this will be our great Work, to sing forth the Praises of Grace, and to admire and glorify the Grace of God to all Eternity.
II. To limit the Point. Thô it is of Grace, yet not to exclude Christ, not to exclude the Means of Salvation.
1. Not to exclude Christ. The Merit of Christ stands well enough with the Grace of God; Rom. 3.24. Being justified freely by his Grace, through the Redemption that is in Christ Iesus. Freely, you will say, How so, when it was not without so great a Price and Satisfaction as the Blood of the Lord Jesus? Yet however it is freely in respect of us, it is by no Work of ours, it was the exceeding Grace of God to appoint the Merit of Christ, that it might be the greater ground of Confidence to us. We do not look for things with such certainty, which depend upon meer Grace, and Favour, and Good-will, as we do when a thing is established by Merit and Desert. Now Merit in us there could not be without wrong to Grace; and therefore the Wisdom and Love of God hath found out this way of Merit in Christ, that we might be the more confident of the standing of our Priviledges, they be∣ing bought at so great a Price. There was Grace in this, that God gave Christ, that the Satisfaction is not required of us; and therefore indeed there is nothing doth so gloriously discover the Grace of God, as the free giving up of Jesus Christ. God might require Satisfaction from the Party offending, or the Person that had so sinned might bear the Blame and Punishment; but the Lord hath so loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, and that not to Angels but to us. Well then, it is Grace to find out the Merit, and Grace by which we are interested in it: Christ's Merit is most free, both on the part of God: the Father freely sending Christ, and on the part of Christ taking this Office upon him. It was Grace that moved God to give Christ, and Grace that moved Christ to give himself, who loved me, and gave himself for me, Gal. 2.20. Nay, after all this, it is Grace that gives us Faith, that so we may be interested in the Merit of Christ, that we which sinned with both Hands earnestly, might take hold of God with both Hands: And our Salvation is carried on in such a way, that we may confidently expect his Mer∣cy, whithout any violation of his Justice and Truth. So that it doth not derogate from the Grace of God, but much amplify and enlarge it: This is a great part of the Grace, that he freely sent Christ to make all sure between us and him.
2. Not to exclude the Means of Salvation; not Faith; nor Obedience also, if rightly understood.
Not Faith, that may well enough stand with Grace; Ephes. 2.8. By Grace ye are saved, through Faith, and that not of your selves, it is the Gift of God. There is a Condition required, and that's Faith; but God himself gives the Condition that he requireth. Grace cannot stand with any thing that is in Man, and of Man, as the Condition of the Covenant; yet it stands with Faith, because it justifies, not as an inherent Quality in us, or as a Work done by us, but as it layeth hold of Jesus Christ: and it is not of our selves, but is the meer Gift of Grace.
And then for Obedience, that is also subordinate to Faith, as a necessary Fruit and Effect of it. As Faith is the Instrument, so Obedience is required as a Fruit of Faith; thô it come not into Justification, yet it is an Evidence of our Interest in Sal∣vation. It is required as a Testimony of Faith, yet not as a Condition, which is a Cause of the Thing promised. It is required, because thô it be not of Man, yet it is in Man; it is given of God, but it is our Work.
The Papists (to excuse the grossness of Merit) say, That our Works do not me∣rit, but as they come from the Grace of God, and as they are sprinkled with the Blood of Christ. But, mark, it is not enough so to ascribe our Works to the Grace of God; all Self-justiciaries will do so, as the Pharisee that pleaded his Works, Luke 18.11. God, I thank thee, I am not as other Men are. And you confound the Covenants, when you think that a Man may merit of God by his own Grace. Adam under the Covenant of Works, might then be said to be saved by Grace; Why? Because he could not persevere in the use of his own Free-will, unless he had received it of God. Well then, Grace doth not exclude Faith, nor Works; not Faith as the Instrument of Justification, and as the Condition of the Covenant; not Works, as the Fruit and Testimony of Faith. There is a Concurrence of Works, but not by way of Causality, but Order; God will first justify, then sanctify, then