Eternal consideration in that because the Decree was from Everlasting and though in Eternity there be no Priority or Posteriority of time for that would be to confound Time and Eternity yet in the things themselves there may be considered a priority and Posteriority of Nature and Order Thus the cause is in order of nature before the effect thus the Persons Covenanting are in order before the Covenant it self and hereupon the Undertaking of the Son of God to be man is in order before the futurition of his Incarnation It hath a Causal Antecedency to the futurity of this Assumption because that which made it future from Eternity was the Compact which past between his Father and him about it in the Days of Eternity CHAP. 5. Of the Rise of this Covenant or the Grounds of its being made IT now follows in the next place that we enquire from whence this Covenant had its Rise or what was the ground of the making of it This will be best understood by our careful observing where this Covenant is placed and that is under the head of Election and it refers unto the means which were in it Ordained for the accomplishment of it in the Salvation of such as were Chosen In the Decree as in the prudent purposes of all wise Agents there is the resolving of the End and the laying out of the means by which it is to be advanced These are inseparable in Gods Purposing but distinguishable in the things purposed In the Decree we find such a thing as Election wherein God hath appointed men unto Salvation and also contrived the way in which he will accomplish it and to this way doth the Covenant of Redemption appertain and therefore the rise of it was the meer good Pleasure of God to advance the glory of the Riches of his Grace by the Redemption of his Chosen and bringing of them to Enjoy Eternal Life for which end he appointed his own Son to be the Redeemer and Indented about it in a free Covenant Here let it be observed 1. That a Covenant is not a Natural but a voluntary act In every Covenant there is a consent of the parties Covenanting to the Articles upon which it is built Now consent is performed by the Will and therefore there was no natural necessity of any such Contract as this between these glorious Persons so that it was Gods meer good pleasure that gave Being to it The very thing about which it is concerned was arbitrary with God There was no necessity lying upon him to save any of the race of fallen man who had by their own fault destroyed themselves and therfore there could be no necessity lying upon him to contrive and fix a way in which this salvation was to be brought about God doth nothing necessarily but what he doth naturally all his other acts are free Election is a voluntary thing Eph. 1 5. 2. The consideration when this Covenant past tells us thâ—t there could be nothing in the Creature to move these glorious persons to indent it It must be meer good pleasure and nothing else whatsoever can be said of the creature which men can suppose to have argument in it to move towards such a thing is Posteriour to and Consequent upon the Decree to which this Covenant belongs The object of it was a possible being which as it had no being in it self so was here appointed to have a being and to pass through all these changes that have befallen it being Predestinated thereunto So that we can look at no consideration on this account but what falls behind of having any possible influence into the Covenant Not the state of integrity in which man was at first for in that state had he continued in it he had not needed a Redeemer Not the miserable Estate he fell into by the Apostasy for though that was a step towards his Redemption because it put him into a capacity for it and brought him under a necessity of it yet it could not put God upon thinking of his Recovery because his Misery was deserved and the Justice of God was concerned in it and besides this fell under the Decree of Election as a Medium towards the Declaration of Gods rich mercy in saving him Not the prevision of any good nature or inclination in him for there is not any such thing truly in any sinner by nature nor the least disposition towards the acceptance of this Redemption on Gospel-terms unless God do work it in him nor is this always wrought in such as are supposed to be naturally best inclined but at Gods pleasure Rom. 9. 18. God therefore could have nothing out of himself to move him 3 The ultimate end of Gods desiâ—n in this Covenant was the Illustration of the Glory of his Rich Grace in them â—â—at are saved so we are told Eph. 1. 6. God is his own last end in all his works of Efficiency and therefore had that ultimate respect in all his Decrees There are several respects to his Glory which his several Works do bear that of Fallen Mans Salvation was peculiarly designed for the Exaltation of the Praise of his Grace That this Article might have a special manifestation by it Hither then Election had an eye and consequently all the Contrivances that were laid for the bringing about of the Salvation to which men were Elected were measured accordingly Infinite Wisdom sought out the best way to make this Attribute to shine in its Lustre so as might be admirable and it contrived this which is ratified in this Covenant 4. Because there was a wonderful Love at work in it to those that were Redeemed hence the â—is e of this Covenant may well be assigned to the love of God which he bare from Eternity to his Elect. He Chose them and so Covenanted with his Son that he should Redeem them and why did he so it was because he loved them The reason of this love is his good pleasure The first act wherein this love was exprest was in Chusing us in Christ and Covenanting with him to Redeem us in which he laid a sure and firm foundation for our Salvation Gods sending of Cbrist is for this reason ascribed to his unparalell'd love Joh. 3. 16. 1. Joh 4. 10. 5. That which streins this love up to the highest degree is that it was a free and deliberate act both on the part of God the Father deputing and of God the Son accepting and undertaking in this business we cannot conceive how there should be any other way in which grace could possibly more shine forth than in Christ's Coming upon mans necessity to do and dy for him A greater love than this cannot possibly be thought of than that God should not spare His Own Son that Christ should not withhold himself The Apostles argument concludes this to be the greatest gift Rom. 8. 32. Now the putting of this into a Covenant addes Emphasis to it that it should not only
beginning being Immutable Job 23 13. he is of one mind and who can turn him Now although the Decree of God be with respect to him Decreeing but one simple and undivided act yet in reference to the things Decreed it is various or hath many parts in it for which reason the scripture speaks of many thoughts and many purposes of his Among these Decrees Those of Predestination deserve to be peculiarly remarked by us because they contein in them the Idea of that special government by which God leads all reasonable creatures to an everlasting state of happiness or misery And among these that of Election carries in it matter of singular and eminent comfort to all true believers who by the knowledge of their Faith come to be acquainted with their Interest in and Title to it In which Decree of Election there was not only the designation of the end unto which the Creature was appointed but also the laying out of the whole way in which they were to be brought unto the Attainment of that end The end to which men are appointed by Election is Eternal Life That which is the end of our Faith is the Design of Gods Election and that is our Salvation 1 Pet. 1. 9. Among the means that which shines forth most illustriously is mans deliverance from Sin and Wrath by the Obedience of Christ who is the Eternal Son of God and in fulness of Time was made man in order to his Redeeming of us This way of mans Redemption had a room in Gods Eternal Purpose Our Election therefore was in him and that before the Creation Eph. 1. 4. Not that Christ as Mediator was the Meritorious procuring Cause of our Election but because in and by him we were to be made partakers of all the benefits which were to be the Fruits of this Electing Love to us Hence then the Son of God was appointed to do those things for us which were to procure all these benefits to be bestowed on us and for this reason is he said to be Slain from the Foundation of the World Rev. 13. 8. not that he was actually so but because of the Designation of it and so the Apostle expounds it 1 Pet. 1. 20. who was verily Foreordained before the Foundation of the World This Article in the Decree is in the Scripture represented unto us under the notion of a Covenant between God the Father and God the Son as will appear afterwards together with the reason why it is exhibited under such a notion So that by the Covenant of Redemption under our consideration we are to understand An Everlasting Compact clearly made and firmly Ratified between God the Father and God the Son about the Redemption and Salvation of a number of the Children of Men and this is a Covenant distinct from that which we call the Covenant of Works which past between God and Man at the first in Adam as also from the New Covenant or that of Grace which is Indented between God and Man in Christ as the Mediator of it This is the thing about which our Enquiry is and which may be laid open in the Sequel CHAP. 3. Scripture Evidence that there is such a Covenant of Redemption THat the Word of God doth not in Terms mention such a Covenant by such a Title must be acknowledged but that it doth give us the account of a Covenant which cannot be Interpreted of any other yea which fully amounts to the thing may safely be affirmed We read Psal 89. 3. I have made a Covenant with my Chosen I have Sworn to David my Servant There are divers Texts in Scripture especially in the Old Testament which have a double reference partly to the Type partly to the Antitype or to the Antitype under the Type This Psalm is one of those portions of Scripture in which David is made a notable Type of Christ Him therefore it mainly aims at The Covenant with him is here made the foundation of all Consolation to the People of God Here then we have 1. The Subject Matter viz. A Covenant 2. The firmness of it I have made Hebr. Cut alluding to that Custome mentioned in Jer. 34. 18. which was a solemn ratification and I have Sworn noting the Immutability of it according to Heb. 6. 17 18. 3. The Parties in it God on the one hand I God is the Speaker Christ on the other hand expressed in two words My Chosâ—n noting both his Excellency and his Election David my Servant which must needs ultimately aim at Christ as many Expressions in the Psalm will undeniably evince especially those in verse 19. 22 verse 28 29. 35 36. Christ is therefore elsewhere called David see Jer. 30. 9. Ezek. 34. 34 37. 24. and if we would know what Covenant this is the Context clearly indicates it to be that which concerns the Redemption and Salvation of the People of God for it was that wherein he was made helpful to his People verse 19. wherein he was Anointed to his Offices of a Mediating Redeemer verse 19 20. made Gods First-born verse 27. and hath an abiding Seed verse 36. we also read Zech. 6. 13. The Counsel of Peace shall be between them both which clearly points to this Covenant under consideration But I shall essay a little more particularly to make the thing evident I will not here insist upon the opening of the nature of a Covenant in general having done it in another Treatise the sum whereof is That it is a mutual obligation between two parties That which I have now to do is to make it manifest that there is such a transaction between those two glorious persons which amounts to or is suitably expressed by a Covenant and that with respect to fallen mans Redemption In order to the clearing up of which let it be observed That God in discovering of his mind to us is pleased to accommodate his language to our capacity clothing divine truths with such words as may best suit our understandings When therefore we say there is such a Covenant it intends that there is that which is Analogous unto and holds a full proportion with such a thing and is best accommodated to our understanding and faith by such a resemblance For evidence of this let us lay together these particulars and they will amoun to a Demonstration 1. That God hath from all Eternity Elected a number of Mankind to Glory The Scripture is so full and clear for this that it would be superfluous to insist upon it This is the beginning of all saving good which comes to any of the Children of Men. From hence it is that Salvation takes its rise Eph. 1. 3 4 5. 1 Thes 1. 4. 5. Hitherto is the application of grace in Effectual Vocation restrained Acts 13. 46. Ro. 11. 7. and what else can be designed in that Everlasting Love that God bears to men from whence their Conversion proceeds Jer. 31. 3. nor can all the Evasions of men elude the
Mans Salvation IT may be enquired what ground there was for such a Covenant as this or what reference Mans Salvation hath to it and dependence upon it and the enquiry into this will serve to set forth the Rich Grace of God to man in those Ancient Thoughts he had for him and here in general it may be asserted That there was a necessity for such a Transaction to pass But that this necessity may be rightly stated I shall first observe what sort of necessity it is and then clear it up 1. A thing may be said to be necessary in a double respect viz. Absolute and Hypothetical and there is a great difference between these 1. Absolute Necessity which may also be called Natural is such as flows from the very nature and being of the thing Thus we say the fire burns necessarily because it is a natural quality of it and inseparable from the form Thus it is natural and necessary for God to Love Himself for the Father to Beget the Son for the Holy Ghost to proceed from them both Whereas there are other acts of God which are not Natural but meerly voluntary as the Creation of the World the making these and those sorts of Creatures and many the like 2. Hypothetical or Conditionate Necessity is when upon the supposition of one thing to be done there is something necessary in order to it without which it cannot be done so that though it be not necessary to do the thing yet if he will do it he must needs do thus or so in order to the accomplishing of it and this necessity flows from the connexion of things one with another An end is not attained without the use of means and there are means that are proper on which the attaining of the end hath dependance or without which it cannot be reached so that if he will not miss of his design a person must necessarily use the means that are so connected unto it and when there are various means or divers ways to compass the design the necessity is more loose and disjunct it being indifferent as to this or that but yet it must of necessity be one of them But when the Medium is but one it is then a restrained necessity either this way or not at all Now the Necessity under consideration is not of the first sort or Absolute but of the Second viz. Conditionate 2. For the more clearing up of this let it be considered 1. That God was under no natural necessity to Save any of Fallen Mans Posterity There was no tie of Nature upon him to give a pardon to and bestow Salvation upon any of that Ruin'd Progeny He might have Damned them all without any injury to himself or wrong done to them and that he did not â—o do is a fruit not of Compulsion nor of Nature but of his meer Good Will Rom. 9. 18. No man can give any other reason of the thing it self than that which he gives of the choice of the Subject in particular The same reason why he chuseth this man and not the other is to be assigned why he chuseth any at all and that is because it so seemed good unto him Mat. 11. 24. for they were all equally capable 2. That hence God was not under any natural necessity of engaging in this Covenant for the bringing about the Redemption of men If the effecting of the thing were arbitrary to him then the Indenting about the doing of it must needs be so too If God might have left the whole Race of Mankind to have perished for ever and that he doth not so do is contingent i. e. free and voluntary than whatsoever refers unto the designation or appointment of it in the Decree must proceed from the Soveraignty of his Will and hitherto this Covenant is to be referred Yea indeed if it had been natural the notion of a Covenant made about it had been impertinent the fixing of a Decree concerning it had been superfluous for what occasion is there for a Decree about natural actions 3. That natural Necessity destroys the very nature of a Covenant For a Covenant is a voluntary obligation between persons about things wherein they enjoy a freedom of Will and have a power to choose or refuse It is a deliberate thing wherein there is a Counsel and a Consent between Rational and free Agents It is true a person may be a Subject and so under the Duty of Consenting in a Covenant so was Adam at the First but still the act of consent it self is the act of a Cause by Counsel and therefore it is not absolutely necessary so as that he could not but do it 4. Whether there be a natural or absolute necessity in regard of the Nature of Gods Justice and Holiness that there should be a counterprice paid to make satisfaction for sin in order to the sinners salvation may be disputed I know this assertion is by some defended against the Socianians as stifly denied by other who are no Socinians suppose that there are other things in Scripture sufficient to confute them That because God is naturally Holy Just therefore he must needs punish sin either in the Sinner or in his Surety seems not to be evident To say that God could not by his absolute Lordship have Saved a Sinner without a Mediator looks as if it laid him under a necessity beyond what the Scripture will warrant It is true 1. That Holiness and Justice are Divine Essential Perfections Every Attribute of God is God displaying of himself to us after such a manner and though these are manifold as they come to our understandings yet they are in him one and the same undivided Being They are the things by which he maketh himself known to the Creature and if he were not such an one in himself they would be a false Representation which is blasphemy to suppose If there were no Creature to be the Subject of the Application of these yet God would be and is everlastingly Holy and Just for if he will make himself appear to be so in his Works it is because he is so in his Nature 2. That in all his Works of Efficiency he aims at the Declaration of the Glory of his own Perfections What else is the Declarative Glory of God but a display of his Essential Glory to the Creature so far as he sees meet He had all in himself before there was a World but he would have a World to be a Mirrour of his Perfections and those to be in it who should be able to read them and acknowledge him therein and therefore these are to declare it Psal 19. and he is said to be known by them 3. That hence he contrived all in a conâ—ecency for the expressing of his Essential Natural Perfections and that by his Infinite Wisdom It must needs be acknowledged and asserted that God had a respect to those Attributes of his which he would make known
certain to be received but upon mutual compact or agreement There could have been no security on any hand without it and therefore without this it could not have been a certain truth from eternity that the Son of God should in fulness of time come into the world and become a Saviour the contrary to which the Scripture assures us Now to sum up all that hath been said on this account the Necessity of this Covenant lies in these few following Conclusions 1 That mankind stands under a Covenant of works which requires Obedience of him and threatens disobedience with death This Covenant being made with Adam as the head of mankind it included all his posterity who were to stand or fall with him in the first trial of his Obedience 2. That Divine Justice stands engaged to this Covenant to see it rigorously performed according to the true intent of it Hereby was man reduced to that exigency that in case of Disobedience he must unavoidably dy either in himself or in his surety Justice lying in the way must be satisfied if mercy appear 3 That man is fallen under and thereby became forfeited to the law and liable to the execution of the sentence of it It was not his Original state but his Apostasy that reduced him to this exigency but by reason of that Divine Justice hath him in chase and is pursuing him to Death 4 That God will save a residue of that company and deliver them from the wrath to come For if God had purposed in himself to have destroyed all mankind and to make his wrath known in their personal eternal sufferings there could have been no necessity for a Covenant of Redemption Justice had its full scope to take place upon man being exposed unto it by sin but mercy had that lying in its way which left it no room for the exerting of it self without such a Transaction 5. That for this end he will provide a Redeemer for men He will lay in to make this Salvation sure and open a way wherein he may not deny himself but be both Just and the Justifier of all those that believe in his Son and that when mans case shall call for it when his misery shall stand in need of such a course to be taken for its succour the remedy may not be to seek In all these respects it was necessary and that because 1 Without a Redeemer Justice and mercy could not have met in agreement in the salvation of fallen man either there must have been a Clashing between these two Attributes or else man must have been for ever under the wrath of God If there had been no Redeemer there could have been no salvation according to the Oeconomy of the dispensation of the first Covenant 2 The Futurition of a Redeemer depended absolutely on this Covenant Here it had its foundation and rise as hath been already proved Those promises compacts and engagements between God the Father and God the Son gave the fututition to Christs coming into the World doing the work of Redemption and receiving all the Rewards consequent upon it 3. If this Redeemer had not come into the World and performed the work of mans Redemption then 1. Man had continued for ever in a state of Condemnation He had remained in the same condition with Fallen Angels an hopeless forlorn miserable Creature If Christ had not died we had been without any Hope for it is by his Death that we are delivered Rom. 8. 14. But for this the Condemnation which fell upon us for sin must needs have remained irreversible and we must all have perished indubirably 2. Grace had been without its declarative Glory That Attribute which he had a design signally to advance and to make himself known in and by to Eternal Admiration had mist of this Illustration and never been thus spoken of Socinians indeed labour to perswade us that the Satisfaction of Christ for Sin destroys the notion of Grace appearing in the Salvation of Sinners and denies the freedom of his mercy in his saving of them and therefore they will acknowledge no such Satisfaction But it is a very great mistake for this is the very thing which enhaunceth this Grace of God and puts a great many wonders into the Declaration of it for though it is not to be denied that for God to have ordained that sinful man should upon the Confession of his Sins and voluntary submitting of himself to Gods Soveraignty have received a free pardon of all his sins would have been a glorious declaration of free Grace and so a wonderful condescendency in God thus to have past by the high affronts which are by mans sin offered to his glorious Name yet to consider that when man was become so involved or intangled by a righteous and yet a rigorous Law as that there was no possibility of his being saved without the Death of a Surety for him and that no less a personage would serve for this than the Eternal Son of God that the Father should voluntarily spare him out of his own bosome yea and freely appoint him to this Office that he should by submitting to the Law yea doing and dying in our nature and stead become a Saviour for us that so we might not die but live and mercy might flow down to us through his being made a Sacrifice for us and suffering the whole weight of Gods wrath on our account this makes Grace to be the more gloriously resplendent yea and raiseth it up to the highest pitch of admiration that can be imagined CHAP. 11. Of the Influence that the Covenant of Redemption hath into the Covenant of Grace which is made with us THE Foundation of Fallen Mans Salvation is laid in the Covenant of Redemption here was the price provided to buy him out of the hands of Revenging Justice and purchase for him the Eternal Inheritance Here also was security given that all those for whom it was provided should be made happy partakers in the benefit of it But still there is something wanting in order to the bringing of them into the actual enjoyment of this Title and having this Security made over unto them and for this the Scripture points us to another Covenant distinct from this which is by some called the Covenant of Reoenciliation but is more generally known by the name of the Covenant of Grace Not as if the former were not of meer Grace but here the Grace which was laid up in the former breaks forth and is applied effectually unto them who were before the heirs of it Nor can these Covenants be confounded without greatly darkning the knowledge of the wonderful Mystery of the Love of God to men These Covenants are Essentially diverse one from the other having neither the same Parties nor the same Articles in them In the former the Father and the Son are the parties in this latter God and Man In the former the Justice of God was to be satisfied in the
yea in such a Covenant wherein there were none engaged as Parties undertaking but such Persons as were God Hence also the Application of this good to us must needs be acknowledged to this and here must be assigned the reason why any of us do believe that we may be saved it was not because we were enclined or disposed to it more than others but because our Salvation was Secured for us in that Covenant and must be in this way Promoved and how may this serve to hide pride from man and lead him up to an humble acknowledgment of the Fountain of all his hopes CHAPTER XIII The Farther Application by Way of Exhortation and Consolation USE II. For EXHORTATION and DIRECTION to the People of God and that in Four Respects 1 LAbour to Clear up and to be satisfied in your Interest in and Relation to this Covenant Rest not Contented till you have gotten some good Evidence that your Names were written in the Book of Life and to move you hereto Consider these Two Things 1. It is a Thing that may be known Although the Eternal Transaction between GOD the Father and GOD the Son be a Secret Hidden from the World and no Man can have any particular knowledge of it referring to himself till he be made partakers in the special fruits of it yet the Believer in regard of himself may obtain a clear acquaintance with it he may be able to discern and read it There is a way Revealed in the Scripture whereby we may come to know what was contrived about us in the days of Eternity and be assured that Jesus Christ hath paid the full Price of our Redemption not only that he hath done so for some but for us in particular Were it not so that Precept in 2. Pet. 1. 10. had been superfluous yea all the Commands given us to Prove and Try our own State were vain For unless our Trial Issue here we are still left at a loss But there is a Promise made to the People of God that 〈◊〉 him that He will show them His Covenant Psal 25. 14. i. e. The Great secret of the Covenant of Redempâ—ion shall be discovered to them by making of them to know that God loved them with an Everlasting Love 2 The foundation of all your Consolation is laid in this Covenant All the Comfort of the Children of God resolves ultimatly into this that Christ Loved us and gave himself for us but this he did not do for all the world but only for a select company whom his Father had given unto him and these are they whom he Covenanted for before the world was made If ever we be saved it must be by the vertue and application of the satisfaction of Christ to us this is applied to none but those whom he indented for and was appointed by his Father to Redeem so that if we would know whether our sins are Pardoned and Justice be atoned to us it must be by knowing that Christs death is become ours and accepted for us and the way to be satisfied in this is by finding our names â—â— that roll or list which was entred in â—he record of Heaven before time was and till we come to understand this how can we be free from the fears and terrors of the wrath to come Now the Scripture way wherein we are directed to arive at this knowledg is by following of the streams up to the fountain There are some streams of common bounty which flow from God the Fountain of Goodness to all the World he being the common Benefactor to all his Creatures and there are none but do partake more or less of his Benignity Psal 145. 9. Mat. 5. 45. But yet a man may swim in the fulness of all these favours yea be glutted with them and yet be an utter stranger to this Covenant Psal 17. 14. These are kindnesses which God can allow to his Enemies But there are other distinguishing favours which the great King reserves to bestow only on those whom he hath set his heart upon is resolved to make them his special favourites so that whosoever is made to enjoy any of these he may hereby certainly know that God hath a mind to honour him and intends Eternal Life for him There are peculiar tokens of the Love of God which he giâ—es to none but such as have found Grace in his sight and those that enjoy them may from thence unerringly conclude that they were given to Christ in an Everlasting Covenant We may read the descent of these in Rom. 8 29. 30. There is a white Stone and a new Name which is not Legible by any but him who hath it This God bestows upon none other but those who were thus Covenanted for There is a powerful work of Conversion wrought in the Soul by causing the man to pass from death to life the donation of the Spirit of Adoption by which we are enabled to Cry Abba Father the infusion of the Grace of Sanctification in which there is a wonderful change made a New Creature brought forth all old things past away and all things become new in him Now these are all the gifts of saving Grace they are the secret conveyance from the Well-head of Electing Love they are the Covenant Mercies and things that Accompany Salvation if then you are called by his power seized by his Spirit sanctified by his Grace you may by this be assured that you were Chosen in Christ and Covenanted for with him These benefits are not scattered promiscuously but are given peculiarly Labour therefore to have and discover such Operations as these in your hearts and to be more and more acquainted with the reality of them this will be the way to derive joy and consolation from the Fountain and fetch down comfort into your Souls as far as from Eternity 2 Be exhorted to make improvement of your interest in this Covenant for your establishment against the temptations which may assault you We may safely determine that all the shakings or unsettlings of a believers saith and all the discouragements under which he Labours at any time do arise either from a want of his being fortified in this Covenant or from a neglect of applying and improving it seasonably For this hath enough in it to dissolve all doubts and answer all objections if it be wisely improved by us use it therefore 1 To silence all the accusations which may arise from the Covenant of Works A Believer is sometimes greatly Puzled and in a Shock of sore Temptation he is hurried to the Old Covenant where sin is declared against and the sinner is condemned and Justice stands engaged to do execution accordingly and now he is greatly perplexed to think how the Law and Grace can consist and so how such a Sinner as he is can be Saved and he is ready to sink under it Indeed in the Covenant of Grace he hears of pardon and forgiveness which are assured to the