A discourse of the true nature of the Gospel demonstrating that it is no new law, but a pure doctrine of grace : in answer to the Reverend Mr. Lorimer's Apology / by Tho. Goodwin ...

CHAP. VII. (Book 7)

The Arguments us'd by the Apologist, to prove the Gospel to be a new Law, examin'd. That from the Precepts, Commands urg'd, and Threatnings denounc'd in the New Testament, nothing can be concluded to this Pur∣pose.

IT is now very easy to answer my Reverend Brother's Arguments, and with one gentle Stroke to wipe off all his Citations, since they all are establish'd meerly upon the Ambiguities of the word Law. Such reasoning is very fal∣lacious, to endeavour to prove the Gospel to be a new Rule of Duty, forti∣fied with a Sanction, because we find it to be nam'd a Law, both in the Scriptures and Humane Writings: for the Sum of the whole Demonstration amounts to no more than this, a Law is a Law, the Gospel is a Law, there∣fore the Gospel is a Law; which is a pretty way of arguing, and without

doubt unanswerable. But the clearing the Sense of the Terms, answers all without any more to do; which I think I have done, and the more largely, because I would do all the Justice to a bad Cause as could reasonably be ask'd, and allow to it the fullest Scope and Play possible. I have therefore offer'd Ar∣guments for it my self, I have consider'd what might be alledg'd, I have pro∣duced those Scriptures which with any colour may be urg'd to prove the Go∣spel to be a new Law, omitted by my Learned Brother; and yet as aware that they might be summon'd, I have brought them in, and endeavour'd to clear their Words from that false Meaning which might be fasten'd on them to so ill a Purpose. I shall now particularly consider those which he brings, and shew that they do not prove the Matter in Dispute.

His first set of Scriptures are such as express the Gospel to be either giving Precepts, and issuing out Commands, and prescribing what is our Duty; or reproving the Negligent, or threatning the stubborn Offenders, or promising Blessings on the Condition of such Duties perform'd as are requir'd. It would make this Discourse too large, which is, I know not how, grown under my Hands to a greater Bulk than I first design'd, if I should particularly examine every Text; it will be enough to shew, that however there are Precepts and Commands in the Books of the New Testament, yet these are not properly the Gospel, but parts of the Law, only employ'd in its Service; that the Threatnings denounc'd do not properly belong to the Covenant of Grace, (for what hath Love, and Mercy, and Favour, to do with Wrath, and Justice, and Expressions of Vengeance?) but it useth the Ministry only of a violated Law, whose proper Office it is to threaten the Disobedient, to condemn the Unbelieving and Impenitent Sinner, and to demand Justice against him. If I also shew at last that those places of Scripture (which look like Promises of Blessings to us, on condition that we perform the commanded Duties) view∣ed nearly, prove to be no more than so many Declarations of the Con∣nexion of the Blessings of Grace; and that as Faith is the first bestow'd, it goes not alone, but is attended with a numerous Off-spring: When all this is done, then the right Sense of those Texts which seem to infer to be a Condition of our Justification by this Evangelical Law, will be fully clear'd; the meaning of the alledg'd Scriptures will be so plain, as it will appear that they do not so much as look towards the favouring that Opinion of the Go∣spel being a new Law, for which they are produc'd.

That the Precepts which the Gospel employs, are not any Parts of it self, but borrowed from the Law, will be undoubted, if we consider what is their Nature and Use. They are design'd as the Rule of our Actions; they in∣struct us what to do; they draw the Lines of our Duty, and set the Limits of our Obedience; and all this is the proper Office of the Moral Law, which it compleatly discharges, without calling in any Assistance. It is the eternal and unalterable Rule of Manners, and a Doctrine directing the whole Conduct of

Humane Life: There is no Defect in it, which it was needful to supply by a∣nother new Law; to assert that, would be to impeach the Wisdom of God as deficient, as not knowing at first all that was Good and Righteous, and necessary to be commanded to his Creatures, and to be done by them; or as so short in its Foresight, as not able to discern at the first all the Duties which Men were bound to perform in the Circumstances of their State, but was ob∣lig'd afterward, taught by Experience, to supply the Failures by a new Law, or by an Addition of new Precepts suted to Man's present state of Sin, Weak∣ness and Misery. If then the Moral Law did not comprehend in it all Precepts of Duties, it would not be God's Law, for his is perfect; he is not like short-sighted Men, who cannot foresee what the Consequences of a Law made by them may be within the Compass of one Age; nor whether Circumstan∣ces of Affairs altering, it may not prove hurtful or unnecessary; and therefore all Governments find themselves oblig'd to repeal old Laws, or to add some Clauses to sute them to a present Posture of Affairs, or to make new Ones to repair the Defects, to which all Humane Wisdom in her best Provisions is ob∣noxious, for want of a certain Foreknowledg of the Future. But who can have such a Thought of God, that these Infirmities of a Man should ever befal him in making his Laws, that he should be forc'd, tho not to repeal what he had made so many Ages before, yet to promulgate a new one, with additional Precepts accommodated to the present Case of his miserable Crea∣ture Man? And as it is repugnant to God's Perfections to make new Laws, so it would infer that his antiquated Law was imperfect, and so no Rule; and this would unavoidably follow, if any Duties are to be perform'd which it neither regulates, nor gives any direction about them. But Christ tho as Me∣diator he is no Law-giver, yet perfectly knows the Nature of the Law given at Mount Sinai; that the Law contains all Duties, for he makes the Sum of it to consist in Love to God, and in a due degree of Love to our selves, and in loving our Neighbour, Matth. 22. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. Then one of them which was a Lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great Commandment in the Law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Mind. This is the first and great Commandment. And the Second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self. On these two Com∣mandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Now it will be very difficult to give an Instance of any Duty which we owe to him our Great Creator, or to our selves, or to Men our Fellow-Creatures, which are not included in one of those two Tables, or to name a Precept which may not be reduced to them. The Scripture alledg'd is the more demonstrative for this Reason, that our Lord Christ's Answer is to a Man enquiring concerning his Duty; and then, if at any time, there was occasion to mention this new Law, and to have told him the additional Precepts, had there been any such things. But Christ sends him

to the Moral Law, as comprehending all that Man was to do, and as a perfect Rule of Duty sufficient compleatly to instruct him. And indeed what more can be requir'd of Man, than to love God with all the Powers and Faculties of his Soul, and to love himself as he ought to do, and his Neighbour in like measure?

When Christ also comes into the World, and was made under the Law, which never had before, nor will ever have again so glorious a Subject, it is this Law he not only explains in its spiritual and comprehensive Meaning, but obeys it, and therein fulfils all Righteousness, Mat. 5. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Mat. 3. 15. And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all Righteousness. Then he suffered him. And what! is that Law imperfect, which was the Rule of the most perfect Obedience that ever was, and which excell'd that of Angels? Are any Pre∣cepts wanting in it? how then did Christ compleat all Righteousness in the most exact observance of it? Well then, if the Law be perfect, there is no Duty but what comes within the Verge of its Authority, and what it enjoins under the severest Penalties; and no Precepts were given even by Christ himself, but what particularly appertain to it, and not to the Gospel as a new Law: It is not only our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but it commands to believe on him; for Faith in God (and Christ is so) is contain'd in its first Precept: it not only shews us our Sin, and convinceth us of our Misery and lost State; but when we have believ'd, tho it be no longer a condemning, vexing, torment∣ing Law, yet 'tis a commanding One still: It is a Rule of Gratitude, it pre∣scribes, that we ought to be thankful to Christ in all Returns of Love and Du∣ty, it is the Rule of all that Holy Life of a Christian, which is the Fruit of Faith, and which is call'd Evangelical Obedience, not because it is so to the Gospel, but in respect of those Principles of Faith and Love from which it flows, in respect of the Evangelical Motives which animate and encourage it. It is not hurried on by legal Terrors, nor prick'd forward by sharp-pointed Threatnings, but is sweetly drawn and enliven'd by the Promises. It is not the Fruits of Fear, but the genuine Effects of the heartiest Affection to Christ, and of the most earnest Desires and solicitous Cares to please him.

I know that it will be said, That tho those Precepts in the Gospel, which command and direct Moral Duties, appertain to the Moral Law, yet Faith in Christ the Redeemer, and Repentance, do not seem to be in the least so much as hinted in any of its Commands: For since the Law was given as a Rule of the Actions of Holy and Innocent Creatures, who needed not a Redeemer, there could be no occasion to command them to believe on One; and Adam in his State of Integrity, was no more oblig'd to such a Faith, than the Bles∣sed Angels are to believe on the Saviour of lost and wretched Men. And since Repentance is a Duty too, which presupposeth the Person engag'd to it, to

be an Offender, and guilty, How could it be commanded to a Creature who had never sinned? How could it be a Duty for him to own his Crime with Shame and Sorrow, who never yet had transgressed, or prevaricated in his Obedience? Since therefore Faith in Christ, and Repentance, are Duties which suppose the Man to be a Sinner, it would seem that such Precepts are not im∣plied in a Law given to him before his Fall; but are the proper Precepts of a second Remedial Law, which God hath provided for the Relief and Help of this miserable Creature.

This I must confess looks very plausible at first sight, and the Argument seems to be strongly conclusive. But if we consider the Nature of Faith, it will be manifest, that it was not only commanded to Adam in Innocence, and that it was his Duty, but that it is absolutely necessary to every holy and good Creature: For if we take it as an Act of the Mind, assenting readily to all that God reveals, as infallibly true, it is that to which every Creature in the right Constitution of his Being, is indispensably oblig'd. It is the Duty of Angels themselves to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he is the Saviour of Elect Men; that the Pardon and Justification of a Sinner, is by his Blood and Righteousness alone; that God's Justice is satisfied by the Sacrifice of his Son. For all these Truths being publish'd, and made known by God for the Illustra∣tion of his infinite Mercy among all his rational Creatures; and that the Praises of his Free Grace might resound as well in the Songs of Angels, as from the Mouths of Men; it is needful, and required as a Duty from them both, who are to honour God in the Celebration of all his Attributes, that they heartily be∣lieve all these Truths of the Gospel, in which alone God's Perfections of Mercy and Grace do illustriously shine forth. And as for Man in Innocence, though it was not in express Terms required from him to believe the Gospel not yet revealed to him, or to act Faith on Christ undiscovered; yet such a Command was included, and implied in that general one, that he should without any Doubt or Hesitancy give Credit to all that God said: and that as he was to believe the Sincerity of God's Promise, and the Reality of his Threatnings when the Covenant of Works was made with him, and without doubt he acted such a Faith; so by the same Precept he was commanded and bound to be∣lieve every word which God afterward should speak to him, and without scru∣pulous disputing presently assent to those Truths which were to be reveal'd, assoon as it appear'd to him that they were so. So that indeed the Belief of the Gospel, and Faith in Christ Jesus, were comprehended in this general Pre∣cept of Believing in God: and indeed Christ himself tells us so, and useth it as an Argument why they should act Faith on him, because they were oblig'd to it by the same Command which required them to believe on God; John 14. 1. Let not your Heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. If we regard too the other Act of Faith, which is a firm Reliance of the Soul upon God, and heartily trusting of him, and chearfully committing all our

Concernments, our Life, our Happiness, all we enjoy or hope for, to his faithful Love and Care; this was certainly our first Father's Duty, and given in Precept to him in the Law, as well as the other of assenting to all that God declared as undoubtedly true. And indeed, if it was Adam's Duty in his Primitive Con∣dition to believe in God, it was commanded by the Law; for that only could make it become so. And what! can we ever wildly imagine, that our first Fa∣ther was not bound to act Faith on God his Creator, and constant Benefactor, and upon whom he was to have a perpetual Dependance, or he could not live a moment? What! can we think, that to have rejected God's Word as of su∣spected Truth, to have refused, or but to have suspended his Assent to it when propos'd, had been no fault in him? That to have distrusted God, to have renounced Dependance on him, would not have been a Crime the greatest as could be committed by him? But all this is the unavoidable Consequence of this Assertion, That the Precept of Faith is not in the Law; for neither would Faith have been a Duty, nor Unbelief a Sin to Adam, had not the Law, which was the only Rule of his Obedience, commanded the one and forbidden the other. Were it not for this, he might have been a stubborn obstinate Unbe∣liever without being a Sinner; when on the contrary, it appears from the short Relation of his Apostacy, that Unbelief was his very first Sin. For what is Faith, but to trust in God upon his Word and Promise for all our Life and Happi∣ness? and what is Unbelief but to distrust him? And was not Adam, while flourishing in his State Innocence, a real and sincere Believer? and so long as he persisted in acting Faith, did he not continue to be happy? And was it not the Neglect of the due Exercise of Faith, which at last plung'd him into the Depths of Misery and Despair? As long as he believed God, and entirely con∣fided in him; as long as he lived in constant Dependance upon the Love and Care of his Creator; as long as he thankfully acknowledged, that he received all the Blessings of Life as the Fruits of his Bounty; as long as he trusted in God upon his Word, that he would not only continue them unto him, but bestow greater to come, which by the Promise he had reason to hope for and expect; all this time he liv'd by Faith, and his Days were clear and happy, and it was Unbelief made all his Glories set in a gloomy Evening. It was this begun his Apostacy, not exercising Faith any longer, he would throw off his Dependance upon God, and seek to be bless'd in some new and fond Way of his own. He indulg'd a surmizing Thought, that God, whose solemn Promise he had so freshly heard, either could not, or was not willing to make him so happy as he aspir'd to be, and that he refused to advance him to those degrees of Bliss, of which he fancied himself capable: And thus he ceas'd acting that Faith in God, on which depended his Life and Blessedness; he disbelieved God, and believed the Devil his greatest Enemy, and sinned, and died. And I know not but that he deserved the Execution of the Sentence and Curse pro∣nounced against him, more by his Unbelief than by Eating the Apple: And

that even the Law of Works condemn'd him as much for that Sin, as for the outward Act of his Disobedience. Ay, but it will be said, All this doth not prove that Faith in Christ was commanded by the Law, and required of him as his Duty. No, it is enough that Faith in God was so, to prove that the Pre∣cept belongs to the Law. For if it is sufficient to argue from the Law's not directing this its own commanded Act, to such an Object as Christ the Re∣deemer, that therefore it gives no Precept and Command of Believing, but that it is the peculiar Office of the Gospel to do so; that because this particu∣lar Kind of Faith is not specified, and this Way of Acting it on Christ particu∣larly express'd, that therefore the Duty of Believing comes not within the Li∣mits of its Commands: I might at this rate of Arguing, prove that the Act of Eating the fatal Fruit was no Sin, because not expresly forbidden by the Law; for that regarded it as a thing indifferent, as indeed it was before the Prohibi∣tion: and yet this destroying Act of his was a Sin, and forbidden by the Law, tho not in a particular Precept, yet as involv'd in that great One, which commanded him to obey God in whatever he should require.

It doth not therefore by any consequence follow, that the Gospel is a new Law because it commands Faith as a Duty, and threatens Unbelief, since the old Law had done the same before, and the Gospel only imploys its Precepts, and applies them to its own Design and Use. To say that we are enjoin'd in the Gospel to believe on Christ as the Redeemer, to deliver us from Sin and Death, will not weaken the Force of the Argument urg'd; for the Act even of this Faith is commanded by the Law, and is its proper Precept: That which belongs to the Gospel, is to direct this Act to an Object suted and proportio∣ned to help us in the Misery of our present sinful State. Adam was by the Law commanded to believe, and trust in God for the Preservation and Continu∣ance of him in Happiness. And we are commanded to trust in the same God for the Restoring this lost Happiness, and our Recovery of it again. The Act and Object of Faith, is the same (Christ being God), and all the Difference is only made by that which is the Circumstance (tho a deplorable one) of our own Persons. But this will not alter the Nature of the Faith it-self; for if so, then according to the Variety of these sad Cases and Exigences wherein we trust on Christ, our Faith would alter to a different Nature. Since then the Faith of Adam, which the Moral Law commanded him to act on God, was a Trust in him that he would preserve his innocent Creature in all the Blessedness of his primitive Condition; and the Faith of a Sinner coming to Christ for Life, is a Trust in the same God, (he being the second Person of the Divinity) that he will restore his wretched Creature to its lost Happiness, the Faith is the same in both Instances as to the Nature of it, (tho the Circumstan∣ces of the Persons are different:) and therefore if our first Father was by the Moral Law commanded to believe on God, the same Precept requires, and ob∣ligeth Sinners to believe on the eternal Son of God.

I know that with a scornful Smile it will be said, that it is an absurd Asser∣tion to affirm the Precept of Faith to belong to the Law, when the Command of believing on Christ is perpetually repeated in the Gospel, which only disco∣vers this Saviour of Sinners. It is granted, that we meet with this Precept in all the Books of the New Testament; but then the Objectors must also grant, that we find there too the Precepts of loving Christ, of abandoning all things, and denying our selves for his Sake, of loving our Enemies, of the Obedi∣ence due from Children to their Parents, of the sincere Service which Servants owe to their Masters: and now if the Gospel is not a New Law in requiring these Duties, which were all commanded by the old one, it will no more be a new Law for commanding us to believe, since this hath been demonstrated to be a Precept of the old Law as well as any of the other. All therefore which can be inferr'd is, that the Gospel borrows these Precepts from the old Moral Law, (and then they are not properly its own Commands) and employs them in its Service, and for the Interests of our Salvation; or to speak briefly and clearly, in the Words of the Holy Ghost himself, Gal. 3. 19. the Moral Law is in the hands of Christ our Mediator, and made by him to subserve his gracious Designs.

The other pretended peculiar Precept of this new Law, is Repentance; and if I then prove, that by virtue of the old Law, which was a perfect Rule of Duty, this also was enjoin'd, and Sinners oblig'd to it, this will evince, that neither this is the proper Command of the Gospel. It cannot be denied, that all which is justly due from one Person to another, is required in the Moral Law; for it is a compleat Rule of Righteousness. It can as little be disputed that an hearty Acknowledgment of the Wrong with Shame and Sorrow, from a Man who hath injur'd another, is due to the offended Party; and common Reason and Justice doth engage Men to this, tho no other Reparations can be made. The owning then of our Offences with the most inward Mourning, and deepest Detestation of them, is much more due to God, our Sovereign and Supream Lord, tho we are incapable by all this of making him the least Satis∣faction. To confess a Fault, and to express a real Trouble for having done it, is indeed among Men a making some amends to the wronged Person; for it is some Security that he shall not be hurt by a second Injury: But all our Sorrow, and Confession of Sins with Tears, cannot in any degree satisfy, nor repair the Dishonour and Indignity offer'd unto God. It is yet our Duty to throw our selves at his Feet, to express an Abhorrence of our hainous Rebellion against him; and it is a Duty to which we are bound as Creatures to our Maker, and Subjects to our Soveraign, who is Lord over all, God blessed for ever. But what! it will be said, doth the Law require Repentance when it made no Pro∣posals of Pardon for the Crime? Doth it require a sorrowful Acknowledgment of the Fault; and yet the whole Design of it is, that all this shall do the Of∣fender no good, since it provides not the least Relief for the penitent Sinner?

To what purpose is such a Command, when tho the Sinner sheds floods of Tears, and mourns out a Life lasting to Eternity of Ages, there is yet no Re∣medy tendred by this Law to prevent his being eternally miserable? Yes, for all this, such a Command of Repentance in the Moral Law, is not only to great purpose, but absolutely necessary: for to own to God, with Shame and Sorrow, the Injury we have done him by our Sins, is a Duty which we owe to him our offended Soveraign, tho he had never promis'd to forgive us; nay, tho he had plainly declar'd that he would never be reconcil'd. It is a Duty then to which Adam, after his Fall, was bound by the same Law which he obey'd in his Innocency; to which he was bound, when amaz'd with all the Horrors of a despairing Mind, looking for nothing but Vengeance and Ruin from the Anger and arm'd Power of the Almighty. It is a Duty to which he was tied before any new Covenant of Grace made, and before God had re∣veal'd any Thoughts of Favour to him, or any Purposes of Grace in that first Promise of the Seed of the Woman breaking the Serpent's Head. If then it was Adam's Duty to repent, before he had receiv'd any Promises of Mercy, there must be some Precept obliging him to it: since that, and Duty, mutually infer one another, no Precept could it be of the Gospel, for that was not yet proclaim'd, and therefore it must be the proper Precept of the Mo∣ral Law, which was the thing to be prov'd.

If any one will peremptorily deny Repentance to have been Adam's Duty before God had promis'd Mercy, the same Person must consequently assert, that it was no Fault in him to run from God; that he did very well in excu∣sing himself, in throwing the great Part of the Guilt upon God, in standing upon his own Justification; and that if he had continued an obdurate har∣den'd Wretch, if he had acted as a bold desperate Rebel, and instead of con∣fessing his Crimes, and expressing his Sorrow, had further dar'd and out∣brav'd offended Justice, he had been innocent in all this, and had not in the least broken any Precept of the Law, nor transgress'd the Bounds of his Duty. For if Repentance was not commanded before the Gospel publish'd, then the worst Impenitence in Adam would have been no Sin, because forbidden by no Law.

I know very well that Arminius boldly affirms all this;a 1.1 That the Covenant of Works being broken, the Law was abrogated too, and that God no longer required Obedience from his sinful Creature, till he brought in a new Law, which is the Gospel, commanding Faith and Repentance; and that God accepts this Obedience to the Precepts of this his new Law, instead of perfect Obedience to the old violated Moral Law. But I know too very well, that most prodigious and amazing Absurdities will be the natural Products of

this monstrous Opinion. It will follow, that the first Sin dethron'd God, not only out of Man's Heart, but out of his Seat of Majesty in Heaven too, until to regain his Crown and Dominion, and for the recovery of his lost Sovereign Power, he was forced to condescend to treat with his Rebels upon lower Terms, and to propose a new and milder Law, accommodated to the weaker Cir∣cumstances of their State. Thus God loseth his Soveraignty by the Disobe∣dience of his Creature, and his Laws signified so little, that they were all re∣peal'd and disannull'd, when Man would observe them no longer. And who can once think that the Great God should lose his Power to command, when his Creatures refus'd any more to obey him, and that Man by becoming a Rebel, should cease to be a Subject; and that therefore a new Law, giving new Precepts, and proposing other more moderate Conditions, was abso∣lutely needful to adjust the desperate Affair, and to set all things right again?

Adam also by his Fall having, according to the Assertion of Arminius, broken all Ties and Bonds of Obedience, if before the Promulgation of the Gospel or new Law to him, he had blasphem'd God, had sworn and forsworn, had dis∣sembled kindness to his Wife with the deepest Oaths, while he had nothing in his Heart but Thoughts of Malice, and Designs of Revenge against her for be∣traying him to ruin, had most barbarously murder'd her, and afterward kill'd himself, he yet had not sinned in all this; because before the new Law given, he was oblig'd to no Duty. Believe this who will, for my part I cannot.

And now, what is the Ground of this desperate Assertion? Why truly on∣ly this, That because the Law once broken, there were no longer any Pro∣mises made to the Obedience of a Sinner; therefore the Covenant between God and Man was entirely vacated, and so the Sinner was no longer bound to obey, till a new Law came with other Precepts of Faith, and making Pro∣mises to lower degrees of Duty; and then upon this new Account the Crea∣ture stands bound again. Now all this is founded upon one grand Mistake; which is, that our Obedience to God is establish'd upon his Covenant with us; and that the only Tie upon us, are Promises or Threatnings: Whereas our Duty to God immediately results from the infinite Greatness of his Being, which is therefore supream, and hath an undoubted Right to command, and from the unalterable Relation of a Creature to his Maker. So that Adam, as soon as he had Existence, was presently bound to obey God in all that he would command him, tho he had made no Promise to him of any Reward. And if God had plac'd him in a dismal Desart, instead of settling him in Pa∣radise; if he had sharpen'd his Life with Sorrows and Miseries, in the room of those Blessings and Comforts which he enjoy'd, yet he might have com∣manded him all that he pleas'd, and it would have been his Duty to have paid a ready Obedience. And this clears the Difficulty lying in our way, that tho the Law made no Promises to Sinners, as the Gospel doth, yet that hin∣ders it not from commanding and engaging them to repent; for by what I

have prov'd, it appears, that Promises do not lay the Foundation of a Duty, but are only the Encouragements of it. Well then, tho Adam saw not any thing in the Law to renew Life to a Penitent Offender, tho he could not read in it one Syllable of a Pardon, yet the same Law which requir'd Obedience of him, commanded after he had sinn'd, to repent, and return to his Duty; tho he had no hopes of succeeding in it, and had no assurance that a justly provoked and angry God would forgive, and descry'd not the least Promise shining in Heaven to favour him.

And as it was Adam's Duty to repent, so it is the Duty of all Men now living upon Earth: A Duty, to which Heathens who are not under the Dispen∣sation of the Gospel, to whom this new-stil'd Law never came, who never heard a word of its pretended Precepts or real Promises, are indispensably oblig'd. Whence have they this binding Precept of Repentance? From the Gospel? How can that be, when the least Sound of it never arriv'd to their Ears? It must therefore necessarily be a Precept and Command of the Moral Law to them, which more or less is manifested to all, even the most savage and barbarous Nations of the Earth.

The Design and Office of the Law doth also manifest, that the Precept of Repentance doth properly belong to it: For it was not only appointed as a Rule of Obedience to Adam, but God certainly knowing that Man would fall into a State of Sin and Death, intended the Law for the Conviction of Sinners, to shew them their Sinfulness and Danger, Rom. 3. 19, 20. Now we know that what things soever the Law saith, it saith to them who are under the Law; that every Mouth may be stopped, and all the World may become guilty before God. Therefore by the Deeds of the Law, there shall no Flesh be justified in his sight: for by the Law is the Knowledg of Sin. Rom. 7. 7. He design'd it to rouse and alarm the poor negligent Creatures. And now if it convinceth them of Sin, its malignant Nature and direful Effects, it consequently tells them, that it is their Duty to bewail their Miscarriages, which bring all Mise∣ries upon them, and to reform their evil Courses, and to turn from Sin to God. This the Law preacheth to Men, and these are the natural Dictates of it in their Consciences; and it is impossible to perswade them (till God comes with the Power of his Grace, and works Faith) against putting their Confidence in their Sorrow and repenting, to obtain Pardon by it, and against trusting to their Resolutions of living better for the future; and against their fond Presumption of being justified for their endeavours of Amendment, These legal Principles are natural in Men, they arise not from the Gospel, for that instructs us to put our whole and entire Confidence in Christ, and his Righteousness alone; they must then spring from the Law, and consequently Repentance, which this Law not only urgeth Men unto, but moveth them to build their Hopes of Life upon it, must be one of its Precepts. The Law commands it, the Gospel as a Proclamation of Grace, and

an Offer of Pardon only, invites and encourageth it.

Thus it is sufficiently prov'd, that Sinners were by the Moral Law oblig'd to own their Sins with the most bewailing Expressions of Grief, tho that Law gave them no Encouragement and Hope; and that Adam after his Fall was engag'd to this Sorrow and Contrition, before any promise of Pardon and Acceptance tendred. If we now consider the other and chiefest part of Re∣pentance, it will be evident that this was not only requir'd of the Father of Mankind fallen, but that it was his Duty, and what he practis'd in all the time of his Innocence and flourishing Condition: For what is Repentance mainly, but an hearty abhorrence of Sin, join'd with a most careful Avoi∣dance of it, and a most firm Resolution against it? Now this was as surely in Adam, when continuing the same upright Creature which God had made him, as it is certain that then he was holy, Holiness and hatred of Sin being altogether inseparable; and therefore unless we will suppose our first Father to have been unholy in his original Being, we must not doubt of his daily acting of this principal and most considerable part of Repentance. I call it so, be∣cause it is that which to bring forth the other is appointed: for we are not commanded to mourn, and to bewail our Follies and Miscarriages, meerly for the sake of vexing and tormenting our selves, or as if by the inward An∣guish of our Souls, we were to do Penance to pacify a displeased God; but all this trouble of Mind for Sin, is intended and requir'd to imbitter it to us, and to render us vile in our own Eyes, and to throw us humbled before the Throne of Grace. For tho we are Sinners, and poor and miserable, yet we are naturally proud, and therefore a Sense of our Sin and Misery is requisite to bring down our haughty Spirits; tho we also daily feel the dismal Mischiefs of Sin, yet our deprav'd Natures render us too prone, and readily inclin'd un∣to it; and therefore a piercing Sorrow is necessary to bring us to that true Re∣pentance of which I am speaking, which consists in hating Sin, and turning from it. It is but needful that an aking Wound make us sensible of the ma∣lignant Mischief of Sin, to render it the Object of our highest Aversion. Well then, it is hatred of Sin, and an hearty resistance of it, which is the last and chiefest Act of Repentance, since our Sorrow is design'd only to produce this Effect, and so after all to hate Sin; and most carefully to avoid it, is most truly to repent of it. And this Repentance our first Father, even in his In∣nocence, acted to a higher degree than we do, since his detestation of Sin was greater; and till the sad Moments of his Fall, he opposed it more firmly and successfully.

But it will be objected, Repentance supposeth the Person to have sinn'd, and therefore a Precept of it to Adam in his Uprightness was altogether need∣less. No not at all, for a Precept to oblige Man to what is due and just, is necessary for him in every Condition; and nothing can be more due than to acknowledg a Wrong done: And what is Repentance, but an hearty own∣ing

and lamenting the highest Injury offer'd to God by our Sins? And besides, God in making a Law, gave such a perfect Rule as was sufficient to bind Man to his Duty in all Circumstances of his Case; and therefore it was not only mo∣dell'd to oblige him to perfect Obedience, but to ingage him to repent when he had fail'd of his Duty.

Well, but some may argue against what I before said concerning Faith's be∣ing a Precept of the Original Law given to Adam, that tho it is true, that Faith in God is required in the first Commandment, yet there is no Faith in a Re∣deemer express'd. What then? It is yet plainly implied, since this our Redeemer is God, and therefore a general Command to trust on God at all Times, and according to the various Necessities of our State, must include a Precept to be∣lieve on Christ the Redeemer, when the sad State of our Case doth require it.

Ay, but the Law (will they object) was given to Man in Innocence, and therefore only tied him to such Acts of Obedience as were proper to that Condition; and therefore such Duties which result from Man's being a Sin∣ner, such as Faith and Repentance, were not inclos'd within the compass of this Law. Yes, but they were, and that for the same Reason as such Duties which arise from the present Relations which Men bear to one another, which are the Consequents of Adam's Fall, are comprehended in the Precepts of the Moral Law. By this a Slave is obliged to perform Service to his Master; and yet if Man had not sinned, there had been no such thing as Slavery. By this also Judges are bound to do Justice in punishing Malefactors, and yet in Man's Primitive State of Integrity, there were no Rogues and Villains, nor any need of Judges or Sheriffs.

This is strange indeed (it will be said) to deny the Gospel to be a Law commanding Faith and Repentance, when nothing is more frequently inculca∣ted and earnestly urg'd in the Sermons of Christ, and the Writings of the Apostles, than that Sinners should repent, and should believe on him. 'Tis readily confess'd; but yet from what hath been argued, it must be own'd, that these are Precepts of the Law made use of by the Gospel, and encourag'd by its Promises. We are not presently to fasten every thing on the Gospel, strictly taken, as it is the Word of Salvation which we find in the Books of the New Testament; and because Christ and his Apostles give us Rules of Holiness, immediately name the Gospel a New Law. For after this rate of Reasoning, we may infer too that it is a Book of Lives, because the Life and Death of our Saviour, and the Acts of the Apostles, are recorded in it; that it is the Levitical Law, because the Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, insists on so many Particulars of it. That it is the Ceremonial Law, because the said Apostle circumcis'd Timothy, Act. 16. 1. That it is a Sacred Chro∣nicle, and the Annals of the Church, because it contains the History of the Beginnings and first Progress of Christianity. Thus if we frame Argu∣ments by these Measures, we may make the Gospel any thing that we please, or would fancy it to be.

I have thus (as I think) clear'd the Difficulty which ariseth from our finding the Precepts of Faith and Repentance, so frequently enjoin'd in the New Testament, and have demonstrated that all such Instances will not serve the Purpose of evincing the Gospel to be a new Law. The next Rank of Arguments to be broken is this, that it is alledg'd that the Gospel denounceth Threatnings against unbelieving and impenitent Sinners, and makes general Promises, that every one who believes and repents, in obedience to its Com∣mand, shall certainly be sav'd. If I now then prove that these Threatnings are not of the Gospel, but that it only leaves the Sinner, who by Faith hath no Interest in Christ, to the condemning Sentence of the Law, without any Defence or Plea, or the least Excuse for himself: And if I also prove, that the Gospel makes no such universal Promises of Eternal Life to all Men, on con∣dition they believe, I shall then clear the Way through my Reverend Brother's first thick Set of Arguments, form'd from twenty Texts of Scripture enume∣rated by him.

One plain Text of Scripture evinceth, that the Gospel judgeth and con∣demneth no Man, but leaves the unbelieving Sinner to a fair Trial at Law, and to make the best of it that he can. 'Tis what Christ, who came to save Sinners, and perfectly knew his own Design and Work, tells us, John 3. 17. For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World; but that the World through him might be saved. What could he have said more to assure us, that in the Declaration of the Gospel he did not threaten Death, but pro∣mise Salvation to Sinners, whom the Law menac'd, and who were condemn'd by its Sentence; that he came not as a new Legislator, to give new Laws, and to pronounce a fatal Doom against those that disobey'd them, but to res∣cue poor sentenc'd Criminals from the rigorous Judgment of the Law, and to assure them of a Pardon? He came not to condemn the World, but to save all those whom God had appointed to Life, and consequently to believe on him. But if Christ had brought in a new Law, with Precepts and Threatnings, then one Design of his coming had been to condemn the Disobedient. Our Blessed Redeemer took an effectual Care that we should not have such a Thought of him; and therefore he repeats the same Assertion, John 12. 47. And if any Man hear my Words, and believe not, I judg him not; for I came not to judg the World, but to save the World. He doth not threaten, much less judg and condemn an Unbeliever: He knew that Salvation of Sin∣ners was the Work which he came into the World to perform, and that the Office of a Judg did not belong to a Mediator. He accordingly disowns it, and leaves to the Law its proper Duty, which is to pass Sentence of Death on eve∣ry Sinner, who cannot plead the Blood and Righteousness of Christ for his Discharge; and this all Unbelievers dying in that woful Condition are unca∣pable to do. Thus the Gospel condemns no Man, but it is the Law; and those who believe not, shall be judg'd by it, for violating its just and righteous

Commands, and are expos'd defensless and liable to Justice. Those who believe not on Christ, are presently condemned by the old Law in force against them who have in the least Instance disobey'd it; and there is no need that any Sentence of a new Law should be pass'd against them to this Effect. If any should deny the Argument, I am yet confident they will have a regard to the express Words of Christ himself, which are to the same Pupose, John 3. 18. He that believeth on him, is not condemned; but he that believeth not, is con∣demned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God. What is this but to say, that he introduced no new Law to con∣demn the wretched and desperately lost Sinner for not believing on him, since he was before condemned for the Offences committed against the Moral Law? But it will be urg'd, What is more frequently pronounc'd by Christ and his Apostles, against all Unbelievers, than an unavoidable Ruin and Damnation? such Threatnings are almost as thickly scatter'd in the New Testament, as the Promises of Grace. What then! will it thence follow that the Gospel, which is a Doctrine of Grace, is also a dreadful threatning Law? No certain∣ly, for these two are altogether inconsistent. All then which can be conclud∣ed, is only this, that the Gospel repeats the Threatnings of the Law, to shew Sinners their Danger if they do not believe. This Gospel only tells them what severe Measure they will have from a violated Law, if they are not in∣clos'd within the compass of the Mediator's Favour and Blessings. It plain∣ly and sincerely declares to them, that they can expect nothing but certain Death from a Law which kills the Sinner, if they refuse the only healing Re∣medy which Christ offers. Thus it is told to a Patient, That he will cer∣tainly die, if he takes not the prescrib'd Physick: And yet who will say that this Threatning is any part of the Medicine? Thus the Physician pronounceth Death to a Man, who when mortally Sick, wilfully refuseth to observe his Di∣rections. And how absurd is it from this to imagine, that he who came to cure, design'd to murder him, when it is only the Disease, and his own Ob∣stinacy, which have this fatal Effect?

'Tis true indeed, that an Unbeliever's Guilt is aggravated by his Contempt of the Gospel; and by rejecting Mercy, and despising the Riches of God's Grace, he lays himself open to a severer Sentence, brings an heavier Ruin on his Head, and sharpens his own Punishment. For as the Fire of Hell is the Wrath of God, and the avenging Furies of Conscience, those Flames will burn with more fierceness in a Soul, which makes terrible Reflections how while it lived in this World, it slighted that Grace and that Redeemer, by which others were saved. Thus a Pardon offer'd to Rebels, doth not condemn them for not accepting it; the Refusal only leaves them expos'd to the Severity of the Law, by which the unpardon'd Offender is judg'd and condemn'd: Tho in∣deed the Criminal recalling to mind the Pardon once offer'd him, and his own obstinate Contempt of Mercy, will, with greater Horrors of Soul, at the

Place of Execution, curse his own Folly and Madness, as the Cause of his in∣famous Death.

There now remains nothing more than to shew, that the Promises of Eter∣nal Life made to the Believer, and the Ruin denounc'd against every Unbe∣liever, do not prove the Gospel to be a new Law; and that such Expressions as these, which we so often meet, He who believes shall be sav'd; and except you repent, you shall all likewise perish, do not speak Faith and Repentance to be properly commanded by the Gospel, nor promises Pardon and Justifica∣tion, on condition these Precepts are obey'd, nor threatens Death if they are neglected. That it is not the Gospel, but the Law which threatens Death, I have already proved; that the Promises of the Gospel are not made unto Men, on condition of Obedience perform'd to it, is evident from this, that if they were so, they would not differ in their Nature from the Promises of the Law, and so the Covenant of Grace would be a Covenant of Works: which if the Apostle Paul says true, (as I really believe he doth) is a flat Contradiction, Rom. 11. 6. And if by Grace, then is it no more of Works: otherwise Grace is no more Grace. But if it be of Works, then is it no more Grace; otherwise Work is no more Work. For the Promises of the Law were made to Men, on condition that its Precepts were obey'd. If now the Promises of the Gospel are also made to Men, on condition that its Precepts are obey'd, then the Promises, both of the one and the other, are of the same Nature and King, being both made to Obedience. It is but a poor shifting Evasion, to say, that there is a great difference, because that the Law requires perfect un∣sinning Obedience, and the Gospel insists only on lower degrees of Duty: for this will not so much as prove the Obedience to be of different Kinds, but on∣ly of greater or lesser Measures, which, as every one knows, doth not alter the Species. But if it should be granted, that Obedience to the Law is of a vari∣ous Nature from that enjoin'd by the Gospel, yet the Promises made to them both must be of the same Kind, for both of them are Works: since to obey a Precept, is to do a Work, or I know not what to make of it; and all the Dif∣ference then is, that the Promises of the Covenant of Works were made to Obedience to the old Law, and the Promises of the new Covenant of Grace were made to Obedience unto the new Law. Both are Promises to the Obedience of Laws, and the two Laws will be distinguished no otherwise, than that the one proves to be older than the other by many Ages. And thus the Gospel will be only the superannuated Law of Works reviv'd, with some Abatements of its requir'd Duties. And if this be not as utterly false as there is Truth in the Scriptures, (as I am sure there is) let all unprejudic'd Men judg. And yet this absurd Confusion of Law and Gospel, is the unavoi∣dable Consequence of this Annertion, that the Gospel promises Justification and Eternal Life to Men, on condition they perform the Obedience which it com∣mands.

If also from this Proposition, He that believeth shall be saved, we argue that the Gospel is a new Law, promising Life upon the observance of this its Precept, it will follow, that God in the promulgation of this new Law, of∣fers Life universally to all Men, to Tartars, Negroes, and the Savages in A∣merica; to all the Nations from Peru to Japan, on condition they obey the Command of the Gospel, and believe and repent: For if God in giving his Moral Law to all reasonable Creatures, said universally to Angels and Men, Do this, and you shall live; by the same Rule, if the Gospel is a new Law, God speaks generally to all Men, Believe, and you shall live. Now from this, two amazing Absurdities will naturally spring; the one is, that God should by this his new Law promise Pardon and Life, on condition they believe on his Son, to People who have never heard that there is such a thing as the Christian Religion in the World, nor such a Person as Christ, and to whose Ears not so much as the sound of his Name ever arriv'd. Doth this become the Wisdom of God to act so preposterously? How can we think that the Depths of that Knowledg, as the Apostle speaks, Rom. 11. 33. hath such shallow Designs, as to proclaim a Pardon to all Men, on condition they believe, and yet to make no Provision that the least Syllable of this gracious Proclamation should ever come to their Ears? It is also as repugnant to the Wisdom and Goodness of God, to pro∣mise a Pardon to all Men, on condition they believe, when he knows that the Performance is impossible to them all, by their mere natural Powers deprav'd as they are; when he knows also, that without his All-conquering Grace they cannot believe and repent: To promise to them all Life, on condition they do so, and at the same time to resolve to withhold this Grace from the greatest part of Mankind, without which it is impossible for them to do it, what is this but to illude Men? For any one to offer Food to a Wretch, who hath not a Limb whole, starving in a Dungeon, on condition that he would come up and receive it, and yet refuse to put forth a Finger to give him the least lift, what would this be but to mock him, and to make a sport of his Misery? To avoid these Absurdities, the Arminians, who do not want Wit or Reason to discern the Consequences of their Opinions, as boldly own and maintain them: And as they assert, that God offers and promiseth Life to all, on con∣dition they perform Obedience to this new Law; they speak consistently with themselves, and affirm too, that all Men have sufficient Means afforded them to do it, and that God gives them Helps enough to enable them to believe if they will, and whenever themselves please. If we are then fond of any Arminian Opinions, we must take the whole System of them together, and assert roundly, as they do, without mincing the Matter, what hath an inseparable Connexion with a false Proposition: for there are Consequences among Errors, as well as Truths; and as the one are chain'd, the other are link'd together.

We may then be certain, that these Expressions in Scripture, [He that be∣lieveth, shall be sav'd; but he that believeth not, shall be damn'd, Mark 16. 16. And whoever believeth on Christ, shall receive remission of Sins, Acts 10. 43. And except you repent, you shall all likewise perish, Luke 13. 5.] which are urg'd by my Reverend Brothera 1.2, do not signify that God passeth his Word to all Men, by a new Law establish'd among them, that if they obey it, and believe and repent, they shall assuredly be saved: for God always speaks the Purposes of his Mind, and none of his Words contradict his Heart; but he never decreed, either absolutely or conditionally, that all Men should be eternally happy; for if he had, he would have taken effectual Care that they should be so, since the Intents of his Mind and Will always obtain infallibly their desir'd Effect.

If we also understand that Expression, He who believes, shall be sav'd, that it is promis'd to all, that on the performance of this Condition they shall be thus eternally bless'd; then by the same Rule we must say, that eternal Death and Ruin is threaten'd to them, on condition they do not believe. But the Threatnings of this Wo are not denounc'd against Men for not believing, but as due to them for not perfectly obeying the Law of Works; and their Unbelief only leaves them in that perishing Condition wherein they were born, as I have prov'd before, tho, as I said, their Unbelief aggravates the Misery, and inflames the Anguish of it.

But what meaning then must we apprehend these Scriptures to bear? Why truly they have the same Sense as that Text in Heb. 12. 14. Follow Peace with all Men, and Holiness, without which no Man shall see the Lord. What! is Holiness the Condition of obtaining the Beatifical Vision? No; tho it doth naturally dispose the Soul, and make it meet for and capable of this blissful En∣joyment. No more therefore is meant, than that Holiness, and this Vision of God, are inseparably join'd together, and that no unholy Soul can possibly come to his Presence and Sight. Thus it is also true, that he who believes, shall be sav'd; which imports no more than this, that all Believers are sav'd, and none but they; and that there is such an unchangeable Connexion between the Blessings of the Gospel, that Faith, Repentance and Holiness, are indis∣solubly fasten'd with Pardon, Justification, and Eternal Life, in the same Per∣son; or in a Word, that God justifies and saves no Man, but whom at his own due appointed Time he makes a Believer, brings him to Repentance, (I speak in this of Adult Persons) and sanctifies his Nature: and who∣ever asserts this, is no Antinomian, nor so much as like to such an exe∣crable Monster, however invidious Names are flung about as thick as Stones in the Streets.

I might insist more largely on this Argument, but I begin to think that the Consideration of it will more properly belong to another Discourse, wherein I design, with the Assistance of my Lord Jesus Christ, (who hath help'd me in this, beyond the natural Abilities of my own Mind, to him be all the Glory) to prove, that the Covenant of Grace doth not promise nor confer the Blessings on condition of performing Duties requir'd.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Epistola Arminii ad Utenbogardum in Epistolis praestant. viror. Epist. 70. pag. 131, 132. Edit. 2. Amstel. 1684.
• a 1.2

  Mr. Lorimer's Apology, Chap. 2. Sect. 1. pag. 22.