A Discourse of the Two Covenants, Book 1 · Chapter 7 – Chapter 8
CHAP. VII. How the Law as a Covenant comes to be aboliſhed.
Col. 2.14, Blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was againſt us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his Croſs.
§. 1. OF a mans …ranſlation out of the firſt Covenant, with the manner and the nature of it, which is by Union with Chriſt, we have ſpoken hitherto; now let us come unto the thing remaining, and that is the abolition of this Covenant, which I conceive theſe words do hold forth to us. There are two things in the words to be explained. (1) The …hing it ſelf which is to be aboliſhed, it is the hand-writing. (2) The manner of the aboliſhing, how it is to be done, blotting it out, taking it out of the way, and nailing it to his Croſs.
(1) The thing that is to be aboliſhed is the hand-writing. The uſe of theſe things in civil contracts between man and man are of no other end but for a man to acknowledg his debt under his own hand, Vehementius obligat ſyngrapha foreign,Eraſm. and therefore the Greeks call it Chirographum; and what this hand-writing is there is a great deal of difference amongſt …nterpreters. There are three Interpretations commonly given of it: [1] Some underſtand …t of the Moral Law, and the Law given to Adam in Paradiſe, In the day thou eateſt thereof thou ſhalt die. [2] By the hand-writing ſome of them ſay is meant the Ceremonial Law, and the whole Paedagogy of Moſes, conſiſting in Rites and Ordinances, by which men did acknowledg themſelves guilty of the breach of the Moral Law; for they were all of them open and publick confeſſions of ſin: and thus much doth Calvin and Beza only underſtand by the hand-writing. [3] There is another Interpretation that I have met withal in Glaſſius, quoted alſo and hinted by Eraſmus, Chirographum eſt conſcientia arguens—& condemnans, the hand-writing is the Conſcience accuſing and condemning; according to that Scripture, The iniquity of Jacob is written with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond: noting, that knowledg of ſin in a mans Conſcience, and a mans obligation unto wrath thereby. And all theſe I conceive to be meant by the hand-writing in this place. [1] It muſt be underſtood of the Mo…al Law, becauſe it is a conſolation given to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, but they were never bound unto the Ceremonial Law. [2] It is to be underſtood of the Ceremonial …aw as an appendix to the Moral Law; and both theſe had a power upon the Conſcience to condemn a man, and lay him as guilty before God; therefore with Aretius I ſhould underſtand, Quicquid nos apud Deum potuit reos peragere, quicquid nos damnat, & quicquid Satan contra nos citare poteſt, hoc totum Chirographum eſſe, hoc eſt, teſtimonium peccati. So that the Moral Law of God enjoining us obedience, and the Ceremonial Law convincing us of ſin, and the conſcience of both theſe, are all meant by the hand-writing againſt us.
(2) The manner of the abolition, and that in ſeveral gradations. There are three ways of cancelling Bonds, and making them void: [1] Diſpunctione, by Diſpunction or Cancellation. [2] Laceratione, by Laceration. [3] Litura, by the ſponge blotting out, &c. Now if the ſeal be taken off, and the Bond rent it is cancelled, but yet ſo that the characters of the writing remain; but now in blotting it out, which is here meant, it does not only cancel the Bond, but it does it ſo that nothing can be read againſt a man for time to come; and therefore it is as if it had never been; but the Bond remains though the hand-writing be bloted out: Therefore it is further added, he has taken it away, as well as blotted it out. But though it be taken away, it may be reſerved againſt a man to the day of judgment; no, it was rent in pieces and nailed to the Croſs of Chriſt, with the ſame nails that Chriſt himſelf was; ſo that the obligatory power of the Law, and the damnatory power of it is utterly aboliſhed by the death of Chriſt, Ʋniverſaliter & ſufficienter, univerſally and ſufficiently upon the Croſs; Particulariter & efficaciter, particularly and efficaciouſly, when it is by the Spirit applied unto the Conſcience of a man, and ſpeaks pardon to him being juſtified by faith, ſo that he hath peace with God, &c. Thence to blot out the hand-writing is to take away the ſentence of condemnation. Wherefore the obſervation from hence is this.
Doctrin. The firſt Covenant is perfectly and utterly aboliſhed by Chriſt to all that are in him.
§. 2. That the Law is taken away as a Covenant, has been ſhewed at large, in reſpect of the main … of it; namely, (1) That it remains not for Juſtification; For no man is juſtified by the law in the ſight of God. Gal. 3.11, Chriſt is the end of the law for righteouſneſs. (2) Neither does the Law remain for condemnation; for he has redeemed us from the curſe of the law, and there is no condemnation to them that are in Chriſt Jeſus. Nor (3) for Irritation, You are not under the law, ſays the Apoſtle, therefore ſin ſhall not have dominion over you. Not under the Law forbidding ſin barely, and ſo provoking it, but under Grace healing a mans nature and ſtrengthning him againſt ſin. (4) Nor for Coaction; If you are led by the ſpirit you are not under the Law; that is, not under the Law as a ſlave under a Tyrant forcibly compelling, but you have a ſpirit of Sonſhip, which freely leads a man in all his ways, and carries him on with a free and a willing ſpirit. Thus the Law is aboliſhed as a Covenant with reſpect to all ends for which it can ſerve, whether principal or accidental.
Theſe Particulars having been already largely opened, that which I would now chiefly ſpeak to in the opening of this Doctrine, is, the manner how the Law as a Covenant comes to be aboliſhed; and this is by theſe ſteps.
1. Chriſt himſelf is made under the Law as a Covenant of Works: the Law that is here meant is not only the Ceremonial Law, which he did freely ſubject himſelf to being a Jew, but alſo and chiefly the Moral Law, to which he did ſubject himſelf as a man: for it's ſaid, He was made under the Law to redeem us, that were under it; therefore it muſt be underſtood of that Law under which we were, and from which Chriſts purpoſe was to redeem us, and that wherein our redemption does mainly lie. Now ſo all men are, in particular the Galatians, who were not under the Ceremonial Law; therefore it muſt be meant of the Moral Law, that he is ſaid,Gal. 3.13. to be made under the curſe of the Moral Law: now who-ever comes under the curſe muſt alſo ſo far come under the Covenant; therefore Chriſt being made under the Moral Law, as it is a Covenant came under the curſe of it.
2. Chriſt was made under the Law two ways, as he was man. (1) In reſpect of the debt to be paid. (2) In reference to the bond to be cancelled; for if man could have paid the debt of the Law of obedience, and undergone the curſe, yet he could never have taken off the bond of the Law; it would have lain upon him for ever, he would have been for ever under the Law. Now Chriſt muſt do both: (1) As our ſurety he paid the debt, the principal of which was obedience, ſo that the righteouſneſs of the Law is fulfilled in us to Juſtification; and by the Goſpel the Law is not made void but eſtabliſhed, and alſo the forfeiture taken off, he being made ſin, was alſo made a curſe for us. (2) That the Law might not ſtand in force againſt us for the time to come as a Covenant, therefore he has alſo cancelled the bond; being made under the Law as a Covenant of Works, he has taken away the Law as a Covenant unto all the Saints: He delivered us from ſin being made ſin for us, and from the curſe being made a curſe for us: and from the Law as a Covenant, by being made under the ſame Covenant. And ſo he did not only pay the debt, which we did owe to the Law as a rule of righteouſneſs; but alſo as it was a Covenant of Life.
3. Chriſt was not under the Law naturally and neceſſarily as other men are, neither do I conceive that it is ſafe to ſay, that Chriſt as a man was ſubject to the Law for himſelf, and that he did owe obedience unto the Law; for though it be true, that Chriſt as man was a creature, and indeed every creature is ſubject unto the Law: yet looking upon Chriſt as God-man, and all the acts of Chriſt as actiones ſuppoſiti, actions of the Divine perſon; ſo they were above what the Law required; which is the ground of all his merit above the ſatisfaction of the Law; for the Law required perfect obedience of a man, but the Law did not require that it muſt be the obedience of him that was God and man: and therefore Luther has well obſerved, that he is the Lord of the Law, whence there is no Law againſt him; wherefore as he did freely and voluntarily take our nature, ſo he having taken it, did freely put his name into our bond, come under our Covenant, that he might in every thing become a ſurety for us, having a right to redeem us being God our brother, and being bound to redeem us, as our ſurety, and being engaged with us in the ſame Covenant, and for us: and therefore as he is ſaid to be made fleſh, and to be made ſin, becauſe it was by his own voluntary ſubmiſſion; ſo he is ſaid to be made under the Law alſo, and by his coming under the Law he has both paid our debt, and cancelled our bond: and ſo the Law remains unto the Saints as a Covenant no more, and has no more dominion over a man as a Covenant.
2. He has fulfilled and ſatisfied for ever all that this Covenant required of us, he did it in our ſtead, and there is that full ſatisfaction given in him that the Law can never ask more of us for ever: for this cauſe we muſt as it is a Covenant be freed from it, and this is the reaſon given in the Text, He has taken it out of the way, and nailed it to his Croſs: that is, with the ſame nails that he was nailed with, the bond that bound us; that is, the Law as a Covenant was nailed alſo;Rom. 7.4. and this is to be dead to the Law by the body of Chriſt, or in the body of Chriſt; that is, we died in him, and he bore our ſins in his body on the Tree, and whatever Chriſt did to the ſatisfaction of the Law in his humane nature, as our nature was aſſumed by him, it was for us, his righteouſneſs being imputed to us, &c. Chriſt has indeed fully ſatisfied the Law, but yet if the Law ſhould require perfect obedience of us alſo, then it muſt remain unto us as a Covenant of Works ſtill; but as Chriſt hath done it, ſo he hath done it for us, and it is done once for all, foreign, for active obedience: though the Law require duty of us,Heb. 10.10. yet it is not unto Juſtification, and all our own obedience is in this to be lookt upon as a filthy rag; and though we do here undergo many ſufferings, yet it is not for ſatisfaction, for he hath by one offering of himſelf for ever perfected them that he ſanctified: he is ſaid to remain a Prieſt,Heb. 10.14. Heb. 3.7. Dan. 9. and ſo doth his ſacrifice and oblation remain in the vertue and efficacy of it for ever, and therefore he is ſaid to bring in everlaſting righteouſneſs. So that if the Law look for ſatisfaction to the precept, it is perfected in him; and if it look for ſatisfaction to the curſe it is perfected in him, it can remain as a Covenant to us no more, becauſe it can as a Covenant exact nothing of us more: and therefore to all that are in Chriſt and ſtand under the Covenant of Grace, the Law requires their duties of him, and their ſufferings of him; ſo that the Law as a Covenant has nothing to do with them, but with Chriſt, who is ſtill under the ſame Covenant remaining their Surety and Prieſt for ever: and therefore in this victory of Chriſt over the Law as a Covenant, Luther makes the main glory of our deliverance to lye, and this was indeed the great end of Chriſts coming into the world. As for the other ends, Legem docere & miracula facere, Duplici jure Chriſtus legem vicit proſtravit trucidávit; primo, ut Dei filius, legis Dominus; ſecundo, ut ſponſor noſter in noſtra perſona: Quod tantundem eſt acſi nos ipſi viciſſemus quod à victoria Chriſti noſtra eſt. Gal. 3.16. Tit. 1.22. Tim. 1.9.to teach the Law and do Miracles; theſe were but beneficia particularia, particular benefits; for his Diſciples did teach the ſame truths, and many things more than Chriſt did in his own perſon, and wrought as great Miracles as he; but his great end was, Legem vincere & abolere, to overcome the Law, and as a Covenant to cancel it, becauſe he has fully ſatisfied it once for all: and therefore by way of ſatisfaction either in obedience or curſe, it can never require any thing of us to eter…ity.
3. By introducing of a ſecond Covenant, and tranſlating men there into a Covenant of Grace and mercy, and reconciliation, and this Covenant Chriſt hath brought in; for it was a Covenant made with him before the world began; for there was light promiſed us, and Grace given us before the world began in theſe eternal Tranſactions between God and Chriſt: …nd the Lord hath ſaid, That this ſhall be an Everlaſting Covenant, and all men that ever are …aved ſhall be ſaved by this Covenant; Juſtified freely by his Grace; by Grace you are ſaved, &c. Now as the Apoſtle ſpeaks of the revealing of the Goſpel, Heb. 8. ult. In that he ſaith, new Covenant, he hath made the former old, and that which waxeth old is ready to vaniſh away. … the Lord Chriſt intending to bring in a ſecond Covenant, and that upon different terms …d conditions, he hath made the former old and ready to vaniſh away.
Ʋſe 1 §. 3. See here the infinite Goodneſs and Wiſdom of God; as in Chriſt there are many …rious Unions in that one, ſo there are alſo many very curious diſtinctions; as in the one t…ng, that a man would never have thought could have been united, ſo in the other thing that a man would have thought could never have been divided. As for the Unions, that a child and a ſon ſhould be given, and God and man ſhould become one Perſon; and ſuch a word as foreign, a God-man in the world, and Immanuel, God with us; that he that bears up all things ſhoud be born; he that made all things ſhould himſelf be made fleſh, made of a woman; that the beauty of Holineſs ſhould be made ſin; and he in whom all happineſs …es, whoſe very Preſence makes Heaven, ſhould be made a curſe; that he who only hath Immortality ſhould give himſelf unto death; that the Incomprehenſible ſhould be comprehen…ed; and Eternity have a beginning, and the Ancient of days become a child! who can …ut admire that ſuch things as theſe ſhould be united! and all to make a righteous and a holy God and a ſinful creature to become one again. So for the Diſtinctions, to ſee God in Chriſt dividing between the guilt and ſtain of ſin; the guilt Chriſt will take upon himſelf by Imputation, but he will not take the ſtain of ſin: to diſtinguiſh between the ſin and the ſinner, that the ſin ſhall be damned and the ſinner ſaved; God will take ſin off the ſinner, that there ſhould be a change of the perſon, but not of the righteouſneſs, that the guilt of all ſin ſhould be taken away perfectly at once, but the ſtain of it blotted out by degrees. A mans Covenant is at once renewed, and his image but in part; ſo for God to diſtinguiſh between the Law as a rule, and the Law as a Covenant; and the Lord will utterly aboliſh it in the one reſpect, but not in the other. In all this is ſeen the Majeſty and Wiſdom of God: therefore as our Divines uſe to ſay, If there had been a Council called of Men and Angels after the Fall, how a way might be found out to anſwer the different demands of the Attributes of God, Mercy inclining to ſpare the Creature as miſerable, and Juſtice requiring vengeance upon the Creature as ſinful; how Mercy and Juſtice may be ſatisfied, and God and Man be reconciled; how God ſatisfied, and the ſinner ſaved; how the ſin may go to Hell, and the ſinner to Heaven; how the Curſe of the Law may be executed, and yet the Grace of the Goſpel exerciſed towards man, all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth could not have found out a way; ſo I may ſay in this particular, the Creature muſt not be foreign, his own rule; a rule it muſt have to walk by, which muſt be the manifeſtation of Gods will, or elſe what it does can never be accepted,Tert. for Deo ſerviendum eſt non ex arbitrio, ſed ex imperio. And this is the Eternal rule that God will have his Creatures to walk by, as anſwering his holy nature, and can be no other, and therefore if we walk not after Gods rule, Gods curſe muſt follow us. Now take away and aboliſh the Law as a Covenant, and ſo the curſe will be thereby removed; and now for God to do this, and yet to continue the Law as a rule; to take that away that was againſt a man, and yet to continue that which was for him; it was that which all the wiſdom of the Creatures could never have found out a way to accompliſh, that the Law as a Covenant might be aboliſhed, and yet as a rule continued for ever.
CHAP. VIII. To all that are in Chriſt, the firſt Covenant is made ſubſervient to the ſecond.
Gal. 3.17, 18, 19, And this I ſay, that the Covenant that was confirmed before of God in Chriſt, the Law which was four hundred and thirty years after cannot diſanull, that it ſhould make the promiſe of none effect; for if the inheritance be by the Law it is no more of promiſe; but God gave it to Abraham by promiſe. Wherefore then ſerveth the Law? it was added becauſe of tranſgreſſion, till the ſeed ſhould come, to whom the promiſe was made, and it was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator.