the incouragement of Souls in seeking after them that if one be taken many more go along with it like many links in a Chain that are closed into each other The means and the end must not be severed Where there is such a connexion of Duties Graces and Blessings the matters may be sometimes expressed in a conditinal form with an If as Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth be Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart thou shalt be saved Such â—fs note the verity of such propositions in their connexion they affirm this or that to be a certain truth as that he which believeth shall undoubtedly be saved yet that Grace is not properly the condition of Salvation For even believing is absolutely promised so as nothing shall intervene to hinder it Isa 53. 10 11. Heb. 8. 10. In that improper sense some Scriptures seem to speak of conditions viz. they intimate a connexion between Covenant blessings some are conjoyned as means and end yet the promises are really absolute for their performance There is a vast difference between the way of the Lord in the dispensation of Covenant blessings and the tenour of the Covenant Or between the New Covenant it self and the means which the Lord useth for its execution and accomplishment The Covenant it self is an absolute grant not only to Jesus Christ but in him to the house of Israel and Judah Heb. 8. Yet what the Lord hath absolutely promised and is determined and resolved upon to vouchsafe to them may be conditionally propounded as a quickening means unto Souls seeking a participation of it As it was absolutely determined yea and declared by the Lord that those very persons which were in the Ship should be preserved Act. 27. 22. There shall not be a loss of any mans Life and ver 25. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me Yet as a means to their preservation he speaketh to them conditionally ver 31. Except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved So although the Salvation of all the Elect and also the causing them to believe is absolutely intended yet as a means that he may urge the duty upon Souls with greater vehemency and earnestness the Lord may speak in a conditional way if ye believe ye shall be saved when it is certain they shall believe Answ 2. There is no such condition of the New Covenant to us as there was in the Old to Israel for the Apostle is comparing them together and in opposition to the Old he giveth the New altogether in absolute promises and that to Israel Heb. 8. and shewing that the New is not according to the Old he discovereth wherein the difference lay ver 9. Because they continued not in my Covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord and Jer. 31. 32. which Covenant they brake c. This argueth that the condition of the Old was such as the performance of it did give them assurance of the temporal mercies promised and a right to them and such as failed in left them at uncertainties whether they should injoy them or not so as it was not only in it self and its own nature uncertain but even as to the event I regarded them not saith the Lord. If their performing the condition had been as absolutely promised as the blessings of the New Covenant are then Israel would have continued in it which they did not and could not have forfeited what was promised thereupon as diverse times they did and were excluded out of Canaan upon that account Jurists say a condition is a rate manner or Law annexed to mens acts staying or suspending the same and making them uncertain whether they shall take effect or no. Cowell out of West part 1. Symb. 2. sect 156. And thus condition is opposed to absolute That there is no such condition in the New Covenant to be performed by us giving right and title to the blessings of it and leaving at uncertainties and liability to missing of them as there was in the Old to be fulfilled by Israel may appear 1. If there be any it must either be an antecedent or a subsequent condition but neither L. Coke upon Littleton saith of one precedent Conditio adimpleri debet priusquam sequatur effectus There can be no such antecedent condition by the performance of which we get and gain entrance or admittance into Covenant for till we be in it no act put forth by us can find any acceptation with God Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And our being in Covenant is in order of nature though not of time before Faith because it is a priviledge or benefit of the Covenant a part of the New heart a fruit of the Spirit and so the Spirit which is the worker of it and another blessing of the Covenant is given first in order before it Jesus Christ is the first saving gift Rom. 8. 32. and with him he freely giveth all things Men ought to be in the use of means but it is the act of God that giveth admission into the Covenant Ezek. 16. 8. I entred into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine Immediately before they were polluted in their blood Ver. 6. In an utter incapacity for acting in any pleasing way so as to get into Covenant Neither is there any subsequent condition to be fulfilled by us the use of that is for the continuation of a right and upon failing thereof all is forfeited as in the case of Adam Whereas there is no act of ours whereby our right unto Covenant blessings is continued to us upon failing whereof they may be forfeited Our right and the ground of our claim is upon a higher account than any act of our own it is even the purchase of Jesus Christ and they are the sure mercies of David Isa 55. 3. Sure to all the Seed Rom. 4. 16. And when they are become believers Eternal Life is absolutely promised Joh. 3. 16 36. 1 Joh. 5. 10 11 12. and it is a contradiction to say that it is absolutely and yet but conditionally promised to them 2. The Lord hath given assurance that there shall never be an utter violation of the New Covenant and therefore it hath no such condition as was annexed to the Old For the Lord declareth that they had broken his Covenant Jer. 11. ver 3 4 10. Jer. 31. ver 32. Littleton speaking of an Estate upon condition in deed by Feoffment saith it is called Estate upon condition for that the Estate of the Feoffee is defeasible if the condition be not performed Ten. lib. 3. Cap. 4. But the New Covenant is secured from such a violation it cannot be disanulled so as the persons interested in it should be deprived of the great blessings promised therein Jer. 32. 40. I will make an everlasting Covenant with them but may there not be such a condition of it as they may come
that I am he ye shall die in your Sins Thus the Apostle speaking not meerly of the false opinion of the Jewes concerning the meritoriousness of their good works or their external services being perfect obedience to the Law unto Life I say he not insisting upon these errours but having mentioned the very righteousness of the Law Rom. 10. 5. in opposition to that he saith ver 6 9 10. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be Saved It is then a believing in him as already come and having all righteousness subjected in him yea as dead and risen that is called for When they were doting upon works of the Law as performed by themselves to take them off from this he telleth them that all this legal doing for Life must be found in Christ alone and as it followeth for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness that is as a means unto righteousness It is not his own working that will be his righteousness nor his saith it self only that is a means for the applying that righteousness which is subjected in Christ alone So that the Apostles aim is not to call them off from a legal doing by natural power and ability and instead thereof to put them upon Evangelical believing and doing as the condition giving right to Life but his design is to put them upon looking wholly out of themselves and all their own doing whether by nature or grace unto Jesus Christ alone for righteousness unto Life If a man should set about any Gospel service upon a legal ground he would be culpable as the Judaizing Professouâ—s were It is such a doing as giveth a little unto Life by performing the condition of it that is rejected in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians as dangerous Evangelical services are required on other accounts and to be performed to testifie conformity to the Will of God and these may evidence Life in the way to it but Faith it self though necessary yet doth receive a title from Jesus Christ doth not give one Joh. 1. 12. That Axiom he that believeth shall be Saved is not expressive of the tenour of the New Covenant we claim Salvation not in the right of any act of ours not upon the Rent of Faith as men hold Tenements by the payment of a Penny a Rose or such like no such thing here all is paid to the utmost Farthing by our Surety and we hold and claim upon the obedience of Jesus Christ alone Rom. 5. 18 19 21. 2. The New Covenant representeth the Lord as dealing with his people universally in a way of Promise and so is better than the Old which representeth him as treating them in a way of threatning The New consisteth all of Promises Heb. 8. ver 8 c. as if the heart of God were so full of Love and running over therewith that he could express nothing else but what he would be to and do for his people The Father having received full satisfaction to all demands in the Old Covenant by the mediation of his Son now he maketh it his business to give the fullest assurance by a constellation of Promises in the New that he will fulfill to a tittle whatsoever on his part resteth for performance Believers are wholly freed from the Curse there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1. Heb. 12. 18. They are under a ministration of righteousness 2 Cor. 3. ver 9. But the Old Covenant represented God as a consuming fire denouncing Curses and threatnings against the Children of Israel who were his own people for with them was the Sinai Covenant made and not with unbelievers of the Gentiles there were indeed some Promises sparingly scattered up and down in it but they run conditionally and Israel failed of coming up to the condition that if they had not been priviledged with the Covenant with Abraham to run unto for relief what might they think would become of them By Divine appointment there were some to stand upon mount Ebal to Curse as well as others upon mount Gerazim to bless Deut. 27. 13 c. There are about twelve curses which they were injoyned to declare their assent unto all the people shall say Amen yea the last was a general one ver 26. If they continued not in all things they were liable to it Gal. 3. 10. which sheweth that although a temporal Curse was not excluded yet an Eternal was also some way intended on which account it is called a ministration of condemnation 2 Cor. 3. 7. It was otherwise with them in reference to that Curse than it is with Christians under the New Israel by that voluntary act the Old Covenant passed Sentence upon themselves yea the Curse of the Law was not then actually undergone by Jesus Christ it was not then satisfied and so might be presented before them as their obligation or bond uncancelled to their great affrightment But Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law Gal. 3. 13. Now all is discharged for us and so the New is a better Covenant 3. The New Covenant consisteth of absolute Promises and therefore is better than the Old Sinai Covenant which did run upon conditional Promises yea had works as its condition In the times of the Old Testament the price of our Redemption was not paid by Jesus Christ and therefore Life was then held forth upon the condition of obedience the Lord said Do and Live Lev. 18. 5. Rom 10. 5. Gal. 3. 12. Yea as that which under the New seemeth to be conditionally mentioned in one place is absolutely promised in another so on the contrary what seemeth to some to be absolutely propounded in the Old in one part of it yet is conditionally promised in another Exod. 29. 45 46. I will dwell among the Children of Israel and be their God Indeed this is not properly absolute but as the foregoing Verses shew upon what Aaron a Type of Jesus Christ should do however the very same is clogged with a condition Levit. 26. 3 11 12 13 14 15. The promise of circumcising their heart and the heart of their Seed to love the Lord Deut. 30. 6. runneth upon condition If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God and keep his Commandments c. ver 9. But the New Covenant consisteth altogether of absolute Promises Heb. 8. ver 10 11 12 13. I will and ye shall When the condition of any Covenant is performed it becometh as absolute as if there had never been any annexed to it Now Jesus Christ is mentioned as our great High-Priest and Mediatour and that as having finished the work of Satisfaction ver 1 2 6. and the condition contained in the Old being exactly and compleatly fulfilled by him it naturally or necessarily must turn into an absolute form as in the New because upon his performance nothing more
are to the Lord as being duties commanded by him though they be not properly conditions upon which Covenant mercy is promised to us Will any say that nothing is acceptable unless it be performed under the notion of a condition upon which the Lord hath obliged himself to give our mercy Thus many Scriptures that seem to run in a Conditional form are to be understood as Coloss 1. 21 22 23. Rom. 2. 7. they declare his approbation of faith hope obedience c. 3. They are of exciting and incouraging use to the duty of seeking in an absolute promise those gracious qualifications which the other promises are annexed to the seemingly conditional expressions are not intended as discouragements but as powerful provoqations and incouragements to that duty or seeking that grace conjoyned with the promise Whatsoever mercy is mentioned any where either with or as a condition is absolutely promised in the New Covenant Heb. 8. particularly the remission of sin is promised there yet it is said Matth. 6. 14 15. If ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you c. Not as if divine pardons were suspended till we have forgiven others that so long any were unpardoned and so condemned who before were justified This were to make divine acts have dependence on our actings and so to subject as one saith the Creator to the creature Our forgiving others is not properly a condition as if a performance of ours did ingage the Lord or lay him under an obligation to forgive us or as if we had right and might lay claim to Divine remission upon such an act of ours but it is expressed in a Conditional form as a pressing argument and a quickning spurr to so necessary a duty as the forgiving others although the Lord hath absolute intentions to pardon us and to cause us to forgive others Thus many other Scriptures are to be understood as Matth. 18. 31. Mark 11. 26. Luk. 6. 37. thus repenting and blotting out of sins are conjoyned Act. 3. 19. As a Father who is absolutely determined and resolved to afford some great favor to his son yet may speak of it to him with an if that he may lay an aw upon him towards some duty which yet is not in the least the condition of his affording it 4. They are of directive use unto the right way and means of seeking the mercies promised the eternal decrees of God are not conditional but absolute and unalterable yet are not exclusive of all means in order to their execution in time So Divine promises which are absolute without any condition properly so called yet are not fulfilled without any means It is a gross mistake to think that if there be no condition to be performed by us then we need not take any care or trouble our selves about the matters For we must know there are Divine commands putting upon the use of means in order to the execution of absolute promises and those that are called conditional promises are of this use to declare in what way and by what means those great favours shall be derived to us and men neglecting to seek mercy in the way of Divine appointment may miss of it not because they have failed of performing a condition but have neglected a duty and by sinning provoked God to â—â—t short Jam. 1. 6 7. Psal 78. 21 22. The promises of first grace are generally granted to be absolute for if they did run upon any condition that must be performed before union with Jesus Christ yea that must be seen in the soul before it had a ground to meddle with the promise and so it should be ascertained of salvation whilst it is in a state of nature If faith were supposed the condition that then must be prae existent in the soul and discerned also before it had a ground to believe in the promise that it were the condition of whereas faith is a grace and is the fruit of a promise as well as any other graces Indeed the promises of first grace though absolute yet seem to be as conditionally propounded as any Prov. 2. 3 4 5. Mark 16. 16. Joh. 3. 16. herein is holden forth the way and means to the obtainment of salvation for it is propounded and offered indefinitely to all elect and not elect not particularly promised to any but as it turneth into an absolute form to those persons described as the subjects of it Thus the Lord giveth forth a cluster of absolute promises Ezek. 36. 25 26 27 c. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean a new heart also will I give you c. and yet vers 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them This inquiring is not mentioned properly as a condition for all was before unalterably determined but as the way and means to the fruition of what was absolutely promised and thus as a means to promised mercies we may not only believe but exercise our selves in other duties ordinances and appointments of the Lord Jesus as pray that we may be pardoned justisied saved that the Lord would give us a new heart and put his spirit within us c. though not as conditions giving right to salvation for no act of ours layeth the Lord under an obligation by promise to afford these to us All is from meer grace and good pleasure But yet as a man may have purchased physick that would cure a disease which he laboureth under he may have payed for it and so performed the condition and hath right to it yet if he doth not make use of it he may be uncared so believers have a right to all even to those that are called conditional promises they being in Covenant all are theirs 2 Pet. 1. 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. yet if they do not make use of these they may come short of mercies promised not because they fail of a condition but because they use not the means to the fruition thereof like men that have a civil and absolute right to great estates and yet are without the comfort thereof because they make not use of them 5. They are of some evidencing use who the persons are that are interested in the promises though other promises are primary yet these are secondary evidences when those gracious qualifications can be discerned they are useful for the confirmation of our interest in eternal mercies They give a description of the persons and are so far distinguishing as when they are seen we may measure our estates and conditions by them Thus many scriptures speak of those qualifications not as conditions giving right but as declarative evidences of a title to Covenant blessings even to salvation So Rev. 22. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life Not that their keeping of them did give a right and title unto
thus reasoneth That cannot be a justifying righteousness in our present fallen estate 1. Which is not perfect for the least sin is enough to condemn Rom. 3. 20. Gal. 3. 10. Nor 2. which is our own of our own working out Rom. 10. 3 5. Nor 3. Which leaves any place for boasting Ephes 2. 9. Rom. 4. 2. Nor 4. which is opposite unto grace Rom. 4. 4. And upon these accounts all Evangelical Works are excluded out of Justification for they are imperfect they are our own subjectively they would leave room for some boasting if acceptance to life were upon these seeing it should be by our giving unto God also the way were opposite to grace for if the condition were never so small yet being performed the reward might be claimed upon our act and so would be of debt not of Gospel-grace Rom. 4. 4. The works of Abraham and David after conversion are excluded out of justification vers 2 3 6. which argueth that although Evangelical obedience kept in its due place doth not derogate from the grace of God yet it doth and is opposite to it if introduced into justification So that Gospel-grace doth not consist in a bare abatement of the rigor of the Law nor in making a bargain with us for the sake of Christ to accept of our faith repentance and sincere obedience instead of that which is perfect but it standeth in excusing us from a personal performance of that righteousness which is the condition of life and admitting Jesus Christ to answer the Law in our stead For the grand difference between the Law and the Gospel is the one justifieth by our own the other by anothers righteousness If man himself be the Doer for life that is the righteousness of the Law which saith Rom. 10. 5. the man that doth them shall live in them In opposition to it that of the Gospel is called the righteousness of faith vers 6. and of God vers 3. because it is to be sought out of our selves in another in the free promise and that which we are the subjects of is to be disclaimed here Phil. 3. 9. Rom. 10. 3. The asserting it to be by any of our personal performances giveth them the very place of works in the Covenant of Works which is anti-evangelical and introduceth some merits as well as perfect works would have done The being enabled by grace to them doth not hinder meriting any more than as one saith my furnishing a man with my tools to work with hinders his deserving a reward All ability that Adam had in innocency was from the favour of God and what he was to do was duty Faith it self is not the least of that righteousness it is an act of obedience but as such it is not said to justifie nor as it worketh by love although it doth so work Gal. 5. 6. Nor as a condition of life as I have elsewhere manifested but only as a means for the applying Christ and his righteousness much less can any works of ours be a part thereof The new creature availeth to being crucified to the world Gal. 6. 14 15. i. e. as a means but it is not said that it availeth to justification To justifie is to declare a person to be righteous the true God cannot pass a false sentence therefore we cannot have justification without having a righteousness this cannot consist in any act of ours as faith repentance or obedience as is already manifested therefore it must be of anothers working out the very righteousness of Jesus Christ Rom. 5. 18 19. 1 Cor. 1. 30. And if his obedience being to the Law may be called a legal righteousness yet as the same is applied by faith it is to us an evangelical righteousness All the question then is whether evangelical works are not of the same use in justification that faith is of have they not the same place and office there that faith hath I answer negatively they have not for often we read of the righteousness of faith never of the righteousness of love in that business We are said to be justified by faith not in the same sense to be justified by love or works It 's true there is a necessity of Evangelical works to testifie our faith obedience and thankfulness to God but they are required not as conditions but as effects and declarations of our justification Things are said to be done when they are manifested as Rom. 3. 7. 4. 15. A tree is known by the fruits And thus not only open acts but those that are secret when regular have an aptitude to evidence faith and that a person is justified even when they are not actually seen Paul speaketh of being justified before God by receiving or applying the righteousness of Jesus Christ in the free promise this is only by faith James speaketh of being justified by manifesting to a mans self or others that it is applied this is by Evangelical works and not by faith only Thus by offering up Isaac the person of Abraham was declaratively justified as it did shew his faith to be true vers 18. Gen. 22. 12. and not his working but his believing is said to be imputed to righteousness Jam. 2. 23. if this be justification in the sense of Paul yet it is by faith and he was called the friend of God there is justification declared by works as God acted kindly towards him so he acted in a friendly way towards God He is a vain man that contenteth himself with a faith that standeth in a bare assent to some propositions of truth without the power of them upon his heart vers 14 19 20. That is a dead faith which doth not profit is not attended with salvation which remaineth without works vers 17 20 26. therefore it is not the same true faith which any are justified by but another thing That unfruitful faith which is blamed here certainly was as far from justifying them as it was from saving them and so is not the faith which Paul insisteth upon for by that men were justified and that in order before works for they cannot be performed in an instant though they certainly follow but the justification and faith which they are put upon and called to declare by works these are of a Gospel stamp The Lord Jesus having fully performed the Law as the condition of the New-Testament hence it becometh absolute to us If improperly a duty a way or means to the enjoyment of some blessings of it be called a Condition I contend not But a Condition properly is more than a causa sine qua non it is a cause that hath a moral efficiency in it for the fulfilling of it is that which giveth right and upon which a man hath a title to what is promised and without it none and so it is a moral efficient cause of the enjoyment of the good promised in a Covenant Faith and repentance are great duties but nothing performed by us can be such
Covenant of Grace because so few are enumerated where it is mentioned as with us Gen. 12. 17. Heb. 8. 10 11 12. But seeing all are made and fulfilled in Christ hence they must all flow as living streams from that Fountain The Covenant of grace with Jesus Christ that is the great Charter that we hold all our priviledges by and all the promises do some way or other appertain to that Some Promises are Constitutive of the Covenant as those between the Father and the Son concerning a Seed others are executive or referring to the execution and application of it Isa 53 10 11. Heb. 8. 10 11 12. Some are principal and concerning the end eternal life Heb. 8. Heb. 9. 15. Gal. 3. 8 9 18. Others less principal concerning the means internal the Spirit and faith or external as ordinances Not only Spiritual but even promises of temporal blessings as of succour and relief in particular cases and conditions in outward straits and distresses yet these belong to the Covenant of grace Psal 105. 39 40 41. He spread a cloud for a covering here is protection a fire to give light by night that intimateth direction he brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven here is gracious provision he opened the rock and the waters gushed out this speaketh miraculous refreshment and consolation And whence was all this care over them vers 42. For he remembred his holy Covenant and Abraham his Servant All these then were to be deemed Covenant mercies Where had the Lord particularly promised any such extraordinary relieves unto Abraham or his Seed O he witnessed himself to be their God and promised the land of Canaan and that implyeth all mercy and means necessary for them in the pursuance of the Call to it So that all protections preservations provisions all for the sustaining upholding and succouring of the people of God yea even their lowest mercies have a tincture of Covenant-love to put quickness into them So returns of prayer in a day of outward affliction are in remembrance of his Covenant Psal 106. 44. 45. 2 King 13. 22 23. Yea observe in some places where the Covenant is mentioned there are promises added and so belong to it which in other repetitions of it are left out As Jer. 32. 38 39 40. One-ness of heart and way and his fear in their hearts are promised in the Covenant yet are omitted in the recital thereof Jer. 31. 31 to 35. And the Word Covenant is omitted and yet many promises thereof are mentioned Ezek. 36. 25 to the end as appeareth by the identity of some with those expresly in it else-where So that we are not to confine the Covenant of grace to those mentioned in the new Covenant all the promises to us are some way comprised in it Corol. 2. Hence there is infallible certainty in and grounded consolation issuing from the Covenant of grace seeing it is made joyntly with Jesus Christ and us All the promises are his right as well as ours and so can never fail Is Jesus Christ the Seed of the woman who hath assurance of being victorious over the Serpent Gen. 3. 15. So are Believers yea they are of the Seed of Abraham and David interested in the same promises Gal. 3. 19 21. If any thing be a Condition of the Covenant of grace it must be so of the promises to Jesus Christ as well as of those to us that taking in all and being joyntly with both and principally with him and with us but in him as his Seed and so faith cannot be it for the promises were not made to Jesus Christ upon Condition of our believing but upon what he himself should do and suffer rather therein he hath a promise assurance that we shall believe Isa 5â— 10. he shall see his Seed It would highly derogate from the honour of the Lord Jesus to say that the efficacy and effect of all his undertaking had dependance upon any act of ours as that of believing It is by the efficiency of the Word of the new Testament that faith is given Rom. 10. 14 15 16 17. Act. 13. 47 48. Yea the gift of faith is promised in that of writing his Law in their hearts Heb. 8. â—0 and therefore by its Obligation for it is a contradiction to speak of a promise without Obligation for performance unto the persons to whom it is made and what matter is it whether it be upon an Obligation to the Sinners themselves or to another to Jesus Christ their Feofee in trust for them it is by the new Covenant which is made to them and that of grace is joyntly with Christ and them Believers are not only the objects for 〈◊〉 concerning whom he promiseth to Jesus Christ that he will do them good as bruit oâ— inanimate Creatures are improperly said to be in Covenant with him but the Subjectâ— to whom he promiseth special blessings iâ— Christ so as the promises are directed to and may be claimed by them Jesus Christ had an interest therein they are his right as we as theirs and this is no damage but 〈◊〉 advantage as giving assurance that they wiâ—â— be made good to a Tittle Jer. 33. 20 21 If you can break my Covenant of the day and my Covenant of the night then may all so my Covenant be broken with David my servant Long before the prophesying oâ— Jeremiah David had been in the dust and yet the Covenant with him holdeth still and it being made with Jesus Christ who is our David hence the order of nature the entercourse and revolutions of night and daâ— might as readily fail as any promises madâ— to him be disanulled or go unaccomplished yea he will sue them out for us when by reason of inward cloudings and darkness even about an interest in them we cannot lay any claim unto them our selves He should be a loser if they should not be fulfilled he should lose his right as well as we ours Christ and we having a joynt interest therein Had Christ assurance of being Victorious over the Serpent we also have assurance of standing Conquerours over him in Christ by the same promise and that under the same notion of the Seed of the woman So that this is a bottom of everlasting consolation that Jesus Christ and we are within one and the same Covenant CHAP. III. Of Christ as the sum of the Covenant THe Covenant of grace running primarily to Jesus Christ and to us in him so as he not only maketh it with but even is the Covenant of the people Isa 42. 6. It will be necessary to inquire What interest Jesus Christ hath or how and in what place and Office he standeth in reference to the Covenant 1. Jesus Christ is the very foundation which Evangelical Covenant is built upon as he is our life Coloss 3. 3. 1 John 5. 20. the cause of it So he is the Covenant i. e. the very basis of it as 1 Cor. 3. 11. For other
is the faithful Witness still as if he should say I lay in the bosom of the Father I have seen all transactions all passages I know how the heart of God standeth towards this Covenant work if my word may have any credit with you I testifie saith Jesus Christ that the Father is real herein and the work is done the Covenant is struck yea ratified and sealed with my blood When souls are full of jealousies concerning the willingness of God to give entertainment to them and admittance into Covenant grace and to deal with them in a Covenant way though they cannot peep into Heaven and look into the bosom of the Father and read all things there yet Jesus Christ stoopeth so low as to take upon him the Office of a faithful Witness to give assurance thereof As he is our Spiritual head and the blessed Seed so he is a party contracting in the Covenant he is the chief Seed of Abraham and of David Gal. 3. To whom the promises are made vers 19. Matth. 15. 22. All is assured to him as well as to us and his standing on our side as a party with us in the sme Covenant as it is an honour so it is a comfort to us in that it giveth assurance of its accomplishment to a tittle for the Lord will not fail his only Son Jesus Christ of any thing which he hath promised to him and he being a party it were an injury to him if any thing were unfulfilled As he is the Substance of the Covenant so he is said to be the Covenant of the people and well may he bear this name he standing in all these relations to it 3. Jesus Christ was the principal promise of the Covenant this denominates him the Covenant his being really the chief part of it or thing firstly promised in it and all other things for his sake Thus he primarily was the Seed of the woman that was promised to break the Serpents head Gen. 3. 15. Heb. 2. 14. 1 John 3. 8. He is that Seed of Abraham in whom all the Nations are blessed Gen. 22. 18. Gal. 3. 16. He is the royal Seed of David to be enthroned of whose Kingdom there shall be no end Luke 1. 32 33. Indeed this is a grand priviledge of Gospel times that what was of old the great thing under promise to come viz. a blessed Seed a Messiah is now turned into a performance and he now standeth actually a Mediator in stead thereof All the prophesies were of him Act. 10. 43. To him give all the Prophets witness Of the Scriptures he saith Joh. 5. 39. They are they which testifie of me as if they said nothing else but Christ Christ and thus he is the Covenant 4. Jesus Christ is really to us all that which under any antient Covenant was typically represented unto men and so he is Substantially the Covenant of the people as Dr. Sibs observeth Christ is all to us which was held forth of old either in personal types he is the Second Adam the true Isaac Joseph Joshua Solomon Melchisedeck Or in real types he is the true brasen Serpent that cureth sin-stung souls which by an eye of faith are looking to him Joh. 3. 14 15. He is the true Manna bread of life to all those that believingly feed upon him Joh. 6. 31 33 35. He is the true sacrifice the Paschal Lamb our hearts being sprinkled with his blood the destroying Angel shall pass over us He is our true Tabernacle true Altar and true Ark all typified by these is really fulfilled in him 5. Jesus Christ is the excellency marrow and sweetness yea the sum and Substance of all that is under promise and so he is the Covenant of the people indeed he is the very store-house where the promises are treasured up All mercies from the Father must have their conveyance to us through the hands of his Son Yea Jesus Christ is the very quintessence the chief in the very life of all the mercies themselves and all come with him Rom. 8. 32. How shall be not with him also freely give us all things It is Christ that putteth fulness into other things and addeth sweetness to them they are imbittered and as nothing if without him The promises though full in themselves yet are empty to us unless taken with Christ all priviledges empty all injoyments empty unless taken with him hence he is said to be all in all Col. 3. 11. He is all in all graces all in all peace in all promises in all comforts in all glory 6. Jesus Christ doth all that is necessary for the procurement of all federal blessings and so he is the Covenant of the people as he is the resurrection i. e. the cause of it John 11. 25. So he is the cause and procurer of all federal blessings Not only shall he make a Covenant with the people but be a Covenant of the people i. e. All that is required in a federal way from the people that Jesus Christ shall be so them if the Father demandeth it of them they must not present him with any duties or performances of their own for acceptation unto life but with Jesus Christ he is their Covenant to perform all for them which they are obliged to in order to that end Saith the Lord I will not enter into Covenant or deal in an immediate way with them as with the first Adam but I will take a surer course I will give thee for that end thou shalt undertake all the matters therein even for thy Seed I will look to thee for the performance thereof and thus he is the Covenant of the people All that is promised to Jesus Christ or to us it is upon his obedience Isa 53. 10 11 12. Not by the obedience of every one for himself but by the obedience of one i. e. of Jesus Christ many are made righteous Rom. 5. 19. Justification of life and remission of sins are procured by him vers 18. Rom. 3. 24. And so reconciliation or promised peace Isa 53. 5. The Chastisement of our peace was upon him We must for ever have stood at enmity if he had not stepped in for the procurement of our peace hence he is our peace Ephes 2. 14. Not only the Author and Procurer but even the sum of it So the promise of propriety in and Communion with God hath its procurement and taketh effect only upon the obedience of Jesus Christ all are afar off from God under the greatest estrangement till made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ Ephes 2. 12 13. the promise of the Communication of Sanctifying grace of giving the Law into the heart is from him Isa 53. 10. 1 Cor. 1. 30. Yea the promise of Salvation and eternal life taketh effect from him his death was for this end Heb. 9. 15. That they which are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance And thus he is for a Covenant of the people CHAP. IV.
obedience in the Life or bringing up a self-resignation to the Lord as Isa 44. 5. in tho Covenant it is expresly promised they shall be my people These things are insisted upon elsewhere yea frequently by others therefore I shall pass them over at present and mention only one evidence Answ By the operations and actings of precious Faith a Soul may have a clear knowledge of its actual interest in the New and better Covenant That noble Grace of Faith hath such a special relation to the Covenant which is made up of promises that the Gospel is called the Word of Faith Rom. 10. 8. It is so expressive of the great matters of it that Faith often and the Law or Old Covenant are the opposite terms of a distinction Gal. 3. ver 2 5 12 23. Yea ver 9. they that are of Faith are blessed with faithful Abraham they are sharers with him in the same Covenant and blessed therein the very blessings of Abraham come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ ver 14. That we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through Faith Much is to be drawn out of the free Promise for our relief and succour in any condition yea for the influenceing of any other Graces by Faith By that our entercouse with God here is kept up Not that the Promise is made to beliving as a Grace in us or as a gracious Act put forth by us but to the Believer as in Christ Faith is not magnified as a quality but as in the Office of receiving the Promise and of excellent use therein Vers 22. That the Promise through the Faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe Faith is not then properly the condition of the Covenant upon the performance of which they have a right and title to it but a choice effect of it and a singular means for the application of the promises and fetching in of Covenant blessings to the Soul by that the Promise or what is in the Promise is given to it and Faith having thus to do with the Promises it must needs have an aptitude above other Graces above Sanctification and Evangelical obedience to witness a Souls interest in the everlasting Covenant Heb. 11. 1. It is an evidence of things not seen and therefore it self is not as inevident as those other things There are various acts of Faith that by the concurrence of the Divine Spirit may evidence interest in the Covenant 1. By Faith in the Free Promise such glorious discoveries of the Grace and Lovâ— of God in Jesus Christ unto sinners arâ— afforded as their hearts consent to thâ— offer thereof it is by the shining of Gospel light through the Free Promise into the hearts of men that they are turned from darkness to light Act. 26. 18. The highest natural light will leave them short of a discovery of sin in its exceeding sinfulness and of the riches of Grace in Jesus Christ for the recovery of lost sinners they cannot see these aright till they be revealed by the Divine Spirit Matth. 16. 17. 1 Cor. 2. 10 14. Tit. 2. 11 12. Unbelievers may have a notion of these things but when they are seen by an eye of Faith they appear in another manner Rom. 1 16 17. The Gospel is the power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth The heart stood immediately before at an infinite distance from the Lord Jesus and was full of opposition against him but when there is a work of Faith upon it then Diâ—ine power is exerted by the Word or Promise of the Gospel for the drawing it off from all other objects to â—itch upon Jesus Christ alone for Salvation in a way of Free Grace then it â—ccepteth of the blessed offer when all â—rguments in the World before would not prevail with it The heart that stood off from him is then brought over to him by the Gospel and why For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith It is in a Gospel-Glass that a Soul gaineth a right discovery of the excellency of Jesus Christ and that righteousness of his without which no Salvation It is by Faith that there is a learning of the Father so as effectually to be drawn unto the Son This cordial consenting to the offer of the Gospel in submitting to the obediential righteousness of Jesus Christ alone for acceptation unto Life this is Faith unto Justification Rom. 10. ver 3 4 6 10. as the like consent to have him for our Lord to rule over us by his Spirit dwelling in us is Faith unto Sanctification Act. 15. 9. Rom. 8. ver 9 to 16. Thus the Soul maketh out to the blood of Jesus Christ for cleansing from all sin and the first act of closing with Jesus Christ is by Faith in a Free Promise that is the first Grace that lives in it the first breathings of Spiritual Life are thereby such powerful and admirable alterations are found at first acquaintance with Jesus Christ by discoveries above sense fetching in the heart unto him beyond all other means that they must needs be evidencing of interest in the Promise or Covenant from whence all these come Such first things have a mark upon them and often are most discernable the state thereupon being so vastly different from what it was how refined so ever the nature was before Thus some have had their interest cleared up in such a word as that 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief By the eye of Faith a Soul gaineth such a prospect of matchless Love and Free Grace as it is won over to Jesus Christ thereby through a powerful application of the Promise to it self 1 Joh. 5. 10 11. He that believeth on the Son hath the witness in himself he being inabled by Grace to entertain and cordially subscribe to the blessed record upon a Divine Testimony viz. that God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son thereby he setteth to his Seal that God is true in the Word of his Grace that hath a witnessing power and the person hath the witness within himself even when he sometimes doth not discern it 2. By Faith the Soul maketh out to Jesus Christ in the Free Promise as he alone that giveth it subsistence in spiritual Life Oneness with Jesus Christ cannot be without interest in the Covenant 2 Pet. 1. 4. In whom are given to us exceeding great and precious Promises c. Ephes 3. 6. Partakers of the Promise in Christ Ver. 17. That Christ may dwell in your heart by Faith It is a promise-hold that we have of Jesus Christ here his in-being and indwelling is by Faith so he even animateth the Souls of Saints Gal. 2. 20. I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me how I live by the Faith of the Son of God Others live by sense they
seed upon earthly comforts but Christians live by Faith by what is laid up in Divine Promises by these things they live they know not how to subsist in any state or condition without a Promise they would count themselves dead creatures without that whatever earthly enjoyments they had in possession Neither will a Promise alone satisfie without Jesus Christ in it Christ liveth in me he is the very Life of their lives without him nothing but spiritual swoonings faintings dyings and all from the want and failings of Faith That fetcheth in all influences from Jesus Christ for the supporting and hath the great hand and stroak in all the actings of spiritual Life all spiritual motions are managed thereby Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And therefore Sanctification is but a secondary or after evidence That is not discernable till first there be a discerning Faith which speaketh Justification If Faith be inevident all other Graces will be so also Faith may be shewed unto others by Works Jam. 2. 18. A man may be Declaratively justified by Works but if a man doubteth of his Faith he will as well doubt of his Works whether they be from a Gospel root or not For no Love of the right stamp and so no due obedience but what is the fruit and issue of Faith in the Lord Jesus For that worketh by Love Gal. 5. 6. As first acts of Faith do not consist in believing that our sins are pardoned but in a receiving Jesus Christ and his righteousness as the way to pardon Joh. 1. 12. So if Christians kept up in acts of Faith by outgoings of heart to him in the way of the Promise for all that is wanted there would be not only sweet flowings of Love and Evangelical obedience issuing thence but also they would be filled with all joy and peace in believing Rom. 15. 13. I have often thought if Christians did give more attendance to such direct acts of Faith and spent less time in questioning their conditions or giving way to doubtings about them they would find their interest in the Covenant cleared up yea and consolation also coming in as by the by 3. By Faith Souls are venturing upon the Free Grace and faithfulness of God in his Covenant in the greatest distresses with good success The New Covenant is made up all of Promises and the Gospel is called the Word of Faith because it is the Work of Faith to draw out what is vesseled up there Heb. 10. 38. Now the Just shall live by Faith Not only as to Justification but as to expectation of mercy promised Many would be acting Faith in the concluding interest in Christ and Eternal Life but they should be acting it by a cordial owning of Evangelical principles Yea Christians should lead their whole Life in looking to the Love and Faithfulness of God in his Promise for all their relief and succour in any condition they come into here yea even for Eternal Mercy Heb. 6. 18. They are pursued by spiritual enemies corruptions and Temptations and are in great danger but by hope which floweth from Faith and can act no higher than Faith doth they go yea run for refuge to the hope to the heavenly glory that is set before them so as they lie as at Anchour in such stormy daies and here are two immutable things the Promise and the Oath of God that by these they might have strong consolation By Faith they realize the very things contained in the Promise or Covenant and so their interest in it is experimentally witnessed to them They can say at such a time when we were in Soul distress so as all the means in the World could contribute nothing towards inward ease quietment and consolation then we being inabled by Grace to bear the weight of our Souls and our conditions upon the Faithfulness of God in his Covenant or Free Promise we found relief and refreshment It was not meerly our own fancy and imagination but we were delivered out of our distresses by Faith we were inabled to draw out of the Promise the Milk of consolation which it was beyond the power of all creatures to afford us and thus they find that the Covenant or Promise is their own 4. By Faith in the Free Promise there is a standing Conquerours in Jesus Christ over all spiritual enemies it is a great matter of the Covenant that the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents bead Gen. 3. 15. And therefore there is through Grace a vanquishing all the enemies of Salvation Sin and Satan through the blessed Seed the Lord Jesus The Promises are accomplished within the Soul but the way is Ephes 6. 16. Above all take the Shield of Faith That not only is best for descrying Satan in all his Stratagems but for the withstanding of him also Joh. 5. 4. This is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith When the Soul hath Combates or Spiritual Conflicts and reason is foiled cannot bear up then Faith appeareth as Victorious not in its own strength but in the strength of Christ and his conquest which it maketh use of in these encounters And thus conquering acts of Faith as before venturing relieving and discovering acts are useful for witnessing interest in the Covenant I might shew that Faith hath other acts as acts of assurance drawing up conclusions he hath loved me and given himself for me Gal. 2. 20. But I have said enough to shew that it giveth a knowledge of being within the New Covenant CHAP. XIII Of the Use of Absolute Promises THe Question will now be What Use is there of absolute better Promises When or in what cases are they to be made use of Answ 1. They are of Use for the manifestation of the riches of Divine Grace and Love to sinners if there may be some Grace in promising great blessings upon a very small condition certainly there must be more Grace and Love in promising the same absolutely without any condition This maketh to the magnifying of the Lord in his owning Israel above all people that he loved because he would love Deut. 7. 6 7 8. not because they were greater or more lovely than others or had any beauty or comliness in them but for his own sake as is often intimated Absolute Promises are high expressions of Divine Love as Heb. 8. 10 11 12. They proclaim rich mercy and great Love Eph. 2. 4 5. That the Lord should break through all unworthiness and undeservings this may work into the greatest self-emptiness and self-abasement The Lord peremptorily promised the establishing of Davids throne for ever 2 Sam. 7. 13 16. and this Grace melts his heart into a deep sense of his own nothingness ver 18 19. Who am I O Lord God what is my house c. Thou hast spoken also of thy Servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of man O Lord God So that absolute Promises of Divine