redeemer in Christ. And although the notion of
Creator doth not imply that of Redeemer, yet the latter implies the former ; as he is
Redeemer he is Sovereign Lord Creator, else we are yet in our sins, for none of in-
ferior dignity could remove our offence or guilt; but the word of truth secures this
foundation of believers' safety and comfort ; Isa. xliv. 6, 24, " Thus saith the Lord,
the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the First, and I am the
Last, and besides me there is no God. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and He
that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcb-
eth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." Chap. liv.
5, " Thy Maker is thine Husband."
Now, the law of the ten commandments is given, the former way, only to unbeliev-
ers, or such as are out of Christ, the latter way to believers, or such as are in Chrsit.
And to prove whether this be a vain distinction or not, one needs but to consult the
conscience, when thoroughly awakened, whether it is all a case to it, to receive the
law of the ten commandments in the thunders from Mount Sinai, or in the still small
voice, out of the tabernacle, that is, from an absolute God, or from a God in Christ.
It is true, unbelievers are not under the law, as it is the law of Christ ; and that is
their misery, even as it is the misery of the slaves, that the commands of the master
of the family, though the matter of them be the very same to them, and to the chil-
dren, yet they are not fatherly commands to them, as they are to the children, but
purely masterly. And they are not hereby freed from any duty, within the compass
of the perfect law of the ten commandments ; for these commands are the matter of
the law of works, as well as of the law of Christ. Neither are they thereby exempted
fiom Christ's authority and jurisdiction, since the law of works is his law, as he is
with the Father and Holy Ghost, the Sovereign Lord Creator ; yea, and even as
Mediator, he rules in the midst of his enemies, and over them, with a rod of iron.
308 THE MARROW OF
Neophitus, seeing that ye are now in Christ, beware that you re-
ceive not the ten commandments at the hands of God out of
Christ, nor yet at the hands of Moses, but only at the hands of
Christ; and so shall you be sure to receive them as the law of
Christ, r
Nom. But, sir, may not God out of Christ deliver the ten com-
mandments, as the law of Christ ?
Evan. no ! for God out of Christ stands in relation to man,
according to the tenor of the law as it is the covenant of works;
and therefore can speak to man upon no other terms than the terms
of that covenant, s
§ 2. Nom. But, sir, why may not believers amongst the Gentiles
receive the ten commandments as a rule of life, at the hands of
Moses, as well as the believers amongst the Jews did.
Evan. For answer hereunto, I pray you consider, that the ten
commandments being the substance of the law of nature t engraven
r The receiving of the ten commandments at the hands of Christ, is here opposed
(I.) To the receiving of them at the hands of God out of Christ. (2 ) To the receiv-
ing of them at the hands of Moses namely, as our lawgiver. The first is a receiving
of them immediately from God, without a Mediator ; and so receiving them as the
law of works. The second is a receiving of them from Christ, the true Mediator, yet
immediately by the intervention of a typical one, and so is a receiving of them as the
law of Moses, the typical Mediator, who delivered them from the ark or tabernacle-
To this it is, and not to the delivering of them from Mount Sinai, that the author
doth here look, as is evident from his own words. — Page 310. The former manner
of receiving them is not agreeable to the state of real believers, since they never were,
nor are given in that manner to believers in Christ, but only to unbelievers, whether
under the Old or New Testament. The latter is not agreeable to the state of New
Testament believers, since the true Mediator is come, and is sealed of the Father, as
the great prophet, to whom Moses must give place, Matth. xvii. 5 ; Acts iii. 22
See Turret, loc. 11. q. 24. th. 15. However, the not receiving of Moses as the law-
giver of the Christian church, carries no prejudice to the honour of that faithful ser-
vant ; nor to the receiving of his writings, as the word of God, they being of divine
inspiration, yea, and the fundamental divine revelation.
s This plainly concludes, that to receive the law of the ten commandments from
God, as Creator out of Christ, is to receive them as the law (or covenant) of works ;
unless men will fancy, that after God hath made two covenants, the one of works, the
other of grace, he will yet deal with them neither in the way of the one, nor of the
other.
t Calling the ten commandments but the substance of the law of nature, he plainly
intimates, that they were not the whole of that law, but that the law of nature had a
penal sanction. Compare his speaking of the same ten commands, still as the sub-
stance of th« law of works, and of the law of Clirist. — Page 305. Indeed, he is
not of opinion, that a penal sanction is inseparable from the law of nature. That
would put the glorified saints, and confirmed angels in heaven, (to say nothing more)
under a penal sanction too ; for without question, they are, and will remain for ever,
MODERN DIVINITY. 309
in the heart of man in iunocency, and the express idea, or repre-
sentation of God's own image, even a beam of his own holiness,
they were to have been a rule of life both to Adam and his pos-
terity, though they never had been the covenant of works ; u but
being become the covenant of works, they were to have been a rule
of life to them, as a covenant of works, v And then, being as it
were razed out of man's heart by his fall, they were made known
to Adam, and the rest of his believing fathers, by visions and reve-
lations, and so were a rule of life to him ;iv yet not as the covenant
under the law of nature. The truth is, the law of nature is suited both to the nature
of God, and to the nature of the creature ; and there is no place for a penal sanction,
where there is no possibility of transgression.
u The ten commands being the substance of the law of nature, a representation of
God's image, and a beam of his holiness, behoved for ever unalterably to be a rule of
life to mankind, in all possible states, conditions, and circumstances ; nothing but the
utter destruction of human nature, and its ceasing to be, could divest them of that
office, since God is unchanging in his image and holiness. Hence, their being a rule
of life to Adam and his posterity, had no dependance on their becoming the covenant
of works ; but they would have been that rule, though there never had been any such
covenant : yea, whatever covenant was introduced, whether of works or of grace, what-
ever form might be put upon them, they behoved still to remain the rule of life ; no
covenant, no form whatsoever, could ever prejudice this their royal dignity. Now,
whether this state of the matter, or their being the covenant of works, which was
merely accessory to them, and might never have been at all, is the firmer foundation,
upon which to erect them into a rule of life, is no hard question to determine.
v And would have been so always to them all, till they had perfectly fulfilled that
covenant, had they not been divested of that form, unto believers, through Christ
Jesus their surety. To them they remain to be a rule of life, but not under the form
of the covenant of works ; but to unbelievers they are, and still will be, a rule of life
under that form.
w And to them. One will not think strange to hear, that the ten commands were
as it were, razed out of man's heart by the fall, if one considers the spirituality and
vast extent of them, and that they were, in their perfection, engraven on the heart of
man, in his crention, and doth withal take notice of the ruin brought on man by the
fall. Hereby he indeed lost the very knowledge of the law of nature, if the ten com-
mands are to be reckoned, as certainly they are, the substance and matter of that law ;
although he lost it not totally, but some remains thereof were left with him. Con-
cerning these the apostle speaks, Rom. i. 19, 20, and ii. 14, 15. And our author
teaches expressly, that the law is partly known by nature, that is, in its corrupt state.
— See page 313. And here he says, not simply, that the ten commandments were
razed, though in another case (page 186 ) he speaks after that manner, where yet it is
evident he means not a razing quite; but he says, " They were as it were razed.'
But what are these remains of them in comparison with that body of natural laws,
fairly written, and deeply engraven, on the heart of innocent Adam ? If they were
not, as it were razed, what need is there of writing a new copy of them in the hearts
of the elect, according to the promise of the new covenant ? " 1 will put my laws into
their hearts, and in their minds will I write them," Heb. x. 16, and viii. 10; Jer.
310 THK MARROW OF
of works, as they were before his fall, and so continued until the
time of Moses. And as they were delivered by Moses unto the be-
lieving Jews from the ark, and so as from Christ, they were a rule
of life to them, until the time of Christ's coming in the flesh, x
And since Christ's coming in the flesh, they have been, and are to
be, a rule of life both to the believing Jews and believing Gentiles,
unto the end of the world ; not as they are delivered by Moses, but
as they are delivered by Christ : for when Christ the Son comes and
speaks himself, then Moses the servant must keep silence; according
as Moses himself foretold, (Acts iii. 22.) saying, " A prophet shall
the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto
me ; him shall ye hear in all things which he shall say unto
you."?/ And therefore, when the disciples seemed to desire to
hear Moses and Elias^ speak on the mountain Tabor, they wore
presently taken away ; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye
him," Matt. xvii. 4, 5. As if the Lord had said, you are not
now to hear either Moses or Elias, but my " well-beloved Son ;" and
therefore I say unto you, Hear him. a And is it not said (Heb. i.
2.) " That in these last days God hath spoken to us by his Son ?"
and doth not the apostle say, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly ; and whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ." The wife must be subject unto the
husband, as unto Christ ; b the child must yield obedience to his
parents, as unto Christ ; and the believing servant must do his
master's business, as Christ's business; for says the apostle, "Ye
serve the Lord Christ." Col. iii. 16 — 24. Yea, says he to the
xxxi. 33. What need was there of writing them in the Book of the Lord, the Bible,
in which they were made known again to us, as they were to Adam and the believing
fathers, the author speaks of, by visions and revelations ? the latter being as necessary
to them as the former is to us, for that end, since these supplied to them the want of
the Scriptures. As for those, who neither had these visions and revelations given to
themselves, nor the doctrine thereby taught communicated to them by others, it is ma-
nifest they could have no more knowledge of those laws, than was to be found among
the ruins of mankind in the fall.
x As to the deliveiing of the ten commandments from the avk, or the tabernacle,
see the sense of it, and the Scripture ground for it. Page 214, note i, and page 223,
note o.
y See page 308, note r.
z The former, the giver of the law, the latter the restorer of it.
a " Which words establish Christ as the only doctor and teacher of his church ;
the only one whom he had intrusted to deliver his truths and will to his people ; the
only one to whom Christians are to hearken." — Sup. to Poole's Annot. on Matth.
xvii. 5.
b " Wives submit yourselves unto your husbands as unto the Lord." Eph. v. 22.
MODERN DIVINITY. 31 1
Galatians, " Bear ye one aaother's burdens, and so fulfil the law
of Christ," Gal. vi. 2.
Ant. Sir, I like it very well, that you say, Christ should be a
Christian's teacher, and not Moses ; but yet I question whether the
ten commandments may be called the law of Christ; for where can
you find them repeated, either by our Saviour, or his apostles, in the
whole New Testament.
Evan. Though we find not that they are repeated in such a
method as they are set down in Exodus and Deuteronomy, yet so
long as we find that Christ and his apostles did require and com-
mand these things, that are therein commanded, and reprove and
condemn those things that are therein forbidden, and that both by
their lives and doctrines, it is sufficient to prove them to be the law
of Christ, c
Ant. I think, indeed, they have done so, touching some of the
commandments, but not touching all.
Evan Because you say so, I intreat you to consider,
1st, "Whether the true knowledge of God required, (John iii. 19.);
aud the want of it condemned, (2 Thess. i. 8.) ; and the true love of
God required, (Matt. xxii. 37.) ; and the want of it reproved, (John
v. 42.) ; and the true fear of God required, (1 Pet. ii. 17. Heb. xii.
28.) ; and the want of it condemned, (Rom. iii. 18.); and the true
trusting in God required, and the trusting in the creature forbidden
(2 Cor. i. 9 ; 1 Tim. vi. 17.) ; be not the substance of the first com-
mandment.
And consider, 2d?y, Whether the " hearing and reading of God's
word," commended, John v. 39 ; Rev. i. 3 ; and "prayer," required,
Rom. xii. 12; 1 Thess. v. 17; and "singing of psalms," required,
Col. iii. 16 ; Jam. v. 13 ; and whether " idolatry," forbidden 1 Cor.
c Whether or not this be sufficient to prove them to be the law of Christ, having a
divine, authoritative, binding power on men's consciences, notwithstanding of the term,
doctrines, here used by the author, one may judge from these texts : Matth. vii. 29, 29,
" The people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having
authority, and not as the scribfs." John vii. 16, " My doctrine is not mine, but His
that sent me." Heb. i. 1 — 3, " God who at sundry times, and in divers manners,
spake in time past unto the fathers, by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds ; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his per-
son," &c. Matth. xxviii. 18 — 20, " All power is given unto me in heaven and earth:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations — to observe all things whatsoever I have com-
manded you." The original word, in the Old Testament, rendered law, doth properly
signify a doctrine. Hence, Matth. xv. 9, " Teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men," i.e. the laws and commands of men, for the laws aud commands of God.
Compare verses 4 — 6.
312 THE MARROW OF
x. 14; 1 John v. 21, be not the substance of the second command-
ment ?
And consider, 3c%, Whether " worshipping of God in vain," con-
demned, Matth. xv. 9 ; and " using vain repetitions in prayer," for-
bidden, Matth. vi. 7 ; and " hearing of the word only, and not do-
ing," forbidden, James i. 22 ; whether " worshipping God in spirit
and truth," commanded, John iv. 24 ; and " praying with the spirit
and with understanding also," and " singing with the spirit" and
with understanding also," commended 1 Cor. xiv. 15 ; and " taking
heed what we hear," Mark iv. 24 ; be not the substance of the third
commandment ?
Consider, fahly, Whether Christ's rising from the dead the first
day of the week, (Mark xvi. 2, 9) ; the disciples assembling, and
Christ's appearing unto them, two several first days of the week,
(John xx. 19, 26) and the disciples coming together and breaking
bread, and preaching afterwards on that day, (Acts xx. 7 ; 1 Cor.
xvi. 2) ; and John's being in the Spirit on the Lord's day, (Rev. i.
10) ; I say, consider whether these things do not prove, that the first
day of the week is to be kept as the Christian Sabbath ?
Consider, bthly, Whether the apostle's saying, " Children obey
your parents in the Lord, for this is right : Honour thy father and
thy mother, which is the first commandment, with promise," (Eph.
vi. 1, 2,) and all these other exhortations, given by him and the
apostle Peter, both to inferiors and superiors, to do their duty to
each other, (Eph. v. 22, 25 ; Eph. vi. 4, 5, 9 ; Col. iii. 18—22 ; Tit.
iii. 1 ; 1 Pet. iii. 1 ; 1 Pet. ii. 18) ; I say, consider whether all these
places do not prove that the duties of the fifth commandment are
required in the New Testament ?
Here you see are five of the ten commandments; and as for the
other five, the apostle reckons them up altogether, saying, " Thou
shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal,
Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet," Horn. xiii.
9. Now, judge you whether the ten commandments be not repeated
in the New Testament ; and so consequently whether they be not
the law of Christ, and whether a believer be not under the law of
Christ, or " in the law through Christ," as the apostle's phrase is,
1 Cor. ix. 21.
§ 3. Ant. But yet, sir, as I remember, both Luther and Calvin do
speak as though a believer were so quite freed from the law by
Christ, as that he need not make any conscience at all of yielding
obedience to it.
Evan. I know right well that Luther on the Galatians, p. 59,
says, " The conscience hath nothing to do with the law or works ;"
MODERN DIVINITY. 313
and that Calvin, in his Instit. p. 403, says, " The conscience of the
faithful, when the affiance of their justification before God is to be
sought, must raise and advance themselves above the law, and for-
get the whole righteousness of the law, and lay aside all thinking
upon works." Now, for the true understanding of these two
worthy servants of Christ, two things are to be considered and con-
cluded. First, That when they speak thus of the law, it is evident
they mean only in the case of justification. Secondly, That when
the conscience hath to do with the law in the case of justification, it
hath to do with it only as it is the covenant of works ; for as the
law is the law of Christ, it neither justifies nor condemns. d And
d That is, the law of the ten commandments, commonly called the moral law, as it
is the law of Christ, neither justifies nor condemns men's persons in the sight of God.
How can it do either the one or the other as such, since to be under it, as it is the
law of Christ, is the peculiar privilege of believers, already justified bv grace, and set
beyond the reach of condemnation; according to that of the apostle, Rom. viii. 1,
" There is therefore now no condemnation, to them which are in Christ Jesus." But
to say that this makes the law of Christ despicable, is to forget the sovereign authority
of God iu him, his matchless love in dying for sinners, the endearing relations wherein
he stands to his people, and upon the one hand, the enjoyment of actual communion
and fellowship with God, and the many precious tokens of his love, to be conferred on
them, in the way of close walking with God ; and upon the other hand, the want of
that communion and fellowship, and the many fearful tokens against them for their
sins — (See sec. 11.) All these belong to the law of Christ, and will never be despi-
cable in the eyes of any gracious soul ; though I doubt if ever hell and damnation
were more despised in the eyes of others, than they are at this day, wherein believers
and unbelievers are set so much on a level with respect to these awful things.
As to the point of condemnation, it is evident from Scripture, that no law can con-
demn those " who are in Christ Jesus," Rom. viii. 1, 33, 34. And the law, as it is
the covenant of works, condemns all those who are not in Christ, but under the law,
Gal. iii. 10 ; Rom. iii. 19. And particularly, it condemns every unbeliever, whose
condemnation will be fearfully aggravated by his rejection of the gospel offer ; the
which rejected offer will be a witness against him in the judgment; in respect whereof
our Lord says, John xii. 48, " The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him
in the last day." Compare chap. xv. 22, " If I had not come and spoken unto them
they had not sin ; but now they have no cloak for their sin." Therefore the law
which unbelievers still remain under, as a covenant of works, will condemn them with
a double condemnation. John iii. 18, " He that believeth not is condemned afreadv
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." And
hence it appears that there is as little need of, as there is warrant for, a condemning
Gospel. The holy Scripture states it as the difference betwixt the law and the fos-
pel,. — that the former is the ministration of condemnation and death, the latter the
ministration of righteousness and life, 2 Cor. iii. 6 — 9. Compare John xii. 47 "If
any man hear my words, and believe not, 1 judge him not, for I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world."
As to the point of justification : no man is, nor can be justified by the law. It is
true, the Neonomians or Baxterians, to wind in a righteousness of our own into the case
Vol. VII. u
314 THE MARROW OP
so, if yon understand it of the law, as it is the covenant of works,
according to their meaning, then it is most true what they say ; for
why should a man let the law come into his conscience ? That is,
why should a man make any conscience of doing the law, to be jus-
tified thereby, considering it as a thing impossible ? Nay, what
need hath a man to make conscience of doing the law to be justified
thereby, when he knows he is already justified another way? Nay,
what need hath a man to make conscience of doing that law, which
is dead to him, and he to it ? Hath a woman any need to make con-
science of doing her duty to her husband when he is dead, nay
when she herself is dead also ? or, hath a debtor any need to make
any conscience of paying that debt which is already fully discharged
by his surety ? "Will any man be afraid of that obligation which is
made void, the seal torn off, the writing defaced, nay, not only can-
celled and crossed , but torn in pieces, e I remember the apostle
of justification, do turn the gospel into a law, properly so called ; and do tell us, that
the gospel justifieth as a law ; and roundly own what is the necessary consequent of
that doctrine, namely, that faith justifieth, as it is our evangelical righteousness, or
our keeping the gospel law, which runs thus, — He that believeth shall not perish
(Gibbon's Ser. Morn. Ex. Metb. p. 418—421.) But the Holy Scripture teaches
that we are justified by grace, and by no law nor deed, (or work of a law, properly so
called), call it the law of Christ, or the gospel law, or what law one pleaseth ; and
thereby faith itself, considered as a deed or work of a law, is excluded from the justi-
fication of a sinner, and hath place therein, only as an instrument. Gal. iii. 11,
" That no man is justified by a law in the sight of God, it is evident." Chap. v. 4,
" Whosoever of you are justified by a law, ye are fallen from grace." Rom. iii. 28,
" Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without deeds of a law."
Gal. ii. 16, " Knowing that a man is not justified by works of a law." 1 read, a law
deeds, works, simply ; because so the original words, used in these texts, do unde-
niably signify.
To this agrees West. Confess, chap. xi. art. 1, " These whom God effectually
calleth, he also freely justifieth — not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them,
but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any
other evangelical obedience, to them as their righteousness; but," &c.. — Lurg. Cat.
quest. 73, " Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not — as if the grace of faith,
or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification ; but only as it is an
instrument by which he received and applieth Christ and his righteousness." — Westm.
Confess, chap. six. art. 6, " Although true believers be not under the law, as a co-
venant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them, as
well as to others, in that, as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and
their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly." From this last passage of
the confession, two important points offer themselves. (1.) That the law is a rule of
life to believers, directing and binding them to duty, though they are neither justified
nor Condemned by it. (2.) That ueither justifying nor condemning belong unto the
law, as a rule of life simply, but as a covenant of works. And these are the very
points here taught by our author.
t Col. ii. 14, " Blotting out the hand-writting — nailing it to the crois."
MODERN DIVINITY. 315
says, Heb. x. 1, 2, that if the sacrifices which were offered in the
Old Testament " conld have made the comers thereunto perfect, and
have purged the worshippers, then should they have had no more
conscience of sin ;" that is, their conscience would not have accused
them of beiug guilty of sins. Now, the " blood of Christ" hath
" purged the conscience" of a believer from his sins, (chap. ix. 14.)
as they are transgressions against the covenant of works ; and,
therefore, what needs his conscience to be troubled about that cove-
nant ? But now, I pray you, observe and take notice, that although
Luther and Calvin do thus exempt a believer from the law, in the
case of justification, and as it is the law or covenant of works, yet
they do not so, out of the case of justification, and as it is the law of
Christ.
For thus saith Luther, on the Galatians, p. 182. " Out of the
matter of justification, we ought, with Paul, (Rom. vii. 12, 14.) to
think reverently of the law, to commend it highly, to call it holy,
righteous, just, good, spiritual and divine. Yea, out of the case of
justification, we ought to make a god of it."/ And in another
place, says he, on the Galatians, p. 5. " There is a civil righteous-
ness, and a ceremonial righteousness ; yea, and besides these, there
is another righteousness, which is the righteousness of the law, or of
the ten commandments, which Moses teacheth ; this also we teach
after the doctrine of faith." And in another place, he having
showed that believers, through Christ, are far above the law, adds,
" Howbeit, I will not deny but Moses showeth to them their duties,
in which respect they are to be admonished and urged ; wherefore
such doctrines and admonitions ought to be among Christians, as it
is certain there was among the apostles, whereby every man may be
admonished of his estate and office.
And Calvin, having said, as I told you before, " That Christians,
in the case of justification, must raise and advance themselves above
the law, adds, " Neither can any man thereby gather that the law
is superfluous to the faithful, whom notwithstanding, it doth not
cease to teach, exhort, and prick forward to goodness, although be-
fore God's judgment-seat it hath no place in their conscience."
Ant. But, sir, if I forget not, Musculus says, " That the law is
utterly abrogated."
Evan. Indeed, Musculus, speaking of the ten commandments,
says, if they be weak, if they be the letter, if they do work trans-
/ That is, raise our esteem of it to the highest pitch, and give it illimited obe-
dience. Compare this with what is cited from the same Luther concerning the law,
pnge 248.
u2
316 THE MARROW OP
gresssion, anger, curse, and death : and if Christ, by the law of the
Spirit of life, delivered them that believed in him from the law of
the letter, which was weak to justiy, and strong to condemn, and
from the curse, being made a curse for us, surely, they be abrogated.
Now, this is most certain, that the ten commandments do no way
work transgression, anger, curse, and death, but only as they are
the covenant of works, g Neither hath Christ delivered believers
any otherwise from them, than as they are the covenant of works.
And therefore we may assuredly conclude, that they are no other-
wise abrogated, than as they are the covenant of works, h Neither
g According to the Holy Scripture, it is certain, that the law of the ten command-
ments has an irritating effect, whereby they increase sin ; and a condemning and kill-
ing effect, so that they work curse, death, and wrath, called anger (it would seem) in
the language of our forefathers, when Musculus' common places were Englished.
And it is no less certain, that Jesus Christ hath delivered believers from the law as it
hath these effects, Rom. xiv. 15, " For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is
made void, and the promise made of none effect, because the law worketh wrath."
Chap. vii. 5, 6, " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by
the law, did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are
delivered from the law — that we should serve in newness of spirit," &c. Chap. viii.
2 " For the law of the spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, has made me free from the law
of sin and death." Gal. iii. 13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law being made a curse for us." If then the ten commandments have these effects,
not only as they are the covenant of works, but as they are the law of Christ, or a
rule of life, then believers are altogether delivered from them, which is absurd and
abominable doctrine. Therefore it evidently follows, that the ten commandments
have these effects, only as they are the covenant of works. The truth is, uuto a gra-
cious soul, the strongest possible temptation to Antinomianism, or casting off the ten
commandments for good and all, would be to labour to persuade him, that they have
these effects, not only as they are the covenant of works, but as they are the law of
Christ ; so that, take them what way he will, he shall find they have not only a curs-
ing condemning, and killing power, but also an irritating effect, increasing sin in him.
Nevertheless, a Christian man's doing against them (which is the reverend Musculus'
phrase, as cited by the author in the following page) may be a transgression, for a
man may transgress the law, though the motions of his sins be not by the law. And
how such a man's sinning is more outrageous than an ungodly man's will convincingly
appear, if one measures the outrageousness of sinning, by the obligations to duty lying
on the sinner, and not by his personal hazard, which is a measure more becoming a
slave than a son.
h Thus our author has proven, that the law of the ten commandments is a rule of
life to believers; and hath vindicated Luther and Calvin from the opposite Antinomian
error, as he does Musculus also, in the following words: and that from their express
declarations, in their own words. And here is the conclusion of the whole matter.
To show the judgment of other orthodox Protestant divines, on this head, against the
Antinomians, it will not be amiss to adduce a passage out of a system of divinity, com-
monly put into the hands of students not very many years ago, I am sure. " It is one
thing (says Turretine, disputing against the Antinomians) to be under the law as a
MODEHN DIVINITY. 317
did Musculus intend any otherwise ; for says he, in the words fol-
lowing, it must not be understood, that the points of the substance
of Moses' covenent are utterly brought to nothing ; i God forbid.
For a Christian man is not at liberty to do those things that are
ungodly and wicked ; and if the doing of those things the law for-
bids, do not displease Christ ; if they be not much different,^ yea
contrary ; if they be not repugnant to the righteousness which we
received of him ; let it be lawful for a Christian man to do them ;
or else not. k But a Christian man doing against those things which
are commanded in the decalogue, doth sin more outrageously than
he that should so do, being under the law ; I so far off is he from
being free from those things that be there commanded.
covenant; another tiling, not to be under the law as a rule of life. In the former
sense, Paul says, ' That we are not under the law, but under grace,' (Rom. vi. 14.)
as to its covenant- relation, curse, and rigour : but in tbe latter sense we always remain
bound unto it, though for a different end ; for in the first covenant, man was to do
this, to the end that he might live ; but in the other, he is bound to perform tbe same
thing, not that he may live, but because he lives." — Turret, loc. 11. quest. 24. thes.
7. View again, Westm. Confess, chap. 19. art. 6. the words whereof are cited page
314, note d. Hereunto, agreetb our author's conclusion, viz. That believers are no
otherwise, not any otherwise delivered from the law of the ten commandments, but as
they are the covenant of works. Now, how can those who oppose Antinomianism, on
this head, contradict the author thereupon, but by asserting, " That believers are not
delivered from the law, as it is the covenant of works, but that they are still under the
power of the covenant of works?" The which are principles as opposite to the
received doctrine of orthodox Protestant divines, and to tbe Confession of Faith, as
they are to the doctrine of our author.
i That is, that the particular precepts of the law of the ten commandments, called
by Musculus the substance of the law-covenant, are disannulled, and no more to be
regarded,
j That is, very unsuitable.
k That is, or if they be, as certainly they are, displeasing to Christ ; most unsuita-
ble, contrary and repugnant to the righteousness which the believer hath received from
Christ, then they are by no means to be done.
I These are the words of Musculus still, adduced by the author to show, that that
famous divine was no Antinomian; and if they will not serve to clear him, but he
must still be on that side, I apprehend orthodox Protestants will be sorry for their loss
of that great man. But though it be observed, that he speaks of doing against the
things commanded in the law, but not against the law itself, there is no hazard : for it
is evident, that by the law, Musculus understands the covenant of works, or, in his
style, Moses' covenant ; and since he was not of the opinion that believers are under
the covenant of works, no, nor under the commanding power of that covenant, he
could not say that they sinned against it. However, he still looks on the ten
commandments, the substance of that covenant, to be also the law of Christ, binding
the Christian man to obedience. From his saying, that a Christian doing against
these things, sins more outrageously than one who is under the law ; it does indeed
follow, that a Christian's sin is more displeasing to God, and deserves a heavier curse
318 THE MARROW OF
§ 4. Wherefore, friend 'Antinomista, if either you, or any man
else, shall, under a pretence of your being in Christ, exempt your-
selves from being under the law of the ten commands, as they are
the law of Christ, I tell you truly, it is a shrewd sign you are not
yet in Christ ; for if you were, then Christ were in you ; and if
Christ were in you, then would he govern you, and you would be
subject unto him. I am sure the prophet Isaiah tells us, that the
same Lord, who is our Saviour, " is also our King and Lawgiver,"
Isa. xxxiii. 22; and, truly, he will not be Jesus a Saviour to any but
only those unto whom he is Christ a Lord; for the very truth
is, wheresoever he is Jesus a Saviour, he is also Christ a Lord ; and
therefore, I beseech you, examine yourself whether he be so to you
or no.
Ant. "Why then, sir, it seems that you stand upon marks and
signs ?
Evan. Yea, indeed, I stand so much upon marks and signs, that
I say unto you in the words of the apostle John, 1 John iii. 10, " In
this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the
devil ; whosoever does not righteousness, is not of God." For says
Luther, " He that is truly baptized, is become a new man, and has
a new nature, and is endowed with new dispositions ; and loveth,
liveth, speaketh, and does far otherwise than he was wont, or could
before." For says godly Tindal, " God worketh with his word, and
in his word ; and bringeth faith into the hearts of his elect, and
looseth the heart from sin, and knitteth it to God, and gives a man
power to do that which was before impossible for him to do, and
turneth him into a new nature." m And therefore, says Luther in
another place, "Herein works are to be extolled and commended,
in that they are fruits and signs of faith ; and therefore he that
hath no regard how he leadeth his life, that he may stop the mouths
of all blamers, and accusers, and clear himself before all, and tes-
tify that he has lived, spoken, and done well, is not yet a Chris-
tian." How then, says Tindal again, " Dare any man think that
in itself, though in the mean time, the law of Christ has no curse annexed unto the
transgressions of it. For, sins deserving a curse, arises not from the threatening,
but from its contrariety to the precept, and consequently, to the holy nature of God ;
since it is manifest that sin does not therefore deserve a curse, because a curse is
threatened ; but a curse is threatened, because sin deserves it. And the sins of be-
lievers do in themselves deserve a heavier curse than the sins of others. Yet the
law of Christ has not a curse annexed to the transgressions of it ; because the heavy
curse, deserved by the sins of believers, was already laid on Christ, to whom they are
united, and he bare it for them, and bore it away from them ; so that they cannot be
threatened with it, over again, after their union with him.
m That is, makes him a new man.
MODERN DIVINITY. 319
God's favour is ou him, and God's Spirit within him, when he feels
not the working of his Spirit, nor himself disposed to any good
thing ?"n
Ant. But, hy your favour, sir, I am persuaded that many a man
deceives his own soul by these marks and signs.
Evan. Indeed, I must needs confess with Mr. Bolton and Mr.
Dyke, that in tliese times of Christianity, a reprobate may make a
glorious profession of the gospel, and perform all the duties and ex-
ercises of religion, and that in outward appearance, with as great
spirit and zeal as a true believer ; yea, he may be made partaker of
some measure of inward illumination, and have a shadow of true
regeneration ; there being no grace effectually wrought in the faith-
ful, a resemblance whereof may not be found in the unregenerate.
And therefore, I say, if any man pitch upon the sign, without the
thing signified by the sign, o that is, if he pitch upon his graces (or
gifts rather) and duties, and conclude assurance from them, as they
are in him, and come from him, without having reference to Jesus
Christ, as the root and fountain of them ; then are they deceitful
marks and signs : p but if he look upon them with reference to Jesus
Christ, then are they not deceitful, but true evidences and demon-
strations of faith in Christ. And this a man does, when he looks
upon his outward actions as flowing from the inward actions of his
mind, and upon the inward actions of his mind as flowing from the
habits of grace within him, and upon the habits of grace within him
as flowing from his justification, and upon his justification as flow-
ing from his faith, and upon his faith as given by, and embracing
Jesus Christ : thus, I say, if he rests not till he comes to Christ, his
marks and signs are not deceitful but true, q
n Namely, habitually. o Namely, Christ in the heart.
p Because all true grace and acceptable duty flow from Jesus Christ, dwelling in
one's heart by his Spirit; and whatsoever comes not that way, is but a show and sem-
blance of these things. Rom. viii. 9, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he
is none of his." John xv. 5, l< Without me ye can do dothing." Chap. i. 16, " And
of his fulness have we all received, and grace for grace." Gal. ii. 20, " I live, yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me." " The cause of good works we confess to be, not
our freewill, but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, who, dwelling in our hearts, by true
faith, bringeth forth such works as God has prepared for us to walk in." Old Con.
fess. a*t. 13, " So good works follow as effects of Christ in us possessed by faith."
— Mr. John Davidson s Catech. p. 30.
q Here is a chain, serving to lead a child of God unto assurance, that he is in the
state of grace; wherein duties and graces, being run up unto their true spring, do so
shine after trial of them, as one may conclude assurance from them, as the author
phrases it. And here it is to be observed, that these words, " outward actions — ac-
tions of the mind — habits of grace — justification — faith — embracing of Christ," are
in the progress of the trial, to be taken in their general notion, agreeing both to what
320 THK HARROW OV
Ant. But, sir, if an unbeliever may have a resemblance of every
grace that is wrought in a believer, then it must be an hard matter
to find out the difference ; and therefore I conceive it is best for a
man not to trouble himself at all about marks and signs.
is true, and what is false, in each particular ; as faith feigned and unfeigned, justifica-
tion real and imaginary, grace common and saving, &c. For the special nature of
these is still supposed to be undetermined to the person under trial, until he come to
the end of the trial. This is evident from the nature of the thing: and from the au-
thor's words too, in the sentence immediately preceding, where he says, " If he pitch
upon his graces, or gifts rather ;" the which correction he makes, because the former
word is ordinarily restricted to saving grace, the latter not so. And hence it appears,
that the author was far from imagining that a man must have the assurance he speaks
of, before he can conclude it from his graces or duties.
The links of this chain are five. The first, Outward actions, or works materially
good, flowing from the inward actions of the mind ; otherwise they are but pieces of
gross dissimulation, as was the respect and honour put upon Christ by the Herodians
and others, when they asked him, " If it was lawful to give tribute unto Caesar ?" Mat.
xxii. 16 — 18, The second, These actions of the mind, flowing from the habits of
grace, within the man: otherwise they are but fair flowers, which, "because they
have no root wither away," (Matt. xiii. 6;) like the Israelites, their seeking, re-
turning, inquiring after, and remembering God, when he slew them. Psalm lxxviii*
34 — 37. The third, Those habits of grace within the man, flowing from his justifi-
cation ; otherwise they are but the habits of common grace, or of mere moral virtues,
to be found in hypocritical professors, and sober heathens. The fourth, The man s
justification, flowing from his faith ; otherwise it is but as the imaginary justification
of Pharisees, Papist9, and legalists, who are they which justify themselves, Luke xvi.
15. The fifth, His faith given by Christ, and embracing Christ: otherwise it is but
feigned faith, which never knits the soul to Christ, but leaves the man in the case of
the fruitless branch, which is to be " taken away," John xv. 2.
This chain is not of our author's framing, but is a Scriptural one. 1 Tim. i. 5,
" Now (1.) the end of the commandment is charity, (2.) out of a pure heart, (3.)
and of a good conscience, (4.) and of faith, (5.) unfeigned." " Wherein the apostle
teacheth, that the obedience of the law must flow from love, and love from a pure
heart, and a pure heart from a good conscience, and a good conscience from faith un-
feigned ; thus he only maketh the right channel of good works." Practical Use of
Saving Knowledge ; tit. "The third thing requisite to evidence ttue faith, is, that
obedience to the law runs in the right channel, that is through faith in Christ."
If one examines himself by this infallible rule, he cannot take his obedience for a
mark or evidence of his being in the state of grace, until he run it up unto his faith,
embracing Christ. But then finding that his faith made him a good conscience, and
his good conscience a pure heart, and his pure heart produced love, from whence his
obedience flowed ; in that case, his obedience is a true mark of the unfeignedness of
his faith ; from whence he may assuredly conclude, that he is in the state of grace.
Our author's method being a copy of this, the objections against it must affect both.
Let us suppose two men to put themselves on a trial of their state, according to this
method, and to pitch upon some external duties of theirs, or some graces which they
seem to discern in themselves, as to the substance thereof; though, as yet, they know
not the specific nature of the same, namely, whether they he true or false.
MODERN DIVINITY. 321
Evan. Give me leave to deal plainly with you in telling you, that
although we cannot say, every one that hath a form of godliness
hath also the power of godliness, yet we may truly say, that he
who hath not the form of godliness, hath not the power of godli-
ness; for though all be not gold that glitters, yet all gold doth glit-
ter. And therefore, I tell you truly, if you have no regard to
make the law of Christ your rule, by endeavouring to do what is
required in the ten commandments, and to avoid what is there for-
bidden, it is a very evil sign : and, therefore, I pray you consider of
it.
§ 5. Ant. But, sir, you know the Lord hath promised to write his
law in a believer's heart, and to give him his Spirit to lead him into
all truth : and therefore he hath no need of the law, written with
The one finds, that his external duties proceeded not from the inward actions of his
mind ; or if they did, that yet these actions of his mind did not proceed from habits
of grace in him ; or if they did proceed from these, yet these flowed not from his jus-
tification, or, which is the same, followed not upon the purging of his conscience ; or
if they did, that yet his justification, or good conscience, such as they are, proceeded
not from his faith ; or if they did proceed from it, that yet that faith of his did not
embrace Christ, and consequently was not of the special operation of God, or given
him by Christ in him, by his Spirit. In all, or any of these cases, it is plain that the
external duties, or the (so called) graces, which he pitched upon, can be no true
marks from which he may conclude himself to be in a state of grace.
The other finds that his external duties did indeed flow from the inward actions of
his mind, and these from habits of grace in him, and these again from his justification
or good conscience, and that from his faith, and that his faith embraced Christ. Here
two things are observable: (1.) That neither the duties nor graces pitched upon,
could be sure marks to him, before he came to the last point; in regard of the flaw
that possibly might still be found in the immediate or mediate springs of them. And
therefore the looking, mentioned by the author, is indeed a progressive knowledge and
discovery, but still unclear and uncertain, till one comes to the end, and the whole
evidence is put together; even as it is in searching out some abstruse point, by obser-
vation of the dependence and connexion things have one with another. Wherefore
our author does by no means suppose, that 1 must know certainly that 1 am in Christ
and justified, and that my faith is given me by Christ, before these duties or graces
cau be true marks or evidences to me. (2.) That the man perceiving his embracing
of Christ, as to the substance of the action, is assured of the saving nature of it,
(namely, that it is a faith uniting him to Christ, and given him by Christ in him) by
the train of effects he sees to have followed it, according to the established order in
the covenant of grace: 1 Tim. i. 5. From which effects of his faith embracing
Christ, that which might have deceived him, was all along gradually removed in the
progress. Thus he is indeed sent back to the fruits of his faith, for true marks and
evidences of it ; but he is sent beck to them, as standing clear now in his regress,
though they were not so in his progress. And at this rate he is not left to run in a
circle, but has a comfortable end of his self-examination, being assured by his duties
and graces, the fruits of his faith that his faith is unfeigned, and himself in the state
of grace.
322 THE MARKOW OP
paper and ink, to be a rule of life to him ; neither hath he any need
to endeavour to be obedient thereunto, as you say.
Evan. Indeed, says Luther, the matter would even so fare as you
say, if we were perfectly and altogether the inward and spiritual
men, which cannot be in any wise before the last day at the rising
again from the dead : r so long as we be clothed with this mortal
flesh, we do but begin and proceed onwards in our course towards
perfection, which will be consummated in the life to come : and for
this cause the apostle, (Rom. viii.) doth call this the " first fruits of
the Spirit," which we do enjoy in this life, the truth and fulness of
which we shall receive in the life to come. And therefore (says he
in another place) it is necessary so to preach to them that have
received the doctrine of faith, that they might be stirred up to go
on in good life, which they have embraced ; and that they suffer not
themselves to be overcome by the assaults of the raging flesh ; for
we will not so presume of the doctrine of faith, as if, that being
had, every man might do what he listed : no, we must earnestly
endeavour ourselves, that we may be without blame ; and when we
cannot attain thereunto, we must flee to prayer, and say before God
and man. " Forgive us our trespasses." And, says Calvin, Instit. p.
162, one proper use and end of the law, concerning the faithful, 5 in
whose hearts liveth and reigneth the Spirit of God, is this : namely,
although they have the law written and engraven in their hearts by
the finger of God yet is the* law to them a very good means,
whereby they may daily, better and more assuredly, learn what is
the will of the Lord : and let none of us exempt himself from this
need, for no man hath hitherto attained to so great wisdom, but
that he hath need to be daily instructed by the law. And herein
Christ differeth from us, that the Father hath poured out upon him
the infinite abundance of his Spirit ; but whatsoever we do receive,
it is so by measure, that we have need one of another.
Now mind it, I pray you, if believers have the Spirit but in mea-
sure, and know but in part, then have they the " law written in
r We would have no need for the law written without us, if, as we are spiritual in
part, in respect of sanctification begun in us, we were perfectly and altogether spi-
ritual, both in body and soul. But that is not to be expected till the resurrection ;
when that which is now "sown a natural body, is raised a spiritual body," 1 Cor. xv.
44; being re-united to the spirit or soul "made perfect at death:" Heb. xii. 23; the
which doth therefore no more, from the moment of death, need the law written with-
out it.
s That is, respucting believers.
t Written.
MODERN DIVINITY. 323
their hearts" but in measure and in part,u (1 Cor. xiii. 9 ;) and if
they have the law written in their hearts hut in measure and in
part, then have they not a perfect rule within them ; and if they
have not a perfect rule within them, then they have need to have a
rule without them. And therefore, doubtless, the strongest believer
of us all, had need to hearken to the advice of Tindal, who says,
" Seek the word of God in all things, and without the word of God
do nothing." And says another godly and evangelical writer, " My
brethren, let us do our whole endeavour to do the will of God as it
becometh good children, and beware that we sin not, as near as we
can."
Ant. Well, sir, I cannot tell what to say, but, methinks, when a
man is perfectly justified by faith, it is a very needless thing for
him to endeavour to keep the law, and to do good works, v
Evan. I remember Luther says, that in his time there were some
that did reason after the like manner : " If faith," say they, " do
accomplish all things, and if faith be only and alone sufficient unto
righteousness, to what end are we commanded to do good deeds ? we
may go play then, and work no working at all." To whom he
makes an answer, saying, " Not so, ye ungodly ! not so." And
there were others that said, " If the law do not justify, then it is in
vain, and of none effect." " Yet it is not therefore true," says he ;
" for like as this consequence is nothing worth, money doth not
justify or make a man righteous, therefore it is unprofitable ; the
eyes do not justify, therefore they must be plucked out ; the hands
make not a man righteous, therefore they must be cut off; so is this
naught also, The law doth not justify, therefore it is unprofitable.
"We do not therefore destroy and condemn the law, because we say
it doth not justify ; but we say with Paul, (1 Tim. i. 8,) ' the law is
good, if a man do rightly use it.' And that is a faithful saying,
that they ' which have believed in God might be careful to maintain
« They have not the law written completely and perfectly in their hearts.
v The Antinoraian principle, That it is needless for a man, perfectly justified by
faith, to endeavour to keep the law and do good works, is a glaring evidence that
legality is so engrained in man's corrupt nature, that until a man truly come to
Christ, by faith, the legal disposition will still be reigning in him ; let him turn him-
self into what shape, or be of what principles he will in religion; though he run into
Antinomianism, he will carry along with him" his legal spirit, which will always be
a slavish and unholy spirit. He is constrained, as the author observes, to do all that
he does for fear of punishment, and hope of reward ; and if it is once fixed in his
mind that these are ceased in his case, he stands still like a clock, when the weights
that made her go are removed, or like a slave, when he is in no hazard of the whip ;
than which there cannot be a greater evidence of loathsome legality.
324 THE MARROW OF
good works ; these things are good and profitable onto men,' " Tit.
iii. 8.
§ 6. Neo. Truly, sir, for mine own part, I do much marvel that
this my friend Antinomista should be so confident of his faith in
Christ, and yet so little regard holiness of life, and keeping of
Christ's commandments, as it seems he does. For I give the Lord
thanks, I do now, in some small measure, believe that I am, by
Christ, freely and fully justified and acquitted from all my sins, and
therefore have no need either to eschew evil or do good, for fear of
punishment or hope of reward ; and yet, methinks, I find my heart
more willing and desirous to do what the Lord commands, and to
avoid what he forbids, than ever it was before I did thus believe. w
Surely, sir, I do perceive that faith in Christ is no hindrance to
holiness of life, as I once thought it was.
w It is not the scope or design of Neophitus here, to show wherein the essence of
faith consists, or to give a definition to it. But suppose it was so, his definition falls
considerably short of some given by famous orthodox Protestant divines, yea, and
churches too. See the note on the definition of faith. I repeat here Mr. John
Davidson's definition only, viz., '' Faith is an hearty assurance that our sins are freely
forgiven us in Christ." From whence one may clearly see, that some time a-day, it
was reckoned no absurdity that one's justification was made the object of one's belief.
For the understanding of which ancient Protestant doctrine, grown almost quite out
of ken with unlearned readers, I shall adduce a passage out of Wendeline's Christ.
Theol. lib. 1, cap. 24, p. 542, 543. He proposes the Popish objection thus, "Jus-
tifying faith must go before justification ; but the faith of special mercy doth not go
before justification, if it did, it were false ; for at that rate, a man should believe that
his sins are forgiven, which are not forgiven, since they are not forgiven but by justi-
fication ; therefore the faith of special mercy is not justifying faith." In answer to
which, he denies the second of these propositions, with the proofs thereof, and con-
cludes in these words: "Justifying faith, therefore, hath for the special object of it,
forgiveness of sins, future, present, and past." He explains it thus, " By the faith
of special mercy, as it goeth before justification, a man doth not believe that his sins
are forgiven him already, before the act of believing." This, by the by, is the Anti-
nomian faith, justifying only declaratively ; follows the true doctrine of faith, " But
that he shall have forgiveness of sins ; in the very act of justification, he believes his
sins are forgiven him, and so receives forgiveness, after justification, he believes the
past application," viz. forgiveness, that is, that his sins are now already forgiven him.
But the design of Neophitus is, to make a profession of his faith, and, by an argu-
ment drawn from Christian experience, to refute the Antinomian pretended faith,
wherebv a sinner, at first brush, believes his sins to be already forgiven him, before
the act of believing, and thereafter hath no regard to holiness of life ; a plain evidence
that that persuasion is not of God. And in opposition to it, is this profession made,
which consists of three parts :
(l.) He professes that he believes himself to be justified and acquitted from all
his sins; and this is the belief of the past application, after justification, which we
heard before from Wendeline. For we have alreadv found Neophitus brought unto
faith in Christ, and the match betwixt Christ and him declared to be made, though his
MODERN DIVINITY. 325
Evan. Neighbour Neophitus, if our friend Antinomista, do con-
tent himself with a mere gospel knowledge, in a notionary way, and
have run out to fetch in notions from Christ, and yet is not fetched
in by the power of Christ, let us pity him, and pray for him. And
in the mean time, I pray you, know that true faith in Christ x is so
far from being a hinderance from holiness of life and good works,
that it is the only furtherance ; for only by faith in Christ, a man
is enabled to exercise all Christian graces aright, and to perform all
Christian duties aright, which before he could not. As, for exam-
ple, before a man believe God's love to him in Christ,?/ though he
may have a kind of love to God, as he is his Creator and Preserver,
and gives him many good things for this present life, yet if God do
but open his eyes, to see what condition his soul is in, that is, if he
do but let him see that relation that is betwixt God and him,
faith was accompanied with fears. And now he finds his faith grown up in
some small measure unto the height which Antinomista pretended his faith to be at,
namelv, unto believing himself to be already justified; but withal he intimates, that
his faith had not come to this pitch all of a 6udden, as Antinomista's had done,
but that it was sometime after he believed, ere he did tbus believe. And now,
indeed, his believing thus, only in some small measure, was his sin, and argued
the weakness of his faith ; but such a man's believing, in any measure, great or small,
that he was justified and acquitted from all his sins, must be commended and ap-
proven, unless we will bring back the Popish doctrine of doubting.
(2.) He professes, That therefore, namely, since he was justified, and believed
himself to be so, he had no need to eschew evil, or do good for fear of punishment or
hope of reward ; the which Antinomista pretending to likewise, had cast off all care of
keeping the law, or doing good works, having no other principle of obedience within
him. This does not at all look to punishments and rewards, improperly so called,
that is, fatherly chastisements and favours, of which the author afterwards treats
expressly ; but it is plainly meant of rewards and punishments taken in a proper sense,
as flowing from the justice of God, remunerative and vindictive, and proceeding upon
our works, good and evil; and particularly it is meant of heaven and hell. This is
the sense in which that phrase is commonly used by divines ; and that it is so to be
taken here, is evident from its being inferred from his justification, which indeed
leaves no place for fear of punishment and hope of reward in the latter sense; but not
so in the former sense. And thus, it appears, Nomista understood it, as shall appear
afterwards.
(3.) He professes, That he was so far from being the less inclined to duty, that he
believed himself to be fully justified, and that the fear of punishment and hope of
reward were ceased in his case ; that, on the contrary, he found, as his faith grew,
his love to and readiness for holiness of life, grew: he was more willing, and more
desirous to do the Lord's commandments than he had been before his faith was
advanced to that pitch. And herein, I conceive, the experience of the saints will not
contradict him. Thus he gives a plain testimony against the Antinomian faith.
x Namely, the faith of special mercy, or a faith of particular application, without
which, in greater or lesser measure, it is not saving faith.
y See page 279, note k.
326 THE MARROW OF
according to the tenor of the covenant of works, then he conceives
of him as an angry Jndge, armed with justice against him, and
must be pacified by the works of the law, wherennto he finds his
nature opposite and contrary ; and therefore he hates both God and
his law, and doth secretly wish and desire there were neither God
nor law. And though God should now give unto him ever so many
temporary blessings, yet could he not love him ; for what malefac-
tor could love that judge or his law, from whom he expected the
sentence of condemnation, though he should feast him at his table
with ever so many dainties ? " But after that the kindness and
love of God his Saviour hath appeared, not by works of righteous-
ness that he hath done, but according to his mercy he saved him,"
(Titus iii. 4, 5.); that is, when as by the eye of faith, he sees him-
self to stand in relation to God, according to the tenor of the
covenant of grace, z then he conceives of God as a most merci-
ful and loving Father to him in Christ, that hath freely par-
doned and forgiven him all his sins, and quite released him from
the covenant of works ;" a and by this means " the love of God is
shed abroad in his heart through the Holy Ghost which is given to
him," and then "he loves God because he first loved him," Rom. v.
5; 1 John iv. 19. For as a man seeth and feeleth by faith the love
and favour of God towards him, in Christ his Son, so doth he love
again God and his law ; and indeed it is impossible for any man to
love God, till by faith he know himself beloved of God. b
Secondly, Though a man, before he believe God's love to him in
Christ, may have a great measure of legal humiliation, compunction,
sorrow and grief, and be brought down, as it were, to the very gate
of hell, and feel the very flashing of hell-fire in his conscience for
his sins, yet it is not because he hath thereby offended God, but ra-
ther because he hath thereby offended himself, that is, because he
hath thereby brought himself into the danger of eternal death and
condemnation, c But when once he believes the love of God to him
in Christ, in pardoning his iniquity, and passing by his transgres-
sions, d then he sorrows and grieves for the offence of God by the
z His soul resting on Christ, whom he hath received for salvation.
a Thus he conceives of God according to the measure of his faith, or of his soul's
resting on Christ, which admits of various decrees.
b See page 279, note k.
c A man's believing God's love to him, is woven into the very nature of saving
faith, as hath been already shown. Wherefore, whatsoever humiliation, compunction,
sorrow, and grief for sin, go before it, they must needs be but legal, being before
faith, " without which it is impossible to please God," Heb. xi. 6.
d The belief of which in some measure, is included in the nature of faith. — See
the note on the definition of faith, and p. 324, note w.
MODERN DIVINITY. 327
Bin; reasoning thus with himself: And is it so indeed? Hath the
Lord given his own son to death for me who have been such a vile
sinful wretch ! and hath Christ borne all thy sins ! and was he
wounded for thy transgressions ! then, the working of his bow-
els ! the stirring of his affections, the melting, and relenting of his
repenting heart ! " Then he remembers his own evil ways, and
his doings that were not good, and loathes himself in his own
eyes for all his abominations ;" and looking upon Christ," whom he
hath pierced, he mourns bitterly for him, as one raourneth for his
only son." Ezek. xxxvi. 31 ; Zech. xii. 10. Thus, when faith has
bathed a man's heart in the blood of Christ, it is so molified that it
quickly dissolves into tears of godly sorrow; so that if Christ do
but turn and look upon him, then, with Peter, he goes out and
weeps bitterly ! And this is true gospel mourning ; and this is right
evangelical repenting, e
Thirdly, Though, before a man do truly believe in Christ, he may
so reform his life and amend his ways, that as " touching the righte-
ousness which is of the law," he may be, with the apostle, blame-
less, (Phil. iii. 6) ; yet, being under the covenant of works, all the
obedience that he yields to the law, all his leaving off sin, and per-
formance of duties, all his avoiding of what the law forbids, and
all his doing of what the law commands, is begotten by the law of
works, of Hagar the bond-woman, by the force of self-love ; and so
indeed they are the fruit and works of a bond-servant, that is
moved and constrained to do all that he doth, for fear of punish-
ment and hope of reward./ " For," says Luther on the Galatians
e This is the springing up of the "seeds of repentance put into the heart in sanc-
tification," (Larg. Cat. q. 75,) a work of sanctifying grace, acceptable to God ; the
curse being taken off the sinner, and his person accepted in the Beloved, and like to
the mourning and repenting of that woman, (Luke vii. 47,) " who, having mnch
forgiven her, loved much." Betwixt which repentance and pardon of sin, there is an
inseparable connexion, so that it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may ex-
pect pardon without it. — Westm. Confess, chap. 15, art. 3. See also p. 281, note s.
f This can have no reference at all to the motives of a believer's obedience, un-
less believers, as well as unbelievers, are to be reckoned to be under the covenant of
works ; for it is manifest, that the author speaks here of such only as are under that
covenant. But, on the contrary, if a man is under the covenant of works called the
law, in the style of the Holy Ghost, he is not a believer, but an unbeliever. Rom.
vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are are not under the law,
but under grace." This reasoning proceeds upon this principle, viz. those who are
under the covenant of works, and they only, are under the dominion or reigning
power of sin. And if men, being under the covenant of works, are under the domin-
ion of sin, it is evident that they are not believers, but bond-servants, that the love
of God dwelleth not in them, but corrupt self-love reigns in them ; and, therefore,
328 THE MARROW OF
p. 218, " the law given on Mount Sinai, which the Arabians call
Agar, begetteth none but servants." And so indeed all that such a
man doth is but hypocrisy ; for he pretends the serving of God,
whereas, indeed, he intends the serving of himself. And how can
he do otherwise ? for whilst he wants faith, he wants all things : he
is an empty vine, and therefore must needs bring forth fruit unto
himself: (Hos. x. 1.) Till a man be served himself, he will not
serve the Lord Christ, g Nay, while he wants faith, he wants the
love of Christ, and therefore he lives not to Christ, but to himself
because he loves himself. And hence, surely, we may conceive it is
that Dr. Preston says, " All that a man doeth, and not out of love,
is out of hypocrisy. Wheresoever love is not, there is nothing but
hypocrisy in such a man's heart."
But when a man, through the "hearing of faith, receives the
Spirit of Christ," (Gal. iii. 2,) that Spirit, according to the measure
of faith, writes the lively law of love in his heart, (as Tindal
sweetly says) whereby he is enabled to work freely and of his own
accord, without the co-action or compulsion of the law. h For that
unto the good they do, they are constrained, by fear of punishment and hope of
reward, agreeable to threatening and promise of the broken covenant of works they
are under ; that their obedience, conform to their state and condition, is but servile ;
no better than it is here described to be, having only the letter, but not the Spirit
of true obedience, the which, before any man can attain unto, he must be set free
from the covenant of works, as the apostle teaches; Rom. vii. 6, ''But now, we
are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter :" and finally, that as
is the condition and the obedience of those under the covenant of works, so shall
their end be. Gal. iv. 30, " Cast out the bond-woman and her son ; for the son of
the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman."
g That is, till the empty vine be filled with the Spirit from Jesus Christ it will
never bring forth fruit unto him. Till a man do once eat by faith he will never work
aright. The conscience must be purged from dead works, else one is not in case " to
serve the living God," Heb. ix. 14. The covenant of works says to the sinner, who
is yet without strength, " Work, and then ye shall be filled ;" but the covenant of
grace says to him, " Be filled, and then thou must work." And until the yoke of the
covenant of works be taken off a man's jaws, and meat be laid unto him, he will never
take on and bear the yoke of Christ acceptably.
h The words co-action and compulsion signify one and the same thing, viz. forcing ;
so that to work without the co-action or compulsion of the law, is to work without
being forced thereto by the law.
One would think it so very plain and obvious, that the way how the law forceth
men to work, is by the terror of the dreadful punishment which it threatens in case of
not workino, that does but darken the matter to say, The co-action or compulsion of
the law consists in its commanding and binding power or force ; the which must needs
be meant of the commanding and binding power of the covenant of works, or of the
law, as it is the covenant of works. For it cannot be meant (as these words seem to
J.'ODERN DIVINITT. 329
love wherewith Christ, or God in Christ, hath loved him, and which
by faith is apprehended of him, will constrain him to do so ; accord-
bear) of that power which the law of the ten commandments, as a rule of life, hath
over men, to bind thein to obedience, under which, I think, the impartial reader is by
this time convinced that the author denies not believers still to be ; for to call that
co-action or compulsion, is contrary to the common understanding and usage of these
words in society. At this rate one must say, That the glorified saints and angels, (to
ascend no higher) being, as creatures of God, under the commanding and binding
power of the eternal rule of righteousness, are compelled and forced to their obedience
too ; and that when we pray, " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we pray
to be enabled to obey the will of God, as the angels do in heaven, by co-action and
compulsion in the height thereof; for surely the angels have the sense of the com-
manding anil binding power of the eternal rule of righteousness upon them in a degree
far beyond what any believer on earth has. Wherefore that exposition of the co-action
or compulsion of the law, and so putting believer's under the law's co-action cr com-
pulsion, amount just to what we met with before, namely, That believers are under the
commanding power (at least) of the covenant of works, having obedience bound upon
them with the coids of hell, or under the pain of the curse. Accordingly, the com-
pulsion of the law is more plainly described to be its binding power and moral force,
which it derives from the awful authority of the sovereign Lawgiver, commanding obe-
dience to his law, and threatening disobedience with wrath, or with death, or hell.
And so our author is blamed for not subjecting believers to this compulsion of the
law.
In the preceding paragraph he had shown, that the obedience of unbelievers to the
law of the ten commandments is produced by the influence of the law (or covenant) of
works upon them, forcing or constraining them thereto by the fear of the punishment
which it threatens. Thus, they work by the co-action or compulsion of the law, or
covenant of works, being destitute of the love of God. Here he affirms, that when
once a man is brought unto Christ, he having the sanctifying Spirit of Christ dwelling
in him, and being endowed with faith that purifies the heart, and with love that is
strong as death, is enabled to work freely, and of his own accord, without that
co -action or compulsion.
This is the doctrine of the Holy Scripture. Psalm li. 12, " Uphold me with thy
free Spirit." Compare Gal. v. 18, " But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under
the law." So Psalm ex. 3, " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power."
Compare 1 Pet. v. 2, "Not by constraint, but willingly." And believers are
declared to be " not under the law," Rom. vi. 14. " To be made free from the law
of death. Not to have received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of
adoption," chap. viii. 2, 15. How then can they still be under the co-active and
compulsive power of the law, frightening and forcing them to obedience by its threa-
tenings of the second death, or eternal wrath?
And it is evident that this is the received doctrine of orthodox divines, which might
be attested by a cloud of witnesses, if the nature of this work did permit. " Not to
be under the law," says Luther, "is to do good things, and abstain from wicked
things, not through compulsion of the law, but_by free love, and with pleasure.' — Chos.
Ser. xx. p. 232.
" The second part (viz. of Christian liberty) is," says Calvin, " that consciences
obey the law, not as compelled by the necessity of the law, but being free from the
Yon. VII. x
330 THE MARROW Off
ing to that of the apostle, 2 Cor. v. 14. " The love of Christ con-
straineth us." That is, it will make him do so, whether he will or
no ; he cannot choose, but do it. i I tell you truly, answerably as
the love of Christ is shed abroad in the heart of any man, it is such
a strong impulsion, that it carries him on to serve and please the
Lord in all things, according to the saying of an evangelical man :j
yoke of the law itself, of their own accord they obey the will of God." — Instit. book
iii. chap. 19. sec. 4.
" We would distinguish betwixt the law, considered as a law and as a covenant. A
law doth necessarily imply uo more than, (I.) To direct. (2.) To command, enforc-
ing that obedience by authority. A covenant doth further necessarily imply promises
made upon some condition, or threatenings added, if such a condition be not per-
formed. The first two are essential to the law, the last two, to believers, are made
void through Christ; in which sense it is said, that by him we are freed from the law
as a covenant ; so that believers' lives depend not on the promises annexed to the
law, nor are they in danger by the threatenings adjoined to it." — Durham on the
Commands, p 4.
" What a new creature doth, in observance of the law, is from natural freedom,
choice, and judgment, and not by the force of any threatenings annexed to it." —
Charnock, vol. ii. p. 59.
See Westminster Confession, chap. 20. art. 1. of which afterwards.
And thus is that text, 1 Tim. i. 9. " The law is not made for a righteous man,"
generally understood by divines, critics, and commentators, — the law, threatening,
compelling, condemning, is not made for a righteous man, because he is pushed for-
ward to duty of his own accord, and is no more led by the spirit of bondage, and fear
of punishment." — Turret, loc. 2. q. 24. th. 8. " By the law is to be understood the
moral law, a9 it is armed in stings and terrors, to restrain rebellious sinners. By the
righteous man is meant one in whom a principle of divine grace is planted, and, who
from the knowledge and love of God, chooses the things that are pleasing to him.
As the law has annexed so many severe threatenings to the transgressors of it, it is
evident that it is directed to the wicked, who will only he compelled by fear from an out-
rageous breaking of it." — Continuation of Poole's Annot. on the text. " The law is
not for him, as a master to command him, to constrain him as a bond-man." — Lodovic
de Dieu. " The law doth not compel, press on, fright, lie heavy upon, and punish a
righteous man." — Strigelins. " It lies not on him as a heavy burden, compelling a
man against his will, violently pressing him on, and pushing him forward ; it doth not
draw him to obedience, but leads him, being willing." — Scultelus. " For of his own
accord he doth right." — Castalio, apud Pol. Synop. in Loc.
i " It is a metonymy from the effect, that is, love makes me to do it in that man-
ner, as a man that is compelled ; that is the meaning of it. So it has the same effect
that compulsion hath, though there be nothing more different from compulsion than
love." — Dr. Preston, ibid. p. 29.
j If one considers that the drift and scope of this whole discourse, from p. 176, is
to discover the naughtiness of Antinomista's faith, observed by Neophitus, one may
perceive, that by the author's quoting Towne, the Antinomian, upon that head, he
gives no more ground to suspect himself of Antinomianism, though he calls him an
evangelical man, than a Protestant gives in point of Popery, by quoting Cardinal
Bel'.armine against a Papist, though withal he call him a Catholic. And the epithet
MODERN DIVINITY. 331
" The will and affection of a believer, according to the measure of
faith and the spirit received, sweetly quickens and bends, to choose,
affect, and delight in whatever is good and acceptable to God, or a
good man; the spirit freely and cheerfully moving and inclining
him to keep the law, without fear of hell or hope of heaven." k
For a Christian man, says sweet Tindal, worketh only because it is
the will of his Father ; for after that he is overcome with love and
kindness, he seeks to do the will of God, which is indeed a Chris-
tian man's nature ; and what he doth, he doth it freely, after the
example of Christ. As a natural son, ask him why he does such a
thing ? Why, says he, it is the will of my Father, and I do it, that I
I may please him ; for indeed love desireth no wages, it is wages
enough to itself, it hath sweetness enough in itself, it desires no
addition, it pays its own wages. And therefore it is the true child-
like obedience, being begotten by faith, of Sarah the free-woman, by
the force of God's love. And so it is indeed the only true and sin-
cere obedience : for, says Dr. Preston, " To do a thing in love, is to
do it in sincerity; and, indeed, there is no other definition of sin-
cerity ; that is the best way to know it by."
§ 7. Nom. But stay, sir, I pray you, would you not have believers
to eschew evil and do good, for fear of hell or for hope of heaven?
Evan. No, indeed, I would not have any believer to do either the
one or the other ; for so far forth as they do so, their obedience is
but slavish. I And therefore though, when they were first awak-
given to Towne, is so far from being a high commendation, that, really, it is none at
all ; for though both these epithets, the latter as well as the former, are in themselves
honourable, yet, in these cases, a man speaking in the language of his adversary, they
are nothing so. Evangelista could not but remember that Antinomista had told him
roundly, p. 232, " That he had not been so evangelical as some others in the city,
which caused him to leave hearing him, to hear them," viz. those evangelical men :
and why might not he give him a sound note from one of these Evangelical men,
even under that character, so acceptable to him, without ranking himself with them ?
k See the preceding note a, and the following one.
/ As for what concerns the hope of heaven, the author purposely explains that mat-
ter, (p. 335.) that he would not have any believer to eschew evil or do good for fear
of hell ; the meaning thereof plainly is this, you being a believer in Christ, ought not
to eschew evil and do good, for fear you be condemned, and cast into hell. So far as
a believer doth so, the author justly reckons his obedience accordingly slavish. This
is the common understanding and sense of such a phrase, as when we say, The slave
works for fear of the whip : Some men abstain from stealing, robbing, and the like,
for fear of the gallows ; they eschew evil, not from love of virtue, but for fear of
punishment, as the heathen poet says of his pretender to virtue,
Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore,
Tu nihil admittes in te formidine pcense.
Horat. Epist. 16.
x2
332 THE MARKOV OF
ened and convinced of tlieir misery, and set foot forward to go on
in'the way of life, they, with the prodigal, would be hired servants ;
yet when by the eye of faith they see the mercy and indulgence of
Which may be thus Englished :
Hatred of vice, in gen'rous souls,
From love of virtue flows,
While nothing vicious minds controls,
But servile fear of blows.
This is quite another thing than to say, that a believer in doing good, or eschewing
evil, ought not to regard threatening 1 ;, nor be influenced by the threatening of death.
For thi-ugh believers ought never to fear that they shall be condemned and cast into
hell, yet they both may and ought awfully to regard the threatenings of the holy law :
and how they ought to regard them, one may learn from the JFcstmin. Confess, chap.
xix. art. 6. in these words, " The threatenings of it (viz. the law) serve to show what
even their sins deserve ; and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, al-
though freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law." Thus they are to regard
them, not as denunciations of their doom, in case of sinning, but as a looking-glass
wherein to behold the fearful demerit of their sin ; the unspeakable love of Hod in free-
ing them from bearing it, his fatherly displeasure against his own for their sin, and the
tokens of his anger to be expected by them in that case. So will they be influenced to
eschew evil and do good, being thereby filled with hatred and horror of sin, thankfulness
to God, and fear of the displeasure and frowns of their Father, though not with a fear
that he will condemn them, and destroy them in hell ; this glass represents no such
thing.
Such a fear in a believer is groundless. For, (1.) He is not under the threatening
of hell, or liable to the curse. — See p. 2o0, 251, notes s. u. If he were, he behoved
that moment he sinneth to fall under the curse. For since the curse is the sentence
of the law, passing on the sinner, according to the threatening, adjudging, and bind-
ing him over to the punishment threatened ; if the law say to a man, before he sinneth
" In the day thou catest thereof, thou shalt surely die," it says unto him, in the mo-
ment he sinneth, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the
law, to do them." And forasmuch as believers sin in every thing they do, their very
believing and repenting being always attended with sinful imperfections, it is not pos-
sible, at this rate, that they can be one moment from under the curse ; but it must be
continually wreathed about their necks. To distinguish in this case, betwixt gross
sins and lesser sins, is vain ; for as every sin, even the least, deserves God s wrath
and curse, (Short. Cut.') so, against whomsoever the curse takes place, (and by virtue
of God's truth, it takes place against all those who are threatened with hell or eternal
death) they are cursed for all sins, smaller or greater : " Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things:" though still there is a difference made betwixt greater
and lesser sins, in respect of the degree of punishment, yet there is none in respect of
the kind. But now believers are set free from the curse. Gal. iii. 13, '* Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. (2.) By the re-
demption of Christ already applied to the believer, and by the oath of God, he is per-
fectly secured from the return of the curse upon him, Gal. iii. 13. (see before) com-
pared with Isa. liii. and liv. 9, " For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : for, as I
have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn
that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." Therefore he is perfectly
MODERN DIVINITY. 333
their heavenly Father in Christ, running to meet them, and embrace
them ; I would have them, with him, to talk no more of being hired
servants, Luke xvi. I would have them so to wrestle against doubt-
secured from being made liable any more to bell or eternal deatb. For a man, being
" under tbe curse, is so made liable to — the pains of hell for ever." — Short. Cat.
(3.) He is justified by faith, and so adjudged to live eternally in heaven. This is
unalterable, " for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance," Rom. xi. 29.
And a man can never stand adjudged to eternal life, and to eternal death, at one and
the same time. (4.) One great difference betwixt believers and unbelievers lies here
that the latter are bound over to hell and wrath, the former are not: John iii. 18,
" He that believeth is not condemned : but he that believeth not is condemned
already ;" not that he is in hell already, but bound over to it. Now, a believer is still
a believer, from the first moment of liis believing; and therefore it remains true con-
cerning him, from that moment for ever, that he is not condemned or bound over to
hell and wrath, he is expressly secured against it for all time to come, from that mo-
ment. John v. 24, " He shall not come into condemnation." And the apostle cuts
off all evasious by distinctions of condemnation here, while he tells us in express terms
" There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," Rom. viii. 1. (5.)
The believer's union with Christ is never dissolved Hos. ii. 19, " I will betroth thee
unto me for ever :" and being in Christ, he is set beyond the reach of condemnation,
Rom. viii. 1. Yea, and being in Christ, he is perfectly righteous for ever; for he is
never again stript of the white raiment of Christ's imputed righteousness ; while the
union remains it cannot be lost : but to be perfectly righteous, and yet liable to con-
demnation before a just Judge, is inconsistent.
Neither is such a fear in a believer acceptable to God ; for, (1.) It is not from the
Spirit of God, but from one's own spirit, or a worse ; Rom. viii. 15, " Ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear ;" namely, to fear death or hell. Heb.
ii. 15, " Who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (2.)
It was the design of the sending of Christ, that believers in him might 9erve God
without that fear, Luke i. 74. That, " we being delivered out of the hands of our
enemies, might serve him without fear." Compare 1 Cor. xv. 26, " The last enemv
that shall be destroyed is death." And for this very cause Jesus Christ came, " That
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ;
and deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime," namely, before
their deliverance by Christ, ''subject to bondage," Heb. ii. 14, 15.
(3.) Though it is indeed consistent with, yet it is contrary to faith ; Matt. viii.
26, " Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith !" And to love too ; 1 John iv. 18,
"Perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment." 2 Tim. i. 17, "God
hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind."
(4.) As it is not agreeable to the character of a father, who is not a revenging
judge to his own family, to threaten to kill his children, though he threaten to chastise
them : so such a fear is no more agreeable to the spirit of adoption, nor becoming the
state of sonship to God, than for a child to fear that his father, being such a one as
will kill him. And therefore, "the spirit of bondage to fear" is opposed to "the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father," Rom, viii. 15.
'' Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, whereby all those that are justified
are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, the Spirit
of his Son given to them, (receive the Spirit of adoption, lVestm. Confess, chap. 12.)
are under his fatherly care and dispensation, admitted to all the liberties and privilege!
334 THE MARROW OF
ing, and so to exercise their faith as to believe, that they are by
Christ " delivered from the hands of their enemies," both the law,
sin, wrath, death, the devil, and hell, " that they may serve the
Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the days of
their lives," Luke i. 74, 75. I would have them so to believe God's
love to them in Christ, as that thereby they may be constrained to
obedience, m
Nom. But, sir, you know that our Saviour says, " Fear him that
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell," Matth. x. 28. And
the apostle says, " We shall receive of the Lord the reward of the
inheritance," Col. iii. 24. And is it not said, that " Moses had re-
spect unto the recompence of reward ?" Heb. xi. 26.
Evan. Surely, the intent of our blessed Saviour, in that first
Scripture, is to teach all believers, that when God commands one
thing, and man another, they should obey God, and not man, rather
than to exhort them to eschew evil for fear of hell, n And as for
of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow heirs with Christ in
glory." — Larg. Cat. q. 74.
" The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel, con-
sists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse
of the moral law — as also in their free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto
him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind. All which were
common also to believers under the law." — IVestm. Confess, chap. 20, art. 1. By
the guilt of sin, here, must needs be understood obligation to eternal wrath. See p.
250, note t.
" The end of Christian liberty is, that being delivered out of the hands of our ene-
mies, we might " serve the Lord without fear." — Ibid. art. 3.
" The one (viz. justification) doth equally free all believers from the revenging
wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation."
Larg. Cat. q. 77.
" Though a soul be justified and freed from the guilt of eternal punishment, and so
the spirit is no more to be afraid and disquieted for eternal wrath and hell." — Ruther-
ford's Trial and Triumph, &c. Ser. 19, p. 261.
" The believer bath no conscience of sins ; that is, he in conscience is not to fear
everlasting condemnation, that is most true." — Ibid. p. 266.
See more to this purpose, p. 246, note p; 250, note s ; 328, note h.
m And no marvel one would have them do so, since that is what all the children of
God with one mouth do daily pray for, saying, " Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven."
n There is a great difference betwixt a believer's eschewing evil for fear of hell, and
his eschewing it from the fear of God, "as able to destroy both soul and body in
hell." The former respects the event as to his eternal state, the latter doth not. To
this purpose the variation of the phrase in the text is observable, — "fear not them
that kill the body :" this notes tbe event, as to temporal death by the hands of men
which our Lord would have his people to lay their account with ; but with respect to
eternal d»ath, he says not, fear him which destroys, but, '' which is nhle to destroy
MODERN DIVINITY. 335
those other Scriptures by you alleged, if you mean reward, and the
means to obtain that reward, in the Scripture sense, then it is an-
other matter : but I had thought you had meant in our common
sense, and not in Scripture sense.
Norn. Why, sir, I pray you, what difference is there betwixt re-
ward, and the means to obtain the reward, in our common sense,
and in the Scripture sense ?
Evan. "Why, reward, in our common sense, is that which is con-
ceived to come from God, or to be given by God ; which is a fancying
of heaven under carnal notions, beholding it as a place where there
is freedom from all misery, and fulness of all pleasure and happi-
ness, and to be obtained by our own works and doings, o But re-
both soul and body in hell." Moreover the former is a slavish fear of God as a re-
venging judge ; the believer eschewing sin for fear he be damned ; the latter is a re-
vential fear of God as of a father with whom is awful dominion and power. The for-
mer carries in it a doubtfulness and uncertainty as to the event, plainly contrary to
the remedy prescribed in this same case : Prov. xxix. 25, " The fear of man bringeth
a snare ; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.' The latter is consis-
tent with the most full assurance of one's being put be) ond all hazard of hell. Heb.
Heb. xii. 28, 29, '' Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let
us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire." A believer by fixing his eyes on God, as able to
destroy both soul and body in hell, may be so filled with the reverential fear of God,
his dreadful power and wrath against sin, as to be fenced against the slavish fear of
the most cruel tyrants, tempting him to sin ; though in the meantime he most firmly
believes that he is past that gulf, can never fall into it, nor be bound over unto it.
For, so he hath a lively representation of the just deserving of sin, even of that sin
in particular into which he is tempted ; and so must tremble at the thought of it, as an
evil greater than death. And as a child, when he seeth his father lashing his slaves
cannot but tremble, and fear to offend him, so a believer's turning his eyes on the
miseries of the damned, mu>t raise in him an awful apprehension of the severity of his
Father against sin, even in his own; and cause him to say in his heart, "My flesh
trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments," Psalm cxix. 120,
Thus also he hath a view the frightful danger he has escaped ; the looking back
to which must make one's heart shiver, and conceive a horror of sin ; as in the
case of a pardoned criminal, looking back to a dreadful precipice from which he was
to have been thrown headlong, had not a pardon seasonably prevented his ruin ; Eph.
ii. 3, " We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
o Thus, to eschew evil and do good for hope of heaven, is to do so in hope of ub-
taining heaven by our own works. And certainly " that hope shall be cut off, and be
a spider's web," (Job viii. 14,) for a sinner shall never obtain heaven but in the way
of free grace : " But if it be of works, then it is no more grace," Rom. xi. 6. But
that a believer may be animated to obedience by eyeing the reward already obtained for
him by the works of Christ, our author no where denies. So indeed the apostle ex-
horts believers to run their Christian race, " looking unto Jesus, who for the joy that
was set before him, (to be obtained by his own works, in the way of most proper
merits) endured the cross," fftb. xii. 1.2.
336 THE MARROW OF
ward in the Scripture sense, is not so much that which comes from
God, or is given by God, as that which lies in God, even the full
fruition of God himself in Christ. " I am," says God to Abraham,
" thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward," Gen. xv. 1 ; and
" Whom have I in heaven but thee ?" says David ; " and there is
none on earth that I desire besides thee," Psal. lxxiii. 25 ; and " I
shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness,"p Psal. xvii. 15.
And the means to obtain this reward is, not by doing, but by be-
lieving ; even by " drawing near with a true heart, in the full as-
surance of faith," Heb. x. 22; and so indeed it is freely given.*/
And therefore you are not to conceive of that reward which the
Scripture speaks of, as if it were the wages of a servant, but as it is
the inheritance of sons, r And when the Scripture seemeth to in-
duce believers to obedience, by promising this reward, you are to
conceive that the Lord speaks to believers as a father does to his
young son, Do this or that, and then I will love thee ; whereas we
know, that the father loveth the son first, and so does God; and
therefore this is the voice of believers, " We love him, because he
first loved us," 1 John iv. 19. The Lord doth pay them, or at least
gives them a sure earnest of their wages, before he bid them work ;s
" Papists," says Dr. PrestoD, " tell of escaping damnation, and of getting into Lea-
ven. But Scripture gives other motives, (viz. to good works) : Thou art in Christ,
and Christ is thine ; consider what he has done for thee, what thou hast by him, what
thou hast been without him, and thus stir up thyself to do for him what he requireth."
— Abridg. of his Works, p. 394.
p " Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever." — Short- Cat.
" Believers — shall he — made perfectly hlessed in the full enjoyment of God to all
nity." — Ibid.
q Rom. iv. 16, '• Therefore it is of faith, that it might he by grace ; to the end the
promise (viz. of the inheritance, vers. 13, 14,) might be sure to all the seed."
Otherwise it is not given freely ; for " to him that wurketh is the reward not reck-
oned of grace, but of debt," ver. 4.
r The apostle's decision in this case seems to be pretty clear : Rom. vi. 23, " For
the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life :" he will not have us to
look upon it as the wages of a seivant too. The joining together of both these no-
tions of the reward was, it seems, the doctrine of the Pharisees ; Mark x. 17, " Good
Master, what shall 1 do, that I may inherit eternal life?" And how unacceptable it
was to our blessed Saviour, may be learned from his answer to that question. " The
Papists confess that life is merited by Christ, and is made ours by the right of inherit-
ance : so fa- .ve go with them. Yea, touching words, they hold many things with
us; (!.". inat no works of themselves can merit life everlasting. (2.) That works
done belore conversion can merit nothing at God's hand. (3.) That there is no merit
at God's hand, without his mercy, no exact merit as often there is amongst men. 1 be
),oint whereabout we dissent is, that with the merit of Christ and free promise, they
will have the merit of works joined, as done by them who are adopted children. —
Bay ne on Eph. ii. 8. "
s Namely, in the way of the covenant of grace.
MODERN DIVINITY. 337
and therefore the contest of a believer (according to the measure of
his faith) is not, What will God give ine ? but, What shall I give
God ? " What shall I render unto the Lord for all his goodness ?
For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in
thy truth." Psal. cxvi. 12 ; and xxvi. 3.
Nom. Then, sir, it seems that holiness of life, and good works,
are not the cause of eternal happiness, but only the way thither ?
Evan. Do you not remember that our Lord Jesus himself says,
" I am the way, the truth, and the life ?" John xiv. 6 ; and doth
not the apostle say to the believing Colossians, " As ye have re-
ceived Jesus Christ the Lord, so walk in him ?" Col. ii. 6 ; that is,
as ye have received him by faith, so go on in your faith, and by his
power walk in his commandments. So that good works, as I con-
ceive, may rather be called a believer's walking in the way of eter-
nal happiness, than the way itself; but, however, this we may
assuredly conclude, that the sum and substance both of the way,
and walking in the way, consists in the receiving of Jesus Christ by
faith, and in yielding obedience to his law, according to the measure
of that receiving, t
t Our author, remembering Nomista's bias toward good works, as separated from
Christ, puts him in miud, that Christ is the way ; and that the soul's motion heaven-
ward is in Christ ; that is, a man being once united to Christ by faith, moveth heaven-
ward, making progress in believing, and, by influences derived from Jesus Christ,
walking in his holy commandments. The Scripture acknowledges no other holiness
of life, or good works; and concerning the necessity of these the author moves no
debate. But as to the propriety of expression, since good works are the keeping of
the commandments, in the way of which we are to go, he conceives they may, with
greater propriety, be called the walking in the way, than the way itself. It is certain
that the Scripture speaks of" walking in Christ," Col. ii. 6. " Walking in his com-
mandments," 2 Chron. xvii. 4, and " walking in good works," Eph. ii. 10; and that
as these terms signify but one and the same thing, so they are all metaphorical. But
one would think the calling of good works the way to be walked in, is further removed
from the propriety ot expression, than the catling them the walking in the way. But
tin- author, waiviug this, as a matter of phraseology, or maimer of speakiug only, tells
us, that assuredly the sum and substance, both of the way to eternal happiness, and of
the walking in the way to it, consists in the receiving Jesus Christ by faith, and in
yielding obedience to his law, according to the measure of that receiving. Herein is
comprehended, Christ and holiness, faith and obedience; which are inseparable. And
no narrower is the compass of the wav and walking mentioned, Isa. xxxv. 8, 9, " It
shall be called the way of holiness — the redeemed shall walk there." "The way of
holiness, or the holy way, (according to an u-ual Hebraism) as it is generally under-
stood by interpreters, is the way leading to heaven, says Piscator ; namely, Christ,
faith, — and the doctrine of a holy life." — Fererius apud Pol. synop. in loc. And
now that our author, though he conceives good works are not so properly called the
way, as the walking, yet does not say, that in no sense they may be called the way,
but does expressly ass.-rt them to be the soul's walking in the- way of eternal happi-
ness ; he cannot justly be charged here (more than anywhere else in this book) with
338 THK MARROW OF
§ 8. Neo. Sir, I am persuaded, that through my neighbour
Nomista's asking you these questions, you have been interrupted in
your discourse, in showing how faith enables a man to exercise his
Christian graces, and perform his Christian duties aright ; and
therefore I pray you go on.
Evan. "What should I say more ? for the time would fail me to
tell, how that, according to the measure of any man's faith, is his
true peace of conscience ; for, says the apostle, " being justified by
faith, we have peace with God," Rom. v. 1. Yea, says the prophet
Isaiah, " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on thee, because he trusteth in thee," Isa. xxvi. 3. Here there is a
sure and true grounded peace : " Therefore it is of faith," says the
apostle, " that it might be by grace, and that the promise might be
sure to all the seed," Rom. iv. 16. And answerable to a man's
believing that he is "justified freely by God's grace, through the
redemption that is in Jesus Christ," u (Rom. iv. 3, 24.) is his true
humility of spirit. So that, although ho be endowed with excellent
gifts and graces, and though he perform never so many duties, he
denies himself in all ; he does not make them as ladders for him to
ascend up into heaven by, but desires to " be found in Christ, not
having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ," Phil. iii. 9. He does not think himself
to be one step nearer to heaven, for all his works and performances.
And if he hear any man praise him for his gifts and graces, he will
not conceive that he has obtained the same by his own industry and
pains-taking, as some men have proudly thought ; neither will he
speak it out, as some have done, saying, These gifts and graces have
cost me something — I have taken much pains to obtain them; but
he says, " By the grace of God I am what I am ; and not I, but the
grace of God that was with me," 1 Cor. xv. 10. And if he behold
an ignorant man, or a wicked liver, he will not call him " Carnal
wretch !" or " Profane fellow !" nor say, " Stand by thyself, come
not near to me, for I am holier than thou," (Isa. lxv. 5.) as some
have said; but he pities such a man, and prays for him ; and in his
heart he says concerning himself, " Who maketh thee to differ? and
what hast thou that thou hast not received ?" 1 Cor. iv. 7.
And thus I might go on, and show you how, acccording to any
man's faith, is his true joy in God, and his true thankfulness to
teaching, that holiness is not necessary to salvation, unless one will in the first place
say, that though the way itself, to eternal happiness, is necessary to salvation, y»t the
walking in the way is not necessary to it; which would be Antioomian with a witness.
u And not for anything wrought in himself, or done by himself. See p. 324, note w.
MODERN DIVINITY. 339
God, and his patience in all troubles and afflictions, and his con-
tentedness in any condition, and his willingness to suffer, and his
cheerfulness in suffering, and his contentedness to part with any-
earthly thing. Yea, according to any man's faith, is his ability to
pray aright, Rom. x. 14; to hear or read the word of God aright;
to receive the sacrament with profit and comfort ; and to do any
duty either to God or man after a right manner, and to a right end,
Heb. iv. 2. Yea, according to the measure of any man's faith, is
his love to Christ, and so to man for Christ's sake; and so, conse-
quently, his readiness and willingness to forgive an injury; yea, to
forgive an enemy, and to do good to them that hate him ; and the
more faith any man has, the less love he has to the world or the
things that are in the world. To conclude, the greater any man's
faith is, the more fit he is to die, and the more willing he is to die.
Neo. Well, sir, now I do perceive that faith is a most excellent
grace, and happy is that man who has a great measure of it.
Evan. The truth is, faith is the chief grace that Christians are to
be exhorted to get and exercise ; and therefore, when the people
asked our Lord Christ, " what they should do to work the works of
God ?" he answered and said, " This is the work of God, that ye
believe on him whom he hath sent," John vi. 29 ; speaking as if
there were no other duty at all required, but only believing ; for
indeed, to say as the thing is, believing includes all other duties in
it, and they spring all from it; and therefore says one, " Preach
faith, and preach all." "Whilst I bid man believe," says learned
Rollock, "I bid him do all good things;" for, says Dr. Preston,
"Truth of belief will bring forth truth of holiness; if a man
believe, works of sanctification will follow ; for faith draws after it
inherent righteousness and sanctification." Wherefore, says he,
"if a man will go about this great work, to change his life, to get
victory over any sin, that it may not have dominion over him, to
have his conscience purged from dead works, and to be made par-
taker of the Divine nature, let him not go about it as a moral
man ;" that is, let him not consider what commandments there are,
what the rectitude is which the law requires, and how to bring his
heart to it; but " let him go about it as a Christian, that is, let him
believe the promise of pardon, in the blood of Christ; and the very
believing the promise will be able to cleanse his heart from dead
works." v
v The sum thereof is, that no considerations, no endeavours whatsoever, will truly
sanctify a man, without faith. Honbeit, such considerations and endeavours are
necessary to promote and advance the sanctiticntion of the soul by faith.
340 THE MARKOW OP
Neo. But, 1 pray you sir, whence has faith its power aud virtue
to do all this ?
Evan. Even from our Lord Jesus Christ ; for faith doth ingraft a
man, who is by nature a wild olive branch, into Christ as into the
natural olive ; and fetches sap from the root Christ, and thereby
makes the tree bring forth fruit in its kind ; yea, faith fetcheth a
supernatural efficacy from the death and life of Christ ; by virtue
whereof it metamorphoses w the heart of a believer, and creates and
infuses into him new principles of action, x So that, what a treasure
to That is, transforms or changes. Rom. xii. 2, " Be ye transformed by the renew-
ing of your mind."
x Namely, instrumentally. It cannot be denied that our author places faith before
the new principles of actions in this passage, and before the habits of grace, and yet it
will not follow, that, in his opinion, there can be no gracious change in the soul
before faith. What he does indeed teach, in this matter, is warranted by the plain
testimony of the apostle, Eph. i. 13, " After that ye believed, ye were sealed with
that holy Spirit of promise." And what this sealing is, at least as to the chief part of
it, may be learned from John i. 16, " And of his fulness have all we received, and
grace for grace." For as sealing is the impression of the image of the seal on the
wax, so that it thereby receives upon it point for point on the seal, so, believers being
sealed with the Spirit of Christ, receive grace for grace in Christ, whereby they are
made like him, and bear his image. And as it is warranted by the word, so it is
agreeable to the old Protestant doctrine, that we are regenerate by faith ; which is the
title of the 3d chap, of the 3d book of Calvin's Instit. and is taught in the Old Con-
fess, art. 3. in these words: "Regeneration is wrought by the power of the Holy
Ghost, working in the hearts of the elect of God an assured faith ;" and art. 13. in
these words: " So soon as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus (which God's elect children
receive by true faith) takes possession in the heart of any man, so soon does he rege-
nerate and renew the same man."
Nevertheless, I am not of the mind, that, either iu truth, or in the judgment of our
reformers, or of our author, the first act of faith is an act of an irregenerate, that is
to say, a dead soul. But to understand this matter aright, I conceive one must dis-
tinguish betwixt regeneration taken strictly, and taken largely ; and betwixt new
powers and new habits or principles of action. Regeneration, strictly so called, is the
quickening of the dead soul, by the Spirit of Christ passively received, and goes before
faith, according to John i. 12, 13, "But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which
were born not of blood — but of God." This is called by Amesius, the first regenera-
tion, Medul. lib. 1. cap. 29. sect. 6. see cap. 26. sect. 19. And it belongs to, or is
the same with effectual calling; in the description of which, in the Shorter Catechism,
one finds a renewing mentioned, whereby sinners are enabled to embrace Jesus Christ;
and says the Larger Catech. on the same subject, " They, although in themselves dead
in sin, are hereby made able to answer his call." Regeneration, largelytaken, presup-
posing the former, is the same with sanctification, wrought in the soul by the Spirit of
Christ, actively received by faith, and so follows faith. Acts xxvi. 18, " Among
them which are sanctified by faith, that is in Me :" the subjects (of which) " are the
redeemed, c.dh:d and justified." — Essen. Com. cap. 16. sect. 3. And accordingly, in
the description thereof iu the Shorter Catechism, mention is made of the second
MODERN DIVINITY. 341
of all graces Christ liath stored up in him, faith draiueth, and draw-
eth them out to the use of a believer; being as a conduit-cock, that
watereth all the herbs of the garden. Yea, faith does apply the
blood of Christ to a believer's heart ; and the blood of Christ has in
it, not only a power to wash from the guilt of sin, but to cleanse and
purge likewise from the power and stain of sin ; and therefore, says
godly Hooker, " If you would have grace, you must first of all get
faith, and that will bring all the rest; let faith go to Christ, and
there is meekness, patience, humility, and wisdom, and faith will
fetch all them to the soul ; therefore, (says he) you must not look
for sanctification till you come to Christ in vocation."
Norn. Truly, sir, I do now plainly see that I have been deceived,
and have gone a wrong way to work ; for I verily thought that ho-
liness of life must go before faith, and so be the ground of it, and
produce and bring it forth : whereas I do now plainly see, that
faith must go before, and so produce and bring forth holiness of life.
Evan. I remember a man, who was much enlightened in the know-
ledge of the gospel,?/ who says, "There may be many that think,
renewing, namely, Whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God,
anil are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. And
thus I conceive regeneration to be taken in the above passages of the Old Confession.
The which is confirmed by the following testimonies. " Being in Christ we must be
new creatures, not in substance, but in qualities and disposition of our minds, and
change of the action of our lives — all which is impossible to them that have no faith."
— Mr. John Davidson's Catechism, page 29. " So good works follow as effects of
Christ in us, possessed by faith, who — beginneth to work in us regeneration and a re-
newing of the whole parts and powers of the soul and body. Which begun sanctifi-
cation and holiness he never ceases to accomplish." — Ibid. p. 30. " The effect (viz. of
justification) inherent in us, as in a subject, is that new quality which is called inher-
ent righteousness or regeneration. — Grounds of Christian Religion, by the renowned
Beza and Fains, 1586, chap. 29, sect. 11. " That new quality, then called inherent
righteousness and regeneration, testified by good works, is a necessary effect of true
faith." — Ibid. chap. 31, sect. 13.
Now in regeneration taken in the fomer sense, new powers are put into the soul,
whereby the sinner, who is dead in sin, is able to discern Christ in his glory, and to
embrace him by faith. But it is in regeneration taken in the latter sense, that new
habits of grace, or immediate principles of actions are given ; namely, upon the soul's
uniting with Christ by faith. So Essenius, having defined regeneration to be, the
putting of spiritual life in a man spiritually dead, (compare chap. 14, sect. 11.) after-
wards says, " As by regeneration new powers were put into the man, so by sanctifica-
tion are given new spiritual habits." — Theological Virtues, ib. cap. 16, sect. 5. And
as the Scriptures are express, that men are " sanctified by faith," (Acts. xxvi. 18,)
so is the Larger Catechism that it is in sanctification they are " Renewed in their
whole man, having the seeds of repentance unto life, and of all other saving graces,
put into their hearts." — quest. 75.
y This man, Bernardine Ochine, an infamous apostate, was at first a monk; but as
our author says, being much enlightened in the knowledge of the gospel, he not only
made profession of the Protestant religion, but, together with the renowned Peter
342 THE MARROW OF
that as a man chooses to serve a prince, so men choose to serve God.
So likewise they think, that as those who do best service, do ob-
tain most favour of their lord : and as those that have lost it, the
more they humble themselves, the sooner they recover it ; even so
they think the case stands between God and them : whereas, (says
he) it is not so, but clean contrary, for he himself says, ' Ye have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you,' John xv. 16. And not for
that we repent and humble ourselves, and do good works, he gives
us his free grace ; but we repent, and humble ourselves, do good
works, and become holy, because he gives us his grace." The good
thief on the cross was not illuminated, because he did confess Christ :
but he did confess Christ, because he was illuminated. For says
Luther on Gal. (p. 124,) " The tree must first be, and then the fruit ;
for the apples make not the tree, but the tree makes the apples.
So faith first maketh the person, which afterwards brings forth
works. Therefore to do the law without faith, is to make the
apples of wood and earth without the tree, which is not to make
apples, but mere phantasies." Wherefore, neighbour Nomista,
let me entreat you, that whereas before you have reformed your
life that you might believe, why, now believe that you may reform
your life ; and do not any longer work to get an interest in Christ,
but believe your interest in Christ, that so you may work, z And
then you will not make the change of your life the ground of your
faith, as you have done, and as Mr. Culverwell says, many do, who
being asked, What caused them to believe ? they answer, " Because
they have truly repented, and changed their course of life." a
Martyr, was esteemed a most famous preacher of the gospel, throughout Italy Being
in danger on the account of religion, he left Italy by Martyr's advice ; and being much
assisted by the Duchess of Ferrara in his escape, he went first to Geneva, and then to
Zurich, and was admitted a minister in that city. But discovering himself there, (a9
Simon Magus did, after he had joined himself to the church of Samari;i")he was ba-
nished ; and is justly reckoned among the forerunners of the execrable Socinus — See
Hornbeck. appar. ad. contr. Soc. page 47. Hence one may plainly see how there
are sermons of his which might safely and to good purpose be quoted. And as for the
character given him by the author here, if one is in hazard of reckoning it an applause,
one must remember that it is no greater than what the apostle gives to those guilty of
6in against the Holy Ghost, Heb. vi. 6, '' Those who were once enlightened, and have
lasted of the heavenly gift," &c. which I make no question but our author had his eye
upon, in giving this man this character very pertinently.
z That is, by believing, get a saving interest in Christ ; whereas, before, you have
set yourself, as it were, to work it. See the note on the Definition of Faith.
a " Which (adds he) if it proceed not fron faith, is not so much as a sound proof
of faith, much less can it be any cause to draw them to believe. " The only firm
ground of saving faith is God's truth, revealed in his word ; as is plainly taught, Rom.
x. \1."—Ibid. p. 20, 21.
MODERN DIVINITY. 343
Ant. Sir, what think you of a preacher that, in my hearing, said,
he durst not exhort nor persuade sinners to believe their sins were
pardoned, before he saw their lives reformed, for fear they should
take more liberty to sin ?
Evan. Why, what should I say but that I think that preacher
was ignorant of the mystery of faith ? 6
For it c is of the nature of sovereign waters, which so wash off
the corruption of the ulcer, that they cool the heat, and stay the
spreading of the infection, and so by degrees heal the same. Neither
did he know that it is of the nature of cordials, which so comfort
the heart and ease it, that they also expel the noxious humours, and
strengthen nature against them, d
Ant. And I am acquainted with a professor, though (God knows, e
a very weak one) that says, if he should believe before his life bo
reformed, then he might believe, and yet walk on in his sins : — I
pray you, sir, what would you say to such a man ?
Evan. Why, I could say, with Dr. Preston, let him, if he can, be-
lieve truly, and do this ; but it is impossible : let him believe, and
the other will follow ; truth of belief will bring forth truth of holi-
ness : for who, if he ponder it well, can fear a fleshly licentiousness,
where the believing soul is united and married to Christ?/ The
law, as it is the covenant of works, and Christ, are set in opposition,
6 This censure, as it natively follows upon the overthrowing of that doctrine, viz.
" That holiness of life must go before faith, and so be the ground of it, and produce
and bring it forth ;" so it is founded on these two ancient Protestant principles : (1.)
That the belief of the remission of sin is comprehended in saving, justifying faith ; of
which see page 324, note w. and the note on the Definition of Faith. (2.) That true
repentance, and acceptable reformation of life, do necessarily flow from, but go not
before saving faith. Hence it necessarily follows, that remission of sin must be
believed, before there can be any acceptable reformation of life ; and that that
preacher's fear was groundless, reformation of life being so caused by the faith
of remission of sin, that it is inseparable from it ; as our author teaches in the
following passages. Calvin's censure in this case is fully as severe. " As for
them (says he) that think that repentance does rather go before faith, than flow
or spring forth of it, as a fruit out of a tree, they never knew the force there-
of." Instit. book 3. chnp. 3. sec. 1. "Yet when we refer the beginning of
repentance to faith, we do not dream a certain mean space of time, wherein it
brings out ; but we mean to show, that a man cannot earnestly apply himself to repen-
tance, unless he know himself to be of God." — Ibid. sec. 2.
c Namely, Faith.
dEven so, faith not only justifies a sinner, but sanctifies him in heart and life.
e I think this expresMon might very well have been spared here.
_/"" Q. Does not this doctrine (viz. of justification by faith without works) make
men secure and profane V A. No, for it cannot be, but they who are ingrafted into
Christ by faith, should bring forth fruits of thankfulness." Palat. Catech. q. 64.
344 THE MABBOW OF
as two husbands to one wife successively, (Rom. vi. 4;) whilst the
law was alive in the conscience, all the fruits were deadly, (ver. 5.);
but Christ, taking the spouse to himself (the law being dead) by
his quickening Spirit doth make her fruitful to God, (ver. 6.) ; and
so raises up seed to the former husband; for materially these <are
the works of the law, though produced by the Spirit of Christ in
the gospel, g
Ant. And yet, sir, I am verily persuaded, that there be many,
both preachers and professors, in this city, of the very same opinion,
that these two are of.
Evan. The truth is, many preachers stand upon the praise of
some moral virtue, and do enveigh against some vice of the times,
more than upon pressing men to believe. But, says a learned
writer, " It will be our condemnation, if we love darkness, rather
than light, and desire still to be groping in the twilight of mo-
rality, the precepts of moral men. than to walk in the light of
divinity, which is the doctrine of Jesus Christ ; and I pity the
preposterous care and unhappy travel of many well-affected, who
study this and that virtue, neglecting this cardinal and radical
virtue ; as if a man should water all the tree, and not the root.
Fain would they shine in patience, meekness, and zeal, and yet
are not careful to establish and root themselves in faith, which
should maintain all the rest ; and therefore all their labour has
been in vain and to no purpose."
Nom. Indeed, sir, this which you have now said, I have found
true by my own experience ; for I have A laboured and endeavoured
to get victory over such corruptions, as to overcome my dullness,
and to perform duties with cheerfulness, and all in vain.
Evan. And no marvel ; for to pray, to meditate, to keep a Sab-
bath cheerfully, to have your conversation in heaven, is as impossi-
ble for you yourself to do, as for iron to swim or for stones to as-
cend upwards ; but yet nothing is impossible to faith ; it can natu-
ralize these things unto you ; it can make a mole of the earth a soul
of heaven. Wherefore, though you have tried all moral conclusions
g As a woman married to a second husband, after the death of the first, does the
same work for subsistence in the family, that was required of her by the first husband ;
yet does it not to, nor as under the dead husband, but the living one ; so the good
works of believers, are materially, and but materially, the works of the law, (as a
covenant) the first husband, now dead to the believer. In this sense only the law is
here treated of: and to make the good works of believers formally the works of the
law, as a covenant and husband, is to contradict the apostle Rom. viii. 4 — 6. to
" make them deadly fruits, dishonourable to Christ the second husband, and unaccept-
able to God."
h After that manner.
MODERN DIVINITY. 345
of purposing, promising, resolving, vowing, fasting, watching, and
self-revenge ; yet get you to Christ, and with the finger of faith
touch but the hem of his garment ; and you shall feel virtue come
from him, for the curing of all your diseases. Wherefore I beseech
you, come out of yourself unto Jesus Christ, and apprehend him by
faith, as (blessed be God) you see your neighbour Neophitus has
done ; and then shall you find the like loathing of sin, and love to
the law of Christ, as he now does ; yea, then shall you find your
corruptions dying and decaying daily, more and more i as I am con-
fident he shall.
Neo. Ay, but, sir, shall I not have power quite to overcome all
my corruptions, and to yield perfect obedience to the law of Christ,
as (the Lord knows) I much desire ?
Evan. If you could believe perfectly, then should it be even ac-
cording to your desire ; according to that of Luther, (on the Gala-
tians, p. 173.) " If we could perfectly apprehend Christ, then
should we be free from sin :" but alas ! whilst we are here, we know
but in part, and so believe but in part, and so receive Christ but in
part, 1 Cor. xiii. 9, and so, consequently, are holy but in part ; wit-
ness James the Just, including himself when he says, " In many
things we sin all," Jam. iii. 2. John the faithful and loving disci-
ple, when he says, " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us," 1 John i. 8. Yea, and witness
Luther, when he says, on the Galatians, (p. 144.) " A Christian man
hath a body, in whose members," as Paul says, " sin dwelleth and war- .
reth," Rom. vii. 15. And although he fall not into outward and gross !
sins as murder, adultery, theft, and such like, yet is he not free from .
impatience and murmuring against God; yea, (says he) I feel in my-j
self covetousness, lust, anger, pride, and arrogancy, also the fear of;
death, heaviness, hatred, murmurings, impatience." So that you
must not look to be quite without sin, whilst you remain in this life;
yet this I dare promise you, that as you grow from faith to faith, so
shall you grow from strength to strength in all other graces.
" Wherefore," says Hooker, " strengthen this grace of faith, and
strengthen all ; nourish this, and nourish all." So that if you can
attain to a great measure of faith, you shall be sure to attain to a
great measure of holiness; according to the saying of Dr. Preston,
" He that hath the strongest faith, he that believeth in the greatest
degree the promise of pardon and remission of sins, I dare boldly say,
he hath the holiest heart, and t'.ie holiest life. And therefore I be-
seech you labour to grow strong in the faith of the gospel," Phil. i. 27.
§ 9. Neo. 0, sir, I desire it with all my heart; and therefore I
i After that manner.
Vol. VII. t
346 THE MARROW OF
pray you tell me, what you would have me to do, that I may grow
more strong.
Evan. Why, surely, the hest advice and counsel that I can give
you, is to exercise that faith which you have, and wrestle against
doubtings, and be earnest in prayer for the increase of it. " Foras-
much," says Luther, " as the gift is in the hands of God only, who
bestoweth when, and on whom he pleaseth, thou must resort unto
him by prayer, and say with the apostles, " Lord, increase our
faith," Luke xvii. 5. And you must also be diligent in hearing the
word preached ; for as " faith cometh by hearing," (Rom. x. 17-) so
is it also increased by hearing. And you must also read the word,
and meditate upon the free and gracious promises of God ; for the
promise is the immortal seed, whereby the Spirit of Christ begets
and increases faith in the hearts of all his. And lastly, you must
frequent the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and receive it as often
as conveniently you can.
Ant. But by your favour, sir, if faith be the gift of God, and he
give it when and to whom he pleases, then I conceive that a man's
using such means will not procure any greater measure of it than
God is pleased to give.
Evan. I confess it is not the means that will either beget or in-
crease faith; but it is the Spirit of God in the use of means that
doth it : so that as the means will not do it without the Spirit, nei-
ther will the Spirit do without the means, where the means may be
had. "Wherefore, I pray you, do not you hinder him from using the
means.
Neo. Sir, for my own part, let him say what he will, I am resol-
ved by the assistance of God, to be careful and diligent in the use
of these means which you have now prescribed ; that so by the in-
creasing of my faith, I may be the better enabled to be subject to
the will of the Lord, and so walk as that I may please him.
§ 10. But forasmuch as heretofore he hath endeavoured to per-
suade me to believe divers points, which then I could not see to be
true, and therefore could not assent unto them, methinks I do now
begin to see some show of truth in them ; therefore, sir, if you please
to give me leave, I will tell you what points they are to the intent I
may have your jugdment and direction therein.
Evan. Do so, I pray you.
Neo. 1. Why, first of all, he hath endeavoured to persuade me
that a believer is not under the law, but is altogether delivered from
it.
2. That a believer does not commit sin.
3. That the Lord can see no sin in a believer.
MODERN DIVINITY. 347
4. That the Lord is not angry with a believer for his sins.
5. That the Lord doth not chastise a believer for his sins.
6. Lastly, That a believer hath no cause neither to confess his
sins, nor to crave a pardon at the hands of God for them, neither
yet to fast, nor mourn, nor humble himself before the Lord for
them.
Evan. These points which you have now mentioned have occa-
sioned many needless and fruitless disputes ; and that because men
have either not understood what they have said, or else not declared
whereof they have affirmed ; for in one sense they may all of them
be truly affirmed, and in another sense they may all of them be truly
denied wherefore if we would clearly understand the truth, we must
distinguish betwixt the law as it is the law of works, and as it is
the law of Christ.^'
j The Antinomian sense of all these positions is, no doubt, erroneous and detestable
and is opposed and disproven by our author. The posisions themselves are parodoxes
bearing a precious gospel truth, which he maintains against the legalist; but I doubt
it is too much to call them all Antinomian paradoxes. Eut to call them simply, and
by the lump, Antinomian errors, is shocking: one might as good say, it is a Popish
or Lutheran error, '• That the bread in the sacrament is Christ's body;" and that it is
a Socinian, Arminian, or Baxterian error, " That a sinner is justified by faith;" for
the first four of the paradoxes are as directly scriptural as these are ; though the An-
tinomian sense of the former is antiscriptural, as is the Popish, Lutheran, Socinian,
Arminian, and Baxterian sense of the latter, respectively. At this rate, one might
subvert the very foundations of Christianity, as might easily be instructed, if there
were sufficient cause to exemplify it here. How few^doctrines of the Bible are there
that have not been wrested to an erroneous sense by some corrupt men or other? yet
will not their corrupt glosses warrant the condemning of the scriptural positions them-
selves as erroneous.
The first four of these paradoxes are found in the following texts of Scripture, viz.
1st, Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but under grace." Chap. vii. 6,
"Now we are delivered from the law."
2d, 1 John iii. 6, " Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not." Ver. 9, " Whoso-
ever is born of God, doth not commit sin — and he cannot sin."
3c?, Num. xxiii. 21, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen
perverseness in Israel." Cant. iv. 7, " Thou art all fair my love there is no spot
in thee."
4th, Isa. liv. 9, " So have 1 sworn, that I would not be wroth with thee, nor re-
buke thee."
The case standing thus, these paradoxes must needs be sensed one way or other
agreeable to the analogy of faith, and so defended by all who own the divine authority
of the Holy Scripture. And as an orthodox divine would not condemn the two pro-
positions above mentioned, brought in for illustration of this matter, but clear the
same by giving a sound sense of them, and rejecting the unsound sense, as that it is
true that the bread is Christ's body sacramentally ; false, that it is so by transubstan-
tiation, or consubstantiation ; that it is true, sinners are justified by faith as an instru-
ment, apprehending and applying Christ's righteousness ; false, that they are justified
by it as a work, fulfilling the pretented new proper gospel law : so our author gives
Y 2
348 THE MARROW OF
Now, as it is the law of works, it may be truly said, that a
believer is not under the law, but is delivered from it, k according
to that of the apostle, Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but
under grace ;" and Rom. vii. 6, " But now we are delivered from
the law." And if believers be not under the law, but are delivered
from the law, as it is a law of works, then, though they sin, yet do
they not transgress the law of works ; for " where no law is, there
is no transgression," Rom. vi. 15. And therefore, says the apostle
John, " Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not," 1 John iii. 6 ; that
is, as I conceive, whosoever abideth in Christ by faith, sinneth not
against the law of works. I And if a believer sin not against the
law of works, then can God see no sin in a believer, as a transgres-
sion of that law;m and therefore it is said, Num. xsiii. 21, "He
a safe and sound sense of these Scriptural paradoxes, and rejects the unsound sense
put upon them by Antinomians ; and this he does, by applying to them the distinction
of the law, as it is the law of works, i.e. the covenant of works, and as it is the law
of Christ, i e. a rule of life, in the hand of a Mediator, to believers. Now, if this
distinction be admitted here, neither in these Dor equivalent terms, but the law of
Christ, and law of works, must be reckoned one and the same thing; then believers in
Christ, whom none but Antinomians will deny to be under the law, as it is the law
of Christ, or a rule of life, are evidently staked down under the covenant of works still,
forasmuch, as, in the sense of the Holy Scripture, as well as in the sense of our au-
thor, the law of works is the covenant of works. And since it is plain from the
Holy Scripture, and from the Westminster Confession, that believers are not under
the law as a covenant of works ; a way which, by this distinction, our author had
blocked up, is, by rejecting of it, and confounding the law of works and law of Chnst,
opened for Antinomians to cast off the law for guod and all.
The two last of these paradoxes are consequently scriptural, as necessarily following
upon the former, being understood in the same sense as they are, and as our author
explains them.
k " True believers be not under the law as a covenant of works." — We strain. Con-
fess, chap. 19. sec. 6. " The law of works," says our author, " is as much to say,
as the covenant of works."
I "As the world is altogether set upon sin, and can do nothing but sin, so they
that are born of God sin not ; not that their sins of themselves are not deadly, but
because their persons are so lively in Christ, that the deadliness of sin cannot prevail
against them." — Mr. John Davidson's Cat. p. 32. What he means by the deadli-
ness of sin, appears from these words a little after : " Howbeit the condemnation of
sin be removed from the faithful altogether," &c. The penalty which the law of
works threatens, says our author to Neophitus, (page 351) is " condemnation and
eternal death ; and this you have no cause at all to fear."
m Mr. James Melvil to the same purpose expresses it thus,
But God into his daughter dear sees nane iniquitie,
Nor in his chosen Israel will spy enormitie :
Not luking in hir bowk, whilk is with ferntickles repleit,
But ever into Christ her face, whilk pleasand is and sweet.
Morning Vision, dedicated to James VI. p. 85.
MODERN DIVINITY. 349
hath not beheld iniquity in Jacoh, neither hath he seen perverseness
in Israel :" and again it is said, Jer. I. 20, " At that time the ini-
quity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found :" and in Cant. iv. 7,
Christ says concerning his spouse, " Behold thou art all fair, ray
love, and there is no spot in thee." And if God can see no sin in a
believer, then assuredly he is neither angry nor doth chastise a
believer for his sins, as a transgression of that law; n and hence it
is, that the Lord says concerning his own people that were believ-
ers, Isa. xxvii. 4, "Anger is not in me :" and again, Isa. liv. 9, the
Lord speaking comfortably to his spouse the Church, says, " As I
have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the
earth, so have I sworn that 1 will no more be wroth with thee, nor
rebuke thee." Now, if the Lord be not angry with a believer,
neither doth chastise him for his sins, as they are any transgression
of the law of works, then hath a believer neither need to confess his
sins unto God, nor to crave pardon for them, nor yet to fast, nor
mourn, nor humble himself for them, as conceiving them to be any
transgression of the law, as it is the law of works, o Thus you see,
n Such anger is revenging wrath, and such chastisement is proper punishment
inflicted for satisfying offended justice; in which sense it is said, Isa. liii. 5, " The
chastisement of our peace was upon him,'' namely, on Jesus Christ; and therefore it
cannot he on believers themselves.
o Our author does not indeed here refute the Antinomian error, that the believer
ought not to mourn for his sins : he does that effectually in the next paragraph. But
here he refutes the legalist, who will needs have the believer still to be under the
law, as it is the covenant of works; and therefore to confess and mourn,' &c. for his
sins, as still committed against the covenant of works. But it is evident as the light,
that believers are not under the covenant of works, or, in other terms, under the law,
as that covenant ; and that principle being once fixed, the whole chain of conse-
quences, which our author has here made, does necessarily follow thereupon. It is
strange that nothing can be allowed in believers to be mourning for sin, unless they
mourn for it as unbelievers, as persons under the covenant of works, who doubtless
are under the curse and condemnation for their sin. Gal. iii. 10. But "as our obe-
dience now is not the performance, so our sinning is not the violation of the condition
of the old covenant. Believers — their sins now, though transgressions of the law, are
not counted violations of the conditions of the covenant of works, under which they
are not." — Brown on Justification, chap. 15, p. 224. " If sense of sin be taken for
the unbelieving feeling of, and judging myself cast out of bis sight, and condemned ;
whereas yet I am in Christ, and it is God that justifies (me) ; who is he that shall
condemn?" (Rom. viii. 23,34.) we shall agree with Antinomiaos. This is indeed
the hasty sense of unbelief. Psalm xxxi. 22 ; John ii. 4. Hence let them be
rebuked, who say not that Christ in the gospel hath taken away this sense of sin." —
Rutherford on the Covenant, p. 222.
350 THE MARROW OF
that if you consider the law in this sense, then all these points fol-
low : according as you say our friend Antinomista hath endea-
voured to persuade you.
But if you consider the law, as it is the law of Christ, then
they do not so, but quite contrary. For as the law is the law of
Christ, it may be truly said, that a believer is under the law, and
not delivered from it ; according to that of the apostle, 1 Cor. ix.
21, " Being not without law to Grod, but under the law to Christ ;"
and according to that of the same apostle, Rom. iii. 31, " Do we
then make void the law through faith ? God forbid ! yea, (by faith)
we establish the law." And if a believer be under the law, and not
delivered from it, as it is the law of Christ, then if he sin, he doth
thereby transgress the law of Christ ; and hence I conceive it is that
the apostle John says, both concerning himself and other believers,
1 John i. 8, " If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us :" and so says the apostle James, chap. iii. 2,
" In many things we offend all." And if a believer transgress the
law of Christ, then doubtless he seeth it : for it is said, Prov. v. 21,
" That the ways of man are before the Lord, and he pondereth all
his goings :" and in Heb. iv. 13, it is said, " All 
TVNews
OpenLibrary