with the House of Israel and Judah after those Days Not saith he according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers at Sinai which was a Conditional Covenant For I will put my Laws into their Minds and Write them in their Hearts that is I will make such a Covenant with them as shall be wholly Free and Absolute Wherein as I do faithfully Engage that I will not Depart from them so neither shall they Depart from me For let Men talk what they will of an Universal Conditional Covenant of Grace If there be any such thing I am sure it is not that here intended For as there are no Conditions expressed whether in Jeremy or in Ezekiel or in the Apostle's Repetition thereof Hebrews the Eighth so they are all Actually Pardoned with whom this Covenant is made For this is all the Reason which God himself alledges why he would become their God and make them his People give them the knowledg of himself a New Heart and a New Spirit For saith he I will be Merciful to their Unrighteousness and their Sins and Iniquities will I remember no more Thus the New Covenant is a Promise of Pardon and Grace and of all those things which are contended to be the Conditions of it Nor is there any Condition implied which may alter the the nature of an Absolute Promise For in Jer. 31. whence the Form of this Covenant is taken all Objections are prevented Verse 36. For whereas it might have been said They for their Sins should be destroyed and so this Promise should not profit them it is added That they should be Restored and so the Promise is made good as sure as the Ordinances of Heaven the Course of Day and Night or the Tides of the Sea which I am sure depend upon no Conditions to be Performed by Men. When God tells them in Leviticus therefore If they Accept the Punishment of their Iniquities and their Uncircumcised Hearts be humbled c. It must of necessity be thus understood For if God should require this to be performed by us as an Antecedent Condition on our Parts without which we may expect no Mercy or Favour at his Hands we are like Eternally to fall short thereof It being as impossible for us to Humble our selves or to change the Temper of our own Hearts as for the Ethiopian to change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots Yea as for a Dead Man to Raise himself to Life And if none of these things can be done of our selves but they must be wrought in us by the Grace of the Covenant then how doth it appear that the New Covenant is a Conditional Covenant or that Faith and Repentance are required of us in point of Duty Antecedently to the Benefit of the Promise I know O Lord saith Jeremy that the Way of Man is not in himself It is not in Man that walketh to direct his steps So Ephraim Turn thou me and I shall be turned And then saith God shalt thou remember and be Ashamed and Confounded and never open thy Mouth any more because of thy Shame when thou shalt know that I am Pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done Ezek. 16. 60 61. c. So that God always prevents the Sinner with the Blessings of his Goodness and instead of expecting any Antecedent Conditions or Qualifications that should render us meet for his Grace 't is the Sovereign Fruit and Effect of his Free Grace alone which he hath expressed in his Holy Covenant that can make us Meet for himself or any Mercy he hath to bestow upon us I must tell you therefore Sir that you do exceedingly injure and wrong the Free Grace of God to Sinners in Jesus Christ when you tell me as you do in your following Discourse That there is something as an Act required of us in point of Duty which is Antecedent to the Benefit of the Promise If you mean that those things whether it be Faith Repentance or Gospel Humiliation though Absolutely Promised in the Covenant and wrought in us by the Grace of God are yet Duties indispensibly required of us in order unto the Participation or Enjoyment of the full end of the Covenant in Glory it is unquestionably true But if you intend that they are such a Condition of the Covenant as to be by us Performed Antecedently unto the Participation of any Grace Mercy or Benefit of it as your Words imply it is most untrue and not only contrary to Express Testimony of Scripture but Destructive of the Nature of the Covenant it self For if so Men must do all these things before they receive the Remission of Sins Yes then must Men Repent and Believe and Turn to God and yield Obedience to the Gospel whilst they are as yet Dead in Trespasses and in Sins Yes then must they do them whilst they are under the Law and the Curse of it For so are All Men whose Sins are not Pardoned But this is to make Obedience unto the Law and that to be performed by Men whilst under the Curse of it to be a Condition of Gospel Mercy which is to overthrow both the Law and the Gospel You will tell me it may be that on the other hand it will follow that Men are Pardoned before they do Believe But then you ought to consider First That the Communication and Donation of Faith unto us is an Effect of the same Grace whereby our Sins are Pardoned and they are both bestowed on us by vertue of the same Covenant Secondly That though the Application of Pardoning Mercy unto our Souls is in order of Nature consequent unto Believing yet in time they go together Thirdly That Faith is not required as a Condition in order to the Procuring of the Pardon of our Sins but only as a Necessary Means in order to the Receiving of it A Condition as a procuring cause plainly implies something of Merit by way of Condignity or Congruity whether it be more or less perfect or imperfect call it what you will But Faith comes under neither of these Notions being only a Necessary Means or as an Instrument which also must be wrought in us by the Grace of the Covenant whereby we Receive and Apply but cannot Procure the Mercy Promised In the next place then avoiding any further Discourses concerning the Pretended Absurdities and Self-contradictions which upon a diligent search Mr. Flavell supposes he hath found out in my forementioned Discourse which upon a due trial may be easily perceived to have been the bare Fiction of his own Imagination only I shall immediately Apply my self to what is more Substantial and will certainly tend far more to the Edification of the Intelligent Reader if any Light may be hereby struck out for his illumination and Instruction concerning the Three Grand Points we are now contending about And that is First Whether the Sinai Covenant was a Covenant of Works or a Covenant of Faith Secondly Whether the Covenant
this Grace he gave in Paul From all which it is evident that the principal Grace of the Covenant or God's putting his Laws in our Hearts which is influential to all the rest can depend on no condition on our Part. These things then being thus premised the Answer which I shall return unto the forementioned Argument is this First That it is evident that unto a full and compleat enjoyment of all the Promises of the Covenant Faith on our part from which Evangelical Repentance is inseparable is required But then it must withal be considered that these also are wrought in us given to us and bestowed upon us by vertue of that Promise and Grace of the Covenant that depends on no Condition in us which renders it wholly free and absolute from the Foundation to the Topstone thereof Whereas therefore you are pleased to tell me That there is something as an Act required of us in point of Duty which is Antecedent to the Benefit of the Promise If you intend hereby that Faith from which Evangelical Repentance and Good Works are inseparable is such a Condition of the Covenant as to be by us performed Antecedently unto the participation of any Grace Mercy or Benefit of it as your words imply for you admit of no Benefit from the Covenant till this be performed It is most untrue and as I have already told you 't is not onely contrary to the express Testimonies of Scripture but destructive of the Nature of the Covenant it self For if so Men must do all those things before they receive the Remission of Sins Yea while they are as yet dead in Trespasses and Sins Yea then must they do them whilst they are under the Law and the Curse of it For so are all Men whose Sins are not pardoned But this is to make Obedience unto the Law and that to be performed by Men whilst under the Curse of it to be a Condition of Gospel Mercy which is to overthrow both the Law and the Gospel How notoriously false and absurd is that Doctrin which asserteth the possibility of Believing without the efficacy of Supernatural Grace saith Mr. Flavell himself p. 395. of his forementioned Book entituled The method of Grace the desire of Self-sufficiency saith he was the ruin of Aadam and the conceit of Self-sufficiency is the ruin of multitudes of his Posterity This Doctrin saith he is not only contradictory to the current stream of Scripture Phil. 2. 13. 1 Jo. 1. 13. with many other Scriptures but it is also contradictory to the common Sense and Experience of Believers yet saith he the Pride of Nature will strive to maintain what Scripture and Experience plainly contradict and overthrow I shall need to make no other Descant upon these words of his but this If that Doctrin is notoriously false and absurd which asserteth the possibility of Believing without the efficacy of Supernatural Grace Then so is that Doctrin which asserteth that Faith is required of us in point of Duty antecedent to the benefit of the Promise Secondly If Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law and purchased Heaven and Happiness for Men as all true Protestants hitherto have taught then nothing can remain but to declare this to them to incline them to believe and accept it and to prescribe in what way and by what means they shall finally come to inherit Eternal Life To affirm therefore that Faith and Repentance are the Conditions of the New Covenant required of us in point of Duty antecedent to any Benefit of the Promise doth necessarily suppose that Christ hath not done all for us nor purchased a right to Life for any but onely made way that they may have it upon certain terms or as some say He hath merited that we might merit But the Conditions of the Covenant are not to be performed by the Head and Members both The Scriptures do assure us That when the fulness of 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 Gal. 4. 4. Christ therefore having in our stead performed the Conditions of Life there remains nothing but a Promise and the Obedience of Children as the Fruit and Effect thereof to them that believe in him together with means of obtaining the full possession which here we want Well but as under the Old Covenant Man was bid to do this and live So under this New Covenant he is commanded to Believe and live And as Death was threatened to the failure of Obedience to the Law So it is now threatened to the want of Faith under the Gospel Faith being the Condition on which the consequent Benefits of Life and Salvation are suspended Mar. 16. 15 16. Go preach the Gospel He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved He that believeth not shall be damned Jo. 3. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Life and he that believeth not shall not see Life Where Faith seemeth to be put into the room of perfect Obedience and therfore to be as proper a Condition of Life as that was So Rom. 10. 9. That if thou shalt consess with thy Mouth and believe in thine Heart thou shalt be saved Mat. 18. 3. Except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mar. 11. 26. But if ye forgive not neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you With multitudes more saith Mr. Flavell of such kind of Expressions which are all Conditional Particles inserted into the Grants of Benefits it being not possible to put words into a frame more lively expressive of a Condition than these are Reply First whereas it is supposed that Faith under the Gospel seemeth to be put into the room of Perfect Obedience unto the Law and therefore to be as proper a Condition of Life as that was This cannot be for as much as it is Christ's Perfect Obedience onely which is put into the room of ours to justify and save us as our own should have done had we been able to perform it And so his Sufferings take away the Curse which our Disobedience brought upon us Secondly It must also be observed that God having promised Salvation upon the account of his Sons satisfaction to all that come to him or believe in him Faith is therefore no other than a Coming Believing or Trusting in this Promise of God and so in the Righteousness of Christ exhibited in the Promise whereby it is applied unto us Wherefore Faith is not properly put into the room of Perfect Obedience nor doth it what Perfect Obedience was to do which was to be the Condition of Life For though that was to be our Righteousness under the Law yet it is evident that Faith on the other hand is appointed onely as an Instrument to receive and apply the Righteousness of Christ which is the alone matter of our Justification before God
a Covenant of Works in one Book and yet affirm all this concerning it in another Can you justly and truly say That the Law was not such in its first Institution as you there affirm concerning it Was the Law capable of being altered or changed in respect of its true and proper Nature and Institution by the Ignorance and Infidelity of Men Did not God himself in the first Promulgation of it pronounce a Curse upon the least transgression thereof You have told me with a great deal of Confidence That God promiseth Pardon on Repentance in the Sinai Covenant and yet you say in your forementioned Book That the Law admitted no Repentance Well how will you reconcile these two passages Why thus you have attempted the reconciling of them That as the Ignorance and Infidelity of Unregenerate Men had made it to themselves so it admitted of no Reepentance otherwise it did But Sir you know what the Apostle tells us Rom. 3. 3. What if some did not believe shall their unbelief make the Faith of God without effect So I may as justly say in our present Case What if some did not believe shall their Unbelief alter the true Nature and Property of the Law in respect of what it was in its Primitive Institution If it was a Covenant of Grace or a Life-giving Covenant a Covenant wherein God promised Pardon of Sin on Repentance as you affirm he did why then sure it is so still the ignorance or infidelity of Men cannot alter the Nature or property of God's Covenant especially so as to make it essentially different from what it was in its self The Lord deliver me from such Doctrins or Practices that naturally involve Men in such gross Absurdities But for your further conviction herein I desire you to cast your Eye upon what those worthy and learned Divines your Brethren that have set forth the second Volumn of Mr. Pool's Annotations upon the Bible who I know are Men of unquestionable credit and authority with you and those of your own Way I say I desire you to cast your Eye on what is affirmed by them upon 2. Cor. 3. 6 7. in confirmation of the Minor Proposition of my forementioned Argument Upon the 6 th vers their Note runs thus By the Letter here the Apostle understandeth the Law And the Law in opposition to the Gospel is called the Letter because it was onely a Revelation of the will of God concerning Man's Duty No Revelation of God's Grace either in pardoning Men their omissions of Duty and doing Acts contrary to Duty or assisting Men to the performance of their Duty For the Letter of the Law killeth The Law sheweth Men their Duty Accuseth Condemneth and Denounceth the wrath of God against Men for not doing their Duty but gives no strength for the doing of it But the Gospel giveth life c. Where you may observe that your Brethren come up fully to your own Notions about the Law expressed in your forementioned Book But do they give the same Reasons for all this as you do that this was onely because the Jews had Perverted it or as the Ignorance and Infidelity of unregenerate Men had made it to themselves No for that would have been the way to have overthrown all they had said before and to have contradicted themselves as well as the truth of God which lay so plainly before them in the Scripture they were now opening Nor do you your self give the least hint to this purpose in your forementioned Book For it would never have gone down with any shadow of truth or with any kind of coherence in Respect of the foregoing and following Passages you are there insisting on But I must yet further confront you with the testimony of your worthy Bretheren before mentioned in their Annotations upon vers 7. of the forementioned 2. Cor. 3. For if the ministration of Death written and ingraven in stones was glorious c. In the former verse say they He had called the Law the Letter And the Gospel in opposition to it he had called the Spirit Here he calleth the ministration of the Law the ministration of Death because it onely shewed Man his Duty or things to be done but gave no strength or help by which he should do them Onely cursing Man but shewing him no way how he should escape that curse So it did kill Men and lead them to Eternal Death and Condemnation without shewing them any means of Life and Salvation And if any Man can speak more full at home to the Point in the Description of the Law as a pure Covenant of Works let him do it if he can For my part I cannot And if according to this their Description and character by them here given of the Law as to the true and real nature of it there is yet in your opinion any Room left for such an Evasion as that of yours before mentioned is That thus it was onely as the ignorance and infidelity of unregenerate Men had made it to themselves I may justly say of such as are so minded as hath been often said upon like occasions Qui vult decipi decipiatur He that will be deceived let him be deceived I have enâ—…ured you see with all my might to undeceive you If you will not the fault shall be yours and not mine But I must remember that I have not onely to prove in the general that the Law is a Covenant of Works but that it is the same for substance with Adam's Covenant Now you your self would formerly allow me whatever you will do now that the Sinai Covenant was the same with Adam's Covenant materially considered but that intentionally it was vastly different And gave your Reasons Those Reasons I have Answered in my former Discourse where I have already proved that it was the same with Adam's Covenant in both Respects that is intentionally as well as materially considered For as much as God never designed that Adam himself should attain unto life and righteousness by his obedience to that Covenant no more than he did that the Jews should in respect of the Sinai Covenant The Argument is there plainly stated and needs not here to be repeated Nor have you returned me any the least Reply thereunto Nor indeed unto my Answers to the rest of your Arguments upon that Head where this very Point that the Law was the same for Substance with Adam's Covenant is sufficiently discussed as hath been before noted Upon the whole I shall now last of all Appeal unto the late worthy Dr. Owen that famous and Blessed Servant of Christ in his Generation who being dead his Works yet speak for him and will preserve him a Blessed Savour among all that truely fear God I say I shall now last of all Appeal unto him whom I know you and those of your way have a just Respect and Veneration for whether the Sinai Covenant was the same for substance with Adam's Covenant or not Now
this Question he hath plainly resolved in that late excellent and judicious Discourse of his Entituled The Doctrin of Justification by Imputed Righteousness p. 397. His words are these The whole entire nature of the Covenant of Works consisted in this that upon our Personal obedience unto the Law and the Rule of it we should be accepted with God and rewarded by him Herein the Essence of it did consist And whatever Covenant proceeds on these terms or hath the nature of them in it however it may be varied with Additions or Alterations is the same Covenant still and not another As in the Renovation of the Promise wherein the Essence of the Covenant of Grace was contained God did oftimes make other Additions unto it unto Abraham and David yet was it still the same Covenant for the Substance of it and not another so whatever variations may be made in or Additions unto the Dispensation of the first Covenant So long as this Rule is retained Do this and live It is still the same Covenant for the Substance and Essence of it I can add no more after so worthy a Sentence from so worthy a Person backt with so much Reason and Scripture Authority for the confirmation of the present Point And whether this was not the nature of the Sinai Covenant as the Dr. hath now stated it let all Men who have perused the Scriptures Judg. My Third Argument is this Argum. 3. That Covenant that Admitted not of Faith in the Redeemer nor Repentance of Sin since Pardon of Sin and Curse for Sin are Inconsistent could not be a Covenant of Faith but must of necessity be a Covenant of Works Yea the very same for substance and of the same stamp with that made with Adam himself But the Scripture doth assure us that such was the Nature of the Sinai Covenant Ergo That the Sinai Covenant Admitted not of Faith in the Redeemer is Evident since it Admitted not of Repentance of Sin It will be easily granted that the Doctrin of Christ was a Doctrin of Repentance This was the Doctrin of his Harbinger John the Baptist Matth. 3. 2. Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand So Mark 1. 4. He came Preaching the Baptism of Repentance for the Remission of Sins And accordingly we are told concerning the Redeemer himself that God hath Exalted him with his own Right-hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance to Israel and the Forgiveness of Sins Acts 5. 31. Now that the Sinai Covenant Admitted not Repentance of Sin is as Evident since Pardon of Sin and Curse for Sin are Inconsistent For the Scripture doth Expressly assure us that 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 Gal. 3. 10. which the Apostle quoteth from Deut. 27. 26. And hereunto Mr. Flavell himself gives a full Testimony in that forementioned Passage of his And if he will not stand to what he hath there Asserted but will needs shift it off by vain and groundless Distinctions his Worthy Brethren in their forementioned Annotations shall Confront him and Re-inforce the Truth which he hath there Asserted when they tell us upon 2 Cor. 3. 6. That the Law was only a Revelation of the Will of God concerning Man's Duty No Revelation of God's Grace either in Pardoning Men their Omissions of Duty doing Acts contrary to Duty or assisting Men to the Performance of their Duty So on the 7 th Verse The Law only Cursed Man shewed him no way how he should escape that Curse It Killed Men and led them to Eternal Death and Condemnation without shewing them any means of Life and Salvation The like they tell us upon Gal. 3. 10 12. where the Apostle tells us that that the Law is not of Faith but the Man that doth these things shall Live in them Their Note upon which is this The Law say they saith nothing of Faith in the Mediator Though Faith in God be commanded in the first Precept yet Faith in Christ is not commanded by the Law as that by which the Soul shall live For that which the Law saith is Do this and Live Or the Man that doth the things contained in the Law shall live in them Life in the Law is promised to those that do the things which it requireth not to them who having failed in their performances yet accept of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer which God hath sent and believe in him who justifieth the Ungodly And if all this be so that the Law admitted not of Faith in the Redeemer nor Repentance of Sin then let all Men judge whether my forementioned conclusion be not fully proved that the Law could be no other than a Covenant of Works yea the very same for Substance with Adam's Covenant Argum. 4. That Covenant that had not Christ for the Mediatour of it could never be a Covenant of Faith but of Works yea the same for Substance with Adam's Covenant But the Apostle speaking of the legal Covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai tells us that Christ hath obtained a more excellent Ministry viz. than that of Moses by how much also he is the Mediatour of a better Testament which was established upon better Promises Heb. 8. 6 7 8 9. From whence it plainly follows that Christ was not the Mediatour of the Sinai Covenant Therefore that Covenant could never be a Covenant of Faith but of Works yea the same for Substance with that made with Adam himself Argum. 5. That Covenant that was not confirmed by the Blood of Christ which alone can cleanse us from all unrighteousness but onely by the Blood of Bulls Goats and Calves and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean which onely sanctified to the purifying of the Flesh and could never take away Sins nor make him that did the Service perfect as pertaining to the conscience Could not be a Covenant of Faith but of Works the same for Substance with Adam's Covenant But the Ceremonial Law was of this Nature and the Sacrifices thereof wherewith alone it was dedicated Heb. 9. 9 10 11 12 13 14. chap. 10. 1 2 3 4. c. Therefore that Covenant could not possibly be a Covenant of Faith but of Works yea the same for Substance with Adam's Covenant Argum. 6. That Covenant that was not confirmed by the Blood of Christ no nor so much as by the Blood of Bulls or Goats or Calves could never be a Covenant of Faith but of Works yea the same for Sustance with Adam's Covenant But the Law written in Stones was so far from being confirmed by the Blood of Christ that it was never that we read of dedicated with any other sort of Blood whatsoever Ergo But there are 3. Scriptures from whence you will needs conclude that the Sinai Covenant is a Gospel
absolutely Free and Sovereign is received there is an Order 't is true which for the most part God Observeth in the Communication of ensuing Graces and Priviledges namely that Faith and Obedience shall Precede the Increase and Inlargement of them Thus it was with Abraham in the Instance before us who received this last great signal Promise and Priviledg Gen. 22. upon that signal Act of his Faith and Obedience in Offering up his Son upon God's Command But yet nevertheless In the first place 't is Evident that the Gospel Covenant in the First Discovery thereof is wholly Free and Absolute So it was to Abraham Gen. 12. 2 3. where there is no such Obligation laid upon Abraham to walk before God and to be Perfect as you Affirm there was which nevertheless you Insinuate was the Condition or Qualification then required of him in order to his Participation of the Gospel Mercies there Promised him If God had indeed there told Abraham as you suggest he did That he would Bless him and make him a Blessing c. provided he walked before God and was Perfect Then it had been a Covenant of Works as much as the Covenant of Circumcision was which obliged both Him and His to do the whole Law But as I have already told you there is nothing of that Nature there to be found God only tells him Vers. 1. Get thee out of thy Country and from thy Kindred and from thy Father's House unto a Land that I will shew thee and I will make of thee a great Nation and I will Bless thee c. which is far from that Perfection which you say God there Obliged him to 'T is true afterward this charge was laid upon him Gen. 17. 1. I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou Perfect For God requireth many things of them whom he Actually takes into Covenant and makes Partakers of the Promises and Benefits of it Of this Nature is that whole Obedience which is prescribed unto us in the Gospel in our walking before God in Uprightness There being an Order in the things that belong hereunto Some Acts Duties and Parts of our Gracious Obedience being appointed to be Means of the further Additional Supplies of the Grace and Mercies of the Covenant Of this Nature is that General Obligation here laid upon Abraham Gen. 17. 1. Walk before me and be thou Perfect and hereunto also appertaineth that famous Act of his Obedience mentioned Gen. 22. 16 17. But then it follows not that the Gospel Covenant is a Conditional Covenant For as it is wholly Free and Absolute in the First Discovery thereof so it is as Free and Absolute still From the Foundation to the Topstone thereof 't is all of the same Piece And the Reason is because whatever Duties God requireth of us in order to the Enjoyment of the full end of the Covenant in Glory yet even those Duties or Acts of Obedience which God thus requireth of us must be Performed by us if they be Performed aright in and by vertue of the First Grace of the Covenant already received Col. 2. 6 7. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him Rooted and Built up in him and stablished in the Faith as ye have been Taught So likewise Gal. 3. 2 3. This only would I Learn of you Received ye the Spirit by the Works of the Law or by the Hearing of Faith Are ye so Foolish having begun in the Spirit are ye now made Perfect by the Flesh which First Grace of the Covenant must therefore also be continued and Renewed upon us Day by Day Else we shall certainly Faint and Perish in our own Corruption at last 2 Cor. 4. 16. Psal. 36. 10. In this respect it is Evident that the Gospel Covenant is so far from being at all Conditional that it is expressed in the Nature and Form of a Promise throughout the Scripture Thus it was to our First Parents soon after the Fall a Promise that the Seed of the Woman should overcome the Devil and his Seed No Terms no Conditions added but a bare Declaration of a Way of Mercy to their Dejected Self-condemned Consciences Next when the Covenant was Revealed to Abraham Gen. 12. 2 3. It is a Formal Absolute Promise that God would Bless him and all Nations in his Seed And ever after it is called the Promise made to Abraham which Israel waited to see accomplished And so the Apostle stiles it in the forementioned Heb. 6. 13. when God made Promise to Abraham saying Surely in Blessing I will Bless thee c. And accordingly the Apostle Gal. 3. 18. affirms that the Inheritance was given to Abraham by Promise and not by Law For saith he If the Inheritance be of the Law it is no more of Promise but God gave it to Abraham by Promise which clearly Argues the Absoluteness of this Gospel Covenant For wherein differs the Law from a Free Promise but that the one is Conditional the other Absolute the one Promiseth Life upon Condition of Obedience the other without Money and without Price The like doth the same Apostle tell us Rom. 4. 13 14 15 16. 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 Righteousness of Faith For if they which are of the Law be Heirs Faith is made void and the Promise made of none Effect And why Because the Law worketh Wrath. And how doth the Law work Wrath Why as it is a Conditional Covenant wherein alone it is opposed unto the Promise which is Free and Absolute For as the Apostle rightly adds Where no Law is there is no Transgression that is where no Conditions are added there can be no Violation or Breach of Covenant And consequently It is therefore of Faith that it might be by Grace to the end the Promise might be sure to all the Seed which else it could not be For if any Conditions be added though never so mild and gentle we are still in hazard Nay had it been so it would have rendred the Gospel Covenant worse then that made with Adam himself Since we have now no strength to Obey nor Power to fulfil these Conditions though in the least or lowest degree no not so much as to a thought So Paul acknowledgeth of himself and that even after his acquaintance with New Covenant Mercy 2 Cor. 3. 5. Not saith he that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves whereas Adam was furnished with a Capacity sufficient for the discharge of the most Perfect Obedience And if you say that God requireth nothing of us but what he giveth Strength and Grace to Perform having Promised to put his Laws in our Hearts c. This doth but so much the more clearly Evince the Absoluteness of the Gospel Covenant Since the Gospel Promise can depend on no Condition on our part For as I
himselâ—… as you do the Case had been clear on your part but for you to impose your Conceits as of equal validity with Scripture Dictates 't is not to be endured If the Work-man'â—… hand were his Rule 't is certain he could never Erre in Working And if your Glosseâ—… were as Authentick as the Text you coulâ—… never Erre in the Interpretation But ' tiâ—… well we have a more sure word of Prophesy to Rely upon than your bare Ipse dixits oâ—… Arbitrary Dictates I now come to your fourth and last Argument whereby you pretend to prove that the Covenant of Circumcision could be no Covenant of Works which I find thus formed Printed Reply pag. 55. Argum. 4. That which teacheth Man the corruption of his nature by Sin and the mortification of Sin by the Spirit of Christ cannot be a condition of the Covenant of Works But so did Circumcision that in the direct and Primary end of it Ergo. Reply By way of Answer hereunto I shall need onely to tell you that you must first prove the Law or Sinai Covenant to be no Covenant of Works but a Gospel Covenant before you can prove the Covenant of Circumcision to be such by this Argument Since there were many things belonging to the Law as the Passeover and several other Sacrifices wherewith that Covenant was dedicated besides many other Types which were annexed as Appendages unto the Legal Administration under which were vailed many Spiritual Mysteries relating to Christ the true and onely Sacrifice as also concerning the Mortification of Sin by the Grace and Spirit of Christ Which yet do not therefore prove it to be a Gospel Covenant as hath been already declared and made Evident in my foregoing Discourse upon that Subject which when I see Substantially refuted I will then grant with you that the present Argument is convincing to the end for which it is Designed SECT IV. I Shall in the next place therefore proceed unto the third Point and that is concerning the Conditionality of the New Covenant In reference whereunto that Notion of yours that there is in it something as an Act required of us in point of Duty which is Antecedent to the Benefit of the Promese I have already Examined and Discussed in my foregoing Discourse which needs not here to be repeated Your first Argument for the proof whereof runs thus Printed Reply p. 65. Argum. 1. If we cannot be Justified or Saved till we believe then Faith is the Condition on which these consequent Benefits are suspended But we cannot be Justified or Saved till we believe Ergo. Reply Before I give a direct Answer to the present Argument there are some things necessary to be Premised in order thereunto In the first place then as to what concerns the Quality of the New Covenant whereof we are now to treat whether it is wholly Free and Absolute or Conditional It ought to be duely observed that in the Account or Description that is given us thereof both by Jeremy and the Author to the Hebrews Jer. 31. Heb. 8. it is too evident to be justly deny'd but that the whole of the New Covenant is there expressed For if it were otherwise it could not be proved thence that this Covenat was more excellent than the former especially as to Security that the Covenant Relation between God and that People should not be broken or disannulled For this is the principal thing which the Apostle designs to prove Heb. 8. where the New Covenant is for this very purpose industriously and punctually recited and compared with the Old The want of a due observation whereof hath led many out of the way in their Exposition of it If therefore this be not an entire Description of the Covenant there might yet be something reserved essentially belonging thereunto which might frustrate the End For some such Conditions might yet be required in it as we are not able to observe or could have no security that we should abide in the observation of them and thereon this Covenant might be frustrated of its End as well as the former which is directly contrary unto God's Declaration of his Design in it Secondly It is evident that there can be no Codition previously required unto our entring into our participation of the Benefits of this Covenant Antecedent unto the making of it with us For none think there can be any such with respect unto its Original Constitution nor can there be so in respect of its making with us For first this would render this Covenant Inferiour in a way of Grace unto that which God made with the People at Sinai For he declares that there was not any thing in them that moved him either to make that Covenant or to take them into it with himself Every where he asserts this to be an Act of his meer Grace and Favour Yea he frequently declares that he took them into that Covenant not onely without Respect unto any thing of good in them but although they were evil and stubborn See Deut. 7. 7 8. chap. 9. 4 5. Secondly It is contrary unto the Nature Ends and Express Properties of this New Covenant for there is nothing that can be thought or supposed to be such a Condition but it is comprehended in the Promise of the Covenant it self For all that God requireth in us is proposed as that which himself will effect by vertue of this Covenant Thirdly Though there is nothing that can be thought or supposed to be such a Condition of the Covenant but it is comprehended in the Promise of the Covenant it self yet it is certain that in the outward Dispensation thereof wherein the Grace and Mercy of it is proposed unto us many things are required of us in order unto a Participation or Enjoyment of the full End of the Covenant in Glory For God hath ordained that the full extent of that Grace and Mercy that is prepared in it shall be communicated unto us ordinarily in the use of outward means wherewith a Compliance is required of us in a way of Duty To this end hath he appointed all the Ordinances of the Gospel his Word and positive Institutions with all those Duties publick and private which are needful to render them effectual to us For he expects the Service of the Rational Faculties of our Natures that he may be glorified in them and by them which yet cannot be properly called Conditions of the Covenant For Frst God doth work the Grace of the Covenant and communicate the Mercy of it antecedently unto all Ability for the performance of any such Duty Secondly Amongst those who are equally diligent in the performance of the Duties intended he makes a Discrimination preferring one before another Many are called but few are chosen And what hath any Man that he hath not received Thirdly He actually takes some into the Grace of the Covenant whilst they are engaged in an opposition unto the outward dispensation of it An Example of
For indeed Faith it self is not our Righteousness as it would be if it were as you affirm it is the Condition of the New Covenant and that as an Act or Work required of us in point of Duty antecedent to the Benefit of the Promise For that would be to make an Act or Work of our own to be the formal matter of our Justification before God but this it is not it being only designed as an Instrument to receive and apply the Righteousness of another Even that wrought in the person of Christ for us which is wholly distinct from our own or any thing wrought in us or done by us Phil. 3. 9. Tit. 3. 5. You tell us indeed in your forementioned Book Entitled The Method of Grace P. 133 134. That though Faith is a Condition of the Covenant yet you cannot allow that it Justifies as a Condition And why Because as you there also tell us you cannot see according to this Opinion any Reason why Repentance may not as properly be said to Justifie as well as Faith For say you there Repentance is a Condition of the New Covenant as much as Faith And say you If Faith justify as a Condition then not onely Repentance but every other Grace that is a Condition must justify as well as Faith And say I 't is very true If Faith is a Condition of the New Covenant Repentance is a Condition as much as that and so are all other Graces Conditions of the New Covenant as well as Faith and Repentance This cannot be avoided And if all these are the Conditions of the New Covenant why they should not justify as Conditions I see not nor I think you nor any Man else For you give no other Reason why you cannot allow that Faith justifies as a Condition but that this will necessarily bring in Repentance and all other Graces to justify as Conditions also as well as Faith as indeed it doth Since whatsoever is the Condition of the New Covenant must needs be the Condition of our Justification For this is too evident to be justly denied but that as Perfect Obedience under the Law being the Condition of that Covenant was to have been the Condition of our justification before God had we been able to Perform it So after this Reckoning it is noless evident in reference to Faith Repentance and good Works under the Gospel also If therefore these must be ackdowledged to be the Conditions of the New Covenant the consequence is unavoidable that they are also the Conditions nay the very matter and ground of our acceptation before God And so at last in stead of making the Gospel Covenant to be a Covenant of Faith free and absolute we shall make it a plain Covenant of Works For what else maketh or wherein else consisteth the true Form or Nature of a a Covenant of Works but that Works whether perfect or imperfect be the Condition of it This being that alone that renders it essentially different from the Promise of Grace or the Gospel Covenant Thirdly It is true that Believing is Obedience to the Command of Believing that is it is the Act or thing Commanded and that in order to Salvation He that Believeth shall be saved He that Believeth not shall be Damned He that Believeth on the Son hath Life He that Believeth not shall not see Life But then it follows not that it is the Condition of the new Covenant A Physitian bids his Patient to trust himself with him and he will Cure him The Patient by trusting in him doth what is Required yet this is not the condition of his Cure but the means of accepting and using the Physitians Care and kindness We bid a poor Man hold forth his hand and we will give him an Alms. His holding out the hand is a Means to receive the Alms and so required by us not a Condition of our giving it though in so doing he doth what we bid him If one should say to a hungry Man there is Meat which shall be yours to live by it if you will eat it and digest it else not Who will call this a Condition Since it is the very Partaking of the Meat it self whereby a Man makes it his own If a Man redeem a Captive from Slavery and lays down the Price will any Man call his bare acceptance of Liberty the Condition of his Ransom True it is that if he do not accept thereof he will never be freed But this is not therefore the Condition of his Ransom for that was performed by another hand So for a Father to say to one that he bestows his Daughter upon in Marriage Lo she is your Wife take her and Marry her This is not a Condition of her being his Wife as external to it but it is that very intrinsecal and essential Act whereby she becomes his and he her Husband Additional unto all which it ought to be duely observed that in all those foregoing instances there is to be supposed a Power or capacity in the Poor Sick or Hungry Man to receive the Alms make use of the Food or accept of the Physitians kindness and so in the rest But so there is not in us to believe being by nature Dead in Trespasses and in Sins and therefore utterly uncapeable to perform this supposed Condition unless the Power and and Vertue of the New Covenant Mercy be first set at Work to accomplish it in us From whence it is manifest that the New Covenant is wholly free and absolute Since Faith it self is the Fruit and therefore cannot be the Condition thereof As for that Scripture Mark 11. 26. But if ye for give not Men their Trespasses against you neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you with many other Scriptures that seem to require Repentance and good Works as the Conditions of Life and Salvation To this I Answer That it is true that the immediate causes of Salvation are those things which do prepare and dispose for the Possession of Heaven and the state of Happyness which is Sanctification For this is that that makes us meet to be Partarkers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light And without Holyness no Man shall see God But then it doth not therefore follow that the New Covenant is a Conditional Covenant It is the Law of the Land and the Fathers love that Entitles an Heir to the Inheritance Consequently these are not the Prime but remote Causes of his actual enjoying the inheritance when he comes of Age But the Immediate Causes of his Possession are his being of full Age and being of capacity to use it these giving Jus in Re the other Jus ad Rem Doth it therefore follow that the full Age and capacity of the Heir are Causes or Antecedent Conditions of his Title to the Estate Without these 't is true if he live not or lack understanding he cannot Inherit the Estate or come to the full enjoyment thereof though never so Absolutely
them under the Law or Sinai Covenant For with them all was that Covenant made and unâ—…er it they were Exod. 34. 27. Deut. 4 13. â—…h 27. 26. Yea they were absolutely under â—…t Gal. 5. 23. Before Faith came saith the Apostle we were kept under the Law shut up â—…nto the Faith which should afterward be revealâ—…d So Gal 4. 4 5. When the fulness of time was â—…ome God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made â—…nder the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons And the Scriptures do equally assure us that as many as are under the Law they are under the Curse For it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them Gal. 3. 10. unto which all the People were to say Amen Deut. 27. 26 These things you cannot but acknowledge as being no other than plain Scripture Propositions when yet at the same time you must needs grant that all Gods Elect among that People were under a pure Covenant of Gospel Grace whereby they were saved Now either it was the same or they were two different Covenants that had these essentially different Properties If they were two then â—…ou grant my main Proposition that God's People were then under two distinct and Essentially different Covenants If you say it was the same then see what follows For if the whole Body of the Israelites then were as they were under the Law and consequently under its Curse Can a Man be under the Curse of the Law and yet at the same time and as the fruit of the same Covenant be under the Blessing of the Gospel Doth the same Fountain at the same time send forth bitter Waters and sweet Or is it possible that the same Covenant should at the same time be a Covenant of Faith in Christ Jesus when both God himself Moses and Paul do plainly represent it to us as a Covenant of Works requiring strict universal and perfect Obedience under pain of the Curse Condemnation and Death Indeed I cannot but wonder how you hold and hug a Principle that runs you naturally into such gross Absurdities For do you not see what follows from hence by unavoidable Consequence For according to this Principle you must hold that Moses and all Gods Elect People in Israel who were under that Covenant and with whom it was made must during their Life hang midway between Justification and Condemnation and after Death between Heaven and Hell This you charge upon my Doctrin but do you not see that the same thundring Canon Limbus Patrum Pargatory and the like which with such a full Mouth you discharge at me comes thundring back again upon your self Yea do you not see that the very same Absurdities are far more justly and truly chargeable on your Doctrin than on mine For it may be reasonably concluded according to my Principles that how harsh or dreadful soever the Terms or Conditions of the Legal Covenant were to those that were under it as Moses and the whole Body of the Israelites then were yet the Grace of the Gospel Covenant far superseded and was by far more Victorious Powerful and Efficatious For as the Law entered that the offence might abound so saith the Apostle where Sin hath abounded Grace did much more abound And if by one man's offence death reigned by oue much more they which receive abundance of Grace and of the gift of Righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ Rom. 5. 17. 20. But what shall relieve when those two opposite and quite contrary conditions Faith and Works and the consequent fruits of either Justification and Condemnation shall be compriz'd or rather confounded together in one and the same Covenant Shall they fly from one part of the Covenant to the other from the Bitter Waters to the sweet Waters of the same Fountain for Relief This sounds harsh Is it not therefore much more congruous and suitable to Reason as well as also to the constant Analogy of the Christian Faith and Doctrin to affirm as Paul doth that these are the two Covenants and that the Sinner being scared with the dread and terrors of the Legal Covenant is forced thereby to have recourse unto the Gospel Covenant for succour which the Spirit of God hath assured us is of such a superabounding Nature for Comfort and Salvation above what the other contained for Death and Condemnation Besides God doth plainly tell the Israelites that he would remember his Covenant with them in the days of their youth I say His Covenant in opposition and contradistinction to their own before spoken of And then saith he thou shalt remember thy ways and be ashamed when thou shalt receive thy Sisters and I will give them to thee for Daughters but not by thy Covenant and I will establish my Covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord Ezek. 16. 60 61. Now what may we infer from hence but plainly this that there was a two fold Covenant betwixt God and Israel the one called theirs the other Gods yet both Gods Covenants the first was called theirs because they were required to perform the Conditions of it the one a Covenant of Works whereof Moses was the Mediatour wherein themselves were immediately concerned to procure their own Salvation by their own Duties of Obedience which was impossible which was the true nature of the Sinai Covenant Rom. 10. 5. Gal. 3. 10 12. The other a Covenant of Gospel Grace which is wholly free and absolute whereof Christ is the only Mediatour and Surety Rom. 10. 6 7 8 c. Heb. 8. 6 7 c. This is properly Gods Covenant and this is the Covenant saith God that I will establish In short the Scriptures do plainly assure us of two Covenants the Legal and the Gospel and that these two are essentially different in respect of the terms of Life propounded in either And the Scriptures do equally assure us that no man is justified by the Law in the sight of God This is evident saith the Apostle and why For the just shall live by Faith and the Law is not of Faith but the man that doth them shall livein them On the contrary you affirm that the Law is of Faith yea that it is a Covenant of Faith in Christ Jesus Now whomshall we believe whether Paul or you You affirm that the Sinai Covenant was purposely so dispensed as to tender Life and Happiness upon two opposite and contrary Conditions Works and Faith Perfect doing and believing The Apostle Paul on the other hand affirms That if it be by Grace then is it no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace and if it be of Works then is it no more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work So that we see the Scripture allows of no such mixture and shews us it is impossible that the same Covenant should
pure Covenant By way of Answer I must tell you that Abraham was required to be Circumcised by the Command of God as a token of the Covenant of Works he was pleased to make with him vers 7 8 9 10. And that even after the establishment of the formentioned Gospel Covenant ver 2 4. which how harsh or unlikely soever it may seem unto Mens Carnal Reason as if the latter must needs make void the former as you after tell me the Apostle will give a quite contrary Resolution of the present point Gal. 3. 17. And this I say that the Covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ the Law which was 430 years after cannot disannul that it should make the Promise of none effect The like whereunto may be as justly said in reference to the Covenant of Circumcision which God made with Abraham after the Confirmation and Establishment of the forementioned Gospel Covenant The latter doth not cannot disannul the former that it should make the Promise oâ—… none effect since the Grace of the one prevailed and did by far supersede the Force and Power of the other For so the Apostle himself resolves the Point in reference to the Law Rom. 5. 20. The Law entered saith he that Sin might abound But where Sin hath abounded Grace did much more abound Well but if there is something required as a Condition in the Covenant of Circumcision which quite alters the nature of that Covenant from the Gospel Covenant before spoken of so you should have stated the case but that I can meet with nothing but crookedness throughout the whole of your present Reasonings Tell me then say you why you say p. 223 that the Covenant made with Abraham Gen. 12. was a Gospel Covenant and yet there Abraham is obliged to walk before God and be Perfect Does not that also there alter the nature of the Covenant as well as here in the 17 th chapt Reply Something you would say though you know not what For the whole of your Reply is full of Mistakes and Mis-representations Sometimes nay twenty and twenty times over you Mis-represent my plain Words and Sense Here you mistake and Mis-represent the Scripture it self for in Genesis the Twelfth there is no such word there at all mentioned as an Obligation upon Abraham to walk before God and to be Perfect as you affirm there is nor any thing of that Nature And there being no such thing there expressed how can that alter the Nature of that Covenant from being a Gospel Covenant Which Proof failing you are so far to seek of a Material Advantage you thought you had against me Well but somewhere 't is if it be not in the 12 th of Gen. 't is in the 17 th And you also grant say you that the Covenant made with Abraham Gen. 22. was a pure Gospel Govenant Or if you deny it the Apostles proves it Heb. 6. 13. And yet there is more appearance of Respect to Abraham's Obedience in that Covenant tham is in submitting to Circumcision See Gen. 22. 16 17. By my self have I Sworn saith the Lord For because thou hast done this thing c. that in Blessing I will Bless thee and in Maltiplying I will Multiply thee Printed Reply P. 50. Reply It is Observable that the Apostle Heb. 6. 13. designing to give an Account and Commendation of the Faith and Obedience of Abraham sutable to his then present Discourse to the Hebrews calls not out that Grant of the Gospel Promise which was Preventing and Calling Antecedent unto all his Faith and Obedience and Communicative of all the Grace whereby he was enabled thereunto as it is Expressed Gen. 12. 1 2 3. But he takes it from that place where it was Renewed and Established unto him after he had given the last and greatest Evidence of his Faith Love and Obedience Gen. 22. 16 17 18. By my self have I Sworn saith the Lord For because thou hast done this thing and hast not with-held thy Son thine only Son that in Blessing I will Bless thee and in Multiplying I will Multiply thee and in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be Blessed which is a plain Rehearsal of those Absolute Gospel Promises of the same Nature that had been before made unto him Gen. 12. 2 3. In which respect it is also further Observable that even Abraham himself at the very time of his Call mentioned Gen. 12. seems to have been tainted with the common Idolatry which was then in the World This Account we have Josh. 24. 2 3. Your Fathers dwelt on the other side of the Flood in old time even Terah the Father of Abraham and the Father of Nachor and they Served other Gods And I took your Father Abraham from the other side of the Flood It is true the charge is Express against Terah only but it lying against their Fathers in general on the other side of the Flood Abraham seems to be Involved in the guilt of the same Sin whilst he was in his Fathers House and before his Call Nor is there any Account given of the least Preparation or Disposition in him unto the State and Duties which he was afterward brought into In this Condition God of his Sovereign Grace first calls him to the saving Knowledg himself and by degrees Accumulates him with all the Favours and Priviledges afterward Conferred on him From hence in the close of his whole Course he had no Cause to glory in himself neither before God nor Men Rom. 4. 2. For he had nothing but what he Gratiously Received Indeed there were distances of time in the Collation of several distinct Mercies and Blessings on him and he still through the supplies of Grace which he received under every Mercy so deported himself as that he might not be unmeet to receive succeeding Mercies Which is the constant Method of God's Communicating his Grace to Sinners His first Call and Conversion of them is Absolutely Gratious He hath no no Consideration of any thing in them that should induce him thereunto Neither is there any thing required unto a Condecency herein God takes Men as he pleaseth some in Condition and Posture of Mind some in another some in an open course of Sin and some in the execution of a particular Sin as Paul and he indeed at the Instant of his Call was under the Active Power of Two of the greatest hinderances unto Conversion that the Heart of Man is Obnoxious unto For first he was Zealous above measure of the Righteousness of the Law seeking earnestly for Life and Salvation by it and then he was Actually Engaged in the Prosecution of the Saints of God Those Two Qualifications Constant Resting in Legal Righteousness with Rage and Madness in Persecution than which there are not out of Hell more Adverse Principles unto it were all the Preparations of that Apostle unto Converting Grace But after that this Grace which in the First Discovery thereof is
Purchased But none will say they are therefore Antecedent Conditions of his Title or Interest therein it being plain that Life and Discretion are not Conditions of the Purchase but Qualifications of the Subject necessary to enjoy it Sir you cannot be ignorant of Bernard's famous speech concerning good Works Sunt via Regni non Causa Regnandi They are the way to the Kingdom not the Cause of Reigning I know it is usual with many besides your self to call them Conditions of Life But Dr. Ames gives a Distinction which might fairly end all this Controversy To require Conditions saith he as the Causes of our Right to Life is proper to the Law But to require them as Concomitants or Effects of what God hath Promised and the Actual Bestowing it is agreable to the most mild Kingdom of Grace If it be said God cannot forgive Sin till Man resolves to leave it and so Repentance must be before forgiveness I Answer this is untrue as is evident in Infants And as for the Adult It is true God cannot Pardon Sin and suffer Men to go on in Sin but it is sufficient that he Pardoneth and together with Forgiveness he giveth a Heart to Repent and obey And Faith it self which apprehendeth Pardon doth implicitely contain Repentance and all other Graces Forasmuch as unfeigned flying to and Trusting in the Mercy of God for Pardon and Eternal Life is a turning of the Heart to God and Spiritual things and doth naturally dispose the Heart to use all the Means which God hath Prescribed for the Obtaining of his Kingdom The same Answer is to be given to those Scriptures that require Men to Forgive their Enemies and if they do not Forgive neither shall they be Forgiven For First This doth at the most but shew that Christians must be Merciful and disposed to Forgive as they expect Mercy and Forgiveness from God But it proveth not that a Man is not Forgiven or Justified till he doth actually Forgive all Enemies at least in Purpose much-less that it is a Condition of his being Reconciled to God For Secondly The Scripture supposeth a Man to be first Forgiven and maketh that an Argument to incline him to Forgive others Eph. 4. 32. Forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake forgave you And this is the Scope of that Parable Mat. 18. 23 24 c. The Servant is himself first Forgiven and therefore it was Judged meet that he should Forgive his Fellow Servant vers 32 33. Thus much by way of Answer to your first Argument whereby you pretend to have proved the Conditionality of the New Covenant your second follows Argum. 2. If God's Covenant with Abraham Gen. 12. 2 3. and that Gen. 17. 2 3. were as you say pure Gospel Covenants of Grace and yet in both some things are required as Duties on Abraham's part to make him Partaker of the Benefits of the Promises then the Covenant of Grace is not Absolute but Conditional But so it was in both these Covenants Ergo Reply This Argument I have already dispatcht in my Answer to your third Argument upon the former Head in reference to the Covenant of Circumcision And therefore I need say nothing to it here I shall accordingly proceed to your third Argument whereby you labour to prove the Conditionality of the new Covenant which runs thus Printed Reply pag. 69. Argum. 3. If all the Promises of the Gospel be Absolute and Unconditional requiring no Restipulation from Man then they cannot properly and truly belong to the New Covenant But they do properly and truly belong to the New Covenant Therefore they are not all Absolute and Unconditional Reply That the New Covenant is wholly Free and Absolute I have already Proved by way of Answer to your foregoing Argument there being noCondition at all Annexed thereunto neither in Jeremy nor in the Apostles Recital thereof Heb. 8. In respect whereof your present Argument might more justly and truly have been thus formed If all the Promises of the Gospel do properly and truly belong to the New Covenant then they must needs be absolute and unconditional as that was But they properly and truly belong to the New Covenant therefore they are all absolute and unconditional as that was The sequel of the Major say you is only liable to doubt or denial namely That the absoluteness of all the Promises of the New Testament cuts off their relation to a Covenant You should have said That the Absoluteness of all the Promises of the Gospel cuts off their relation to the New Covenant according to the scope of your forementioned Argument if you had kept close to that And then you must have examined the New Covenant and have compared the Promises of the Gospel therewith But you knew well enough that there are no Conditions annexed to the New Covenant whether in Jer. 31. or in Heb. 8. the consideration whereof it may be startled you off when you came to prove the Sequel of your Major from that expression of the New Covenant to their relation to a Covenant in general That the absoluteness of all the Promises in the New Testament cuts off their relation to a Covenant This by the way looks with no good Countenance and â—…s indeed no other than a plain Shuffle But to proceed And that it doth so say you no Man can deny that understands the difference betwixt a Covenant and an Absolute Promise A Covenant is a mutual Compact or Agreement betwixt Parties in which they bind each other to the performance of what they Respectively promise So that there can be no proper Covenant where there is not a Restipulation or Re-obligation on one part as well as a Promise on the other But an absolute Promise binds onely one Party and leaves the other wholly free and un-obliged to any thing in order to the enjoyment of the Good promised So then if all the New Testament Promises be Unconditional and Absolute they are not part of a Covenant nor must that word be applied to them they are Absolvte Promises binding no Man to whom they are made to any Duty in order to the enjoyment of the Mercies promised But those Persons that are under these Absolute Promises must and shall enjoy the Mercies of Pardon and Salvation whether they Repent or Repent not Believe or Believe not Obey or Obey not Reply You might have added Although God hath therein promised to put his Laws in our Hearts and his Fear in our inward parts and that as he will not depart from us So neither shall we depart from him But that this would have marred and overthrown all your foregoing Discourse For these are the Promises of the New Covenant as well as the Mercies of Pardon and Salvation Nay therefore God hath promised to put his Laws in our Hearts and to write them in our Minds because he will freely pardon our Sins Now if our Sins are freely pardoned and if in the self same Covenant God
hath also freely promised to write his Laws in our Minds and put them into our Hearts that we might thereby be made meet for himself and the enjoment of himself in Glory Where lies the ground of your Inference thrt those persons that are under those absolute Promises must and shall enjoy the Mercies of Pardon and Salvation whether they Repent or Repent not Believe or Believe not Obey or Obey not May you take to your self a liberty think you to say what you please right or wrong so you may render odious the Principles of such a Diffent from you Will you make the Promises of God to be of none effect Hath he spoken it and will he not peaform it Or will he alter the thing that is gone out of his Lips that he will write his Laws in the Hearts of those whose Sins he pardoneth But say you the Absoluteness of the Promises cuts off their relation to a Covenant And this no Man can deny that understands the difference betwixt a Covenant and an Absolute Promise Reply Sir to this Opinion of yours I shall only oppose the Judgment of that Accute and Learned Divine whom I know you greatly Respect and Reverence the late worthy Dr. Owen in his Third Volume upon the Epistle to the Hebrews p. 267 268. The words he insisteth on are these Heb. 8. 10. For this is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will give my Laws into their Mind and write them upon their Hearts And I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People The thing promised in the Prophet saith the Dr. is a Covenant We render the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place by a Covenant though afterward the same word is translated by a Testament A Covenant properly is a Compact or Agreement on certain terms mutually stipulated by two or more Parties As Promises are the Foundation and Rise of it as it is between God and Man so it compriseth also Precepts or Laws of Obedience which are prescribed unto Man on his part to be observed But in the Description of the Covenant here annexed there is no mention of any Condition on the part of Man or any terms of Obedience which are prescribed unto him but the whole consists in free gratuitous Promises as we shall see in the Explication of it First The Word Berith used by the Prophet doth not only signifie a Covenant or Compact properly so called but a Free Gratuitous Promise also Yea sometimes it is used for such a Free Purpose of God with respect unto other things which in their own Nature are uncapable of being obliged by any Moral Condition Such is God's Covenant with Day and Night Jer. 33. 20 25. And so he says that he made his Covenant not to Destroy the World by Water any more with every living Creature Gen. 9. 10 11. Nothing therefore can be Argued for the Necessity of Conditions to belong unto this Covenant from the Name or Term whereby it is expressed in the Prophet A Covenant properly is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But there is no Word in the whole Hebrew Language of that Precise Signification The making of this Covenant is declared by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But yet neither doth this require a mutual stipulation upon Terms and Conditions prescribed unto an entrance into Covenant For it refers unto the Sacrifices wherewith Covenants were confirmed and it is applied unto a meer Gratuitous Promise Gen. 15. 18. In that Day did God make a Covenant with Abraham saying unto thy Seed will I give this Land As unto the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies a Covenant improperly Properly it is a Testamentary Disposition and this may be without any Conditions on the part of them unto whom any thing is Bequeathed Thus far the Doctor Now say you to what Licentiousness this Doctrin leads Men is Obvious to every Eye yet this Absoluteness of the Covenant as you improperly call it is by you Asserted c. In reference whereunto I shall only mind you of one Passage more of the same Worthy Person in his forementioned Discourse upon the Hebrews P. 15. It cannot be denied saith he but that some Men may and it is justly to be feared that some Men do abuse the Doctrin of the Gospel to Countenance themselves in a vain expectation of Mercy and Pardon whilst they willingly live in a course of Sin But as this in their management is the principal means of their Ruin So in the Righteous Judgment of God it will be the greatest Aggravation of their Condemnation And whereas some have charged the Preachers of Gospel Grace as those who thereby give Countenance unto this Presumption It is an Accusation that hath more of the Hatred of Grace in it than of the Love of Holiness For none do or can press the Relinquishment of Sin and Repentance of it upon such Assured Grounds and with such Cogent Arguments as those by whom the Grace of Jesus Christ in the Gospel is fully opened and declared I shall need to say no more upon this Head and shall therefore proceed to your Fourth Argument which I find thus stated Argum. 4. If all the Promises of the New Covenant be Absolute and Unconditional having no respct nor relation to any Grace wrought in us nor Duty done by us then the Trial of our Interest in Christ by Marks and Signs of Grace is not our Duty nor can we take Comfort in Sanctification as an Evidence of Justification But it is a Christian's Duty to try his Interest in Christ by Marks and Signs and he may take Comfort in Sanctification as an Evidence of Justification Ergo Reply After this rate you may Prove Quidlibet a Quolibet For doth it follow that because the New Covenant is Absolute therefore it hath no respect nor relation to any Grace wrought in us nor Duty done by us Or doth it follow that because we may justly take comfort in Sanctification as an Evidence of Justification that therefore the New Covenant is Conditional Pray Sir make it out For as yet you have not how this conclusion is naturally deducible from such Premises May not the Grace of God in the New Covenant be wholly Free and Absolute as it is from the very Foundation to the Top-stone thereof when yet we may justly take comfort in those Gracious Operations of the Spirit in us which are brought forth as the Fruit of the Divine Grace so revealed unto us and that as an Evidence of our Interest in him As for the Antinomian Slurs which upon this occasion you are pleased so liberally to reflect upon me in the following part of your Discourse upon this Head I must tell you that I know none that deserve that Character but such as refuse to come under the sweet and easie Yoak of Christ renouncing their Duty to God in Obedience
considered that a Covenant may be one and the same Covenant for substance though often repeated And that thus stood the Case in respect of the Three formentioned Covenants that at Sinai that in the Land of Moab and that with Abraham is evident For first if you compare Deut. 29. vers 2 3 9. with Exod. 19. 4 5. you will find that this in the Land of Moab exactly agrees with the Sinai Covenant the Terms being exactly the same as well as also the Promises in both Covenants So that the Sense of Deut. 29. 1. can be no other than this These are the Words that is these are the Terms or Conditions upon which God hath made that is Renewed Covenant with you The Covenant at Horeb and this in the Land of Moab was but one in Substance though various in respect of the time or manner of Administration And indeed they were both the same for Substance with that made with Abraham also Gen. 17. 7. I will be a God to thee and to thy Seed after thee Thou shalt therefore keep my Covenant thou and thy Seed after thee So it was in the Sinai Covenant Ezod 19. 4 5. You have seen saith God what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bore you on Eagles Wings and brought you unto my self Now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my Covenant then ye shall be unto me a peculiar Treasure above all People So Deut. 29. 2 3 4 c. You have seen all that the Lord did before your Eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh and all his Servants and I have led you forty years in the Wilderness that ye might know that I am the Lord your God Vers. 9. Keep therefore the words of this Covenant and do them that ye may prosper in all that ye do You stand this day all of you before the Lord your God that thou shouldest enter into Covenant with the Lord thy God Vers. 12. That he may establish thee to day for a People unto himself and that he may be unto thee a God as he hath said unto thee and as he hath sworn unto thy Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob Vers. 13. So that here is no difference at all between the Covenant made with Abraham and that made with Israel at Mount Sinai and this with the same People in the Land of Moab also For we cannot but see that for Substance they do all of them exactly agree onely that at Mount Sinai was made with Israel at their first entrance into the Wilderness that in the Land of Moab about forty years after when they were just ready to enter Canaan For since the greatest part of the Generation were then dead with whom the Covenant was first made at Sinai God thought fit to renew it with their Successors in the Land of Moab additional unto or beside that Covenant Transaction that had passed between him and their Fathers at Sinai But say you it may be observed that the Sameness of some particular Good promised and Duties commanded in this Covenant established with Abraham and that made at Mount Sinai cannot justly be interpreted a Revelation from God that the Covenants are one and the same There may be observed say you an Indentity or Sameness both of Good promised and Duties commanded in the Covenant of Nature and the Covenant of Grace in sundry particulars and yet the Covenants are not only distinct but of quite different Natures and Tenours And who doubts say I but there may be observed an Indentity or Sameness of the Good promised in the Covenant of Nature and the Covenant of Grace and yet both these Covenants are not only distinct but of quite different Natures and Tenours the one being Absolute the other Conditional The one requiring perfect Obedience as the Condition of enjoying the Good therein contained The other promising to work that in us which before was required of us But it is evident that the forementioned Covenants did all of them exactly agree and that both in respect of the Good promised and Duties commanded also For they did all of them require Perfect Obedience as the Condition of obtaining the Mercies therein promised which may be justly interpreted as a Revelation from God that they are for the Substance of them one and the same there being no difference at all between them onely in the time and manner of their Administration And then where lies the ground of your Confidence when you say What can possibly be more plain Who can with any pretence of Divine Revelation question whether that Covenant made with Abraham Gen. 17. 7. be the Old Covenant or the same with that made at Sinai when the Lord himself denies that that Covenant made at Mount Sinai was made with Abraham but evidently and in plain words distinguishes the one from the other These are your groundless Triumphs And say you that which may yet further confirm us is that the Scriptures every where speak of the Covenant made with Abraham in the Singular Number and no where give the least Intimation that there were two Covenants the one of which can possibly be supposed to be the Covenant of Grace and the other the Old Covenant These Arguments say you are so plain that nothing can be rationally Reply'd No! say I doth not the Apostle plainly tell you that there were Two Covenants the one the Covenant of Grace the other the Old Covenant and that upon this very occasion and in reference to Abraham himself Gal. 4. 22. c. For it is written saith he that Abraham had two Sons the one by a Bondmaid the other by a Freewoman But he who was of the Bondwoman was born after the Flesh but he of the Freewoman was by Promise Which things are an Allegory For these are the two Covenants the one from Mount Sinai which gendereth to Bondage the other answereth to Jerusalem that is above and is free which is the Mother of us all Now I pray Sir consider Doth not the Apostle here plainly tell you that there were two Covenants the one a Legal Bondage Covenant the other a Covenant of Gospel Liberty and Freedom the one a Covenant of Works the other of Grace under the Allegory of Hagar and Sarah Ishmael and Isaac And was this Prophetical Instance brought forth in Abraham's Family shewing the Nature and Method of God's future Dispensations towards his Off-spring without any respect unto Abraham himself Had he not two Sons the one by a Bond-maid the other by a Free-woman And did not this serve to represent unto him the different Nature of the two Covenants that had been before made with Himself as well as of the two fold Covenant God intended to make with his Seed after him That God intended to make a two fold Covenant with his Seed after him is evident for what else is the meaning of the two Covenants the Apostle here speaks of the one from Mount Sinai