The Doctrine of the Covenant of Redemption, Chapter 6
CHAP. 6. When this Covenant was made.
THE next enquiry is when this Covenant was made? This queſtion ſeems to be here ſuperfluous, ſince we have already taken notice that it was an Eternal Tranſaction: and being before time, it muſt needs alſo be without beginning: Jeſus Chriſt therefore ſpeaking of this deſign, ſaith, I was ſet up from Everlaſting, Prov. 8. 23. and for this reaſon it is ſaid of him, that he was Foreordained before the Foundation of the World, 1 Pet. 1. 20. It was agreed upon before time was between God the Father and the Son, that he ſhould in time accompliſh the Salvation of the Elect; but yet becauſe, though in eternal Acts there is no ſucceſſion, yet, as we before obſerved, there is an order, it may not be unprofitable to conſider in what order this Covenant ſtands, and that for two reaſons.
1. Becauſe of the Sub…apſarians, who though they acknowledge the Eternal Predeſtination of men to an Everlaſting State of Happineſs or Miſery, do yet place it in order after mans Apostaſy, and build it upon that.
2. Becauſe of the forementioned Judgment of thoſe who preſuppoſe the Decree of Chriſts Incarnation, in order to the making of this Covenant with him conſidered as God and Man; wherein they do evidently make that Decree Antecedent to, and wholly distinct from this Covenant. Both of theſe do certainly miſplace the Covenant, and give it a wrong ſtation.
As to the former of theſe it may ſuffice to make theſe few Remarks.
1. That he who will rightly conceive of a Decree, muſt reduce all that refers to it to the two heads of End and Mean…. There is nothing that belongs to any Purpoſe, but it is either the thing purpoſed, or the way in which it is to be compaſſed: and therefore one of theſe two will take in whatſoever can be mentioned concerning it. But this is a principle againſt which I apprehend no rational objection can be made, being adapted to the common ſentiments of Mankind.
2. That Gods deſign in his Decree was his own Glory; and that which Election had a peculiar reſpect to, was the Glory of his Grace. All Gods works of Efficiency were to ſet forth his perfections, and thereby exalt his Declarative Glory; which he accordingly diſpoſed in his Eternal Decree, and hath a reſpect to in his Efficiency, Prov. 16. 4. In the choiſe which he made of men to Salvation, he contrived the advancement of that precious Attribute of Grace. This is pointed to as the end of all, Eph. 1. 4, 5, 6. It was to the praiſe of the Glory of his Grace.
3. That the object of this Decree was Ens poſſibile, a poſſible Being. All Beings are either the firſt, or from the firſt. The firſt Being can be but one, and that is God. He only enjoyed a never Beginning Eternity; all other are the ofſpring of time, before which they had no Exiſtence: and becauſe they were to be from him, not by any neceſſity, but by a voluntary act, hence, God being a Cauſe by Counſel in all his free and tranſient acts, there muſt a Purpoſe paſs with him in order to their Being: Antecedent to which purpoſe, in our conceptions, there could be no other conſideration of the thing but as a meer poſſibility for it was by vertue of this purpoſe that it Paſt into a Futurition.
4 All therefore that concerns this poſſible being in order to its reaching the deſigned end, belongs to the means. Hitherto, in reſpect of the Subject under our preſent conſideration, viz. man, refer; His Creation; the ſtate of integrity in which he was made; the Covenant of works which God put him under; the permiſſion of the Apoſtaſy by which he fell under the Curſe of that Covenant, and ſo came to stand in need of Redemption. Either theſe things belongs to the Decree, or elſe there was no Decree about them; and ſo they fell out beſides Gods intention; or elſe we muſt aſſign two Decrees to God, and ſo two ends, and two orders, of Media reſpecting the ſame Subject; and ſo we muſt ſuppoſe that God loſt his end in the Firſt, which put him upon a new contrivance in the latter. How unbecoming it is to entertain ſuch conceptions about the great God, let any Chriſtian Judg. If then they appertain to the Decree, it muſt be either to the end or the means: not to the end, for that is the glory of Grace, which is not the things themſelves, but that which Reſults from them: they then are but ſteps to it, and ſo muſt be of the means.
5. All the means as they refer to the Decree, are Coordanate. In the execution indeed they are Subalternate, but not ſo in the purpoſe: I mean that though they are put into an order in the Decree, yet in the act of Decreeing they are all together. They are a Chain linked in one, and do all together make but one entire Medium; nor can we rationally conceive them to be here ſeparable. If we conſider the Permiſſion of Man to fall, antecedent to the Future Coming of Chriſt to Redeem him, we can in no ſence allow it to be a deſigned medium of the exaltation of free grace. If we conſider of Chriſt as appointed to the work of Redemption, without the conſideration of Mans Apoſtaſy, we cannot conceive what he ſhould come for. And for this reaſon the Covenant of Redemption cannot in order follow the Decree of permitting man to fall, but muſt be together with it.
As to the Second, let it be remembred, that it hath already bin made to appear, that the Covenant was made with the Second Perſon, and that his Incarnation was one thing put into the Covenant: ſo that it was this Covenant which gave Futurition to it: and therefore to ſuppoſe a Dtcree for the ſon of God to become man, antecedent to, and diſtinct from this Covenant, is not only Superfluous; for what need is there of two acts to paſs for one and the ſame thing? but it is indeed to vacate the very Notion of the Covenant, by taking away the whole that belongs to it, and aſſigning it to a Decree ſuppoſed to be diſtinct from it: for if we look upon Chriſt as God-Man, or Decreed to be ſo, we muſt conceive that he hath voluntarily Undertaken it, for he was not ſo neceſſarily: and then we muſt alſo ſuppoſe it was for ſomething; and that muſt be in order to his being a Redeemer; for on no other account did he ever deſign it: and if this be the Covenant it ſelf, how ſhould it be before it? Beſides, the Decree being (as hath already been obſerved) not a perſonal but eſſential act, we may therefore ſafely and intelligently ſay, That one God in Three Perſons, in Decreeing of the means of mans Salvation, stated and ratified this Covenant.