No Power But of God, Dialogue
A Dialogue between the Law and th… Goſpel: Or between a Believer, and the Law.
Law.
THe Law ſaith, If thou wilt … theſe things, thou ſhalt live … them, Lev. 18. 5.
Goſpel.
Not he that doth this, but … that believeth in me ſhall live, Joh. 11. 26.
Law.
A man is juſtified by works, a… that I will prove, Jam. 2. 21. & 24.
Goſpel.
A man is juſtified by faith, wi… out the works of the Law, Gal. 2. 19. Rom. 4. 5.
Law.
If thou wilt not do theſe thing… require of thee, I will curſe thee, and there …ave thee, Gal. 3. 10.
Believer.
But Chriſt was made a curſe for …e, and ſo freed me from thee, Gal. 3. 13.
Law.
Thou haſt committed ſuch and …ch ſinnes, but not brought a ſacrifice for …em.
Believ.
Oh, but take notice of that Scrip…re, Matth. 9. 13. I will have mercy, and not …crifice.
Law.
But thou haſt gone beyond the …unds of mercy, for thou haſt committed …ch ſinnes, which God will not accept ſa…ifice for.
Believ.
But what ſinnes are thoſe that …ere is no ſacrifice to be accepted for?
Law.
Firſt, there is no ſacrifice that will … accepted for preſumptuouſneſſe, Num. …. 30.
2. No ſacrifice to be accepted for negle…ng Circumciſion, Gen. 17. 14.
3. No ſacrifice for breach of the Sabbath …y, Exod. 31. 15.
Believ.
Oh but my faith layes hold on …e that promiſed to cleanſe me from all …y ſinnes, ſaith the believing ſoul, 1 Joh. …. So, O Law, I have nothing to do with …e in all theſe things.
Law.
But thou ſhalt know that I will have to do with thee; for I am thy Schoo… maſter, Gal. 3. 24. And Chriſt himſelf ſait… Matth. 5. 17. He came not to deſtroy me; a… Paul ſaith, He doth not make void, b… eſtabliſh me, Rom. 3. laſt verſ.
Belieu.
It's true, thou waſt a Schoo… maſter, and in ſome ſenſe thou art ſo ſtil… but he that is come to Chriſt, Is not und… a Schoolmaſter, Gal. 3. 25. And the Lo… Chriſt came to fulfill thee, Matth. 5. 17. a… if fulfilled by him, what doſt thou requi… of me? and whereas Paul ſaith, He do… eſtabliſh thee, that i…, in thy place and roo… and ſo the Law is good if a man uſe it la… fully, 1 Tim. 1. 8.
Law.
But ſaith the Law, Doſt thou ma… no account of me? Doſt thou not know i… deed that tho… act under me?
Believ.
I am not under thee; the Lo… tells me ſo by the mouth of Paul, Rom. 10. Chriſt is the end of the Law to all that believ… Again, Paul tells me from the Lord, Ro… 7. 6. Thou art dead: and I finde it writt… in 2 Cor. 3. from the 11. verſ. to the … four times in that one Chapter, Thou a… done away.
Law.
Doſt thou think, ſaith the Law, I were at an end, or dead, that Miniſters a… Preachers would preach me up in almo… every Pulpit as they do, and ſet me up as a …le to the people? yea and moſt of the …ople of this Nation do ſtand for me, …ough they do not obey me.
Believ.
O Law, ſee the Lord ſpeaking by …l, and anſwering this queſtion for me, Tim. 1. 7. There be many that do teach the …w, underſtanding neither what they ſay, nor …at they affirm. And further I finde in …ripture theſe things of thee, viz.
Thou art weak, Rom. 8. 3. Thou art un…ofitable, Heb. 7. 18, & 19. compared toge…er. Thou art dead, Rom. 7. 6. Thou art …ne away, 2 Cor. 3. 11.
Law.
I pray anſwer to theſe enſuing …ueries, ſaith the Law: if not, let me …ll thee, Thou ſhalt know that thou art …nder me.
Firſt, what ſhall convince thee of ſin, if I …all not?
Secondly, what ſhall work ſorrow for …n, if not my Threats and Judgements?
Thirdly, what ſhall cauſe thee to forſake …n, if I ſhall not?
Believ.
Firſt, the Spirit ſhall convince …e of ſin, Joh. 16. 8.
Secondly, the looking upon Chriſt …hom. I have pierced; or if you will, Chriſt …ooking upon me after my ſin, as he did upon Peter, will cauſe me to weep and r… pent, Rom. 2. 4. The goodneſſe of Go… leads to repentance.
Thirdly, the ſweet love of God is no… become my Schoolmaſter to lead me int… the paths of all righteouſneſſe, Tit. … 11. 12.
Law.
Chriſt was made under me, an… did obſerve me, ſo as to obey me, and h… commanded thee to learn of him, Matt… 11. 28. and to walk as he walked, 1 Jo… 2. 6.
Believ.
If Chriſt was made under th… Law, and did yeeld obedience to the Law why, it was for me, that he might ſet m… free, Gal. 5. 1. Stand faſt therefore in the liberty wherewith Chriſt hath ſet us free, and b… not intangled again with the yoke of bondage O Law, wilt thou turn Extortioner, to take thy due in my Surety, and impriſo… me too; when Chriſt hath paid the deb… that I owed thee to a penny, and hath take… up the bond and can celled it? Col. 2. 14.
Law.
But ſaith the Law, I would have thee to know that the deareſt ſervants o… Chriſt, as well as Chriſt himſelf have been under me: what fayeſt thou of David? Pſal. 38. … I having ſhewed him his ſin, and pronounced his terrours; he cryeth out, My ſin… are too heavy for me to bear. And Jeremiah … Prophet lay a long time under me, … the whole book of the Lamentations doth …undantly teſtifie. I could inſtance in al…oſt all the Saints in the Old and New Te…ments, that lay under me: And doſt thou …ink thy ſelf wiſer then they, and ſo make …e alſo of none account?
Believ.
The Lord for bid, that I ſhould …ake my ſelf wiſer then they, or co…pare …y ſelf with them! David and Jeremiah, they …ere both glorious inſtruments to ſet forth …e praiſe, power, and wiſdome of God: …t, O Law, this let me tell thee, I have now …eat cauſe to praiſe, magnifie, and admire …od in his wonderful love to me, in that he …ave me a being in this latter day, wherein …ere is greater light, and a clearer mani…ſtation of his free juſtification by ſaith, …ithout the works of the Law, Rom. 3. 28. …nd that he hath freed me from thee, O …aw, and ſpirit of bondage, that I and o…hers have a long time lain under, Rom. …0. 4. & Gal. 4. 4, 5. & Rom. 6. 14. & Rom. …. 6.
Law.
But wilt thou not own me ſo as …o take me for thy rule of life?
Believ.
No, by no means, and that …or theſe reaſons:
Firſt, thou art dead to me, Rom. 7. 6. an… I am dead to thee, Rom. 7. 4.
Secondly, becauſe thou wouldeſt be u… profitable to me if I ſhould obſerve the for ſave me thou canſt not, for that is … grace, Eph. 2. 5. 8.
Thirdly, I will not ſerve thee, becauſe am not under thee, Gal. 3. 25. but after th… faith is come, I am no longer under Schoolmaſter.
Law.
Well, for all this, mind what ho… and heavenly David ſaid of me, Pſal. 119. Then ſhall I not be aſhamed, when I have reſp… to all thy commandments.
Believ.
He that believeth on him, as t… Scripture ſaith, ſhall not be aſhamed, Rom. 1… 11. 28. Iſa. 16.
Law.
Though thou and others do … little eſteem of me, becauſe you do not … the excellencie that is in me; yet let me t… thee, that I am glorious, ſo that the chi… dren of Iſrael could not behold the face … Moſes when he received me, 2 Cor. 3. 7.
Believ.
If that which was done away w… glorious; much more that which remai… is glorious, even the Goſpel, 2 Cor. 3. 11.
Law.
But ſaith the Law, If thou ca… clearly prove by Scripture that the Lo… that gave me to Moſes, did limit me a tim… and that I was not to continue to the end … the world in my full power, force and …rtue, I will be ſilent.
Believ.
That I will preſently prove, Gal. … 19. Wherefore then ſerveth the Law, faith …ul? why, it was added becauſe of tranſgreſ…on till the ſeed ſhould come, &c. Now this …ed is Chriſt, and this Chriſt is come: where…re, O Law, give place.
Law.
Have I been ſo ſtrictly obſerved in …ll ages, ever ſince I was given forth, and …hat by thoſe men that were accounted the …oſt religious men upon the face of the …rth: and doſt thou, O ſally m…n, and a few …uch as thou, that art ignorant, and doſt …ot know the Law; doſt thou, I ſay, think …o make me void?
Believ.
I do not make thee void, but ra…her eſtabliſh thee in thy place and room, …om. 3. 31. and ſo in 1 Tim. 1. 8. But we …now that the Law is good if a man uſe it law…ully.
Again, if I had lived in thoſe dayes in which thou waſt in force, I had been under …hee as well as thoſe you name before; and … do conceive that thou, O Law, waſt in full …orce, power, and vertue from the time that Moſes received thee upon the Mount, untill Chriſt came in the fleſh.
Nay, and after he came in the fleſh, tho… waſt in force, until the Lord Jeſus had ſu… mitted unto thee in all thy demonſtration… and obeyed thee in all thy precepts; ſo th… there was not one thing that thou require… to be done, but he did do it, till at lengh… there was no more required; ſo Chriſt d… clares it was finiſhed, Joh. 17. 4. I have finiſ… ed the work that thou gaveſt me to do, &c.
Nay, O Law, he did not only yeeld ob… dience to thy commands, and ſo fulfill… thee, but he did ſuffer all thy torments an… judgements, as if he had broken thee. Tho… couldeſt but require a compleat and inti… obedience both in principles and practi… and in caſe of diſobedience, to ſuffer t… puniſhment due to ſuch a ſinne or ſinne this was all▪ thou hadſt to ſay. Now t… Lord Chriſt took mans nature, and wa… made under thee, and in all things obſe… ved thee in point of action, and ſubmitt… to thee in point of ſuffering: And if tho… ask me how this obedience of Chriſt th… ſecond Adam, is become mine? Let me as thee, O Law, how was the tranſgreſſion … the firſt Adam imputed to me? was I not … his loyns, and ſo partaker of his ſinne … natural generation? and am I not alſo … the ſecond Adam by ſpiritual regeneratio… a…d ſo partaker of all his obedience and …hteouſneſſe by communication? Read …derſtandingly, 1 Cor. 1. 30, 31. & 2 Cor. …1.
Law.
If thou, and a few ſuch as thou art, … winde and twiſt your ſelves out of my …wer, as not to hearken to me in my pre…s, nor fear me in my threatnings; yet let … tell thee, O man, That the greater part …en and women that ever have heard of …, are yet under me, and ſhall be judged … Chriſt according as they keep me, or …ak me.
Believ.
That the greater part of men …d women that ever heard of thee are ſtill …der thee, I have granted before in what I …e ſaid in anſwer unto thee. And where…hou ſayeſt, they ſhall be judged by thee, … by Chriſt, according as they keep or …ak thee; there is ſomething in it, though …nnot fully grant it. Firſt, there is ſome…ng in it: for our Lord Jeſus Chriſt …aching to the Jews which were under … Law, Joh. 5. from the 17. verſe to the … of that Chapter, you may read many …ngs to be conſidered; and in the 40. verſe …riſt tells them, You will not come to me that might have life. And when Chriſt takes … leave of the unbelieving Jews in the 45 verſe, he tells them, that ſeeing they wou… not be brought off the Law to the Goſp… he ſpeaks to them ſaying, Do not think t… I will accuſe you to the Father for not imbrati… me in the Goſpel; no, no, there is no need of th… there is another that is ſufficient to condem… you, even the Law of Moſes in which you t… As if Chriſt had ſaid to them, th… needs not mine accuſation to comple… your condemnation; that very Law th… you ſeem to ſtick to, will condemne yo… but had you underſtood that Law in t… Spirit as you did in the Letter, you wou… not have rejected me, for Moſes writ of … verſe 46.
For ought I know, thoſe that do live a… dye under the Law of Nature, ſhall … judged by the Law of Nature. Rom. 1. Rom. 2. both thoſe Chapters do ſpe… much this thing.
And ſo for thoſe that do live under t… Law of Moſes, they ſhall, for ought I kno… be judged by that Law, as in Joh. 5. 45. A… whereas I ſaid, I could not fully grant … theſe be my reaſons or Scriptures; Thi… condemnation, ſaith Chriſt, that light is co… into the world, and men love darkneſſe rat… then light: And again, they be condemn… for unbelief, He that beleeveth not, is conde… …d already, Joh. 3. And again, in the He…ws, They were ſhut out becauſe of unbelief…t I have not ſaid, that the Law in the …irit did not lead them to faith.
Law.
I muſt indeed confeſſe, that there is greater and clearer light held forth in the …oſpel then in the Law, and a better Co…nant eſtabliſhed upon better promiſes, …eb. 8. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
But if I may not go before, doth it there…re follow that I may not come after? If …ay not ſit in Maſes Chair at the upper …d of the table, muſt I not therefore ſit at …? Pray, if thou canſt, tell me where is my …ace?
Believ.
Thon muſt not have any Taber…cle built for thee, for a greater then thou art … here, Mar. 9. 7. When Peter ſaw Moſes in …s glory, he would have made a Taber…cle for him; but the Lord took away …oſes, and anſwered Peter to his foregoing …queſt to Chriſt, touching a Tabernacle … Moſes, ſaying, This is my beloved Sonne, …ar him, Mar. 9. 7.
But the Law in the ſpiritual ſubſtance of … I ſuppoſe is ſtill in force; for the Law in …e Spirit, is the Goſpel; for the Goſpel …oth hold forth thoſe things in ſubſtance, … the Law did in types and ſhadows: as we do receive light from the ſame Sunne w… he is under a cloud, as we do when … cloud is over, and he ſhine in his brig… neſſe; the light is the ſame for quality a… nature, but not for quantity or meaſure. F… the Goſpel doth not teach any other Re… gion then the Law did; but there is a m… glorious adminiſtration, and a more cl… rer diſpenſation of the love of God in t… face of Jeſus Chriſt under the Goſpel, th… was under the Law, I Cor. 12. 5. Now th… are differences of adminiſtrations, but the fa… Lord, and there are diverſaties of operations, … it is the ſame God which marketh all in all: … that for the ſubſtance we have no oth… Goſpel now then that was preached to o… firſt parents in Paradiſe after their fall, … you may ſee Gen. 3. 15. The ſeed of the wom… ſhall break the Serpents head. Here is the ſ… ſtance of all Law and Goſpel included a… contained in theſe words. But this Goſp… was preached ſomething darkly, and y… not ſo darkly, but that many believed a… were ſaved. Well, in proceſſe of time, th… Lord gave forth the Law, wherein we… orders and ordinances, types and ſhadow held forth in ſeveral adminiſtrations; … that now there was a far clearer preachin… that Goſpel, Gen. 3. 15. The ſeed of the w… man ſhall break the Serpents head. Then ſhall …ou finde all the Prophets riſing up one …ter another ſpeaking of Chriſt, and the …ory of his Kingdome; and as one did …cceed after another in proceſſe of time, ſo …e latter did exceed the former in their …owledge of this myſtery; and at length … the fulneſſe of time, Chriſt, whom all …eſe had ſpoken of, and many be lieved in, …me into the world; then ſprang up a …eater light then ever was before, for here …as come the ſubſtance of all the former …pes, ſo that never man ſpake as this man, …ither were there ever ſuch miracles done … any as were done by him: well, Chriſt …s the people, That thoſe that did believe in …n, ſhould do the ſame works, and greater then …ſe: And after his aſcention, what won…rful things were done by the Apoſtles, …ry day? the love of God in the face of … Jeſus Chriſt, was more and more held …rth; and ſo through the goodneſſe of …od unto this day, and at this preſent me, is the Lord diſplaying the banner of …s love in deſtroying our darkneſſe by the …ghtneſſe of his appearing. Now then, O …w, thou in thy time and place wert glo…ous, but the Goſpel is much more glori…s; the ſpiritual ſubſtance of thee doth remain, duplicate page duplicate page but all thy rudiments and beggerl… elements muſt tumble down.
And for my part, I am commanded b… my Father, Col. 2. 21. 22. ſaying of the… Touch not, taſte not, handle not, for all are … periſh that uſe them. v. 23. Which things ha… indeed a ſhew of wiſdome in will-worſhip. Sha… I run to the …ight of a ſtar, when I may ha… the light of the Moon? Shall I run to th… light of a candle, when I may enjoy th… light of the Sun? Shall I cry up ſhadow… when I may enjoy the ſubſtance? Shall abide under the Law, when I may be und… the Goſpel? No, Law, no; I have not ſo lea… ned Chriſt. I deſire now, with Paul, to kn… nothing but Chriſt and him crucified, 1 Co… 2. 2.
Law.
Well, ſaith the Law, as thou ha… dealt plainly with me, ſo ſhall I do wit… thee; give me leave then, and I will tell th… that the fault li…s not in me, that I am … much cryed up, and held forth at this da… the Clergy and the Laity will not go … Chriſt, till (as they ſay, not I) I ſay they wi… not go to Chriſt untill I have prepar… them for Chriſt: they preach me in the le… ter, and underſtand me in the letter; whe… as if they underſtood me in the ſpirit, ſhould lead them to Chriſt, if Chriſt did n… …d them to me: yet theſe men in their …rds, will many of them deny me, as to …e any hand in their juſtification or ac…tation; but though they deny me in …rds in theſe or the like things, yet they …nowledge me in their deeds, juſt as thoſe …rds of Paul, Rom. 9. 32. Wherefore? becauſe … ſought it not by faith, but as it were by the …ks of the Law, for they ſtumbled at that …bling ſtone. Now this word (as it were) …t were unfolded, as now it lyes ſealed; … ſhould finde moſt men ſeeking righte…ſneſſe, if not abſolutely by the Law, … as it were by the works of the Law, ….
Believ.
In this that thou haſt ſaid, O …w, I have nothing to except againſt, for …e we both agree, though there was a …ſ-underſtanding between us at firſt; yet it true, the fault is not in thee, O Law, that …n put thee in the room of Chriſt, no …ore then the braſen Serpent was in fault …om the people did Idolize; the fault …s in the people, and not in the Serpent: at this day, mens ſeeking righteouſneſſe … thee, becomes their own evill, not thine; …d as thou haſt ſaid, though men will not knowledge that they ſeek righteouſneſſe … the Law, yet they doe ſeeke it as it were by the workes of the Law.
Now here lyeth one of the greateſt … ferences between the Law and the Goſp… both ſpeak of working, and both ſpeak reſting; onelyonly herein lyes the difference, … der the Law before Chriſt was come, … people were to work firſt, and reſt aft… wards; that is, they were to work ſix day… and reſt the ſeventh; when they had d… their work, then enter into reſt: n… under the Goſpel, we are to reſt firſt, … work afterwards; for as the Sabbath of … was the laſt day of the week, ſo our Lo… day of reſt is the firſt day of the week: … are firſt to receive a Kingdome that cannot moved, Heb. 12. 28. and then next to ſe… God acceptably with reverence and godly f… We are firſt to believe, and then in then… place, to ſhew our faith by i… works; … are firſt to ſee our intereſt in the promiſ… and then to cleanſe our ſelves from all filthi… of fleſh, and ſpirit. Into what ſoever houſe … enter, we are to ſay, peace be to this houſe, firſt, fore we are to ſhake the duſt off our feet as a w… neſſe againſt them. So much concerning fr… dome from the Law by Chriſt that fulfill the Law, &c.