The Covenant of God Entered with Mankind, Chapter 33
CHAP. XXXIII.
Poſitions tending to clear the firſt covenant, under Old Teſtament-diſpenſations.
BEfore I proceed to the examination of thoſe ſuppoſed differences; which ſome have brought in, to the prejudice of both covenants; I ſhall lay down certain poſitions, to give ſome light for the more clear underſtanding, eſpecially of the Old covenant, and to help us (if it may be) in our judgements of them both; as well in their agreement, as their ſeverall differences.
Firſt Poſition, God delivered unto Adam in Paradiſe, not only a Law or Rule of life,Moſes delivered a Covenant from God to Iſrael in Mount Sinai. but alſo a Covenant, (as was before ſhewed;) So, Moſes in Mount Sinai delivered unto the people of the Jews, not a Law or rule only, but a covenant likewiſe. This might be confirmed at large, but that others have fully done it; and I know not that there is any adverſary that appears in it. The name of a covenant is frequently given to it, Deut. 4. 13. He declared unto you the covenant, which he commanded you to performe, even ten Commandments. See 2 Kings 18. 12. 2 Chron. 6. 11. All the eſſentials of a covenant before mentioned, Parties, Conſent, Conditions, are found in it, as we may ſee in that one Text, Deut. 26. 17, 18. Thou haſt avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, to walk in his wayes, and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promiſed thee. Yea, the ſolemnities of a covenant, as before hath been largely ſhewne, are found in it.
Secondly,M…ſes delivered a Covenant of Grace to Iſrael This covenant delivered by Moſes to the people of Iſrael, was a covenant of Grace, the ſame in ſubstance with this, under which, we live in Goſpel-times. This is ſo largely proved to my hand by Maſter Ball in his Treatiſe of the covenant, page 102, 103, 104. and Maſter Burges in his Vindiciae legis, page 224, 225. that I may ſpare my paines; yet in brief, That covenant which teacheth Chriſt, in which men attaine ſalvation, that accepts men upon repentance, in which there is pardon of ſinne, and in which the heart is circumciſed of God; that is a covenant of grace. One of theſe ſingle will evince it, much more in their joynt ſtrength will they conclude it; But the covenant delivered by Moſes, was ſuch a covenant. In that covenant Chriſt was taught, John 5. 46, 47. Had ye beleved Moſes, ye would have beleeved me; but if ye beleeve not Moſes, how will ye beleeve my words? Whence the collection is plaine, Beleevers of Moſes, are Beleevers of Chriſt; and Rejecters of Moſes, are Rejecters of Christ: See Luke 24. 25, 26. with 44, 45, 46. John 1. 45. Acts 26. 22, 23. Rom. 3. 21, 22. The Prophecies, Promiſes, Types, Genealogies, Sacraments under that covenant (whether ordinary or extraordinary) all held forth Chriſt as might be eaſily ſhewn in their ſeveral particulars. In that covenant the people of the Jews attained ſalvation, and were not only fed with temporal Promiſes, and a covenant meerly carnal; not looking above or beyond the land of Canaan, as ſhall be ſhewen: In this covenant men are accepted, and received into mercy and favour upon repentance; When thou art in tribulation, and all theſe things are come upon thee in the later dayes, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and ſhalt be obedient to his voice, (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God) he will not forſake thee, neither deſtroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he ſware unto them, Deut. 4. 30, 31. In this covenant there is pardon of ſinne, (the great priviledge of the New covenant, Heb. 8. 12.) The Lord proclaimes himſelf to Moſes; The Lord, the Lord God, merciful, and gracious, long-ſuffering, and abundant in goodneſſe and truth, keeping mercy for thouſands, forgiving iniquity, tranſgreſſion and ſin, Exod. 34. 6, 7. See Exod. 32. 31, 32. 2 Chron. 7. 14. Pſal. 25. 11. Pſal. 51. 12. 7. 9. 14. In this covenant the heart is circumciſed (another great priviledge of the New covenant, Heb. 8.) And the Lord thy God will circumciſe thy heart, and the heart of thy ſeed, to love the Lord thy God. The ten Commandments delivered by Moſes. were of this Covenant of Grace.All of theſe, any of theſe hold out a covenant of Grace.
Thirdly, the ten commandments, which are called the covenant of God, Deut. 4. 13. 2 Chron. 6. 11. (all that Moſes delivered to Iſrael, being there epitomized) holds forth a covenant of Grace, and not of Works. This appears in the Preface, intimating, Gods grace and goodneſſe to that people, bringing them out of the land of Egypt, and the houſe of Bondage. Which deliverance had more in it than a bare temporal mercy; otherwiſe their paſſage through the red Sea could have been no Baptiſme as the Apoſtle calls it, 1 Cor. 10. 1. Neither had it been any act of juſtifying faith in Moſes to obſerve the Paſſeover, which yet the Apoſtle obſerves, Heb. 11. 28. Then their Rock and Manna had been a viaticum in the way, but no Sacrament. There God avoucheth himſelf to be the God of that people; I am the Lord thy God, and he was a God in covenant to none of man-kinde fallen, but by an act of grace. It appears in the firſt commandment, where God requires them to accept him, and cleave unto him, which cannot be done but through Chriſt. It appears in the ſecond commandment; in the preceptive part of it, which contains the whole ceremonial Law, in which, pardon of ſinne was found through Chriſt. Thither Interpreters reduce all the Sacrifices, Types, Sacraments of the Jewes. It appeares in the reaſons annext to that precept, which, as it threatens judgement on tranſgreſſours of the Law; ſo, mercy to thoſe that obſerve it. Mercy is an act of Grace, and not vouchſafed but in Chriſt. It appears in the fifth commandment, in the promiſe there annext, and faſtened to it; So that this covenant (or this ſumme or epitome of the covenant between God and his people) which was put into the Arke, and the Mercy-ſeat or propitiatory ſet upon it, in the moſt holy place, Exod. 26. 34. was a covenant of Grace.
Fourthly,Being a Covenant of Grace, it could by no means be a Covenant of Works. this covenant (delivered by Moſes and epitomized in the Decalogue) being a covenant of Grace, it could by no meanes be, in the whole and entire nature of it, a covenant of Works. This is plaine, God doth not at once, with the ſame people enter covenant upon ſo oppoſite termes. Theſe are foreign, either of them deſtructive to the other, We may argue concerning the covenant, as the Apoſtle doth concerning Election, If by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwiſe grace is no more grace; but if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwiſe work is no more work. This I ſpeak as for their ſakes, that make it a mixt covenant, ſuch a one as Pauls adverſaries preacht in the Churches of Galatia; ſo alſo for their ſakes, that aſſert it to be a covenant of Works, never undertaking any anſwer to thoſe arguments, which ſo clearly conclude it to be a covenant of Grace.
Fifthly,What this Covenant is to any, it is to all. What this covenant is to any, that it is to all, whether it be of works or of grace; what it is in it ſelfe in the tender and termes of it, that is the denomination of it. This is plaine, Mens faith or unbelief, Mens obedience or tranſgreſſion, cannot diverſifie the nature of that which God doth tender; And what God ſpake to the people, he ſpake to all the people, the ſame to all, that he ſpake to any, Exodus 19. 25. Exodus 20. 18. compared, and therefore that is a miſtake in ſome that ſay, That the Law is, doubtleſſe a pure covenant of Works to ſome men, but not to all. It is a covenant of works, occaſionally and accidentally, and not only to thoſe which are not related to, comprehended in, or made partakers of the covenant of Grace. He ſhould rather have ſaid, that the ten commandments had been a covenant of Grace, but ſometimes by an accident or eſpecial occaſion had become a covenant of Works, which yet could not have held. The covenant of Grace and the covenant of Works are two diſtinct and oppoſite Species, They have one and the ſame univocal Genus, of whoſe nature they equally partake. Therefore as an Oxe can by no occaſion or accident, be a Horſe, or a Horſe a Sheep, or a Sheep a Lion, or a Lion a man; ſo a covenant of Grace, can by no occaſion or accident be a covenant of Works; one and the ſame thing intended for one end, may occaſionally and accidentally have another event; as the Miniſtery intending ſalvation, may prove an aggravat on of condemnation; but no occaſion or accident can change the nature of any thing, into that which is of a kind oppoſite to it, and different from it. And, in ſuch caſes where the event is hindred, and another happens; the denomination is, and muſt be, from the primary intention. The Apoſtle calls the Goſpel the power of God to ſalvation, Under Moſes his adminiſtration, commands were frequent and full, ſpiritual promiſes were rare and more obſcure.Rom. 1. 16. The word is called the word of Life, though to ſome through their obſtinacy, it turns to condemnation, and to death. If our author in this queſtion, take liberty to differ from all (as himſelf profeſſeth) I hope he will not be diſpleaſed, if all differ from him, Hanc veniam petimuſque, damuſque, viciſſim.
Sixthly, In Moſes time, and under his adminiſtration, commands were frequent and full, as well ceremonial, as moral, as alſo menaces. The directive, and maledictive part of the Law; were clear and open, for diſcovery of ſinne, to work to a ſenſe of danger, to put them in a poſture to look for and long after the Meſſiah; But the promiſes more obſcure, (I mean the promiſes of eternity) ſcarce known, any otherwiſe then as they were ſhadowed out in temporal things. This (as the Apoſtle ſhews) was figured by that vaile, which was before Moſes his face, when he ſpake with the people upon the renuing of the Tables, Moſes his face upon his converſe with God in the Mount, ſhone with that glory, that Aaron and all the children of Iſrael were afraid to come nigh, Exod. 34. 30. Afterwards he ſpeaks to the people, and talks with them; And till he had done ſpeaking with them, he put a vaile before his face, verſe 33. Whereupon the Apoſtle having entred compariſon between the Miniſters of the Law, and the Miniſters of the Goſpel, alludes to this vaile before Moſes his face, 2 Cor. 3. 12, 13, 14. in theſe words, Seeing then we have ſuch hope, (ſaith he) we uſe great plainneſſe of ſpeech, and not as Moſes which put a vaile over his face, that the children of Iſrael could not ſtedfaſtly look to the end of that which is aboliſhed, but their mindes were blinded; Upon which Diodati ſaith; Moſes Miniſtry kept the people under the ſhadows of ceremonies, without contemplating the myſteries which were figured by them to the bottom, which was reſerved for the time of the Goſpel, Heb. 10. 4. Whereof was a figure that vaile on Moſes his face; Not (ſaith he) that, that was the end of that act of Moſes, but of that which the Apoſtle ſaith, may be allegorically underſtood thereby, namely of the obſcure diſpenſation of the Law; Which obſcure diſpenſation meeting with that blindneſſe that was in the judgements of that people, held them in ſuch ignorance, that they ſaw little of Grace in that covenant, but rather through their blinde miſtake, looked upon it (the generality of them) as a covenant of Works. And this the Apoſtle ſignifies in the place before quoted, as alſo, Rom. 10. 3. They being ignorant of Gods righteouſneſſe, and going about to eſtabliſh their own righteouſneſſe, have not ſubmitted themſelves to the righteouſneſſe of God. This cauſed them ſo tenaciouſly to hold to the precepts of the Law (eſpecially to the ceremonial part, which though more burdenſome, yet was eaſilier fitted to their corruption) that they refuſed Chriſt the end of the Law for righteouſneſſe ſake, to every one that beleeveth, Rom. 10. 3.
Seventhly,There was ſo much of Grace and Chriſt held out in the Old Covenant to leave them without excuſe. There was yet ſo much of grace, and Chriſt held out in this covenant, that they were not only left without excuſe, that were under it; but convinced of ſin, if they ſaw not Chriſt and the grace of the covenant in it. Chriſt in his conteſt with the Jewes (who would not receive him, but ſtood in oppoſition, and raiſed perſecution againſt him,) appeales to the Scriptures, Old Teſtament-Scriptures; Search the Scriptures, for they teſtifie of me, and in them you think to have eternal life, Iohn 5. 39. Where we ſee a double encomium of the Scriptures. 1. From the Iewes own acknowledgement, In them eternal life may be found. 2. From the teſtimony they give of Chriſt, In them, upon ſearch, Chriſt may be found; There are ſuch diſcoveries there, that hold him out, and eternal life in him, to thoſe that ſearch them. And they ſuſpecting, by that intimacy of communion that he profeſt to have with the Father, and the heavy charge that he laid upon them, that he was about to accuſe them to the Father; Chriſt puts it off from himſelf, and puts it upon one that they had leaſt in ſuſpition, even Moſes, Moſes in whom they truſted, in whom they pretended to repoſe confidence; It is he that is ready to accuſe them, not of breach of the Law, or tranſgreſſion of any command of his, (which they could eaſilier have beleeved) but of unbeliefe of Moſes; You have one that accuſeth you, even Moſes, in whom you truſt; for had ye beleeved Moſes, ye would have beleeved me, for he wrote of me. Unbelief in Chriſt, ſet forth in Moſes, is a ſinne, which Moſes his writings ſhall charge upon them. So alſo in that ſpeech of Chriſt to the two diſciples in the way to Emmaus, O ye fools and ſlow of heart, to beleeve all that the Prophets have ſpoken; ought not Chriſt to have ſuffered thoſe things, & to enter into his glory? where we ſee them charged with ſin, in that they underſtood not Chriſt in the Prophets,Many phraſes in uſe under the Old Covenant-adminiſtration ſeemingly holding out a Covenant of Works, according to Scripture uſe hold out a Covenant of Grace. Chriſt in Moſes, as follows there in the next words; Beginning at Moſes and all the Prophets, he expounded unto them all the Scriptures the things concerning himſelfe, Luke 24 25, 26, 27. They that dwell at Jeruſalem and their Rulers, becauſe they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they fulfilled them in condemning him, Acts 13. 27.
Eightly, There are thoſe phraſes in Moſes, which are ordinarily quoted, as holding out a covenant of Works, and in a rigid interpretation are no other; yet in a qualified ſenſe, in a Geſpel-ſenſe, and according to Scripture-uſe of the phraſe, they hold out a covenant of Grace, and the termes and conditions of it; To inſtance in ſome few, Deut. 4. 1. Now therefore hearken, O Iſrael, unto the ſtatutes, and unto the judgements which I teach you to do them, that ye may live, and go in and poſſeſſe the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you, Deut. 5. 33. You ſhall walk in all the wayes which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you; and that ye may prolong your dayes in the land which ye ſhall poſſeſſe, Deut. 30. 16. In that I command this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his wayes and to keep his commandments, and his ſtatutes, and his judgements, that thou mayeſt live and multiply, and the Lord thy God ſhall bleſſe thee in the land whither thou goest to poſſeſſe it. Deut. 6. 24, 25. And the Lord commanded us to do all theſe ſtatutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always, that he might preſerve us alive as it is this day. And it ſhall be our righteouſneſſe if we obſerve to do all theſe commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us. We may ſo interpret thoſe Scriptures (and the Jewes, as it appears for a great part, did ſo interpret them) that they hold out a covenant of Works, when Grace was not at all acknowledged to aſſiſt in doing, nor Chriſt known at all to ſatisfie for failing, and to expiate for tranſgreſſion. Theſe ſeeing nothing but a reward upon labour, and puniſhment in caſe of tranſgreſſion. They may yet be ſo interpreted as taking Grace, in the Work for change of the heart, and putting it into a poſture for obedience, according to that even in Moſes, Deut. 306. I will circumciſe thy heart, and the heart if thy …eed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy ſoul, that thou mayeſt live, and ſo theſe duties are only Goſpel qualifications of truth and ſincerity of obedience. In this ſenſe (which they may well bear, and I take to be their native ſenſe) here is no more than what we finde in the Goſpel, from Chriſt and the Apoſtles. They that have done good, ſhall riſe unto the reſurr…ction of life, John 5. 28. To them that by patient continuing in well-doing, ſeek for glory and immortality, eternal life, Rom 2. 5. Where (as in many other places) we may ſee, that according to the New covenant, a man may make the attaining of life, the end of his work, and the Reader may ſee phraſes of his nature, to be New covenant, New Teſtament, and Goſpel-language; unleſſe they will charge Chriſt and the Apoſtles to have Old Teſtament-ſpirits. To ſave a mans ſelf may be ſo underſtood as to bear a ſenſe, purely legal, anti-Evangelical, and oppoſite to Grace or Faith in Chriſt, and ſo it is uſed by the Apoſtle, or a phraſe very near it; For by Grace ye are ſaved through Faith, not of your ſelves, it is the gift of God, Eph. 2. 8. Not obſcurely ſhewing, that if we are ſaved of our ſelves, it is not of Grace, not of Faith, and not the gift of God. Yet the phraſe may be underſtood in a Goſpel-ſenſe, as requiring and implying no more than our endeavour in a ſtate of grace, through the aſſiſtance of the Spirit, to walk in Salvation-way, To ſtrive to enter in at the ſtrait gate, and to ſeek the Kingdome of God, and the righteouſneſſe of it, and ſo we finde it uſed, and that more than once in Scriptures, 1 Tim. 4. 16. Take heed unto thy ſelf, and unto the doctrine; in ſo doing thou wilt ſave thy ſelf, and them that hear thee. Miniſters taking heed to doctrine, ſave hearers, and yet are no ſaviours, in oppoſition, but in ſubordination to the Lord Jeſus; Miniſters and others taking heed to themſelves, ſave themſelves, and yet are no ſelf-ſaviours in oppoſition to free grace, the merit of, or faith in Chriſt Jeſus; Peter in his firſt Sermon after receiving of the holy Ghoſt pre…cht the Goſpel, yet he urg'd this, which ſome will have to be no other than a covenant of Works; Save your ſelves from this untoward generation, Act. 2. 40. And the Apoſtle preacht no other thing than Chriſt and him crucified, when he called on the Philippians, to work out their own ſalvation with fear and trembling, Phil. 2. 12. To be found in our own righteouſneſſe, in that ſenſe that Paul uſes it, Phil. 3. 8. doth exclude the righteouſneſſe of faith, that was no bottom on which he durſt ſtand; yet in the ſenſe that Ezekiel uſes it, the ſoul is delivered by it, Though Noah, Daniel, and Job ſtood before me, they would but deliver their own ſoules by their righteouſneſs, Ezek. 14. 14. ſo Ezek. 18. 22. In his righteouſneſs that he hath done he ſhall live; Noah was an heir of the righteouſneſs of faith, Heb. 11. 7. as the Holy Ghoſt himſelf witneſſeth; yet the ſame Holy Ghoſt tells us, that his own righteouſneſs delivers his ſoul. So Solomon ſaith, Righteouſneſſe delivers from death; he doth not only ſay, it would deliver, were it exact and compleat, but (ſuch as it is) it doth deliver, Prov. 20.2. David (as Paul obſerves) deſcribeth the bleſſedneſs of the man unto whom God imputeth righteouſneſs without works, Rom. 4. 6. Yet the ſame David puts bleſſedneſſe upon works, Pſal. 112. 1. Bleſſed is the man that feareth the Lord that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Pſalme 119. 12. Bleſſed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the Law of the Lord; Bleſſed are they that keep his testimonies, that ſeek him with the whole heart. Pſ. 128. 1. Bleſſed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his wayes. And ſo alſo the Apoſtle James, Who ſo looketh into the perfect Law of Liberty, and continueth therein, not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, that man ſhall be bleſſed in his deed, James 1. 25. The Apoſtle Peter tells us, We are kept by the mighty power of God through faith unto ſalvation, 1 Pet. 1 5. Our ſalvation is not in our own keeping, It is not our own care, that frees us from deſtruction; yet John ſaith, He that is begotten of God ſinneth not, and keepeth himſelf, that the wicked one toucheth him not, 1 John 5. 18. Here are the ſame words affirmed, and denied, and both from one and the ſame mouth of truth; a different ſenſe therefore is to be enquired after. A righteouſneſſe, which is the condition of the covenant of Works; out of our own inherent ſtrength and abilities, in an exact perfection, is denied, a righteouſneſſe, not of us, but through grace wrought in us, in ſincerity, which the covenant of Grace calls for, is aſſerted and required.
Ninthly,Though Moſes delivered a Covenant of Grace to Iſrael, yet the Law is ſometime taken in that reſtrained ſenſe as to hold forth a Covenant of Works. Though the whole Law that Moſes delivered from God on Mount Sinai to the people (and is among the ſacred Oracles of God for poſterity) do containe a covenant of Grace, yet the Law is taken ſometime in that ſtrict ſenſe, as containing a covenant of Works, and holding forth life upon condition of perfect obedience. So the Apoſtle, Rom. 10. 5, 6. puts an oppoſition between the righteouſneſſe of the Law, and the righteouſneſs of Faith; So alſo Gal. 3. 18. If righteouſneſſe be by the Law, it is no more of Promiſe, So that, there is a neceſſity of diſtinguiſhing, between the Law, abſtracted from the Promiſe, the Promiſe of Chriſt, I meane the Evangelical Promiſe, and the Law, including this Promiſe, and writing of Chriſt Jeſus, ſo that the works of the Law, conſidered in the bare mandatory part of it, can ſave none; If righteouſneſſe come by the Law, then Chriſt is dead in vaine; yet the righteouſneſs witneſſed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteouſneſſe of God which is by Faith of Jeſus Chriſt, Rom. 3. 21, 22. is, our juſtification, and brings ſalvation, Rom. 3. 21, 22. And no marvel, that Moſes, and the Law delivered by Moſes, ſhould be taken in Scripture in ſo different an acception; when circumciſion, that leading ceremony of the Law, is ſometimes looked upon as a Priviledge, as hath been ſhewed, and a ſaving Ordinance, Rom. 3. 1. Rom. 4. 11. And ſometimes as a yoke, A yoke that neither our fathers nor we were able to bear; Acts 15. 10. yea, as a deadly ceremony, dividing and cutting off from Chriſt. I Paul ſay unto you, if you be circumciſed, Chriſt ſhall profit you nothing, Gal. 5. 2. So that the Law abſtracted from Chriſt, as the greater part of the Jews took it) was a Miniſtry of condemnation, 2 Cor. 3. 9. It could never reach ſo high as ſalvation, but including Chriſt, it wa… perfect, and ſaves the ſoule, Pſal. 19. 7. The Apoſtles thinks he can never ſufficiently vilifie the ceremonial Fabrick, looked upon, as abſolute of it ſelf, without farther relation; We ſee what titles he gives thoſe Ordinances, Weak and beggarly elements, Gal. 4. 9. Rudiments of this world, Col. 2. 8. But being taken in their relative conſideration, as a School-maſter to Chriſt, they are an attonement, a ſweet ſavour, they are ſo called, times without end; The honour due to Chriſt (who was an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a ſweet ſmelling ſavour, Eph. 5. 2. and by whom we receive the attonement, Rom. 5. 11.) without derogation from Chriſt, is given to them; not by way of oppoſition, but ſubordination; and not by mans device, but Gods appointment not holding the ſoul from him, but miniſterially ſerviceable to lead to him.