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THE 
 
 OECONOMY 
 
 Of THE 
 
 COVENANTS 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 GOD and MAN. 
 
 COMPREHENDING 
 
 A Complete Body of Divinity. 
 
 By HERMAN WITSIUS, D. D. 
 
 Late Profeflbr of Divinity in the Univerdties of Franequer, 
 Utrecht, and Leyden ; and alfo Regent o£ the Divinity- 
 College of the States of Holland and Weft Friefland. 
 
 To which is prefixed, The L IF E of the Author. 
 A New Translation from the Original Latin. 
 I^N THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOLUME l^^ 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 Trinted by John Reid, in Bailie Fyfc's Clofe.,** 'V <fl^ ) t{ 
 
 ^DCCLXXIt!, 
 > u ». ^ 
 
TO THE REVEREND AND LEARNED 
 THE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING WORK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GREAT Dr WITSIUS, 
 A WORK 
 
 CONSPICUOUS FOR. 
 
 ELEGANCE OF STYLE|^ 
 
 PURITY OF DOCTRINE, 
 
 SOLIDITY OF JUDGMENT, 
 
 STRENGTH #fr REASONING,, 
 
 CANDOUR OF SENTIMENT, 
 
 4 
 
 WARMTH OF ADDRESS* 
 
 AND 
 
 FERVOUR OF PIETY J 
 
 CALCULATED 
 
 TO PROMOTE GENUINE CHRISTIANITY, 
 
 INSTRUCT THE IGN6RANT, 
 
 RECLAIM THE ERRONEOUS, 
 
 ( 
 
 ESTABLISH THE ORTHODOX, 
 
 AND 
 VINDICATE GOSPEL-TRUTH 
 
 I ' / 
 AGAINST ALL ADVERSARIES WHATEVER, 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 B Y 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TH E following celebrated work of the great WIT- 
 SIUS, originally wrote in elegant Latin, was firfl 
 publifhed when the author was ProfeiTor of Divinity at Fra- 
 nequer. It pafied through two editions before the year 1 693, 
 when he republifhed it with very confiderable additions and 
 improvements, and prefixed a dedication to King William III. 
 the glorious deliverer of the Britifh nation from all the horrors 
 of Popery and flavery, and a pacific addrefs to the Reverend 
 the profefibrs of divinity and miniiters of the gofpel in the U- 
 nited Provinces. The book was eagerly read and highly valued 
 by all, who had a true tafte for the excellent gofpel- truths it 
 contains and illuftrates. A tranflationof it into Englifh was 
 firft publifhed, in three large volumes Octavo, at London, in 
 1763; and, though indifferently excuted, yet met with great 
 encouragement. A demand being made for the work in this 
 country, freed from the many grofs typographical blunders 
 and other errors with which the London copy abounded, the 
 Editor has been prevailed upon to review the whole tranfla- 
 tion ; has carefully compared every fentence with the original, 
 corrected many miftakes, fupplied a variety of omiffions, and 
 endeavoured to give the author's true fenfe. In making the 
 tranflation the feveral editions have been confulted, particular- 
 ly the third, and one printed at Herborn in 171 2, four years 
 after the author's death. And though the Editor dare not 
 fay, the work is free from faults, yet he flatters himfclf the 
 Public will overlook all inaccuracies, and favourably receive a 
 book, honeflly intended and plainly calculated for general iir 
 tility. 
 
 As this excellent Body of Divinity was for near a cen- 
 tury only known to perfons ikillcd in the learned languages, 
 to the very great lofs of thofe who had not received a liberal 
 education ; and as every attempt for fpreading the knowledge 
 of gofpel-truths, particularly thofe relating to the covenants 
 of works and grace, which enter fo deeply into the Medi- 
 atorial fchcine, merits the public attention ; fo the Editor 
 hopes, that his countrymen will give iuitable encouragement 
 to a work, eminently calculated for explaining the fcriptural 
 4oclrines concerning the fall of man, and the method of his 
 
 cry by the obedience, fatisfa&ion, and grace of the Lord 
 Jefus Chrift. And he begs, that minifters and other gentle- 
 men who have read this work, and know the value thereof, 
 
 recd'mmend it unto others, who have not enjoyed that 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 advantage, as a book very proper to be read not only by 
 the clergy and fludents of divinity, but by all forts of per- 
 fons with pleafure and profit. 
 
 "The following recommendations were prefixed to the former 
 Engli(h tranflation of this work. 
 
 " The famous HERMAN WITSIUS, Profefibr of 
 Dvinity at Leyden, in Holland, and the author of a treatife en- 
 titled, The Oecmomy of the Covenants between God and Man, 
 and various other learned and theological trails, was a writer, 
 not only eminent for his great talents, and particularly folid 
 judgment, rich imagination, and elegancy of composition ; but 
 for a deep, powerful, and evangelical fpirituality and favour of 
 godlinefs : and we molt heartily concur in the recommendation 
 of his works to ferious Chrilnans of all denominations, and e- 
 fpecialiy to minnters, and candidates for that facred office. 
 
 John Gill, D. D. 
 
 John Walker, L. L. D. 
 
 Thomas Hall. 
 
 John Brine. 
 
 William King. 
 
 Thomas Gibbons, M. A.'* 
 And the late excellent Mr Hervey, in his Theron and 
 Jfpafi*) vol. iii p. 90. of his works, Edinburgh edition, 1769, 
 having mentioned a work of this author, adds, " The Oeconomy 
 " of the Covenants, written by the fame hand, is a Body of 
 <c Divinity, in its method fo well digefted ; in its doctrines fo 
 " truly evangelical ; and (what is not very ufual with our 
 " fyllematic writers) in its language fo refined and elegant ; in. 
 u its manner fo affectionate and animating ; that 1 would re- 
 " commend it to every ftudent in Divinity, [and to every 
 " Chrijiian.2 I would not fcruple to rifi all my reputation up- 
 u on the merits of this performance : and I cannot but la- 
 ** merit it, as one of my greateft lofTes, that I vrasnofooner ac- 
 ct quainted with this mod excellent author; all whofe works 
 <( have fuch a delicacy of composition, and fuch a favour of 
 u holinefs, that I know not any comparifon more proper to re- 
 " prefent their true character, than the golden pot which had 
 tf manna; and was outwardly bright with burnifhed gold, in- 
 " wardly rich with heavenly food." 
 
 A clergyman in England fays, " The excellency of the 
 " work merits a place in every Chriftian's library. — No pious 
 ■' perfon on earth can forbear reading the third book with- 
 " out wonder, rapture, and devotion. It exceeds all commen- 
 l * dation, The work lias not its equal in the world.' 1 
 
C O N T E N T S. 
 
 rHE life of the author 9 
 
 Dedication to King William III. 29 
 
 A pacific addrefs to the profejfors of divinity and 
 
 minifters in the United Provinces 39 
 
 OE CO NO MY of the DIVINE COVE- 
 NANTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Chap. I. Of the divine covenants in ge- 
 neral . 5 1 
 II. Of the contracting parties in the 
 
 covenant of works 64 
 
 III. Of the law, or condition, of the 
 
 covenant of works 77 
 
 IV. Of the promifes of the covenant 
 
 of works 92 
 
 V. Of the penal fanttion of the co- 
 venant of works 10S 
 VI. Of the facraments of the cove- 
 nant of works 139 
 VII. Of the fr/t Sabbath 1 56 
 VIII. Of the violation of the covenant 
 
 of works on the part of man 181 
 IX. Of the abrogation of the cove- 
 nant of works on the part 
 of God 204 
 
via CONTENTS. 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Chap. I. Introduction to treating on the 
 
 covenant of grace 2 1 9 
 
 II. Of the compact between the Fa- 
 ther and the Son 222 
 
 III. The nature of the compaft between 
 
 the Father and the Son, more 
 fully explained 238 
 
 IV. Of the p erf on of the Surety 2$y 
 V. Of the furetijhip and fatisfadlion 
 
 of Chrijl ' . 2 73 
 
 VI. What fufferings of Chrijl are 
 
 fatisfaclory 284 
 
 VII. Of the effecl of Chrifis fatisf ac- 
 tion 3 1 7 
 VIII. Of the neceffity of Chrijl 's fatif 
 
 faction 332 
 
 IX. Of the perfons for whom Chrijl 
 
 engaged and fatisfied 3 47 
 
 X. After what manner Chrijl ufed 
 
 the facraments 3 68 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Chap. I. Of the covenant of God with the 
 
 ele6l 382 
 
 II. Of the onenefs of the covenant of 
 
 grace, as to its fubftance 396 
 
 III. Of the different (economies or dif 
 penfations of the covenant of 
 grace 417 
 
THE 
 
 E 
 
 OF T H £ 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
 Extracted from Dr Marck's Funeral Oration 
 on him. /: 
 
 HERMAN WITS (or, as he is common- 
 ly called Witfius) was defcended from repu- 
 table parents. His father, Nicolaus Wlts^ was 
 a gentleman univerfally efteemed by his fellow-citizens 
 at Enkhuyfen, to whorn he endeared himfelf by his fi- 
 delity, modefty, juftice, benevolence, and unaffected 
 piety in every character he fuflained, either in the 
 church or in the city ; for in the former he was firft a 
 deacon, and afterwards a ruling elder, and treafurer 
 in the latter. His mother was Joanna, a gentlewoman 
 of great piety and prudence, the daughter of Herman 
 Gerhard; who, after many dangers and diftreffes, ob- 
 tained a calm and fecure fettlement in the chinch at 
 Enkhuyfen; where he preached the gofpel, for upwards 
 of thirty years, with great reputation ; and luch was 
 the affection he bore to his church, that he rejected 
 the moft profitable offers that were made to him. 
 
 The parents of Our Witgius, having vowed to de- 
 vote a child to the miniftry, did, upon the birth of 
 this fon, call him after his grandfather, praying that 
 in Herman the grandi'on, might be revived the fpi- 
 rit of the grandfather ; and that, endued with equal, 
 if not fupcrior talents, he might imitate his example. 
 
 H krman Wit si us was barn on the 12 th of 1 
 Vol I. jB 
 
ig The Life of the Autho r. 
 
 bruary, 1636, at Enkhuyfen, a town of Weft Fneflind ; 
 one of the firft that threw off the Spanijh yoke, affert- 
 ed their own liberty, and once enlightened with the 
 truths of the gofpel, retained the purity of worfhip 
 ever after, and, in the very word times of Arminian* 
 ifm 9 continued, above many, ftedfaft in the faith. 
 And though it was a place noted for trade and navi- 
 ga ion, yet it produced men famous in every branch 
 of literature. So that Witfius, even in his native place, 
 had .1 u (trio us patterns to copy after. 
 
 The care which thefe pious parents took of young 
 Witfius during his tender infancy, was not intermitted 
 as he began to grow ; for, being ftill mindful of their 
 vow, they brought him up in a very pious manner, 
 inltrucling him in the principles and precepts of reli- 
 gion and Christian piety. In his hxth year they fent 
 Lim to the public fchool of the town, to learn the 
 rudiments of the Latin tongue : from which, after 
 f pending three years, and being advanced to the high- 
 eft form there, his uncle by the mother, Peter Ger* 
 hard, took him under his own private and domeftic 
 tution ; a perfon well fkilled in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, 
 and phiiofophy. But his principal ftudy had been 
 Divinity. This man, then difengaged from all public 
 bufinels, and being as fond of his nephew as if he had 
 been his own ion, taught him with that afliduity, that, 
 before he was fifteen, he made no fmall proficiency in 
 the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and acquired fuch 
 knowledge in logic and other parts of phiiofophy, that, 
 when he was afterwards removed to the univerfity, 
 he could ftudy without a matter. At the fame time 
 lie learned the ethic compendiums of Wallaus and 
 Burverfdicius, with fo much care, as to be able to re- 
 peal moft of the fentences, very frequent in Burger f 
 dicius, from the ancients, whether Greek or Latin. He 
 alio perufed his elements of phyfics, and dipped a lit- 
 tle in"o mctaphyiicaiTubtilties; and committed to me- 
 mory mod of uie tneological definitions and diitinc- 
 tions from Wepdelin* As his uncle was a man of 
 
 jm 
 
The Life of the Author. I r 
 
 exemplary piety, and was wont to apply almoft to e- 
 very common occurrence of life, fome ftriking paf- 
 fages of both teftaments, which he often repeated, ei- 
 ther in Hebrew or Greek, while riling, drefllng, 
 walking, ftudying, or otherwife employed ; fo, by his 
 example and admonitions, he ftii red up his nephew to 
 the fame practice. Whence it was, that at thofe ten- 
 der years he had rendered familiar to himfelf many en- 
 tire paffiges of the Hebrew and Greek Teftamcnt, 
 which he was far from forgetting when more advan- 
 ced in life. 
 
 Being thus formed by a private education, in 165T, 
 and ihe fifteenth year of his age, it was refolved to 
 fend him to fome univerfity. Utrecht was pitched 
 upon, being furniflied with men very eminent in e- 
 very branch of literature, with a confiderable con- 
 courfe of ftudents, and an extraordinary ftridcefs of 
 difcipline. What principally recommended it, were 
 the famous divines, Gifbert Vcetius, Charles Muatjius^ 
 and John Hoornbeeckius, all of them great, names, arid 
 ornaments in their day. Being therefore received in- 
 to that univerfity, he was, for metaphyfics, put un- 
 der the direction of PaulVoeiius, then profefforof phi.- 
 lofophy ; and being, moreover, much taken with the 
 ftudy of the Oriental languages, heclofely atten 
 on the Celebrated John Levfden, who taught thofe lan- 
 guages with incredible dexterity ; and under him lie 
 conltrued almoft the whole Hebrew text, as alio the 
 commentaries of Solomon larehi, Abi n Ezra, and 
 Kimchi on Hfea, and the Chaldee paraphrase of J 
 than on Ifaiah, and of Onkehs on a part of the i\ 
 teuch. Moreover, under the fame mailer, lie j-.:t 
 touched on the myfteries of the Mufora, and the bar- 
 barous diction of the Talmud; namely, 4he \ 
 published by John Cocctius, under the title of Sanbt 
 and Miiccoth, and by Conflantine Lemfereitr, under that 
 of Bab ha Bathra : under the fame mailer he learned 
 thecLments of the Syrlac and A, able languages; v. . 
 lair, however, he aiLerwards left cultivated th in '.. 
 
 B 2 
 
12 The Life of the Author, 
 
 thers. What proficiency he made in the Hebrew, ap- 
 peared from a public fpecimen he gave, at the mitiga- 
 tion of Leifden, of a well-written Hebrew oration a- 
 bout the Mcfjias or the Jews and Chriftians, in 1654. 
 But though almoft quite fwallowed up in thofe ftudies, 
 he by no means neglected the ftudy of divinity, to 
 which he knew all the others were only fubfervient ; 
 but in that iublime fcience he diligently ufed, as ma- 
 ilers, the greateft men, and beft feen in the facred 
 fcriptures, whofe moil laudable memory no lapfe of 
 time mail ever be able to obliterate; namely, Gifbert 
 Voetius, John Hoornbeeckius, Gu a Items Bruinius, and 
 Andrew EJJenius. By whofe inductions, together with 
 his own extraordinary application, and true piety to- 
 wards God, what proficiency he made, the reader 
 may ealily judge for himfelf. However, he had a 
 mind to fee Gronlngen, to have the benefit of hearing 
 the famous Samuel Mar efius : whither he went in 1654, 
 after the fummer-vacation ; chiefly applying to divi- 
 nity : under whofe direction he made exercifes in 
 French, by which he gave fo much fatisfaclion to this 
 great man, that, notwithstanding his many avoca- 
 tions, he deigned to correct and purge thofe declama- 
 tions of Witftus from their folecifms and other impro- 
 prieties, before they were recited in the college. 
 Having thus fpent a year at Groningen, and obtained ail 
 honourable teftimonial from the theological faculty ^ 
 he next turned his thoughts to Leyden, But the 
 plague then raging there, he refolved to return to 
 Utrecht, in order to build farther on the foundation he 
 had there fo happily laid : and, therefore, he not only 
 carefully heard the profeffors in divinity at this time, 
 as before, both in public and private, but cultivated a 
 peculiar familiarity with the Very Reverend Juflus van 
 den Bogaerdt, whofe piety, prudence, and admirable 
 endowments he had fuch a value for, that he imagi- 
 ned, perhaps from youthful inexperience, no preacher 
 equal to him. From his fermons, converfation, and 
 example, he learned the deeper myfteries of the king- 
 
The Life of the A u T H © R. 1 3 
 
 dom of God, and of myflical and fpiritual Chriftiani- 
 ty. From him he underftood how great the difference 
 is between any fuperficial knowledge, which fcholaflic 
 exercifes, bjooks learnedly written, and a clofe appli- 
 cation, may procure to minds quite deflitute of ianc- 
 tification ; and that heavenly wifdom, which is ac- 
 quired by meditation, prayer, love, familiar converfe 
 with God, and by the very relifh and experience of 
 fpiritual things ; which proceeding from the Spirit of 
 God, internally illuminating, convincing, perfua- 
 ding, and fealing, giorioufly transforms the whole mm 
 into the mdft holy image of Chrift. In a word, he 
 owned, that by means of this holy perfon he was intro- 
 duced by the Lord Jefus to his moll fecret receffes, 
 while, before, he too much and too fondly pleafed 
 himfelf in tarrying in the porch; and there, at length, 
 learned, difclaiming all vain prefumption of fcience, 
 humbly to fit down at the feet of the heavenly Mailer, 
 and receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child. 
 But that it may not be thought, he fo applied to the 
 forming of his mind to piety, as to neglect for the 
 future all academical itudies, the thefes he wrote on 
 the Sacred Trinity, againfl the Jews, from their own 
 writings, may, and ought to be, a proof to the con- 
 trary ; and which he publiihed in the month of Octo- 
 ber 1655, to be diiputed under the moderation of the 
 famous Leufden ; which, though warmly attacked by 
 the nfoft experienced academicians, yet the modera- 
 tor thought the refpondent acquitted himfelf fo well, 
 as to fuperfede his interpofition on any account : and 
 when, according to cuftom, lie returned folemn 
 thanks to the moderator for his trouble, this lail very 
 politely and truly made anfv/er, He had flood in no 
 need of his help. 
 
 'the time now feemed to re<; t our Witfittf, 
 
 very famous at two univeriiti- I be empi 
 
 in the public fervice of the chinch, arfci Uric, aj iifual, 
 give fpecimens of his proficiency, 'i : . , in the 
 
 iponih of May 1656, he prefefi 
 
*4 %h* Life of the Author. 
 
 fen to a preparatory examination, as it is called, togG« 
 ther with his then fellow-ftudenr., John Laftdragerus, 
 \vitB whom he had a familiarity from his youth, and 
 v omhc afterwards had for his mo ft intimate colleague 
 and faithful felloe labourer, firft in the church of 
 ].: vaardeh and then at Utrecht, And upon this occa- 
 fi- n he was not only admitted to preacA publicly, 
 winch he did with uncommon appiaull, but gave fo 
 general mi isf action, that there was fcarce a country, 
 church in No>-th Holland ^ where he then refided, which, 
 wanting a minifter, did not put his name in the num- 
 bef of the three candidates, from which the election is 
 ufually made. And, at the inftigauon of the lleve- 
 rend John James le Bois, minifter of the French church 
 at Utrecht , he ventured, upon leave given, to preach 
 publicly to the French church at Bert, in their lan- 
 guage. AnoV from that time he often preached in 
 French, both at Utrecht and Amfterdam ; as alfo fonie- 
 times in the courfe of his miniftry at Lecvaarden, 
 But becaufe he imagined, there was full fomething 
 wanting to the elegance of hib language, he propofed 
 very foon to take a tour to France, and pay his re- 
 fpects to the great men there, and at the fame time 
 have the pleafure of healing them, and improving in 
 their language. 
 
 But providence difpofed other wife; for the follow- 
 ing year, 1657, and the twenty firft of his age, beiag 
 lawfully called by the church of Weft Wouden, he was 
 ordained there on the 8th of July. This village lies 
 almoft in the mid-way between Enkhuyfin and Horn, 
 and is united with the parifh of Bienhe Wijfent. And 
 here, for four years and upwards, he laboured with 
 the greateft alacrity of a youthful mind ; and with no 
 lefs benefit: lor, by frequent catcchifing, and with 
 the rreateft prudence fuiting himielf to the catechu- 
 mens, both boys and girls, they, who before were 
 grofsly ignorant, could not only c^ive proper anfwers 
 on the principal Heads of our religion, but prove their 
 afTcrtions by fuitable texts cf fcripture, and repeat a 
 
The Life of the A u T H o R. ?$ 
 
 whole fcrmon diftinclly, when examined on it, to the 
 joy as well as fhame of their parents and older people. 
 The reputation of fo faithful and dextrous a paftor 
 being thus widely fpread, the church of Worjver, in 
 the fame tract of North Holland, fufiicierirrjr numerous 
 and celebrated, but then too much diftracled by in- 
 teftine commotions, imagined they could no" pitch 
 vupon a litter guide to allay their hettSj and fbi .: LheitJ 
 minds. This call Witfius not only accepted, pa.iing 
 to that charge in October 1661, but fperit there four 
 years and a hal f , doing every thing in his power to 
 promote Chrif^an unanimity and the coirrnon falva- 
 tion ; and as he faw the extenfive fruits of his bho jrs 
 among them, fo he was univerfally beloved. Where- 
 fore he could not bear to remove from rhem to tne 
 people of Sluys in Flanders, who offered him great 
 encouragement to preach : but the people of Goefe in 
 Zealand fucceeded in their call, and he repaired to 
 them about Whitfuntide 1666, and was fo acceptable 
 to all by his doctrine, manners, and diligence, as to 
 live there in the moft agreeable peace and concord 
 with his learned, pious, and vigilant colleagues, two 
 of whom he revered as his fathers ; and the third, 
 who was younger, he loved as his brother. lie was 
 much delighted with this fettlcmcnt, and often wifh- 
 ed to grow old in this peaceful retreat. But the peo- 
 ple of Leovaarden in Weft Friejland interrupted thefe 
 thoughts; who, in November 1667, called him, with 
 a remarkable affection, to that celebrated metropolis 
 of his native country, that he might prove a ihining 
 light, not only in the church, court, and fenate of 
 that place, but to all the people of FneftanJ, who flock- 
 ed thither from all parts to the aflembly of the flates ; 
 but the people of Gorfe, doing all they could to hin- 
 der his removal, it was April 166 3 before he went to 
 Leovaarden. And it is Icarcely to be exprclTed, with 
 what vigilance, fidelity, and prudence he conducted 
 bimfelf; even at a time of fuch difficulty, when the c- 
 liemy, having madefoch incuriions into Holland, and 
 
4& ''The Life of the Autho x. 
 
 made themfelves mafters of moil of its towns, and 
 Itruck a panic into all, when a man of fuch fpirit and 
 refolution was obfolutely necefiary. Nor do I know 
 of any before or fince, whofe labours were more fuc- 
 cefsful, and who was more acceptable to the church, 
 the nobility, and the court. And therefore he was for 
 fome time tutor to Henry Cafimir, the Moft Serene 
 Prince of Najau, hereditary governor of Friefiand, 
 too untimely fnatched away by death ; and with re- 
 markable fuccefs he inftructed, in the doctrines of re- 
 ligion, his Moft Illuftrious fifter Amelia, a very reli- 
 gious princefs, afterwards married to the Duke of 
 Saxe-Eifenach ; and he prefided at the profeffion of 
 faith, which both princes publicly made, to the great 
 edification of the church, in the prefence of the Prin- 
 cefs-mother, Albertina of Orange. 
 
 It is not, therefore, to be wondered, that when, 
 through the injury of the moft calamitous times, and 
 the deceafe both of the venerable and aged Chriftian 
 Schotanus, and of John Melchior Steinbergius, fcarce 
 inftalled in the profeftbrfhip, the theological interefts 
 of the univerfity of Franequer feemed to be fallen to 
 decay ; and the extraordinary and truly-academical 
 endowments of our Witfius were perfectly well known 
 in Friefland, by an experience of feven whole years ; 
 that, I fay, he was appointed to the ordinary profeffion 
 of divinity, in the year 16^5, in the academy of his 
 native country, thus happily to be reftored. Which 
 opportunity alfo the church of Franequer prudently 
 laid hold on, being then without a fecond minifter, 
 very chearfully to commit to him, now appointed 
 profeffor, that facred charge. Having, therefore, ac- 
 cepted both thefe calls, he came to Franequer ; and, 
 after being declared Doctor of Divinity in the acade- 
 mical alTembly, by the divine his colleague, he was, 
 on the 15th of April, inftalled profeffor of the fame; 
 after delivering a folemn oration, with the greateft 
 applaufe of a concourfe of people from all parts ; in 
 which he excellently cxpreiTed the character of a ge- 
 
The Life of the AUTHOR. 17 
 
 mime divine : and as fuch he foon after demeaned hini- 
 felf, together with the venerable and aged Nicolaus 
 Arnoldus, his moll intimate colleague. 
 
 In the pulpit Witftus addreflcd bknfclf with fo much 
 gravity, elegancej piety, folidky, and uiefaln Ts, 
 that the general inattention of the people was rem >- 
 ved, and religious impreflions were made both on great 
 and fmall. The academical chair alio gained a warmth 
 from hisfacred fire, to which, from the different and 
 moft diftant parts of Europe, the youth, intended for 
 the miniftry, reforted in great numbers. And not to 
 be wanting in his duty, or difappoint the intention of 
 thofe who called him, in any particular, he no foon- 
 er entered theuniveifity, than, notwithstanding hi- ma- 
 ny daily public and private labours, in bot'h his oiiices, 
 he fet himielf to write, and in a very little time pubhih- 
 ed, betides Selefl Acade?nical Deputations, moftly ten 
 to eftablifh the peace of the church, and afmallerdif- 
 fertation, two works pretty large and learned, which 
 went through feveral editions, and were fpread over 
 Europe ; being every where read with univerfai ap- 
 probation. And befides, there was nothing of extra- 
 ordinary importance to be transacted, even with the 
 fchifmatic followers o\ Lab a die, who had ihen fixed 
 their principal reiidence in Weft Erie/land, which both 
 the nobility and the overfeers of the church did not 
 think proper fhould be difpatched by this man. 
 
 About this time Mr J, March, on his return fr. m his 
 ftudies at Ley Jen, commenced his acquaintance with 
 Witftus, who recommended him as pallor to the church 
 of Midlumen, between Framquer and Harlivgen ; and 
 afterwards procured him the degree of Doctor in Di- 
 vinity ; and, by his intereft with Lis Serene Highnefs 
 and others, Dr Marck was appointed third ordinary 
 profeflbr of divinity, in 1676. 
 
 But the jultly-renowncd character of our Wi 
 was luch, that others, envying the happinefs of- the 
 people of F 'wfLind, wanted to have the benefit of Ids 
 labouis themftlves. This was hi it attempted by the 
 
 Vol. I. f C 
 
t8 The Life of the Author. 
 
 rvcrfeers of the univerfity of Groningen, who, to 
 procure a worthy fucceffor to the deceafed James 
 Altingiui^ as well in the theological and philological 
 chairs, as in the univerfity-church, abuut the clofe 
 Of the year 1679, fent to Franequer a Reverend per- 
 fon, to offer the mol honourable terms, in ( rder to 
 prevail on Witfws. But that attempt proved un« 
 fuccefsful. For, communicating the affair to his 
 S rene Highnefs the Prince, and the other overfeers 
 of the univerfity, they protefted his fervices were 
 m^ft acceptable to them, and he excufed himfelf in a 
 handfome manner to the people of Groningen. But 
 thofe of Utrecht very foon followed the example of 
 Qroningen, in the begining of the year i63o ; when, 
 upon the deceafe of the celebrated Burma??, they 
 judged it neceffiry to have a great man, to add to 
 the reputation of their univerfity, and to maintain 
 the ancient piety of their church ; and being well af- 
 fured, that none was fitter for all thofe purpofes than 
 Wit fins, who was formerly one of their own flu- 
 dents, they therefore difpatched a fplendid depu- 
 tation to Franequer, to entreat him to come and be 
 an ornament to their univerfity and church ; to which 
 he confented with little difficulty, notwithstanding 
 the orpofiiion made by thofe of FrieJIand, who 
 were loath to part with one who had been fo ufeful 
 among them ; for his obligations to the "iiniverfity 
 of Utrecht were fuch, that he thought he could 
 not fhew his gratitude more, than by accepting 
 of their invitation. Accordingly, after a mofl ho- 
 nouiable difmifiion from the afflicted Frie/landert x 
 lie came to Utrecht, and was admitted into the mini- 
 Itry of that church, on the 25th of April, and, four 
 days after, into the profefforfhip of the univerfity, 
 after delivering a mofl elegant oration on the excel- 
 lence of evangelical truth, which fully anfwered uni- 
 verfal expectation. And it can fcarce be exprefled, 
 how happily he lived in credit, and laboured above 
 full eighteen years of his mofl valuable life, with thefc 
 
The Life of the Author. 19 
 
 celebrated men, Peter Maeflricht 9 Melchicr Leydeckerus, 
 and Hermannus y then Halenius, after the example of 
 the doctors, his predecefTors, whom he always had in 
 the higheft veneration. In the miniftry he had ieve- 
 ra colleagues, men of learning, piety, peace^ and zeal 
 for God ; among whom were his ancient colleagues 
 in the church of Leovaarden, Peter Eindhovhis % 
 and John Laftdragerus. In the univerfity, belides 
 the forementioned divines, he had not only his 
 own John Leu/den, an excellent philologift, but Ge- 
 rad de Vries, and John Luitfius, famous philofophers, 
 -who, for the benefit of the church, prepared the 
 youth intended for the miniftry. Before his pulpit 
 lie had a Chriftian magiftracy, and the whole body of 
 the people, who admired and experienced the power 
 of his elocution, their minds being varioufly affected 
 -with religious impreflions. Before his academical and 
 private chair, he had not only a large circle of pro- 
 miiing youths from all parts of the world, who ad- 
 mired his moft learned, iblid, prudent, and eloquent 
 differtations ; but doctors themfelves daily reforted in 
 great numbers to learn of him. And therefore he 
 declined no labour, by which, even at the expence 
 of many reitlefs nights, he might be of fervice to the 
 univerfity and church. Nor did he think it fufiicient, 
 by fermons, lectures, conferences, and difputations, 
 to produce his ufeful and various flock of learning, 
 but he expofed his treafures to the whole world, 
 prefent and to come, in many public and excellent 
 writings, to laft for ever, and never to decay, but 
 with the utter extinction of folid learning and true 
 piety itfelf. And to the commendation of the peo- 
 ple of Utrecht be it fpoken, that, not only in eccie- 
 iiaitical aflemblies, they always acknowledged 
 abilities and prudence, ieafonably calling him to the 
 highelt dignities in fynods ; but even the nobiiity, 
 botli by deeds and words, teltified, that his endow- 
 ments were perfectly well known to, and highly 
 efteemed by them. And therefore -hey hoaoy 
 C 2 
 
26 The Life ef the Autho r. 
 
 him twice with the badges of the higheft office in 
 t e univ rfity, in 1686 and in 1697. And we mull 
 by no means omit, that when, in 1685, a moft fplen- 
 did embaily of the whole United Provinces was de- 
 creed to be fent to James King of Great Britain, 
 afterwards unhapp : ly drawn afide and ruined by the 
 deceitful arts of the French and Romijl? party ; which 
 embafTy was executed by the moft Uluftrious Wajje* 
 naar, Lord of Duvenvorden, and the ordinary umbaila- 
 dor, his Excellency Citters, with the Moft Noble and 
 Uluftrious Weed, Lord of Dykveld -, that, I fay, this 
 !aft eafily perfuaded his colleagues of legation to em- 
 ploy none but Witfms for their chaplain ; a divine, 
 whom, to the honour of the Dutch churches, they 
 might prefent in penon to the Englijh nation, without 
 any apprehenfton either of offence or contempt. Nor 
 was Witfius himfelf againft the refblution of thefe 
 illuftrious perfonages ; for he went chearfully, though 
 indifpofed in body ; and, on his return in a few 
 months after, owned, that having converfed with the 
 Archbilhop of Canterbury, the Bifhop of London, and 
 with many other divines, both Epifcopal and DilTen- 
 iers in diicipline, he obferved not a few things, which 
 made an increafe to his ftock of learning, and by which 
 he was better qualified to act prudently on all future 
 occafions. And the Englifh from that time owned, 
 that being thus better acquainted with Witfius, he e- 
 ver after juftly deferved their regard and applaufe. 
 
 The reputation of Witfius, thus lpread all over the 
 world, made the moft illuftrious overfeers of the 
 univerfity of Leyden, with the burgomafters, refolve to 
 give a call to this great man, in 1698; in order to 
 make up the lofs which was apprehended from the 
 deceafe of the great Spanbemius, which fecmed to 
 be drawing near. And this refolution was approved 
 of by our gracious Stadtholder, Wiiliam III. King 
 of Great Britain, of immortal memory, from that 
 conftant piety he entertained towards God, and that 
 equal fidelity and prudence he exercil'cu towards our 
 
The Life of the A u T H o R.~ 21 
 
 church and unive. fity. Nor was there the leaft delay 
 either in determining or executing that call to the 
 proteflbrfhip of divinity, or in his accepting thereof. 
 For though the people of Utrecht could have wiflied 
 otherwise, yet our Witfius had feveral weighty reafons 
 why he thought it his duty to comply with the Ley- 
 den invitation ; judging it was entirely for the inter- 
 eft of the church, equally as for his own, that, ¥jFe~ 
 after exempted from the labours of the pulpitfne 
 might, with the greater freedom, devote the reft of 
 his aged life to the benefit of the univerfity ; but e- 
 fpecially, as he was made acquainted with his Ma- 
 jefty's pleafure, by the iiluftrious Penfioner Heinfrus. 
 And when his Mijefty admitted him into his royal 
 prefence, he fignified the fatisfachon he had with his 
 accepting the call to the chair of Leyden. He entered 
 on his office the 16th of October, after delivering a 
 very grave and elegant oration, in which he gave the 
 character of the Modefl Divine. And with what fi- 
 delity he difcharged this office for the fpace of ten 
 years ; with what afliduity he laboured ; with what 
 wifdom and prudence he taught ; with what elegance 
 he fpoke ; with what alacrity he difcourfed in difpu- 
 tations ; with what piety he lived ; with wha: fweet* 
 nefs of temper he demeaned himfelf; with what 
 gracefulnefs he continued to write ; with what luitre 
 he adorned the univerfity ; are things fo well known 
 to all, as may fuperfede any particular enlargement* 
 
 But he had fcarce patted a year at Lejden, when 
 the High and Mighty States of Holland and Weft 
 Trie/land did, on the recommendation of the over- 
 feers of the univerfity, in the room of Mirk Effius % 
 the pioufly-deceafed infpeclor of their theological col- 
 lege, in which ingenious youths of the republic are 
 re.ircd for the fcrvice of the chuTh, commit the in- 
 perintendency thereof to our Willing as the mildeft 
 tutor they could employ for their pupils ; without 
 detriment to ill the honour and digo r >f 
 fcilorfhip, whi;h he enjoyed in conjuncligjD with ths 
 
22 The Life of the Autho r. 
 
 celebrated Anthony Hulfius. When he was inflalled 
 in this new office, the illuftrious prefident of the 
 fuprcme court of Holland, and overfeer of the univer- 
 iity* Hubert Roofenboomius Lord of Sgrevelfrecbt did, 
 in a molt elegint Latin difcourfe, in the name of 
 all the nobility, not only fet forth the praifes of the 
 new infpedor, but aifo exhorted all the members of 
 that college to a due veneration for him, and to fhew 
 him all other becoming marks of refpect. Witfms 
 accepted, but with reluctance, this new province; 
 for had he not judged a fubmiflion to the will of the 
 ftates, and his laying himfelf out for the fervice of 
 the church, to be his duty, he would not have com- 
 plied with it. However, he executed this great charge 
 with the greater}, fidelity and care, for the advantage 
 of, and with an affection for his pupils, equally with 
 that of his prof efforfhip in the univeriity ; till, in the 
 year 1707, on the 8th of February, on account of 
 his advanced age, and growing infirmities, he, with 
 great modefty, in the affembly of the overfeers and 
 burgomafters, notwithstanding all their remonftran- 
 ces and entreaties to the contrary, both in public and 
 private, and all the great emoluments arifing there- 
 from to himfelf, refigned this other office; being 
 at the fams alfo discharged, at his own defire, 
 from the public exercifes of his profelTorfhip in the 
 univeriity ; for executing which in the old manner 
 his ftrength of body was Scarce any longer fufficient : 
 the vigour of his mind continued itill unaltered ; but, 
 as he often declared, he had much rather defifl from 
 the work, than flag in it. 
 
 And it is not to be thought, that Witfius would 
 have been equal to fo many and great labours, and 
 the church and univcrfity have enjoyed fo many and 
 fo great benefits by him, had he not found at home 
 the moll powerful cordials and fupports ; particularly 
 in the choiceft and moft beloved of wives, Aletta van 
 Borkborrij the daughter of Wejfel van Borkhorn, a ci- 
 tizen and merchant of good character, at Utrecht, and 
 
The Life of the Author. 2g 
 
 a worthy elder of the church, and of Martina van 
 Tfen ; whom he married in the middle of the fummer 
 of 1660, after three years fpent in the facred miniftry. 
 She was eminent for meeknefs, and every civil and 
 religious virtue ; fhe loved and honoured her huf- 
 band, in a manner above the common ; with whom 
 he lived in the greateft harmony and complacency, a* 
 bout four and twenty years, in North Holland, Zea~ 
 land, Trie/land, and at Utrecht ; at length, in the year 
 1684, after many great and long infirmities of body, 
 flie was taken from him by a truly-Chriftian death. 
 He was no lefs happy in his offspring, efpecially in 
 three furviving daughters, Martina, Joanna, and Petro- 
 Tiella, who wereendued with every accomplifhment that 
 can adorn the fex, but efpecially in their ciutyand affec- 
 tion to their father, which they mewed not only be- 
 fore, but more efpecially after the death of their mother* 
 From what has been faid, may fufliciently appear, 
 the admirable endowments and . virtues of this man. 
 How great was the force of his genius, in apprehend- 
 ing, inveftigating, and illultrating, even the mod ab- 
 ftrufe fubjects ; the accuracy of his judgment, in dif- 
 tinguifhing, determining, and arranging them ; the 
 tenacity of his memory, in retaining and recollecting 
 them ; what readineis of the moft charming elo- 
 quence, in explaining, inculcating, and urging them 
 home ; were well known to thole who ever fkw or 
 heard him. Nor was his graccfiilncfs in a Latin ftyle, 
 as is moft apparent from all he wrote and i aid, lefs 
 than his readinefs in the Dutch ; in which, diicour- 
 fing from the pulpit, with a peculiar decency of ge- 
 {lure and voice, he ravifhed the mind . of 'he faithful 
 to a holy aflcnt, and unbelievers and the vitious th 
 felves he filled with aflonifhment, fhame, ana terror. 
 And as none will be found, from reading his funeral 
 difcouife, to have with more dignity commended the 
 deccaied (^ Mary, ft) his many (acred poems muft 
 have affe. ted a mind fo learned and fo pious. There 
 *was I of learning, nccaury to adorn a di- 
 
%Af The Life of the Author. 
 
 vine, in which he did not greatly excel. He fo in- 
 creafed his knowledge of philofophy, when at the u- 
 niverfity, that none of the quirks or fophifms of in- 
 fidels could infnare him, nor any artifice induce him to 
 make fhipwreck of the faith, or embrace or encou- 
 rage any of the errors of the times. He was mailer 
 of the whole compafs of facred philology, Greek and 
 Hebrew: he was well acquainted with the elegancies 
 of profane literature, Latin^ Greeks and Oriental ; fkil- 
 fully borrowing from thence whatever might ferve 
 to explain, in a becoming manner, the facred fcrip- 
 tures ; prudently avoiding every extreme. He was 
 perfectly well fkilled in hiltory both ancient and mo- 
 dern, eccleiiaitical and civil, Jewifh and Chriilian, 
 domeftic and foreign : and from it he always felected, 
 with the greater! care, what might principally be of 
 prcfent life. He thoroughly learned divinity in all its 
 branches, being as expert in the confirmation and vin- 
 dication of doctrines, and in mewing their connection, 
 as in confuting errors, difcovering their origin, and 
 diitinguiihing their importance. Above all, he was 
 in love with, revered, and commended the holy fcrip- 
 tures; asthut from which alone true wifdom is to be 
 derived ; and which, by long practice, he had ren- 
 dered fo very familiar to himfelf, as not only to have 
 the original words, upon all occafions, very readily at 
 command, but to be able directly, without hefitation, 
 to explain the moft difficult. Nor did he, in this cafe, 
 reft on any man's authority; moft rightly judging 
 fuch a conduct to be inconfiltent with the divine glory 
 of the Chriilian faith, declaring and demeaning him- 
 felf the moft obfequious diicipie of the Holy Spirit a- 
 lone. Hence he had neither a difdain for old, and an 
 itch for new things ; nor an averiion to new, and a 
 mad and indolent fondnefs for old things. He would 
 neither be conftraincd by others, nor conftrain any one 
 himfelf; being taught neither to follow, nor to form a 
 party. That golden faying pleafed him much : Unanimi- 
 ty in things neceffary ; liberty in things not neceffary ; and in 
 
The Life of the A u t n o fi. z§ 
 
 till things, prudence and charity ; which he profefled was 
 his common creed* Nor can we have the leaft doubt 
 of his zeal for the faith once delivered to the faints, and 
 for true piety towards God, which he exprefied in his 
 writings, when at Leovaarden and Franequer, againft 
 fome dangerous opinions, then ftarting up both in di- 
 vinity and philofophy : of which alfo he gave a proof 
 at Utrecht and Ley den, when publicly teftifying in 
 writing, that he could not bear the authority of rea- 
 fon to be fo extolled above fcripture, as that this laft 
 fliould be entirely fubjecl: to its command, or be o- 
 verturned by ludicrous interpretations. His zeal> in 
 his latter days, was greatly inflamed, when he obfer- 
 ved all ccclefiaftical difcipline againft thofe who would 
 overthrow the Chriftian faith, and even right reafon 
 itfelf, publicly trampled upon under the moft idle pre- 
 tences, and every thing almoft given up to a depra- 
 ved reafon, to the fubverting the foundations of Chri- 
 ftianity ; while fome indeed mourned in fecret, but 
 were forced to be filent ; and therefore he declared his 
 joy at his approaching diflblution, on account of the 
 evils he forefaw were hanging over the church ; and 
 often called on thofe who mould furvive, to tremble 
 when the adverfary was triumphing over the doctrines 
 of falvation, and all true piety, to the deftruction both 
 of church and (late ; and that by men, whom it leaft 
 became, and who ftill artfully difTembled a regard for 
 religion, and for eccleliaitical and civil conftitutions ; 
 unlefs God, in his wonderful providence, averted the 
 calamity, and more powerfully furred up the zeal of 
 our fuperiors againft Atheifm, Pelagianifm, and the 
 feeds of both. 1 don't fpeak of thofe imaller differ- 
 ences, obfervable for fome time part, in the method 
 of ranging theological matters, in fome modes of ex- 
 predion. All are well apprized with what equity and 
 moderation Witfuis ever treated thefe diflcrcnccs in o- 
 pinion ; and if ever any was inclined to unanimity and 
 concord with real brethren, he was the man, who 
 jiever did any thing to interrupt it ; but everv thing 
 Vol. I. {D 
 
 } 
 
z6 The Life of the Author, 
 
 either to eftablifh or reftore it, and to remove all feeds 
 of diffenfion. This is what that genuine Chriftianity 
 he had imbibed, prompted him to; and what the lin- 
 gular meeknefs of his temper infpired ; by which he 
 was ready to give w r ay to the rafhly-angry, and either 
 madenoanfwer to injurious railers, or repaid them even 
 with thofe ample encomiums, which, in other refpects, 
 they might deferve. Thus lived our venerable Wit- 
 Jius, giving uneafinefs to none, but the greateft pleafure 
 to all, with whom he had any connection, and was 
 not ealily exceeded by any in offices of humanity and 
 brotherly love. There was at the fame time in him 
 a certain wonderful conjunction of religious and ci- 
 vil prudence, confummated and confirmed by long ex- 
 perience, with an unfeigned candour. Neither was 
 any equal to him for diligence in the duties of his of- 
 fice, being always molt ready to do every thing, by 
 which he could be ferviceable to the flocks and pupils 
 tinder his care, for the benefit of the church. He did 
 not withdraw from them in old age itfelf, nor during 
 his indifpofition indulge himfelf too much. His mo- 
 defty was quite lingular, by which he not only always 
 behaved with that deep concern in treating the holy 
 fcriptures and its myfteries ; but alfo, by which he 
 fcarce ever pleafed himfelf in the things he moil hap- 
 pily wrote and faid : and when his beft friends juftly 
 commended his performances, he even fufpected their 
 fincerity. Nor could any under adverfities be more 
 content with his lot, even publicly declaring at Utrecht, 
 that he would not exchange his place in the univerfity 
 and church, either with the royal or imperial dignity. 
 And to omit other virtues, or rather in the compafs 
 of one to comprize all ; he was not in appearance, but 
 in reality, a true divine, ever difcovering his heavenly 
 wifdom by a lincere piety towards God and his Savi- 
 our. For he was con It ant in the public acts of wor- 
 fhip, unwearied in the domeftic exercifes of piety, 
 giving, in this, an example for the imitation of others 
 in the fear of the Lord, inceifantly taken up in heaven- 
 
The Life c/^Author, 27 
 
 ]y meditation, and continued inftant in prayer, both 
 ftated and ejaculatory ; and fhone in them, when un- 
 der the dictates and impulfes of the Holy Spirit. In 
 fine, his chief care was, by avoiding evil and doing 
 good, to demean himfelf both towards God and man, 
 as became one who had obtained redemption through 
 Chrift, and, by divine grace, the hope of a blefTed e- 
 ternity in heaven ; which he conftantly panted after, 
 with the utmoft contempt for the things in the world. 
 His writings are numerous, learned, and u'eful. 
 In 1660, almoft at his entrance on the miniftry, he 
 publifhed his Judceus Chri/Iianizans, on the principles 
 of faith, and on the Holy Trinity. When at Wor* 
 Trier •, he put out in Low Dutch, 1665, The Practice of 
 Chriflianity^ with the fpiritual characters of the unrc- 
 generate, with refpect to what is commendable in 
 them ; and of the regenerate, as to what is blameable 
 and wants correction. At Lecvairden, he gave alf<J 
 in Low Dutch, The Lord's cont rove ■fyr.vith his mneja)rd^ 
 and, at the fame time, brifkly defended it agaimt op- 
 ponents. Of his Franequer labours, we have, befides 
 fmaller works, afterwards comprized in larger vo- 
 lumes, his Oeconomia f&derum Dei cum hominibus, trans- 
 lated into Low Dutch, by Harlinojus ; and his Exer- 
 citationes facra in fymbclum apoftolorum, tranflated alio 
 into Low Dutch, by Coflerus. At Utrecht, came out 
 his Exercitationes facra in orationem Dominican* ; his 
 Egyptiaca and Decaphykn, with a diflcrtarion on the 
 Le'i'w fulminatrix Chrijiianorum, and the lirit volume 
 of his Mifcellanea Sacra, and a good deal of the Se- 
 cond ; befides fome fmaller works alio. And at Ley- 
 den, he publifhed at lad the fecond volume of his 
 fcellanea Sacra, complete : and at this Lift place he let 
 on foot what he calls his Melt'temata Leyden/ia, to be 
 occafionally enlarged with a number of (elect diflerta- 
 tions. Indeed, all theie writings arc juflly in great re- 
 pute, their ityle being polite, the fubjeds ufeful, and 
 the whole replenished with various branches of learn- 
 ing, and a beautiful (train of piety, all which may 
 
 1) 2 
 
*8 The life ofthA.hvm o r. 
 
 defervedly commend them to the lateft poflerity* 
 He had been often, formerly, afflicted with rack- 
 ing and painful difeafes ; whence, fometimes, arofe 
 the greater apprehenfion of a far earlier departure by 
 death. And nothing, under divine providence, but 
 his vigour of mind, joined to his piety, could have 
 p-efri ved him fo long to the world ; and that with fo 
 p rfecl an ufe of his fenfes, that, not long before his 
 death, he could read, without hefitation, the fmalleft 
 Greek characters by moon light, which none befides 
 himfelf could do. But, with his advanced years, he 
 fometimes had cruel fits of the gout, and ftone in the 
 kidneys ; and once in the chair, in the midft of a lec- 
 ture, a flight touch of an apoplexy. Thefe diforders 
 were, indeed, mitigated by the fkill of the famous 
 Dr Frederic Deckers ; but now and then, by flight at- 
 tacks, threatened a return : for his wavering and Ian- 
 guifiung ftate of health, indicating the pad diforders 
 not to be entirely extirpated, gave apprehenfions of a 
 future fatal dift em per; which was occaftoned by thefud- 
 den attack of a fever on the evening of the 18th of Oc- 
 tober. This fever, though very foon removed, left his 
 body exceeding weak, and his mind in a ftate of lethar- 
 gy, an indication that his head was affected. The good 
 man himfelf, confidering thefe fymptoms, with great 
 conftancy and calmnefs of mind, told the phyfician, 
 and his other friends then prefent, that they could 
 not fail to prove mortal. Nor did the flightnefs of 
 the defeafe make any change in his opinion as to its 
 fatal iffue, while heforefaw, that the confequences 
 of an advanced age, and of the greateft weaknefs, 
 could admit of no other 'event. Nor indeed without 
 caufe : for his fenfes were gradually weakened by re- 
 peated flumbers ; however, about his laft hour he fen- 
 fibly fignified to Dr Marck who attended him, his bleff- 
 ed hope, and his heavenly defires, as he had frequent- 
 ly done before ; and then about noon, on the 2 2d of 
 October 1708, he fweetly departed this life, in the 
 73d year of his age, and entered into the joy of his 
 Lord* 
 
T O 
 
 WILLIAM III. 
 
 KING of Great Britain, France, 
 and Ireland, 
 
 DEFENDER of the FAITH, 
 
 The PIOUS, 
 
 The HAPPY, 
 
 The MAGNIFICENT, 
 
 Hereditary STADTHOLDER of 
 
 the United Provinces, 
 
 COMMANDER in Chief of their 
 Armies and Fleets, 
 
 The FATHER of his Country, 
 
 The Following WORK 
 IS inscribed 
 
 B Y 
 
 HERMAN WITSIUS. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 CQuld your Majefty be approached by no other 
 addrefs, but what is reconvn ended by elegance 
 ot language, or the beauty of diction, or with fuch as 
 
30 DEDICATION. 
 
 Pli ^y the Conful, lavifhing all his eloquence, plcafed 
 the ears of Trajan ; a Dutchman, who, unaccuftom- 
 ed to familiar acquaintance with kings, bewrays his 
 ignorance of the world, and unacquaintance with 
 the methods of courts, on the firft opening of his 
 bafhful mouth, might well defpair of admiflion. But 
 as that God, to whofe miniftry I was devoted from 
 my earlieft years, is pleafed, not fo much with the 
 ornate addrefTes of his worfhippers, as with their in- 
 tegrity and holinefs ; and has a greater cfteem for him 
 who brings to his courts a pure and fincere heart, than 
 for thofe who prevent the moft ftudied harangue ; in 
 like manner your Majefty, who are the lively image 
 of the Supreme Being upon earth, greatly prefers the 
 candour of an ingenuous heart, recommending itfelf 
 by no artful addrefs, to the gaudy pomp of the moft 
 elaborate fpeech. 
 
 The wifeft of kings has taught us in his proverbs, 
 that there is a certain prophetic fagacity in kings. 
 This, if it has ever been confpicuous in any king, 
 fince the birth of mankind, does certainly in a pecu- 
 liar manner difplay itfelf in your Majefty ; who, with 
 an incredible, nay almofl a divine fagacity, penetrates 
 into the inmoft receffes and moft fecret fprings of the 
 minds of men, fcarce to be impofed upon by the 
 moft fpecious infinuations of flattering lips. 
 
 Thefe confiderations have greatly emboldened me 
 to addrefs your Royal perfon, entirely relying on your 
 goodnefs, that you will grant me the fame favour of 
 ipeaking now you are King, which formerly you did 
 when you was Prince. For though, in point of elo- 
 quence, I be inferior to many amongjthe literati, and, 
 in refpect of merit, to many of my fellow- citizens, 
 efpecially thofe of my own order; yet I know of none, 
 either in my native country Holland, or your Britifh 
 dominions, to whom I ought to yield in point of du- 
 ty, fubmifiion, and veneration for your Majefty. Be- 
 lieve me, Sir, fuch is my attachment to every thing 
 that concerns you, that I think myfelf fo interefted 
 
DEDICATION. $i 
 
 in all your deliberations, defigns, and actions, that, in 
 my public and private prayers, I daily commend them 
 all to God; being well aflured, that all your wifhes 
 and counfels are directed fblely to this point, the wel- 
 fare of your country, whole guardian, and of the 
 church, whofe defender you are. 
 
 Where-ever you, fighting for our fecurity, com- 
 manding as a general, or acting as a loldier, expofe 
 yourfelf not only to the ftratagems and treacherous 
 fnarea of your enemies, but alio to their fwords and 
 the points of their weapens ; thither I, though perhaps 
 as a defpicable fliadow, follow you, not in body, but 
 in mind ; and trembling at every explofion of greater 
 or fmaller machines, as if clofe by your fide, continu- 
 ally pray to the Moft High, that he may propitioully a- 
 vert every difafler from fo valuable a life And where- 
 ever I behold you returned in fafety from fo many 
 dangers, or more truly deaths, then I think words 
 fail me, fail the whole Proteftant churches, fail all 
 Europe in confederacy, duly to celebrate the divine 
 providence, which hath expofcd you fo often to fuck 
 extraordinary hazards, in order to difplay to the world 
 your bravery, firmnefs, and uninterrupted compofure 
 of mind, never ruffled by any dorms of adverfity ; 
 but which alfo fo foon refcued you, in order to ex- 
 change our folicitude for your pcrfon into joyful accla- 
 mations for your fafety, and that your enemies them- 
 felves might by fuch linking inftances learn, what a 
 favourite of Heaven you are. 
 
 Surely I fhall never forget that day, on which the 
 river Boyne in Ireland was alnioft diftinguifhed by 
 your fall, but afterwards, by tiie intcrpt)fitionof Pro- 
 vidence, was ennobled by your victory. For when, 
 according to your wonted attention, you went to take 
 a nearer view of the enemy's camp, a cannon-ball, 
 levelled at your perfon, grazed your moulder; a 
 wound which gave greater joy to your enemies and 
 fear to your friends, than real hurt to yourfelf', a 
 wound, which taught us you was a man, but above 
 
$2 DEDICATION. 
 
 the common lot of men dear to Heaven ; a wound, in 
 fine, which, however great, prevented not your per- 
 forming all the duties of a gallant commander, even 
 though wounded ; nor fuffered you on that day to 
 take repofe to your own perfon, till you had procu- 
 red it for all your followers. O the never enough to 
 be extolled wifdom and goodnefs of Heaven fo fa- 
 vourable to us ! O day for ever memorable in our ca- 
 lendar ! How near were your foes exulting with folid 
 joy, who, now deceived by falfe reports of your death, 
 made themfelves ridiculous to the world by a theatri- 
 cal and unnmanly fhew of ill-grounded rejoicing! I 
 faw, O greateft cf princes, where-ever the fun en- 
 lightens the habitable earth, with thefe eyes I faw, in 
 thefe hands 1 held, to thefe lips I applied, that mili- 
 tary tunic of thine, whofe wide rent teftified the great- 
 nefs of your wound : thofe precious fpoils I faw em- 
 purpled with your blood, and I bathed the royal gore 
 with my affectionate tears. 
 
 And lately your Majefty, at the battle of Landen, 
 gave frefh matter to our anxiety, being not prevailed 
 with by any entreaties of your Britifh or Dutch no- 
 bility, to pay a greater regard to your valuable life, 
 on which all our lafety depends. For not fatisfied to 
 have done the part of a general, by drawing up your 
 army in battle-array, animating them to the fight, 
 darting every where your watchful eyes, commend- 
 ing the brave, chiding the dauardly, calling back to 
 the charge thofe that gave ground, by promifes, by 
 threats, and by example ; you gave a pattern to all, 
 and required nothing from your foldiers, but what 
 you performed before them ; being well acquainted 
 to blend the general with the follow-foldier, without 
 fullying the honour of the former. Then your men, 
 where clouds of fmoke did not intercept the view, 
 faw you rufhing through fword and fire, and inter- 
 mingled with the enemy, with your drawn fword 
 turning afide the facrilegious points of their weapons 
 from your facred fide, Moreover, that day gave us 
 
DEDICATION. 33 
 
 dn illuftrious proof of the divine favour towards your 
 perfon. For while, lavifh of your own fafety, all 
 your attention is employed about ours; or (if I may be 
 allowed to fpeak the truth ; and why mould I not, 
 where every virtuous liberty is allowable ?) while for 
 our fafety you hazard your own, by expofing your- 
 felf to the cannon of the enemy ; it was not your 
 prudence, in which in other refpe&s you may vie with 
 the Fabii and the Scipios ; but, as others would fay, 
 your good fortune, or, what I reckon a more reli« 
 gious way of fpeaking, God's own hand, that inter- 
 poling between your royal breaft and the fatal ball, 
 and not fuffering it to violate your perfon but by a 
 flight contufion between your military coat and the 
 extreme parts of the body, refcued you from flaugh- 
 ter, and delivered us from grief, if it had been pof- 
 fible for us to furvive to lament your fall. Surely we 
 defire to purchafe your life at the expence of our own, 
 and, if it could be done, to take from our own days 
 to add to yours. For what true-born Dutchman does 
 not glow with the moft ardent affection for a prince, 
 whom God, by conferring all manner of rare accom- 
 pliihments upon, has rendered the delight of man- 
 kind ! who like an aufpicious ftar has Oiined on the 
 world plunged into the deeps of diftrefs, and funk in 
 darknefs ; who, in a word, from the afhcs of his fa- 
 ther, having providentially come forth to light, ap- 
 pears to be born only as the father of his country, bj- 
 ing the genuine phcenix of our days. 
 
 When the Netherlands were trodden under foot, 
 diftreffcd, and juft on the brink of deltruction, then 
 Heaven appointed you to relieve and deliver them, 
 and to repel their calamities. The fhittcred republic 
 fled for refuge to your bolom, being fure to find an 
 aiylum no where clfe. Your own Britain too, being aU 
 moil ruined by the wicked deiigns of her kings, had 
 been long ago bouml in chains and fetters, and a 
 prey to lawlels tyranny, if you had not hailened Cf 
 
 Vol. I. t E 
 
34 DEDICATION. 
 
 relieve her when ftretching out her fuppliant hands 
 towards you, with that refolution, prudence, and 
 firmnefs, and ;vith that fuccefs, which her annals 
 will declare, at which pofterity will be aftoaifhed, 
 nay which they will hardly believe. That expedition 
 Will be tranfmitted through all ages, which being pro- 
 jected with incredible fecrecy amidftfo many piercing 
 and watchful eyes, and undertaken with the greateft re- 
 folution, in the winter and decline of the year, amidft 
 fo many dreadful dangers of a tempefluous ocean, 
 did preferve and maintain to the queen of iflands, 
 her liberty, her laws, her religion, and whatever can 
 be dear to generous minds. Is it matter of wonder, 
 that JSritain, thus refcued under God by your Ma- 
 jefty's aid alone, now deftitute of a ruler, her ill-ad- 
 vifed King James being expelled, not by you, nor by 
 the people of England, but by the flings of his own 
 confcience, and not forced away, but voluntarily fly- 
 ing, mould gratefully fubmit to her preferver and de- 
 liverer ? Indeed you are the perfon to whom, with 
 your mod religious confort Mary Augusta, by the 
 very rights of fucceffion, the fceptre of the empty 
 throne was juftly due. And even in thofe circum- 
 fiances you would not have accepted it, though of- 
 fered by both houfes of parliament, had any befides 
 yourfelf, and the faithful fharer of your bed, been 
 worthy to govern Britain, and capable to fettle her 
 di t /acted flate, maintain her liberty, and vanquim 
 the efforts of envy. So that, not the pleafure and 
 happinefs of that flation, but the thorns and diffi- 
 culties thereof ; not your ambition, but the public 
 ncceility, conflrained you to undertake the govern- 
 ment. Or" this fact can there be a more convincing 
 proof, than that, when fettled on the throne of your 
 kingdoms, you have never fuftered a day, not even 
 an hour to pafs undillinguiihed by princely cares ; 
 and have managed with incomparable diligence, both 
 at h ^me and abroad, whatever contributes to the pu- 
 blic fafety ? Againfl private rivals of your happinefs, 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 35 
 
 unacquainted with your character, wrapp ing u p your, fcj, '«* 
 felf in your virtue alone, you made uie of obW^/C^Cc^i 
 "vion, as the fureft remedy againft injuries, and not^^.^/ 
 revenge, which, if you had pleafed, was in your— 
 power to take. Againft the public difturber of the 
 peace of Europe, you protect not fo much yourfelf 
 as your people, by armies, fleets, confederacies, and, 
 which render you moft of all formidable to your ene- 
 mies, by your innate prudence and magnanimity. 
 And did not words equal to your merits fail me, though 
 fond to expatiate on the delightful fiibject, your pie- 
 ty ought above all things to be extolled, whereby 
 you chearfully and with juftice afcribe all the honour 
 and fuccefs conferred upon you, to the goodnefs of 
 the Supreme Being, and with a grateful heart are 
 ready to lay down your fceptre at the footftool and 
 cufhiou of him, who, encircled with the rainbow, 
 fits on his heavenly throne : while you govern with 
 no other view, but that Jehovah may reign, and 
 Jesus rule throughout all your dominions : whofe 
 empire you promote and enlarge, not, as others do 
 in iupport of their fuperftition and cruelty, by im- 
 prifonment, banifhment, fcourging, quartering, gib- 
 bets, and burning ; not by depopulating countries, not 
 by the terror and dreadful blafphemies of dragoons j 
 but by clemency, and demonftration of the timh to 
 every confeience, and by, what is moft of all preva- 
 lent, your own example ; never offering any vio- 
 lence to the confeiences of thofe who differ from you 
 in religious matters. But finally, in what language 
 can be fuitably defcribed that facred folicitude which 
 you difcovered at your very accefiion to the throne, 
 that your fubjects, laying afide their difputes about 
 ibme points of Chriftian worfhip and church-govern- 
 ment, might unite, with the moft defirable harmony 
 of mind, in brotherly fellowfhip, and uniformity of 
 prayers and praifes to God ? Whether this can ever be 
 effected by the ability of any mortal, through the in- 
 nate blindnefs and obllinacy that is in the minds ?f 
 
 E 2 
 
S 6 DEDICATION. 
 
 men, I confefs I very much doubt : but if it can be 
 accomplifhed by any method, you, Sir, appear to be 
 the only perfon, by whofe authority, wifdom, and 
 moderation, the minds of men diflevered by reli- 
 gious fentiments can be reduced to unanimity. May 
 that day, fo ardently defired by the prayers of fo ma- 
 ny pious perfons, at length mine forth, when all 
 names of diflinclion being taken out of the way, and 
 configned to everlafting oblivion, the whole Chri- 
 flian world from the rifing to the fetting fun, may, 
 with one heart and one mouth, worfhip and praife one 
 God \ and, as it is in the prophecy ot Zechariah, Je- 
 hovah may be one, and his name one in all the earth I 
 This indeed, as it ought to be earneftly prayed for 
 by all Chriftians, in an efpecial manner mould it be 
 fludied by thofe, to whom Jusus the King both of 
 truth and peace has committed the office of preaching 
 the gofpel. 
 
 As I rejoice in being ranked among their number, 
 fo I imagine, I ought always to rejoice in fuch a glo- 
 rious miniftry of fo great a King, that whilft I endea- 
 vour to kindle the light of truth in the minds of 
 men, I ought by the fame means to inflame their 
 hearts with the fire of love. To infect the tongue 
 with bitternefs, to dip the pen in gall, to fcreen paf- 
 fion by a zeal for religion, to bring ftrange fire to 
 God's altar, and under pretext of maintaining the 
 truth, to attempt what is unlawful for the minifters 
 of peace, I have judged to be fo foreign to the genius 
 of Chriflianity, that, if I did not religioufly guard 
 againft all thefe things, I mould certainly reckon my- 
 felf not only an unprofitable, byt alfo a perfidious 
 fervant, who will not efcape the punilhment due to 
 thofe who betray the caufe of the Lord. I was will- 
 ing to give fome fpecimen of this difpoiition of mind 
 in thofe books, which, being formerly publifhed con- 
 cerning the Oeconomy of God's covenants with men, 
 1 now, with all due fubmifiion and veneration, de- 
 dicate and addrefs to your Majefty. 
 
DEDICATION. tf 
 
 What I may have contributed towards clearing up 
 the truth, with refpecf. to fome things controverted 
 at this day, and what towards cementing peace, in- 
 terrupted by the violent meafures of others ; witlx 
 what moderation I may have treated every particular 
 fubjecr, by what means I may have leflened, decided, 
 and removed controverfies, which others have multi- 
 plied to an infinite number, Hill confidently with the 
 faith once delivered to the faints, I would leave to the 
 judgment of your divines, fuch as your Majefty has 
 of the moft eminent note both in England and Hol- 
 land. 
 
 Permit me only to declare this one thing before 
 you, that I have moft ftrenuoufly endeavoured, 
 both by doctrine and example, to form my hearers, 
 not to litigious difputations, but to the clear know- 
 ledge of the moft facred truth, to the upright and 
 fjneere piety of ancient and apoftolic Chriftianity, 
 and to the conftant ftudy of that amiable peace, which 
 the dying Jefus both bequeathed to and purchaied for 
 his people. And I have the pleafmg hope, that thofe 
 who come from under my inftructions, not only the 
 natives of Holland, but thofe or your kingdoms of 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland, of whom there is 
 not a fmall number here, bringing the fame fpirit to 
 the churches to be entrufted to their care, will, under 
 your Majcfty's government, remarkably enlarge the 
 kingdom of Chrift. 
 
 o 
 
 Accept therefore, Royal S;r, with your wonted 
 goodnefs accept this pledge and token of a heart fin- 
 cerely devoted to your Majefty ; and fufFer him to be 
 counted among your friends, who, next to the great 
 and bleffed God, would not chafe to belong to any 
 other. But at the fame time accept die warmed 
 prayers fent from the bottom of my heart ; May that 
 God, at whole footilool you daily proilrate yourielv 
 as a fuppjiant, may that God, who is King of kings 
 znd Lord of lords, make you always happy at h 
 fuccelsfuj abroad, ever revered, the guardian or ju« 
 
3* DEDICATION. 
 
 ftice, the maintainer of liberty, the defender of reli- 
 gion, the author of concord, the refuge of the op- 
 preffed, the umpire of the whole Chriftian world £ 
 and at laft crown your Majefty, his own vicegerent, 
 with the glory of his everlafting kingdom. 
 
 Utrecht, October 15. 
 1693. 
 
PACIFIC ADDRESS 
 
 T O 
 
 The Very Reverend, renowned, and celebrated 
 Profeffors of Divinity in the univerfities of the 
 United Provinces, and paftors of the reformed 
 churches, the zealous defenders of the faith 
 once delivered to the faints. 
 
 OUR lot is caft in thofe days, in which the world 
 is almoft weary, and the church certainly groans 
 under the weight of books. With the latter it was 
 never better, than when wrapping herfelf up in the pure 
 fimplicity of faith and love, and without any itch 
 for difputing, fhe depended on the word of the Lord 
 alone, and drew the pure and undefiled truth from 
 thofe writings only, which both made David iv'fer 
 than all his teachers, and are able to make the man of 
 God f erf eel, thoroughly furnifhed to every good work. 
 But it is now-a-days extremely difficult to write fo as 
 to pleafe. For fo great is every where the fruitful- 
 nefs of true learning or the vain imagination of fcience, 
 fo obftinate the attachment to once-received hypothc* 
 fes, fo brifk the fludy of particular parts, and fo ma- 
 levolent the judgment pafled on other mens works, 
 which even afFecl the minds of good men reluctantly, 
 that whoever imagines by his writing to &tisfy either 
 thofe delicate perfons, or thofe addicted to more than 
 one fide in the orthodox faith, feems both to attribute 
 too much to his own capacity, and to be ignorant ot 
 the difpofition of the times. Since the former of thefe 
 cannot be charged upon me by rcafon of the flender- 
 nefs of my abilities ; and the latter cannot at all be 
 hid from a perfon who has been converfant in the 
 world -, it fecms to be very proper for me to aflign 
 
4 o A PACIFIC ADDRESS. 
 
 the reafons of my again appearing in public, and to 
 fhew the purpofe and defign of the work which I 
 now offer to the churches of my native country. 
 
 'And to whom mould I render thefe reafons, rather 
 than to you, Reverend and Learned Gentlemen^ who 
 are intcrefled in thefe matters, who are themoft pro- 
 per of all to judge of them, and to whom, next to 
 God and my own confcience, I chiefly defire to ap- 
 prove my iludies. Above all I fincerely declare, that 
 it was not an incurable itch of writing, a raging 
 thirft after vain-glory, a cankered or envious difpo- 
 fition of mind, a deteftable defire of widening the 
 wounds already made in the churches, the odious 
 pleafure of blackening any one's character, expofmg 
 right fentiments, or mifreprefenting any one's opinion, 
 nor, laftly, an infamous defire to fow, increafe, or 
 continue flrifes, which have occafioned my writing 
 at this time. For, as I difclaim all thefe reafons, fo 
 the whole defign of this work, though but flightly 
 glanced at, will acquit me from thefe charges. 
 
 To fee however the minds of the godly difturbed by 
 the inconfiderate afiertions of fome, and their uncom- 
 mon interpretations of the fcriptures, or the fufpidons 
 of others, not at all times dictated by charity, perhaps 
 not by prudence, gave me indeed thegreateft concern. 
 Andforafmuchas the doctrine of the covenant of grace, 
 in which the manner of the reconciliation of ilnners to 
 God is fhewn, and the manifold difpenfation of that co- 
 venant, have been the unhappy object of contention in 
 the Netherlands; fo that whatever points are now the 
 fubject of difpute , (if you except the new method of 
 interpreting the prophecies, and the opinions of the mo- 
 dern philolophy, which have been introduced with a 
 bad defign into divinity), may and ought to be referred 
 to this; I have thought this fubject in the firft place chal- 
 lenged my attention. But this I have undertaken to 
 treat infuch a manner, that both the truth which hath 
 been handeddown to and believed in thechurches, might 
 bepreferved in entire fafety, and in defending it nothing 
 
A PACIFIC ADD HE S 3. 4! 
 
 Ihight be faid favouring of pride or feverity, or againft 
 the laws of charity. This reafon induces me not to dwell 
 upon bare difputations, which are generally unprofit- 
 able, and, if not feaibned with a certain degree of 
 acrimony or fait, are quite deftitute of every ele* 
 gance and embellifhmenti 
 
 I have chofen to enter on this fubject from its very 
 beginning ; and have endeavoured, as far as I could* 
 to explain it methodically and clearly, every where 
 throwing light on the obicurer paffages of fcripture, 
 anxioufly fearching the import of the phrafes ufed by 
 the Holy Spirit, and referring the whole to the prac- 
 tice of faith and godlinefs, and to the glory of God in 
 Chrift, that my expofition might be more ufeful and 
 inftructive. As nothing was more profitable and de- 
 lightful to me than this ftudy, fo nothing more forci- 
 bly and certainly convinces the minds of men, than a 
 clear and fober demonftration of the truth to the con- 
 fcience ; which, proceeding by pleafant fteps, begin- 
 ning with plain and acknowledged truths, and connect* 
 ing its affertions in a continued chain, gradually 
 leads to the more abftrufe points, and forces an affent 
 to them, not lefs ftrongly than to thofe which com- 
 mand our fuffrage at the firfl view; in the mean while 
 by its fecret efficacy gliding into the inmoft parts of 
 the foul, and fixing it with a certain aftonifhment 011 
 the contemplation of the admirable perfections of God. 
 
 It was neceffary, however, fometimes to oppofe 
 different opinions, as the fubject led me ; either the 
 public adverfaries of the reformed churches, chiefly 
 the Socinians and Remonftrants, who, by their da- 
 ring comments, have defiled the doctrine of God's 
 covenants ; or fome of our brethren, who have taken 
 it into their heads to form hypothefes different -from 
 thofe that have been received, and lay them as the 
 foundation of almoft all divinity. Malice itfelf c;in- 
 not, 1 imagine, deny, that I have every where treat - 
 ed them with candour and modefty. I have ft ateii 
 the controvcrfy juftly, have fixed upon no man any 
 
 Vol. I. I fc' 
 
4* A PACIFIC ADDRESS* 
 
 opinion which he ought not to acknowledge for his 
 own ; and have ufed fuch arguments as had before 
 fatisfied my own confcience. And if thefe were not 
 folid and convincing of themfelves, I could not think 
 any ftrength could be added to them by the fervour 
 and vehemence of the dilputer. Above all I thought 
 cautious procedure neceffary, in the examination of 
 the opinions of my brethren. To this bufinefs I never 
 applied myfelf with an intention to fearch after any 
 inaccurate word, harfh phrafe, or crude expreffion, on 
 which to exercife a critical talent. Let thofe be fo em- 
 ployed, whom Gregory Nazianzen ftyled the flatter- 
 ers of names ; but I thought I would be more ufefully 
 occupied, in examining how far all the orthodox agree, 
 and how the more improper modes of expreflion might 
 be foftened by others more accurate ; and there at laft 
 fixing,, where there is a real diver fity of fentiments ; 
 and thofe, I dare promife myfelf, will be found fewer, 
 and of lefs importance, provided alienation of mind 
 be out of the queftion. Yet .1 cannot pafs over fome 
 uncouth exprefiions, foreign interpretations, and con- 
 tradictory pofitions. In certain places I detect the 
 danger attending iome of them, but without difparage- 
 nunt oi the teacher, and without a malignant difpo- 
 fition. For I confefs I agree with thofe, who believe 
 that the doctrine of the covenants has long fince been 
 delivered in the churches on fo fure a foundation, as 
 to ftand in no need of new hypothefes ; in which I 
 could not find that folidity or utility, which could, 
 variant an endeavour to fupport them as points of 
 theology. 
 
 That obfervation concerning the threefold dif- 
 penfation of the covenant of grace, is not of fuch 
 importance ; the Jirfl under the promife, wherein 
 mere grace and liberty prevailed, without the yoke, 
 or the burden of an accufing law ; the fecond under 
 the law, when the Old Teftament commenced, fub- 
 jecting the faithful to the dominion of angels, and the 
 
A PACIFIC ADDRESS. 43 
 
 fear of death all their lives, and laft of all to the curfe 
 and execration, mean time not allowing to the fathers 
 true and permanent bleflings ; the third under the go- 
 fpel, when the godly began to be fet at liberty from 
 the dominion of angels, from the fear of temporal 
 death, and the curie, which an exact obfervance of 
 the ceremonial law carried with it, and at laft enjoyed 
 true and lifting bleffings, the circumcifion of the heart, 
 the writing of the law in the mind, the full and true 
 remiffion of fins, the Spirit of adoption, and fuch 
 like things : this obfervation, I fay, is not of fuch im- 
 portance as to be infifted on in fo many academical 
 lectures, fo many pulpit-dilcourfes, and in fuch a 
 number of books publifhed as w r cll in Latin as our na- 
 tive tongues, as though the whole fubftance of theo- 
 logical learning connfted in it. For I have fhewn in 
 the following work, that thefe doctrines, however 
 they be explained, are horrible to be mentioned, that 
 they are founded on corrupt interpretations, and can- 
 not be defended without wrefting the fcriptures. 
 
 But I efteem to be no lefs dangerous the opinions 
 of a man otherwife very learned, who denies that a 
 covenant of works was made with Adam ; and will 
 fcarce allow that under the name of death, with which 
 he was threatened in cafe he finned, a corporal death 
 is to be comprehended ; and denies that fpiritual and 
 heavenly blifs, fuch as we now obtain through Chrift, 
 was promifed to Adam on condition of perfect obedi- 
 ence ; and, by a mufty diftinction, dividing the fuffer- 
 ings of Chrift into war-like and judiciary, affirms 
 that the latter only, or, as they fometimes foftcn the 
 expreilion, chiefly, were fatisfactory, excluding thence 
 the forrows he endured in the garden, and the con- 
 demnatory fentence he received both in the Jewiih 
 council, and from the Roman governor, the itripes 
 With which his body was wounded, his being nailed to 
 the curfed crofs, and laft of all his death itfelf. On tiicl'c 
 points I have fjpoke my mind freely and candidly, as 
 
 F 2 
 
44 A PACIFIC ADDRESS. 
 
 becomes a defender of few?d doclrine y and an oppofsr 
 ef novel opinions ; with which honourable character the 
 iixth oecumenical c ^uncil, which met at Conftanti- 
 nople, honoured the Emperor Conftantine IV. and 
 which ought not to be foreign to men of our order. 
 
 I have alio now and then made remarks on fome 
 things of lefs moment, which yet did not feem either 
 to have a folid fcriptural interpretation, or are lefs ac- 
 curately conceived of. Nor has thisinquiry been without 
 profit, Amphilochius is commended by Bafil on this 
 account, becaufe he thought, that no word which is a^ 
 %iy way ufed concerning God, Jhould be pajfed over with- 
 out a careful inquiry into its meaning. But I have done 
 this without rancour or malice ; not to reprove the au* 
 thors, but that the fludious readers might be benefited^ 
 by having their errors pointed out ; as I remember Poly^ 
 bius fomewhere expreffes himfelf. And I hope it will 
 not be taken ill by the learned and ingenious, to whom 
 I willingly grant the fame liberty I take, if (to ufe 
 nearly the fame words in which Auguftine declared hia 
 dhTent from Cyprian) while / cannot reach their reputa- 
 tion, acknowledge my writings to be inferior to many of 
 theirs ) love their genius, am delighted with their fayings, 
 and admire their virtues ; yet I cannot receive that in 
 which they are otherwife minded, with that liberty to 
 which the Lord hath called us. Efpecially when they 
 fee that I have willingly adopted, and with no fmall 
 praife recommended to the reader, what things have 
 been ingenioufly invented by them, what they have 
 happily found out hy fearching into the original lan- 
 guages, have learnedly recovered from the relics of 
 hitherto unknown antiquity, have judicipufly conr 
 firmed, or clearly explained. 
 
 They will alfo find, that whereever I thought they 
 fpoke truth, though unjuftly defamed by others, I 
 have fometimes cordially defended them, and have 
 wiped off the ftamp of abfurdity and novelty fixed 
 upon them ; and this fo frequently and folicitoufly, 
 
A PACIFIC ADDRESS. 45 
 
 that without doubt fome will think I have gone to ex- 
 cefs in thefe matters. Yet I cannot bring my mind 
 to repent of this ingenuous dealing. For how could 
 any one have done otherwife, who not being attached 
 to any faction, not enflaved to human authority, not 
 pleafing his own or others paflions, is a votary to truth 
 alone, and regards not what any perfon fays, but 
 what is faid ? He who loves the peace of Jerufalem, 
 had rather fee controverfies determined than multipli- 
 ed ; and will with pleafure learn, that feveral things 
 are harmlefs, or even ufeful, which by others are in- 
 vidioufly dragged into the fubject of litigation. 
 
 All judicious men are juftly difpleafed with that pe* 
 tulance of wit which prevails at this day, raOily aim- 
 ing to overturn wife and agreeable inventions by dog- 
 matical attacks, anon infolently breaking out into a 
 bold, and often ludicrous interpretation of fecret pro- 
 phecies, ridiculoufly haling into the roll of prophe- 
 cies, what contains nothing but the precepts of our 
 common faith and holinefs : by which means the re- 
 spectable public and our facred functions are not a lit- 
 tle difcredited. Nor is it indeed matter of wonder, 
 if the warmer zeal of fome has painted this wanton- 
 nefs as it deferves, or perhaps in too ftrong colours. 
 But yet a medium is to be obferved in all things : and 
 I do not approve the endeavours of fome, who, whilft 
 they treat of our differences, enumerate not only fome 
 decades, but even centuries of controverfies, fome- 
 times with cruel eloquence expreiling their rage at 
 fome innocent points. Whether this method of dif- 
 puting greatly conduces to the promoting of faving 
 knowledge, and the edification of fouls, I will not 
 now fay : but this 1 know, that by this means a plea- 
 fine is done to the enemies of the church, who will 
 fecretly rejoice in their bolom, that there are not few- 
 er, and, ir they may be judged of by the heat of the 
 combatants, not lei's unimportant difputes among us, 
 in among them. And this not very fecretly neither 5 
 
46 A PACIFIC ADDRESS. 
 
 for they do not, nor will ever ceafe to caft this reproach 
 upon us; which, O grief! may be much eafier faid 
 than refuted. 
 
 O how much better and dutiful would it be to ufe 
 all our pains and concern to lefleri, make up, and, if 
 poflible, put an end to all controverfies ! To this, Re- 
 verend and learned Gentlemen, apply all your coun- 
 fels and ftudies. This all the godly who mourn for 
 the bn aches in Jofeph ; this the churches which are 
 committed to )*>ur care ; this Jesus himfelf, the King 
 of 'ruth and peace, require and expect from you ; 
 this they beg, they obteft, they befeech you for. If 
 therefore there be any conflation in Chrifl, if any comfort 
 of love, if any fellow/hip of the Spirit, if any bowels 
 and mercies, fulfil ye my joy fulfil ye the joy of all 
 faints, fulfil ye the joy of our Lord Jefus himfelf, that 
 ye may be like- maided, having the fame love, being of one 
 accord, of one mind. i here have been enough of quar* 
 reL>, flanaers, and fufpiciofls ; enough of contentions 
 among brethren, which, I engage for it, will afford 
 no juft caufe of triumph ; enough of inteftine divi- 
 lions, by which we deftroy one another ; and more 
 than enough of paflion. Let party-zeal, a thirft after 
 pre-eminence, and fchifmatical diflinctions, be for ever 
 henceforth baniihed from among us. Let all litigi- 
 ous, fatirical, and virulent writings be blotted out ; 
 whofe delign is only to revive the fires of confuming 
 queftions. If we write any thing relating to thofe 
 queftions, let us lay afide all pafiions, as hindrances to 
 us in our inquiries, and reftraints on the judges. Let 
 us fight with arguments, not with railings, bearing 
 in mind this faying of Ariftophanes, // does not become 
 men to rail at -poets as bread-fellers. How much lefs 
 does it become divines ? Let not the pure ftream of 
 divinity, to be fetched from the fole fountain of facred 
 learning, be defiled with any of the impure waters 
 of either the ancient or modern philofophy. Let us 
 abflaio from harm and unufual expreflions, from crude 
 
A PACIFIC ADDRESS. 47 
 
 and rafh affertions ; from whence arife envy, ftrife 9 
 railings y evil fur mijings. Let the inftruments of both 
 covenants be indeed diligently handled by all, but with 
 a degree of facred fear and trembling. Let none pleafe 
 himfelf with new glofTes and commentaries, becaule 
 be fuppofes them to be modern and unknown to his 
 predeceffors. Let him who thinks he has found out 
 fomething preferable to and more folid than received 
 opinions, offer it to the public with modefty, without 
 vilifying his brethren ; without aflferting or determi- 
 ning rafhly, fubraitting his thoughts to thecenfure of 
 the learned, and the judgment of the church ; not 
 immediately forcing them on the common people to 
 the diffraction of their minds, nor haftily offering 
 them to uncautiou$ youth, who are improper judges 
 of fuch weighty matters. And let none reject, on 
 account of its novelty folely, what is agreeable to 
 the meaning of the words, to fcripture-phraies, to 
 the analogy of faith, or to the relation the text bears 
 to others. Cajetan, who is commended by our Cha4 
 m|er£ has not badly expreffed himfelf on this head. 
 If at any time a neiu fenfe agreeable to the text offers it* 
 felfy though different from the current of divines ', let the 
 reader Jhew himfelf an impartial judge. And in ano- 
 ther place he fays, Let none abhor a new fenfe of facred 
 writ % becaufe it differs from that of the ancient doctors ; for 
 God hath not confined the expounding cfthefacreJfcripturet 
 to the gloffes of the ancient teachers. Let the depths of 
 prophecy be alfo diligently fearched into ; but reverent- 
 ly, without wrefting the words of God, withouL 
 violating that inclomre by which God has debarred 
 poor mortals from the fight of his fecrets, which are 
 frldom explained any otherwife than by the event ; 
 leit he who fearches into the majefty, fhould be over- 
 whelmed by the glory. 
 
 Let no one, by the authority of any man's name, 
 bind the free consciences of the faithful ; but, as Cie- 
 mens Romanus once laid, JUi Me. meaning of truth U 
 
48 A PACIFIC ADDRESS. 
 
 taken from the fcriptures them/elves : by thefe alone let 
 it ftand or fall in religious matters : by thefe let all 
 controverfies be fettled : Let the /acred and undefiled 
 go/pel of Chrift our God be laid as the foundation, as was 
 wont to be done in the godly councils of the anci- 
 ents. Neverthelefs, let not any one ftubbornly on 
 this pretence with -hold his affent to fuch forms, which 
 are taken from the word of God, are agreeable to 
 the fcriptures, are the bonds of church-union, the tefts 
 of orthodoxy, bars againft herefies, and the limits of 
 wanton wits ; as if they were the relics of the Baby- 
 lonifh tower, by which, through a human device, not 
 to be approved of, men were obliged to think and 
 fpeak alike in religion. 
 
 Let no man appoint a guide for himfelf out of the 
 modern divines, all whofe dictates he is to receive and 
 defend as heavenly oracles ; in whom is rifen up a 
 teacher and light of the world, as the ancients celebra- 
 ted Bafil, and in comparifon of whofe ftature all others 
 appear as little children and dwarfs, as if they were 
 nothing but pigmies void of underftanding ; when 
 he himfelf perhaps protefts, that he would not be 
 reckoned the author of any thing new in divinity, and 
 fo the head of a feci. On the other hand, let no one 
 defpife fuch a man, as if nothing true or good, and 
 ufeful to the underftanding of the fcriptures, could 
 proceed from him : for God gives to no perfon a pi- 
 ous difpofition, to meditate on the fcriptures day and 
 night, without opening to him the treafures of his 
 pure wifdom. 
 
 Let us extol the bleffings of our heavenly Father in 
 whomfoever we find them ; congratulate the church 
 for them ; and convert them each of us to our own 
 advantage. Let no one who expounds the orthodox 
 fentiments of his mind generally in eloquent language, 
 be reckoned criminal on account of an improper 
 word, or harm expreffion, which might fall from one 
 handling another fubject ; for poiion does not lie hid 
 

 A. PACIFIC ADDRESS. 49 
 
 in fyllables ; nor does truth confift in found, biu in 
 the intention ; nor godlinefs in the tinkling or brafs, 
 but in the meaning of the things fignified. Yet let 
 us all endeavour to exprefs ourfelves as accurately as 
 poiTible ', and by no means defend what has been im- 
 prudently faid either by our friends or ourfelves, left? 
 we take it ill to be reprehended by others ; but rather, 
 through the perfuafion of ingenuity, the order of 
 truth, the importunity of charity, and the applaufe 
 of all good men, let us pafs by, cancel, or correct 
 any miitakes ; which great men, both in old times, 
 and in our days, have done, to their very great ho- 
 nour. Let the fevere brand of herefy be fuddeniyl 
 {lamped upon none, on account of what is fuppofed > ^\ 
 to follow from his words, while he dpes not admit j 
 the confequence, but detefts it. Let mens folid learn- 
 ing, their peaceable difpofition, and a careful difcharge 
 of their duty without noife and difturbance, pro- 
 cure them much more favour, than the inconllderate 
 heat of boiling zeal, and the efforts of a headftrong 
 temper, as Homer fays, and a mind eager for the com bat, 
 which, however the caufe of God may be a pretext of, 
 are aimed at only for our own glory and advantage. 
 
 Let fome liberty alfo be given to learned men 
 in explaining paffages of fcripture, in the choice of 
 arguments in defence of the common truth, in 
 the ufe of phrafes and terms, in refolving queftions 
 commonly called problematic, (for, amidft the prcfent 
 darknefs of mens minds, it is not to be expected, 
 that all men mould in all things fpeak and think a- 
 like) ; but let this liberty be confined within the 
 bounds of modefly, prudence, and love; led it ihould 
 degenerate into petulant licentioufnefs, and turn our 
 Zion into a Babel. 
 
 Thefe, Reverend and RcffcBcd Brethren^ arc my 
 earneft wifhes and counfels, which I recommend to 
 your prudence, faith, and piety ; as 1 do yourfclyea 
 and your facred labours, to the grace of the great 
 (Jod and our Saviour Jefus Chrilt, who can w*k$ 
 L. I. t G 
 
 
 r^VJ 
 
5 a A PACIFIC A-DDRESS. 
 
 you perfeft in every good work, to do his will, 
 working in you that which is well pleafing in his 
 fight ; and at laft, after you have happily fought the 
 good fight of faith, can blefe you with an everlafting 
 crown of glory. This was long fince, and is now, 
 the moft earneft wi£h of, 
 
 Reverend and Refpected Brethren, 
 
 Your Fellow-labourer, and 
 
 Servant in the Lord, 
 Utrecht, 061. 20. 
 1 6 9 3. 
 
THE 
 
 OECONOMY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Divine Covenants. 
 
 BOOK L 
 v 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of the divine covenants in general. 
 
 WHoever intends to difcourfe The ^bjeft to 
 on the fubiecl of the di- betr « tcdw »h 
 \ . ,. . reverence. 
 
 vine covenants, by which e- 
 ternal falvation is adjudged to man, on 
 certain conditions worthy of God and the rational crea- 
 ture, ought principally to endeavour, that he may treat 
 thefe heavenly oracles in a facred and pure manner. and, 
 neither through raflinefs nor paflion, intermingle any 
 thing, which he is not firmly perfuaded is contained in 
 thofe records, which exhibit thecopies of thefecovenants 
 to us. For if Zaleucus prefcribed it as a condition to 
 the contentious interpreters of his laws, " That both 
 " parties fhould explain the meaning of the lawgiver, 
 " in the aflembly of the thoufand men, with halters 
 M hanging about the necks of each ; and that what- 
 " ever party fhould appear to wrclt the fenfe of the 
 
 G 2 
 
j! Of the COVENANTS Book I. 
 
 1 l.iw to the detriment thereof, mould, in the pre- 
 " knee of the thoufand, end their lives by a hai- 
 " ter ;" as Poybius, a very grave author, relates*: 
 If the Jews and Samaritans in Egypt, difputing about 
 their temple, were obliged to plead their cauie before 
 the king and his courtiers, on this condition only, 
 that <; the advocates of whatever party that were 
 " foiled, ihould be puniflied with death," as Jofephus 
 relates f ; he muft certainly be in greater danger, and 
 liable to forcr dcftrUftion, who mall, by a ram wreft- 
 ing, pervert the facred myftcrics of the divine cove- 
 nants ; while our Lord openly declares, that wbofoever 
 fimll break one of thefe lea ft commandments 9 and jhall 
 teach menfo, he flnillbe called the leafi in the kingdom of hea- 
 r . It is not therefore without a kind of facred awe 
 that I begin this work ; praying God, that, laying a- 
 lide every prejudice, I may lhew my f elf a tractable di- 
 fciple ot the holy writings, and may, with modefty, im- 
 part to my brethren j what I think I have learned 
 iron them : if happily this my poor performance may 
 icrve to leffen difputes, and clear up the truth ; than 
 wiiich nothing mould be deemed by us of greater 
 importance. 
 
 The etvmo- K« Becaufe it is by words efpeeially the 
 logy of the words of thofe languages, in which God 
 word Berith. h as been pleafed to reveal his facred myfte- 
 ries to men, that we can, with fuccefs, arrive at the 
 knowledge ot things ; it will be worth while, more 
 accurately to inquire into the import both of the He- 
 brew word HH3j and the Greek ft*$fon, which the Holy 
 Spirit makes uie of on this mbject. And firft, we are 
 to give the etymology, and then the different figniiica- 
 tions of the Hebrew word. With refped to the former, 
 the i earned are not agreed. There are fome who de- 
 rive it from the root fcCO, which in P/V/fignifies to cut 
 doivn ; becaufe, as we mall prefently oblerve, cove- 
 nants ufed to be folemnly ratified by cutting animals 
 aumder. It may alio be derived from the lame root 
 
 * Lib. xii. c. 7. t Antiq. I. xiii. c. 6. % JMatdi. r. 15. 
 
Chap. I. i n G e n t R A t; 53 
 
 in a very different fignification. For as 813 properly fig- 
 nifics to create, fo metaphorically to ordain or (/i&T&if 
 $*i) to difpofe. Whence it happened, that the Hellenift 
 Jews ufed to kti^.v in the fame fignification. Certain 
 ly in this fenfe Peter * calls igwti£ power appointed by 
 men, and for human purpofes, AvfyovU'ti vrfoi^ the ordi- 
 nance of man. Which too the famous Grotius appears 
 to have learnedly obierved on the title of the New 
 Teftament. Others had rather derive it from rH3 
 as putf from T\2V 9 fignifying, among other things, 
 to cbufe. And in covenants, efpecially of friendfhip, 
 there is a choice of perfons, between whom, of things 
 about which, and of conditions upon which, a cove- 
 nant is entered into. Nor is this improperly obfer- 
 ved. 
 
 III. But ma is ufed in the holy fcriptures in Its van- 
 different iignifications ; fometimes improperly, £ us f ! g ^ 
 and fometimes properly. Improperly ; it denotes 
 the following things, i. An immutable ordinance a- 
 bout any thing. In this fenfe God mentions his cove- 
 nant of the day, and of the night f ; that is, that fixed 
 ordinance about the uninterrupted viciffitude of day 
 and night, which \ is called pn, that, is ftatute li- 
 mited ox fixed, to which nothing ought to be added, 
 or taken from it. In this fenfe is included the notion 
 of a teftament, or of a laft and irrevocable will. Thus 
 God faid ||, I have given thee* and thy fons and thy daugh- 
 ters with thee, rhn JT"Q 62*7 y onV NTinVy, by a fta- 
 tute for ever ; it is a cwenant of jalt jot eiier* This ob- 
 fervation is of ufe for the more fully undei Handing the 
 nature of the covenant of grace, which the apoflle pro- 
 pofes under the fimilitude of a tcii anient, the execution 
 of which depends upon the death of the teftatorj. 
 To which notion both the Hebrev JT"Q and the Greek 
 <//*-}»>*>) may lead us. 2. A fure an . ftable promife, though 
 it be not mutual : fVU P^D ^JS H3H- Behold, I make 
 si covenant ; before all thy people 1 will do marvels -4- . 
 
 # I Pet. ii. 15. f J.'i.xxxiii. 20. J; Chap, xxxi. 36. 
 
 )| Numb, xviii. 19. + Hcb, ix. 15. it. 17. -+ Exod. xxxiv. la. 
 
54 Of the COVENANTS Book I. 
 
 This is my covenant with them ; my Spirit Jhall not de- 
 part from them *. 3. It fignifies alfo a precept ; and to 
 cuLa covenant is to give a precept : I made a covenant 
 with your fathers^— faying^ At the end offeven years let 
 ye 00 every man his brother f. Hence it appears in what 
 fen re the decalogue is called God's covenant. But pro* 
 ferly^ it fiffnifies a mutual agreement between parties with 
 refpeil to Jomething. Such a covenant took place be- 
 tween Abraham and Mamre, with Efchol and Aner, 
 who are called CH2H ma *h])2 confederates with Ab- 
 raham J. Such aifo was that between Ifaac and Abi- 
 nieiech || ; between Jonathan and David |. And of 
 this kind likewife is that of which we are now to treat, 
 between Gcd and man. 
 
 IV. No lefs equivocal is the JWto of the Greeks ; 
 The fignifi- which, both fingularly and plurally, very 
 cations of often denotes a tejlament ; as Budaeus "$r 
 Atttat* mews from Ifocrates, iEfchines, Demo- 
 flhenes, and others. In this fenfe, we hinted, it was 
 ufed by the apoftle •»-*•. Sometimes alfo it denotes a 
 law, which is a rule of life. For the Orphici and 
 Pythagoreans ftylcd the rules of living prefcribed to 
 their pupils, liahmtt^ according to Grotius. It alfo 
 frequently fignifies an engagement and agreement ; 
 wherefore Heiychius explains it by ffwa/xovU, confede- 
 racy. There is none of thefe fignifications that will 
 not be of ufe in the progrefs of the work. 
 
 V. To make a covenant the Hebrews call PiX12 
 To cut a cove- tV^li to flrike a covenant, in the fame 
 jiznt had its manner as the Greeks and Latins, ferire 9 
 name fK m dif- icere, percuiere fcedus. Which doubtlefs 
 fefted animals. iQQ ^ -^ ri f e f rom ^ anc j cnc ceremony 
 
 of flaying animals, by which covenants were ratified. 
 Of this rite we obferve very ancient traces = ; whe- 
 ther this was then firft commanded by God, or bor- 
 rowed from the cufiom of nations. Emphatical is 
 
 * Tf. Ik. 21. f Jer. xxxiv. 13. 14. J Gen. xiv. 13. 
 
 [j Gen. xxvi. 28. 29. 4- « Sam. xviii. 2. 4- In comment, ling. 
 Giaec. *+ Heb.ix. 15. = Gen. xv. 9. 10. 
 
Chap. i. in General.. SS 
 
 what Polybius * relates of the Cynxthenfes, W t % v 
 fft&yiav Tve ofw K&t t*{ cr/Vs/; Ififoffctv aAAwAo/?, Over the 
 /laughter ed victims they took a fokmn oath, and plight- 
 ed faith to each other. Which phrafe is plainly fxmi- 
 lar to what God ufes f, rQJ *y *Hh3 TTO tho/e that 
 have made a covenant with me by facrifice. They alfo 
 ufed to pafs in the middle between the divided parts of 
 the victim cut afunder J. Whoever wants to know 
 more about this rite, may confult Grotius on Matth. 
 xxvi. 28. Bochart in his Hierozoicon, book ii. chap. 
 xxxiii. p. 325. and Owen's Theologum. book iii. chap. 
 1. It was likewife a cuftom, that agreements and 
 contracts were ratified, by adhibiting folemn feafis* 
 Examples of this are obvious in fcripture. Thus ic is 
 faid, that Ifaac, having made a covenant with Abi- 
 melech, made a great feaft, and eat with them jj. In 
 like manner acted his fon Jacob, after having made a 
 covenant with Laban-)-. There is mention of a like 
 federal feaft, 2 Sank iii. 20, where a relation is given 
 of the feaft which David made for Abner and his at- 
 tendants, who came to make a covenant with him in 
 the name of the people. That it was alfo cuftomary 
 among the Heathens, the moft learned Stuckius, 
 fhews «+-. 
 
 VI. Nor were thefe rites without their fig- Ths Cirrn -_ 
 nificancy. The cutting the animals afunder fication of 
 denoted, that in the fame manner the perju- thefc rite s. 
 red and covenant-breaker fhould be cut afunder, by 
 the vengeance of God. To this purpofe is what God 
 fays •»--••, I will give the men that have tranfgrejfedmy cove- 
 nant^ which have not performed the words of the cove- 
 nant which they had made before me, when they cut the 
 calf in twain, and faffed between the parts thereof — / 
 will give them into the hand of their enemies ; — and their 
 dead bodies /hall be for meat unto the fowls of the be avert % 
 and to the beafts of the #artb. Compare 1 Sam. xi. 7. 
 
 • Lib. iv. p. (mihi) 398. fPfal. 1. 9. J Jer. xxxiv. 18. 
 
 I) Gen. xxvi. 30. + Gen. xxxi. 54. +- In Anti<j. Convival. Li, 
 C. 40. t-> Jer. xxxiv. 18. 19. *o. 
 
s 6 Of the COVENANTS Book!. 
 
 An ancient form of thefe execrations is extant in Li- 
 vy *, « The Roman people do not firft fail in thefe 
 " conditions ; if they mould, through public refolu- 
 " tion or bafe deceit, do thou, O Jupiter, on that 
 *} day, thus ftrike the Roman people, as I do now this 
 " hog ; and ftrike fo much the heavier, as thou art 
 <c ftronger and more powerful." When the covenan- 
 ters paffed through the parts cut a/under, it was inti- 
 mated, that they were united by the clofeft bond of 
 religion and an oath, and now formed one body, as 
 Vatatyus f has remarked. Federal feafls were tokens 
 of a fincere and lading friendfliip. 
 
 VII, But when God, in the folemnities of his co- 
 The fignfican- venants with men, thought proper to 
 cy greater, when ufe thefe or the like rites, the fignifican- 
 ufed in the di- cv was much more auguft. They who 
 vine covenants. made C0V cnant with God by facrifice, 
 not only fubje&ed themfelves to punifhment, if, impi- 
 ouily revolting from God, they flighted his covenant ; 
 but God likewife intimated to them, that all the fta- 
 bility of the covenant of grace was founded on the fa- 
 crifice of Chrift, and that the body and foul of Chrift 
 were one day to be pulled afunder. All the promifes 
 of God in him are yea, and in him Amen J. His blood, 
 is the blood of the New Tejlament |!,- in a far more excel- 
 lent manner, than that with which Mofes fprinkled 
 both the altar and the covenanted people j. Thole 
 facred banquets, with which the covenanted were en* 
 tertained before the face of the Lord, efpecially that 
 which the Lord Jefus hath inftituted under the New 
 Teftament, do moil effectually feal that intimate com* 
 munion and fellowftup that is between Chrift and be- 
 lievers. 
 
 VIII. There are very learned men, who from this 
 A covenant of rite would draw the explication of that 
 fait, what. phrafe, which we have Num. xviii. I?, and 
 2 Chron. xiii. 5. of a covenant of fait, that is, of a co- 
 
 * Lib. 1, f Ad Gen. xv. 10. % z Cor. i, 20. 
 
 |j Ma::h. xxvi, 28. 4 Exod. xxiv. 8. 
 
Chap* i. inOeneral. 57 
 
 venant of friendfhip, and that ftable and perpetual. 
 «« Which feems to be fo denominated, becaufe fait was 
 <c ufually made ufe of in facri frees, to denote that the co • 
 " venant was made fure upon obferving the cuftomary 
 <c rites in making it," fays the celebrated Rivet *. Un- 
 lefs we would rather fuppofe, that a regard is here had 
 to the firm confidence of fait, by which it refills putre- 
 faction and corruption, and in a manner tends to e- 
 ternity. For that reafon, Lot's wife is thought to have 
 been turned into a pillar of fait ; not fo much, as Au- 
 gufline remarks, to be as a feafoning to us, but to ftand 
 as a lafting and perpetual monument of the divine 
 judgment. For all fait is not fubject to melting. 
 Pliny tells us, that the Arabs build fome walls and hou- 
 fes with blocks of fait, and cement them with water. 
 
 IX. Having premifed thefe things in Definition of God's 
 general about the terms, let us now covenant wit 1 man. 
 inquire into the thing itfelf, and the nature of the co- 
 venani of God with man : which I thus define. A co- 
 
 ant of God with man is an agreement be- 
 tween God and man, about the method of ob- 
 taining CONSUMMATE HAPPINESS, WITH THE ADDI- 
 TION OF A THREATENING OF ETERNAL DESTRUC- 
 TION, WITH WHICH THE DESPISER OF THE HAPPI- 
 NESS OFFERED IN THAT WAY IS TO BE PUNISHED. 
 
 X. The covenant on God's part comprifes three 
 things in whole. 1 . A promife of con- In which three things 
 fummate happinefs in eternal life, arc to be con ii- ered. 
 2. A defignallon and prefcription of the condition , on the 
 performance of which, man acquires a right to the 
 promife. 3. A penal fanftion againft thofe who do 
 not ftand by the prefcribed condition. All thefe things 
 regard the whole man, or V>A#*Aj|#r, according to 
 Paul's phrafc, as confiding of foul and body. To 
 each part God promifes happinefs, of each he requires 
 fanclification, and to each he threatens dLflruction. 
 And he makes this covenant, to the end chat G-jd may 
 appear glorious in the whole man. 
 
 * In G?n. exerclt. i x$, 
 
 Vol. I. JH 
 
58 Of the COVENANTS Book I. 
 
 XI. To enter into fuch a covenant with a rational 
 To enter into co- creature, formed after his own image, 
 wtfcnt with man, is entirely becoming God, and worthy 
 uo by of God. f him. For it was impoflible, but God 
 ihould propofe hitnfelf to the intelligent creature as a 
 pattern of holinefs, in conformity to which he ought 
 to form himfelf and all his actions, carefully preser- 
 ving, and always rendering active that original ri'gh- 
 teoufnefs, with which, from his very origin, he was 
 preferred by God. God cannot but bind man to love, 
 worfhip, and feek him, as the chief good. And it 
 cannot be conceived, how God requiring man to love 
 and feck him, Ihould refufe to be found by man lo- 
 ving, feeking, and efteeming him as the chief good, 
 and as fuch longing, hungering, and thirfting for him 
 alone. Who can conceive it to be worthy of God, 
 to fay to man, I am willing that you feek me alone ; 
 but on condition you never finct me ? I am willing to 
 be earncftly longed for by thee above all things, with 
 hungering and thirfting after me ; but on condition 
 you never be fatisfied with me ? Nor does the juftice 
 of God lefs require, that man rejecting the happinefs, 
 offered on the moll equitable terms, ihould be punifh- 
 ed with the privation of it, and befides incur the 
 fevereft indignation of the defpifed Deity. Whence 
 it appears, that, from the very confideration of the 
 divine perfections, it may be fairly deduced, that he 
 has prefcribed a certain law to man, and that as the 
 condition of enjoying happ'inefs ; which confifts in the 
 fruition of God, enforced with the threatening of a 
 curfe againft the rebel. In which we have juft now 
 laid, that the whole of the covenant confifts. But 
 of each of thefe there will be fuller room to difcourfe 
 h ere after. 
 
 XII. Hitherto we have confidered the covenant of 
 JV'an's content God, as that of one party. It becomes 
 r.ccefcry. th e covenant of two parties, when man 
 confents thereto, embracing the good promifed by God, 
 engaging to an ex aft cbfervance rf the condition required, 
 
p 
 
 Chap. r. i n G e n e * a l. 59 
 
 and, upon the violation thereof, voluntarily owning 
 himfelf obnoxious to the threatened curfe. This the 
 fcripture calls, Riff rV"Ql lUVf ^ wfltar into co- 
 venant ivith the Lord * ; to enter into a curfe and an 
 oath\. In this curfe, (Paul \ calls it 'oj*o/>oyU 9 pro- 
 fejjed fubjeclionj, confcience prefents itfelf a witnefs, 
 that God's ftipulation is juft, zvA that this method of 
 coming to the enjoyment of God highly c ecomes God, 
 and that there is no other way of obtaining the pro- 
 mife. Whence the evils, which God threatens to the 
 tranfgreflbrs of the covenant, are called the curfes of 
 the covenant ||, to which the perfon covenanting volun- 
 tarily fubjected himfelf. The effect of this curfe on 
 the man, who ftands not to the covenant, is called the 
 vengeance of the covenant j. We have a' form of astipu- 
 lation or acceptance, Pfal. xxvii. 3. Fcr thee, i. e. in 
 thy place or fiead, my heart faith, Seek ye my face ; thy 
 face, Lord, will I feek. Where the voluntary angu- 
 lation of the believing heart anfsvers to the ftipu* 
 lation made, in the name of God, by confcience his 
 minifter. 
 
 XIII. Man, upon the propefal of this covenant, 
 could not, without guilt, refufe this aft> Man cculd nor 
 pulation. i. In virtue of the law, which rrfafe his con- 
 univerfally binds him, humbly to embrace (««* w;:hou: 
 every thing propofed by God ; to whom 2 ulir * 
 it is of the eflence of the rational creature to be fub» 
 jed: in every refpecl. 2. On account of the high ex- 
 cellency of God, whofe province it is to cuTpoie of 
 his own benefits, and fix the condition of enjoying 
 them, with fupreme authority ; and r,t the fame time 
 to enjoin man, to drive for the pofieflion of the blef- 
 iings offered, on the condition prefcribed. Whence 
 this covenant, as taking place between parties very 
 unequal, afiumes the nature of thole engagements, 
 
 * Dent. xxix. 2. 
 
 •f Neb. x. 29. 
 
 X 2 Co-, ix. 1 3 
 
 || Pcut. x.xix. *+.<J 
 
 H 2 
 
 4 Lev. x.\vi. »5 
 
6o Or the COVENANTS Book I; 
 
 which the Greeks called ^para^al*, or, ffw^Uttiht 
 7av kri%yy.ct%v, injunctions, or covenants from com-* 
 viands ; of which Grotius fpeaks *. Hence it is that 
 Paul tranflates the words of Mofes, Behold the blood 
 of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you \ , 
 
 thus, T'tlolh etiutt TtK (PtcttiriKtit, m f»ITt lx<t\o TTpK VU.tt< &iUr 
 
 This is the blood of the teflament, which God 
 hath enjoined unto you j. It is not left arbitrary to 
 man, to accept or reject, at his pleafure^ God's co- 
 venant. Man is commanded to embrace it, brea- 
 thing after the promifes, in the way pointed out 
 by the covenant. Not to deiire the promifes, is to 
 refufe the goodnef of God ; to reject the precepts, is to 
 deny the fovereignty and holinefs of God. Not to fab- 
 init to the fanclion, is to deny the juflice of God, 
 Therefore the apoille lays of God's covenant, that 
 vv,'o[y.od$7H7Ati it is reduced te the form of a law (I, 
 by which man is obliged to an acceptance. 3. It fol- 
 lows from that love, which man naturally owes to 
 himfelf, and by which he is carried to the chief good ; 
 for enjoying of which there remains no method be- 
 fides the condition prefcribed by God. 4. The very 
 confeience of man dictates, that this covenant is in all 
 its parts highly equitable. For what can be concei- 
 ved even by thought more reafonable, than that man, 
 efteeming God as his chief good, mould feek to be 
 delighted in him, and rejoice at the offer of that 
 good ? that he mould readily receive the law, which 
 is a tranfeript or copy of the divine holinefs, as the 
 rule of his nature and actions? in line, that he fhould 
 fubmit his guilty head to the moft juft vengeance of 
 the Deity, if he fhould happen to make light of this 
 promifc, and violate the law ? From which it fol- 
 lows, that man was not at liberty to reject God's co- 
 venant. 
 
 * De jure belli} et pacis cap. xv. § 6. f Exod. xxiy. 8« 
 
 \ Heb. ix. 20. || Heb, viii. 6. 
 
Chap. I. I N G E N E R A L. 6l 
 
 -XIV. God by this covenant acquires no God acquires 
 new right over man : which, if we rightly ™ n ™ "^ 
 confider the matter, neither is nor can be ven ant, but 
 founded on any benefit of God, or mifdea- man rtand- 
 meanor of man, as Arminius argues : nor in g t0 th * 
 in any thing without God j the principal ^~ 
 or alone foundation of it being the Sovereign f ome righti 
 majefty of the moft high God. Becaufe 
 God is the bleffed 9 and moil fufficient for all felicity, 
 therefore he is alfo the only Potentate, as Paul joins 
 thefe two together *. Nor can God's power and 
 right over the creatures, be derived from or increafed 
 by any thing extrinfic to God. This ought to be 
 deemed unworthy of God's fovereignty and indepen- 
 dence : of which we mail foon treat more fully. On- 
 ly God, in this covenant, fhews what right he has o- 
 ver man. But man, accepting the covenant, and 
 performing the condition, by thefe performances ac- 
 quires fome right to demand of God the promifc. 
 For God has, by his promiies, generoufly made him- 
 felf a debtor to man. Or, to fpeak in a manner more 
 becoming God, he has been pleafed to make his per- 
 forming his promifes, a debt due to himfelf, to his 
 goodncfs, juflice, and veracity. And to man in cove- 
 nant, and continuing ftedfaft therein, he has granted 
 the right of expecting and requiring, that God 
 mould fatisfy his goodnefs, juflice, and truth, by the 
 performance of his promifes. And thus man con- 
 senting to the covenant, makes God fay, that he will be 
 a God to him f. That is, Liberty is given to him to 
 glory in God, as his God, and to expect from God, 
 that he will become to man in covenant with him, 
 , what he is to himfelf, a fpring of confummate happi- 
 nefs. 
 
 XV. We find two covenants of God There is a two- 
 with man in fcripture : the covenant cf Fo ! d co * enant » 
 ■ ff, otherwiic called thecoioumtofna- * ™£ 
 , or the legal ; and the cc:-^:a::t of- 
 
 * J Tim, vi. j 5 . | Deut. xxvi. 17. 
 
62 Of the COVENANTS BookL 
 
 grace. So the apoftle teaches us to diftinguifh, Rom. 
 iii. 27. where he mentions the law of works, and the 
 law of faith : by the law of works underftanding that 
 doctrine, which points out the way, in which, by 
 means of works, falvation is obtained ; and by the 
 law of faith, that doctrine which (hews the way, in 
 which, by means of faith, falvation is obtained. The 
 form of the covenant of works is, The man which 
 doth thofe things, fhall live by them *. That of the 
 covenant of grace is, Whofoever believeth in him, fjjall 
 not be afhamed f. Thefe covenants agree in this; 1, 
 That, in both, the contracting far ties are the fame, God 
 and man. 2. In both, the fame promife of eternal life, 
 confifting in the immediate fruition of God. 3. The 
 condition of both is the fame, perfect obedience to the law 
 prefcribed. For it is not worthy of God to admit man 
 to a bleffed communion with him, but in the way of 
 untainted holinefs. 4. In both is the fame end, the 
 glory of the moft undefiled hol'jnefs of God. But 
 they differ in the following refpects. U The charac* 
 ter or relation of God and man in the covenant of works > 
 is different from that in the covenant of grace. In the 
 former God acts as the fupreme lawgiver, and the chief 
 good, rejoicing to communicate his happinefs to his 
 innocent creature* In the latter, as infinitely merciful, 
 adjudging life to the elect (inner agreeably to his wif- 
 dom and juftice. 2. In the covenant of works there 
 was no mediator. The covenant of grace has a me- 
 diator, Chrifl. 3. In the covenant of works, the con- 
 dition of perfect obedience was required, to be perform- 
 ed by man himfelf in covenant. In the covenant of grace, 
 the fame condition is propofed, as to be performed or 
 already performed by a Mediator. And in this fubftitu- 
 tion of the perfon confiits the principal and efTential 
 difference of the covenants. 4. In the covenant of 
 works, man is confidered as working, and the reward 
 as to be given of debt ; and confequently man's glc- 
 
 # Rom. :•:. -. X Ibid. ver. I-I, 
 
Chap. r. i n G s N £ r a i. 63 
 
 tying is not excluded, by which as a faithful fervant 
 he may glory upon the right difcharge of his duty* 
 and demand the reward promifed to his work. In 
 the covenant of grace, the man in covenant, ungodly 
 in himfelf, is considered as believing ; eternal life being 
 given to man, as the merit of the Mediator, out of 
 free grace, which excludes all boafting, except that 
 by which the believing finner glories in God, as a 
 merciful Saviour. 5„ In the covenant of works, 
 fomething is required, of man, as a condition, which 
 being performed entitles him to the reward. The 
 covenant of grace, with refpecl to us, confifts of the 
 
 !>ure promifes of God, in which the Mediator, the 
 ife to be obtained by him, the faith by which we 
 may be made partakers of him, and of the benefits 
 pur chafed by him, and perfeverance in that faith, in 
 a word, the whole of falvation, with all things necef- 
 fary to it, are abfolutely promifed. 6. The fpecial 
 end of the covenant of works, was the manifestation 
 of the hdinefs, goodntf, and ju/tice of God, mining 
 forth in the moll perfect law, in the moft liberal pro- 
 ?nife, and in the recompenfe of reward to be given to thole 
 who heartily feek him. The fpecial end of the cove- 
 nant of grace, is the praife of the glory of bis grace *, 
 and the revelation of his unfearchable and manifold wif- 
 dom : which perfections of God fhinc forth with a fplen- 
 did luftre in the gift of a Mediator, by whom complete 
 falvation is brought to thefinncr, without tarnifhing the 
 honour of the holincfs, juflice, and truth of God. To 
 this may be added a demonstration of the divine all- 
 fujficiency, by which not only man, but, what is more 
 furprifing, even a finner, may be, and is actually 
 brought to God. All thefe things will be more fully 
 and clearly explained in what follows. 
 
 ♦ Eph. i. 6. 
 
64 Of the Contracting Book I- 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the contrasting parties in the covenant of works. 
 
 J^oTT' ^\KT^ begin with the conrideration ot 
 
 Led.° r S 6 " VV the covenant of works ; which is 
 otherwife called of the law, and of 'nature -, 
 becaufe it is prefcribed by the law, requires works as 
 the condition, and is founded upon and coeval with 
 nature. This covenant is, An agreement between' 
 God and Adam, formed after the image of God, 
 as the head and chief of all mankind, by which 
 god promised eternal life and happiness to him, 
 if he yielded the most perfect obedience to 
 all his commands ; subjoining a threatening of 
 death, if he transgressed in the least point: 
 and Adam acceptedthis condition. To this purpofe 
 are thefe two fentences, afterwards inculcated on the 
 repetition of the law, Lev. xviii. 5. and Deut. xxvii. 2 6. 
 In it four H« 'That thefe things may be the better un- 
 things are derftood, thefe four things are to be explained, 
 to be con- I# <jf^ e cont ratling -parties, 2. The condition 
 ii red. prefcribed in the covenant, 3. The promifes, 4. 
 The threatening. 
 
 The eon - HI. The cont ratling parties here are God and 
 trading^ Adam. God, as Sovereign and fupreme Lord, 
 God^and prefcribing with abfolute power what he 
 Adam. judges equitable ; as good hi tnf elf, or the chief 
 good, promifing communion with himfelf, in which 
 man's principal happinefs lies, to him being obedient, 
 and doing what is well plea fing to him : as felf -righteous, 
 or J "over eignly j 'ufl, threatening death to the rebel. A~ 
 dam fuftained a twofold relation. 1. As man, 2. As 
 the head and reprefentative of mankind. In the former 
 relation he was a rational creature, under the law to 
 God, upright, created after the image of God, and fur- 
 nifhed with fufiicicnt powers to fulfil all right eoufnefs. 
 All thefe things are prefuppofed in man, to render him 
 a fit. object for God to enter into covenant with. 
 
 * 
 
Ghap. 2. PARTIES. 6c 
 
 IV. Man therefore juft dopt from the hands of his 
 - Creator, had a foul illuminated with rays Who was crea- 
 of divine light, and adorned with the ted upright. 
 brighteft wifdom ; whereby he was not only perfectly 
 mafter of the nature of created things, but delighted 
 himfelf in the contemplation of the iupreme and un- 
 created truth, having the eyes of his underftanding* 
 continually directed to the perfections of his God - f 
 from the confideration of which he gathered, by the 
 mod difcreet reafoning, what was juft and equitable, 
 what worthy of God and of himfelf. To this was 
 .added the pureft bolinefs of will, acquiefcing in God 
 as the fupreme truth, revering him as the moft dread 
 majefty, loving him as the chief and* only good, and, 
 for the fake of him, holding dear whatever his mind 
 divinely taught dictated to him to be acceptable, like 
 to, and exprcilive of his perfections, in fine, whatever 
 contributed to the acquiring an intimate and imme- 
 diate union with him ; delighting in the fellowfhip ot- 
 itis God, which was now allowed him j panting after 
 further communion, railing himfelf thereto by the 
 creatures, as fo many fleps ; and finally, celebrating 
 the moft unfpotted holinefs of God as the moft per- 
 fect tranfeript of him, according to which he was to 
 ftrive with his utmoft might to frame himfelf and his 
 actions as exactly as pofiible. This is, as Elihu em- 
 phatically expreffed it, to delight h'vnf elf with God, or 
 to will with God *. This was attended with a moft 
 regular temperature of the whole bod)', all whofe 
 members* as inftruments of rightcoufnefs, prefented 
 themfelves ready and alert at the intimation of his 
 holy will. For it did not become the Deity to form 
 a rational creature for any other purpofe than his own 
 glory. This no rational creature, but what is wife 
 and holy, could either perceive or celebrate, as mi- 
 ning in the other works of God. if it was deiti. 
 
 * Job xxx iv. 9. 
 
 Vol. ti ] I 
 
66 Of the Contracti^q Buok I. 
 
 tute of this light, and deprived of this endowment, 
 what could it have proved but the reproach of its 
 creator, and moil unfit to anfwer the end of his crea- 
 tion ? All thefe particulars the wifeftof kings has ex- 
 preffed with the moft ftriking fimplicity, Lo, this on- 
 ly have I founds that God has made man upright *. 
 
 V. What t have juft faid of the wifdom of the 
 Neither was he firft man > 0U S ht > I .think, to be extend- 
 ignorant of the ed fo far, as that, in the ftate of inno- 
 Trinity in this cence, the myftery of theTrinity was not 
 ftate * unknown to him. For it is, above all 
 
 things, neceffary for the perfection of the human un- 
 derflanding, to be well acquainted with what it ought 
 to know and believe concerning its God. And it 
 may be juftly doubted, wehther he does not worlhip 
 a God entirely unknown, nay whether he at all wor- 
 ships the true God, who does not know and worfhip 
 him, as fubfifting in three perfons. He who repre- 
 fents God to himfelf in any other light, represents 
 not God to himfelf, but a phantom and idol of his 
 own brain. Epiphanius f feems to have had this ar- 
 gument in view, when he thus wrote of Adam : " He 
 " was no idolater ; for he knew God the Father, 
 " and the Son, and Holy Spirit. And he was a pro- 
 * phet, and knew that the Father faid to the Son, 
 " Let us make man." 
 
 Knowing that VI. Thefe words furnifh a new argu- 
 the Creator ment. For fince God, in the work of 
 had aiewo cr eation, manifefted himfelf three, the 
 three in the F a ^ jer made the world by the Son \ ; the 
 work of crea- Holy S^/r/V cherifhed the waters by brooding 
 tion. upon them ; and fo the whole Trinity, by 
 
 mutual confutation, addreffed themfelves to the crea- 
 tion of man ; it is not credible that the Trinity Was en- 
 tirely unknown to the firft man ; unlefs we can fup- 
 pofe him ignorant of his Creator, who verily was 
 both the Son and the Holy Spirit. It cannot cer- 
 
 * Ecd. vji. 29. • In Panario, p. 9. \ Heb. i. 2 
 
Chap. 2. PARTIES. 6y 
 
 tainly be without defign, that the fcripture, when 
 fpeaking of man's Creator, fo often ufes the 
 plural number, as If. liv. 5. yq;y styi, which 
 literally fignifies, thy hujbands thy maters. Pfal. 
 cxlix. 2. TWJD VotfT nOC'i, Let lfrael rejoice in his 
 Makers. Nay, he requires nun to attend to this, and 
 engrave it on his mind, Eccl. xii. 1. TjI J1X 
 TN"^ Remember thy Creators. It is criminal when 
 man neglects it, and fays not, Wj/ H17K rPN, 
 Where is God my Makers f Job xxxv. 10. Which 
 phrafes, unlefs they be referred to a Trinity of per- 
 sons, might appear to be dangerous. But it is ab- 
 furd to fuppofe Adam ignorant concerning his Crea- 
 tor, of that which God does not fuffer his pofterity 
 to be ignorant of at this time ; and this the rather, 
 that God created man for this end, to be the her aid 
 of his being and perfections in the new world. But 
 it undoubtedly tends to the glory of God, that he 
 fh^uld particularly celebrate, not only the perfections; 
 of God, but alfo how they difplay themfelves in the 
 diftinct perfons of the Deity, and in the manner and 
 order of their operation. Excellently to this purpofc 
 fpeaks Bafd of Seleucia * : " You take particular 
 " notice of this expreflion, Let us make man. Again, 
 " this word ufed plurally hints at the perfons of the 
 " Godhead, and prefents a Trinity to our knowledge. 
 " The knowledge of it therefore is coeval 
 " with the creation. Nor mould it feem ftrangc, 
 " that afterwards it mould be taught ; fince it is one 
 " OF those things, of which mention was made 
 
 " IN THE VERY FIRST CREATION." 
 
 VII. I confefs, Adam could not, from the fole con- 
 templation Of nature, difcover this H e learned much 
 my fiery without revelation. But this by rwelitian, 
 I am fully perfuaded of, that God re- which nature of 
 vealed iomc things to man, which na- J}p! fe,f a ° cs li0t 
 ture did not dictate of herfelf. For dldtate * 
 whence did he know the command about the tree of 
 
 • Serm. ii. 
 I 2 
 
68 Of the Contracting Bookl. 
 
 knowledge, and whence the meaning of the tree of 
 life, but by God's declaring it to him ? whence the 
 knowledge of fuch a creation of his wife, as to pro- 
 nounce her flefh of his flefh, and bone of his bone, 
 but from divine revelation ? Seeing then God hath 
 revealed to man many things, and thofe indeed not 
 of fuch importance, why fhould we believe that he 
 concealed from him that very thing, the knowledge 
 of which was eminently conducive to the perfection, 
 of man, and the honour of God ? Therefore a learned 
 man did not think rightly, who infills, that the know- 
 ledge of the Trinity exceeded the happinefs of Adam's 
 ft ate, which was merely natural. For it was not fo 
 merely natural, as if Adam knew nothing but what 
 the confideration of nature only could fuggeft. The 
 contrary we have juft fhewn. And it muft be deem- 
 ed to have been natural to that ftate, that man being 
 upright, and enjoying familiar converfe with his 
 God, fhould learn from his own mouth what might 
 render him fitter to celebrate his praifes. The very 
 learned Zanchius * obferves, that moft of the fathers 
 were of that opinion, that Adam, being fuch and fo 
 great a friend of God before his fall, feveral times, 
 faw Gcd in a bodily appearance, and heard him fpeak. 
 He adds, But this was " always the Son of God." 
 And a little after, " Chrift therefore is that Jehovah, 
 H who took Adam and placed him in paradife, and 
 " fpoke to him." Thus the ancients believed, that the 
 Son of God did then alfo reveal himfelf to Adam, 
 and converfcd wih him. 
 
 VIII. And this faying appears a little too bold : 
 
 rp. _„„ „ " That the ceconomy fubfifting between 
 
 The ceconomy . . J. - . o 
 
 of the Trinity the three perions, lsio principally em- 
 is not peculiar " ployed in procuring the falvation of 
 to the flate of « t j ie human race, that the knowledge 
 grace. « thereof could not belong to the ftate of 
 
 ^ innocence, in w r hich there was no place for falva- 
 fi tion or redemption." For Mofes declares the ceco- 
 
 , * Pecreat. horn. 1. i.e. i. § 12. 
 
Chap. 2. PARTIES. 69 
 
 nomy of the divine perfons at the very creation. 
 And the gofpel, while it explains that admirable ceco- 
 nomy, as taken up in procuring the falvation of man- 
 kind, at the fame time raifes our thoughts to that 
 ceconomy, which was manifefted in the firft creation 
 of the world. If now it is profitable and pleafant 
 for us to think, that the Son of God our Saviour is 
 the beginning of the creation of God*, by whom were crea- 
 ted thrones and dominions, things vifible andinvifible, that 
 he might have the pre-eminence in all things f, chief as 
 well in the works of nature as grace ; and that the 
 Holy Spirit, now fitting up a new world of grace in 
 our hearts, did at firft brood on the waters, and made 
 them pregnant with fo many noble creatures ; and 
 thus to alcend to the confideration of the fame ceco- 
 nomy in the works of creation and nature, which is 
 now revealed to us in the work of falvation and grace : 
 who then can rcfufe that upright Adam had the fame 
 knowledge of God in three perfons, though he might 
 be ignorant what each perfon, in his order, was to 
 perform in faving finners ? Add to this, that though, 
 in that ftate of Adam, there was no room for redemp- 
 tion, yet there was for falvation, and eternal life : the 
 fymbol of which was the tree of life, which even then 
 bore the image of the Son of God. See Rev. ii. 7. 
 Tor in him was life, John i. ^. ; which fymbol had 
 been in vain, if the meaning thereof had been un- 
 known to Adam* 
 
 IX. In this rectitude of man principally confifts that 
 
 'imatre of God, which the Icripture fo often n ,, • , 
 
 1 1 1 • i tV 1 /• 1 * De image ot 
 
 rccom mends ; and which Paul exprelbly God tonfitfs 
 
 plic.b- in knowledge I, in rigbteoujheji and chiefly in this 
 
 true holinefs ||. In which places he fo de- reafcudeof the 
 
 fcribes the image of God, which is renew- mm ' 
 
 cd in us by the Spirit of grace, as at the fame time to 
 
 bint, that it is the fame with that after which man 
 
 originally created. And there cannot be different 
 
 * Rc«r. iii. 14. -(■ Col. i. 16. iS. % Col. iii. ic. |j I: ph. iv. 24. 
 
70 Of the Contracting Book I. 
 
 images of God. For as God cannot but be wife and 
 holy, and, as fuch, be a pattern to the rational crea- 
 ture ; it follows, that a creature wife and holy is the 
 exprefHon of God in thefe his qualities. And it is 
 quite impolBble, but God muft own his own likenefs 
 A- to confilt in this rectitude of the whole man ; or ac- 
 knowledge a foolifh and perverfe creature to be like 
 tim : which would be an open denial of his perfections. 
 It has been prettily obferved by a very learned man, 
 that offiflu; Trt; tfAuSe/a*, true holinefs, is not only op- 
 pofed to t« uToy.pt <r*h hypocrify or diffmulation, or t@ 
 *n Tuvriw x*0*poTH//, typical purity, but that it de- 
 notes a hcly Jludy of truth, proceeding from the love 
 of God. For o<rw, to which anfwers the Hebrew 
 TOR, fignifies in fcripture one Jludious in and after 
 good. This prim* 7n? aAuflsiaf, true holinefs, de- 
 notes fuch a defire of pleating God, as is agreeable to 
 the truti known of and in him, and loved for him- 
 felf. 
 
 X. But I fee no reafon why the fame learned per- 
 Whichrigh- *° n A 1011 ^ nave f***»**>Vfr righteottfnefr, 
 teoufoefs is* mentioned by Paul *, to be a puvilege pe- 
 not mention- culiar to the covenant of grace, which 
 ed by Paul, we obtain in Chrift, and which Adam 
 Eph.iv. had not; meaning by rightecufnefs a title 
 to eternal life ; which, 'tis owned, Adam was with- 
 out, as the courfe of his probation was not yet finifh- 
 ed. In oppofiticn to this affertion, I offer the fol- 
 lowing things to confideration. i. There is no ne- 
 ceflity for underflanding by righteoufnefs a right to e- 
 ternal life. For that term often denotes a virtue, and 
 a fixed reiolution of giving everyone his due; as 
 Eph. v. 9. where the apoftle, treating of fanclifi- 
 cation, writes, The fruit of the Spirit is in all good* 
 nffs t and righteoufnefs, and truth. The learned per- 
 fon himfeli obferved this, who elfewhere f fpeaks 
 thus : " Rigliteoufnefs is, firft, the rectitude of ac- 
 *< tions, whether of the foul or of the members j and 
 * Eph, iv. 24. | In Gen. v. $ 9. 
 
Chap. 2. PARTIES. jt 
 
 " their agreement with found rcafon ; namely, that 
 <c they may eafily avoid condemnation or blame, and 
 " obtain praife. Go Tit. iii. 5. Works of righteoufnefs m 
 " And hence the denomination of juft or righteous, 
 " denotes a blamelefs or praife- worthy perfon." Since 
 then that word fignifies elfewhere fuch a rectitude, 
 why not here too ? efpecially fince it is indifputable that 
 fuch righteoufnefs belonged to the image of God in 
 Adam. 2. It ought not to be urged, that righteouf* 
 nefs here is joined with holinefs, and therefore fo to be 
 dilHnguiftied from it, as that the latter fhould denote 
 an inherent good quality, and the former a right to 
 life. For it may be anfwered, iy?, That it is no un- 
 ufual thing with the Holy Spirit, to exprefs the fame 
 thing by different words. " It is to be obferved," 
 fays Uriinus *, " that righteoufnefs and holinefs in us 
 " were the fame thing before the fall, namely, an in- 
 " herent conformity to God and the law." Nor does 
 the celebrated Cocceius himfelf refufe this f : But 
 " p"!S righteoufnefs, if you confider the law of 
 " works, fignifies, in the largeft fenfe, every thing 
 " that is honeft, every thing that is true, every thing 
 " that is holy." idly, If we fhould fuppofe that 
 rigljteoufnefs ought to be diftinguifhed from holinefs, it 
 does not follow that it ought to be diftinguifhed in 
 this manner. For there are to be found teftimonies of 
 this kind, in which no fuch diftincHon can take 
 place ; as Luke i. 74. 73. — Serve him in holinefs and 
 righteoufnefs before him: and 1 Theff. ii. 10. Te are 
 witneffes and God a/fo, how holily, and juftly, and un- 
 blameably we behaved ourfehes among you that believe. 
 Add 1 Kings iii. 6. — He walked before thee in truth, 
 and in righteoufnefs , and in uprightnefs of heart. 
 Where righteoufnefs, though added to holinefs, can 
 fignify nothing but a virtue of the foul, and the ex- 
 eicife of it. 3. If we would abfolutely diftinguifh 
 thefe two things, it may be done many ways. (1.) So 
 as to refer holinefs to God, righteoufnefs to men. Thus 
 
 • In queft. 18. catech. f In Pial. xv. § 1 !. 
 
jt Of the Contracting - BookL 
 
 Philo, concerning Abraham, fays, " Holinefs is con* 
 " fidered as towards God ; righteoufnefs as towards 
 " men." And the Emperor Marc Antonine * fays of 
 Socrates, " He was in human things righteous, in divine, 
 " holy." (2.) Or fo as to fay, that univerfal virtue 
 is denoted by both words; (for even righteoufnefs is faid 
 of the worfhip of God, Luke i. 75. and holinefs is re- 
 ferred to men : Maximus Tyrius f fays of the fame 
 Socrates, " Pious towards God, holy towards men"), 
 but in a different refpect •, fo as holinefs may denote 
 virtue, as it is the love and expreflion of the divine 
 purity, as Plato explains holinefs by the love of God : 
 Righteoufnefs indeed may fignify the fame virtue, as it 
 is a conformity to the prefcribed rule, and an obedi- 
 ence to the commands of God. Whether it be £ik&iov, 
 right (or righteous) to hearken unto God J. (3.) Urfin 
 fpeaks a little differently ||. " Righteoufnefs and holi- 
 " nefs may, in the text of Paul and the catechifm, 
 <c be taken for the fame, or be diflinguifhed ; as righ- 
 <c teoufnefs may be undcrftood of .internal and exter- 
 " nal actions agreeing with the right judgment of 
 " the mind, and with the law of God, and holinefs of 
 <c the qualities." So that there is nothing to con- 
 ftrain us to explain righteoufnefs here of a right to life : 
 nay, there are many things to perfuade us to the con- 
 trary. For, 1. The image of God, even that which 
 is renewed in us by regeneration, confifts in abfolute 
 qualities inherent in the foul, which are as fo many 
 refemblances of the perfections of God : but a right 
 to life is a mere relation. 2 . The image of God con- 
 firms in fomething which is produced in man himfelf, 
 cither by the firft or the new creation. The right to 
 life refts wholly on the righteoufnefs and merits of 
 Chrift, which are entirely without us ; Not having my 
 cwn righteoufnefs |. 3. The apoftle, in the place be- 
 fore us, is not treating of juftif cation, where this 
 right mould have been mentioned; but of fanclifca- 
 
 * Lib. vii. § 66. f Divert, xxvi. % ACxs'iw 19. || Accused.' 
 4, catech. -f Phil. iii. 9. 
 
Ghap. 2. PARTIES. 7J 
 
 tion, and the rule thereof, where it was needlefs to 
 fpeakof that right. 4. They who urge this new ex- 
 plication of righteoufnefs, both feem without any jufl 
 caufe to contradict the catechifm, queft. <5. and lefs 
 ftoutly to oppofe the Socinians, who maintain that the 
 image of God, after which wt are regenerated in 
 Chrift, is not the fame with that after which Adam was 
 created. And yet thefe learned men equally with us de- 
 teft this error. Thefe confiderations make us judge 
 it fafer to explain righteoufnefs, fo as to make it a 
 part of the image of God, after which Adam was 
 formed. 
 
 XI. But if we take in the whole extent -, J f 
 
 r 1 r r^ * mi r 1 he image ot 
 
 of the image of God, we will lay it 13 God in its 
 made up of thefe three parts. 1. Antece- utmoft extent 
 dently, that it confiits in the fpiritual and contains o- 
 immortal nature of the foul, and in the therthin S s - 
 faculties of underftanding and will. 2. Formally and 
 principally, in the endowments of the foul, righ- 
 teoufnefs and holinefs. 3. Ccnfequentially> in the i r> 
 mortalicy of the whole man, and his dominion over; 
 the creatures. The firft of thefe was, as one elegant- 
 ly exprefles it, as a precious table, on which the i- 
 mage of God might be cjrawn and formed : the fe- 
 cond, that very image itfelf, and refemblance of the 
 divinity : the third, the luftre of that image widely 
 fpreading its glory, and as rays, which not only ad- 
 orned the foul, but the whole man, and his body* 
 and rendered him the lord and head of the world, and 
 at the fame time immortal, as being the friend and 
 companion of the eternal God. 
 
 XII. The chief l ^ rokes o f this image Plato faw, a* 
 certainly heard of ? who defines happi- Some of whijt 
 nefs to be outlet h to 0u>, the refem- known td-Pbito. 
 blancc of God t and this refemblance he places in piety, 
 juftice, and prudence : and what is this but the two- 
 fold primary virtue, gocll-nefs and rightcoulheis, tem- 
 pered and governed by prudence? His words an 
 cellcnt, and deierve to be here tranfenbed. Tj 
 
 Vol. I. f K 
 
-f 
 
 74 Of the Contracting . Book I. 
 
 GVfiV, Kst i 7Q V £t tw 7tT0V t TO KAkIv KlfcnroKU S J AV&yKY!S , cT/0 Kctl 7TU. 
 
 ?x<r-d-cLt yjn stQivfs i'Aiiai tkvyuv on Ter^/ra* <pvyii S\ quote*?/; 
 
 c; yivwScLt- This mortal nature, and this inferior place 
 < : of abode, are neceflarily fubjectto and encompafTed 
 " with evil. We are therefore to endeavour with 
 " the utrnoft expedition to efcape from it : this 
 " flight is an aflimilation to God as far as may be ; 
 <; and this afliniilation is juftice and piety, accom- 
 " panied with prudence *." 
 
 XIII. God gave to man the charge of this his image, 
 Man had fufficient as the moft excellent depoflte of hea- 
 power to preferve ven, and, if kept pure and inviolate, 
 this image. the earnefi: of a greater good ; whom 
 for that end he furnifhed with fufficient powers from 
 his very formation, fo as to Hand in no need of fur- 
 ther habitual grace. It was only requifite, that God, 
 by the continual influence of his providence, mould 
 preferve thofe powers, and excite them to all and 
 each of their acts. For in no flate can a creature be, 
 or conceived to be working any thing independently 
 of the Creator. This alio takes place in the angels 
 themfelvcs, though they be now confirmed in holinefs 
 and happinefs. 
 
 XIV. And thus, indeed, Adam was in covenant 
 He was conftdered too with God, as a man, created after 
 as the federal as well the image of God, and furnifhed 
 as natural head of w j t jj f u fftcient abilities to preferve 
 manbn * that image. There is another rela- 
 tion, in which he was conlidered as the head and re- 
 ivefentathe of mankind, both federal and natural. So 
 that God faid to Adam, as once to the Ifraelites, Nei- 
 ther with you only do I make this cb%enant and this oath, 
 hut alfo with thofe that are not here with us this day f . 
 The whole hiftory of the firft man evinces, that he 
 was not looked upon as an individual perfon, but 
 that the w^iole human nature was coniidered in him. 
 For it . wa# not faid to our firft parents only, r^reafi 
 
 - * Vid. Lipdi m an ud actionem ad Stoicam philofcphiam, 1. ii. dif- 
 tat. 12* t knitt xxix, 14. 15. 
 
Chap. 2. PARTIES. 75 
 
 and multiply ; by virtue of which word, the propaga- 
 tion of the human race is ftili continued : nor is it 
 true of Adam only. It is not god that man Jbould he a- 
 lone: nor does that conjugal law concern him alone, 
 Therefore jh'all a man leave his father and his ??:cther y 
 and thefe tivo Jball be one flefl) ; which Chrift ftHl nr* 
 ges *: nor did the penalty, which God tnre ii 
 Adam in cafe of fin, afFect him alone, Dying thou jbali 
 die ; but death faffed upon all men, as the apoftie ob- 
 ferves f. All which loudly proclaim, that Adam was 
 here confidered as the head of mankind. 
 
 XV. To the fame purpofe is that beautiful opposi- 
 tion of the firft and fecond Adam, This appears from the 
 which Paul purfues at large, Rom. oppofition of che firt 
 v. 15. & feq. For as the fecond A- < ind r ~ conJ AJtim - 
 dam does in the covenant of grace fuflain the pcrfon 
 of all the elect, fo far as they are accounted to have 
 themfelves done and fuffered, what he did and iuffered 
 in their name and ftead ; fo likewife tiie firit Ac inn fuf- 
 tainedthe pcrfon of all that were to fpringfrom hisftock. 
 
 XVI. That God was righteous in this conftitutioa* 
 is not to be difputed. For it does not which matt be br- 
 becomeus to queltion the right of God, lievcd to be a 1 
 
 or to inquire too curioully into it, teou3 coiiiika:icr.. 
 much lefs to meafure it by the ftandard of any j i 
 eftablifhed amongil us defpicable mortals, when the 
 is evident. We are previoufiy to judge of God, The 
 righteous in what thou fpeakcfi, and pure in tlr, 
 Truly he is unacquainted with the majefty of the 
 prcme Being, and with his unfpotted holincfs, which 
 in every thing is mod confident with itfclf, who, pi c- 
 fumes to fcan his actions, and call his equity to 
 count. A freedom which no earthly father would 
 bear in a fon, no king in a fubject, nor mailer in a 
 fervant. -And do we, mean worms of thecaith, take 
 upon us to ufc fuch freedom with the Judge of thi 
 whole univcrfe ! As often as our nmrmurin 
 dares to bawl out, The ivays of the Lord an 
 
 * Matth. xix. 5. + Rom. v. \z. \ Pfal, li. 5 
 
 K 2 
 
j6 Of the Contracting Book I. 
 
 fo often let us oppofe to it^Are not thy ways unequal*? 
 
 XVII. Neverthlefs it is^ utuaTwIth us, that we more 
 The righteoufnefs calmly^acquiefce in the determinations 
 of this demontfra- of God, when we underftand the 
 tec to conicicnce 4 reafons of them. Let us therefore 
 fee, whether here alfo we cannot demonftrate the e- 
 quity of the divine right. What if we mould con* 
 fider the matter thu3 ? If Adam had, in his own and 
 our name, flood to the conditions of the covenant ; 
 if, having finifhed the courfe of his probation, he 
 had been confirmed in happinefs, and we his pofterky 
 in him ; if, fully fatisfied with the delights of animal 
 life, we tad, together with him, been tranflated to 
 the joys of heaven ; nobody would have complained,, 
 that he was included in the head of mankind ; every 
 one would have commended both the wifdom and 
 goodnefs of God : not the Icaffc fufpicion of injuftice 
 w r ould have arifen in any one, on account of God's 
 putting the firft man into a ftate of probation in the 
 room of all, and not every individual for himfelf. How 
 ft ail that which in this event would have been deem- 
 ed jufl, be unjuft on a contrary event ? For the ju- 
 stice or injuftice of actions is not to be judged of by 
 the event. 
 
 XV1IL Befides, who is there of mankind that can 
 bring himfelf to believe, that he, placed in the fame 
 circumftances with Adam, would have better con- 
 futed his own intereft? Adam was not without wif- 
 dom, holinefs, a defire after true happinefs, an aver- 
 sion to the miferies denounced by God againft the 
 tranfgreffor, nor, in fine, without any of thofe things, 
 by which one might confidently expect to be on his 
 guard againft fin ; and yet he fufTered himfelf to be 
 inveigled in the in are by the craft of a flattering fe- 
 ducer. And doll: thou, moft iniquitous cenfurer of 
 *the ways of the Lord, boaft thou wouldft have bet- 
 ter ufed tjry^ free-will ? Nay* on the contrary, all thy 
 acfiens cry aToiuT~ that thou approved, that*thou ai-t 
 * Efc«k. xviii. 2«. 
 
Chap. i. PARTIES. 77 
 
 highly pleafed with, and always takeft example from 
 that deed of thy firft parent, about which thou un- 
 juftly complaineft. For when thou tranfgrefleit the 
 commands of God, when thou fetteft lefs by the will 
 of the Supreme Being than by thy lufts, when thou 
 preferred earthly to heavenly things, prefent to future ; 
 when, by thine own choice, thou feekeft after happi- 
 nefs, but not that which is true ; and, inftead of ta- 
 king the right way, goeft into by-paths ; is not that 
 the very fame, as if thou didft fo often eat of the for- 
 bidden fruit ? Why then doft thou blame God for ta- 
 king a compendious way, including all in one -, well 
 knowing, that the cafe of each in particular, when 
 put to the teft, would have been the fame? 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Of the law, or condition, of the covenant of works. 
 
 Hitherto we have treated of the contract- what : bg 
 ing parties. Let us now take a view confidered 
 of the condition prefcribed in the covenant, in the ccn- 
 Where, firft, we are to confider the law of the d,lion of thc 
 covenant^ then the obfervance of that law. 
 The law of the covenant is twofold. 1. The law of n a* 
 hire, implanted in Adam at his creation. 2. The 
 fymbolical law, concerning the tree of knowledge of 
 good and evil. 
 
 II. The taw cf nature, is the rule cf good The law of 
 and evil, inferibed by God on man's confeitnee, nature. 
 even at his creation^ and therefore binding upon him by di- 
 vine authority. That there was fuch a law connate 
 with, and as it were implanted in man, appears from 
 the relics, which, like the ruins of iome noble build- 
 ing, £1 ill remain in all men ; namely, from thofe com- 
 mon notions, by which the he- I hens themfelves dif- 
 tinguiih right from wrong, and by which they arc <? 
 IcivJ to tbemf elves ^ which Jbew the work of the laip 
 w.itU'u in 1 • ' ir '.'carts, their con fcicncc bearing wit* 
 
Of the Condition of the Book I. 
 
 nefs ** From which we gather, that all thefe things 
 were complete in man, when newly formed after 
 the image of God. 
 
 Confcience die- HI. Whatever the confeience of man 
 taring this is dictates to be virtuous or otherwife, it 
 Ood's vkege- fo^ fo [ n the name of God, whofe vice- 
 gerent it is in man, and the depofitary 
 of his commands. This, if I miftake not, is David's 
 meaning f, To thee 9 that is, for thee, in thy ftead, 
 my heart fays 9 or my confcience. This confcience 
 therefore was called a God by the Heathens : as in this 
 Iambic. Bprois air&jiv » ffvwfnw 0£o?- In all men con- 
 ference is a God, Plato, in Philebus, calls reafon a 
 God dwelling in us. And hence it is, that we are not 
 to think that the fupreme rule in the law of nature is 
 its agreement or difagreement with the rational nature; 
 but that it is the divine wifdom manifefted to, or the no- 
 tion of good and evil engraved by Godon the confcience. 
 The Author of the book de mundo \ finely fays, " God 
 " is to us a law, tending on all fides to a jufl equili- 
 " brium, admitting no correction, nor any varia- 
 " tion." With this Cicero agrees ||, " The true and 
 * c leading law, which is proper both to command and 
 " to forbid, is the right reafon of the Supreme Being*" 
 The law not ^' That author does not exprefs him- 
 the knowledge felf very accurately, whofaid, " We here 
 of right and " ca ll the law the knowledge of right 
 wrong. « anc | wron or 5 binding to do what is 
 
 " right, and to avoid what is wrong." For the law 
 is not properly knowledge, but the object of know- 
 ledge. We fay this law was naturally known to man ; 
 but it would be abfurd to fay, that knowledge is na- 
 turally known. Knowledge is our act, and is indeed 
 to be fquared by the rule of the law. The law is a 
 rule prefcribed by God, the director of all our actions. 
 One affirms there ^. Another is farther from accuracy, 
 was no hw be- who thus determines: " Before the 
 fore the fall. u £ a ll there was properly no law. For 
 
 * Rdfci, ii. i a. 15. f Pfal. xxvii. 8. % Cap. xi. [I De legibus, I. ii. 
 
Chap. 3. Covenant of WORKS. 79 
 
 « then the love of God prevailed, which requires 
 " no law. There" (as the fame author elfewhere ex- 
 plains himfelf) " was a (late of friendftiip and love, 
 * fuch as is the natural ftate of a fon with refpect to a 
 " parent, which nature loves. But when that love is 
 M violated, then a precept is fuperadded ; and that 
 " love, which before was voluntary, (which beft a* 
 " grees with its nature, for that can fcarce be called 
 " love, unlefs voluntary) falls under a precept, and 
 " pafles into a law, to be enforced then with com- 
 " mination and coercion ; which rigour of coercion 
 " properly conftitutes a law." 
 
 \ I. But this way of reafoning does This opinion 
 not feem to be the effect of thought considered. 
 and attention. For, 1. it is not the rigour of coercion 
 that properly conftitutes a law, but the obligatory 
 virtue of what is enjoined, proceeding both from the 
 power of the lawgiver, and from the equity of the 
 thing commanded ; which is here founded on the holi- 
 nefs of the divine nature, fo far as imitable by man. 
 The apoftle James * commends tbeperfed law of liber- 
 ty. 2. Nor is it abfurd to fay, that the natural ftate 
 of a fon with refpecl to a parent is regulated bylaws. 
 Surely Plato f fays, that " the firft mortals followed 
 " the cuftoms and laws of their fathers," quoting 
 with praife that fentence of Homer, Qs/w/rrve/cTs wares 
 m*j&m% Everyone makes laws for his children. 3. Nor 
 is it repugnant to do a thing by nature, and at 
 the fame time by a law. Philo the Jew J, explaining 
 that hackneyed faying of the philofophers, lays, that 
 " to live agreeably to nature," is done., " when the 
 u mind follows God, remembering his precepts." 
 Chryfippus in like manner, commended by Laertius ||, 
 fays, " That perfon lives agreeably to nature, who 
 M does nothing prohibited by the common law, which 
 " is right realon." In a fublimer ftyle almoft than 
 one could well expect from a Heathen, is what Hiero- 
 
 * Chap. i. 25. f Dc lcgibus 1 iii. X De m'.grat. || Lib. \\ 
 Zenofle. 
 
t ^«4A 
 
 80 Op the Condition of the Book I. 
 
 cles * fays, •* To obey right rcafon and God, is the 
 *' fame thing. For the rational nature being illumi* 
 " nated, readily embraces what the divine law pre* 
 *? fcribes. A foul which is conformed to God, never 
 ♦' difTents from the will of God \ but being attentive 
 ! f to the divinity and brightnefs, with which it is en- 
 < c lightened, does what it does." 4. Nor can it be 
 affirmed, that after the breach of love, or, which is 
 the fame thing, after the entrance of fin, the law 
 was then fuperadded ; feeing fin itfelf is knfjiii the 
 trangreffion of the law. 5. Nor is love rendered lefs 
 voluntary by the precept. For the law enjoins love 
 every way perfect, and therefore as voluntary as pof- 
 iible, not extorted by the fervile fear of the threaten" 
 ing f . Nor does he falve the matter, when he fays, 
 that what is called lovefcarce deferves that name, un- 
 kfs it be voluntary : he ought to fay, it is by no means 
 charity, unlefs voluntary. For love is the mod de- 
 lightful union of our will with the thing beloved ; 
 which cannot be fo much as conceived, without the 
 plaineft contradiction, to be any other than voluntary. 
 If therefore, by the fuperadded law, love is rendered 
 involuntary and forced, the whole nature of love is 
 made void, and a divine law fet up, which deftroys 
 love. 6. In fine, the law of nature itfelf was not 
 without a threatening, and that of eternal death. I 
 fhall conclude this fubject in the moft accurate words 
 of Chryfoftom J. u When God formed man at fir ft, 
 4C he gave him a natural law. And what then is this 
 c: natural law ? He rectified our confeience, and made 
 " us have the knowledge of good and evil, without 
 " any other teaching than our own." 
 J. m ,, VII. We muft, moreover, obferve, 
 
 The natural law , , . , I . , r r , 
 
 the fame in tub- that this natural law is the lame in lub- 
 
 ihncs with that ftance with that expreffed in the deca- 
 
 cxp.-efTed in the logue, being, what the apoftle calls, the 
 
 decalogue. commandment which is unto life || ; that is, 
 
 * Ad r.urea carroi.na P^thagorze. f 1 John iv. 18. X Ex homilia %XU 
 \\ Rom. yii. io. 
 
Chap. 3- Covenant of WORKS. 8r 
 
 that law, by the performance of which, life could 
 formerly be obtained. And furely the decalogue con- 
 tains fuch precepts, which if a man do, he /ball live in 
 them *. But thofe precepts are undoubtedly the law 
 propofed to Adam, upon which the covenant of works; 
 was built. Add to this, what the apoftle fays, that 
 that law, which (till continues to be the rule of our 
 actions, and whofe right eoufnefs ought to be fulfilled 
 in us, was made weak through theflefh, that is, through 
 fin, and that it was become impoflible for it .to bring 
 us to life f . The fame law therefore was in force be- 
 fore the entrance of fin, and, if duly obferved, had the 
 power of giving life. Befides, God, in the fecond crea- 
 tion, infcribes the fame law on the heart, which in the 
 firft creation he had engraved on the mind. For what 
 is regeneration, but the reflitution of the fame image 
 of God, after which man was at firft formed? In 
 fhort, the law of nature could be nothing but a pre- 
 cept of conformity to God, and of perfect love \ which 
 is the fame in the decalogue. 
 
 VIII. This law is deduced by infallible confequence 
 from the very nature of God and man : And is deduced fom 
 which I thus explain and prove. I the nature of God 
 prefuppofe, as a felf-evident truth, and min * 
 and clear from the very meaning of the words, that 
 the great God has a fovereign and uncontrollable 
 power and dominion over all his creatures. This au- 
 thority is founded primarily and radically, not on crea- 
 tion, nor on any contract entered into with the crea-. 
 ture, nor on the fin of the creature, as fome lefs 
 folidly maintain ; but on the majefty, fupre- 
 macy, fovereignty, and eminence of God, which 
 arc his ellential attributes, and would have been 
 in God, though no creatures had actually exifted, 
 though they arc now conceived by us with a certain 
 refpect to creatures, at leaft poflible. From this m i- 
 jefty of the divine nature the prophet Jeremiah inters 
 the duty of the creature. For as much as there is nor.: 
 
 * Lev. xviii. 4. f Rom viii. y 4.. 
 
 Vol. I. | L 
 
82 Of the Condition of the BookL 
 
 like unto thee, Lord, thou art great, and thy name is 
 (rreat in might. Who would not fear thee, King of na- 
 tions ? for to thee doth, it appertain *. For if God is the 
 ftrfl, the fupreme, the fuper eminent, it neceffarily fol- 
 lows, that all creatures do in every refpect depend on 
 that firfl, fupreme, and fupereminent God, for exiflence, 
 tower, and operation. This is of the efience of crea- 
 tures, which, if not entirely dependent, can by no 
 means be conceived without the mod evident contra- 
 diction. But the more degrees of being there are in 
 any creature, the more degrees of dependence on the 
 fupreme Being are to be afligned to it. In the rational 
 creature, befides ^metaphyfical and phyfical entity, which 
 it has in common with all the other creatures ; there is 
 a certain more perfect degree of entity, namely, ra- 
 tionality. As, therefore, in quality of a being, it de 
 pends on God, as the Supreme Being ; fo alfo, as ra<« 
 tional, it depends on God as the fupreme reafon, which 
 it is bound to exprefs, and be conformable to. And 
 as God, as long as he wills any creature to exift, ne- 
 ceffarily wills it to be dependent on his real providence ; 
 (otherwife he would renounce his own fupremacy, by 
 transferring it to the creature) ; fo likewife, if he wills 
 any rational creature to exift, he neceffarily wills it to 
 be dependent on his moral providence ; otherwife he 
 would deny himfelf to be the fupreme reafon, to whofe 
 pattern and idea every dependent reafon ought to 
 conform. And thus a rational creature would be to 
 i.tfelf, the prime reafon, that is, really God > which 
 is an evident contradiction. 
 
 IX. In vain therefore do frantic enthufiafts infift, 
 ,, A - - . that the utmoft pitch of holinefs con- 
 
 Enthufiafts rave in rn . , . K , , , , 
 
 placing the higheft hits in being without law ; thereby 
 pitch of holinefs, wrefling the faying of the apoftle, that 
 in being without ffo i aw j s n0 f ma de for a righteous man, 
 law * but for the lawlefs and difcbedient -}. 
 
 For certainly that pafljge does not deftroy our afler- 
 tion, by which we have evinced*, that the human na- 
 * Jer. x. 6. 7. f 1 Tim. i. 9. 
 
Chap. 3- Covenant of WORKS. 83 
 
 ture cannot be without the divine law; but highly- 
 con firms it. For lince the ungodly are here defcribed 
 as lazvlefs, who would fain live as without law, and 
 difobedknt, who will not be in fubjection ; it follows, 
 that the acknowledging the divine law, and the fub- 
 jection of the understanding and will to it, is the cha- 
 racter of the righteous and godly. In the law of God, 
 fince the entrance of fin, two things are to be confi- 
 dered. 1 . The rule and direction to obedience, 2 . The 
 fewer of bridling and re fl raining by terror and fear \ and 
 laftly, oijuflly condemning. When therefore the apoftle 
 teaches, that the law was not made for a righteous 
 man, he does not underftand it of the primary and 
 principal work of the law, w T hich is eflential to it, 
 but of that other accidental work, which was added 
 to it on account of and fince the entrance of fin, and 
 from which the righteous are freed by Chrilt. 
 
 X. Nor does t4it follow only from the nature of 
 God and man, that fome law is to This , aw was not on . 
 be prefenbed by God to man in i yt o rule the aaions, v 
 common, but alfo fuch a law as may but alfo the nature of 
 be not only the rule and guide of man - 
 
 human actions, but of human nature itfelf confidered 
 as rational. For fince God himfelf is in his nature 
 infinitely holy, and manifefts this his holinefs in all 
 his works, it hence follows, that to man, who ought 
 to be conformed to the likeneis of the divine holinefs, 
 there fliould be prefcribed a law, requiring not only 
 the righteoufnefs of his works , but the holinefs of 
 his nature itfelf; (o that the righteoufnefs of his works 
 is no other than the exprefHon of his inward righteouf- 
 nefs. Indeed the apoftle calls that piety and holinefs, 
 which he recommends, and which undoubtedly the 
 law enjoins, the image of God *. Now, an image fliould 
 rtfemble its original. Seeing therefore God is holy 
 in his nature, on that very account it follows, that 
 men ought to be fo too. 
 
 XI. A certain author has therefore Lid with more 
 • Eph. iv. i.\. Ccl. iii. ic. 
 
 L 2 
 
S4 Of the Condition of the Bookl. 
 Whether original fubtilty than truth, " That the law ob- 
 
 by 
 
 law. quently, " that original righteouf- 
 
 " nefs is approved indeed, but not commanded by the 
 " law : and on the contrary alfo, that original unrighte- 
 *< nefs is condemned, but not forbidden by the law of 
 " nature." For the law approves nothing which it 
 did not command ; condemns nothing which it did 
 not forbid. The law is mm the doctrine of right 
 and wrong. What it teaches to be evil, that it for- 
 bids ; what to be good, it commands. And therefore 
 it is juftly called the law of nature, not only becaufe 
 it can be known by nature as a teacher, but alfo be- 
 caufe it is the rule of nature itfelf 
 
 XII. In fine, we are to obferve concerning this law 
 
 , The chief precepts of ° f natur £ tha f at . r leaft itS P^cipal 
 ItrfuJj fox* this law not founded and moft univerfal precepts are 
 ?HML<** y ? fy on the arbitrary will, founded, not in the mere arbitrary 
 
 fax^^' cf G n d hC h ° Jy DatUr ' & ood - wUl wdfleafure of God, but in 
 t / \ ° 4 fr/uM'^^fa* unfpotted divine nature* For if it 
 
 >j£t £cw^> h necelTary, that God fhould therefore prefcribe a law 
 . ^r ^ to man, becaufe he is the original holinefs ; it is no 
 lefs necefTary, that he fhould prefcribe a law, which 
 lhall be the copy of that original. So that the 
 difference between good and evil, ought to be derived, 
 not from any pofitive law, and arbitrary conftitution 
 of the divine will, but from the moft holy nature of 
 God itfelf. Which I thus prove. 
 
 XIII. Let us take the fummary oi the fir ft table : Thou 
 By nature God can- Jha.lt love the Lord thy God with all 
 not but require the thy heart, &c. Should this command 
 love of himfeif. De f^ to De founded in the arbitrary 
 good pleafure of the divine will, and not in the very 
 nature of God, it may with equal propriety be faid, 
 that God might abfolve us from the neceJlity of loving 
 himfelf. That this is a thing impoffible, appears hence : 
 It is natural to God to be the chief good. It is in- 
 cluded in the idea of a God, that he is the very beiU 
 
Chap. 3. Covenant ofWORKS, 85* 
 
 It is natural to the chief good, that he cannot without 
 blame but love what is propofed worthy of the high- 
 eft love. Whoever, therefore, fhall affirm, that the 
 neceffity of loving God flows not from the very na- 
 ture of God, advances the following contradiction : 
 God is in his nature the chief good, and yet in his 
 nature is not fupremely amiable. Or this other : God 
 is worthy of the higheft love ; and yet it is poffible, 
 that he who does not love him, does nothing unwor- 
 thy of God. T-hefe things involve a mod palpable 
 contradiction. 
 
 XIV. But to proceed : If the command to love God 
 is founded, not in his nature, but in his Much i c f s can 
 arbitrary good pleafure, he might have he enjoin the 
 enjoined the hatred of himfelf. I 1 or, in hatred, of him- 
 things in their own nature indiflerent, fe 
 
 he who has the right of commanding, has alfo that of 
 forbidding, and of requiring the contrary. Now, this 
 afiertion, that God can command the hatred of him- 
 felf, befides being horrible to the car, labours under a 
 manifeft contradiction. Which will clearly appear to 
 every body, from a proper explication of the terms. 
 God the chief good, fupremely amiable, are terms e- 
 quivalent \ at leaft, the laft is an explication of the pre- 
 ceding. To hate any thing, is not to efteem it as the 
 chief good, nay not fo much as good, and therefore 
 fo far from loving it, to be averfe from it. Would ic 
 not therefore be a manifeft contradiction, to fuppofe 
 the moil excellent God thus fpeaking to his creature : 
 I am really the chief good, but I would not have you 
 efteem me good : I indeed am worthy of the higheft 
 love, but I would have you judge me worthy of your 
 hatred? He that does not lee a contradiction here, 
 muft be blind. 
 
 XV. Moreover, I would a(k thofe, if there aie any 
 that are otherwife minded, whether It is Qiewn from ni _ 
 it is not naturally good, even ante- ture, d at it is goo4 
 qedeptly to any free determination to oU 7 <j<>d. 
 
 of the divine will, to obey Goci, when he commands 
 any thing. If they own this, we have gained our 
 
86 Of the Condition of the BookL 
 
 point. If not, I afk further, whence then the obliga- 
 tion to obey ? They cannot anfwer, from the command. 
 For the queftion is, What binds me to obey that com- 
 mand? Here we muft neceffarily come to that fove- 
 reign majMty and authority of God, to whom it is 
 criminal in nature to refufc obedience. Again, if it is 
 not naturally good to obey God, it follows, that God 
 can command, that no body obey him. A propor- 
 tion not only inconliderate, but full of contradiction. 
 For to command, is to bind one to obedience. To 
 fay, Obey not, is to dhTolve the bond of obligation. 
 Therefore thefe are plain contradictions, I command, 
 and, Do not obey me. 
 
 XVI. What we have proved concerning the love of 
 The love of our neigh- God, which is the fummary of the 
 bour is alfo founded in jirft table of the law, namely, that 
 the nature of God. j t i s naturally good, might be alfo 
 proved from the fummary of the fecondtable^ i. e. the 
 love of our neighbour. For he who loves God, can- 
 not but love his image, in which he views characters 
 of the Deity clearly exprefled, and not afmall degree 
 of the brightnefs cf his glory. Again, whoever loves 
 God, will, by virtue of that love, ferioufly wilh, de- 
 fire, ftudy, and, as much as in him lies, be careful, 
 that his neighbour, as well as himfelf, be under God, 
 in God, and for God, and that all he has be preferveci 
 for his glory. Again, he who loves God, will make 
 it his bufinefs, that God may appear every way admi- 
 rable and glorious ; and as he appears fuch moft emi- 
 nently in the fanctifkc:tion and happinefs of men *, he 
 will vigoroufly exert himfelf, that his neighbour may 
 be advanced to holinefs and happinefs. Finally, he 
 who fincerely loves God^never thinks he loves and glo- 
 rifies his God enough : he difcovers (o much excellen- 
 cy in him, he fees his name ib illuftrious, and fo ex- 
 alted above all praife, that he earneftly defires to have 
 all men, nay all creatures, join him in loving and ce- 
 lebrating the infinite perfections of God. Now, this is 
 * 2 Theff. i. io. 
 
Chap. 3. Covenant ofWORKS. 87 
 
 the moft fmcere and pure love of our neighbour, to 
 feek that God may be glorified in him, and he himfelf 
 be for the glory of God. Hence it appears, that the 
 love of our neighbour is infeparably connected witK 
 the love of God. If therefore it flows from the nature 
 of God, to enjoin us the love of himfelf, as we have 
 juft proved ; it will likewife flow from the nature of 
 God, to enjoin us the love of our neighbour. ^ 
 
 XVII. To conclude, if we conceive all holinefs to 
 be founded on the arbitrary will of God, this , 
 
 greateft of all ablurdities will follow, that a bf ur dity. g — 
 God our lawgiver can, by commanding the s<rf**^> 
 
 contrary, without any regeneration or renovation of » r 
 the inward man, make of the wicked and difobedi- ' 
 
 ent, for whom the law is made to condemnation, per- 
 fons holy and righteous! A fhocking polition. 
 
 XVIII. Seeing thefe things are fo, it is aftonifhing, 
 that a certain learned perfon fhould whether all the gocd. 
 approve of this aflertion, namely, ncfs of a thing depends 
 " On the will of God not only on the will of God. 
 
 " things themfelves depend, but alfo every mode of 
 " a thing, the truth, order, law, goodnefs ; and no 
 " goodnefs of the object can move it, or put a flop to 
 " it." It is indeed certain, that no bounds or rules 
 can be fet to the will of God, by any thing out of God 
 himfelf: for that is repugnant to his fovereign pre- 
 eminence. Yet fomething may and ought to be con- 
 ceived, flowing from God himfelf and his intrinfic 
 perfections, which hinders the act of the divine will ; 
 and this is not therefore good, becaufe God wills it > but 
 pod wills it, becaufe it is good ; for inftance, the love 
 of' God as the chief good. And they conlider things 
 awkwardly , who make the holinefs of God to coniift 
 only in the exact conformity of his actions with his 
 will. " Which will" (fay they) « is the rule of all 
 M holinefs," and fo of the divine. On the contrary, 
 as the natural holinefs of God ought to be conceived as 
 prior to his will, fo it is rather the rule of the will, 
 than to be regulated by it, For this holinefs of God 
 
88 Of the Condition of the Book I. 
 
 is the moft Alining purity of the divine perfections, ac- 
 cording to which, agreeably to the moft perfect rea- 
 fon, he always wills and acts. By this opinion, which 
 we are now confuting, every diftinction between what 
 are called moral and pofitive precepts is destroyed; 
 and Archelaus's ancient paradox revived, namely, 
 * The diftinction of good and evil is not from nature, 
 " but from the law ;" which has been adopted by A- 
 riftippus, and Theodorus furnamed theAtheift. " Than 
 " which opinion," fays Cocceius *, " none can be de- 
 c ? vifed more pernicious, and none more effectual for 
 " undermining all religion, ftriking at the very root 
 " of the divine juftice and the neceflity of a Saviour, 
 " and cutting out the vitals of piety." 
 
 XIX. And thus we have proved thefe three things 
 A recapi- concerning the law of nature, on which 
 tulation. the covenant of works is founded, namely : 
 I. That it flows from the nature of God and man, 
 that he prefcribe fome law to man. 2. And fuch a 
 law, as may be the rule and ftandard, not only of 
 our actions, but alfo of our nature. 3. That the moft 
 univerfal precepts thereof are at leaft founded on the 
 nature of God. Let us now confider the other, the 
 fymbolical law. 
 
 XX. This law is to be found in Gen. ii. 16. 17. 
 Th f And the Lord God commanded the man, fay- 
 knowledge of ing, Of every tree of the garden thou may ft 
 good and e- freely eat / but of the tree of the knowledge 
 vil, why (o j- g 00( i an( l ev i^ th ou fbalt no t ea t f // ; f or 
 
 called * in the day that thou eatejl thereof, thou fbalt 
 
 furely die. Concerning this tree three things are 
 chiefly to be taken notice of. 1. That it is not quite 
 certain, whether it was a fingle tree ; fince a whole 
 fpecies of trees might be forbidden to man. We fhall 
 afterwards repeat this remark, when we treat of the 
 tree of life. 2. There feems to be a twofold reafon 
 for this appellation. (1.) In refpect of God, who, by 
 that tree, would try and know, whether man would 
 
 * Summa. theol. cap. xxiv. § 6. f 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. 
 
Chap. 3; C o v e n a n t of W O R K S. 89 
 
 continue good, by perfevering in obedience, or fwerve 
 to evil by difobedience. In which fenfe God is faid 
 to have tried Hezekiah* that he might know all thai 
 was in his heart *. (2.) In refpect of man, becaufe, 
 if from love to God he obeyed this law of probation, 
 he was to attain to the fruition of that beatific good, 
 which is never perfectly known, but by the enjoy- 
 ment : on the contrary, if difobedient^ he was to 
 know by fad experience, into what an abyfs of 
 evils he had plunged himfelf. 
 
 XXI. 3. We are to confider the tendency why God 
 of fuch a divine precept. Man was there- forbade man 
 by taught, (1.) That God is Lord of all t0 eat of 1C - 
 things ; and that it is unlawful for man even to defire 
 an apple but with his leave. In all things therefore, 
 from the greateft to the leaft, the mouth of the Lord is 
 to be confulted, as to what he would or would not have 
 done by us in relation to thefe things. (2.) That 
 man's true happinefs is placed in God alone, and that 
 .nothing is to be defired, but with fubmiflion to, and 
 in order to ufe it for him. So that it is H E only, on 
 .whofeabtount all other things appear good andjdeiirabie 
 to man. (3.) That man mould chearfuUy be iatibfied 
 without even the moft delightful and defirable things, if 
 God fo command; and fhould think, that there is much 
 more good in obedience to the divine precept, than 
 in the enjoyment of the moft delightful thing in 
 the world. (4.) That man was not yet arrived at 
 the utmoft pitch of happinefs, but was to expect a 
 full greater good, after his courfe of obedience was 
 finifhcdl This was hinted by the prohibition of the 
 moft delightful tree, whofe fruit was, if any other, 
 greatly to be defired ; and this argued fome degree of 
 imperfection in that ftate, in which man was forbid 
 the eating and ufe of fome good. Compare what is 
 to be faid, chap. vi. § 19. 
 
 * 2 Chron, xxxii. 31. 
 
 Vol.* I. t M 
 
90 Of the Condition of the Book' I. 
 
 XXII. Thus far of the laws of the covenant , botli 
 
 The obferva- tnat °^ nature » anc * °f tms fymbolical and 
 rion of thefe probr'-ory one. It now follows, that, ac- 
 lawsconfiftsin cording to what we propofed, § i. we 
 the moft per- treat or tne obfervation of thofe la ws. Now, 
 
 fcftobedience. p ^ ^^ obedieme tQ all the CQm . 
 
 mands of God is required, according to that rule, 
 Which if a man do, he Jhall live in them *. And fince 
 life was likewife promifed upon obedience to the fym- 
 boiical law about the tree of knowledge, which doubt- 
 lefs was a pofitive inftitution ; fo (to remark by the way) 
 it appears, that, by this reprefentation, thofe precepts 
 which are called moral, cannot be fo diftinguiihed 
 from pofitive, as if to the former alone this elogium were 
 competent, Which if a man do, he Jhall live in the'm 9 
 and not to the latter. 
 
 Wherein this XXIII. This obedience does, in the firft 
 obedience place, fuppofe the moft exact prefervation of 
 coniiits. that original and primitive holinefs in which 
 
 man was created. For, as we have already faid, God, 
 by his law, does above all things require the integrity 
 and rectitude of nature to be cherifhed and prefer- 
 ved, as man's principal duty, flowing from the bene- 
 fit he has received. Secondly, From that good princi- 
 ple good aclions and works ought to be produced : 
 Chanty out a pure heart, and of a good confeience f . 
 Thirdly, There ought to be a certain ready alacrity 
 to perform all that God fhall be pleafed to reveal 
 to man, as the good pleafure and appointment of his 
 will ; fo as to all he may fay, Speak, Lord, thy fervant 
 heareth* 
 
 Perfection is XXIV. A threefold perfection is required. 
 threefold. i. Of parts, as well in refpect of the fubjeel, 
 fo as the whole man, in foul and body, and all the 
 faculties of both, employ himfelf in the fervice of 
 God J, (for man is then ETH perfect, when the out- 
 ward man correfponds with the inward ; the aclions 
 with the thoughts, the tongue and hands with the^ 
 • Lev. xviii. 5. t » Tim - *• S- * l Thcfl "' v * 2 3- 
 
Chap. 3. Co v E n AN t of WORKS. 91 
 
 heart *); as with refpect to the object, fa that all and 
 each of the precepts be obferved, without any fin of 
 commifiion or omiflion j. 2. Of degrees, which in 
 the value of obedience excludes all umnvaj, pardon 
 and connivance, but ftrictly urges obedience with 
 all the heart, with all the foul, and with all the m'uid \ ; 
 with all our might ||. Thou haft commanded us to keep thy 
 precepts diligently |. 3. Of per fever a nee, without cutting 
 or carving upon that obedience which God rigo- 
 roully requires ■+- ; pronouncing, that all his righteouf- 
 nefs that he hath done Jhall not he remembered, when the 
 righteous turneth away from his righteoufnefs, which was 
 fulfilled in Adam, Emphatic*!- is that expreffioB, Cur- 
 fed is he that confirmeth net [does not ftand to, docs iiot 
 conftantly obferve] all the words of this law to do them *w . 
 
 XXV. Such a perfect obfervance of the F er fe& obe- 
 laws of the covenant, quite to the period &tnct gives 
 which God had fixed for probation, would a r *£ ht t0 the 
 have given man a right to the reward. Not revVaid> 
 from any intrinfic proportion of the work to the re- 
 ward, as the grofler Papifts proudly boaft ; but from 
 God's engagement and acceptance, which was nowife 
 unbecoming him to enter into. Nor had man, before 
 the confummating of that obedience, even in the irate 
 of innocence, a right to life. He was only in the ftate 
 of acquiring a right ; which would at length be ac- 
 tually acquired, when he could fay, I have flood to 
 the conditions of the covenant, I have perfectly and 
 conftantly done what was commanded, now I claim 
 and expect, that thou my God wilt crown me with the 
 promifed happinefs. 
 
 XXVI. How abfurdly again do the Papifts aiTcrt, 
 that Adam, as he came from the hands of ^d am j n j ro 
 his Creator, as the adopted fon of God, right to the in- 
 had a right to fupernatural happinefs, as hcritancc from 
 to his paternal inheritance," which,'' ac- hls ve,y crta " 
 
 * Pfal. xvii 3. 4. & xxxvii. 30. 31. 
 
 f Gal. iii. 10. Jarr. ii. ic. 
 
 % Matth. xxii. 37. || Deut. vi. 5. 
 
 4 rial. txix. 4. •+- ] 
 
 xviii. 24. ++ Deut. xxvii. 26. 
 
 
 M 2 
 
 
92 Of the Promises of the Book I. 
 
 tion as the ad- cording to Bellarmine *, u is due to the ad- 
 opted fon of pted fon of God, in right of adoption, pre- 
 ^ftsLlf'l at- viousto all good works." But this is truly 
 firm/ a prepofterous way of reafoning. For the 
 
 right of adoption belongs to the covenant of grace 
 in Chrift Jeius : The adoption of children /> by J ejus 
 Chrift j . Befides, if this opinion were valid, good 
 works could not be required as a condition for acqui- 
 ring z right to eternal life ; but only ferve to prevent 
 the^' forfeiture of the right of a fon : by which means 
 the whole delign of the covenant of works, and all the 
 rio-hteoulnefs which is by the law, are deftroyed. In 
 fine, what is more abfurd, than the trifling manner 
 in which thefe fophifters talk of the grace of adoption, 
 as living Adam a right to enter upon an heavenly in- 
 heritance, in a legal covenant ; when, on the other 
 hand, they wickedly contend for the merit of works, 
 under a covenant of grace ? Where only that affertion 
 is to be affirmed and applied, The inheritance is due 
 to an adopted fon of God, in right of adpption, pre- 
 vious to all good works. 
 
 CHAP. IV, 
 
 Of the promifes of th$ covenant of works. 
 
 The Socinians T ET what has Ipeen faid fuiEce as to 
 deny that any | J tne condition of this covenant. We 
 toade £ mllZ Wy now inquire into the : p * o m i s e s of 
 his primitive e- it. Here, hrft, the Socinians come un- 
 gate, dcr- our notice, who obflinately deny all 
 promifes. For thus Volkelius J fays, " Scarce, if at 
 " all, was any general, promile made to the men of 
 " that age ; but rather threatenings and terrors were 
 " then let before them. For we do not fee God 
 * c promifing to Adam, upon his abftaining from the 
 
 • De Juftificat. I. v. c. 27. f Eph. i. 5. ; Devera religiose, 
 j. ii. c.8. 
 
Chap. 4. Covenant of WORKS. 93 
 
 " fruit of that tree, any reward of obedience ; but 
 H threatening deftruction, if he did not obey *." Of 
 this aflertion he ailigns the following reafon. " More- 
 " over, the reafon why God at that time would be 
 " obeyed, without almoft propofing any general re- 
 " ward, feems to be this; becaufe, at the very be- 
 " ginning of the world, he would (hew to all, that 
 " he owed nothing to any, but was himfelf the moft 
 « abfolute Lord of all." 
 
 II. To this I oppofe the following things. Th ; s ; s con . 
 I.Man's natural confcience itfelf teaches traryevento 
 him, that God defires not to be worlliipped the light of 
 in vain, nor that obedience to his commands ca:ure » 
 will go unrewarded and for nought. r lhe Heathens 
 were alfo apprized of this. Let us hear Epictetus. 
 He, in Arrian f , fpeaks thus : " If there are no gods, 
 H how is it the end of man to obey the gods ? But if 
 ♦f there are, and they be yet regardlefs of every thing, 
 " how will the matter be mended ? But if they both 
 " are, and take care of human affairs, but men have 
 " no rccompenfe to expect from them, nor I neither, 
 " will not the matter be flill worfe i n Let us add 
 Seneca J. " God does not want fervants. Why fo? 
 " He minifters himfelf to mankind ; being every 
 " where prefent and at hand. He will never make a 
 " right progrefs, who does not conceive of God as 
 " he ought ; dealing all things, bellowing his bene- 
 " fits freely. Why are the gods lb beneficent ? It is 
 
 " owing to their nature. The hi it article of the 
 
 " worlhip of the gods is, to believe that they are ; then 
 " to render them the honour of their majefty, and of 
 " their goodnefs, without which there is no majefty : 
 " to know, that they prefide over the world, govern 
 «' all things by their power, take fpecial care of man- 
 " kind, without neglecting individuals. " In like 
 manner, among the articles of the Jewifh faith, it 
 is diablifhed, as a thing naturally known, that there 
 are " rewards as well as punifhments with God ;" ac- 
 -n. ii. 1;. f Diflm. I. i.e. 12, \ Epiit. gj, 
 
94 Of the Promises of the Book I. 
 
 cording to that common faying, " God defrauds no 
 " creature of its reward." The worfhip of God prc- 
 fuppofes the belief of this : For he that comet h to God, 
 mujl believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of 
 them that diligently feek him *. 
 
 III. 2. Moreover, this faith is not merely a certain 
 And to fcripture, and perfuafion of the mind, arifing from 
 tothe proper hypothec reafoning, and the confideration of 
 fes of the adverfaries. t h e goodnefs of God ; but to render 
 it a genuine faith, it muft reft on the word and pro- 
 mife of God. Faith comet h by hearing, and hearing by 
 the word of God \* 3. This was the intent of the tree 
 of life, which the Socinians themfelves J allow to have 
 been " a kind of fymbol, though obfeure, of eternal 
 "life." Now, that fymbol propofed to Adam, would 
 have been of no ufe, unlefs he had underftood it, and 
 confidered it as a feal of the promife made by God. It 
 would have been a mere farce, to have prohibited man 
 from accefs to, and eating of this tree after the fall, un- 
 lefs thereby God had fhewn him, that he had forfeited 
 the thing promifed, and confequently was become un- 
 worthy of the ufe of that fymbol and facrament. 4. 
 If no promife was made, they lived without hope. 
 For the hope which maketh not afhamed, is founded 
 on the promifes. Now, this is the character of the wo- 
 ful calamity of thofe who are without God in the world y 
 that they have no hcpe\\. 5. God reprefents to Cain 
 a thing known long before, even by nature, much 
 more by paternal instruction : If thou dofl well, fhalt 
 thou not be accepted \ ? But did this maxim begin to be 
 true, and to be known after the fall ? 6. The very 
 threatening infers a promife. The language of which 
 at leaft is, that he was to be deprived of that happi- 
 nefs, which otherwife he would have continued to en- 
 joy. So that from thence we may moll certainly con- 
 clude, that man had no reafon to be afraid of lofing 
 that happinefs, as long as he kept himfelf from fin. 7. 
 
 * Heb. xi. 6. + Rom. x. 17. % In coropemJ. Sociflian. cap. ii. 
 § 5. J) Eph.ii. 15. \ Gen. iv. 7. 
 
Chap. 4. CovENANTofWORRS. 95 
 
 By this affertion of our adverfaries, according to their 
 own hypothefes, all the religion of the firft man is de- 
 flroyed. Seeing, as our author writes at the begin* 
 ning of this chapter, " thepromife of rewards propo- 
 " fed to well-doing, is clofely interwoven with reli- 
 " gion." 8. The reafon he afligns for this affertion, is 
 foolifh and to no purpofe. For after fo many and fuch 
 liberal promifes of eternal life, which God hath given 
 us in Chrift, is it now lefs evident, that God is indebt- 
 ed to none, and that he is the moft abfolute Lord of 
 all things ? Does the Supreme Being, by his gracious 
 promifes, derogate any thing from his moft abfolute do- 
 minion ? Ought it not to be known in every age, that 
 God owes nothing to any ? How comes it then, that 
 God did not always forbear promifing ? 
 
 IV. Let this therefore be a fettled point, that this 
 covenant was not eftablifhed without 
 
 promifes. Let us now inquire what God promifed A- 
 
 *L c •/-/-.J j ,. * j " ara eternal life. 
 
 fort or promifes God made to Adam. 
 We believe that God promifed to Adam eternal life, 
 that is, the mojl ferfeft fruition of himfelf to endure 
 for ever, after having run the courfe of his obedience. 
 We are induced to this belief by thefe arguments. 
 
 V. 1. The apoftle teaches, that God, by his Son 
 fent in the flefh, did what the law 
 
 could not do, in that it was weak I hls a PP ears from 
 through the flejh *. Now, it is certain, J 
 
 that Chrift hath procured for his own people a right 
 to eternal life, to be enjoyed in heaven in its due time. 
 This the apoftle declares the law cannot now do, not 
 of itfelf, or becaufe it has no fuch promifes, but be- 
 caufe it is weak through the flefb. If fin therefore had 
 not intervened, the law would have brought men to 
 that eternal life, which Chrift promifes and freely gives 
 to his people. This appears to me a conclufive argu- 
 ment. 
 
 VI. 2. 'Tis beyond difpute among 
 
 all, that Paul, in his epiftles to the And , from :*j? / ?afon ' 
 
 ■D~~ 1 A 1 *• f 1 1 wg about judication. 
 
 Romans and Galatians, where he 
 * Ron. viii. 3. 
 
96 Of the Promises of the BookL 
 
 treats of juftification, does, under that name, com- 
 prehend the adjudging to eternal life. He is every- 
 where proving, that a finner cannot be juftified, that 
 is, lay claim to eternal life, by the works of the law; 
 but never by this argument, that the law had no pro- 
 mifes of eternal life, but becaufe man is by the law 
 brought to the acknowledgment of fin, and the con- 
 feflion of deferved damnation *. On this point he in- 
 fills with great labour, though otherwife he might 
 have very eafily cut fhort the whole difpute ; by fay- 
 ing, that a title to eternal life was to be fought for by 
 faith in Chrift ; that in vain ye reft on any law, tho' 
 ye keep it ever fo perfectly, in regard it has no pro- - 
 mifes of eternal life annexed to it. On the contrary, 
 the apoftle teaches, that the commandment, confidered 
 in itfelf, was ordained to life f ; that is, was fuch, as, 
 by the obfervance thereof, life might have once been 
 obtained : which if the law could ftill beftow on the 
 finner, verily right eoufnefs JJoould be by the law \ ; 
 that is, the right to that fame happinefs, which now 
 comes from faith in Chrift. For the difpute was con- 
 cerning xAwpoj/o^/a, the inheritance of eternal life, 
 which was to be entered upon ; whether now by means 
 of the law, or by the promifeof the gofpel ||. And he 
 owns, it would be by the means of the law, could the 
 law ZaonoHTcLi, 7nake alive. And this could be done by 
 that law, which was ordained to life\. But when 
 could it do fo ? In the ftate of innocence, before it was 
 made weak by the flejli. If Adam therefore had perfe- 
 veredin obedience, the law would have brought him 
 to that fame inheritance, which now in Chrift is allot- 
 ted, not to him that worketh, but to him that belie- 
 veth. And this argument, if 1 miftake not, is plain 
 to any intelligent and attentive perfon. 
 
 VII. 3. We are above all to obferve, how the apoftle 
 
 * ^om.iii. 19. 20. I Rom. vii. 10. % Gal. iii. 21. |j Ver. 18. 
 
 + Rom - vii - , °- 11. M.<j>i'> 
 
Chap. 4. Ce vena nt 0/f WORKS. 97 
 
 diftinguiflies the righteoufnefs which is As likewife rrom 
 of the law, from the evangelical. Of the the diftinaioo of 
 former he thus fpeaks * : Mofes defcri- legal and evangeli- 
 beth the righteoufnefs which is of the law, cai "gfcwfcefc. 
 That the ?nan which dotb thofe things fhall live by 
 them. Of the fecond he writes after this manner + : 
 The jufl fhall live by faith. On both iides, the 
 promife of life is the fame, and propoled in the 
 very fame words. For the apoftle does not by 
 the leaft expreflion hint, that one kind of life is 
 promifed by the gofpel, another by the law. Which, 
 if it were true, ihould for once at leaft have been hint- 
 ed ; as the doing this would have ended the whole 
 difpute. For in vain would any feek for eternal life 
 by the law, if never promifed in it. But the apoftle 
 places the whole difference, not in the thing promifed, 
 but in the condition of obtaining the promife ; while 
 lie fays J, But that no man is juflified by the law in the 
 fight of Godj it is evident ; for, The jufl fhall live by 
 faith. And the law is not of faith : but, The man that 
 doth them, fhall live in them. That very life therefore 
 was promifed by the law to the man that worketh, 
 which he now receives by faith in Chrift. But to 
 what man thus working was it promifed ? to the 
 * finner only ? Was it not to man in innocency \ 
 Was it not then, when it might truly be faid, If you 
 continue to 3o well, you fhall be heir of that life up- 
 on that condition ? Which could be faid to none but 
 to upright Adam. Was it not then, when the pro- 
 mife was actually made ? For after the entrance of fin, 
 there is not fo much a promife, as a denunciation of 
 wrath, and an intimation of a curfe, propofing that 
 as the condition of obtaining life, which is now abfo- 
 lutely impoflible. I therefore conclude, that to A- 
 dam, in the covenant of works, was promifed the 
 lame eternal life, to be obtained by the righteoufncis 
 \jhich is of the law, of which believers arc made par- 
 takers through Chrift. But let none object, that all 
 
 ♦Rom. x. 5. I Rom. i. 17. \ Gal. iii. i i. 12, 
 
 Vol. I. fN 
 
g3 Of the Promises of the Book I. 
 
 thefe arguments are fetched, not from the hiflory of 
 man in innocence, but from Paul's reafoning. For 
 it is no matter whence arguments are taken, if they 
 contain a demonftration to the confcience, which I 
 think is here evident. Undoubtedly Adam knew ma- 
 ny more things than are contained in that very fhort 
 account given of him by Mofes. Nor does it appear to 
 be without a myflery, that Mofes more fparingly de- 
 livers moft of the particulars of that covenant, and on- 
 ly fprinkles with a little light the fhadow as of a fly- 
 ing image, to denote that it was to vanifh. 
 
 VIII. 4. I will add another argument. It was en- 
 tirely agreeable, that by covenant 
 
 & $5!tZ G0d flMU " Fomife Adam fomething 
 greater and better, to be obtained af- 
 ter finifhing his courfe of obedience, than what he was 
 already poffeffed of. For what kind of covenant 
 w T ould it have been, to adjudge no reward to his obe- 
 dience, and his carefully llanding to the conditions of 
 the covenant, but a continuation of thofe bleflings 
 which he actually enjoyed already, and which it was 
 not becoming God to refufe to man, whom he had 
 created ? Now, Adam enjoyed, in paradife, whatever 
 could be devifed for natural and animal happincfs, as 
 they call it. A greater therefore, and a more exalted 
 felicity awaited him ; in the fruition of which he 
 would moft plainly fee, that in keeping the divine com- 
 mands there is great reward *. Let none object here 
 to me the angels, to whom, he may pretend, nothing 
 was promifed by God, but the continuance of that 
 happy ftate in which they were created. We are here 
 to keep to the apoftle's advice, not to intrude into thofe 
 things we have ?wt feen-f. Who fhall declare unto us 
 thofe things which are not revealed concerning the an- 
 gels ? Nay, if we may form probable conjectures, it 
 appears to me very likely, that fome fuperior degree 
 of happinefs was conferred upon the angels, after ^|y 
 were truly confirmed, and fbmething more excellfflrt 
 •Pfal. xix. 11. t Col. ii. 1?. 
 
Chap. 4- Covenant of WORKS. 99 
 
 than that in which they were at firfl created : as the 
 joy of the angels received a confiderable addition, 
 when they beheld the divine perfections mining forth 
 in the illuflrious work of redemption ; and, at the 
 confummation of all things, thehappinefs of all the e- 
 lect, both angels and men, will be complete ; when 
 Chrift's whole body fliall appear glorious, and God be 
 glorified and admired in all his faints. 
 
 IX. It ftill remains doubtful, whether the life pro- 
 mifed to Adam upon his perfeverance, w , « , . 
 was to be enjoyed in paradife, or in heaven. \\fe was to be 
 The latter of thefe appears the more pro- enjoyed in 
 bable. 1. Becaufe paradife is in fcripture heaven, 
 reprefented as a type of heaven, and heaven itfelf is 
 called paradife *, by that exchange of names, which 
 is very common between a facrament and the thing 
 fignified thereby. But by what probability mall it be 
 thought, that the reafon of a facrament mould be ad- 
 ded to paradife, after man's ejectment from it ? 2. It is 
 fit, that man, when tranflated to the moft confummate 
 happinefs, mould refid-e there, where God does moft: 
 brightly difplay the rays of his glorious majeily ; 
 which doubtlefs he does in heaven, where he has his 
 throne f. 3. As the earthly paradife was furnifhed 
 with all the delights and pleafures belonging to this 
 animal life, for which there is no occafion in that moft 
 perfect and immediate fruition of God, all that en- 
 tertainment being utterly excluded thence; heaven 
 ought to be deemed a much more fuitable habitation 
 for glorified man, than the earthly paradife. We 
 would not, however, deny, that happinefs is not fuf- 
 pended on place ; and that there is fcarce any thing to 
 demonflrate this to be found in the facred writings. 
 Therefore we ought not to contend with great ve- 
 hemency of fpirit about this quciiion. 
 
 X. This point is therefore eltablilhed : God pro- 
 
 * Luke xxiii. 43. f If. lxvi, 1. 
 
 N 2 
 
ioo Of the Promises of the Book L 
 Whether this pro- mifed to Adam eternal life. Here it 
 
 God Wre 'ood m ^ and ufeS t0 be afked > whence thi * 
 pteafure, or from promife flows, whether from the mere 
 what is fuitable *a good pleafure of the divine will, fo 
 his nature. that God would have acted nowife un- 
 
 worthy of himfelf, had he made no fuch promife to 
 man ; or whether God's making covenant with man 
 in this manner, was from the divine nature, and from 
 what was fuitable to it ? Here indeed I think modefty 
 is requifite. I ihall therefore propofe what I imagine I 
 know or may reafonably think concerning my God, 
 with fear and trembling. Grant me, O God, to fpeak 
 in a holy manner, and becoming thy majefty. 
 
 XL And firft, I lay this down as an acknowledged 
 It is fuppofed, truth, That God owes nothing to his crea- 
 that God owes ture. By no claim, by no law, is he bound 
 nothing to his to reward it. For all that the creature is, 
 creature. - lt owes it wholly to God ; both becaufe 
 
 he created it, and alfo becaufe he is fixed in the high- 
 er! and infinite excellency. Now, where there is 
 fo great a difparity, there is no common ftandard of 
 right, on account of which he who is fuperior in dig- 
 nity is liable to give a reward *. 
 
 XII. I approve, on this fubjecc, of Durandus's rea- 
 The excellent foning, which Ballarmine was not able to 
 reafoning of overturn. " What we are, and what we 
 Durandus. tf have, whether good acts, or gobd ha- 
 *' bits, or practices, are all from the divine bounty 
 <c toward us, freely giving and preferring them. And 
 " becaufe none, after having given freely, is obliged 
 H to give more, but rather the receiver is more ob- 
 " liged to the giver; therefore, from good habits, 
 " and good acts or practices, given us by God, he is 
 ** not bound, by any act of juitice, to give us any 
 < 4 more, fo as, if he mould not give, to be unjuft, 
 <J ; but rather we are obliged to God." 
 
 XIII. Whatever then is promifed to the creature 
 
 ♦ Ronvxi. 35. 36. 
 
Chap. 4- Covenant of WORKS. 101 
 
 by God ought all to be afcribed to the W T, ateveris 
 bounditis goodnefs or God. .Excellently mifedtothe 
 
 crea- 
 
 fpeaks Auguftine *. " God became our ture, is to be a- 
 " debtor, not by receiving anything, knt >ed to the 
 « but by promifing what he pleafed. S oodnefsof God - 
 " For of his own bounty he vouchfafed to make him- 
 «' felf a debtor." Now, fince this goodnefsis natural 
 to God, no lefs than holinefs and juftice ; and it is 
 equally becoming God to act, agreeably to his holinefs, 
 with a holy and innocent creature, as agreeably to his 
 juftice, with a fmful creature; fo, from this confede- 
 ration of the divine goodnefs, 1 imagine the following 
 things may be very plainly inferred. 
 
 XIV. i. That it is unbecoming the goodnefs, nay I 
 would almoft dare to add, and the juji ice 'Tis isconfiftenc 
 of God, to adjudge an innocent creature to *td* the good- 
 bell-torments. Which paradox, not only n * f *J and juftice 
 fome of the fchoolmen, but, I am ferry i^'4°nn 'fnno- 
 to fay, a great divine of our own, with cent creature to 
 a few followers, fern pled not to maintain, eternal tar- 
 Far be it from us to circumicribe by any mems - 
 limits the extenfive power of God over his creatures, 
 by the bounds of a right prefcribed to man, or by the 
 fallacious reafonings of our narrow underftanding. 
 B t be it alio far from us to afcribe any thing to him, 
 Which is unbecoming his immenfe good nefs and un- 
 tainted juftice. Elihu with great propriety joined thefe 
 together. With G;d is terrible majcjly. touching the 
 Almighty, we cannot find him out : he is excellent in power, 
 and in judgement, and in plenty cf juftice ; he will not 
 afflicl f • Truly, if God could thus torment an innocent 
 tare, he would mew he was not pleafed with the 
 holinefs of the creature ; as whom he would not only 
 debar from communion with himfelf, but alfo give 
 Up to be torn in pieces by his enemies. When lie 
 deflroys the wicked, he makes it plainly appear, 
 that he is not delighted with wickednefs, nay, in 
 pture-phrafe, hates it }. Should he therefore in 
 the fame manner torment the pious, lie would teiiify 
 .16. \ job x.,xvii. 22. 23. ; Hal. v. 5. 
 
102 Of the Promises of the Bookl. 
 
 by this, that he did not delight in piety, but rather 
 hated it. Which none without blafphcmy can con- 
 ceive of God. And what elfe, pray, are the infernal 
 pains ? Are they not a privation of divine love ? a 
 fenfe of divine hatred ? the worm of confeience ? de- 
 fpair of recovering God's favour? How is it poflible, 
 without a manifeft contradiction, to conceive this e- 
 ver to be the cafe of an innocent creature ? I confefs 
 it ftruck me with horror, when I obferved the moft 
 fubtil Twifs, in order to defend this paradox, chufe 
 rather to maintain, it were better to be eternally 
 miferable, and endure the torments of hell, than 
 not to exift at all ; and when he objected to himfelf 
 the authority of our Saviour, plainly aflirming of 
 Judas, It had been good for that ?nan, if he had not been 
 born *, that he did not blufh to anfwer, that " many 
 " things are faid in fcripture in a figurative and hy- 
 c: perbolical manner, nay a great many things accom- 
 " modated to the fenfe of the vulgar, and even to 
 u human judgment, though erroneous ;" which he 
 applies to this fentence of our Saviour f . To what 
 length is not even the moft prudent hurried, when he 
 gives too much way to his own fpeculations ? I think 
 Sophocles formed a founder judgment than the very 
 acute Twifs, when he faid, " Better not to be, than to 
 " live miferable." And jJEfchylus, in Ixion, " I 
 " think it had been better for that man who fufFers 
 " intolerable pains never to have been born, than to 
 ci have exifted." Bernard fpeaks excellently to the 
 fame purpofe J. " It is not to be doubted, but it will 
 " be much worfe with thofc who will be in fuch a 
 " ftate [of mifery], than with thofe who will have 
 " no exiftence." For, as he fays jj, " the foul placed 
 " in that ftate, lofes its happinefs, without lofing its 
 " being : whereby it is always conftrained to fufFer 
 " death without dying, failure without failing, and 
 iC an end without a period." 
 
 * Matth. xxvi. 24. tDeelett. p. 2. 1. 1. § 4. p. 178. 179. % Ad 
 Eugen. de confider. 1. 5. || In Cant. fer. 35. ^ 
 
Chap.4- Covenant of WORKS. 103 
 
 XV. 2. God alfo cannot, from this his goodnefs, 
 rcfufe to communicate himfelf, and it is worthy of 
 give the enjoyment of himfelf, to an in- God to give 
 nocent and holy creature, or to love and ^ 3^ 
 favour it in the moft tender manner, an hoIy crca . 
 while it has a being, and is fuch, accord- tare, becaufe 
 in? to its condition. For a holy creature he cannot but 
 is the image of God himfelf. Now, God lovc hira ' 
 loves himfelf in the moft ardent manner, as being the 
 chief good ; which he would not be, if he did not 
 love himfelf above all. The confequence therefore is, 
 he muft alfo love his own image, in which he has ex- 
 preffed to the life himfelf, and, what is mofl amiable 
 in him, his own holinefs. With what fhew of de- 
 cency could he command the other creatures to love 
 fuch as are holy, if he himfelf did not judge them 
 amiable ? Or if he judged them fo, how is it poflible 
 he mould not love them himfelf? 
 
 XVI. Further, God does not love in vain. It is the 
 character of a lover, to wifh well i t i s t h e property of a 
 to, and, where ability is not want- lover, to do good to 
 ing to his will, to do good to the him whom he loves - 
 object of his love. Now, in the good-will of God con- 
 fifts both the foul's life and welfare. And as nothing 
 can hinder his actually doing good to thofe to whom 
 he wifhes well ; it follows, that a holy creature, which 
 he neceffarily loves from the goodnefs of his nature, 
 muft alfo enjoy the fruits of that divine love. 
 
 XVII. Beiides, it is the nature of lovc, to feek u- 
 nion and communion with the per- 
 
 fon beloved. He does not love in A"d to communicate 
 
 . , r himlclr to mm. 
 
 reality, who delires not to commu- 
 nicate himfelf to the object of his affection. Now, e- 
 very one communicates himfelf juft as he is. God, 
 therefore^ being undoubtedly happy, makes the crea- 
 ture, which he loves, and honours with communion 
 with himfelf, a partaker of his happinefs. I fay, he 
 makes the creature happy, in proportion to the ftatf 
 in which he would have it to be. All thefc t! 
 
104 Of the Promises of the Book!. 
 
 follow from that love, which, we have fhewn, God 
 does, in confequence of his infinite goodnefs, necefTa- 
 rily bear to the creature which is innocent and holy. 
 XVII. The fame thing may be demonftrated in ano- 
 
 «' , , , , . . ; . o ther manner, and, if I mif- 
 
 Neither does he excite that thirft . i n . • J! , , a ,, 
 which he will not quench. take not, i neon tell ably, as 
 
 follows : 1 he fum of the di- 
 vine commandments is this : Love me above all things : 
 that is, efteem me as thy only chief good : hunger and 
 third after me : in me alone place the whole of thy 
 happinefs : feek me above all things ; and nothing be- 
 sides me, but in fo far as it has a relation to me. Now, 
 how can it be conceived, that God mould thus fpeak 
 to the foul, and the foul mould religioufly attend to 
 and diligently perform this, and yet never enjoy God ? 
 Is it becoming the mod holy and thrice excellent G )d, 
 to fay to his holy creature, (fuch as we now fuppofe 
 it), Look upon me as thy chief good ; but know, I 
 neither am, nor ever fhall be, fuch to thee. Long af- 
 ter me, but on condition, thou never obtain thy dc- 
 fire. Hunger and thirft after me ; but only to be for 
 ever difappointed, and never fatisfied. Seek me above 
 all things ; but feek me in vain, who am never to be 
 found ? He does not know God, who imagines, that 
 fuch things are worthy of him. 
 
 XIX. Finally, if it cannot be inferred from the very 
 
 VT ,. . nC n , nature of the divine eood- 
 
 Nothmg more unworthy of God, p . 
 
 thantocaufe, that the more holy nels, that CrOd Jhould give 
 
 a creature is, he Ihould be the himfelf to be enjoyed by a 
 more miferable, hoty creature, in proportion 
 
 to its ftate ; it is poffible, notwithftanding the good- 
 nefs of God, that the more holy a creature is, the 
 more miferable it may be. Which I prove thus : The 
 more holy any one is, he loves God with the greater 
 intenfenefs of all his powers. The more he loves, the 
 more he longs, hungers, and thirfts after him. The 
 more intenfe the hunger and thirft, the more intole- 
 rable the pain, unlefs he finds wherewith to be fatis- 
 fied. If therefore this thirft be great to the higheft de- 
 
Chap. 4- Covenant of WORKS. 105 
 
 gree, the want of what is fo ardently deiired, wil 
 caufe an incredible pain. Whence is inferred, that 
 God cannot, confidently with his goodnefs, refufe to 
 grant to his holy creature the communion of himfelf.* 
 Unlefs we yield this, it will follow* that, notwith- 
 ftanding the goodnefs of God, it is pofiible for the 
 higheft degree of holinefs to become the higheft pitch 
 of mifery to the creature. 
 
 XX. But let it be again inculcated here, (of which 
 
 we gave a hint in § 8.) t&at The promife of the covenant 
 this communion Ot God, Of contains greater happinefs than 
 which we are fpeaking, which that in which Adam was crea* 
 the goodnefs of the Supreme ted * 
 Being requires to be beftowed on a holy creature, is 
 not all the promife of the covenant ; which is at length 
 to be given upon fulfilling the condition. For that is 
 not to be reckoned among the promifes of the cove- 
 nant, which God gives his creature now, before he 
 has performed the conditions of the covenant. Ano- 
 ther and a far greater thing he promifes, after the con- 
 ftancy of his obedience is tried, to which the creature 
 acquires fome right, not fimply becaufe it is holy, (for 
 fuch it came out of the hands of its Creator), but be- 
 caufe it has now added conftancy to holinefs, being 
 fufliciently tried to the fatisfaction of its Lord. The 
 promifes therefore of the covenant contain greater 
 things than this communion and fruition of God, of 
 whatfoever kind it be, which Adam already enjoyed, 
 while ftill in a ftate of trial. A farther degree of hap- 
 pinefs, confifting in the full and immediate enjoyment 
 of God, and in a merely fpiritual ftate, to laft for ever, 
 was propofed to him, which the fcripture ufually fets 
 forth under the title of eternal life. 
 
 XXI. And this is the proper queftion, Whether the 
 promife of eternal life, to be , T7 , , - A - r c 
 
 * ' Whether the promife of eter- 
 
 entcred upon by all after run- D al life Hows from God's natu- 
 
 ning the COUrfe of Obedience, ral goodnefs, or from the pica- 
 flows from the natural good- furc of his ^erality. 
 - nefs of God, or whether it is of free and liberal good 
 Vol. I. | O 
 
io6 Of the Promises of the Book I. 
 
 pleafure ? In which queftion indeed I know not, whe- 
 ther it is not fafeft to flop, till, coming to fee God 
 face to face, we may attain a fuller knowledge of all his 
 perfections, and more cleirly difcern what is worthy 
 of them. For, on the one hand, it appears to me 
 hard to affirm, and fomewhat too bold, for any one 
 obftinatety to infill, that it would have been unbeco- 
 ming God and his prefections, to covenant with man 
 in this manner ; namely, If thou keepeft my com- 
 mands, I will embrace thee with my favour and mod 
 endearing love ; I will not only fave thee from all 
 trouble, but alfo blefs thee with an accumulation of e- 
 very benefit, and with the communion of myfelf; 
 till, having honeftly difcharged thy part, and being 
 enriched with an ample enough reward, I will at 
 length fay, Now return to that nothing out of which 
 thou wait created ; aud-my will is, that this my laft 
 command be no lefs chearfully obeyed than the others, 
 left, by this laft act of difobedience, thou fhouldft for- 
 feit all the praife of thy former obedience. Has the 
 creature any caufe to complain of fuch a flipulation ? 
 Nay, why ihould he not rejoice in it, iince it is far 
 better to have exifted for fome ages, and to have been 
 holy and happy, than never to have exifted at all ? 
 
 XXII. On the other hand, I can fcarce fatisfy my- 
 And yet it felf in removing fome difficulties. For fince 
 is hard to (as we before proved) God does, through his 
 £eny it. natural goodnefs, moft ardently love a holy 
 creature, as the lively image of himfeif, how can he 
 prevail on this his goodnefs to deftroy that image, and 
 undo his own work ? Is it good unto thee, that thou 
 Jbouldjl defpife the work of thine hands, which deferves 
 nofoch treatment * ? If it is good, and for the glory 
 of God, to Save made a creature to glorify himfeif ; 
 will it be good, and for the glory of God, to annihi- 
 late a creature that glorifies him ? and thus in fact to 
 fay, Thou {halt not any more glorify me for ever ? 
 Beiides, as God himfeif has created the moft intenle 
 
 • Jobx. 3. 
 
Chap. 4. Covenant of WORKS. 107 
 
 dcfire of eternity in the foul, and at the fame time has 
 commanded it to be carried out towards himfelf, as its 
 eternal good ; is it becoming God to fruftrate fuch a 
 defire, commanded and excited by himfelf? Moreo- 
 ver, we have faid, that it is a contradiction, for any to 
 /uppofe God addrefling himfelf to a holy foul in the 
 following words : Hunger after mc, but on condition 
 you do not enjoy me. Yet in the moment we conceive 
 the holy creature juft finking into annihilation, it 
 would, in confequence of that divine command, hun- 
 ger and thirft after God, without any hope of enjoy- 
 ing him again for ever. Unlefs one would chute to 
 affirm, that God at length will fay to that foul, Long 
 hot for me any more, but acquiefce in this demonfh a- 
 tion of my fupreme dominion, by which I order thee 
 to return to nothing. But I confefs I cannot compre- 
 hend, how it is poflible, that a holy creature is not 
 bound to confider God as its fupreme good, and con- 
 fequently pant after the enjoyment of him. 
 
 XXIII. O Lord Jehovah, how little is it that we 
 poor mortals know of thy fupreme Deity, and 
 thy incomprehenfible perfections ! How lit- ^q c 
 tie do our thoughts of thee correfpond to the 
 immenfity of thy ciTence, of thy perfections, and of 
 thy fovereignty over the creatures ! What mortal can 
 take upon him to circumfcribe within his own limits, 
 where thou doft not lead the way ! This we know, 
 Lord, that thou art indebted to none, and tint there 
 is none who can fay to thee, What dolt thou, and why 
 dolt thou f o ? that ihou art alfo holy, and infinitely 
 good, and therefore a lover and rewarder of holinef>. 
 May the confeioufnefs of our ignorance in other things 
 kindle in our hearts an ineffable defire of that beatific 
 vifion, by which, knowing as we are known, we may, 
 in the abyfsof thy infinity, behold thofe things, which 
 we cannot now reach by any thought. 
 
 O z 
 
 An addrefc 
 
10S Of the PENAL Bookl, 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the Penal SanBion of the Covenant of Works. 
 
 Thef of h T^ remams > tf* at w e confider the penal 
 rendf^aion. 6 JL fen ft ion, expreffed by the Lord in 
 thefe words : For in the day that thou eat" 
 eft thereof (the tree of knowledge of good and evil), 
 thou Jbalt Jurely die *. 
 
 II. Several things are here to be diftinctly noted. 
 „,. r „ I. That all that God here threatens, is 
 
 1 his more fully .1 r 1 tl c r 
 
 explained. t * ie coniequence and puniihment at (in, 
 
 to be inflicted on none but the rebellious 
 and difobedient : and therefore Socinus and his fol- 
 lowers moil abfurdly make the death mentioned in the 
 threatening, a confequence not fp much of fin # as of 
 nature. The words of God v are plain to any man's 
 confeience, which derive death from the eating of the 
 forbidden tree/ 2. Tha*t the fin here expreffed, is a 
 violation not of the natural, but of the fymbolical law, 
 - given to man for the trial of his moft perfect obedience. 
 From whence neverthelefs he could mofteafily gather, 
 that if the tranfgreflion of a precept, whofe univerfal 
 goodnefs depends only on the good pleafure of God, was 
 thustobepunifhed what puniihment does not thetranf- 
 greilion of that law, which is a tranfeript of the moft 
 holy nature of God, deferve ? 3. That it is altogether 
 agreeable to Gold's authority and moft righteous will, 
 ihat there be a certain connection, between the fin and 
 the punifliment, pointed out by thefe words. This 
 alio is indicated by, the ingemination. Dying thou, /halt 
 die ; tha^ is, tho.u fhalt verily, furely, molt certainly 
 die. So that it is not poffibje for the finner to efcape 
 deathj unlefs perhaps a proper fponfor (of which this 
 is nof.fhe place) fhould undergo it in his ftead. 4. 
 That the words of the threatening are general, and 
 tiiat therefore by the term death ought here to be un,* 
 * Gen. ii. 17. 
 
Chap. 5 . SANCTION. 109 
 
 derftood, whatever the fcripture any where fignifies by 
 that name. For who will dare take upon him to limit 
 the extent of the divine threatening, by a certain pre- 
 rogative of his own ? Nay, the words are not only ge- 
 neral, but ingeminated too, that we may well know 
 they are to be taken in their full emphafis or fignifica- 
 tion. 5. That they are fpoken to Adam, in fuch a 
 manner as to be verified in his pofterity alfo : a cer- 
 tain evidence, that Adam fuftaincd the perfon of all 
 his pofterity. 6. That on the very day the fin mould /"-': 
 be committed, this evil would befal man. Juftice re- 
 quired this, and the event has verified it. For, in 
 the very moment that man finned, he became liable to 
 death, and immediately, after finifhing his fin, felt 
 the beginnings both of corporal and fpiritual death. 
 Thele things are expreffed with far greater fimplicity 
 than in the fictions of the Jewifh doctors, according 
 to the account of Ben Jacchi *, who fpeaks thus : " A 
 " thoufand years are as one time, and one day, in the 
 iC fight of the holy and blcfled God, as it isfaidf, For 
 " a thoufand years are in thy Jight but as yejlerday. 
 " And our doctors of blefled memory have laid, that 
 ** Gen. ii. 17. For in the day that thou eatefl thereof \ 
 {* thou /halt furely die, is to be underftood of the day 
 of the holy and blefled ; and that therefore the firtt 
 man did not complete his elay, (did not arrive at his 
 " thoufand th year) ; for that of that day he wanted 
 " feventy years." But this is far fetched, and favours 
 of rabbinical ingenuity. 
 
 111. It will be far more ufeful, a little more accu- 
 rately to examine, what is here meant By death ia un* 
 by the word death. Aod fii ft, it is mod dcrilood, firrt, the 
 obvious, that by that term is denoted death of the body, 
 that corrupt difpofition of the body, by which the foul 
 is conftrained to a feparatipn from it, now unfit for 
 itb 1 elide nee. By this feparation, the good thiugs of 
 the body, which are unhappily doted on, the fruiu 
 pi Jin, and the iinncr's ill-grounded hope, are fnatch- 
 M D.n.ui. 25. f Pfal. xc, 4. 
 
 a 
 
Ho Of the PENAL Bookf. 
 
 ed away at once. God intimates this *, Till thou re* 
 turn unto the ground ; for out of it wafl thou taken : for 
 duft thou art, and unto duft Jhalt thou return. That 
 is, thy body, which was formed out of the earth, mill 
 return to its principles, and be reduced to earth a- 
 gain, into which, by its nature, it is refolvable, as be- 
 ing taken out of the earth. And the reafon why it is 
 actually to be refolved into earth, is, becaufe it really 
 is what God raid, Thou art duft, now corrupted with 
 earthly defires, a Have to a body prone to (in, and ta- 
 ken from duft. In this fenfe Abraham confefles him- 
 felf to be duft and afhes \, that is a finner and a mor- 
 tal. And David fays f, He knowcth Biy our frame, 
 (called, Gen. viii. 21. jm ly 1 an evil frame, which 
 pafTage Kimchi properly directs to be compared with 
 this), he remembereth that we are duft, that is, attached 
 to the ground, and vltioufly addicted to the good 
 things of the earth. From this confideration the pro- 
 phet amplifies the mercy of God, in exercifing it to- 
 wards finners, in whom he finds nothing to deferve 
 his love. And by duft is clearly fignified, the body of 
 fin, If. Ixv. 25. where it is faid of theferpent, the de- 
 vil, now overcome by the kingdom of the Mefliah, 
 Duft Jhall he his food ; he fhall only have the pleafure 
 to deftroy the body, and men of carnal difpofitions. 
 When therefore God, after the entrance of fin, and on 
 account of fin, condemned Adam to the death of the 
 body, it is not to be doubted, but he alfo comprifed 
 this death in the commination. "Unlefs we would ven- 
 ture to aflirm, that God has inflicted greater punish- 
 ments on the finner, than he threatened before the 
 commiflion of fin. 
 
 IV, There is nothing fo furprifing but what a hi- 
 A furprifing turn given to ?unant fancy can devife. There 
 theientenceof condemna- is a certain learned man, wno, 
 tion, making it contain a from the words of Mofes above 
 gcfpd-promife. explained, can extract an extraor- 
 
 dinary promife, and even clearer, and more pregnant 
 * Gen. iii. 19. | Gen. xviii. 27. } Pfal. ciii. 14. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION. m 
 
 with confolation, than the prophecy concerning the 
 
 feed of the woman. He thinks here is pointed out 
 
 the period and boundary of toils ; that the meaning 
 
 is, till thou Jhalt return to this land, to paradife, the ilate 
 
 of happy fouls, from which nnp 1 ?, thou waft carried 
 
 captive. For thus Solomon r^Q 1 ? QYl/5"?> captivated 
 
 to death, and Jeremiah inp 1 ?, thy children carried into 
 
 iaptivity. And he thinks, that the opinion of the 
 
 Jews concerning the gathering the fouls of the pious 
 
 into paradife, has no other paflage or foundation to 
 
 fupport it. But this is the fhameful fally of a wan- 
 
 ton imagination. We take pleafure in what is found 
 
 and fober, and yields fatisfaclion to the conference. 
 
 But to return to our fubjecl. 
 
 V. It is nowife ilrange, that the Socinians, whofe 
 
 practice it is to wreft the fcriptures, x , m 
 
 n 11 ••<-» V. i 11 They are wrong, 
 
 lhoiild contradict this truth, and de- who deny that the 
 
 ny the death of the body to be the pu- death of the body 
 nifhment of fin. Their other perverfe is included inthia 
 hypothefes require this. For, by de- threatenlD S- 
 nying this, they imagine, they can more eafily anfwer 
 our arguments, for original fin taken from the death 
 of infants, and for the fatisfaclion of the Lord Chrili 
 from his own death. And as they impioufly deny the 
 true Godhead of Chrift, they extol this as the moft 
 excellent fign of his fictitious divinity, that he was 
 the firfl preacher, author, and beftower of immorta- 
 lity. Their blafphemies have been largely andfolidly 
 refuted by others. But I am forry, that any learned 
 peribn of our own mould deny, that by the death de- 
 nounced, Gen. ii. 17. the death of the body ought to 
 be underflood ; and who thinks he grants a great deal, 
 when he thus writes: " From which paflage, if any 
 " infill they can prove a manifold kind of death, e- 
 V ternal, lpiritual, and corporal, and other afflictions, 
 u lean ealily fuft'er them to fight with their weapons 
 *' agiinft the enemies, provided they can extort from 
 " them what they want." Thcfe are none of the 
 feeii cxpreflions. Why do we without ncceflity grant 
 
Hi Of the PENAL Book I. 
 
 fo much to our adverfaries ? What praife is it for us, 
 to weaken thofe arguments which have been happily 
 made ufe of in defence of the truth ? This learned per- 
 fon owns, that death is the punifhment of fin, and 
 that it may be evidently proved from the fentence pro- 
 nounced upon Adam, Gen. iii. 19. What reafon is 
 there then not to believe, that the fame death was 
 propofed to man in the preceding threatening ? Are 
 not the words general, and ingeminated on account of 
 their emphafo ? Is not the death of the body exprefsly 
 fet forth by the very fame phrafe, 1 Kings ii. 37. 
 where Solomon tells Shimei, rhQH ITO, Thou Jh alt die 
 the death ? Is not the very found of the words fuch, 
 as a man cannot but have this death of the body come 
 into his mind, unlefs, being entangled with prejudi- 
 ces, he fhouid refufe to underftand here by death, 
 what everyone elfe does, when death is fpoke of ? 
 Is it not alfo highly becoming the divine goodnefs and 
 juftice, to inflict nothing by a condemnatory fentence 
 on a finner, which was not previoufly threatened a- 
 gainft fin ; left haply man fhouid plead in excufe, that 
 he did not know that God would fo highly refent, 
 and fo feverely punifh fin ? And feeing this learned 
 perfon would have eternal death here meant, does not 
 that include the death of the body-? Is the former e- 
 ver inflicted on man, without the latter, by railing 
 him from that death, that the whole man, foul and 
 body, may be eternally miferable ? Why are thus fu- 
 fpicions entertained ; of which,. O grief ! we have but 
 too many ? Icduld wifh we could all cautioufly fpeak, 
 with fear and trembling I The learned gentleman will 
 not, it is hoped, take it amifs, if I here fuggeft to him 
 the very prudent advice of the very learned Cocceius, 
 which in a J^ke cafe he inculcates, on Gen. iii. §. 190. 
 " Thofe of our party," fays he " want we mould 
 u employ ftronger arguments againft the Jews. And 
 " certainly that admonition is good ; namely, when we 
 •* have to do with infidels, we are to make ufe of co- 
 w gent arguments, lift we become th? derifion of 
 
Chap. $. SANCTION. nj 
 
 " infidels, and confirm them in error. But as to the 
 " inculcating of that rule, it is neither fafe nor pru- 
 " dent, eafily and frequently to oppofe it to the ar- 
 f* guments of Ecclefiaftics. For if thereby we refute 
 " them, N. B. we then go over to the fide of the 
 " adverfaries, and we arm them, and teach them tc* 
 " cavil. But if we do not refute them,, but only in- 
 <c culcatethat admonition, an injury is certainly done 
 " both to the difputant and the hearer, and we feem 
 " to allege our own opinion as an argument. Let 
 " every one therefore argue with the utmoft folidi- 
 " ty : if any manifeftly abufes fcripture, let him be 
 " correfted in a brotherly manner, upon pointing out 
 " his fault : for the reft, let the arguments of belie- 
 " vers be thoroughly tried, and not hiffed of the 
 « flage." 
 
 VI. Secondly, by death is here underftood, all that 
 lafting and hard labour, that great for- Death likcwife 
 row, all the tedious miferies of this life, denotes the mife- 
 by which life ceafes to be life, and rifs of thls Iifb - 
 which are the cruel harbingers of certain death. To 
 thefe things man is condemned, Gen. hi. 16. 17. 18. 
 19. The whole of which fentence is founded on the 
 antecedent threatening. Such miferies Pharaoh him- 
 felf called by the name of death *. And David f 
 calls his pain and anguifli, fVO ^IVl, the bands [for- 
 rows] of death ; by which death comes to bind and 
 faften men, that he may thruft them into his dark 
 dungepn. Thus alfo Paul, In deaths often \ ; We are 
 always delivered unto death \\ ; Death ivvrketh in 11s |. 
 As life is not barely to live, but to be happy ; fo death 
 is not to depart this life in a moment, but to languiirk 
 in a long expectation, dread,, and forefight of certain 
 death, without knowing the period of life foreor- 
 dained by God. Finely to this purpofe fays Vicus 
 Mirandula j. " For we begin, fhouldyou ha'ply not 
 " know it, to die then, when we begin firfi. to live ; 
 ♦ Exod. x. ,7. + PW. cxvi. 3. 1 i o Jr . xi . 23 . 
 
 II 2 Cor. iv. 11. 4. 2 Cor. iv. 12. ♦, V, «>„ ct unn , 
 
 VOL. I. j P 
 
U4 ° f THfi PENAL BookT. 
 
 " and death runs parallel with life: and we then firft 
 " ceafe to die, when we are fet free from this mortal 
 " body by the death of the.flefli." 
 But principally VIL Thirdly, death fignifies Spiritual 
 the reparation death, or the feparation of the foul from 
 cr the foul God* Elegantly has Ilidorus Pelufiota 
 from Gcd. defined it : The death of the immortal foul 
 is the departure of the Holy Spirit from it. This is what 
 the Apoftle calls, being alienated from the life of God *, 
 which illuminates, fanctifies, and exhilarates the foul - 
 For the life of the foul confifts in wifdom, and in 
 pure love having the rejoicing of a good confcience. 
 The death of the foul confifts in folly, and through 
 concupifcence to depart from God, and to be tor- 
 mented with the rackings of an evil confcience. Hence 
 the apoftle fays, We are dead in trefpafles and fins f. 
 
 VIII. I would incline to explain this death more 
 This fpiritual death fully ; not indeed in my own words, 
 more fully explained, but in thofe of another, than which 
 1 defpaired to find any more emphaticaj. There is mo- 
 tion in a living body ; and there is alfo in a dead body. 
 But a living body is moved by vegetation, while it is 
 nourifhed, has the ufe of its fenfes, is delighted, and 
 acts with pleafure. "Whereas a dead body is moved 
 by putrefaction to a ftate of diffplution, and to the 
 production of loathfome vermin. Thus in a fouL 
 fpiritually alive there is motion, while it is maintained, 
 fed, and pampered with divine delights, while it takes 
 pleafure in God and true wifdom, while, by the ftrength 
 of its love, it is carried to, and fixed on that which- 
 can fuftain the foul, and give it repofe. But a dead 
 foul has no feeling ; that is, does not underftand truth, 
 loves not righteoufnefs, wallows and is tired out in the 
 fink of concupifcence, teems with the worms of im- 
 pure and abominable thoughts, reafonings, and affec- 
 tions. Men therefore alienated from that fpiritual 
 life, which confifts in the light of wifdom, and the 
 
 * Eph. iv. l& iEph. ii. i. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION, tij 
 
 activity of love, which delights in its own happinefs, 
 and that prefent, are no better than living carcafes ; 
 dead whiljl ivo'ifig * : and hence, in fcripture, are faid 
 to be fpiritually dead. 
 
 IX. The word, ^yy «js?uv, which the fcripture ap. 
 plies to fuch, is both emphaticai and Explication of the 
 of a very fertile fignification. For word 7.13. 
 it denotes, afoot, corrupted in foul and body, void 
 of that fpiritual wifdom, the beginning of which 3 
 the fear of the Lord. Nabal is his name, and folly is 
 with him, is Abigail's character of her hufband f. 
 Thus S3JI is oppofed to CD^n, wife, O foolifb feopk and 
 unwife \. 2. It alfo denotes a wicked per/on ; The fool- 
 ijb people have blafphemed thy name ||. 3. and laftly, It 
 fignifies one in a dead and withered ft ate ; the root JjS 
 denoting to wither and die away |. The flower fadeth. 
 rhM is a dead body \ Thy dead menfisall live +■+. AJl 
 which conjointly denote a man devoid of the wifdom 
 of God, overwhelmed with fin, and deftitute of the life 
 of God ; in a word, faded and breeding worms, like a 
 dead body. In all which things fpiritual death confifts. 
 
 X. This fpiritual death is tb*-fin, and the natural 
 confequence of the firlt fin, that it is at Spiritual dkcfc 
 the fame time threatened as the punifti- is both fiA an4 
 ment of fin. For in fo far as it renders a pufii.nment. 
 man vile, entirely unfit for thofe works, which a. 
 lone are worthy or him, like the brute creatures, nay 
 like the devil himfelf, unlike God, the only bleffld, and 
 coniequently highly miferable, it mull be the MfrbJ 
 tft puniflhment of fin, 
 
 XI. Fourthly and laftly, Eternal death is alfo here 
 intended. The preludes of which, in this Eternal de.it i 
 life, are the terrors and anguifh of an evil ^ cc ^^ thi*. 
 conscience, the abandoning of the foul, deprived of 
 all divine conlolation, and the fenfe of the divine 
 wrath, under which it is miferably prcfled down, 
 
 • 1 Tim. v. 6. I 1 S.im. xxr. 2$. J Deu\ XtxiS. 6. 
 
 U PC lxxiv. 1$. 4 h - *»• 7- ~ ii'. xxv;. 10 
 
 r % 
 
n6 Of the PENAL Book I. 
 
 There will enfue upon this the tranflation of the foul 
 to a place of torments * ; where fhall he the hiding 
 of God's face, the want qf his glorious prefence, and 
 a moft intenfe- feeling of the wrath of God, to laft 
 for ever, together with horrible defpair f . At laft 
 will fucceed, after the end of the world, the refur- 
 rection of the body to eternal punifliment J. 
 
 XII. And here again, the divinity of the Socinians, 
 The opinion of whom the Remonftrants rival, thwarts 
 the Remonftrants. the truth ; maintaining ||, " that by 
 <c thefe words, Thou Jbalt fur ely die y or by any o- 
 " thers elfewhere, Adam was not threatened with e- 
 " ternal death, in the fenfe of the Evangelifts (or 
 " Proteftants), fo as to comprife the eternal death of 
 " body and foul, together with the punifliment of 
 " fenfe ; but directly corporal death only, or a fepa- 
 " ration of foul and body ; which all the evils difpo- 
 4C fing to death do precede ; and upon which, at 
 " length, the eternal punifliment of lofs, that is, 
 " the privation of the vifion of God, qr of grace 
 " and glory, will enfue.'' Another of that clafs, 
 who examined in. French the doctrine of Amyrald 
 and Teftard, violently contends, that in the law there 
 is no mention of the fenfe of infernal pains, hut that 
 it is peculiar to the gqfpel, and threatened at laft a- 
 gainft the profane defpifers thereof j. Though elfe- 
 where he adds thofe " who ftifle the light of reafon, 
 " or hold the truth in unrighteoufnefs, the more free- 
 " ly to fulfil the lufts of tlieflefti." As toothers, he 
 thinks that a " middle ftate is to be afligned them, 
 " into which they may be received, different from 
 " the kingdom of heaven, and the damnation of hell- 
 • " fire : fuch as, perhaps, that they are for ever to re- 
 " main in the duft, to which they are to he reduced, 
 f* and from thence never to arife -t-^." 
 
 XIII. Thefe things are the. rankeft poifon. For 
 
 * Lukexvi. 23. — 25. f Rev. xiv \\. % Ads xxiv. 15. 
 
 || Ap. p. 57. + p. 59. & \ 14. ++ Curcellaeus, difiert. de ncwfl*. 
 fpgmt. Chriltian. § 5. 
 
,Chap. $. SANCTION. 117 
 
 either they tend to this, that they The punifhment of 
 would have the foul of a finner to be |° rs f in lhe fur , vivin S 
 
 m j t\ j j -l-1 * j foul, cannot but be 
 
 cut oft, deltroyed, and annihilated; accompanie d with 
 like fome of the Jews, and Maimo- the punifhment of 
 nides himfelf, as quoted by Abarbanel, knfe. 
 who place eternal death in this, that the foul Jhall 
 he cut off-, Jhall perijk, and not furvive * ; from which 
 leaven of the Epicureans and Sadducees the Socinians 
 profefs themfelves not averfe : or elfe they affert what , 
 is Jfae moft abfurd, repugnant, and Mhb*ar weaken 
 the whole authority of the icripture. For it can by 
 no means be conceived, that the foul of man fhould 
 continue in a Hate of exiftence, excluded from the 
 beatific vifion of God, deprived of the fenfe of his 
 grace and glory, and not be moft grievoufly tor- 
 tured with the lofs of this chief good ; and this the 
 rather, when confeience upbraids the foul, which, 
 through its own folly, was the caufe of all this mifery, 
 and torments it with the molt dire defpair of ever ob- 
 taining any happinefs. And feeing God does not ex- 
 clude man from the vifion of his face, where is ful- 
 nefs of joy, without the jufteftdifpleafure, a holy in- 
 dignation, and an ardent zeal againft fin and the fin- 
 ner; the privation of this fupreme happinefs, pro- 
 ceeding from the wrath of God, cannot but be joined 
 with a fenfe of the divine wrath and malediction* 
 Thefe things follow from the very nature of the foul, 
 and deferve a fuller illuftration. 
 
 XIV. The foul of man was formed for f . . 
 
 God, as the fupreme truth, truth iff If ^Td^l, to 
 to be contemplated in his mind, and to be for everexclu- 
 be Ibught alter with all his foul and af- ded from the en~ 
 
 fcaion, as the fupreme good, voodnefs it- J°y m / nt °/ * c 
 r,r i • ,u 1 t s 1 • chief eoo4. 
 
 felf ; and it then truly lives, when it * 
 
 delights in the contemplation of that truth, and in 
 
 ~ the fruition of that goodnefs. But when, by the juft 
 
 fentence of a defpifed Deny, it is excluded from that 
 
 molt pleafant contemplation of truth, and molt de- 
 
 • in Mai. iv. 
 
fig Of the PENAL Book!. 
 
 lightful fruition of goodnefs, it muft own itfelf to be 
 dead. And as it is delightful to enjoy a good 
 extremely defirable and defired, fo it muft be as af- 
 flicting and painful to be difappointed of it. But 
 fince the foul, which is a fpiritual fubftance, endued 
 with underftanding and will, cannot be without the 
 active exercife of thefe faculties, efpecially when let 
 loofe from the fetters of the body ; it muft neceflfari- 
 ly feel itfelf miferable, by the privation of the 
 chief good ; and, being confcious of its mifery, muft 
 molt bitterly bewail the want of that good, which 
 it was formed to long after. To fuppofe a foul having 
 neither underftanding nor will, is to fuppofe a foul not 
 to be a foul : juft as if one mould fuppofe a body with- 
 out quantity and extenfion. Again, to fuppofe a foul 
 fenfible of its mifery, and not grieved becaufe of it, 
 is contrary to the nature both of the foul and of mi- 
 fery. It is then a fixed point, that the punifhment of 
 lofs in a human foul without the punifhment of fenfe, 
 is a fenfelefs and felf-deftroying fiction. 
 
 XV. Further, as the foul cannot be ignorant that 
 
 A a» , God is infinitely eood, and that it is the 
 
 As this proceeds _ { ° r ' 
 
 from God's hatred nature or goodneis to be commumca- 
 and wrath, there tive ; it thence certainly gathers, that 
 muil be a fenfe of fomething exceedingly contrary to God 
 lt# muft be found in itfelf, which he has 
 
 the moft dreadful deteftation of, and on account of 
 which that infinitely-good one can have no commu- 
 nion with his creature : and confequently that that 
 non-communion is a moft evident fign and fad effect: 
 of the divine difpleafure, depriving man of the frui- 
 tion of that good, by which alone he could be render-* 
 cd happy. And thus in this punifhment of lofs there 
 is an exquifite fenfe of the wrath of God : with which 
 no torments of the body by material fire can be com- 
 pared. 
 
 XVI. Befides, feeing the foul is confcious to itfelf, 
 There is likewife the that by its fins it is the caufe of this 
 tormenting upbraid- mifery, it becomes enraged againft 
 ing oi confidence, itfelf, accufes, abhors, tears itfelf, 
 
Chap. 5- SANCTION. 119 
 
 acts the part of a tormentor againft itfelf, and under 
 this lafh more feverely fmarts, than any criminal un- 
 der the hands of the moft unrelenting executioner. 
 Add to this, that all hope of a happy reftitution be- 
 ing cut off, and being racked with horrid defpair, it is 
 condemned to be eternally miferable. All thefe things 
 are fo clofely connected, as to make thetnfelves ma- 
 nifeft to every confcience, upon a diligent atten- 
 tion. 
 
 XVII. The fame things the fcripture exprefsly 
 teaches, when it fpeaks of eternal The fcriptures men- 
 punifhment *, and torments f , of the tion eternal torments. 
 worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched \ y 
 and the like ; which expreffions are too ftrong, to be 
 underftood of the punifhment of lofs only, without 
 that of fenfe. 
 
 XVIII. And it is abfurd to fay, that this punifh- 
 ment is threatened only againfl the Which awak all im- 
 defpifers of the gofpel, feeing Paul penitent Tinners, 
 teftifies, that Chrift will come, in flaming fire, taking 
 vengeance ', not only on them that obey not the gofpel, buc 
 on them that know not God ||. Compare 1 ThefT. iv. 5. 
 T.he Gentiles which know not God. Such, namely, who 
 would not know God even from the works of crea- 
 tion, and did not like to retain God in their know- 
 ledge j* Such as whom the very power of truth obli- 
 ged Curcellceus to fay —*-, Thefe are altogether inexcu- 
 fable before God ; and it therefore does not appear wonder- 
 ful, if hereafter he Jhould confign them to the puni fo- 
 ment of eternal fire. And furely our adverfaries 
 will not fay, that the gofpel was preached to thofe of 
 Sodom and Gomorrha, and the neighbouring cities. 
 Of them however Jude writes =, that they are fit 
 forth for an example, fit ffe ring the vengeance of eternal 
 fire. Which words are not to be fo interpreted, as to 
 be reftriefced to that fire, wherewith thofe cities were 
 
 • Matth. xxv. 46. f Luke xvi. 23, 28. \ Mark ix. 44. 
 
 || 2 Then 1 , i. 8. 4 Rom. i. 28. *-t Loco citato. 
 
 = Vcr. 7. 
 
ixo Of the PENAL BookL 
 
 burnt, but to be extended to the flames of hell, with 
 which the lewd inhabitants of thofe cities are at this 
 very day tormented. Thofe things are to be diftin- 
 guifhed, which the very nature of the thing teaches 
 to be diftinct. We are to underftand> their giving 
 themfelves over to fornication, and going after ftrangt 
 flejh, of the inhabitants, and not of the towns. It is 
 true of both, that they were burnt with fire : which, 
 with refpecr. to the towns , may in fome meafure be faid 
 to be eternal^ they being fo confumed, as that they ne- 
 ver fhall or can be reftored. But it is truly eternal 'with 
 refpecr. to the inhabitants, who, by that vengeance of 
 God, were not annihilated ; but at the time when the 
 apoftle wrote, having been caft headlong into everlaft- 
 ing pain and torment, fuffered the punifliment of that 
 fire. For the portion of whoremongers is in the lake 
 which burneth with fire and brim/lone *. So thefe cities 
 are an emblem or type of eternal fire ; but their wick- 
 ed inhabitants fuffer the vengeance of eternal fire, and 
 fp both are for fctypA, an example, (Peter fays, vW^o^** 
 •an enf ample \), by which we are reminded, what whore- 
 mongers are to expech 
 
 XIX. Tp this purpofe alfb Chrift exprefsly declares, 
 To which they (hall be con- that all thofe who fhall be pla- 
 demned in the lad judgment, ced on his left hand, and not 
 which is univerfal. declared heirs of eternal life, 
 
 ihall, by a righteous fentence, be condemned to ever- 
 lajling fire, which is prepared for the devil and his an* 
 gels | ; which fire is explained to be mx&w «w*Jpr, e* 
 verlajting punijhment j|. We cannot approve what Cur- 
 celkeus \ has written ; that in " Matthew is not defcri- 
 «' bed a judgment in every refpect univerfal, of all 
 " who ever had exifted, but only of thofe who made 
 " a profeffion of the Chriftian religion ; fome of whom 
 " behaved becoming; the gofpel, others not." Thefe 
 are expreflions not of the belt ftamp. For fhall not 
 that judgment be univerfal, which our Lord extends 
 
 • Rev.xxi. 8. t 2Pet,ii. 6. % Maith. xxv. 41. It Ver. 46. 
 4 In the faid diilertation, § 6. 
 
Chap./. SANCTION. rat 
 
 to all nations |j ? to all the tribes of the earth | ? in which 
 every eye J!: all fee Chrift the Judge -t- ? in which, ac- 
 cording to Paul-*) he will judge the world? in which 
 both fea, and death, and hell will deliver up their dead 
 to be judged ->-»-? in which fhall be accomplifhed the 
 prediction, which God folemnly confirmed by oath, 
 faying, Every knee fhall bow to me, and every tongue flmll 
 confefs to God = ? in which even the men of Nineveh and 
 the queen of the South lhall rife to condemn the wicked 
 Jews**? and their portion of torment be afligned to 
 thofe of Tyre, and Sidon, and Sodom -ff ? in which 
 ihall be inflicted on that fervant, who knew not his ma- 
 Jler's will, and did commit things worthy of flripes, his 
 due meafure of flripes }{? in which, in fine, they who 
 finned without law, flmll perifh without law }j|j ? To re* 
 iirict all thefe things to thofe to whom the gofpel has 
 been preached, is for a man to make (port with icrip- 
 ture. But God will not be fported with. 
 
 XX. If Curcellseus mould perhaps reply, that he de- 
 nies not an univerfal judgment to come, 
 but that it is not defcnbed in Matth. xxv. Th ° Curc ; lla> 
 
 . r rr . i • i i us denies cms. 
 
 nor in thole pafiages, in which the men 
 to be judged are divided into4wo clailes, as John v. 
 28. 29. 2 ThefT. i. 6. £cc. I anfwer, 1. That the fcrip- 
 ture makes no mention but of one judgment, to be 
 held on the laft day ; nor are we any where taught, 
 that a different tribunal' is to be erected for thofe, to 
 whom the gofpel was not preached, and for thofe to 
 whom it was. Paul preached of the judgment to come *, 
 in the lingular number; and in like manner, of eter- 
 nal judgment \ . 2 . The pafiages alleged have the marks 
 of univerfahty affixed to them. For it is (iiid, Johd 
 v. 28. All that are in the graves fhall hear the voice cf 
 the Son of man ; and, ver. 29. this univerfaiity is not 
 to be divided into thofe, who either by faith received 
 
 lj Maith. xxv. 32. I Matth. xxlv. 50. «- Rev. i. 7. 
 
 -+- Atts xvii. 31. «-► Rev. x*. 1 ;. «= R m. >:iv. 1 1 . 
 
 ♦♦Matth xfi.4l.4r, ft Manh. xi. 22 .2 j. \\ Luke xii. 48. 
 
 Rom. ii. 12. • Aaitxiv. 25. r *^ b w« I, 
 
 Vol. I. t r >L 
 
122. Of the PENAL Book I. 
 
 the gofpel preached to them, or perverfely rejected it ; 
 but into thofe who have done good or evil, without men- 
 tioning the gofpel in the lealt. And, 2 ThefT. i. 6. 
 &c. the punimment of eternal deftruction will be in- 
 Hided, by the fentence of the Judge, not only on 
 thofe who were difobedient to the gofpel, but alfo on thofe 
 who knew not God, viz. "God the Creator, to the 
 " knowledge and worfhip of whom nature alone might 
 " have led men, unlefs they had extinguiflied its light 
 " through their wickednefs," as Curcelkeus himfelf 
 explains it. 3. Nor is it any thing lingular to diftri- 
 bute the perfons to be judged into two clafles, buc 
 common in every judgment concerning the whole hu- 
 man race : of which there are but two diflimilar bo- 
 dies, either of thofe to be acquitted, or thofe to be 
 condemned. The fcripture knows nothing of an in- 
 termediate ftate. 
 
 XXI. The only thing fpecious adduced by Curcel- 
 Whobvaln feeks keus, is this, that Chrift. cannot up- 
 for fapport in braid thofe who knew nothing of his 
 Chriit's words. will, thus, I was an hungry, &c. But 
 we anfwer, 1 . That what Chrift here fpeaks, does not 
 comprize the whole procefs of the judgment, but on- 
 ly mentions this by way of example. For who doubts, 
 that more things are to be coniidered in this judgment, 
 even with refpecl to thofe to whom the gofpel was 
 preached, than barely thofe effects of charity towards 
 the godly, when in diftrefs ? 2. The fcripture declares, 
 that all the ad ions of all perfons fhall be tried in this 
 judgment * ; even words f, both the idle J and hard\\ 
 nay, even the fecrets of the heart j. 3. It is not our 
 buiinefs to determine with what the Judge may juftly 
 upbraid the damned. It is plain, he will upbraid them 
 with thofe things at leaft, which they mail hear with 
 the moft dreadful amazement. And feeing all thofe 
 to be damned have difcovered many evidences of an 
 
 * Eccl. xii. 14. 2 Cor. v. 10. Rom. ii. 5. 6. &c. 
 f Matth .xii. 37, % Vcr. 36. |l Jud. ver. 14. 15. 4 Rem. ii. 15. 16. 
 j Cor. iv. 5. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTIO N. 123 
 
 unrelenting, unmerciful, and unbeneficent difpofition ; 
 who of us fhail dare to forbid Chrift to interpret this 
 their conduct, as if they would have fhewn himfelf no 
 kind of companion, had he come among them in per- 
 ion ? 4. and laftly, Granting that Chrift may not up- 
 braid all the wicked with this, yet it does not follow 
 from thence, that they will not come into this judg- 
 ment ; becaufe there are many other things, on ac- 
 count of which they (hall be condemned, which, the 
 fcripture elfewhere teaches, are to be tried in this 
 judgment, though in this fummary Chrift makes no 
 mention of them. There is nothing to oblige us to 
 believe, that every thing relative to this judgment, is 
 to be learned from this paffage alone. Other teftimo- 
 nies of fcripture are to be confulted, which treat on 
 the fame fubject. 
 
 XXII. It remains, that we inquire, whence this pe- 
 nal fanction is to be derived ; whether ^, •«.*.* 
 
 r 1 r 1 1 » 1 r The pumlh.Tient ot 
 
 from the iole and mere good pleaiure finis founded in the 
 of the divine will, or from the natural very nature of God, - 
 and immutable juftice of God, which and > n . w » PVucaJ 
 it would have been unbecoming to l er{edl0 '' s - 
 have ordered otherwife. I will not now repeat what 
 the antagonifts of the Socinians have fully and happily 
 illuftrated concerning vindictive juftice, as a property 
 eflential to God, and the neceflity of its exerciie in cale 
 of lin. Firft, I mall only propofe fome arguments, 
 by which I think this general proportion may be molt 
 evidently demonftrated, that it has a foundation in 
 God*s very nature and immutable right, not to let fin 
 go unpunilhed ; and then more fpecially inquire in- 
 to the eternity of punifhment. 
 
 XXIII. And firft, let us confiderthe infinite majefiy 
 of God, and his fupreme excellence above c ,, . . 
 all things ; which is fo illuiirious, that it f de , r l0 ^m. 
 obliges rational creatures, capable of that he ctmx 
 knowing it, to obey and ferve him, as faner it tobcin- 
 we proved, chap.nii. § 8. So that as J urcd f wkh im * 
 otten as they act contrary in the lcau to 
 
T24 Of the PENAL Bookl. 
 
 this obedience, they directly make themfelves guilty 
 of high treafon againft the divine majefty, and conse- 
 quently, for neglect of obedience, are bound over to 
 a vicarious punifhment. For " the finner," as Tho- 
 mas [Aquinas] juftly faid, " as much as in him lies, 
 " deflroys God and his attributes/' flighting that ma- 
 jelly of God, to which it is neceflary that all things 
 be fubjecf., from the confideration both of God and the 
 creatures. Now, it is altogether impoiiible, that God 
 mould not love, in the tendered manner, himfelf, his 
 majefty, and his glory. And he cannot but refent a- 
 ny injury done to what he thus loves. And therefore 
 he calls himfelf, N:p l 7K, a jealous God, and declares that 
 this is his name *. But n*Op denotes refent ment fcr 
 the dear eft thing : and hence j calcify and great fury are 
 joined together f M But he is chiefly jealous for his 
 name, that is, that he be made known to men as he is, 
 And icill be jealous for my holy name {. In which name even 
 this is contained, And will by na means clear the guilty ||. 
 XXIV. We may otherwife too argue from the ina- 
 jelly °f God, and in this manner. It is 
 
 i^^hlcfsc^he ^grtthcv impn/nble, that ^Qdfioulddeny 
 deny it, vWich W p ^ . ' J / 
 
 h« would feem to himfelf +. That is, he cannot dillemble 
 do if he differed his own perfections, or do any thing to 
 any injury done m ^ e ki m appear to be what he is not, 
 n go unpumfh- or that he i$ not ppg^fo) of properties 
 truly divine : and that becaufe he is him* 
 ftlf the archetype and exemplar of the intelligent crea-* 
 ture, whofe province it is to fhew to the creature, in 
 his works, his nature, dignity, prerogative, and ex- 
 cellence. He would therefore deny himfelf if he 
 mould conceal his majefty, much more it he mould 
 fuffer man to flight it, which is done by every fin. 
 For the finner behaves io in his prefence, as if there 
 were no Gcd, to whom he owed obedience ; nay, as 
 if he himfelf was God, who could difpofe of himfelf, 
 his faculties, and other things in which he fins, at 
 
 * Exod. xxxiv. 14. -f Zech. viii. 2. J Ezek. xxxix. 25. 
 
 1 -od. x.vxiv. 7. ±2 Tin*, ii. 13. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION. 72; 
 
 his own pleafure, and without any control, faying, 
 Who is lord over me *? Which is truly to fly in the 
 face of the majefty of the Supreme Being. But how 
 can God fuffer this to pafs unpunifhed ? Unlets, we can 
 fuppofe he can bear one to be equal to himfelf, which 
 would be an open denial of his fupremacy, majefty, 
 and excellency. But he then appears glorious to fin- 
 ners, when he punifhes the defpifers of his Deity. 
 Thus f, he fwears, that all the earth fial/ be filled with 
 the glory of God ; namely, by dcflroying, in the wil- 
 dernefs, thole w T ho did not believe, after they had 
 feen the glory of God and his figns. The glory of God 9 
 in this pafiage, figniiies the manifeilation of his jealou- 
 fy again ft thofc who defpifed him, when he does nofc 
 fuller himfelf to be mocked, therefore, as he cannot 
 but feck his own glory, fo he cannot fuller him who 
 profanes his majcfty to go unpuniftied. 
 
 XXV. Secondly, This may be made no lefs evident* 
 ]y to appear from the Mintfs of God, T: :e koKiefi o f 
 and that in more ways than one. Q$fl requ'ues this. 
 
 XXVI. 1. God's holinefs requires this, that he can* 
 
 ~~not admit a finner to union and communi- ~ , 
 
 . . , . r ir . , r . r ». . ror he cannot 
 
 on with himlclr, without futisfacuon to his i i0 jj C ommu- 
 
 jllftice. For \nt jeipy.s]oy», P>b9& fellozvfbip ni.-n with the 
 
 "[participation] hath right eoufnefs with .7,7- S*W- 
 
 tfnefs\t He that touches what is unclean, can 
 
 have no communion with God j|. Him whom God 00 
 
 nites to himfelf, be cauftth to cleave to him as a girdle* 
 
 that he may be unto him for a : fur a praife y 
 
 and for a glory j. But if he ihould thus as it were 
 
 gird the (inner to himfelf, without a previous fatisfac- 
 
 tion, by which the guilt of /in is removed, h&4 
 
 lineis it lei f would as it were he girded to, clothed and 
 
 tided with fin : which is a plain conti idicrioD« It 4* 
 
 frene indeed, that God offered I tings to linful 
 
 Ifrad; but that was done by * 0! the covenant 
 
 ■, which fuppofes a due aion. No; 
 
 ; - '•'»'• 5- f Numb. xir. zo. ; z Ccr. vi. 14. 
 
 ';. { let, xiii. i 1. 
 
126 Of the PENAL Book L 
 
 ■we to imagine, that this union, which God defcribes 
 in fuch magnificent language, was the lot of any o- 
 thers, in its full emphafis and fpiritual import, but of 
 thofe who were internally in covenant. Compare 
 Deut. xxvi. 19. If you object, that it is really unbeco- 
 ming the holinefs of God, to favour the fmner with a 
 communion of friendfhip, while he continues fuch ; 
 but that nothing hinders him, out of his goodnefs, to 
 take away fin, and in this manner to admit to his fel- 
 lowfhip him who was before a finner : I anfwer, that, 
 without a fatisfaction, it is not confiftent with the ho- 
 linefs of God, to prevent the finner with that greateft 
 effect, of his love, by which he may be fanctified. For 
 if the beginning of fuch a communion of God with 
 the finner be not unbecoming his holinefs, why do all 
 allow it as to the progrefs thereof? It is plain, it is not 
 fuitable to the holinefs of God to cultivate a friend- 
 fliip with the finner, fo long as he continues fuch. 
 But before he be fanctified, he is nothing but a finner, 
 nay fin itfelf. Nor can a greater inftance of friend- 
 fhip be given to man, than that by which he is fancti- 
 fied. Therefore it is not confiftent with the holinefs 
 of God, without any fatisfaction, to prevent with fo 
 great a favour the finner, who is moft worthy ot 
 all his hatred. If you ftill inlift, that it is inconfiftent 
 with the holinefs of God to love the finner with a love 
 of complacency, without a fatisfaction, but that no- 
 thing hinders him from loving him with a love of be- 
 nevolence, which may transform him, as to render 
 him a fit object of the love of complacency : I anfwer, 
 that this is fpoken at random : for thofe effects of the 
 love of benevolence by which we are regenerated, are 
 propofed to us in fcripture, as confequences of the en- 
 gagement and fatisfaction of Chrift, and of our recon- 
 ciliation with God *. Faith, without which it is im- 
 /' /£#v/ poffible to God, is freely beftowed on the elect, thro 9 
 the right eoufnefs of God, and our Saviour Jefus Chrift f . 
 Whatfoever way you interpret this, it appears at leaft, 
 *Tit. iii. 4. 5. 1 Cor. vi. n. 1 Pet. i. 3. f>2 Pet. i. 1. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION. 127 
 
 that the gift of faith is founded on Chrift and his fa- 
 tisfaction. If therefore the fa tisfaclion of Chrift was 
 previoufly requifite, to the Tinner's being blefled with 
 thofe effects of the love of benevolence ; it is rafhly af- 
 ferted, that it was becoming the holinefs of God to 
 beftow them on the (inner without a fatisfaction. 
 Moreover, God cannot but punifh thofe to whom he 
 cannot grant union with himfelf ; becaufe the greateft 
 punifhment confifts in the want of this union. This 
 is that death, with which the law threatens the Tin- 
 ner, as we have already made appear. 
 
 XXVII. 2. The holinefs of God is fo unfpotted, 
 that he cannot behold evil, and look on Nor bear him in his 
 iniquity *, that is, bear it in his fight, fight. 
 
 He cannot therefore lift up the light of his countenance 
 upon him f, in which the falvation of men confifts. 
 Now, the privation of falvation is the higheft punifh- 
 ment. When David refufed to admit his fon Abfalom 
 to his Tight, though almoft reconciled to him, this ap- 
 peared to Abfalom more intolerable than any death \. 
 So that in a nature fenfible of its unhappinefs, a pu- 
 nifhment of fenfe cannot but accompany a punifhment 
 of lofs. 
 
 XXVIII. 3. From the holinefs of God flows a dead- 
 ly hatred of fin. It is as much the nature of He cannot 
 holinefs to hate iniquity, as to love rigbteouf- but hate him. 
 vefs ||, Sin is an abomination to his foul *-*■, that is, to his 
 very effence, and effential holinefs ; and not Jin only, 
 but alfo the Jinner. •/ that do fuch things, and all that 
 do unrighteoufly, are an abomination to the Lord thy 
 tyd =. Him therefore whom he cannot blefs with a 
 participation of his favour, he feparates from himfelf, 
 and from his chofen people, and inflicts upon him that 
 punifhment, which is the effect, of his hatred. Ac- 
 cording to Solomon's reafoning, Every one that is 
 proud in heart, is an abomination to the Lord **. What 
 then ? He /ball not be ejleemed guilt left ; he ft? all not be 
 
 * Hab. i. 14. f Pfal.iv. 7. \ 2 Sam. xiv. 32. |j PU, xN « 
 ♦* Piov. vi. 16. = Dcut. xxv.it. •■ Piov. xvi. c. 
 
128 Of the PENAL Bookt. 
 
 nnpunifbed. David reafons in the fame manner, 
 Thou art not a God that haft pleafure in wickednefs *. 
 Thou hateft fin, and the finner too, becaufe of it : 
 Thou hateft all the workers of iniquity. What is the 
 fruit of this hatred ? Exceeding bitter : Thou Jhalt de- 
 Jlroy them that /peak leafing. Thus from the holinefs 
 of God arifes a hatred of fin and the finner \ and from 
 hatred, punifhment. 
 
 Much left can he XXIX. 4. Without doubt it is diame- 
 be like him. trically oppofite to the holinefs of God, 
 that he mould become like unto the finner. For fince 
 his image confilts in perfect holinefs, it is a contradic- 
 tion, that his likenefs mould confift in fin. But if 
 God mould be unwilling to punifh fin, he would then 
 become like unto the finner. This he himfelf teaches 
 us J : when he would tell the finner, Thou thought- 
 eit that I would not punilh thy fin, he thus exprefles 
 it ; Thou t hough teft that I was altogether like thyfelf 
 But, fays he, I will fhew the contrary, And how? 
 / will reprove thee, or punifh thee. And fo by that 
 fact I will fhew, that I am not like unto thee. 
 Whence I conclude, that to be unwilling to punifh 
 fin, is being very like the finner. On the contrary^ 
 to punifh fin, in its proper time, is to fhew himfelf 
 molt unlike the finner. Therefore, unlefs God re- 
 proves the finner, he will be like to him, and deny 
 himfelf. For, fince God is a pattern to man, and 
 man was made in order that God may be glorified in 
 him ; and all things which Go#hath made, have a 
 tendency to this, that man may from them know 
 what a God he is : if God fhould by no method fhe^ 
 that fin deprives man of communion with God and 
 of his kingdom ; nay, fhould he make the finner e- 
 ternally happy, to be accounted unworthy of which 
 is the greateit puniihment, God would certainly in 
 that cafe teftify, that he is not worthy to be loved, 
 defired, and glorified, and that fin is not an object 
 unworthy of man's delight. As far as it is impoflible 
 
 •Pfal. V.4.5.6. f Pfal. J. 21. 
 
Ghap. s. SANCTION. 129 
 
 then, that God fhould be altogether like the firmer, 
 fo far it is impoilible, that he fhould let fin go unpu- 
 nifhed. 
 
 XXX. 5. Hence it is that God fays, he is fanctified, 
 when he requires punifhment, Lev. x. God is fanaiS- 
 3. On which place, Crellius himfelf * ed when he ex- 
 makes this annotation : " Which fome afts payment. 
 c< learned men explain," (and he himfelf agrees with 
 them), " I fhall appear holy," that is, " fhall inflict 
 " punifhment on them." The fame thing he owns 
 in the fame chapter, " that neither the holinefs, nor 
 " the majefly of God can in any refpect bear to have 
 " his commands violated with impunity." Such is 
 the power of truth, that it even breaks forth from the 
 moft refractory hearts. And the fenfe of this word is 
 very evident, Ezek. xxxviii. 16. where the punifh- 
 ment of Gog is foretold in thefe words : That the 
 Heathen may know me y when I fball be fanctified in thee 9 
 viz. by thy punifhment, before their eyes : more clearly 
 fiill, If. v. 16. God that is holy, Jhall be fanclified in 
 right eoufnefs, by inflicting on finners the punifhments 
 threatened in the foregoing verfes, and by not par- 
 doning the elect, unlefs on account of the righteouf- 
 nefs of Chnft, in whofe fufferings and death he dif- 
 played his moil: unfpotted holinefs, and his hatred of 
 fin, before the whole world, nay, even before hell it- 
 felf. It is therefore as neceflary, that God fhould take 
 punifhment on fin, as that he fhould be holy, left he 
 fhould feem to give^ip with his holinefs. I fli^Ji 
 conclude in the words of Jofhua f, He is an holy God. 
 Aj^at then ? He is a jealous God, And what does lie 
 infer thence? He will not forgive your tranfgrejfions, 
 nor your fins. Thus from his holinefs flows his jea- 
 loufy; from his jealoufy, his vengeance. 
 
 XXXI. Thirdly, This mav alfo be infer- n ,, 
 red from that attribute or God, which is tfoe juftice i»- 
 lifually called vindiclive juflice. That it qoiici par.i(h. 
 is the property of this to punifh fin, the mcm allt '- 
 • De vera relie lib. i.e. 28. , Chap, jcitir. ig. 
 
 Vol. I. t It ' 
 
130 Ot the PENAL Book I. 
 
 fcripture tells us in a hundred places ; and heretics 
 impudently cavil, when they affert it to be the work, 
 not fo much of divine juftice, as of wrath and paflion* 
 They unadvifedly disjoin what the apoftle has con- 
 joined, who fpeaks of the day of wrath , and of the 
 righteous judgment of God *. And what is God's 
 wrath other than that ready difpofition of the divine 
 mind to do that which his hatred of fin, juftice to- 
 ward the finner, and his character as the fupreme 
 Judge, do require ? I omit a thoufand other confede- 
 rations, which are every where obvious. I fhall rather 
 fhew, where the hinge of the matter turns. I. That 
 this perfection is as natural to God, as infinity, ho- 
 lineis, omnipotence. 2. That, in virtue of it, God 
 cannot ftrffer fin to go unpunifhed. 
 
 XXXil. The former of thefe I thus prove. That 
 This is natu- muft be afcribed, not to the indifferent 
 ral to Gcd. will of God, but to the nature and ef- 
 
 fence of God, under the oppoiiteof which it is a con- 
 tradiction to conceive of him. But it is contradicto- 
 ry to conceive of God under the oppofite of juft, that 
 is, as unjuft f . But it is not contradictory, if I con- 
 ceive ot God under the contraries of thofe things, 
 which depend on the mere good pleafure of his 
 will. For inflance, it proceeded from the free will 
 and pleafure of God, that he formerly chofe Ifrael for 
 his peculiar people. If therefore I conceive of God, 
 as one who never was the God of Ifrael, I fhall doubt- 
 lefs have formed a falfe concepfcon, but nothing that, 
 by an evident contradiction, deftroys the nature of 
 God. For he might have been God, and yet not^j^e 
 God of Ifrael ; but, if he had fo pleafed, the God 
 oi the Egyptians or Chaldeans. But whoever fays, 
 that God is, and at the fame time fays that he is unjuft, 
 fpeaks contradictory things. For the firft conception 
 or the Deity is, that he is perfectly and infinitely 
 gocd. Juftice belongs to this goodnefs, giving to e- 
 vu v one his duc^, by a fuitable compensation, efpeci- 
 * Ren. ii. 5. f Job xxxiv. 10. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION. iji 
 
 cially in him, who, as he is the Lord of rational crea- 
 tures, fo he cannot but be their Judge. Whoever 
 therefore fays, that any is unjuft, or not juft, denies 
 fuch to be God, of whom he thus fpeaks, 
 
 XXXIII. The latter I make out thus. Whatever 
 
 is the righteOUS judgment of God, And imports the ne- 
 
 that the juftice of God requires ceffity of punifhmei.t 
 mould be done : it is necefTary, that in cafe of fin - 
 God do hi mfelf juftice ; who, properly fpeaking, owes 
 nothing to any one, but to himfelf. As that is the 
 judgment (righteoufnefs) of the law *, which the law 
 demands, and which without juftice cannot be denied 
 the law ; the judgment of God is what the law re- 
 quires, and cannot be denied him, unlefs he woulclbe 
 unjuft to himfelf. But it is the (judgment) of God, 
 that they which do evil, are worthy of death j. 1 here- 
 fore there is a connection between Co and the defeit 
 of death, not only in virtue of the will, but alfo of 
 the juftice of God. Moreover, as the judgment of 
 God is always according to truth \, he muft pronounce 
 the perfon who is worthy of death, worthy of it, 
 and unworthy of life, confequently condemn him, un- 
 lefs a fatisfaction intervene. To actotherwife, would 
 be unworthy the juft God. The apoftle intimates 
 this |j, declaring, that God hath fet forth Chrijl to be a 
 propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare bis 
 righteoufnefs, that he might be jufl, and the jujlifier of 
 him which beiievetb in Jefus, By which words he 
 mews t if God mould juitify the ungodly, and admit 
 him to happinefs without the atonement of the blood 
 of Chrift, he would not be juft, at leaft his juitice 
 would not be difplayed. 
 
 XXXIV. Memorable efpecially is that which God 
 fays in Jeremiah |, Shall I not vijit for Hence God's foul 
 thtfe things f faith the Lord: fhall not is fuel tota.c \etw 
 my foul be avenged on fuch a nation as g cance - 
 this f The meaning i>: 5 Shall I be Jehovah, and mail 
 
 • Rem. viii. 4. -f Rom. i. 32. J Rom. ii. 2. 
 
 || Rem. iii. 25. 26. 4 Chap. ix. 9. 29. 
 
 H 2 
 
i 3 2 Of the PENAL Book I. 
 
 I not deny myfelf, if I bear with thofe things in my 
 people ? Nay, if there be any fuch a nation, fliall I not 
 punifh it ? It is impoflible I mould do this, and that 
 in virtue of my foul, that is, of my very effential ho- 
 linefs and Deity. Should I have a divine foul, that 
 is, a divine nature, and juft, and not be avenged of 
 fin ? i< or the foul of God denotes the mojl holy nature 
 of God, or, which is the fame, the effential holinefs of 
 God. As appears from comparing Amos iv. 2. with 
 Amos vi. 8, In the former it is faid, The Lord hath 
 fworn by his holinefs : in the latter, The Lord hathfwom 
 1U;CJ3 by (his foul) himfelf 
 
 XXXV. Crellius therefore trifles *, when he ridi- 
 In what fenfe culoufly fays, that to punifli is God's fo- 
 jt is God's reign and ftrange work ; as if to fhew mer- 
 itrange work. cv was God's proper work, but to exact 
 punifhment, his ftrange work. To that end wrefting 
 If.xxviii. 21. that he may do his work, which he trans- 
 lates, his ftrange work : that he may work his work, foreign 
 (or ftrange) is his work to him. We frankly own, 
 that, by that foreign and ftrange work, we ought to 
 underftand his vengeance againft the rebellious Jews. 
 But it is faid to be ftrange and foreign, in a quite dif- 
 ferent fenfe from what this perverter of Icripture 
 would have it. It was flrange and foreign, becaufe 
 altogether uncommon and extraordinary. For it was 
 to be a great tribulation, fuch as had not been fince the 
 beginning of the world to that time^ Matth. xxiv. 21. 
 Likewise, it might appear ftrange to any one, that 
 God fhould do iuch a thing to a people in covenant 
 with him, and loaded with fo many benefits, ex- 
 amples equal to which he had not exhibited even a- 
 mong his enemies, who were ftrangers to his cove- 
 nants, and with which could hardly be compared, 
 what he had done in mount Perazim againft the Phi- 
 liftines-j, and in the valley of Gibeon f . And alfo, 
 becaufe fuch an extraordinary punifhment from God 
 (as ftrange and unufual things are wont to excite great 
 
 * De vera relig. 1. i. c. 28. f 2 Sara v, 21. $ If. x. 10. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION. ijf 3 
 
 emotions) would fill any with aftonifliment, fo as they 
 would be obliged to take notice of the hand of God 
 in it. The miferies of the Jews ftruck Titus him- 
 felf with horror ; and, on viewing the walls and towers / 
 of Jerufalem, he confefled, that without God, fuch^^J 
 a city could never have been taken. 'Tis very remark- "" s t 
 able what Philoftratus relates in the life of Apollo- 
 nius Tyanceus *. When the neighbouring nations 
 came, according to cuftom, to offer crowns to Titus,^\ + 
 to adorn himfeif with, for his conqueft of the Jews; /y^ 
 he faid, " that he deferved no fuch honour ; that he */■** 
 " did not achieve thofe things, but only was t h E t : 
 "instrument of God, who was then {f'/U. /L&* 
 "displaying his wrath," In like manner &n~i*r3 a 
 alfo, becaufe it was ftrange and foreign to the Ifrael-' c : 'r v~~' 
 ites ; who, that the Romans might not come to deftroy * jL 
 
 their city, brought upon themfelves the guilt of that y* 
 wickednefs againft the Lord Jefus, which was the caufe 
 of £0 great a deftruction to them. It was therefore 
 ftrange and foreign, not to God, (for the text fays no * , ^^jfjr 
 fiich thing), but in itfelf and to men. Or if we / y 
 would fay, that it was altogether ftrange and foreign (* 
 to God ; it muft be meant, becaufe God delights not 
 in the deftruction of his creatures, as futh, but (to 
 fpeak after the manner of men) is rather inclined to 
 acts of goodnefs and mercy. But this is fo far from 
 being of fervice to the heretic, that, on the contra- 
 ry, it furnifhes us with a new and folid argument : 
 which I thus form. 
 
 XXXVI. Fourthly, It is certain, that penal evil, as 
 fuch, is not in itfelf ddirable, even ij^^aTfmsfattion 
 to God, becaufe it is connected fidfTOiepunifhrnentof 
 with the deftruction of his own thc wicked. 
 work. Is it good unto thee, that thou flmddft opprefs ; 
 that thou fboiddjl defpife the work of thine hands * f Nay, 
 God confirms by an inviolable oath, that he has no 
 flea/tire in the death of the wicked J. It onift then be 
 fomcthing clfc which renders it dciirable, and fomuch 
 
 • Lib. v. c. \\. f Job x. 3. X Eick. xxxiii. 1 1 . 
 
134 ° F the PENAL Book I. 
 
 fo, that God declares, that he exults in it, and derives 
 great confolation from it, as being that alone which can, 
 as it were, be fufficient to mitigate his grief, and ap- 
 pealer his indignation, occasioned by fin. Nothing 
 can be imagined flronger than the fcripture-phrafes 
 on this fubject, fome of which I (hall exhibit. // 
 is in my desire, that I fJjould chaflife them *. That 
 refreshes himself by defolation 9 ( ftrengtheneth the 
 Jpoiled) againfl the flrong f . The Lord will rejoice over 
 you to dejlroy you {. / will eafe me of my adversaries , and 
 avenge me of my enemies ||. God, you fee, defires topu- 
 nifh finners. When he pours out defolation upon 
 them, he refrefhes himfelf ; nor flightly only, but he . 
 both rejoices and exults ; and that with fuch a joy, as 
 may be proper for mitigating the pain, caufed by fin, 
 and confequently of yielding confolation to God. 
 What is it which makes that evil of the creature fo 
 defirable to the Creator ? What other, but that, by 
 inflicting punifhment, he preferves inviolable the glo- 
 ry of his fupremacy, holinefs, and juftice, which fin 
 would wholly obfcure ? For all the ufefulnefs of punifli- 
 ment (as Crellius himfelf fpeaks) " mult needs regard 
 ^ God." But we can conceive here no advantage 
 redounding to God, unlefs his rejoicing in the decla- 
 ration of his glory, mining forth in that judgment, 
 the juflice of which the holy angels acknowledge 
 with applaufe j, and even the damned themfelves, 
 though unwilling and gnalhing their teeth, are con- 
 tained to confefs. It is indeed impoflible, that God 
 mould fet light by this his moft excellent glory, of 
 which he is fo jealous. Since then it is necefTai y, 
 that God fhouid prefer the deflruclion of his depraved 
 creature to that of his own glory, it is as neceffary, 
 that he mould punifh the wicked creature. God indeed 
 loves his creatures, but he does, as he ought, much 
 more himfelf. He would act. inconfiftent with that 
 love of himfelf, if he fhouid not recover his glory, 
 
 • Hof. x. jo. f Amos v. 9. \ Deut. xxviii. 36* 
 
 j| If. i. 24. 4 Rev. xi. 17. and Rev. xvi. 5. 6. 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION. i 3 j 
 
 which his finful creature has, by horrible facrilege, 
 robbed him of, by inflicting punifhment upon it. 
 
 XXXVII. Fifthly and laftly, We fhall ufe arguments 
 ad bominem. Socinus owns *, The very adverfarie9 
 44 that not to pardon the impenitent, confers, that it is a- 
 44 is certainly right, and agreeable to greeable to the divine 
 
 44 THE DIVINE NATURE, and COnfe- nature to punifli the 
 
 44 quently to rectitude and equity." oblWe - 
 Crellius, in like manner, fays f , " that it is unworthy 
 " of God to fuffer the crimes of the obftinate to efcape 
 unpunifhed. Let us a little examine thefe conceflions. 
 They fay, it is " unworthy of God, not to punifli the 
 obftinate :" nay, " it is due to the nature of God," 
 not to pardon them. Why, pray? hit becaufe they 
 are ftubborn and obftinate ? But obftinacy is not pu- 
 nifhed on its own account, becaufe there is a good and 
 laudable obftinacy, or conftancy. It is therefore only 
 punifhed, becaufe of the evil that is in it. Wherefore 
 it is neceflary, that fin be punifhed on its own ac- 
 count, and obftinacy only becaufe of the finfulnefs of 
 it. And if it be neceflary to punifli fin on its own / 
 account, therefore, where-ever it is to be met with, ^ 
 it muft neceflarily be punifhed. Add to this, that all 
 men, after having once finned, obftinately perfevere in 
 fin, unlefs they are brought to repentance by the pre- 
 venting grice of God. But how can they obtain this 
 without a previous fa tisf action, if it be a debt which 
 the divine nature owes to itfclf, not to grant them par- 
 don ? 
 
 XXXVIII. We likewife readily admit what Crel- 
 lius advances in the very fame chapter : And add, that by 
 44 By the fame claim of right that we the fame right 
 " owe obedience to God, by the fame J ha e \ ob ^ nce u is 
 44 alio we become liable to punifhment n "fhm°ent°is Sue 
 44 for neglect of obedience and fervice : for the negleft 
 44 for puniihment fuccceds, as it were, <rf It. 
 
 " in the place of the duty omitted, and, if poffible, 
 44 ought to atone for it." But doubtlefs, "by a claim 
 
 • D< p. i.e. 1. f De vera rrlig. lib. i. c. 1 
 
136 Of the PENAL Book I. 
 
 of natural right, obedience is due to God ; and it 
 would be repugnant to the divine perfections, for God 
 not to require it of a rational nature. I fpeak with- 
 out referve : A God who cannot demand obedience 
 from his rational creature, is not God. And the very- 
 fame thing, according to Crellius's very juft hypothe- 
 cs, is to be affirmed of punifhment. I am well aware, 
 that Crellius founds both claims, as well to obedience 
 as to punifhment, on the dominion of God as Lord ; 
 though this ought rather to be founded on the natural 
 majefty and fupremacy of God, which is the founda- 
 tion of this fovereign dominion. But he is forced to 
 confefs, that this fovereign dominion is io natural to - 
 God, that he cannot renounce it ; nay indeed, that 
 " without it, it is fcarce intelligible, how he can be 
 " God ; fince it is on account of that very authority, 
 " and the power from which it flows, he is faid to be 
 " God." It therefore ftands firm, that the penal fanc- 
 tion of the covenant is founded in the fupereminent, 
 mod holy, and mod juft nature of God, and not in 
 the mere good pleafure of the free divine will only. 
 
 XXXIX. Moreover, it might be here inquired, whe- 
 Whether the eternity of ther the eternity of punifhment^ 
 punifhment flows from ought to be derived from this na- 
 God's natural right. tura i r ig nt f God ; or, which is 
 
 the fame thing, whether a punifhment, juftly equiva- 
 lent to every iin, ought necelTarily to be eternal, ac- 
 cording to God's natural right ; fb that to maintain 
 the contrary, would be unworthy of God, and confe- 
 quently impoffible. A difficult queition this, and the 
 rather, becaufe to determine concerning this ahfolute 
 light of God, in fpecial cafes, feems to be above human 
 reach. God is greater than man ; nbc groeib not an ac- 
 count of his matters *. Let us, however, try, whe- 
 ther, from the confideration of the divine perfection-., 
 we may not gather, what may in this cafe be worthy 
 of God. 
 
 * Job xxxiii. 12. 13, 
 
 ^^ ^ ^ c j^ ,, tor *s^r^s5 i 
 
Chap. 5. SANCTION. i 37 
 
 XL. I now prefuppofe, that there is in fin commit" 
 ted againft the infinite majefly sin having a kind of infinite 
 
 Of God, a malignity in it S mea- malignity, deferves punifh- 
 
 Jure infinite, and therefore a menc in its own meafure 
 demer it, of punifhment in its infinitc - c&^S^*^ 
 
 meafure infinite alfo. I fay, that there is in fin a ma-" 
 lignity only in its meafure infinite. For- it cannot be 
 called infinite in an abfolute fenfe. If you confider the 
 entity of the act in itfelf, an act infinitely intenfe can- 
 not be elicited by a finite creature : if the irregulari- 
 ty, and the privation of moral good adhering to the 
 act, it is a privation of a finite rectitude, fuch as can 
 be competent to a creature : if, in fine, you confider 
 the whole complex, namely, fin, in the concrete, as 
 they fpeak ; neither in that cafe is its malignity abfo- 
 lutely infinite. For all vitious acts are not equal, but 
 there is a great difparity among them ; which could 
 not be unequal, if they were infinite. However, the 
 malignity of fin is in its meafure infinite : I. Objectively, 
 becaufe it is committed againft an infinite good. 2. 
 Extenfive/y, in refpect of duration, becaufe the blot or- 
 dain of fin endures for ever, unlefs it be purged a- 
 way by the blood of Chrift. And therefore there is 
 in him a defert of punifhment, not abfolutely infinite, 
 as to intenfenefs of torments. (1.) Becaufe fuch a 
 punifhment is abfoluAcly impoflible ; for a finite crea- 
 ture is not capable of infinite torments. (2.) Becaufe 
 it would follow, that God could never fatisfy his ju- 
 ftice, by inflicting condign punifhment on the wicked, 
 feeing they are incapable of this punifhment. Now, 
 it is then abfurd to fay, that any punifhment is of 
 right due to fin, which God could never inflict. (3.) 
 Becaufe it would follow, that an equal puniiliment 
 was due to all fins, or that all in fact were to be pu- 
 nched alike : which is an abfurdity, and againft Matth. 
 xi. 22. 24. Thereafon of this coniequence is, becaule 
 there neither is, nor can be any difparity between in- 
 finites. Ncverthelefs there is in fin a defect of pu- 
 niiliment in its meafure infinite : namely, in the &JM 
 Vol. I, fT 
 

 j 3 8 Of the P E N A L, &c. BookL 
 
 manner that the malignity of it is infinite. That is, 
 i. Objectively* fo as to deprive man of the enjoyment 
 of the infinite good, which is God. 2. Extenjively, 
 fo that the punifhment fhall laft for ever. And thus I 
 confider this defert of eternal punifhment fo far only 
 as to conclude, that God does nothing contrary to e- 
 quity and juftice, when he punifhes the fins of men 
 with eternal torments both of foul and body. Which 
 the event fhews, as I have made appear above, § 17. 
 XLI. But I know not, if it can be determined, 
 It cannot certainly be known, whether this eternity ought 
 whether the jurtice of God ne- neceffarily to confift in the 
 ceflarily requires the eternal punifhment of fenfe, or whe- ' 
 j ..uniOimcct of fenie ; ^ the .j ufticc of God may 
 
 be fatisfied by the eternal punifhment of lofs, in the 
 annihilation of the finful creature. 1 his, I apprehend, 
 may be faid with fufficient probability and iobriety : 
 If God fhall be pleafed to continue in exiftence for 
 ever, the finful creature, it is neceiTary (without a fa- 
 tisfaction) that he for ever inflict punifhment on him, 
 not only the punifhment of lofs, but likewife that of 
 fenfe. The reafon is, becaufe not only the guilt of 
 fin always remains ; but alfo the ftain with which fin, 
 once committed, infects the foul, and which can never 
 be purged out but by the blood of Chrift. But it is im- 
 poflible, as we proved, §22. 23. 24. that God fhould 
 admit man flamed with iin, to communion with him- 
 ielf: and it cannot be, that a rational creature, ex- 
 cluded the enjoyment of the divine favour, fhould not 
 feel this indignation of God with the deepefl anguifh. 
 Confcience moll: feverely lafhes the wretches for ha- 
 ving fquandered away the chief good. Which with no 
 fmall care we have alfo fhewn, §^3. and the follow- 
 ing fections. 
 
 XLII. But whether it be necefTary, that God fhould 
 cr may be fatisfied with the preferve for ever the finful crea- 
 mnihiladoncf thefmner. ture in a ft ate of exigence, I 
 own I am ignorant. May it not, in its meafure, be 
 reckoned an infinite punifhment, if God fhould pleafe 
 
Chap. 6. Of the Sacraments, &c. 139 
 
 to doom man, who was by nature a candidate Tor e- 
 ternity, to total annihilation, from whence hefhould 
 never be fuffered to return to life ? I know, God has 
 now determined otherwife, and that with the higheft 
 juftice. But it is queried, whether, agreeably to his 
 juftice, he might not have fettled it in this manner: 
 If thou, O man, iinneft, I will frultrate thy defm 
 eternal happinefs, and of a bleffed eternity, and, oh 
 the contrary, give thee up to eternal annihilation i 
 Here at lead let us flop. lj&, ^ce^^*f^ee*t<s^*f*£*y_ 
 
 'Of the Sacratwnts or the Qroenatk of Works. . h ^ 
 
 /fKUagz yu^Uz^^^--^ /££<^, "f&r %~C *&*i$«* l^ut^i^c 
 "H Tliath pleafed the bleffed and almighty Go^in^^^ 
 r-L very difpenfation of his covenants, The r.dvantages /W^^u$! 
 
 to confirm, by fome facred fymbols ^ the '• fttttments.'g 
 --certainty of his promifes, and, at the fame time, to / 
 ^remind man, in covenant with him, of his dnty : to£ J 
 which fymbols ccclefiallical practice has long iince g^JB 
 ven the name of Sacraments. This was certainly sp«*. t^u^ 
 pointed with an excellent defign, by the all-wife God^^i 
 For, 1. What God has made known concerning his co- "** ^ )*-* 
 venant, is, by this means, propofed to man's more zc^'jjf^yj** 
 curate confideration : iincchehas not only once and a- st^T^bkt 
 gain been inftructed in the will of God by a heaVenly ^ 
 oracle, but frequently, and almoft daily, beholds With^ jfrr^ 
 his eyes thofe things, which, by heaven, are granted^ A^t^] 
 him as pledges of the greateft bleflings. What belie- <U<^ ^ 
 vers fee with their eyes, ufually link deeper into the A^*u- *• ^ 
 foul, and leave clearer imprcflions of thcmfclvcs, than / 
 thofe only which they hear with their ears. LJegant-^ ' 
 ly to this purpofc fays Herodotus *, Men ufually givo /k*J? '&* 
 lefs credit to the ears than to the eyes. 2. Thefe fymbols rtu* 
 alio tend to confirm our faith.' For though nothing 
 
 • Lib. i. S^X,. 
 
 it* S 2 
 
 
 y.^ 
 
 
140 Of the Sacraments of the Bookl. 
 
 ! can be thought of that deferves more credit than the 
 word of God ; yet where God adds figns and feals to 
 his infallible promifes, he gives a twofold foundation 
 to our faith. Thus he more abundantly Jhews unto the 
 heirs of promife the immutability of his counfel : that by 
 two immutable things, in which it was impojfible for God 
 to lie, we might have a flrong confolation*. 3. By 
 means of this inftitution, a holy man does, by the 
 fight, touch, and tafte of the facred fymbols, attain 
 to fomr>. fenfe of eternal bleflings, and accuftoms him- 
 under the fymbols, to a contemplation and fore- 
 1 of thele things, to the plenary and immediate 
 jfn ,. of which he will, one time or other, be ad- 
 d without any outward figns. 4. The man has 
 in .ucfe fomething continually to remind him of his 
 du:y: aid as, from time to time, they prefent to his 
 thoughts, and give him a prelibation of his Creator, 
 fo at the fame time they refrefh his memory with 
 thofe very ftrong obligations, by which he is bound 
 to his covenant-God. And thus they are both a 
 bridle to reftrain him from fin, and a fpur to quicken 
 him chearfully to run that holy race, which he has 
 happily entered upon. 
 
 II. God alfo granted to man fuch fymbols under the 
 Tliere were four covenant of works; concerning which we 
 of theie under are now to fpeak, that nothing may be 
 the covenant of wanting in this treatife : and, if I mifr 
 take not, there were four in all, which I 
 reckon up in this order. 1. Paradise. 2. The tree 
 of life. 3. The tree of knowledge of good 
 and evil. 4. The Sabbath. In fpeaking of each 
 of theie, I (hall diftinclly ihew, Firft, What good they 
 fignified and fealed to man, with cefpect to God. Se- 
 condly, What duty and obligation they reminded 
 him of. 
 
 which are to be ex- 1 IIL But I think it previoufly necef- 
 plained fo as nor to lary to obferye, that it is altogether 
 beconfoundedwith foreign to this treatife, and out of its 
 
 • Heb. vi. 17. 18, 
 
Chap. 6. C o v e n a n t of W O R K S. 141 
 
 place, to propofe fuch fignifications ei- thofe under the co- 
 ther of paradife, or of the tree of life, venant ot S race ' 
 or of the Sabbath, as relate to the gofpel, the grace 
 of Chrift, and to glory as freely given to the elect 
 by the Mediator and Spirit of grace. Here I obferve, 
 that men otherwife great have ftumbled, who, when 
 explaining the nature of thofe facraments, too un- 
 cautioufly blend things belonging to a quite differ- 
 ent covenant. Nothing is here to be brought in, 
 which does not belong to the covenant of works, the 
 promifes of that covenant, and the duties of man 
 under the fame : all which are mod diftincl from the 
 covenant of grace. Here we are to fay nothing of 
 Chrift, nothing of juftifying faith in him, nothing of 
 our ceafing from our own works as impure, nor any 
 thing of that reft after the miferies of this life. All 
 thefe belong to another covenant. I do not indeed 
 refufe, that the unfearchable wifdom of God did 
 appoint and order thefe fymbols in fuch a manner, 
 that the remembrance of them, after the fall, might 
 be able to inftrucr. man in many things relating to 
 the covenant of grace, and its Mediator. Thus, ac- 
 cording to Paul, we obferve in the firit Adam, a type 
 of the fecond ; in Eve curioufly formed out of A~ 
 dam's rib while afleep, a type of the church, as it were, 
 taken from Chrift in virtue of his death ; and in the 
 firft marriage a great myftery, which regards Chrift 
 and the church. Thefe things, however, were neither 
 known to nor thought of by Adam in the ftate of na- 
 ture ; nor are they to be mentioned in a dtfeourfe on 
 the facraments of the covenant of woiks. Having pre- 
 mifed thefe things let us now inquire into each particu- 
 lar with all the caue poftible, beginning with paradife, 
 IV. It is far from our defign, elaborately to inquire 
 into the fituation and topography of a (hort defcri^tion 
 faradiji* Let it fuilice to obierve, that ofpanaiu*. 
 it was a garden, and a moft agreeable inclofui e, plant- 
 ed by God himfelf, toward the eaft, in Eden, a moft 
 Ic region, and abounding in all kinds of delights, 
 
t4- Of the Sacraments of the BookT. 
 
 as very learned men think, near Haran, the mart of 
 Arabia, at the conflux of the Euphrates and Tigris, 
 not far from Mefopotamia. Which was watered with 
 four rivers, warning, by many windings and mean- 
 ders, the moft fertile orchard. When man was form- 
 ed from the earth without paradife, he was introdu- 
 ced by God as a new gueft into this place, with defign 
 that he might afterwards give an account of his fteward- 
 £hip and care. Here he wanted nothing that could 
 contribute to the proper pleafures of this life, God fre- 
 quently revealing himfelf to man, and familiarly ad- 
 mitting him to the fweeteft fellowfhip with himfelf. 
 Mofes alfo mentions the gold and the precious ftones 
 of that country, as of the beft kind, and in the great- 
 eft plenty. What now was the meaning and rnyfti- 
 cal fignification of all thefe things ? 
 The delightful r V r Firfl > ^ general, the pleafantnefs 
 fruitfulnefsof pa- of this place, every moment fetting be- 
 radife fignified fore man the moft profufe bounty of 
 the more tran- t h e Deity, and exhibiting the fame to 
 heaver J0>S t] ? e en Jo> r ment of all his fenfes, allured 
 him, that he was to expect another re- 
 fidence^far more noble and grand ; where he mould 
 not, as now, enjoy his God through and in the crea- 
 tures, but immediately delight in his Creator, to his 
 being fully fatisfied with his likenefs. For, if God 
 now conferred upon him fuch things while on his 
 journey, and before the courfe of his appointed trial 
 was finiihed ; what might he not, nay what ought he 
 not, to promife himfelf from that immenfe munifi- 
 cence, after, having acted his part well, with the bold- 
 nefs of aiking his moft ample recompenfe, he had ac- 
 quired the right of approaching hisrewarder? Was 
 not the Lord, amidft this abundance, that lacked no- 
 thing pertaining to this animal life, frequently addref- 
 iing him, How fhall I one day place thee among my 
 ions, if thou conftantly continued obedient to my voice? 
 If there is fo much iweetnefs in thefe created rivulets 
 of inv goodnefs, in which now thou iwimmeft with 
 
Chap. 6. Covenant op WORKS. 143 
 
 fo much pleafure ; what will there not be in myfelf, 
 the unexhaufted fountain, and the moft plentiful 
 fpring ? Afcend, O man, by the fcale of the crea- 
 tures, to me the Creator, and, from a foretafle of 
 thefe firft-fruits, conclude, what I have prepared for 
 thee againft that time, when I myfelf mall be thy ex- 
 ceeding great reward. And certainly, unlefs we fuppofe 
 Adam to have been ftupid, and devoid of all divine 
 light, he could not but have fuch thoughts. 
 
 VI. The fcripture declares, that by paradife is iignu 
 lied the feat of perfect blifs, when it calls Hence heaven is 
 heaven, the habitation of the bleffed, by called paradife, 
 the name of paradife *. A manner of expreflion com- 
 monly ufed by the Holy Ghoft, by which the names 
 of the fign, and the thing fignified, of the type and 
 antitype, are mutually exchanged. The Jews them- 
 felves faw this, with whom it is ufual to call the place 
 of abfolutely-perfect happinefs, r^y and iiy o, Eden 
 and the garden of Eden ; and no wifh was more fre- 
 quent among them, than this, Let his reft, that is, 
 the place of his reft, be Eden. There is alio a moft 
 fuitable analogy between paradife and heaven, which 
 we are now more exprefsly and particularly to ihew. 
 VII. 1. Paradife was a garden planted byGodhim- 
 felf, to be the relidence of man formed after The analogy 
 the civin^ image. Heaven is a place made between them, 
 and irepired by the fame God for the eternal abode of 
 man, alter he has added conftancy to his other vir- 
 tues, and fo has in himfelf the full image of God, 
 where his holinefs fhall be unchangeable. As there- 
 fore ir was incumbent on man to acknowledge the 
 hand and moft munificent bounty of his God in this 
 terrellrial habitation ; fo he was ftill far more evident- 
 ly to experience the fame in the celeflial abode of hus 
 heavenly Father. 2. Paradife exceedingly furpailcd 
 all the other parts of the earth, in refpect to the plea- 
 fantnefs of it ; for it was planted in Eden, a place of 
 all kinds of delight. Whence the moft pleafant coun- 
 • Luke xxiii. 43, 2 Cor. xii. ^, 
 
144 Of ™ Sacraments of the Book I. 
 
 tries in the world are faid to be as the garden of God *. 
 And Ezekiel, prophefying of the future extraordinary- 
 plenty of the earth, fays, that the earth, which before 
 that was lying wafte, fhould be as the garden of £- 
 den f . And what is grander than that promife of Ifai- 
 ah, For the Lord fJjall comfort Zion ; he will comfort all 
 her wafle places , and he will make her wilder nefs like E- 
 den, and her defer t like the garden of the Lord ; joy and 
 gladnefs jhall be found therein, thankfgiving, and the 
 voice of melody \ ? From which words it is clear, that 
 nothing was wanting in paradife, in its primitive ftate, 
 to give the completed: pleafure to man. But much 
 lefs will any thing be wanting in heaven to the moft 
 abfolutely perfect happinefs. The pleafures of which 
 will far more exceed thofe of this terreftrial garden, 
 than heaven itfelf exceeds the earth in its height. For 
 paradife had thofe things, which difcovered its imper- 
 fection, fuch as thofe that belonged to this animal life, 
 all which will be wholly excluded heaven, where is 
 fulnefs of joys, HlnDU/ ]?2V ||. 3. In paradife flowed the 
 moft limpid ftreams, watering and fertilizing the gar- 
 den, where-ever it was neceffary. In heaven there is 
 a pure river of water of life, clear as cryftal, proceeding 
 out of the throne of God |. By which circumlocution 
 are fignified the gifts of the Holy Spirit, a few drops 
 of which are indeed granted here, but with which the 
 bleiTed will be intoxicated to a perfect joy. 4. Mofes 
 alfo mentions gold, bdellium, and the onyx-ftone, 
 which were found in that region *-+. In heaven there 
 will be fpiritual treafures, with which no gold, no to- 
 paz, nor any of the precious ftones of the whole earth, 
 can any wife be compared. 5. In paradife there were 
 trees, both beautiful and ufeful. In heaven there are 
 precious things, both pleafant to the fight, and excel- 
 lent for ufe. Above ail, there were the two trees, of 
 knowledge and of life. But in the heavenly kingdom, 
 there is true and perfect knowledge, and that life 
 
 * Gen. xiii. 10. f Chap, xxxvi. 35. J Chap. li. 3. || Pfal. xvi. 
 11. I Rev.xxii. 1. +-» Gen.ii. 11, 12. 
 
Chap. 6. Covenant of WORKS. 14^ 
 
 which is really and emphatically fo. 6. Man being 
 firft created in the earth, was tranflated into paradife, 
 as the better relidence. For, if I miftake not, the 
 words of Mofes intimate this, And there be put the man 
 whom he had formed*. Compare Gen. iii. 23. where, 
 after his fin, he is faid to be fent forth from the garden 
 of Eden, to till the ground, from whence he was taken* 
 In like manner alfo, man was in due time to be tranf- 
 lated from that natural and animal ftate, in which he 
 was created, to another altogether fupernatural and 
 heavenly : of which this defirable tranflation from earth 
 to paradife reminded him ; which Zanchius alfo obfer- 
 ved on Gen. ii. 15. as alfo Mufculus. 7. Had not 
 man been innocent, he would have had no place in 
 paradife. This garden did not bear him when once 
 tainted with fin. So nothing that" defleth can enter into 
 heaven \ . That is the habitation of God's holinefs and 
 glory \. 8. In paradife man enjoyed the familiar fel- 
 lowfhip of his God : and in this fenfe paradife might 
 alfo be ftyled the garden of God, as God dwelt there, 
 delighting himfelf in the work of his hands, and efpe- 
 cially in man himfelf; to whom as it was a pleafure to 
 man to be thus near and familiar, fo it was a delight 
 to God. But in heaven, the habitation of his maje- 
 fty, God will be always prefent with man, and give 
 himfelf, in the mod familiar manner poflible, to be 
 feen and enjoyed by him. 
 
 VIII. As paradife was fuited to fet forth all thefe 
 things to man, fo, in like manner, the The im f , a ;_ 
 life of this pledge reminded him of fe- ons f paradife 
 veral duties. And fii ft, he hence learn- taught man to a- 
 ed, that he ought not to feek for his f P i,e aftcr more 
 good and felicity in any thing upon P crk<fl thin§s ' 
 earth, which, when appearing even mofr perfect, dis- 
 covers its own imperfections ; iiich as this animal life 
 in paradife, that was to be recruited continually with 
 meat, drink, and afucccflion of fleeping and waking. 
 By which means he was taught to afpire after a gr 
 
 * Gen. ii. 8. t Rev. xxi. 27. T If. Ixiv. 1 - 
 
 Vol. I. '] 
 
146 Of the Sacraments of the BookL 
 
 er happlnefs, namely, the immediate fruition of his 
 God ; in the feeking after which happinefs, the prin- 
 cipal holihefs of a traveller confifts. For you love God 
 above all things, if you ardently pant after an intimate 
 union with him. 
 
 IX. Secondly, Since this paradife was*givcn to man 
 The keeping and to be cultivated and kept, the Lord 
 culture of it for- thereby reminded him, that he took no 
 bade iJlenefs. pleafure in a lazy idlenefs, but in an ac- 
 tive tnduftry. His will was, that man mould employ 
 his labour and care upon the garden, that he might 
 have fomething to do, and in which he might conti- 
 nually experience the goodnefs and providence of his 
 Creator. He did not chufe, that angels themfelves 
 ihould be idle, whom he made miniftering fpirits. And 
 ib lie affigned to man the care of cultivating and keep- 
 ing paradife, that he might have fomething to em- 
 ploy himfelf in the works of God ; juQ. as a king's fon 
 has fome office afligned him, left he mould become in- 
 dolent by an excefs of pleafures, honour, and riches. 
 Thus he became obliged to be conformed to his God 
 by the pureft actings, and to be employed about the 
 very work of God's hands, till he ihould come to en- 
 joy an eternal fabbath with himfelf. 
 
 X. Thirdly, This alfo had a further refpect. to him- 
 Jt had a!fo a ^f« For, t. As pafadife was the pledge 
 myilical figai- of heaven, fo the~careful keeping of it re- 
 fieatfoa. minded him to have heaven continually in 
 his mind and thoughts. 2 . The labour and culture of 
 paradife taught him. that only he that labours, and does 
 that which is acceptable to God, can get to the hea- 
 venly habitation. 3. He was alfo inftru&ed to keep 
 his ioul for God, asaraoft pleafa'nt garden, cultivated 
 like the paradife of God, and fhew forth thofe trees of 
 virtues, which God planted, as producing the molt 
 excellent fruits, that is, works proceeding from good 
 habits : that fo the Lord might come into this his gar- 
 den, and eat his pkafant fruits *. 4. It pointed out 
 
 * Cant. iv. 16. 
 
Chap, 6. Covenant o f WO RKS. 147 
 
 to him, that he mould, above all things, folicitoufly 
 keep his foul, that garden of God, left any wild beafts 
 of depraved pailions mould break in, to lay every 
 thing therein wafte. And when God faid to him, 
 Keep this my garden, may he not at the lame time be 
 fuppofed to £y, Keep thy heart -with all diligence, or a- 
 bove all keeping * ? 5. The keeping of paradife imw 
 poled an anxious folicitude upon him, not to do any 
 thing againft God, left, as a bad gardener being thruft 
 out of the garden, he fliould in that difcern a melan- 
 choly fymbol of his own exclufton from heaven. We 
 then conclude, that man, being with joy and exulta- 
 tion admitted into paradife, was bound, and was will- 
 ing to be bound, to perform all thefe things to God, 
 and fp, upon entering into paradife, bound himfelf, 
 as by a facrament, to thefe duties. 
 
 XI. Now follows the conlideration of the tree of 
 life: but whether a fwgle tree, or an xbc tree of life, 
 entire fpecies of trees, is a queftion a- whether it was cme 
 mong the learned. Some think that lT!C \ or w. entire 
 the former, which is indeed the com- P- Clts * 
 mon opinion, is founded on no probable reafon ; a net 
 fuppoie it moie fuitable to the gecdnefs of God, that 
 Rich a beautiful and ufeful tree fliould be in the view of 
 his favourite, in as many parts of the inclofure as poi- 
 fible. They alio allege the divine benediction -f, by 
 which God conferred en -all trees the virtue of multi- 
 plying thcmfelves. But they chiefly inlift on Rev, 
 xxii. 2. where John pitches the tree of life on each fide 
 of the river, which they compare with Ezck. xlvii. 
 1 2 . Others, on the contrary, do not think it probable, 
 that it was an entire fpecies : i : irit, becaufe the un - 
 verfal particle, ^J all, is not added as before, when 
 Mofes would exprefs many things of the fame fpecies, 
 or many fpecies themlelves. Next, becaufe ic is Liul 
 to have been placed in the middle of the garden, fo as 
 to have the other trees furrounding it in order. To 
 the paffages alleged from the Apocalypfe and EzekicI, 
 * Provv iv. 23. f Gen. i, 1 1. 12. 
 T 2 
 
148 Of the Sacraments of the Book I. 
 
 they anfwer, that John fpcaks onlyin the fingular num- 
 ber, both in that place, and Rev. ii. 7. and that one 
 tree could properly be find to ftand in the midfl of the 
 ftreet, and on both fides of the river, becaufe the river 
 run through the midfl of the ftreet, and becaufe that 
 fingle tree extended its roots and branches to each fide, 
 fo that there was no defect, on either fide. They like- 
 wife conclude from its being a type, that it muft be a 
 fingle one ; becaufe Ghrift is one. ButEzekiel faw many 
 on the bank of the river, reprefenting the church mi- 
 litant ; becaufe though one Chrift quickens the church, 
 yet it is by feveral means he now communicates life to 
 the elect. Thefe are the arguments on both fides. If 
 any fhould defire our judgment, we are of opinion, 
 that the arguments of neither fide have the force of a 
 demonflration ; but, from the confideration of its be- 
 ing a type, we rather incline to the more common o- 
 pinion. 
 
 XII. Whether this tree wns endued with a fingular 
 Whether it had a natural virtue above others, fo as to re- 
 virtue beyond other ftore with equal perfection the 
 trees - moifture confumed by the excef- 
 
 iivc heat, perfectly to cure the diforders of the body, 
 who can certainly tell ? who can obRinately deny ? 
 To afcribe to it a medicinal virtue againft difeafes, 
 does not appear fuitable to the ftate of innocent man. 
 For difeafes and fickly infirmities are only the effects 
 of fin. But nothing lure is more ridiculous, than that 
 paradoxical and altogether untheological aflertion of 
 Socinus, that Adam, by the benefit of that food, 
 would have prolonged his life to a much longer pe- 
 liod than God chofe he mould, had he not been de- 
 prived of the opportunity of reaching forth his hand 
 to that tree. As if God when he expelled man out 
 of paradife, and faid, Left he put forth his hand, and 
 take alfo of the tree of life, and /he for evtr *, was ap- 
 prehenfive, that man, upon tailing again of that tree, 
 
 * Gen. iii. 22. 
 
Chap. 6. Covenant of WORKS. 14? 
 
 fhould live for ever, notwithftanding his will and 
 threatening ; wich is downright blafphemy. For, by 
 thefe words, God only intended to reftrain the vain 
 thoughts of man, now become fuch a fool, as to i- 
 magine that, by the ufe of that tree, he could repair 
 the lofs he had fuftained by fin ; or, as if the bare 
 ufe of the facrament, or the opus operatum, as it is 
 called, could be of any advantage, without the thing 
 iignified. And, by driving man from that outward 
 fign of immortality, he cut him off from all hopes of 
 falvation by that covenant, of which that tree was a 
 fymbol. However, there muft be fome great reafon, 
 why that tree obtained this defignation : which we 
 will now inquire into. 
 
 XIII. The tree of life figni fled the Son of God, not 
 indeed as he is Chrift and Me- it figr.ined the Sen cf God, 
 diator, (that confideration be- as the fountain of true life, 
 ing peculiar to another covenant), but in as much as 
 lie is the life of man in every condition, and the 
 fountain of all happinefs. O how well was it fpo- 
 ken by one, who faid, that it became God from the 
 firft to reprefent by an outward lign, that perfon 
 whom he loves, and for whole glory he has made and 
 docs make all things ; nay, to whom he (bewcth all 
 things that he doth, that he may a If a do likewife *, as the 
 author of life to man; that man, even then, might 
 acknowledge him as fuch ; and afterwards, when'he 
 was to be manifefted as his Saviour and Phyfician, 
 Adam and his pofterity might bring him to remem- 
 brance, as exhibited by a fymbol at the very begin- 
 ning ! As in fact it has happened, that they who be- 
 lieve Mofes, the prophets, and the gofpel, avow, that 
 in the beginning there was no life but in him, for 
 whole glory to be difplayed in the work of falvation 
 the earth was alfo made. Wherefore Chrift is called 
 :', lc cf Life \. What indeed he now is by hi ; 
 incut and efficacy as Mediator, he would have alv 
 
 # Jchn v. 19. f Rev. xxii. z. 
 
Ijfo Of the Sacraments of the Book I. 
 
 been as the Son of God, of the fame fubflance with 
 his Father. For as by him man was created, and ob-. 
 tained an animal life, fo, in like manner, he would 
 have been transformed by him and bleffed with a 
 heavenly life. Nor could he have been the life of 
 the finner, as Mediator, unlefs he had like wife been 
 the life of man in his holy ftate as God ; having life 
 in himfelf, and being life itfelf. 
 
 XIV. The fruit of this tree, charming all the fenfes 
 The fruit fignified with its unparallelled beauty, fignified 
 the pleafure of di- the pleafures of divine love, with 
 vmc love. which happy man was one day to be 
 fully regaled, and which never cloy, but, with their 
 fweet variety, do always quicken the appetite. In 
 this fenfe, wifdom is faid to be a tree of life to them 
 that lay hold of her *. Becaufe the ftudy and practice 
 of true wifdom fills the foul with an ineffable pleafure. 
 
 XV. Moreover, it was man's duty, i. Attentively 
 The duties of man to ctfnfider this tree, as pleafant to the 
 with regard to this eyes f, and to contemplate therein the 
 tree ' perfections of the Son of God, whofe 
 brighteft vifion was one day to complete his happinefs. 
 2. By the ufe and enjoyment of this tree, to teftify 
 his commnnion with the Son of God, and acknow- 
 ledge him as the author of the Ufe he longed for ; 
 which, though innocent, he was to feck after, not in 
 himfelf, but in God, as a liberal rewarder. 3. He him- 
 felf, in imitation of the Son of God, and as in com- 
 munion with hirn, ought to be as a tree of life to his 
 wife and pofterity, by giving them holy advice and 
 example, as a plant of the garden of God, a partaker 
 of the divine life, and as miniftering to the life of his 
 neighbour. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life J. 
 
 XVI. Befides the tree of life, Mofes fpeaks of ano- 
 The tree of know- ther tree, deriving its name from the 
 
 ledge whether a KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, COn- 
 
 facrament. cerning whofe name and ufe we began 
 
 * Prav. iii. 18. \ Gen. iii. 6. \ Prov. xi. 30. 
 
Chap.6. Covenant of WORKS. i£i 
 
 to fpeak, chap. iii. § 20. 21. That it was defigned 
 for man's probation, is undoubted : but whether it was 
 alio a fymbol of the covenant, is difputed. I freely 
 own, I fee no reafon why this mould be denied. For 
 all the requifites to conftitute a fymbol of a covenant 
 here concur. We have an external and vifible fign, 
 inft itutcd b God : we have the thing fignified, to- 
 gether with a beautiful analogy : we have, in fine, a 
 memorial of man's duty : all which fully conftitute 
 the nature of a facred fymbol, or facrament. 
 
 XVII. The external fign was a certain tree in the mid ft of 
 the gar 'den , good for food, pleafant to the The outward fign, 
 eyes, and to be deftred to make one wife *. a " d lis u *" e - 
 The ufe of this fign was twofold. 1. That it might 
 be attentively viewed and considered by man, while 
 he carefully meditates on the myftical fignification of 
 this tree. For that end it was :b beautiful and fo de- 
 iirable to the view, and placed in the midft of the 
 garden, where man moft frequently reforted. 2. 
 That, from a religious obedience, he fhould abftain 
 from eating of it, thereby acknowledging God's ab- 
 folute dominion over him, and his expectation of an- 
 other world, in which he mould be forbid nothing 
 truly defirable. 
 
 XVIII. The thing fignified was in like manner two- 
 fold, the fea ling both of the promife and The thing fig- 
 the threatening of the covenant. For its ™fied. 
 being called the tree of knowledge of good, intimated, 
 that man, if from a principle of love he obeyed this 
 probationary precept, mould come to the knowledge, 
 fc-nfe, and fruition of that good which is truly and 
 excellently fo, and the full knowledge of which is on- 
 ly obtainable by {cnCc and enjoyment. On the other 
 hand, when called the tree of the knowledge of evil, 
 thereby is fignilied, that man, if found diYobedient, 
 ihould be doomed to the grcateft calamity, the ex- 
 ceeding evil and wretchednefs of which he ihould a: 
 
 • Gen iii. 3- 6. 
 
152 Of the Sacraments of the Book I. 
 
 laft know by experience. And even they who, in 
 other refpects, would not have this tree called a fym- 
 bol of the divine covenant, do confefs this. 
 
 XIX. There was here a very plain memorial of du- 
 It put man in mind ty. For this tree taught, i. That 
 of his duty. man was fincerely to contemplate and 
 defire the chief good ; but not to endeavour after it, 
 unlefs in the manner and way prefcribed by heaven - 9 
 nor here to give into his own reafonings, how plau- 
 jfible foever they might appear. 2. That man's hap- 
 pinefs was not to be placed in things pleafing to the 
 fenfes of the body ; and that there is another and a 
 quite different beatifying good, which can fatiate 
 the foul, and is of itfelf iufficient to the confumma- 
 tion of happinefs. 3. That God was the mod abfolute 
 
 v \ v Lord of man, whofe fole will, expreffed by his law, 
 mould be the fupreme rule and directory of all the appe- 
 tites of the foul, and of all the motions of the body. 4. 
 That there is no attaining to a life of true happinefs, but 
 by perfect obedience. 5. That even man in innocence 
 was to behave with a certain religious awe, when con- 
 verfing with his God, left he mould fail into fin. To 
 thefe add what we have already obferved, chap. iii. 
 5 21.^ 
 
 XX. That very accurate and great divine Hierony- 
 The opinion of mus Zanchius, after giving a hiftory 
 Zanchius examined, of thefe trees, expreffes their myfti- 
 cal (ignification in thefe words : " Moreover, thefe 
 " two trees in the midft of paradife, and near each 
 iC other, were very evident types of the law and go- 
 " fpel, or of Chrift. The law declares what is good, 
 " and what is evil : Chrift is the true and eternal life. 
 " Both were in the midft of paradife, becaufe the 
 " law and Chrift, in the midft of the church, are al- 
 " ways to be propofed to the fons of Adam. One 
 " near the other, becaufe the law leads to Chrift *." 
 I cannot fully exprefs, what reverent thoughts I have 
 
 * De ci eat. h^m. lib. i. c. 1, § 
 
Chap. 6. Covenant of WORKS. 153 
 
 of this great divine, whofe commentaries I exceeding- 
 ly prefer to thofe newfangled comments, with which 
 the minds of ftudents are at this day diffracted and led 
 aftray. Neverthelefs, thefe exprefllons feem to be more 
 ingenious, than folid and judicious. For, under the 
 covenant of works, Adam neither had, nor was 
 it necefTary he fhould have, any facraments which re- 
 fpecled Chrift, the gofpel, and grace. This, howe- 
 ver, may be faid in excufe of thefe and the like things* 
 which often occur even in the moft learned authors, 
 that though thefe things were not propofed at firft to 
 man in innocence, in order to reprefent to him the 
 grace of Chrift, yet they were fo wifely ordered by 
 God, that man, by reflecting upon them, could, after 
 the fall, difcover in them fome dark refemblance of 
 thofe things, which God afterwards, by a new pro 
 mife, was pleafed to reveal. 
 
 XXI. Other learned men have not thought proper 
 to reckon the tree of knowledge anion? r-, 
 
 . r , . ^ r ^ r 1 ° o. 1 he arguments 
 
 the lymbols and feats of the covenant of of thofe who de- 
 works ; being chiefly fwayed to this opi- fly, that d t tree 
 nion by the following reafons. i. Be- oi kno 
 caufe all facraments are given for ufe ; v,c5a acr 
 but man was forbid the ufe of this tree. 2. B. caufe 
 facraments are figns of a blefiing, which they feal to 
 thofe who ufe them in a proper way ; but this tree 
 fealed no blefiing to any who fhould ufe it, but rather 
 brought a curfe upon that ufe. Thefe considerations, 
 however, are not of that weight, that we fhould 
 therefore depart from the more received opinion. 
 And it is eafy to anfwer both thefe arguments, 
 not only from the truth of the thing itlclf, but 
 alfo from the very hypothefes of theie learned men. 
 
 XXII. It is indeed true, that all facraments were 
 ven for ufe ; but it is alio certain, that The aft of ion 
 the external ufe of all facraments is not cramenta cotififted 
 after one and the fame manner. All »■ cownptaw 
 are not granted to the mouth and palate. There are 
 facraments, whofe ufe coniifls in the con'cmpU- 
 
 Voi. I. t U 
 
146 Of the Sacraments of the Book I. 
 
 tion of the fign, and meditation on the thing 
 fignified. Some learned writers maintain, that 
 the rainbow was not a fymbol only of the oecume- 
 nical or general covenant with the whole earth, but 
 alfo of the covenant of grace in Chrift ; and they 
 think, that the colours of the rainbow, the red, the 
 fiery, and the green, denote, that, by blood, ho- 
 linefs and mercy are united. But we can conceive no 
 other iacramental ufe of the rainbow, befides the con- 
 templation of it. In like manner, they place the bra- 
 zen ferpent among the facraments of the Old Tefta- 
 ment, whofe ufe con fitted only in the beholding of it. 
 Nay, they are of opinion concerning the tree of life 
 itfelf, that it was not promifcuoufly to be ufed by- 
 man, fince to him alone that cvercometh, it is given to eat 
 cf the tree of life *. " Whence," fay they, " it does 
 " not appear that Adam touched it before the fall : 
 cc nay, the contrary is rather evident." And yet they 
 fay, that it was the firft and moft ancient reprefenta- 
 tion of the Son of God, and of the life to be poflefled 
 through him. Nothing then hinders the tree of 
 knowledge from being alfo called a fymbol of the co- 
 venant, though propofed only to be looked at by 
 man, though he was never to eat of it. 
 
 XXIII. I go a Hep farther, and fay, that there is no 
 It Is not abfurd to abfurdity, mould fuch a facrament be 
 fay, that a facra- appointed, whufe ufe mould confitt in 
 raent may be ufed a religious abftinence. Nor mould 
 by holy abamence. tho f e learned men, if confident with 
 themfelves, be averfe to this opinion. " The de- 
 " luge," fay they, " from which Noah was prefer- 
 " ved, muft needs be reckoned among the types." 
 Now, the ufe of the waters, in refpecr. to Noah, con- 
 iifted in this, that they were neither to touch him and 
 his, to their hurt ; nor force themfelves into the ark, 
 in which he was fhut up : as the waters of the Red fea 
 likewifeiignifiedthe fame thing, in the fame manner, 
 to Ifrael. Nay, what may feem juftly ftrange, thele 
 * Rev. ii. 7. 
 
Chap. 6. Covenant of WORKS. 155 
 
 learned men fay, that the firft facrament of the co- 
 venant of grace was " the ejectment of Adam out of 
 u paradife, and the barring up his accefs to the tree 
 " of life :" or, as one is pleafed to exprefs himfelf, 
 " The firft facrament was the tree of life, which, 
 " though at firft it regarded the covenant of works, 
 " and exclufion from it was the punifhment of h]\en 
 " man : neverthelefs, that very exclufion was, at the 
 " fame time, a fign of the grace and goodnefs of 
 " God." I would beg of thofe very learned men, to 
 explain to me in what the facramental ufe of the tree 
 of life was to have confifted under the covenant of 
 grace, after man was expelled paradife, and that tree 
 was no longer to be in his view. There is here no o- 
 ther ufe but a myftical abftinence and deprivation. 
 And thus, we imagine, we have fully anfwered the 
 firft argument. 
 
 XXIV. Let us now confider thefecond : and wc fay, 
 it is not inconfiftent with the nature of fa - 
 craments, to feai death and condemna- ' ris no \ con " 
 
 \ r t ii 1 • i trar V to tf ,e na " 
 
 tion, to thole who unduly and irregular- ture f f acra . 
 ly ufe them. For fince the covenant of ments, to feal 
 God with man is ratified, not only by the ******* to thcm 
 promifes, but alfo by certain threatening *? ^M"*!" 
 belonging to it, and facraments are the 
 feals of the whole covenant, it ftals alfo threatening^ to 
 the profane abufers of them. When a man partake 
 the facraments, he comes under an oath and curfe, and 
 makes himfelf liable to punifhment, if he deals 
 treacheroufly. To fay nothing of the facraments ot 
 the covenant of works, the very facraments of the 
 covenant of grace, are the favour of death unto death to 
 hypocrites and profane pcrfons, who, in the bread and 
 wine of the eucharilt, e.it and drink damnation to i 
 fe/ves *. But it is not tine, that the tree of know- 
 ledge fealed only death ; for it alfo fealed life and hap- 
 pi aefs, It was the tree of knowledge, not only 
 r/7, but of good. This theie learned men thank 
 * 1 Cor. xi. 27. 29, 
 U 2 
 
156 Of the First SABBATH. Book I, 
 
 acknowledge, while they write, that had Adam obey* 
 ed, he would, upon his trial, have come to the knowledge 
 \ and f erf e of his good, to which he was edited, and had a 
 natural defire after ; even eternal life and confummate hap- 
 pinefs. Whence we conclude, that, notwithstanding 
 thefe reafonings, we may juftly reckon the tree of 
 knowledge among the flicraments of the covenant of 
 works, 
 
 CHAP. VII, 
 
 Of the fir ft Sabbath. 
 Tie hiftory of the firft "Y^rT"E faid, that the firft fab* 
 
 fabbath, and the plan */y bath was thfi fourth facra , 
 cf this differtation. * \ c ia. r ^ T 
 
 mentof the covenant of works. In 
 order to treat fomewhat more fully on this, it will 
 not be improper to make it the fubject of a whole 
 chapter. Mofes gives us the hiftory of it, in thefe 
 words: And on the /event h day God ended his work which 
 he had made : and he reft ed on the /event h day from all his 
 work which he had made. And Gcd bleffed the /event h 
 day, and /andified it ; becau/e that in it he had re fled 
 from all hist work which God created and made *, The 
 more fully to understand thefe words, and from them 
 to anfwer our defign, we mail diftinclly difcufs thefe 
 three things. 1. Ino^iire, whether what is here faid 
 about fanclifying and ble/ftng the feventh day, ought to 
 be applied to that firft day, which immediately follow- 
 ed upon the fix days of the creation, and which was 
 the firft that Ihone oh the works' of God when com- 
 pleted ; or, whether it be neceflary to have recourfe 
 to an anticipation, by which we may look upon thole 
 things as fpokeri of the day, on which, many ages af- 
 ter, the manna was given in the wildernefs. 2. We 
 fhall explain the nature of that firft fabbath. 3. 
 and laftly, poiat out in what refpecr. it was a facra^ 
 ment, 
 
 * Gen. ii. 2, 3, 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH, ttf 
 
 II. It is too well known to be mentioned, that the 
 firft of thefe points has been mat- „ ,. . 
 
 c . jrr 4." j- • By a proper explication 
 
 terof great difpute among divines, D f the biffing ind fane 
 without coming to any determina- tiding the feventh day* 
 
 lion to this day ; nor do I chllfe to the comroverfy relating 
 
 Unravel what they have faid. lfliall ^^^f.^^ 
 only obferve, that perhaps the par- 
 ties might eafily agree, did we know, what we are to 
 underhand by falsifying and blejfmg the feventh da}', 
 mentioned by Moles : and which we fhall prefently 
 confider. But if we fuppofc in general, that God 
 rejied on the feventh day from his work, that is, not 
 only deftjled from creating new fpecies of creatures, 
 but acqitiefced and took complacency in the work which 
 he had now finiihed, efpecially in man, who was form- 
 ed after his image, and furniihed with thole faculties, 
 by which he was enabled to acknowledge and celebrate 
 the perfections of God mining forth in his works; 
 and that he let this his refling before man as a pattern, 
 by which he mould be taught to acquiclce in nothing 
 but in God, for whom he was created ; pleafe him- 
 felf in nothing, but in glorifying God, which is the 
 iend of his creation : moreover, that he fanftified this 
 day, of which we are fpeaking, by commanding it to 
 be employed by man for that facred work, adding a 
 promife, that ail that time thus employed by man, 
 mould be highly b I effect to him : if, I lay, we thus in 
 general fuppofc, as all thefe things are evidently truth, 
 there is good hope, that all equitable jiulges will -al- 
 low, that we adhere to the limplicity of the letter, 
 and interpret this hitlory of Mofes, as the narrative 
 of a thing done at that time, which the holy prophet 
 vas then defcribing* 
 
 III. I am glad to find the celebrated Cocceius allcnt 
 to this, lbs wards are thefe*: The opinion of Coc- 
 " Some imagine, that this verfe, q$!os anfl Kunnancon- 
 *' (namely 3.) is put by way of an- corning inoapatioti. 
 ** ticii ution. — Hut it is not probable, that Moles, iu 
 
 * In Gen. ii. § 6. 
 
158 Of the First SABBATH. Book L 
 
 11 recording this blefling and fanctification, did by 
 " any means fpeak concerning the original fabbath, 
 " but only concerning the Jewifh fabbath. This is 
 " plainly doing violence to the text, if one day be 
 " underllood, which God bleffed and fanclified, and 
 u another, on which he refted from his work." And 
 the very eloquent Burman, though inclining to an 
 anticipation, yet owns, that " the words of Mofes may 
 " be underftood of that perpetual fabbath, the fe- 
 <c venth day after the creation, which firft faw the 
 " works of God perfected, and moil aufpicioufly fhone 
 u on the world, whence it is faid to be peculiarly blef- 
 " fed by God, and afterwards to be celebrated and 
 cc fanctifed by man, for all ages to come *." See the 
 fame author, de CBConomia fcederum De'i^ § 208. 209. 
 We mall fay no more on this, as we could rather wifh 
 to fee the orthodox agreeing among themfelves, than 
 contending with one another. And indeed this muft 
 be acknowledged, if we would properly explain, in 
 what manner this Sabbath was a facrament of the co- 
 venant of works. 
 
 IV. The beft Hebrew authors, on whofe authori- 
 The moft eminent l Y thofe of the oppofite opinion are 
 Hebrew dotfors wont to build, agree with us in this 
 againft this anti- difpute. For in the Talmud they in- 
 cipation. quire, why man was created on the e- 
 
 vening of the fabbath ; and of the three reafons they 
 give, this is the laft ; "~that he might immediately en- 
 " ter on performing the command." The famous 
 Ludovicusde Dieu, mentioning thele words, on Gen. 
 i. 27. adds, by way of explication; " For fince the 
 " fabbath immediately fucceeded the creation of man, 
 u he immediately entered on the command of ianc- 
 " tifying the fabbath." Baal Hatturim, after vari- 
 ous interpretations of this paifage, alfo fubjoins this 
 other ; " In the hour, that h^ created the world, he 
 bleffed the fabbath and the world." Jarchi alfo men- 
 
 * Synop. theol. lib. ii. g. 5. § U. 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 159 
 
 tions this opinion, though himfelf was otherwife mind- 
 ed ; " What would the world have been without reft ? 
 " On the coming of the fabbath came reft, and thus 
 " at length the work was finifhed and completed." 
 By which he intimates, that the inltitution of the 
 fabbath was joined to the completing of the works of 
 God. There are alfo fome Jews, who will have Pfal. 
 xcii. whofe title is, zPfalm, ov fong, for the fabbath' 
 day, to have been compofa 4 by Adam. For thus the 
 Chaldee paraphrafes ; " i* hymn and fong, which the 
 " firft man faid of the fabbath." And R. Levi *, 
 " The firft man fpoke this pfalm, and from his time 
 " it was buried in oblivion, but Mofes came and re- 
 " newed it." Now I bring thefe teftimonies to fhew, 
 that they fpeak too confidently, who aflert, that it is 
 running counter to the unanimous opinion of the 
 Jews, for any to infift, that the precept of the fab- 
 bath was enjoined on the firft man. Whoever wants 
 more to this purpofe, may confult Selden de jure na- 
 ture, &c. lib. iii. c. 13. 
 
 V. Thefe things being fuppofed, we are further to 
 inquire, in what the nature of the The explication of the na- 
 firft fabbath did confift. Here, ture ot the firft Sabbath. 
 
 again, the learned run into very different opinions. 
 I now take it to be my province, to lay down fuch 
 propofitions, to which, it is to be hoped, that the or- 
 thodox, who are lovers of truth, will without diffi- 
 culty give their afTent. 
 
 VI. We are to diftinguifh, firft, between the reft of 
 God, and the refl of man, which God en- The diftinc- 
 joined to him, and recommended by his t i on between 
 own example : in which manner alfo Paul God's reft 
 diilinguifhes, He alfo hath ce a fed from his a ndraan ' s - 
 own works, as God did from his f . 
 
 VII. The reftot God confifted, not only in his cea- 
 fing from the work of any new creation, God's reft where- 
 
 but alfo in that fweet fatisfaclion and in it confifts. 
 delight he had in the demonftration of his own attri- 
 # In Bcrefchit Rabba, feci. 22. at the end. f Hcb. iv. 1©. 
 
i6o Of the First SABBATH. Book I. 
 
 butes and perfections, which were glorioufly difplayed 
 in the work he had now finifhed, after he had added 
 a luftre to this inferior world, by beftowing upon it a 
 molt excellent inhabitant, who was to be a careful 
 fpectator, and the herald and proclaim er of the per- 
 fections of his Creator, and in whom God himfelf be- 
 held y fkiiepy ™> cToJh? avt* ctTavyaLtuot., no f ma I I effulgence 
 of his own glory. Wherefore it is faid *, And on- the 
 Seventh day he re/led, and was refrefred ; not as if he was 
 fatigued, but as rejoicing in his work fo happily com- 
 pleted, and in which he beheld what was worthy of 
 his labour. 
 
 VIII. God having refted on the feventh day, fancli- 
 God fanftified the fe- fi ed it: > as we N by example, as by pre- 
 venth day, both by cept. By example, in as much as he 
 example and precept, brought man, whom he had newly 
 formed, to the contemplation of his works, and re- 
 vealed to him both himfelf and his perfections, that he 
 might love, thank, praife, and glorify him. And 
 indeed, becaufe God refted on the feventh day from 
 all other works, and was only intent upon this, we 
 may conclude, that he fanctified it in an extraordina- 
 ry manner. Jrle likewife fan&ified it by precept, en- 
 joining man to employ it in glorifying his Creator. 
 N To fanctify," (as Martyr, whom feveral commend, 
 fays well), " is to fet apart fomething for the worihip 
 M of God, as it is alfo taken here. ,, And it was very 
 juftly obferved by Calvin, «* that it was the will of 
 " God, that his own example mould be a perpetual 
 " rule to us." Rabbenu Niffim, quoted by Abarba- 
 nel f, is of the fame opinion : " And this is the fanc- 
 " tification of the Sabbath, that, on that day, the foul 
 « of man be employed on nothing profane, but 
 << wholly on things facred." 
 
 IX. God's blejfing the feventh day, may be al- 
 God blefled the fame day fe taken in a twofoM fenfe : 
 two way?, both in refpecl Firfr, for his declaring it to be 
 of himielf and of man. fifcffeJ an d happy, as that in 
 
 * Exod. xxxi. 17. f On ihe explication of the law, fol. 21. Col. 3. 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 161 
 
 which he had peculiar pleafufe and joy, obferving all 
 his works in fuch order, as to be not only to himfelf, 
 but to angels as well as men, a moil beautiful fcene, 
 difplaying the glory of his perfections. That is what 
 David fays *. The glory of the Lord /ball endure for e- 
 Ter, the Lord fball rejoice in bis works. Thus God 
 himfelf rejoiced on that day, and confequently bleffed 
 it. For as to curfe a day, is to abhor and deteft it, as 
 unfortunate and unhappy, as afflictive and miferable f ; 
 fo, by thf.ruj^ of contraries, to blefs a day, is to re- 
 joice in '4c, as' delightful and profperous. A nd indeed, 
 what day more joyful and more happy than that 
 which faw the Works of God perfected, and yet not 
 ftained by any fin either of angels, or, as is probable, 
 of men ? There has been none like it fince that time, 
 certainly not fince the entrance of fin. Secondly, It 
 was alfo a part of the blejfmg of this day, that God 
 adjudged to man, religioufly imitating the pattern of 
 his own reft, the mod ample bleflings, and indeed, 
 in that very reft, the earnelt of a molt happy reft in 
 heaven ; of which more fully prelently. Elegantly 
 faid the ancient Hebrew doctors : " That the bieflinp- 
 " and fanctifying of the iabbath redound to the ob- 
 " fervers thereof, that they may be bleffed and holy 
 " themfelves." 
 
 X. The reft, here enjoined and recommended to man, 
 comprizes chiefly thele things: in general \ The reft en- 
 th it he fhould abitain from every fin, thro' joined to nan 
 the whole courfe of his life, as giving no- contains, 1. 
 thing but uneafinefs, both to himfelf and f r0 mcveryfin, 
 his God. As the Lord complains J, Thou and, 2. acqm- 
 haft been weary of me, Ifrael ; and ||, efcencemGcd 
 thou haft wearied me with thine iniquities, aione - 
 By finning, we dreadfully tranfgrefs againft the reft 
 ot God, who cannot delight in a iinncr ; of whom and 
 his work he fays j, They are a burthen to me, I am wea- 
 ry ko bear them. But more efpeci ally, it is likewise man's 
 
 * Pfal.civ. 13. f Job ii. 14. Jer. xx. 14.. I If. xliit. 2:, 
 ||Ver. 24. + If. 1. H . 
 
 Vol. I. f X 
 
162 Of the FifcTT SABBATH. Book T, 
 
 duty, that as he is the concluding part of the works 
 of God, and the laft of all the creatures that came out 
 of the hands of his Creator, not fo to harafs and fa* 
 tigue himfelf about the creatures, as to feek his hap- 
 pinefs and good in them ; but rather, by a holy ele- 
 vation of mind, afcend to the Creator himfelf, and ac- 
 miiefcc in nothing fhort of the enjoyment of his un- 
 bounded goodncfs, of the imitation of the pureft holi- 
 nefs, and of the expectation of the fulleft reft and in- 
 timate union with his God. This indeed is the true 
 and fpiritual reft, always to be meditated upon* fought 
 after, and obferved by man. 
 
 XI. Moreover, as man, even in the flate of inno- 
 t - _ r cence, was to perform folemn acts 
 
 ^aftCrS *«•** together with his confort 
 
 the performance of thefe and children, to whom he was to 
 
 religious duties, at the be their mouth in prayer, thankfgi- 
 
 time when they are to viner and praifes : it was necefTary, 
 befoitmnly gone about. ^ ^ ^ ^ hyJ|ig ^ fa 
 
 ether occupations, and all cares about what related to 
 the fupport of natural life, and ordering thofe about 
 him to reft, he might, without any hindrance from 
 th^ body, religioufly apply himfelf to this one thing. 
 This, I hope, none of my brethren will refufe, At 
 leaft the celebrated Cocceius readily allows it. Whofe 
 words are thefe *. " It is right in itfelf, and a part of 
 " the image of God, that man fhould, as often as pof- 
 " fible, employ himfelf in the worihip of God, (that 
 " is, laying ancle the things pertaining to the body and 
 " its conveniencies, be wholly taken up in thofe du- 
 " ties which become a foul delighting in God, glori- 
 " fyinghim, and celebrating his praife) ; and that he 
 " mould do {o too in the public afTembly, for the com- 
 •* mon joy and edification of all." 
 
 XII. Alter man had Tinned, the remembrance of 
 
 i, r n^J iu* or God's refting, and fanctifyinsr the 
 Jt follows, that a (inner r i i " 1 ' r i • 
 
 h to rcccliea himiejf, feventh day, ought to roufe hun 
 that he may be atleifure from his flownefs and dulnefs, in 
 forthcuorihipof God the worfliip of God, in order to 
 every tevtmiidaj. ipend g.^ feventh day therein, 
 
 * Sum. theol. c. xxi. § 10. 
 
Chap. 7- O* the First SABBATH. 163 
 
 laying afide, for a while, all other employments. But 
 it will be better to explain this in Calvin's words : 
 " God therefore firft retted, and then he blefled that 
 " reft, that it might be ever afterwards holy among 
 F? men ; or he let apart each feventh day for reft, 
 tf that his own example might be a itaiiding rule.*' 
 Martyr fpeaks to the fame purpofe ; * ; Hence men are 
 c; put in mind, that if the church enjoins them to fet 
 6: apart a certain day in the week for the vorftiip of 
 " God, this is not altogether a human device, nor be- 
 * s longs only to the law of Mofes, but likevvife had its 
 " riie from hence, and is an imitation of God." Ail 
 this is alfo approved of by Cocceius, whofe excellent 
 words we wilifiibjoiii from the place juft quoted, § 12. 
 " The confequcnce of thefe things in the finner is,-— 
 Ci that, if encompaffed with the infirmities of the flefh, 
 " and expofed to the troubles of life, he may at lead 
 " each feventh dav recollect himfeif, and erive himfelf ' 
 * ; up to far preferable thoughts, and then chearfully, 
 M on account of that part of the worihip of God, that 
 " cannot be performed without dilengaging from bu- 
 ff finefs, abftain from the work of his hands, and from 
 H feeking, preparing, and gathering the fruits of (he 
 ft earth/* And as thib celebrated expofitor approve* 
 of this, I know not, why he fhould difapprove the e- 
 legant obfervation of Chryfoftom * ; That ¥ hence, 
 " as by certain preludes, God hath enigmatic illy taught 
 ff us to confecrate, and let apart for ipiritml employ- 
 * ment, each feventh day in the week." If we a!! a- 
 gree, as I hope we may, in thefe pofitiuns, which 
 l not unhappily to explain the nature of the firi} 
 iabbath ; I truly reckon, that a great deal is done, :nd 
 a way paved to compole thole unhappy difputes about 
 the fabbath of t!u decalogUf, which, for feme years 
 pail, have made fuch noiie in the iijlgic univeihtics 
 and churches. 
 
 X1IL Having thus explained the nature of the firll 
 
 • Not. at Hcb. it. § 13. 
 
 x 2 
 
164 Of the First SABBATH. Book I. 
 
 This fabbath frbbath, we proceed to inquire into its fpi- 
 had a mvfti- tual and myftical /ignificat'ion ; from whence 
 cal fignifica- it will be eafy to conclude, that we have 
 tlon * - not improperly called it a facrament ; or, 
 which is the fame, a facred fign or feal (for why fhould 
 we wrangle about a word not fcriptural, when we a- 
 gi ee about the thing ?) of the promifes of falvation 
 made by God to Adam. We have Paul's authority 
 to affert, that the fabbath had fome myftical meaning, 
 and refpe&ed an eternal and happy reft *. And this is 
 juftly fuppofed by the apoftle, as a thing well known 
 to the Hebrews, and which is a corner-ftone or funda- 
 mental point with their doctors. It was a common 
 proverb, quoted by Buxtorf f, " The fabbath was not 
 * c given but to be a type of the life to come." To 
 the fame purpofe is that which we have in Zohar J : 
 " What is the fabbath-day ? A type of the land 
 " of the living, which is the world to come, the 
 M world of fouls, the world of confolations. ,, Thefe 
 things, indeed, are not improper to be faid in general $ 
 but you will not readily find any where the analogy 
 between the fabbath and eternal reft fpecialty afligned. 
 Can it be thought improper, if, diftinguifhing between 
 the reft of God, the reft of man, and the /event h day, on 
 which both refted, we fhould diftinclly propofe the 
 myftical meaning of each ? 
 
 XIV. The reft 0/ God from the work of the creation, 
 
 was a type of a far more glorious reft 
 What figmfied by f Qod f h fc f b ^ ori fi cam 
 
 the reft of God. . • • _ 6 J _ 
 
 Uon of the whole univerfe. When God 
 had created the i\\ik world, fo as to be a commodious 
 habitation for man, during his probation, and an il- 
 luftrious theatre of the perfections of the Creator ; he 
 took pleafure in this his work, and refted with delight. 
 For he had bellowed upon it all the perfections which 
 were requiiite to complete that ftate. But he had re- 
 folved, one day, to produce a far more perfect uni- 
 
 * Heb. iy. 4. io. | In Florilegio Hebpeo. J In Gen. fol. v, 
 chap. 5. 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 16$ 
 
 verfe, and, by diffolving the elements by fire, to raife 
 a new heaven and a new earth, as it were, out of the 
 allies of the old : which new world, being blefled with 
 the immutability ofits happinefs, was to be a far more 
 magnificent habitation for his glorified creatures, and 
 in which, as in the laft difplay of his perfections, he 
 was for ever to reft with the greatefl complacency. 
 And beiides, as God, according to his infinite wif- 
 dom, fo very wifely connects all his actions, that the 
 preceding have a certain refpect to the following ; in 
 like manner, fince that reft of God after the creation 
 was lefs complete than that other, when God (hall have 
 concluded the whole, and which is to be followed by 
 no other labour or toil ; it is proper to confider that 
 firft reft of God, as a type, and a kind of prelude ot 
 that other, which is more perfect. In line, becauie it 
 tends to man's greateft happinefs, that the whole uni- 
 verfe be thus glorified, and himfelf in the univerfe, 
 that God may altogether reft in him, as having now 
 obtained his laft degree of perfection, he is laid to en- 
 ter into the refl of God *. 
 
 XV. This refl of God was, after the creation, imme- 
 diatelv fucceeded by the refl of man. For 
 when he had formed man on the fixth Wh« figged by 
 
 , . , ..,, , ... . the re it of man. 
 
 day, without paradiie, (as poiiibly may 
 
 be gathered r: m the fimplicity of Mofes's narrative), 
 
 he brought him into paradiie on the feventh, TO lp 
 
 VIH Q'l, am put him, or, as others think the words 
 
 be trafi ed, he made him reft in the garden of f> 
 
 den f. Was tot this a mo ft delightful fymbol, or iign, 
 
 to Adam, tl . after having finifhed his courfe of la- 
 
 : on this earth, he mould be tranfhted from the 
 
 ce far mo than paradiie, 
 
 and to a .ore delighl id that which he en- 
 
 And when, at certain times, cea- 
 
 e ground in paradiie, lie gave him- 
 
 lly up to .he religious worfhip of God, with 
 
 A io: btiog Ui God j was not this a certain carnell 
 
 * Hcb. iv. 10. icn ii. 15. 
 
i66 Of the First SABBATH. Bo&I. 
 
 and a prelitation to him of that time, in which, ex- 
 empted from all care about this animal life, he fhoulct 
 immediately delight himfelf in the intimate communi- 
 on of God, being joined with the choirs of angels, and 
 doing the work of angels ? 
 
 XVI. May not this reft both of God and man, fall- 
 V/hat is denoted by ing upon the /event h day, after the fix 
 this retVs being on working ones, properly denote, that 
 the feventh day. t h e reft of the glory of God is then to 
 be expected, after the week of this world is elapfed ? 
 and that man is not to enter into reft, till he has finilh- 
 ed his courfe of probation, and God, upon ftriclly ex- 
 amining it by the rule of his law, finds it complete, 
 and in every refpect perfect? And are we to reject the 
 learned obfervation of Peter Martyr ; that " this fe- 
 " venth day is faid to have neither morning noreven- 
 €C ing, becaufe this is a perpetual reft to thofe who are 
 " truly the fons of God ?" 
 
 XVII. It is indeed true, that, upon Adam's fin, and 
 Thcfe myftica! fignifications violation of the covenant of 
 
 more clearly explained, and works, the whole face of things 
 
 fully confirmed. was changed : but all thefe 
 
 things [we have been fpeaking of] were fuch, as might 
 have been fignified and fealed by this fabbath to Adam, 
 even in the itate of innocence ; and why might it not 
 really have been fo ? For the apoftle exprefsly declares, 
 that God's refting from his zvorks, from the foundation 0/ 
 the world*, had a myftical fignification. This being 
 fuppofed, it is our bufinefs to find out the agreement 
 between the fign and the thing fignified ; for the great- 
 er analogy we obferve between them, we fhaii the 
 more clearly and with joy difcover the infinite wiiciom 
 and goodnefs of God, various ways manifefting them- 
 felves. It cannot but tend to the praife of the divine 
 Architect, if we can obferve many excellent refemblan- 
 ces between the picture given us by himfelf, and the 
 copy. Indeed, I deny not, that Paul, when difcour- 
 iing of the fabbath, leads us to that reft, which ispur- 
 * Heb. iv. 3. 
 
Chap./. Of the First SABBATH. 167 
 
 chafed for believers by the fufferings of Chrift. But 
 it cannot thence be inferred, that, after the entrance 
 of fin, God's fabbath borrowed all its myfticai fignifi- 
 cation from the covenant of grace. For, as to the fub- 
 ftance of the thing, the glorious reft promifed by the 
 covenant of works, and now to be obtained by the co- 
 venant of grace, is one and the fame, confifting in a 
 bldTcd acquiefcence or reft of the foul in God. As 
 this was fealed to man in innocence by the fabbath, 
 under the covenant of works ; fo likewife it is fealed 
 by the fabbath under the covenant of grace, though 
 under another relation, and under other circumftan- 
 ces. For God, having perfect knowledge, that man 
 would not continue in the firft covenant, had, from 
 all eternity, decreed to fet on foot a quite different or- 
 der of things, and bring his elecl, by a new covenant 
 of grace, to the mod peaceful reft. Accordingly, he 
 fettled, in his unfearchable wifdom, whatever prece- 
 ded the fall, in fuch a manner, that man, viewing 
 them after the fall with the enlightened eyes of faith, 
 might difcover ftill greater myfteries in them, which 
 regarded Chrift, and the glory to be obtained by him. 
 But we are not to fpeak of thefe things here. Who- 
 ever defires a learned explication of thofe myfteries, 
 may confult Meftrefat's fermons, on the fourth chap- 
 ter of the epiftlc to the Hebrews. 
 
 XVII I. This fabbath alfo put man in mind of various 
 duties to be performed by him, which The fabbath *ai 
 having pointed out above, §10. 11. I a memorial of vu- 
 think needlcfs to repeat now. And thus rious dut '^' 
 we have executed what we promifed concerning the 
 iacraments of the covenant of works. 
 
 XL\. Here now I might conclude, did not a very 
 learned man come in my way ; whofe A new opinion con- 
 thoughts on the firft fabbath, being oerning the inftitu- 
 widely different from the commonly- ti«n of tfce fabbath. 
 received notions, I intend, with his permifTion, calm- 
 ly to examine. He therefore maintains, that Adam, 
 on the very day of his creation, being feduccd by the 
 
1 68 Of the First SABBATH. Book I. 
 
 devil, had involved himfelf and the whole world in the 
 molt wretched bondage of corruption : but that God, 
 on the feventh day, reftored all things, thus corrupt- 
 ed by the devil and by man, by his gracious promife 
 of the Meffiah : upon this reftoration he relied in 
 that very day : and that reft, upon the reparation 
 of the world, being peculiar to the feventh day, may- 
 be the foundation of the fabbath. Doubtlefs, on the 
 Jixth day the heavens and the earth were finifhed, and all 
 the hojl of them *. And God beholding the works of 
 his creation i'o perfect, pleafantly refted in them. This 
 was the reft of the fixtb day. But on the fame day 
 Satan corrupted all : for upon loling heaven, of whole 
 holt he was one, and which he greatly diminiflied, by 
 affociating many other angels to himfelf, and fo far 
 rendered that habitation a defert ; and on earth, by 
 means of a calumnious lie, he rendered man, the prince 
 of the terreftiial holt, a fubjecr. to himfelf, a rebel to 
 God, and deftitute of life. This was the corruption 
 ol the earth. And thus heaven and earth fo beauti- 
 fully finiflied by God on the lixth day, were on the 
 fame bafely defiled by Satan and by man. This occa- 
 fioned God to be engaged in a new work on the fe- 
 venth day, even to reltore what had been thus defiled 
 and corrupted, and to complete them anew. Which he 
 did on the feventh day, when the Mediator, God-man, 
 was revealed by the gofpel, whom, in the promife, 
 he appointed to triumph over Satan the corrupter of 
 all, and fo to reltore all things ; both of the earth, 
 where he began the reftoration, by delivering the e- 
 lect of mankind from the bondage of corruption ; and 
 of heaven, by bringing the fame chofen people into 
 the heavenly habitation, in order to its being again re- 
 peopled with that colony of new inhabitants : In this 
 manner he will complete the reftoration. Which com- 
 pletion Moles intimates \, And on the feventh day God 
 ended his work which he had made. This finijhing of the 
 refloration, fignified \ by the word niU^7> made, is ve- 
 • Gen. ii. i. f Vcr. z. % Ver. 3. 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 160 
 
 ry diftinct from the finifhing of the creation, mentioned 
 ver. 1. When God had done all this, upon giving "his 
 Son to men for a Mediator and Redeemer, he himfelf 
 refted in this his laft work, as this is the man of his de- 
 light *. And this reft was the only foundation for in- 
 stituting the fabbath. This irtftitution confifts of a two- 
 fold act : the firft is of bleffing, by which God bleffed 
 that very day, by a moft diflinguifhing privilege, to 
 be the day devoted to the Meffiah, who wa9 revealed 
 in it by the gofpel. For this is the honour of the fab- 
 bath, that it is the delight, on account of the holy of the 
 Lord being glorified \* The other act is that of fa noti- 
 fication, by which he fet it apart for afign and memo- 
 rial of that benefit, beca.ufe, through and for the holy 
 of the Lord being glorified, he chufes to fanctify the e- 
 lect. This is the fum of that opinion. Let us now 
 confider, whether it be folid, and can be proved by 
 fcripture. 
 
 XX. The whole foundation of this opinion is, that 
 Adam fell on the very day in which Ir • M „„ .„ ,. „ 
 
 . . 1 • 1 i r • * tls not certain, that 
 
 he was created : which the fcripture Adam finned on the 
 no where fays. I know there are very day of his crea- 
 fome of the Jewifh doctors, who tl0n - 
 with boldnefs, as is their way, afiert this ; and, as if 
 they were perfectly acquainted with what God was a- 
 bout every hour, declare, that man was created the 
 third hour of the day, fell the eleventh, and was ex- 
 pelled paradife the twelfth. But this rafhnefsis to be 
 treated with indignation. The learned perfon deems 
 it his glory to be wife from the fcriptures alone, and 
 juftly : for thus it becomes a divine. But what fcrip- 
 ture determines any thing about the day of the firfl 
 fin ? We have here fcarce any more than bare conjec- 
 tures, which at belt are but a very fandy foundation, 
 mi which it does not appear to be the part of a wiio 
 architect to build £o grand an edifice. 
 
 XXI. Nay, there are many things, which rather in. 
 
 * If. llli* l. I If. Kiii. 13. 
 
 Vol. r. 1 y 
 
170 Of the First SABBATH. Book!. 
 
 It is more probable, dine us to think, that man's fin hap- 
 he did not fm on pened not on the fixth day. For af- 
 that day. ter God had, on that day, created 
 
 the beads ; after he had formed Adam of the 
 duft of the earth ; after he had prefcribed him the 
 -^ law concerning the tree of knowledge of good 
 iZ&y-evil ; after he had prefented to him the beads 
 in paradife, that, upon inquiring into the nature 
 of each, (which alio he performed with great ac- 
 curacy, as the great Bochart has very learnedly 
 ihewn *), he might call each by their proper names ; 
 after Adam had found, that there was not among them 
 any help meet for him, for the purpofes and conve- 
 nience of marriage ; and after God had caft Adam in- 
 to a deep deep, then at lafl Eve was formed from 
 Adam's rib. All thefe things are not of a nature to 
 be performed, like the other works of the preceding 
 days, in the f honed fpace of time poflible, and, as it 
 were, in a moment; but they fucceeded one another 
 in diflincl periods, and, during thefe, feveral things 
 muft have been done by Adam himfelf. Nay, there 
 are divines of no fmall note, who infill:, that all thefe 
 things were not done in one day; and others pod pone 
 the creation of Eve to one of the days of the follow- 
 ing week. But we do not now engage in thefe difputes. 
 Attcr all thefe things, the world was yet innocent, and 
 free from all guilt, at lead on the part of man. And 
 God, contemplating his works, and concluding his 
 day, approved of all as very good and beautiful. Ke 
 had yet no new labour for reiioring the fallen world, 
 which would have been nowife inferior to the work 
 of the creation. But what probability is there, that, 
 in thofe very few hours which remained, if yet a fin- 
 ale hour remained, Adam fhould have parted from 
 Eve, who had been jud'ereated, expofed his mod be- 
 loved confort to an iniidious ferpent, and that both 
 of them, jud from the hands of the Creator, fhould 
 fo fuddenly have given ear to the deceiver I Unlefs 
 * Hierozoic. lib. i. c 9. 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 171 
 
 one is prepofTefled in favour of the contrary opinion, 
 what reafon could he have, notwithftanding fo many 
 probabilities to the contrary, prematurely thus to 
 hurry on Adam's fin ? Since therefore the whole of 
 this foundation is fo very weak, what folid fuperftrut- 
 ture can we imagine it is capable of? 
 
 XXII. Let us now take a nearer view of the fuper- 
 ltructure itfelf, and examine, whe- ^ c • „• „ m . . 
 
 - #j, r n- . The hmihinc; mcDtJoned 
 
 ther its conitruction oe luiiicientiy Gen. ii. 2. b not the re- 
 firm and compact. The very iteration of the v\r.:. 
 learned perfon imagines he fee? ** promflfe of AbtMti- 
 a new labour on the feventh day, ia ' 
 and a new reft fucceeding that labour, which is the 
 foundation of the fabbath. The labour was h promife 
 of the Mejfiah, by which the world, mi feral y pollu- 
 ted with fin, was to be reflored. Of ;liis labour 
 Mofes treats, And on the feventh day Gcd ended his 
 work which he had made *. The reft w;.s the fatisfad- 
 tion and delight he had in that promffe, and in the 
 Mefliah promifed. But let us oppofe the following 
 confiderations to this fentiment. 1. If God. on the 
 feventh day, performed the immerrfe work of reco- 
 vering the world from the fall ; a woik, which if 
 not greater, yet certainly is not lefs than the creati< 
 of the world out of nothing, and he wis again to 
 reft, when he had finifhed it ; certainly, then, v.- 
 venth day was as much a day of work to Cod, ai 
 no more a fabbath, or day of refl, than any of tl 
 preceding days. For God baring Boiihed tl 
 each day, relied for a while, and delighted iq it. 2. 
 Mofes, in the fecond verfe, makes ufe of tiie fame 
 word, by which he had exprefied the finifliing of tl 
 world in the firlc. But the / in the firft verfe') 
 
 as the learned perfon himfeif owns, rcl the (i- 
 
 nilhing of the creation ; what neccllity then can there 
 be forgiving filch different fenfes to one and the fir.. 
 word, in the fame context, when there is not click. 
 mark of dittinction ? 3. Hitherto Mofes has not gi- 
 
 • Chap, v. z. 
 
 Y 2 
 
T;2 Of the First SABBATH. Book I. 
 
 ven the leaft imaginable hint of the fall of our firft 
 -ts : is it then probable, that he would fo abrupt- 
 ly ojentidn the reftitution of the world from the fail ; 
 and tr, at in the very fame words, which he had juft 
 tiled, ind was aftei wards to ufe for explaining the 
 fii "ft creation ? What can oblige, or who can iuffe-r 
 us to confound the neatnefs of Mofes's method^ and 
 the peripicuity of his words, by this feigned irregula- 
 rity and ambiguity ? 4. It may be doubted, whether 
 we can properly fay, that, by the promife of the 
 MeiTiah, all things were perfected and finiflied ; fince 
 God, if we follow the thread of Mofes's narrative, did, 
 alter this promife, punifh the world with a deferved 
 curfe; and the apoitle ftill fays of the world, that tit 
 creature was made fubjeel to vanity, and groans under the 
 r 4gi of corruption *. It is indeed true, that the pro- 
 mife of the Mefliah, which could not be frustrated, was 
 the foundation of the comfort of the fathers ; but the 
 icripture no where declares, that, by this promife, as 
 immediately made after thefall, all things were finifhed-: 
 nay, even this promife pointed out that perfon, who, af- 
 ter many ages, and by various acts, not of one and 
 the fame office, was to effect the true confummation. 
 XXIII. Our learned author urges the following rea- 
 This author's f ons > w ^y thofe two finilhings are not to 
 reuons for ap be looked upon as the fame, 1. It would 
 plyin? Gen be a tautology, if not, an inexcufable bat- 
 11. 3. 4. to the tdogy, or idle repetition, in fuch a com- 
 Meffiah ° tne P eru1 i° us narrative ; and either the firll 
 verfe, or the beginning of the lecond, 
 would be fuperfiuous. 2. The finiihing or ending, 
 ver. 2. is annexed to the /event b day, by a double ar* 
 tide, in the fame manner as the refl is. And on tht 
 ve i y /eventh day God ended bis work which he bad made; 
 and be refted on the very /event/) day from all bis wort 
 wbhh he bad made. So that, if the former verb ^^ 
 b: rendered by the preterpluperfect, and be had ended % 
 the Litter P3\tPI mult be rendered fo too, and be had 
 * Rom. vii, 20. 21, 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 173 
 
 refted ; but this is incongruous. Nay, fince on theo- 
 ther days we reject the preterpluperfecl fenfe., left the 
 works of the following day fhould be referred to thole 
 of the preceding, contrary to hillorical truth ; it ought 
 not then here to be admitted on the feventh day. 3. 
 When the third verfe fhews the caufe of this reft, it 
 fpeaks of diftincf. finifhings, the latter of which is that 
 of the feventh day, And God blejfed the feventh da)\ 
 and fanclifed it, becaufe that in it he had refted from all 
 his work> which God ^T\1 created and made. By two 
 verbs he defcribes two actions j tf"ii denotes to create, 
 and n&'5?, t0 adorn, to polifh. Theie words are fre- 
 quently of the fame import, yet, when joined toge- 
 ther, they are to be difringuifhed ; as is owned not 
 only by Chrifiian, but by Jewifh interpreters. (Thus 
 it is, II. xliii. 7. where another word is added, "^\ to 
 form ; and as to all the three, N"U certainly fignilies, 
 the creation of the foul, but 1^, the formation of the be* 
 dy, and H&y, reformation by grace.) But theie two 
 actions are fo defcribed, that iTtfjy, making, immedi- 
 ately precedes refting, and was the work of the ie- 
 venth day ; but nfcOiD, creation, the work of the fix 
 preceding days. 4. To the fame purpofe is the reca- 
 pitulation of ver. 4. which repeats and confirms the 
 diftinclion juft now mentioned : Thtfc are the genera- 
 tions of the heavens and of the earth, when i 
 created ; in the day that the Lord God made the earth 
 and the heavens. Thus he recites the generations both of 
 the iirft fix days, in which the heavens and the earth, 
 with their refpective hofts, were created, and of the 
 beginning of that one day, namely, the feventh, which 
 is that ot operation, in which he made and polifhcd, 
 inverting the order ; firft the earth, then the heavens. 
 Thus far our very learned author. 
 
 \.\1V. But we cannot aflent to thefc things, and 
 therefore we anfwer each in order. To Weaie to fpeafc 
 the fir ft, I would enneltly entreat our with rerei 
 brother, both to think and (peak m< re o f ri»e4*yleofth$ 
 reverently of the iU!e of the Holy Ghoit, ? 0, y S l i,il - 
 
174 Of the £irst SABBATH. Book I. 
 
 nor charge thofe fimple and artlefs repetitions of one 
 and the fame thing, even in a concife narrative, with 
 an inexcufable tautology, if not a battology, or vain 
 and ufelefs repetition. It does not become us, the 
 humble difciples of the divine Spirit, to criticife on the 
 mod learned language, and the mod pure ftyle of 
 our adorable Mailer. It is very frequent, in the fa- 
 cred writings, more than once to repeat the fame 
 thing, in almoft the fame words, at no great diltance 
 afunder. This very fecond chapter of Genefis, of 
 which we now treat, gives us various examples of 
 this. The reafon of the fanctification of the feventh 
 day, namely, the reft of God upon that day, is pro- 
 posed in nearly the fame words, in the fecond and 
 third verfes. This learned perfon himfelf calls the 
 fourth verfe a recapitulation of what was juft faid. 
 And what is the whole of the fecond chapter, but a 
 fuller explication of the formation of man, which in- 
 deed we have plainly, but more briefly, related in the 
 firft chapter ? Shall we therefore fay, that a part of 
 the firft chapter, or the whole of the fecond, is in a 
 great meafure luperfluous ? Or fhall we dare to charge 
 God with tautologies, if not with inexcufable batto- 
 logies ? Is it not more becoming to tremble with awe 
 at his words, and rather return him thanks, that, on ac- 
 count of the dulnefs of our apprehenfion, he has vouch- 
 fafed to propofe, two or three times, the fame truths, ei- 
 ther in the fame or in a variety of words, having all the 
 fame meaning ? For my own part, I would act in this 
 manner, without any doubt of acting as becomes. 
 XXV. To the fecond I would aniwer : i . The 
 
 tJ • . mt ro words of Mofes may be taken in this 
 How or in what re- / a 
 
 fpeft God is faid to fenfe, namely, that God finilhed the 
 finift on the feventh work of the fixth day, and confequent- 
 dii y* ly of all the fix days, in the very mo- 
 
 ment in which the feventh began. Thus the an- 
 cient Hebrews, and after them, Rabbi Salomo, ex- 
 plain this manner of fpeaking ; as thereby to in- 
 timate, that God, in the very moment in which 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 175 
 
 he entered on the fabbath, finifhed his work : 
 for God alone knows the moments and leaft parts of 
 time in another manner than men do. 2. Nor is ic 
 an improper obfervation of Aben Ezra, " that the 
 Ci finifhingof the work is not the workitfelf, M but only- 
 means the ceafing from work, and that the text ex- 
 plains itfelf thus ; And he finifhed i that is, and he refled\ 
 having finifhed his work, he worked no longer. 3. 
 But we need not infift on this. Drufius fpeaks to ex* 
 cellent purpofe on this place : " The preterperfecl 
 " Hebrew may be as well rendered by the preterplu- 
 " perfect as otherwife. It is really fo : the Hebrews 
 " have only one preterperfecl, which they ufe for e- 
 " very kind of pad time : and therefore, according 
 " to the connection, it may be rendered fometimes 
 " by the preterperfecl, and at other times by the pre- 
 " terpluperfect." Let it therefore be rendered here by 
 the preterpluperfecf, And he hadjinijbeJ, as the Dutch 
 tranllation has alio done, and all the difficulty will 
 difappear. Our learned author may infift, that if this 
 be granted, than the following rMPi mud be alfo 
 rendered by the preterpluperfect. But it does not 
 follow : for we are to confider the nature of the fub- 
 jecr. and the different circumftances. The learned 
 perfon infills, that the word finiflnng is ufed in \ 
 different fenfc in the firft, from what it is in the 
 fecond verfe ; and mail we not be allowed to interpret 
 a preterperfecl:, which, by the genius of the language, 
 is indeterminate, fometimes by the preterperfecl, and 
 at other times by the preterpluperfect, as the fill 
 ihall require ? And if elfewhere we jullly Feted the 
 preterpluperfecr. fenfc, it is not becauie the genii 
 the Hebrew tongue does not admit at it, but bee. 
 as the learned perfon himielf obferves, fuch an inter- 
 pretation is contrary to the truth of the hiftoiy. 
 Which not being the cafe here, fuch a reafon cannot, 
 be urged. 1 Will only add, if Moles wanted to fay, 
 what we imagined lie has faid, et confummavtrat Deus die 
 feftimo, &c. d Lfjjjvity c':c. and $n , da) G*d 
 
I76 Of the First SABBATH. Book I. 
 
 bad finifijed, &c. and re/ted, Sec. could he poflibly have 
 exprefled in other words, or more aptly, according 
 to the genius of the language, this fenfe ? Was the 
 learned perfon himfelf to render into Hebrew, word 
 for word, thefe Latin words, he would certainly have 
 rendered them in the fame tenfe and mood, as Mofes 
 lias done. 
 
 XXVI. To the third reaSon, I reply : 1. The word 
 Of the meaning of HtDJJ is very general, and fignifies, to do 
 the v\ord p|£g a thing any how, well or ill. It is faid, 
 of penal or phyfical evil, Amos iv. 13. nrpy In 10 HDV, 
 Who maketh the morning darknefs ; and Ezek. xxxv. 6. 
 *^!DyS CDH7 / will prepare (make) thee unto blood. And 
 or moral evil, Mic. ii. 1. When the morning is light, 
 they praclife it ; n1#y\ We fhall give more inftances 
 prefently. Hence it appears, that the learned perfon 
 too much reftricts the meaning of this word, when 
 he explains it by the words, to adorn or polijh ; efpe- 
 cially, if he would precifely confine it to the refor- 
 mation by grace. 2. The fame word rwy is often ex- 
 preflive of the fix days work ; as Gen. i. 31. And 
 God Jaw njfjfj; n©N| J1X *7D all that he had made ; and 
 Exod. xx. 1 \.Ih fix days tin Lord H{£?y made heaven and 
 earth : likewife Ezek. xlvi. i.fltfyQn W TW'l), the fix 
 working days are oppofed tc the fabbath. Neither does 
 the learned perfon deny> that the words K~Q and n©y 
 are often equivalent. And why not here alio ? Is there 
 any neceflity, or probable reafon, for taking JTOy 
 for the work of the feventh day, and HSH3 for the work 
 of the fix preceding days? 3. I think he goes a little 
 too far, when he aiTerts, that both Chriilian and Jew- 
 iih interpreters admit, that thefe words, when joined 
 together, have diitincf. fignifications. Truly, for my 
 own part, of the feveral interpreters, both Jewiili and 
 Chriftians, whom I have confulted, I never found 
 one, who diilinguifhes the meaning of thefe words, 
 as this learned author has done. SceFagius on Gen* 
 i. 1. MenafTeh ben Ifrael, de creat. probl. 4. Coc- 
 ceius, difput. felecl. p. 70. § 72. Let us, in this cafe, 
 
Chap. 7- Of the First SABBATH. 177 
 
 hear the very learned de Dieu, who thus comments 
 on this paffage. " It appears to be an ufual Hebraifm, 
 " whereby the infinitive, HW'/l, added to a verb, in- 
 " eluding a like action, is generally redundant : fuch 
 cc as Judg. xiii. 19. And acting, he acted wondrouf- 
 " ly, that is, he a fled wondroufy. 1 Kings xiv. 9. 
 " And doing thou haft done evil, that is, Thou haft 
 cc done evil. 2 Kings xxi. 6. And working he mul- 
 " tiplied wickednefs, that is limply, he multiplied 
 " wickednefs 9 or, he wrought much wickednefs. 2 
 " Chron. xx. 35. He doing did wickedly ; doing is 
 " redundant. Pfal. exxvi. 2. The Lord doing has 
 " done great things for them ; doing is again redun- 
 " dant. Eccl. ii. 11. On the labour that doing I 
 " had laboured, that is limply, / had laboured. 
 " Which laft paffage is entirely parallel with this in 
 " Genefis ; for whether you lay, T\W^h ^Uy, he doing 
 " laboured, or Dwyi fcOD, he making created, you 
 " lay the fame thing : unlefs that ^13 lignifies to pro- 
 " duce fomething new, without any precedent or 
 " pattern, and which had no exiftence before ; there- 
 " fore, he making created, is no other than, he made 
 " fomething new ." Thefe things neither could, nor 
 ought to be unknown to this learned perfon, confi- 
 dering his great fkill in Hebrew learning. 4. He 
 ought not to have made fuch adiftinclion, barely and 
 without any proof, between the words K-Q, t^ and 
 rUtyh which areufed by Ifaiah, xliii. 7. as if the firft 
 intends the creation of the foul ; the fecond, the forma- 
 tion of the body ; and the third, the reformation by 
 grace : there not* being the leaft foundation for it in 
 fcripture. For, 1. fcOi fomctimes fignifies reformation 
 ty grace, as Pfal. Ii. 10. lL ? fcTO Create in me a clean heart* 
 2. 1^ is fometimes applied to the foul,Zech. xii. 1. and 
 1 YttanRnx^ypfformetb thefpirit of man within him : 
 and Pfal. xxxiii. 15. 03*7 -y^ -^\-, and f if nonet h their 
 hearts alike ; fometimes too it denotes formation by grace; 
 as If. lxiii. 2 r. This people irrilT have I finned for myfelfo 
 they Jhall few forth my praife. 5, 7\iy \ thlQ 
 
 Vol.1. \Z 
 
1 78 Of the First SABBATH. Book!. 
 
 once ufedfor the fir/If or mat ion of man ; as Gen. i. 26. 
 HVLyj Let us make man : and Gen. ii. i8.nt£Jft< / vrifl 
 make him an help meet for him ; Jer. xxxviii. 16. nttfy "V£i< 
 that made us this foul, fays king Zedeki ah to Jeremiah, 
 without having any thoughts of a reformation by 
 grace. Since therefore all thefe words are {o promif- 
 cuoufly ufed in fcripture, ought we not to look upon 
 him, who diftinguifhes them in fuch a magifterial man- 
 ner, as one who gives too much fcope to his own fan- 
 cy ? Add what if one mould invert the order of our au- 
 thor, and pofitively aflert, that £"0 ner e denotes re- 
 formation by grace, as Pfal. Ii. 10. "MP the production of 
 the foul, asZech.xii. 1. and nttfy, the formation of the 
 body, as Gen. ii. 8. what reply could the learned per- 
 fon make ? But thefe are weak arguments. It is more 
 natural to take thefe words in Ifaiah, as* meant of the 
 new creation and reformation by grace. And this ac- 
 cumulation or multiplying of words is very proper to 
 denote the exceeding greatnefs of the power of God, and 
 his effectual working in the fanclification of the elect 
 There is a parallel place, Eph. ii. ro. For we are his. 
 Heb; rULyC, (ivorkmanflnp^) Heb. CZP&nuj, created in 
 Chrifl J ejus unto good works, which God *W, hath before 
 crda'mcd, thai we fhould walk in them: as If. xxii. 11. 
 p^n-IDm^ fafhioned it long ago, which properly -ttw.tci* 
 «art, he hath before ordained. From all this it appears, 
 that this pafTage in Ifaiah can be of no fervice to our 
 learned author. 5. But if we muft diftinguifh be- 
 tween ro \jcry and ro rrj)V, nothing, I think, is more to 
 the purpoie than the interpretation of Ben Nachman. 
 u He refted from all his works, which N"Q, he Created, 
 " by producing fomething out of nothing, n^S) 4 ?* 
 " to make of it all the works mentioned in the iix 
 " days : and lo ! he fays, he refted from creating and 
 " from working ; from creating, as having created in 
 M the firft day, and from working, as having comple- 
 M ted his working in the remaining days." 
 
Chap. 7. Of the First SABBATH. 179 
 
 XXVII. The fourth reafon coincides with the fore- 
 going, Only that it is ftill more cab- This reformation much 
 baliftical. 1. 'Tis a ftrange inter- U(s to be found in the 
 pretation to fay, that by rrTMn, 4 ch **"*■ 
 the generations of heaven and earth, we are to under- 
 fland not only their firft creation, but their reftoration 
 by the promife of the Mefliah. For it is quite foreign 
 to the fubject to tell us, that, by the fin of the angck, 
 a (late of corruption was introduced into the heaven 
 of heavens, and thereby the throne of the divine ma- 
 jefty was bafely defiled ; for though, by the angelical 
 apoftafy, corruption had been introduced into heaven, 
 yet by their ejection, whereby they were hurled into 
 hell, the heavens were purged from that corruption. 
 Nor was there any new heaven made by the promife 
 of the Mefliah, that was given on the fixth day ; for 
 that promife made no alteration there, but only fore- 
 told, that, after many years, fume elect fouls were to 
 be received into that holy and bit-fled habitation. 2. 
 As to the order, in which the earth is put before the 
 heavens ; 'tis well known, that the fcripture does no$ 
 always relate things in the fame order. Nor from the 
 mere order of the narrative, which is an arbitrary 
 thing, can any arguments be formed. However, Jli- 
 nius's oblervation is not to be rejected. " Earth and 
 " heaven are mentioned in an inverted order, becaufo 
 " the formation of the earth preceded that of the hea- 
 " vens : for the earth was perfected on the third day 
 u of the creation; heaven on the fourth. " 3. ' 1 "u doing 
 inanifeft violence to th;* text, if we underhand the for- 
 mation of the e.irth and heavens, of their reformat; 
 by grace, in virtue of the promile of the IVIcilnh, made 
 on the feventh day ; becaufe Mofea treats of (hat forw 
 mation of earth and heaven, which was prior to that 
 of plants and herbs ; as appears from the connection of 
 ver. 3. with vcr. 4. For thus the words run : 7 
 are the general ions of the heavens and of the t 
 they ■;, ' ; ii tl e day that the Lord G 
 
 earth and t Ll \nd evity plant cf the j:\id, I 
 
 Z 2 
 
180 Of the First SABBATH. Book I. 
 
 It teas in the earth, and every herb of the field \ &c. Or, 
 as the learned de Dieu fhews, they may otherwife be 
 very properly rendered ; In the day that the Lord made 
 the heavens and the earth, there was yet no plant of the 
 field created, &c. So that this formation of the earth 
 and the heavens was prior to man's own creation, much 
 tnore to the fall, and to the reftitution from the fall. 
 An/1 this verfe wholly overturns the diftinction which 
 this learned perfon has invented. 
 
 XXVIII. And thus we have fhewn, that the words 
 Gcd's reft from the °^ Mofes neither mention nor intimate 
 work of reforma- any work by which God reftored all 
 ticn of the feventh things from the fail on the feventh day, 
 day a mere fiftion. Neither is there to be found therein a- 
 ny reft from that work of reftoration, which is the foun* 
 dation of the reft of the fabbath. For, i. It is irrati- 
 onal to fuppofe, that when God promifed the Mefliah, 
 he then refted from the work of the gracious reforma- 
 tion of the univerfe ; becaufe that promife was a pro- 
 phecy of the fuffermgs, conflicts, and at laft of the 
 death of Chrift, by which that reformation was to be 
 brought about and accomplifhed. 2. How can it be 
 faid, that God refted, immediately after having made 
 that promife, from all his work, when directly upon 
 it he pronoTj^ced and executed fentence upon Adam, 
 Eve, and the earth, that was curfed for their crime, 
 and expelled them paradife ? Which work (to fpeak 
 after the manner of men, compare If. xxviii. 21.) was 
 truly a greater labour to God than the very creation of 
 the world. And thus, inftead of a fabbath, which 
 Mofes defcribes, this day is made one of the moft la^ 
 borious to God. 3. The fabbath-day, after the pu- 
 blication of the firft gofpel- promife, was doubtlefs fa- 
 cred to the Meftiah, and to be celebrated to his honour 
 by the faints, with a holy exultation of foul. Nor 
 ihall I be much againft the learned perfon, fhould he 
 chufe to tranflate If. lviii. 13. that the fabbath may 
 be called a delight, on account of the holy of the Lord be- 
 ing glorified : but it cannot, with any probability, be 
 
Chap. 8. Of the Violation, &c. 181 
 
 inferred from this, that the promife of the Meffiah was 
 the foundation of the firft fabbath ; fince the fabbath, 
 as well as other things^ did not acquire that relation 
 till after the fall. 4. The fcripture in exprefs terms 
 declares, that the reft of God from the work of the 
 firft creation, which was completed in fix days, was the 
 foundationibf the fabbath. In fix days the Lord made 
 heaven and earth, the fea, and all that in them is, and 
 refled the /event h day : wherefore the Lord blejfed the 
 fabbqtkmday, qnd fallowed it *. Which being plain, ic 
 Sufficiently, if I miftake not, appears, that it is much 
 fafer to go in the'old and beaten path, which is the 
 king's highways than .in* thai-other new^trodden and 
 rough one, which the learned perfon, whofe opinion 
 w^ have been examining, has chofen to tread in. And 
 fo much for this fubjecl. 
 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Of the Violation of the Covenant of Works 
 on the part of Alan. 
 
 AS the fcripture does not declare, how long this co- 
 venant, thus ratified and con- The whole covenart 
 lirmed, continued unbroken, we are was violated by the 
 fitisfied to remain in the dark. An^J firft fin of our firft 
 we would have a holy dread of pre- P arents - 
 fuming rafhly to fix the limits of a time, wjiich is real- 
 ly uncertain. It is however evident, that man, wic- 
 kedly preiuming to j£at the fruir of the forbidden tree, 
 incurred the guilt of violating the covenant. Nor 
 ought that to be deemed a fmali (in, (as the apoftle f 
 calls it the offence, difobedience, and tranfgrejfionj, be- 
 caufc it niav ieem to have been committed about a thing 
 of no great importance. Tor the meaner the thing is, 
 from which God commanded to abitain, and for which 
 man defpifed the promife- of the covenant, makes his 
 
 • I ::cd. xx, II, |j Roia. v. 
 
 > 
 
182 Of the Violation of the Book L 
 
 tranfgreffion of it the more hainous ; as may be illuftra- 
 ted by the profanenefs of Efau, which was fo much 
 the greater, as the mefs was of fo little value, for 
 which he fold his birth-right *. In that fin, as divines 
 generally obferve, there was, as it were, a kind of 
 complication of many crimes. But it is our chief pur- 
 pofe, to fhew, that this was the violation of the whole 
 covenant. For not only that tree, as we proved above, 
 was a facrament of the covenant, the abufe of which 
 ought to be looked upon as a violence done to the 
 whole ; not only the precept concerning that tree, 
 which was the trial of univerfal obedience , but like- 
 wife the covenant in its whole conftitution, was viola- 
 ted by that tranfgreffion. The law of the covenant 
 was trampled upon, when man, as if he had been his 
 own lord and matter in all things, did, in defiance of 
 his Lord, lay hold on what was not his property, and 
 throw off the yoke of obedience, that was due to God. 
 The promifes of the covenant were fet lefs by than a 
 tranlitory guft of pleafure, and the empty promifes of 
 the feducer. And that dreadful death, which the au- 
 thor of the covenant threatened the tranfgreflbr with, 
 was not confidered and thought of in all its dreadful 
 effects, but he prefumed to act in oppafition to it. And 
 thus Adam tranfgrejfed the covenant f. 
 
 If. Though Eve had the firft hand in this crime. 
 Why this crime is vet it is ufually in fcripture afcribed to 
 ufually afcribed to Adam : By one man fin entered into the 
 Adam. worlds according to Paul, Rom, v. 12. 
 
 whom, ver. 14. he declares to be Adam. For Adam 
 was the head of the covenant, with whom, even be- 
 fore the creation of Eve, God feems to have tranfact- 
 ed. Adam was the root of all mankind, and even of 
 Eve herfelf, who was formed out of one of his ribs. 
 Neither is it cuftomary to deduce a genealogy from a 
 woman. Nor was the covenant judged to be entirely 
 broke, till Adam alfo added his own crime to that of 
 his wife's. Then it was that the Creator, firfl a cling 
 in the character of a Judge, fummoned to his bar the 
 * Heb. xii. 16. f Hof. vi. 7. 
 
Chap. 8. Covenant of WORKS. 183 
 
 inconfidcrate pair, already condemned by their own 
 conference. But we are not to think that this inheri- 
 tance of fin was fo derived from our father Adam, as 
 to excufe our mother Eve from that guilt. For as by 
 marriage they were made one flefli, fo far they may be 
 confidered as one man. Nay, Adam is not confider- 
 ed as the head and root of mankind, but in conjunc- 
 tion with his wife. To this purpofe is what Malachi * 
 fays, tliat God, feeking a godly feed, made one ; one 
 pair ; two into one flefh. 
 
 III. He who feduced man to this apoftafy, was doubt- 
 lefs a wicked fpirit, who, tormented with The deceiver 
 the horrors of his guilty confeience, envi- was the devil in 
 ed man his happinefs in God, and God the thc ^rpent. 
 pleafure he had in man, feeking wretched confolation 
 in a partaker of his mifery. "lhe more eaiily to infi- 
 nuate himfelf into man's favour, by his infnaring dip 
 courfe, he concealed himfelf in the ferpent, the moll 
 fubtle of all animals, and at that time not lefs accept- 
 able to man, than the reft of the obfequious crea- 
 tures. The great Du Moulin -| conjectures, this fer- 
 pent was of a confpicuous form, with fiery eyes, deck- 
 ed with gold, and marked with mining fpots, and fuch 
 as to draw the eyes of Eve to it : and that he had, be- 
 fore that time, more than once infinuated himfelf, by 
 his foothing founds, into Eve's favour ; in order, 
 that, having preconceived a good opinion of him, fhe 
 might be brought the more readily to yield to him. 
 In line, he was fuch, that what Mofes fays of the 
 fubtilty of the ferpent, muft be applied to him only, 
 and not to the whole fpecies. To this conjecture, it is 
 alio added, that Eve perhaps, fuch was her fimplicity, 
 did not know, whether God had beftowed the ufc of 
 fpcech on any other animals, befides man. Lauren - 
 tius Kamircs }, (quoted by Bochart ||, goes a ftep far- 
 ther, and feigns, that Eve was wont to play with the 
 ferpent, and adorn her bofom, neck, and arms, with 
 
 • Chap. ii. i;. f Difput. 3. dc angelis, § 44. ♦ In h* Pen- 
 teconurch. c, !. || Hierczoic. lib. i.e. 4. p. 5c. 
 
184 Of the Violation of the BookL 
 
 it : and hence, at this day, the ornaments for thofe 
 parts have the refemblance of ferpents, and are called 
 ift/f, ferpents^ by the Greeks. 
 
 IV. But all this is apocryphal. We are not fo far to 
 Why he fpoke by pleafe ourfelves, as to advance fuch ro- 
 the ferpent. mantic things, without fcripture-au- 
 
 thority. Whether this was the firft, or the only ap- 
 parition of the ferpent, as having the ufe of fpeech, I 
 fhall neither boldly affirm, nor obftinately deny. But 
 what things are told, as probable, of fome extraordi- 
 nary ferpent £o curioufly fpotted and fet off, and now 
 made familiar to Eve, by an intercourfe repeated fe* 
 veral times, are the pleaiing amufements of a curious 
 mind. The fubtilty of ferpents is every where fo well 
 known, that among many nations they are propofed 
 as the diflinguifhing character and hieroglyphic of pru- 
 dence. Bochart * has collected many things relating 
 to this, from feveral authors. To this purpofe is what 
 our Saviour fays, Matth. x. 16. Be ye wife as ferpents. 
 *Tis alfo injurious and reproachful to our mother Eve, 
 to reprefent her fo weak, and at fo fmall a remove from 
 the brutal creation, as not to be able to diftinguith 
 between a brute and a man, and to be ignorant, that 
 the ufe of fpeech was the peculiar privilege of ra- 
 tional creatures. Such flupid ignorance is inconfift- 
 ent with the happy ftate of our firft parents, and with 
 the image of God, which ihone fo illuftrioufly alio in 
 Eve. We are rather to believe, that the devil aiTu- 
 med this organ, the more eafily to recommend himfelf 
 to man, as a prudent fpirit ; efpecially fince this look- 
 ed like a miracle, or a prodigy at leaft, that the fer- 
 pent mould fpeak with human voice. Here was fome 
 degree of probability, that fome fpirit lay concealed 
 in this animal, and that too extraordinarily tent by 
 God, who mould inftruct man more fully about the 
 will of God, and whofe words this very miracle, as it 
 were, feemed to confirm. For that ferpents have a 
 tongue unclapted to utter articulate founds, is the ob- 
 &- # Ir. Hifrozoic. ]. i.e. 4. 
 
Chap. g. Covenant of WORKS. i8f 
 
 fervation of Ariftotle ** See Voffius de idol. lib. iv, 
 
 * 55* 
 
 V. As this temptation of the devil is fomewhat like 
 to all his following ones, we judge it not The minuet of 
 improbable, that Satan exerted all his the temptation 
 cunning, and transformed himfelf, as he #&*&«; 
 ufually does, into an angel of light, to addrefs him- 
 felf to Eve, as an extraordinary teacher of fome i ; n- 
 portant truth, not yet fully underftood. Therefore 
 he does not pretend openly to contradict the command 
 of God ; but, Jirft, propofes it as a doubt, f ^e tcachV? 
 whether Adam underftood well the mean- to doubt of 
 ing of the divine prohibition j whether he tnejenfc 
 faithfully related it to Eve j whether flie comma ; 
 herfelf too did not miftake the fenie df it ; and whe- 
 ther at lead that command, taken literally, was not 
 £o improbable, as to render it unnecefTiry to t.iink of 
 a more myfterious meaning. And thus he teaches to 
 raife reafonings and murmurings againft the words of 
 God, which are the deftruction of faith. 
 
 VI. Next, he undermines the threatening annexed 
 to the command, Te JJmll not furely 2. He i/ndermindi 
 die^ fays he: God never meant by death j the threaten 
 what you in your fimplicity are apt to fuTpect. Con, 1 
 death be fuppofed to hang on fo pleafant and agree - 
 
 a tree ? Or do you imagine God fo envious, as to for- 
 bid you, who are his familiars and friends, to cat the 
 fruit of fo delicious a tree, under the penalty of a 
 dreadful death ? This is inconfiftent with his infinite 
 goodnefs, which you fo largely experience, and with 
 the beauty of this fpecious tree, and the comelinefs of 
 its fruit. There mull therefore be another meaning of 
 this expreflion, which you do not underftand. And 
 thus he inftilled that herefy into the unwary woman, 
 the firit heard of in the world, that there is a iiii 
 whieh does not deferve death, or, which is the fame 
 thing, that there is a venial Jin. The falfe prophet, 
 the attendant on Antichrift, who bath I tmb 3 
 
 * De part. anim. lib. ii c. 17. 
 
 Vol. I. j A a 
 
i86 Of the Violation of the Book I. 
 
 and Jpeaketh as a dragon. Rev. xiii. n. does, at this 
 very day, maintain this capital herefy in the church 
 - . of Rome; and nothing is itill more ufual with Satan, 
 t( W^Cw 3 * 1 ' ky no P e °f impunity, to perfuade men to fin. 
 VII. He adds the promife of a greater happinefs : 
 3. He adds the promi e Tour eyes Jhall be opened, and ye Jh all 
 cf a greater happinefs. he as gods, knowing good a?id evil. 
 He prefuppofes, what in itfelf was true and harmlefs, 
 that man had a deiire after fome more perfect happi- 
 nefs ; which he made to confift in his being made like 
 to God ; which John affirms to be, as it were, the prin- 
 cipal mark of ialvation, that we Jhall be like God, 
 1 John iii. 2. He fays further, that this likenefs was 
 to be joined with the opening of their eyes, and a 
 greater meaiure of knowledge. Nor is this unlike 
 the dochines of the fcripture, which affirm, that we 
 Jhall fee God, and that, as he is ; and Jhall know him, 
 even as we ourjelves are known. And thus far indeed it 
 might appear, that Satan fpoke not amifs, blending 
 many truths, and thofe approving themfelves to the 
 conscience, with his own lies, the more eafily to de- 
 ceive under the appearance of a true teacher. But 
 herein the fraud lies concealed : 1. That he teaches 
 them, not to wait for God's appointed time, but by 
 an unadvifed precipitancy lay hold on the promifed 
 felicity. Man cannot indeed too much love and de- 
 iire perfection, if he does it by preparation and earr.efl 
 expectation ; preparing himfelf in holy patience, and 
 fubjection of his will to the will of God, defiring 
 not to anticipate, even for a moment, the good plea- 
 fure of God. 2. That he points out a falfe way, as 
 if the eating of that tree was either a natural, or, more 
 probably, a moral mean, to attain the promifed blifs ; 
 and as if God had appointed this as a neceffary requi- 
 iite, without which there was no poffibility of coming 
 to a more intimate communion with God, and a more 
 perfect, degree of wifdom ; nor ? in fine, of obtaining 
 that ftate, in which, knowing equally good and evil, 
 they would be no longer in danger of any degree of 
 
Chap. 8. Covenant of WORKS. 187 
 
 deception. And it is moft likely, that to this purpofe 
 he perverted the meaning of the name of the tree. r 
 But all thefe were mere dclufions. J L \ 
 
 VIII. At laft this difguifed teacher appeals to the 
 knowledge of God himielf : God doth know. He calls God 
 Moil interpreters, both Jewifh and Chri- lo witnefs. 
 ftian, ancient and modern, interpret theie words, as 
 if Satan would charge God with open malignity and 
 envy, in forbidding this tree, left he mould be obli- 
 ged to admit man into a partnerfhip in his glory. And 
 indeed there is no blafphemy fo horrid, that Satan is 
 afliamed of. But we are here to conlider, whether 
 fuch a mocking blafphemy, fo crudely propofed, 
 fhould not have rather ftruck honor into n 
 who had not yet entertained any bad thoug of 
 God, than recommended itfelf by any appeal a^^w of 
 probability. For why? Is it credible, that a man not 
 deprived of his fenfes could be perfuaded, that the 
 acquifition of wifdom and a likenefs to God depend- 
 ed on a tree ; fo that he mould obtain both thefe by 
 eating of it, whether God would or not? And then, 
 that God, whom man mull know to be infinitely great 
 and good, was liable to the paflion of envy ; a plain 
 indication of malignity and weaknefs : in fine, that 
 there was fuch a virtue in that tree, that, on tailing 
 it, God could not deprive man of life, lor ail theie 
 particulars were to be believed by him, who can ima- 
 gine, that, out of envy, God had forbid him the ufe or" 
 that tree. It does not feem to be confiiient with the 
 fubtiky of Satan, to judge it advifable to propofc to 
 man things fo abfurd, and fo repugnant to common 
 notions, and the innate knowledge, which he mutt 
 have had of God- Is it not more proper, to take that 
 exprefftonfora form of an oath ? As Paul hitnieh f.n 'S, 
 r. xi. n. (JoJ kwwthy fo as the perjured iin- 
 poitor appealed to God, v witnefs or what he advan- 
 ced . 
 
 J.\. There are who think that Adam was not, 
 A a 2 
 
1 88 Of the Violation of ?he Book I, 
 
 Whether Adam was not de ceived, namely, to believe as 
 ceived ; but only fell becaufe true what the ferpent had per- 
 cf the love he had for his wife, fuaded the woman to ; but ra- 
 ther fell out of love to his wife, whofe mind he was 
 unwilling to grieve : and therefore, though he was 
 confcious of a divine command, and not expofed to 
 the wiles of Satan ; yet, ' that he might not abandon 
 her in this condition, tafted the fruit fhe offered ; pro- 
 bably believing, that this inftance of his affection for 
 the fpoufe, whom God had given him, if in any 
 meafure faulty, might be eafily excufed. To this 
 they refer the apoftle's words, i Tim. ii. 14. For A- 
 dam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was 
 in the tranfgrejfion. But this carries us off from the 
 fimplicity of the divine oracles. The defign of the 
 apoftle is plainly to mew that the woman ought not 
 to exercife any dominion over her hufband, for two 
 reafons, which he urges. 1. Becaufe Adam was firft 
 created, as the head ; and then Eve, as a help meet 
 for him. 2. Becaufe the woman mewed, fhe was 
 more eafily deceived ; as who, being deceived firft, 
 was the caufe of deceiving her hufband : who was 
 likewife deceived like her, though not firft, but by 
 her means. For nothing is more frequent in the fa- 
 cred writings, than that a thing may feem to be abfo- 
 lutely denied, which ought to be underftood only, as 
 denied in a reftriclive fenfe. John vi. 27. and Phil. ii. 
 4. are inftances of this. Nor can it be conceived, how 
 Adam, believing, that what he did was forbidden by 
 God, and that, if he did it, he fliould forfeit the prp- 
 miled happinefs, nay, incur moil certain death a (for 
 all this he muft know and believe, if he ftill remain- 
 ed uncorrupted by the wiles of Satan), would have 
 made himfelf a partner in the crime, only to pleafe 
 his wife. Certainly, if he believed, that the tranfgref- 
 iion of the divine command, the contempt of the 
 promifed felicity, and his ram expofmg of himfelf to 
 the danger of erernal death, could be excufed only by 
 fcis affection for his wife, he no lefs mamefully erred, . 
 
 as 
 
 &« 
 
 , 3LI 
 
 
Chap. 8. Covenant of WORKS, 189 
 
 nor was lefs deceived, if not more, than his confort 
 herfelf. Nor can it be concluded, from his anfwer 
 to God, in which he throws the blame, not on the 
 ferpent's deceit, but on the woman, whom God had 
 given him, that the man fell into this fin, not fo much 
 by an error in the undemanding, as giving way to 
 his affection. For this fubverts the whole order of the 
 faculties of the foul ; fince every error in the affection 
 fuppofes fome error in the underftanding. This was 
 doubtlefs an error, and indeed one of the greateft, to be* 
 lieve, that a higher regard was to be paid to his affection 
 for his wife, than to the divine command. It was a 
 confiderable error, to think, that it was an inftance of 
 love, to become an accomplice in fin : becaufe it is the 
 duty of love, to convince the finner, and, as far as 
 may be, reftore him to the favour of God ; which 
 certainly Adam would have done, had he been entire- 
 ly without error. In whatever light therefore you 
 view this point, you mufl be obliged to own, that he 
 was deceived. This only Adam, by his apology, feems 
 to have intended, that his beloved confort had, by her 
 infinuations, which fhe had learned from the ferpent, 
 perfuaded him alfo ; and that he was not the firft in 
 that fin, nor readily fufpected any error or deception 
 by her, who was given him as an help by God. 
 
 X. It cannot be doubted, but that providence was 
 concerned about this fall of our iirft 
 parents. It is certain, that it was fdam s fall foreknown 
 K . r ' . , . , irom eternity. 
 
 foreknown from eternity : which 
 none can deny , but he who by a facrilegious auda- 
 city goes about to rob God of his omnifcience. Nay, 
 as God, by his eternal decree, laid the plan of the 
 whole oeconomy of our falvation, and the preconcei- 
 ved fuccefiion of the moil important things prefuppo- 
 fes the fin of man, it could not therefore happen un- 
 forefeen by God. And this is the more evident, be- 
 caufe, according to Peter, Cbrifl was foreordained be- 
 fore the foundation of the world, and that as the lamb, 
 whofe blood) was to be fhed *« Which invincible ar<« 
 
 iV UtAH* * lFtui - '9- 10 - 
 
 {*JZ.~6t* tf d-t*^ d ^aJvL**-? **f^ <z« 
 'fPSQ&fzsL t£££j£&& **/^r^*X 
 
190 Of the Violation of the BookL 
 
 gument Socinus knew not how to elude, otherwife 
 than by this ridiculous aflertion, " That after men had 
 " finned, Chrift indeed came to abolifh their fins ; 
 " but that he would have come notwithstanding, tho* 
 " they had never tinned." But this idle aflertion, be- 
 fides being unfcriptural, nay antifcriptural, is not ap- 
 pofite to this place. For the order of Peter's words 
 does not admit any other interpretation than of Chrift's 
 being foreknown, as a lamb to be flain, and to fhed 
 his blood, to be the price of our redemption. And 
 he likewife fpeaks * of this determinate counfel and fore' 
 knowledge of God, according to which Chrift was deli- 
 verd into the hands of wicked men. Since therefore 
 I Chrift was foreknown from eternity, as one to be flain 
 for the fins of men, man's fin was alfo neceflarily 
 foreknown. 
 
 XI. And if it was foreknown, it was alfo predeter- 
 
 mined : as Peter, in the place juft quoted, 
 termined e " j° ms together the determinate counfel and 
 
 foreknowledge of God. Nor can prefcience of 
 future things be conceived in God, but in connection 
 with his decree concerning their futurity. 
 
 XII. From all this may be inferred, by a plain con- 
 
 fequence, that it could not otherwife 
 And fo infallibly h but that man {hould fall on - 
 
 to come to pals. ** r 1 • r n-, -i- r 1 ■• • 
 
 count of the infallibility of the divine 
 
 prefcience, and of that neceflity which they call a nc- 
 ceflity of confequence. For it is inconfiftent with the 
 divine perfection, that any decree of God fhould be 
 rendered void, or that the event fhould not be anfwer- 
 able to it. 'Tis the prerogative of Jehovah to fay, 
 My counfel fJ) all jland f. His counfels of old are faith- 
 fulnefs and truth j. God himfelf has ratified the liabi- 
 lity of his purpofes by an oath, the more certainly to 
 declare the immutability of his counfel || . The Lord of hofls 
 hath [worn, frying, Surely as I have thought, fo fhall it 
 come to pafs ; and as I have purpofed, fo Jball it Jland \, 
 
 •Aclsii. 23. flf. xlvi. 10. J If, xxv, 1. 
 
 || Heb. vi. J7. \K. xiv.24. 
 
 / * J( _ rr . f£ " ^ Vt4 -* ~to**J £sr**& aCi*>l. <V-*^ df**^ 
 
Chap.8. Covenant of WORKS. ipr 
 
 XIII. The infallibility of the event, as to man's fin, 
 may be proved by another argument ; if As appears from 
 we only attend to that fubordination, the efficacy of 
 by which all creatures depend on God in the divine con - 
 their operations. For it is not poflible, currence * 
 that God mould, by his almighty concurrence influ- 
 ence a ny creature to ad:, and yet that creature fufpend n£. 
 its acting. In like manner it is impoilible, that while 
 God does not influence to the moral goodnefs of that 
 natural action, the creature mould, without that in- 
 flux, perform that action morally good. This follows 
 from the nature of God and the creature ; as he can- 
 not ineffectually influence his creatures to act, fo they 
 cannot but act, when under his influence. Thefe 
 things being fuppofed, as they are evident to any per- 
 
 fon of attention, it is impoilible, that man can abftain 
 from reafoning, willing, and eating, where God influ- 
 ences to thefe acts by his almighty concurrence. Nor 
 is it any more poflible, that man can reafon, will, and 
 eat in a holy manner, if God, by his almighty concur- 
 rence, does not influence the holinefs of the action. 
 Suppofing therefore, that God had afforded his influ- 
 ence to the natural act of reafoning, willing, eating, 
 as he actually did, but not to the moral goodnefs of 
 thofe acts, as he did not ; it could not otherwife be, 
 but that man fhould act at that time, and perform his 
 action wrong. Ail this holds true, not only with re- 
 flect to this firfl fin of man, but with refpect to all o- 
 ther iins. As thefe things are matters of evident 
 truth, I fee not why we may not boldly maintain them, 
 efpecially as they tend to the glory of God, and to de- 
 monitrate his fuperminence, and the abfolute depend- 
 ence of the creatures upon him, as much in their ope- 
 rations, as in their exiftence. Should thofe of the 
 contrary Pelagian fentiments pervert thefe truths, they 
 will do i'o at their peril. Nor ought we fo much to 
 regard that, as on their account to conceal the truth. 
 
 XIV. However, it will not be amifs to infiil a little 
 
192 Of the Violation of the BookL 
 
 a r n j longer on this fubject ; that all the appa- 
 
 ftration of this. ren f ^arlhneis of this doctrine maybe 
 entirely removed by an evident demon- 
 ftration of the truth ; which we think we fhall be able 
 to effect, by beginning w T ith the more evident truths, 
 in one continued chain of arguments, flowing from 
 each other, in fuch a manner, as to gain the affent e- 
 ven of the molt obftinate. 
 
 XV. And, firft, I think it will be readily granted, 
 All fecond caufes, in that there is but one firft caufe ; that 
 their afting, depend all other caufes fo depend upon that 
 on the firft. fi r ft onCj ^h m exiting anc j a fting, 
 
 as without it to be able neither to exift nor to act. 
 Paul inculcated this upon the Athenians * ; In him we 
 live, and move, and have our being. Nor, indeed, can 
 the moft powerful monarch in the world, fuch as the 
 Afiyrian was in the time of Ifaiah, any more move 
 without God, than the axe without him that hewetb 
 therewith, or the faw without him that Jhaketh it f . 
 
 XVI. Reafon, in this, concurs with fcripture. For 
 . if there was any caufe befides God, 
 
 To'rlL^T^ - hich . could act independently of 
 him, it would follow, that there 
 were more firft principles than one ; as Thomas Aqui- 
 nas reafons well J. Whofe reafoning, as it is both fo- 
 lid, and very much to the purpofe, we fhall not fcru- 
 pie to give in his own words. " It is," fays he, " ef- 
 o^uk^ " fential to the firft principle, that it can act without 
 /&/*** " " tne aftiftance and influence of a prior agent ; fo that 
 wk~fpfc» *' if the human w r ill could produce any action, of which 
 0+J _ " God was not the author, the human will would 
 •* have the nature of a firft principle." 
 
 XVII. Though they endeavour to folve this, by fay- 
 What is objeft- ing> that, notwithstanding the will be of 
 ed to this, is to itfelf capable of producing an action, 
 no purpoie. without the influence of a prior agent, 
 yet it has not its being from itfelf, but from another j 
 
 A&s xvii. 28. I If. x. 15. \ In fecond. fentenij. diitinft, 37. 
 
 I 
 
 v y-quzeft. 2. arv*. „-hr-(U - 
 
 • -HbX^ac** l*jk£. Ox VK*^^J* y' tt-^ — ?±: — ^ , 7Z* Jt4<* *■ ****** 
 
 
Chap, 8. Covenant of WORKS. 193 
 
 whereas the nature of a firft principle is to be felf-ex- 
 iftent. But it feems inconfiftent to fay, that what has 
 not its being of itfelf, can yet act of itfelf ; for what is 
 not of itfelf, cannot continue of itfelf. For all the power 
 of acting arifes from the eflence, and the operation from 
 the power. Confequently, what has its eflence from an- 
 other, muft alfo have its power and operation from 
 that other. And befides, though this reply denies that 
 it is /imply the firft ; yet we cannot but fee, that it is the 
 jirfl agent , if its acting cannot be referred to fome prior 
 agent, as the caufe. Thus far 1 nomas Aquinas. 
 
 XVIII. Nor does God only concur with the actions 
 of fecond caufes, when they act, but n , , , . fl 
 
 , r . n , r \ r , God not only mflu- 
 
 alfo influences the caufes themielves ences t h e anions or 
 to act. Becaufe the beginning of ac- eflfe&s of the cau- 
 tions depends, if not more, at lead fcs » |? ut thc C2ui " cs 
 not lefs on God, than their progrefs. therafelves - 
 This opinion is not unhappily exprefTed in the Roman 
 catechifm, publiffieciTjy the decree of the council of 
 Trent, at the command of Pope Pius V. *, to this 
 purpofe : " But God not only, by his providence, pre- 
 " ferves and governs all things that exift ; but he like- 
 " wife, by a fecret energy, fo influences thofe that 
 " move and act, to motion and action, that though 
 " he hinders not the efficiency of fecond caufes, yet 
 " he prevents or goes before it ; feeing his moft 
 " fecret power extends to each in particular ; and, 
 " as the wife man teftifies, reaches powerfully from 
 " one end to the other, and difpofes all things fweet- 
 " ly. Wherefore it was faid by the apoftle, when de- 
 " daring to the Athenians the God whom they igno- 
 " rantly worfliipped : He is not far from every one of 
 " us ; for in him we live, and move, and have cur beu:^" 
 
 XIX. Moreover, as a fecond caufe cannot act, unlefs 
 acted upon, and previoufly moved to act, The crrUl , r<% 
 by the preventing and predetermining i:) cionot I 
 fluence of the firit caufe ; fo, in like man- incoofeqaenca 
 ner, that influence of the fn ft caufe is fo of lh:f illf,u ' 
 efficacious, as that, fuppofing it, the fe- 
 
 * Tart. 3. de primo fymboli articulr. num. 22. 
 
 Vol.I. t B b 
 
 •ft.. &+J ( },** /5L. ../..- 7 / 
 
 I su 
 
194 °f the Violation op the Book I- 
 
 cond caufe cannot hut act. For it is unworthy of 
 God to imagine any concurrence of his to be foindif* 
 ferent, as at lad only to be determined by the co-ope- 
 ration of fecond caufes i as if the rod jbould fhake him 
 who lifts it up ; or as if the flaff fhould lift up what is 
 not wo r jd * ; for fo the words properly run. And the 
 meaning is, that it is highly abfurd to afcribe to an in- 
 {trument of wood, the raifing*nd managing of what 
 is not of fuch vile matter as wood, but of a more ex- 
 cellent nature, namely fpirit. By this allegory is in- 
 timated the abfurdity of that opinion, which makes 
 God to be determined in his actions by the creature. 
 
 XX. Didacus Alvarez \ makes ufe of the following 
 Which is evident argument againft this; namely, Thc< 
 from the perfecti- manner of concurring by a will of it- 
 cn of God. felf indifferent to produce this or the 
 other efTecl:, or its oppofite, is very imperfect ; becaufe, 
 in its ellicacy, it depends on the concurrence of a fe- 
 cond cauie ; and every dependence imports, in the 
 thing which depends, fome imperfection and inferio- 
 rity, in rcfpcct of him on whom it depends : and there- 
 fore fuch a manner of concurrence cannot be afcribed 
 to God, or agree with his will, which is an infinite 
 and moil perfect caufe. 
 
 XXI. And then this infolvable difficulty likewife re- 
 And the contrary is mains i If the fecond caufe deter- 
 enforced by fevera2 mines the concurrence of God in it- 
 abfurdicies. f e ]f indifferent, in that act of deter- 
 mination it will be independent of God, and fo become 
 the iirit caufe. And it in one action it can work inde- 
 pendently of God, why not in a fecond? If in the be- 
 ginning of the action, why not alfo in the progrefs ? 
 Since the tranfition from non-acting to acting, is great- 
 er than the continuing an action once begun. 
 
 XXII. As thefe things are univerfally true, they ob- 
 All which is true with re- tain alfo in thofc free actions of 
 ips.Sk to iinful atfions, as rational creatures, in which 
 they aie adions. there is a moral evil inherent : 
 
 * It", x. 15. f Deauxilii: divinae gratis, lib. iii. difp. 21. p. i6j. 
 
Chap. 8. Covenant of WORKS. 195 
 
 namely, that creatures may be determined to thofe ac- 
 tions by the efficacious influence of God, Jo far as they 
 are atfions, according to their pbyfual entity. Elegant- 
 ly to this purpofe fpeaks Thomas Aquinas, in the place 
 juft quoted. Since the act of fin is a kind of being, 
 not only as negations and privations are faid to be be- 
 ings ; but alfo as things, which in general exiit, arc 
 beings, becaufe even thefe actions in general are rank- 
 ed in that order, it would follow, that if the actions 
 of fin [as actions] are not from God, there would be 
 fome being which had not its effence from God : and 
 thus God would not be the univerfal caufe of all be- 
 ings. Which is contrary to the perfection of the firft 
 being. 
 
 XXIII. Neither does God only excite and predeter- 
 mine the will of men to vitious actions, T , ^ .„ ^ * 
 fo far as they are actions ; but he likewiie j s like^ife pre- 
 
 fo excites it, that it is not poflible. but, determined to ^ / . 
 thus acted upon, it fhall act. For if, up- lhde action, a4#U*^ 1 
 on fuppofition of that divine influx, it luc * ' /*< 
 
 was poiTible for the created will not to act, thefe two 
 abfurdities would follow. 1. That the human will 
 could baffle the providence cf God, and either give to, 
 or take from the divine influx all itseiiicacy. 2. I hat 
 there could be fome act in the creature, of fuch weight ^ 
 
 as to refilt the divine influence, and be independent 
 of God. For I do not imagine, they will fay, t 
 God concurs to the production of that action, where- 
 by his influx is refilled . But \vc have already refuted 
 any concurrence as in itfelf indifferent, to be determi- 
 ned by the free will of the creatures. 
 
 XXIV. Further, the free will of man excited to ac- 
 tions, cannot, according to its phyfical AnJ vi , ;i 
 eflence, give them a moral and Spiritual 0Jt God it can- 
 goodnefs, without the divine providence not give nwa1 
 influencing and concuning to that good- K^dneis 10 ju 
 nefs. This is evident from whit has achons - 
 been before faid, lor ub moral goodnefs is a fupericr 
 and more perfect degree of entity than a phvlical entity 
 
 B b 2 
 
iy6 Of the Violation of the Book I. 
 
 alone, and man in the phyfical entity of his actions de- 
 pends on God ; it is neceffary, he mould much more 
 depend on God, in producing the moral gpodnefs of 
 his actions ; fo that the glory thereof ought to be ren- 
 dered to God, as the firft caufe. 
 
 XXV. Ifallthefe truths, thus demonftrated, be join- 
 ed and linked together, they produce that 
 dufin° n " concm fi° n > which we laid down §13. For 
 if all creatures depend on God in acting ;Uif 
 lie not only concurs with them when they act, but al- 
 io excites them to act ; if that excitation be fo power- 
 ful, as that, upon fuppofing it, the effect cannot but 
 follow ; if God with that fame efficacy influences vi- 
 tious actions, fo far as they are phyfical ; if the crea- 
 ture cannot give its actions their due moral goodnefs 
 without God ; it infallibly follows, that Adam, God 
 moving him to underltand, will, and eat, could not 
 but underltand, will, and eat ; and God not giving 
 goodnefs to thofe actions, man could not underltand 
 and will in a right manner. Which was to be proved. 
 
 XXIV. Yet it does not hence follow, that man was 
 However, it does not obliged to what was Amply impoffi- 
 fbllow, that man was ble. For it is only a consequential 
 obliged to what was an d eventual infallibility and neceffi- 
 fimply impoflible. ^ which we haye dlabU(hcdi God 
 
 beftowed thofe powers on man, by which he could 
 have overcome the temptation. Yet that faculty was 
 fuch as became a creature; which fince it was fuffici- 
 ent in its kind, yet could not proceed to action, with- 
 out prefuppofing the divine concurrence. Who fhall 
 deny, that man has a locomotive faculty, fo fufficient 
 in its kind, that he requires no more ? But will any 
 affirm, that it can happen, that man, by thatlocomo-' 
 tive faculty, can actually move independently of God, 
 as the firft caufe, without difcovering his ignorance 
 both of the fupremacy of God, and the fubordination 
 of man ? In like manner, we affirm, that God grant- 
 ed man fuch fufficient abilities to fulfil all righ- 
 teoufnefs, that he had no need of any further habitual 
 
Chap.8. Covenant of WORKS. 197 
 
 grace, as it is called ; yet fo that all this ability was 
 given him in fuch a manner, that he mould acl: only 
 dependently of the Creator and his influence, as we 
 hinted, chap. ii. § ig. 
 
 XXVII. Much lefs fhould it be faid, that man, by 
 the above-mentioned acts of divine provi- 
 dence, was forced to fin. For he finned &UIZ™" fc 
 with judgment and w T ill ; to which facul- ^"r 
 ties, liberty, as it is oppofed to compulfion, is fo pe-^*^ & 
 culiar, nay eflential, that there can be neither judg-^9fA«^ 
 ment nor will, unlefs they be free. And when we at- ,4^ ^ 
 firm, that God foreordained and infallibly foreknew, iV / 
 that man would fin freely, the finner could not but 
 
 fin freely ; unlefs we would have the event not anfwer^K f ' 
 to the preordination and prefcience of God. And fo "^ ^ ^ 
 far is the decree of God from oiminifhing the liberty*/ &-T 
 of man in his acting, that, on the contrary, this liber 
 ty has not a more folid foundation than that infallible,* 
 decree of God. 
 
 XXVIII. To make God the author of fin, is fuch 
 dreadful blafphemy, that the thought can- r a c lf 
 not, without horror, be entertained Dy^any t h a t God is 
 Chriftian. It is true indeed, that God c?ea-. the author of / / . 
 ted man mutably good, infallibly fore law his rjn « . * 
 
 fin, foreordained the permiflion of that fin, really gave_ 
 man fufficient powers to avoid it, but which could not~ 
 act without his influx ; and mean while influenced his */ i J 4rtA 
 faculties to natural actions, without influencing the < ««^/v^ 
 moral goodnefs of thofe actions. We learn all thofe 
 things from the event. But it is no lefs true, that 
 God neither is, nor in any rcfpecl: can be, the author 
 of fin. And though it be difficult, nay impoilible for 
 us, to reconcile thefe truths with each other ; yet we 
 ought not to deny w T hat is manifelt, on account of 
 that which is hard to be underitood. We will religi- 
 oully profefs both truths, becaufe they are truths, and 
 worthy or God ; nor can the one overturn the other; 
 though, in this our ltate of blindnefs and ignorance of 
 G'jd, we cannot thoroughly fee the amicable harmony 
 
 \ • /v y €4 s.^s ^/- yjc+Za 7L pfa d ^ y £*** -*^y 
 
 ^ h^t*A<j ^ y*/z<;^ er*.i*'i+^< erf *{ 9 .-y{, i £ci ■ ~Sy *< 
 
198 Of the Violation of the Book I. 
 
 between them. This is not the alone, nor fingle dif- 
 ficulty, whofe folution the fober divine will ever re- 
 ferve for the world to come. 
 
 XXIX. This is certain, that, by this permiffion of 
 By thepermiffionof fm > . God {*<* an opportunity of dif- 
 
 fm God took occa- playing his mamiold perfections. 
 fion to difplay his There is a fine paflage to this purpofe 
 manifold perfec- i n Clemens *, which with pleaiure we 
 tlons ' here infert. 'Tis the greateft work of 
 
 divine providence, not to fuffer the evil arifing from a 
 voluntary apoftafy, to remain unufeful, or in every re- 
 fpect to become noxious. For it is peculiar to divine 
 wifdom and power, not only to do good, (that being, 
 to fpeak fo, as much the nature of God, as it is the 
 .nature of fire to warm, or of light to fhine), but 
 much more, to make the evil, devifed by others, to 
 anfwer a good and valuable end, and manage thofe 
 things which appear to be evil, to the greateft advan- 
 tage- 
 
 XXX. It remains now laftly, to confider, how, as 
 when Adam fell, all Adam, in this covenant, flood as 
 hispofterityfeUinhim. the head of mankind ; upon his 
 fall, all his poflerity may be deemed to have fallen 
 with him, and broken the covenant of God. The 
 Apoftle exprefsly aflerts this f . By one man fin entered 
 Into the worlds and death by fin ; andfo death pajjed upon 
 all men, for that \m whoni] all have finned, if Z jt<*Vt«c 
 
 XXXI. To make the apoftle's meaning more plain, 
 Rom. v. 12. ex- we muft obferve thefe things. 1. It is 
 plained. very clear, to any not bewitched with 
 prejudice, that when the apoftle affirms, that all have 
 
 fnned, he fpeaks of an act of finning, or of an actual 
 fin; the very term, to fin, denoting an action. 'Tis 
 one thing to iin, another to be linful, if I may fo 
 fpeak. 2. When he afiirms all to have finned; he, 
 under that univerfality, likewife includes thofe who 
 Tiave no actual, proper, and perfonal fin, and who, as 
 * Strom, lib. i. t Rom. v. 12. 
 
Chap. 8. <?o ve n a n t or WORKS. Iff 
 
 he himfelf fays, have not finned after the fimilitude of 
 Adam's tranfgreffion *. Confequently thefe are alia 
 guilty of fome actual fin, as appears from their death ; 
 which not being their own proper and perfonal fin, 
 mud be the fin of Adam, imputed to them by the juft 
 judgment of God. 3. By thefe words, \f £ raw 
 l%jt&pr* 9 for that all have finned, he gives the reaibn of 
 that aflertion, which he had before laid down, that, 
 by the fin of one man, death patted upon all. This, 
 fays he, ought not to aftonifh us, for all have finned. 
 If this mould be underftood of fome perfonal fin of 
 each, either actual or habitual, the reafoning would 
 not have been juft, and worthy of the apoitle, but 
 mere trifling. For his argument would be thus, that, 
 by the one fin of one, all were become guilty of death, 
 becaufe each in particular had, befides that one and 
 firft fin, his own perfonal fin : which is inconfequenti- 
 al. 4. The fcope of the apoftle is to illuftrate the doc- 
 trine of j unification, which he had before treated of. 
 The fublfance of which confilts in this, that Chrift, in 
 virtue of the covenant of grace, accomplifhcd all 
 righteoufnefs for his chofen covenant-people, fo that 
 the obedience of Chrifi is placed to their charge, and 
 they, on account thereof, are no lefs abfolved from 
 the guilt and dominion of fin, than if they themfelves 
 had done and fuffered, in their own perfon, all that 
 Chrift did and fuffered for them. He declares, that, in 
 this refpect, Adam was the type of Chrift, namely, as 
 anfwering to him. It is therefore neceflary, that the 
 fin of Adam, in virtue of the covenant of works, be 
 fo laid to the charge of his pofterity, who were com- 
 prized with him in the lame covenant, that, on 
 account of the demerit of his fin, they are bom 
 deltitute of original righteoufnefs, and obnoxious 
 to every kind of death, as much as if they them- 
 felves, in their own perfons, had done what Adam 
 did. UnJcls we fuppofe this to be Paul's doctrine, 
 his words are nothing but mere empty found. 
 
 • Vcr. 14. 
 
2oo Of the Violation of the Bookl. 
 
 XXXII. The laft words of this verfe, If 9 £ wttrnt 
 The import of rijuxfiov, are differently explained by cli- 
 ff u. vines, becaufe the Greek phrafeology ad- 
 mits of various fignifications. The principal explana- 
 tions are three, i. Some render them, in fo far, or, 
 becaufe all have finned. For it is allowed, that i? £ 
 frequently admits this fenfe ; and thus it feems to be 
 taken *, ep. u ou Qtho/xir kWao-3-a/, not for that we would 
 be unclothed ; as if written, as Frobenius prints it, 
 £T£<W, though Beza here greatly differs. 2. Others 
 dbierve, it may be explained, with whom, i. e. who 
 finning, all have finned. For im in a fimilar conduc- 
 tion denotes a time in which fomething was done. 
 Thus we fay in Greek, in ipo) /u.upxKtu tZto yiyon, when 
 I was a boy, this happened-, and \w\ kwi, in the dig-days ; 
 and the apoftle^y; farl t« -x^a S/aSw, under the fir ft 
 tejlament. And then the meaning would be, that, up- 
 on Adam's linning, all are judged to have finned. 3. 
 Auguftine, and moft of the orthodox have explained 
 it, in whom. Which Erafmus in vain oppofes, faying, 
 that \yt\ when fignifying upon, or, in, is joined to the 
 genitive cafe \ as it o/x*, hcu 1*1 tvis x^ac > a ^° when de- 
 noting time, as fai Kxfoxpoc 'Oxlxpiv. In all this he is 
 ftrangely miftaken. For, not to fay any thing now 
 of time, it is certain, that m\ when joined to the da- 
 tive, denotes in: as Matth. xiv. 8. irl rrUx-Ai, in a char- 
 ger ; and in this very context of Paul. ver. 14. kvi r* 
 l/jLoi'oy.x\i, i^the fimilitude. And which is more, % i? £4 
 cannot fometimes be otherwife explained, than by, 
 in which, [or in whom] ; as Matth. ii. 4. If ? I ttx^x}-.- 
 1d6c Kx%Kif,o, wherein the fick of the palfy lay ; and 
 Luke v. 25. xo-j.r (^ a> r.aCi'tKiuo, tcok up that whereon he 
 lay. Nor is it taken in this light, in the facred wri- 
 tings only, but he might learn from Budaeus J, that 
 Ariit-otle ufed this phrafeology in the fame fenfe, %f ? 
 f/.lv y] QiKeh., im §x r i'if>'o ll b a.fj>rr iras^i^ On the one the female, 
 on the ether the male broods. However, we reckon none 
 of thofe explanations to be impertinent, as they are 
 * 2 Cor. v. 4. f Heb. ix. 15. \ In com. ling. Grace, p. 506. 
 
Chap. 8. Covenant of WORKS. 201 
 
 all almoft to the fame purpofe : yet we give the pre- 
 ference to the laft, becaufe moil emphatical, ^and > 
 applicable to the apoftle's fcope. It is a bad way of 
 interpreting fcripture, to reprefent it as declaring wi.at 
 is the leaft thing; intended. For the words are to be 
 taken in their full import, where there is nothing ia 
 the context to hinder it. 
 
 XXXIII. Grotius really prevaricates, when he thus 
 comments on the paflage before us. It The interpretation 
 is a common metonymy in the Hebrew, of Grotius. 
 
 to ufe the word fin, inftead of punifivnent ; and to fin* 
 inftead of to undergo pumjhment ; whence extending 
 this figure, they are faid, by a metaieplis, fc*$n to fin, 
 who lufTer any evil, even though they are ii noeeot, 
 as Gen. xxxi. 36. and Job vi. 24. ; where N'-*n is ren- 
 dered by l;T;x)t:;, to be unhappy. '£?' a here denotes 
 through whom, as esri with the dative is taken, Luke v. 
 5. Ads iii.^, 1 Cor. viii. 11. Heb. ix. 17. Chry fo- 
 il cm on tLi« place fays,- " On his fall, they who did 
 " not eat of the tree, are from him all become rnor- 
 " tal." Thus far Grotius. 
 
 XXXIV. This illuftrious pcrfon fcems to have wrote 
 without attention, 'as the whole is very im- Confuted. 
 pertinent. 1. Though we allow, that (in does fome- 
 times mctonymycally denote the pun'ijhment of lin ; 
 yet we deny it to be ufual in fcripture, that he who 
 undergoes puniflirnent, even while innocent, may be 
 faid to fin. Grotius fays, it is frequent; but he nei- 
 ther does nor can prove it by any one example ; \i 
 
 is certainly bold and rafh. Crellius, confuti -ook 
 
 on the iatisraciion of Chrift, brings in the I 
 Batiiiheba to David * : I and my, Jon So: hall be 
 
 cwnted offenders \ that is, lays lie, we 
 .as offenders, or be ruined. But a (inner, or 1 . 
 
 , arc different things. 1 
 mcr is laid or Chrift k but not the lal- : 
 
 "ft T • 
 
 ler, on any account. Moreover, to be 
 a iinncr does not ilgnify, intl 
 
 * I Kinj c i. 2 1. \ 2 I L 
 
292 Of fHE Violation of the Book I. 
 
 alleged, to undergo puniftiment, without any re- 
 gard to a fault or demerit, but to be guilty of 
 aiming at the kingdom, and of high treafon, and as 
 fuch to be punifhed. The teftimonies advanced by 
 Grotius are fo foreign, that they feem not to have 
 been examined by that great man. For neither in 
 the Hebrew do we find N^n, to fin, nor in the Greek 
 verlion, &*H^*t& ; nor do the circumftances admit, 
 that what is there faid of fin, or miftake, can be ex- 
 plained of puniftiment. It is neceflary therefore to 
 fuppofe, that either Grotius had fomething elfe in his 
 view, or that here is a typographical error. 2. Though 
 The apoftle here we hhould grant, which yet we do 
 diitinguifhes be- not in the lead, that to Jin fometimes 
 tueen I'm and pu- denotes to undergo punifhment ; yet it 
 lament. cannot fignify this here ; becaufe the 
 
 apoftle in this place immediately diftinguifhes be- 
 tween death as the puniftiment, and fin as the meri- 
 torious caufe, death by Jin. And by this interpretation 
 of Grotius, the apoltle's difcourfe, which we have 
 already fhewn is folid, would be an infipid tautology, 
 For where is the fenfe to fay, So death faffed upon all. 
 Whether b' J fig- through whom all die f 3. Grotius 
 nifies through 'whom, difcovers but little judgment in his 
 attempt to prove, that If & fignifies through whom : 
 certainly, Luke v. 5. brl r« fa*ft ™, does not fignify 
 thrattgh thy word, but at thy word, or, as Beza tranf- 
 ilates, at thy command. And Heb. ix. 17. M rtefiJc 
 does not fignify through the dead, bat when dead, and 
 rather denotes a circumflance of time. Acts iii. 16. 
 is alleged with a little more judgment ; and 1 Cor. 
 viii. '11. not improperly. But it might be infilled, 
 that Uf ijuoi kl fignifies, it is owing to me, fo that the 
 meaning fhall be, to whom it was owing that all finned. 
 Which interpretation is not altogether to be rejected. 
 Thus the fcholiaft, \f £ a^>, t§ l*. And if there was 
 nothing elfe couched under this, I would eafily grant 
 Grotius this explanation of that phrafeology. 4. It 
 
Chap.8. Covenant of WORKS. 203 
 
 cannot be explained confrftently with p un i(hmf nt cannot 
 divine juftice, how without a crime juftiy be ir.fiiaed 
 death lliould have paffed upon Adam's cn hh r F***W 
 pofterity. Profper reafoned foiidly Wlthcut ' in - 
 and elegantly againft Collator *. " Unlefs perhaps it 
 <; can be laid, that the punifhment, and not the guilt 
 " parted on the pofterity of Adam ; but to fay this, 
 <c is in every refpecf. falfe. For it is too impious to 
 " judge fo of the juftice of God ; as if he would, 
 " contrary to his own law, condemn the innocent 
 " with the guilty. The guilt therefore is evident, 
 " where the punifhment is fo ; and a partaking in 
 " punifhment fhews a partaking in guilt ; that human 
 " mifery is not the appointment of the Creator, but 
 " the retribution of the judge. " If therefore through 
 Adam all are obnoxious to punifhment, all too muil 
 have finned in Adam. 5. Chryfoftom alfo is here im- 
 properly brought in, as if from Adam he derived 
 only the punilhment of death, without partaking in 
 the guilt. For the homily, from which the words 
 are quoted, begins thus : " When the Jew mall fay, 
 " How is the world faved by the obedience of one, 
 " namely Chrift ? you may reply, How was the 
 " world condemned by one dilobedient Adam :" 
 Where it is to be obferved, (1.) That he fuppoies the 
 miferies of mankind to proceed from God, as a Judge) 
 who cannot juftiy condemn, but for lin. (2.) That 
 he compares the condemnation of the world by A- 
 dam's difobedience, with its falvation by Chrifl's obe- 
 dience. But this laft is imputed to believers, and 
 deemed to be theirs. And therefore Adam's fin is in 
 like manner imputed to all. As alio Gregory of i\a- 
 zianzen, quoted by Voflius f, laid, that Adam's guilt 
 was his. " Alas ! my weaknefsl" lays he, " for 1 dc- 
 " rive my wcaknefs from the rii fl parent." 
 
 XXXV. But we only underiland this of Adam's 
 firft lin. We nowiie agree with h is only Adam's fi.il 
 thofe, who abfurdly tell us, that A- fin, that is m 
 dam's other Cos were alio imputed hl:i P°ft«oy« 
 • c. 2c. t Hift. Pelag. lib. ii. part 2. p. 163. 
 
 C c 2 
 
204 Of the Abrogation of the Book I, 
 
 to us : for Paul, when treating on this fubjeft, Rom. 
 v. every where mentions IrunfgreJJton^ in the lingular 
 
 ber ; nay exprefsly, ver. 18. one tranfgrejfion, by 
 juilt palled upon all. And the reafon is ma- 
 ritfefi. or Adam ceafed to be a federal head, when 
 the covenant was once broken ; and whatever fin he 
 was afterwards guilty of, was his own perfonal fin, 
 and not chargeable on his pofterity ; unlefs in fo far 
 as God is fometimes pleafed to vifit the fins of the 
 
 j s on the children. In which Adam has now no- 
 thing peculiar above other men. So much for the 
 violation of the covenant by man. 
 
 C H A P. IX. 
 
 Of the Abrogation of the Covenant of Works on 
 the part of God. 
 
 The contents T T A V I N G difcourfed at fuflicient 
 of the chap. ~j[ length concerning the violation of 
 the covenant of works by fin ; let us now conlider 
 whether, and how far, it is made void, or abrogated by 
 God himfelf. 
 
 II. And in the firft place, we are very certain, that 
 Many things in this co there are many things in this 
 venant of ciemal truth, covenant of immutable and eter- 
 nal truth; which we reckon up in this order. i. 
 The precepts of the covenant, excepting that proba- 
 tory one, oblige all and every one to a perfect perform- 
 ance of duty, in what Rate fpevcr they are. 2. In- 
 ternal life, promifed by the covenant, can be obtain- 
 ed upon no other condition, than that of perfect, and 
 in every rcfpccl complete obedience. 3. No act of 
 difobedience efcapes the vengeance of God, and death 
 is always the punifhment of fin. But thefe maxims 
 do not exclude a fiirery, who may ccme under engage- 
 ments in man's ftcad, to undergo the penalty, and 
 perform the condition. But of this it is not yet time to 
 fpejik. Wefhall nowdifcourfe of each of themincrdtr. 
 
Chap. 9. Covenant of WORKS. 205 
 
 III. It is indeed a moll deflructive herefy to main- 
 tain, that man, finful and obnoxi- The firmer is (till ob- 
 
 OUS to punifhment, is not bound to Hged to obedience. 
 
 obedience. For, by no mifconducl of man, can God 
 forfeit his right and fupremacy. Now, this right and 
 fupremacy of God requires, that man, and even eve- 
 ry creature, be fubjecl in all refpects to God, as far as 
 poflible. Moreover, the rational creature, fuch as fin- 
 ful man is, and does continue to be, can be fubjecl: 
 not only to the natural, but alfo to the moral, pro- 
 vidence of God ; nor only to his vindictive juftice, 
 but alfo to hislegiflative authority ; and as he can, fo 
 he ought to be fubjecl: to him, as to the obligation of 
 obedience : fmce every poilible fubjcclion is eflential 
 to the creature. 
 
 IV. If the finner, who deferves punifhment, was 
 not fubjecl: to the law, he could no Otherwifc he could 
 longer iin ; and therefore by one fin fib no 1: 
 
 he would let himfelf free from the danger of further 
 finning. For where no law is binding, there is no 
 tranfgreflion, no fin, which John defines to be anjda, 
 the tranf^rejjlon of the law *• But nothing can be i- 
 magincd more abfurd, than that man, by iin, has 
 acquired an impeccability [incapacity of finning.] 
 
 V. Moreover, according to this hypothecs, all fin- 
 ners would be equal, and an equal de- And all finners 
 gree of punifhment remain for every uould be equal, 
 one : which is contrary both to lound reafon and icrip- 
 t'ne, where the inequality of fins and punifhment is 
 lo often inculcated. 
 
 VII There is a plain pafTage, Gal. v. 3. which con- 
 firms, t! at, even by the promulgation The fmner's obli- 
 df the new gofpel-covenant, the break- gabion appears 
 ers of the covenant, who are without '«°mGa!. v. 3. 
 Ghrift, are not fct free from that obligation of the 
 law, which demands perfect obedience, but continue 
 (lebto) 3 to (Jo tic wMi law. 
 
 VII. Nay, even in a human court, ti ' sempaci 
 
 * 1 John ill* 4. 
 
2o6 Of the Abrogation of the Bookl. 
 
 and is illuftrated is deemed an additional compacl, adding to 
 from thecivil law. ^ principal convention, and confequent- 
 ly not abrogating, but accumulating the former obli- 
 gation. Much lefs, at the bar of God, can the obli- 
 gation to punifhment, arifing from the violation of 
 the covenant, abrogate the primary and principal ob- 
 ligation of the law, whereby the covenant was ratified. 
 VIIJ, Arminius therefore * very bafely refufes, that 
 The opinion God, when man once fell from the ilate 
 of Arminius. of innocence, and became obnoxious to 
 punifhment, even of right required obedience of man, 
 as if God had forfeited his right by man's difobedience. 
 He makes ufe of thefe arguments, i. Becaufe when 
 man is in a flate of fin, he is not in covenant with 
 God : therefore there is no contract between God and 
 man, by which he can require obedience : for by what 
 red%d, what punifhment, can he give fan&ion to the 
 law, fince man, for the difobedience already commit- 
 ted, has forfeited the reward, and is become obnoxi- 
 ous to punifhment ? 2. As God has, becaufe of fin, 
 deprived man of ability and power to fulfil the law, 
 fo, by this very thing, he has fignified, that he will 
 no longer require man to fulfil it, unlefs he reftore his 
 ability; nay, he cannot in juftice do it. If anyfhall 
 fay, could therefore the creature be exempted from 
 the right or authority of the Creator, fo as no longer 
 to be bound to obey him ? He anfwers, Yes, indeed, 
 if the creature be accurfed, and the Creator reckon it 
 unworthy to require obedience from it : for it is the 
 higheft punifhment, fo to conclude the finful creature 
 under fin, as not to require any more obedience from 
 him ; that being an evidence of irreconcileable anger ; 
 namely in that itate. 3. The law itfelf, which is to be 
 performed, is fuch as it would be unbecoming it fhould 
 be performed by a finner who is out of the favour 
 of God. He is commanded to have God for his God, 
 to love, honour, and adore him, to put his truft 
 in him, to ufe his name with reverence, &c. Is it 
 probable, that fuch an obedience is required of him, 
 
 * Inepifl. praeftantium virorum, p. 173, 
 
Chap. 9. Covenant of WORKS. 207 
 
 who is under the curfe of God ? Thus far Arminius, 
 whofe arguments deferve to be carefully examined. 
 
 IX. We begin with the- firft. Arminius fuppofes a 
 great many things in this argument, r t i s falfe that all 
 which we cannot admit, fuch as : that obligation proceeds 
 all the obligation of man arifestfrom from the covenant. 
 the covenant; that the law does not oblige,but in fo far 
 as it is enforced by rewards and punifhments that God 
 cannot threaten a greater punifliment, after man is 
 once become obnoxious to the penalty : all which if wc 
 deny, as we do deny them, nay if we prove them to 
 be falfe, as we hope to do, there will not remain the 
 leaft appearance of force in this argument. The obliga- 
 tion of man to obedience is not founded firft and 
 principally on a covenant, but in the fupereminent 
 fovereignty, majefty, and holinefs of God ; and eve- 
 ry rational creature, becaufe he is fuch, is wholly 
 bound to be fubjecr. to his fovereignty, adore his*ffia- 
 jefty, and form himfelf according to the example of 
 his holinefs. God would not be the abfolute fove- 
 reign, if any rational creature exifted, which was not 
 bound to take the rule of its actions from him, and there- 
 fore, in regulating its actions, was not fubjectto God. 
 God would not be the fupreme majefty, if there was 
 any rational creature, who was not bound to ac- 
 knowledge, worfhip, adore, and be fubjecr. to him 
 in every refpect. God would not be perfect ho- 
 linefs, if any rational creature exifted, which was not 
 bound to acknowledge that holinefs, as moft worthy 
 of its imitation. As God is fuch a being, he cannot 
 but require to be efteemed to be fo. The creature 
 cannot acknowledge him in this manner, without 
 owning its obligation, at the fame time, to obey him, 
 who is the firft, the moft high, and moft holy God. 
 Which we have already explained and proved more ful- 
 ly, chap. iii. feci. 8. Moreover, it And that the law docs not 
 is not true, that the law is not oblige, but becaufe of 
 Hading, but becaufe of the fane- lhe ^aion of lew 
 tion of rewards andpunifhments. «■*£»*■«»• 
 
208 Of The Abrogation of the Bookl. 
 
 The principal obligation of the law arifes from the au- 
 thority of the lawgiver, to which is joined the perfect 
 equity of all his commands. Though God had en- 
 forced his law neither by rewards nor punifhments, 
 we had been no lefs bound to obedience : left felf- 
 love, whereby we are led to obtain the reward, 
 and avoid the penalty, mould be the only motive to 
 ftir us up to obey God : the reverence of the Supremfe 
 Being, and the love of holinefs, are to hold the chief 
 place here. In fine, it is alfo falfe, that no further 
 And that no further punifh- punifhment will be inflicted, af- 
 mentcanbeinfiiaedonman ter that man, having once bro- 
 whcn he had broken the ken the covenant, is become ob- 
 eovenant - noxious to the penalty: for 
 
 there are degrees in condemnation. And if that was 
 true, it would not take off the obligation to obedience. 
 It would not be lawful for a robber, condemned to be 
 burnt alive, or broken on the wheel, or to the moll; 
 cruel death that man can devife, to commit, in the 
 mean time, a new capital crime. For, as we have 
 faid, the obligation arifes neither primarily nor chiefly 
 from the penal f auction, but from the authority of 
 the lawgiver. 
 
 X. To the fecond, I anfwer, i. Man himfelf is not 
 God has a right to ™ l Y the meritorious, but alfo the phy- 
 
 require obedience l ica l Caufe of his own impotence, 
 
 from man, tbo' un- which he brought upon himfelf by 
 able to give it. j^g mifconduet ; as if an infolent and 
 naughty fervant mould put out the candle, by which 
 he ought to carry on his mailers bufmefs ; or, by 
 drinking to excefs, willingly render himfelf unfit for 
 the fervice of his matter. In this cafe, that mailer 
 docs, by no means, fall from his right of requiring e- 
 very piece of fervice properly due to him, and of pu- 
 nifhing that naughty fervant for non- performance. 2 . 
 Though God, as a jult judge, had taken away from 
 man ability to fulfil the law, yet, on that account, he 
 both will, and in point of right can, require the per- 
 
Chap. 9. Covenant of WORKS. 209 
 
 formance of it by man. He can do this very juftly ; 
 becaufe no wickednefs of man, juftly punifhed by God, 
 can diminifh God's authority over him ; otherwife it 
 would be in man's power, at his own pleafure, either 
 to extend or limit the authority of God ; which is con- 
 trary to the immutable perfection and blefTednefs of 
 God. He alfo does require this for wife reafons ; of 
 which this is one, that finful man may, by that means, 
 be convinced of his irreparable mifery, upon finding 
 fuch things juftly required of him, which he has ren- 
 dered himfeJf incapable to perform. And fince 
 he is as unwilling as unable to obey God, he is the 
 more inexcufable, the more clearly the duty of the 
 law is inculcated upon him. 3. 'Tis abfurd to fay, 
 that it is the greateft punilhment that God inflicts on 
 
 man, not to require Obedi- God's not requiring obedience 
 ence from the rebellious Crea- from the rebellious creature, 
 
 ture. It is indeed true, that nGt the greateft punilhn.ent. 
 the creature ought to reckon it a part of its happinefs, 
 that the glory of obeying is left to it. And it is the 
 punifhment of the creature, if, by the juft judgment 
 of God, it is condemned, never to perform what is in- 
 cumbent upon it, and may be acceptable to God. But 
 it is another thing to fay, that God will not require 
 obedience from it. If God requires not obedience, the 
 creature owes none. If it owes none, it does not act 
 amifs by difobeying ; and if it does not amifs by dilo- 
 beying, that cannot be in the place of the higheft pu- 
 niuiment for it. And thus Arminius himfelf cuts down 
 his own vines [deftroys hisownargunlent.] He would 
 have fpoke rightly, had he faid, that it is inftead of 
 the higheft puniihment to the creature, to be con- 
 demned, by the juft judgment of God, not to perform 
 that obedience, which God, confiftently with his ju- 
 ftice and holinefs, requires of it. 4, Should we deal 
 
 more clofely with a bold dif- We cannot, without a con. 
 putant, we might fay, that tradiaion, fuppofcGod 
 there is a contradiction in the ing to the creature, I will noi 
 adjunct, when he fuppofes God havc >' ou l0 obc y ■*• 
 Voi,. I. t D d 
 
£io Op the Abrogation of the Bookl. 
 
 addrefljng the creature thus, I will not have thee to 
 perform any obedience to me. For he that talks of o- 
 bedience, prefuppofes not only fome authority, by 
 which he can require it, but alio a command, which 
 requires obedience, and which mud be obeyed. Who- 
 ever, by his authority, gives fuch a command, requires 
 that obedience be yielded to it. If he give another 
 command, the mm of which is, I will not have you 
 to obey me, he contradicts himielf ; nay, contradicts 
 the nature of the command, which confiftsin an obli- 
 gation to obedience, 5. 'Tis the higheft abfurdity i- 
 5 Tis abfurd, that a creature maginable, that a creature mail, 
 by fm is exempted from the by its fin, obuin exemption 
 authority of the Creator. f rom t ^ e aut hority of the Crea- 
 tor, and be no longer bound to obey him. If this is 
 true, the firft of all deceivers fpoke truth, that men, 
 by eating the forbidden fruit, would become as God. 
 Whoever is exempted from the authority of the Crea- 
 tor, is under the authority of none, is at his own dii- 
 pofal ; in fine, is God. For to be at one's own difpo- 
 fal, is to be God. Ah ! how ridiculous is this ! 
 XI. The third argument is no left weak. For, r. 
 
 There is nothing in God's Tne fa™ of the law is, to love 
 
 law, which the creature is God with all the heart, mind, 
 not bound to perform in an d ftreneth, and our neieh- 
 the right way and manner. bour as our fdves. As this i* 
 
 reafonable in itfelf, fo it cannot tut be propofed as 
 fuch by God to man ; lince confeience itfelf, even that 
 of the mo ft abandoned, will bear wjtnefs with God to 
 the reafonablenefs of this. What? Is it not certain, 
 that God is the chief good ; confequently the molt a- 
 miable ? Can he be unwilling, that any mould acknow- 
 ledge him as the chief good, that is, what he really is, 
 and what he cannot but be ? Is he not the fupremema- 
 jefty ? Can he be unwilling to be honoured as fuch, 
 with the moft fubmiffive reverence? 2. Arminius ur- 
 ges, that the law alfo commands us to truft in God. 
 The law commands even It does fo, fay I ; for what can be 
 a firmer to uuftin Gcxi. more right, what more becoming, 
 
Chap. 9* Covenant of W O R K S. 211 
 
 than that man, even a Tinner, mould be bound to be- 
 lieve the teftimony of God ; mould give him this glo- 
 ry, namely, that he aione both can and will juftify 
 the ungodly ; that he mould feek him even when an- 
 gry ; hunger and thirft after his righteoumefs ; and 
 willingly endeavour to be for his glory ; namely, that 
 God may be glorified and admired in him by his jufti- 
 fication and glorification by free grace ; and that he 
 fhould neither neglect the falvation, which God has 
 moft furely revealed, and neither defpife nor reject the 
 Saviour? This is to truft in God : and will any pious per- 
 fon ever doubt of the probability, nay even of the moft 
 infallible certainty of this, that man under the curfe of 
 God till now, is not obliged to this? 3. He will ftill 
 urge, that when he fpeaks of trufting in And to take 
 God, he means thereby that full aflurance him for his 
 of mind, whereby one holds God to be his God - 
 God ; that at leaft this is alfo enjoined by the law. We 
 are to confider this more diftinctly. When the law 
 enjoins us to take God for our God, if it is to be un- 
 derftood in this fenfe, viz. to take him for our Crea- 
 tor, Preferver, Lawgiver, and Supreme Lord, it en- 
 joins this abfolutely and without diftin&ion upon all 
 men. But if we underftand it thus, to take him for 
 our ffving good, this is enjoined upon none, but in 
 that metjrc)d which the revealed will of God prefcribes. 
 And this is the way either that man can obtain But in a 
 the falvation of God by a moft perfect perfonal right way. 
 obedience, which was propofed to Adam in innocence, 
 and is now impoilible for the finner : or that iinful 
 man be converted, and united by faith to Chrift ; then 
 examine himfelf, whether he be in the faith and in 
 Chrift ; which being difcovered, he may then indeed 
 glory and exult in God his faving good : which way 
 is now propofed in the gofpel. But the law enjoins us 
 to embrace every truth by faith, which God either lias 
 revealed, or (lull reveal, and fo to walk as it is agree- 
 able to that truth. But the law has no where enjoin- 
 ed the impenitent iinner, to look upon Gjd as the God 
 
 D d 2 
 
213 Of the Abrogation of the Book I. 
 
 of his falvation. Nay, the law, as it was given to A- 
 dam himlelfy enjoined him to believe the contrary. 
 And thus I imagine I have fully difpatched the quaint 
 fubtilties of Arminins ; that it is of immutable right, 
 that man, even under fin and guile, is ftill under ob- 
 ligation to obey the law. 
 
 XII. We muft proceed a ftep further, and mew, that 
 The finner not only man, even after the breach of the cove- 
 obliged to obedience, nant, continues bound not only to 
 but to perfection. obedience, but to a perfefi perform- 
 ance of duty. Paul faid of thofe who are without the 
 covenant of gracey that they are debtors to do the whole 
 law *. Nor can it be otherwife. For the law of the 
 covenant, as to the natural precepts, is immutable, 
 being the tranfeript of the image of God, which is no 
 lefs immutable than God himfelf. For if the image, 
 which had the neareft refemblance, is changed, and 
 yet continues ftill to refemble its archetype, or origi- 
 nal, the archetype itfelf muft alfo neceffarily be chan- 
 ged. Bat the law of the covenant did undoubtedly 
 require perfect, obedience. 
 
 XIII. Moreover, if we imagine any abatement and 
 Wh" h i- d - relaxation of the law after fin, we are to con- 
 duced from ceive, that God addreffedfinful man after this 
 the very na- manner : " I formerly commanded thee to 
 Tureofuod. « efteem me as the fupreme truth, thy 
 " chief good, and thy fovereign Lord, and confe- 
 <: quently to affent, with the fulleft aflurance of faith, 
 " to all my precepts, to love me with all thy foul, 
 " and all thy powers, and efteem nothing preferable 
 " to that which is acceptable to me, to employ thy 
 " all in my fervice, at all times and in all things to be 
 " at my command and beck, and never venture on 
 " any thing, that is not agreeable to my will. But 
 " now, fince thou haft once prefumed to mew thyfelf 
 " difobedient, I am fatisfied, that, for the future, 
 " thou efteem me indeed to be the truth, but not 
 " that which cannot deceive ; to be thy good, but 
 
 * Gal. v. 3. 
 
Chap. 9. Covenant of WORKS. 213 
 
 " not the chief; to be thy Lord, but not the fupreme : 
 " and I allow thee to doubt of fome of my teftimonies, 
 * to love other things befides and above me ; to place 
 " thy happinefs in other things than my favour ; in 
 " fine, fo to depend on me in fome things, that in o- 
 " ther things thou mayft act at thy own discretion." 
 If all thefe be abfurd and unworthy of God, as they 
 certainly are ; 'tis alfo abfurd and unworthy of God, 
 to abate and relax any thing of his law. But if thefe 
 general propofitions are of immutable truth; that 
 as God is the chief good, he is at all times and by 
 all perfons to be beloved with the whole heart ; as he is 
 the fupreme lord, none can ever, under any pretence, 
 act lawfully but according to his command ; now the 
 moll perfect performance of every duty, muft be the 
 manifeft confequence of all this. 
 
 XIV. Again, to perform duty perfectly, as every 
 one will allow, is better than to do it in B f 
 
 a flight manner. For all the goodnefs of f orm ^ uty j^J"" 
 duty confifts in its agreement with the fettly,ispr<:fer- 
 rule and directory of it. There muft * ble to doin g it 
 therefore be a certain rule, enjoining that othervv " e - 
 perfection, which is a greater degree of goodnefs. If 
 iuch a rule has been prefcribed by God, it muft cer- 
 tainly bind men to conform themfelves to it. 
 
 XV. The confcience of man, attending to himfelf, 
 cannot but affent to thefe things. For Natural confcience 
 elucidating this point, I mail fubjoin dictates this. 
 two excellent paffages, one from Epictetus, the other 
 from the Emperor Julian. The former fpeaks thus *. 
 <c Having found a rule, let us keep it inviolably, and 
 u not extend fo much as a finger beyond it." The 
 la ter thus, Orat. i. " There is an ancient law given 
 " by him, who firft taught mankind philofophy, and 
 11 which runs thus : that all who have an eye to vir- 
 " tue and to honefty, ought, in their words and ac- 
 " tions, in fociety, and in^ all the affairs of this life, 
 " both fmalland great, to have a regard to honefty.*' 
 The law therefore of the old covenant (till continues, 
 
 • Difleit. lib. it. c. 11. 
 
214 F THE Abrogation of the Bookl. 
 
 binding all mankind, without exception, to a perfect 
 performance of duty. 
 
 XVI. The fecond thing, which we faid, feci:. 2. was 
 Eternal life unob- immutable in the covenant of works, 
 tainable but by was this ; that eternal life was not ob- 
 perfed obedience, tainable on any other condition, but 
 that of perfect obedience : which is hence invincibly 
 proved ; becaufe, by virtue of this general rule, it 
 Was neceflary for Chrift to be made under the law *, and 
 fulfil all righteoufnefs, and that for this end, thai the 
 
 righteoufnefs of the law might be fulfilled f. But if this 
 righteoufnefs had not been facred and inviolable, 
 Chrift would have been under no neceflity to fubmit 
 to the covenant of the law, in order to merit eternal 
 life for his people. This therefore is evident, that 
 there ought to be a merit of perfect obedience, on 
 which a right to eternal life may be founded. Nor 
 is it material, whether that perfect obedience be per- 
 formed by man himfelf, or by his furety. 
 
 XVII. The third thing which we affirmed as an un- 
 The penal fancllon changeable truth, regards the penal 
 is alfo immutable, function ; for the immutable and in- 
 difpenfable juftice of which we inftfted above by fo 
 many arguments, chap. v. feet. 18. & feq. fo that 
 there is no occafion to add any thing further. 
 
 XVIII. Since then thefe three things, the law, the 
 Yet there is P romu " e > anc * tne threatening, conflitute 
 fomeabrogation the entire nature of the covenant, as pro- 
 of the covenant pofed by God, if thefe ft and on a firm 
 of works ; footing, it feems to follow, that man has 
 indeed, on his part, broken the covenant, but that 
 no abrogation of the covenant is made on the part of 
 God. But, on duly weighing the matter, we muft 
 acknowledge fome abrogation even on the part of 
 God. This may be evidently inferred from the fub- 
 flitution of the new covenant cf grace. For thus 
 the apoftle has taught us to reafon J. hi that he fait h y 
 A new covenant, he hath made the fir ft old. For though 
 
 * Gal. W. 4. t R°ro- viii. 4. t H-b vni. 1 3. 
 
 / 
 
Chap. 9- Covenant of WORKS. 215 
 
 the abrogation of the old does not necefTarily infer the 
 fubftitution of a new ; yet the fubftitution of a new 
 does certainly import the abrogation of the old. It is 
 indeed true, that the apoftle, in that place, does not 
 fpeak precifely of the covenant of works, but of the 
 old ceconomy of the covenant of grace, which he 
 fays is abrogated. Yet w T e properly build on his rea- 
 foning, which we both may and ought to apply al« 
 fo to this fubject : namely, that every fubftitution 
 of a new covenant fuppofes the abrogation of an old 
 one. 
 
 XIX. That abrogation on the part of God confifts 
 
 in this, that God has declared, that no man _ <- ft . 
 
 ' r i • 1 r - 1 conhiting in 
 
 can, by virtue or this covenant, have mend- t hi s , that by 
 ihip with him, or obtain eternal life; fo virtue of it 
 that he has pronounced all to have for- none " ow 
 feited the promife of the covenant, aD be faved ' 
 and the hope of enjoying that promife accord- 
 ing to that covenant. This is what the apoftle fays, 
 that there is not now a law, which can give life, fo that 
 right eoufnefs jhould he by the law *. To this purpofe is 
 what the law cannot do, which he inculcates f. 
 
 XX. -And thus indeed that covenant is fo abrogated, 
 
 that it can on no account be renewed. For ~, 
 
 . r ,, ... . *+ % r >* T" e covenant 
 
 if we mould imagine God laying to man, f wor k s [ s f 
 
 <c If, for the future, thou canit perfectly abrogated, as 
 M keep my law, thou fhalt thereby ac- to admit of do 
 " quiie a right to eternal life," he would renevvaL 
 not by fuch words renew this very covenant of works. 
 For fin is now prefuppofed to exift, which is contrary 
 to that perfection of obedience, which the covenant 
 of works requires. God would therefore tranfaft 
 here with mah on a different condition, whereby, for- 
 giving the former fin, he would prefcribe a condition 
 of an obedience lefs perfect than that which he ftipu- 
 iatpd by the covenant of works ; which, excluding 
 all iin, even knew nothing of forgivenefs of fin. 
 Nay, fuch a tranfaction would be fo far from a re- 
 newal of (he covenant of works, that it would rather 
 
 • G;il. ;::. 21. | R :n yiii. 3. 
 
2i6 Of the Abrogation of the BookL 
 
 manifeftly deftroy it. For the penal fanction makes a 
 part of that covenant whereby God threatened the 
 finner with death, which if he mould forgive him 
 without a due fatisfaction, he would act contrary to 
 the covenant, and his own truth. 
 
 XXI. The law then remains as the rule of our du- 
 Thelawis abroga- ty > Dut 1S abrogated fo far as to have 
 ted, not as a rule no federal refpect ; nor can it occupy 
 of life, bat as a the place of a condition, by the per- 
 covenant. r c w \ 
 
 rormance of which man may acquire 
 a right to the reward. In this fenfe the apoftle fays, 
 We are not under the law *, namely, as prefcribing the 
 condition of life. There is indeed Hill an indiflbluble 
 connection between perfect righteoufnefs and eternal 
 life, fo that the laft cannot be obtained without the 
 jirft. But after man, falling from righteoufnefs, had 
 loft hope of the reward, God was at liberty either 
 to punifh the finner according to his demerit, or 
 give him a furety to fulfil all righteoufnefs in his 
 ftead. 
 
 XXII. There are learned men, who, befides this ab- 
 Opimon of learned olition of the covenant of works, 
 men about other ways which regards the poflibility of gi- 
 of aboliihing the co- ving life and j unification, enumerate 
 
 venantcf works. four other deg? . ecs of abolition in 
 
 this order, i. As to condemnation^ by Chrlfl being 
 propofed in the promife, and apprehended by faith. 
 2. As to terror •, or the power of the fear of death and 
 bondage, by the promulgation of the new covenant, after 
 the expiation of lin : which being once accomplished, 
 they who are redeemed, are under the law of the 
 Redeemer. So that the fame law, abolifhed in the Re- 
 deemer as the law of fin, becomes the law of the Sa- 
 viour, and adjudges righteoufnefs to thofe who are 
 his. 3. As to the war or ftruggle with fin, by the death 
 of the body, 4. As to all the effecls of it, by the refur- 
 rccl'ion from the dead. 
 
 * Rom. vi. 14. 
 
Ghap.j. Covenant of WORKS. 217 
 
 XXIII. But let us give our reafqns, why we have 
 hitherto doubted, whether thefe things Our reflexions 
 are with fufficient accuracy conceived thereon. 
 and digefted. 1. All the particulars here mentioned 
 belong to the covenant of grace. Now, the covenant 
 of grace does not abrogate, but fuppofes the abroga- 
 tion of the covenant of works ; becaufe there could be 
 no place for this, without the abrogation of the others 
 in the fenfe now mentioned. 2. The covenant of 
 grace is not the abolition, but rather the confirmation 
 of the covenant of works, in fo far as the Mediator has 
 fulfilled all the conditions of that covenant, fo that alt 
 believers may be juftified and faved according to the 
 covenant of works, to which fatisfaction was made by 
 the Mediator. This is the apoftle's meaning : Do we 
 then make void the law through faith f God forbid: yca± 
 we ejlablijh the law *. And again, That the righteouf- 
 nefs of the law might be fulfilled in us f. " Which fig- 
 46 nifies," (as the learned perfon, whofe opinion we 
 are now examining, comments on this place)* " that 
 " what the law accounts for righteoufnefs is fully be- 
 " flowed on us ; and confequently, that what merits 
 " the reward of the law, becomes perfectly ours." 3, 
 The very law of the covenant* which formerly gave 
 Up the human (inner to fin, when his condition is once 
 changed by union with Chrift the Surety, does now, 
 without any abolition, abrogation, or any other change 
 whatever, abfolve the man from the guilt and domi- 
 nion of fin, and beftow on him that fandiiication and 
 glorification, which are gradually to be brought to that 
 perfection, which he fhall obtain at the refurrection of 
 the dead ; as being conftrained to bear witnefs lo the 
 juftification of the covenant of grace. This is what the 
 learned perfon not improperly fays, in the words we 
 have juft quoted : " So that the fame law, abolished 
 <fc in the Redeemer as the law of fin, becomes the law 
 u of the Saviour, and beftows righteoufnefs on thole 
 * who are his f which he has at large and learnedly 
 • Rom. iii. 3!. f Rom. viii. 4. 
 
 Vol. I. f E e 
 
2i3 Of the Abrogation, &c. Eookl. 
 
 explained on Rom. viii. 2. In a word, the fame law, 
 which was to man in innocence a commandment 
 to life, and is to man in fin the law of fin, giving him 
 up to the dominion and guilt of fin, becomes again 
 in the Redeemer the law of the Spirit of life, teftify- 
 ing that fatisfaction was made to it by the Redeemer, 
 and beftowing on man, who by faith is become one 
 with the Redeemer, all the fruits of righteoufnefs for 
 justification, fancti fixation, and glorification. All the 
 change is in the flate of the man, none in the law of 
 the covenant, according to which man, in whatever 
 ftate he is, is judged. Which things feem not to have 
 eicaped the obfervation of the learned perfon himfelf ; 
 when he fpeaks to this purpofe *. u Neverthelefs 
 " when we fay this, we mean, that this fourfold abo- 
 " litioi and removal of the covenant concerning works to be 
 " done, vJhich is connected with our own happinefs, is 
 *• founded on the fame law : not that this could be 
 ci done by virtue of the law in itfelf alone, but that 
 C! the intervention of a Surety and Redeemer made it 
 €: at laft poflible to the law." I allow, that what he 
 calls the abolition of the covenant concerning works, is 
 founded in the law of works : but I leave it to the read- 
 er's consideration, whether it is not a flrange way of 
 talking, to fay, that f c the abolition and removal of 
 " the law is founded on the law itfelf, and that the 
 " intervention of a Surety and Redeemer made it at 
 " lalt poilible to the law;" namely, that itfelf mould 
 •effect its own abolition and removal ? From all which 
 I conclude, that it will be more proper to treat of thefe 
 things, when we fpeak of the fruits and ejfecls of the 
 covenant of grace ? than when confidering the abolition of 
 the covenant of works ; which is on no account abolish- 
 ed, but in fo far as it is become impoflible for man to 
 attain to life by his own proper works. 
 
 * Swnma'tlebl. c. 31. § 1 
 
THE 
 
 O E C O N O M Y 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Divine Covenants. 
 
 BOOK II. _ 
 
 CHAP. I, 
 
 Introduction to treathig on the Covenant erf Grace. 
 
 THE covenant of works being thus broken by the fin 
 of man and abrogated by the B yAcbreachofthe 
 yn\t judgment of God, wretch- covenant of m 
 cd man was call headlong into the man became a Have 
 deepcit gulf of ruin, whence he could t0 r,n> *> atan i aR( * 
 not efcape. While, liftening to 4he himrt ^ 
 folicitation of the devil, and giving way to hk o\v:i 
 reafonings, he, in a moft violent manner, withdrew 
 himfelt from God, and would be at his own dij] 
 throwing off his rightful fubordination to God, (like 
 the prodigal fon *), he fold and enflaved himfclf t( 
 devil. All thefe were acts of the higheft injufiice. For 
 man had no riglit thus to difpofe of himfelf ; nor the 
 vil to accept of what was the lord's. Yet God confider- 
 ing, that, by this rafh and unjuft action, man was 
 jullly punifhed, did, by his righteous judgment, rati- 
 fy all this for man's further punifhment, gave man up 
 to h'nnflf, as the moil wretched and foolilii of mailers ; 
 and to Jin, as a cruel tyrant, which would continual- 
 ly force him to every abominable practice. 4 
 * Luke xv. 12. 
 
 K e 2 
 
220 Introduction to the Book II. 
 
 a s they did not like to retain God in their knowledge ', God 
 gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do. thofe things 
 'which are not convenient *. He alfo gave them up unto 
 vile affections \ , that fo they might receive in themfelves 
 that recompenfe which was meet {. In fine, he delivered 
 them up as flaves to the devil, to be taken captive by 
 him at his pleafure ||. And all this according to that 
 mod equitable law ; Of whom a man is overcome, of the 
 fame he is brought in bondage |. 
 
 II. Add to this too, that man, after he ceafed to be 
 Without God, and in covenant with God, became without 
 without hope in God, and without hope in the world -h. 
 the world. jr or | t was impoffible for man to devife 
 any method becoming God, whereby, confidently 
 with divine truth, juflice, and holrnefs, he could be re- 
 conciled with God, and return again to his favour. 
 The law of fin was alfo juft, by which man was enfla- 
 ved to fin, to the dominion and condemnation of it, 
 and given up to the devil as his tormentor. In which 
 fenfe, he is laid to be not only the captive of the devil, 
 of the firong man, mentioned Matth. xii. 29. but alfo 
 the captive of the lawful ■+- . For he had the power of 
 death «~* ; and that by the law = ; the Jlrength of fin 
 is the law. Nor could man contrive a method, where- 
 by fin, which condemned, and that by the moft equi- 
 table law, might itfelf be juftly condemned by God. 
 
 III. But it pieafed God, according to the riches of 
 God laid this breach his unfearchable wiidom, to lay this 
 of the covenant of breach of the legal covenant as a 
 works as the four?- foundation for his ftupendous works ; 
 daticn of the molt , r .;.•■• • . r 
 ftupendous works, by }>Y fet ^ n g U P a . n , ew covenant of grace, 
 ietting'up the cove- in which he might much more clear- 
 rant of grace. ly difplay the ineftimable treafures of 
 his all-fufficiency, than if all things had fucceeded 
 well with man according to the firit covenant: thus 
 difcovering, what feemed incredible, and to furpafs 
 
 * Rom. i.28. fVer. 26. \ Ver. 27. [J 2 Tim. ii. 26. -I- 2 Pet. 
 11.19. "-+ Eph. ii. 12. +- If. xlix. 24. <-+Heb. ii. i 4. =1 Co/.' 
 
 xv. 56, 
 
Chap. i. Covenant of GRACE. 221 
 
 comprehenfion, that the true, jujl 9 and holy God 
 could, without at all diminifiiing, nay rather much 
 more illuftrioufly difplaying his adorable perfections, 
 become the God and falvation of the /inner : finding 
 out that admirable mixture of his ftricteft vindictive 
 juftice with his moft condefcending mercy, fo that the 
 one fhould detract nothing from the other. For fo il- 
 luftrious an exercife of which perfections there could 
 have been no place under the covenant of works. 
 
 IV. If therefore any thing ought to be accounted 
 worthy of our moft attentive conii- Whichf if any thing> 
 deration, certainly it is the cove- defervesourmoflatte/i- 
 nant of grace, of which we now tive confidsration. 
 attempt to treat. Here the way is pointed out to a 
 paradife far preferable to the earthly, and to a more 
 certain and liable felicity than that from which Adam 
 fell. Here a new hope fhines upon ruined mortals, 
 which ought to be the more acceptable, the more un- 
 expected it comes. Here conditions are offered, to 
 which eternal falvation is annexed ; conditions, not 
 to be performed again by us, which might throw the 
 mind into defpondency ; but by him, who would 
 not part with his life, before he had truly raid, It is 
 finijked. Here with the brighteit fplcndor fhine forth 
 the wonderful perfections of our G O D, his wifdom, 
 power, truth, juftice, holinefs, goodncis, philanthro- 
 py, or good-will toman, mercy, and what tongue can 
 rehearfe them all ? never before difplayed on a more 
 auguft theatre^ to the admiration of 'all who behold 
 them. Whoever therefore loves his own falvation, 
 whoever defires to delight himfelf in the contempla- 
 tion at the divine perfections, niuft come hither, and 
 deeply engaee in holy meditations on the covenant of 
 giace : whidi 1 think may not improperly be thusde- 
 fined. 
 
 * • J 1 1 .RACE IS AN A G I E B M E NT, 
 
 D AND THE ELECT Definition Tof theco- 
 
 - ( i I \( s | K ].K venanr of grace. 
 
 ^rWIJ-L INING L\ATlON, |M| 
 
222 The Compact Between Bookll. 
 
 EVERY THING RELATIVE THERETO, FREELY TO BE GI- 
 VEN TO THOSE IN COVENANT, BY AND FOR THE SAKE 
 
 of the Mediator Christ ; and man consenting to 
 
 THAT GOOD-WILL BY A SINCERE FAITH. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Compact between God the Father 
 and the Son. 
 
 A twofold agreement in ■ T" 1 HAT the nature of the cove* 
 the covenant of grace, A nant of grace may be the 
 i. Between the Father more thoroughly underftood, two 
 
 and the Son. 2 Between thin ~ s are above aU tQ be diftinctly 
 
 God and the eleft. P, 1 cri J 
 
 coniidered. 1. Ihe compact 
 
 which intervenes between God the Father, and 
 Christ the Mediator. 2. That testamentary 
 disposition, by which God bestows, by an immuta- 
 ble covenant, eternal salvation, and every thing 
 relative thereto, upon the elect. The former a- 
 greement is between God and the Mediator ; the 
 latter between God and the elect. This laft pre- 
 fuppofes the firft, and is founded upon it. 
 
 II. When I fpeak of the compact between the Fa* 
 The compadt between fher and the Son, I thereby under- 
 time Father and the ftand the will of the Father, giving 
 Son explained. the £^ to be the Head and Redeemer 
 
 of the elect ; and the will of the Son prelenting him- 
 felfas zSponfor or Surety for them ; in all which the 
 nature of a compact and agreement confifts. The 
 fcripture reprefents the Father, in the ceconomy of 
 our falvation, as demanding the obedience of the Son 
 even unto death, and for it promifing him that name, 
 which is above every name, even that he mould be 
 the head of the elect in glory : but the Son, as prefent- 
 big himfelf to do the will of the Father, acquiefcing 
 in that promife, and in fine, requiring the kingdom and 
 glory pro mifed 'to him. When we have clearly demon- 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. 223 
 
 ftrated all thefe particulars from Scripture, it cannot 
 on any pretence be denied, that there is a compact 
 between the t;:ther and the Son, which is the foun- 
 dation of our falvation. But let us proceed diftinctly. 
 
 1. By producing fuch places of fcripture, as fpeak 
 in general indeed, but yec exprefsly, of this compact. 
 
 2. By more fully unfolding the particulars, which 
 complete or conltitute this compact. 3. By invinci- 
 bly proving the fame from the nature of the facra- 
 ments, which Chrift alfo made ufe of. 
 
 in. Chrift himfelf fpeaks of this compact in exprefs 
 
 Words *. KaycJ IcLttQipou vim*, kxSux; And proved from 
 
 lnfk% yet 7ra%{ pZ fafTtKitoiv, And 1 engage Luke xx »- 29. 
 by covenant unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath engaged 
 by covenant unto me. In which words the Lord Jelus 
 fays, that, by virtue of fome covenant or difpofition, 
 he obtains a kingdom, as we alfo obtain it by virtue 
 
 of the fame. on •—" 
 
 IV. And Heb. vii. 22. where he is faid to be k^/«7#- 
 *sc hxWpciK iyyvos, afurety of a better cove- and Heb. vii. 22. 
 nant or tejl anient. But he is called the Surety of a 
 teftament, not principally on this account, becaufe he 
 engages to us for God and his promifes, or becaufe he 
 engages for us that we fhall obey ; as Moles intervened 
 as a furety between God and the Ifaelites f. For by 
 how much Chrift was greater than Mofes, in fo much 
 he was alfo a Surety in a more excellent manner. His 
 furetifhip confifts in this, that he took upon himfelf to 
 perform that condition, without which, confiftently 
 with the juftice of God, the grace and promifes of 
 God could not reach unto us ; and which being per- 
 iled, they were infallibly to come to the children 
 of the covenant. Unlefs then we would make void 
 the furetifhip of Chrift, and gratify the Socinians, 
 the very worft perverters of fcripture, it is neceilary 
 wc conceive of fome covenant, the conditions of 
 which Chrift took upon himfelf; engaging in our 
 name with the Father, to perform them far us ; ani 
 * Luke 1 I Etod. xlx. 3.— S, 
 
224 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 which having performed, he might engage to us for 
 the Father, concerning grace and glory to be bellow- 
 ed upon us. 
 
 V. Moreover *, Paul mentions a certain hzQmw, 
 From Gal. covenant, or tejlament, that was confirmed be- 
 iiL 17. f ore of God in thrift. Where the contracting 
 -parties are, on one fide God, on the other Chrifl ; and 
 the agreement between both is ratified. But left any 
 lhould think, that Chrift is here only confidered as 
 the executor of the tejlament bequeathed to us by God, 
 the apoftle twice repeats, that Chrijl was not promifed 
 to us, or ihztfalvationwas not promifed to us through Chrijl ! , 
 though that be alfo true ; but that the promifes were 
 made to Chrijl himfelf f. That Chrift was thatfeed y 
 u oiwyyitfaiiy to which he had promifed, or to which the pro- 
 mife was made ; namely, concerning £he inheritance 
 of the world, and the kingdom of grace and glory. 
 It is evident therefore, that the word Si«8»xn does here 
 denote fome covenantor tejlament, by which fomething 
 is promifed by God to Chrift. Nor do I fee what can 
 be objected to this, unlefs by Chrijl any one ihould 
 underftand the head, together with the myjlical body, 
 which with Chrift is that one feed, to which the pro- 
 mifes are made. This indeed we mail very readily 
 admit, if it alfo be admitted, that Chrift, who is the 
 head, and eminently the feed of Abraham, be on no 
 account excluded from thefe promifes, efpecially as 
 the promifes made to his myftical body, ought to be 
 confidered as made alfo to himfelf ; fince he himfelf 
 too hath received gifts for [in] men {. 
 
 VI. Nor ought thofe places to be omitted, in which 
 From Pfal. cxix. explicit mention is made of the furetifhip 
 122. If. xxxviii. of Chrift; as Pfal. cxix. 122. Be jure - 
 H.Jer.xxx. 21. t y f or thy fervant for good ; that is, asfure- 
 ty receive him into thy protection, that it may be well 
 with him. In like manner, If. xxxviii. 14. I am op- 
 prejfed, undertake for me ; be to me a furety and patron. 
 And that none but Chrift alone could thus undertake, 
 
 * Gal. iii. 17. t ver. 16, } Pfal. lxviii. 19. 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. 22^ 
 
 God himfelf fays, Jer. xxx. 21. Who is this y\y Htf 
 \3^7 that engaged{in\ his hearty or quieted his heart by 
 his furetifhip, or fveetened his heart by a voluntary an<J 
 fiducial engagement, or, in fine, pledged his very hearty 
 giving his foul as both the matter and price of fureti- 
 fhip (tor all tahefe things are comprized in the emphafis 
 of the Hebrew language) to approach unto me* that he 
 may expiate fin ? Thefe words alfo point out what that 
 furetifhip or undertaking was, which David and He- 
 zekiah fought for ; namely, a declaration of will to 
 approach unto God, in order to procure the ei.piaiion 
 of fins. 
 
 VII. In fine, we may refer to this point, what is to 
 be found, Zech. vi. 13. The counfel of peace $ fQm y, 
 Jhall be between them both ; namely, between vi. 13. whi h 
 the man, whofe name is the Branch* and Je- ls briefl , 
 hovah : for no other pair occur here. It rap raed 
 will not be foreign to our purpofe, to throw feme 
 light on this place by a fhort analyfis and paraphrafe. 
 In this and the preceding verfe, there is a remarkable 
 prophecy concerning the Mefliah, whofe per/on, offices, 
 and glory, the prophet truly defcribes in a fhort, buc 
 lively manner, fubjoining at laft the cavfe of all thefe ; 
 why the Median fhewed himfelf as fuch a per/on, exe- 
 cuted fuch offices, and obtained fuch a glory ; namely, 
 that counfel, which was between him and the Father, 
 the fruit of which, with refpecl to us, is peace. Of 
 the perfon of the Mefliah he fays, that he is UTK, the 
 man, that is, true man; compare Hof. ii. 15. and in- 
 deed, the mojl eminent among men ; not r:~8 or &js, 
 which words denote wretched man, but VQ 1 tf^N the 
 man of the right hand of God *. Bccaufe Chrill is not 
 here confidered as in the abatement of his mifery, but 
 ID the excellence of his glory. His name is the Branch, 
 becaufe fprung from Godf, a new root of a new ofT- 
 fpring, or of the fons of God according to promife 
 and regeneration, the fecond Adam. And indeed a 
 branch, which Jhall blcjjom from under himfelf. Abcfl 
 • Pfal. Ixxx. i 7 . t If. iv. 2. Z.ch. vi. 12. 
 
 Voi. I. I F f 
 
 1 
 
226 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 Ezra, ^KQj f rom }tftff% which mall not be produced or 
 propagated by any lowing, or planting of man's hand, 
 but fhall fpring from a virgin, by the peculiar power 
 of the Deity. His office is to build the temple of the 
 Lord, that is, the church of the elect, which is the 
 houfe of God *, which Chrift kafttnuvouri, framed f, and 
 buiit | ; laying the foundation in his crofs, and gi- 
 ving his blood for cementing it. But becaufe in the 
 iame breath it is twice faid, He fliall build the temple of 
 the Lord, it may fugged to our minds, whether, be- 
 fides the building of the church, which is the myftical 
 body of Chrift, the refurrection of ChrifTs own natu- 
 ral body may not be intended, which ia called the 
 building of the temple [|. This being done, he will re- 
 ceive majefiy, a name above every name, and fit on 
 the throne of God, to execute his kingly and prieftly 
 oilice in glory. For a king to fit on a throne, is no- 
 thing ftrange, but for a prieft, very much fo ; being 
 contrary to the cuftom of the ancient priefts in the Old 
 Teftament, who flood daily, often offering the fame 
 iacrifices ; becaufe their labour was ineffectual to re- 
 move the guilt of fin j. But Chrift having once of- 
 fered up the one facrifice of himfelf, and by it obtain- 
 ed eternal redemption, fat down for ever at the right 
 hand of the Father, never to rife to offer a fecond 
 time -H-. He now does what his feiTion gives him a 
 right to do, to make interceflion for his people ■+- ; as 
 was ingenioufly obferved by James Altingius *-+. But 
 whence do all thefe things proceed, and what is the 
 origin of fuch important matters ? The counfel of peace, 
 which is between the man whofe name is the Branch, 
 and between Jehovah, whofe temple he fhall build, 
 and on w r hofe throne he fhall fit — . And what elfe 
 can this counfel be, but the mutual will of the Father and 
 the Son, which, we faid, is the nature of the cove- 
 nant ? It is called a counfel, both on account of the 
 
 * i Tim. iii. I $.. f Heb. iii. 4. % Matth. xvi. \$. \\ John ii. 
 79.21. 4. Heb. x. 11. -+ Heb. i. 3. and ix. 12. 14. -f- Kom. viii. 
 j'j.. f-» Hept. iii. difiert. 6. § 49. = Rev. iii. 21. 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. 227 
 
 free and liberal good pleafure of both, and of the dis- 
 play of thegreateft wifdom manifefted therein. And 
 a counfel of peace * not between God and Chrift, be- 
 tween whom there was no enmity ; but of peace to 
 be procured to finful man with God, and to finners 
 with themfelves, 
 
 VIII. Two things here may fecm to be objected to, 
 which we are briefly to anfwer. i.That 'Hat expla a- 
 by thofe two we are not to understand tion defended. 
 the Father and the Son, but the Jews and the Gentiles* 
 2. That here it is not the counfel, which is the orhincr 
 and caufe of all thefe things, and which ought to have 
 been expreffed in the preterperfeel or prefent tenje ; but 
 the counfel, which is the fruit of Chrift's intercefllon, 
 
 of which the prophet fpeaks in the future tenfe. To th 
 Jirfl I anfwer, That this expofition is afferted, but not 
 proved. There is no diltincc mention made of Jews 
 and Gentiles in the preceding verfes of this chapter. 
 And it is not lawful for us to cram any thing into the 
 text. What others allege concerning a prieft and king, 
 or the office of pried and king, or about the Jews of 
 Jerufalem and Babylon, is quite forced. u Our cx- 
 " plication,*' fays the very learned deDieu, who here 
 is of the fame opinion with us, " appears iimple and 
 u plain." Neither is it new, fince Jerome tells us, 
 that this verfe was underftood of the Father and the 
 Son. To the fecond I reply, /That there is nothing 
 that can oblige us to afTent to it ; fince the words, by 
 our analylis and explanation, yield a very juft and 
 profitable fenfe ; and this covenant could not be ex- 
 pi oiled by a more Significant term, than that of a mu- 
 tual counfel between the father and the Son, What 
 is added with refped to the difference of tenfes, feems 
 to be of fmall moment : for that the tenfes in Hebrew 
 are often put one for the other, and the future for the 
 ./, none can be ignorant of, but they who art in- 
 differently (killed in that language. Sec Pfal. xvii. 3. 
 t-^IP *~>Z ^flj-iV T£qu haft tried me, and then doft, or 
 Oidfl find notbtng; literally, tbqu Jl\. :'. Sach 
 
228 The Compact between Bookll. 
 
 changes of tenfes often occur in the fame pfalm. Be- 
 fides, fomething is then faid to be done in fcripture, 
 when it is declared to be folemnly done ; of which in- 
 stances are to be met with every where. See Acts ii. 
 36. We will therefore properly explain the words 
 ^ thus, The counjel of peace is between both. Or if you 
 t -v Ay infift on the future tenfe, the meaning will be 
 this : At the exaltation of Chrift, and the peace ad- 
 vanced by him from heaven, there will be a manifeft 
 execution of this counfel. But there is no occafion 
 to come to this. For if we interpret this counfel, of 
 that agreement, which fubfifted between the Father 
 and Chrift, God -man, when, afluming human nature, 
 he to do the office of Surety ; the prophet might 
 
 and ought to fpeak of it in the future tenfe. And he 
 does 10 in an elegant order, afcending from the effects 
 die caufe, in this manner: Chrifu, God-man, fhall 
 build the fpiritual temple of the Lord ; for a glorious 
 cward of which office he fhall receive majefty, and 
 fhall fit on the throne of the Lord. Nor ought this 
 to feem ftrange : for Chrift, clothing himfelf with 
 human flefh, will, by a certain compact on which our 
 peace refts, promife to the Father, that he will do fo ; 
 ard the Father, on the other hand, will promife him, 
 that he will thus reward that fervice. In this manner 
 every thing runs fmoothly. See what fhall be faid 
 more largely, chap. iii. § 2. — 4. 
 
 IX. It is alfo a proof of this, that Chrift, often in 
 Chrift calling the the pfalms and elfewhere, calls God the 
 Father his God, in- Father his God; ice among other 
 tirrates a compatt. places, Pfal. xxii. 3. and xlv. 8. If. 
 xlix. 4. 5. and John xx. 17. Which is the form or 
 manner of the covenant. In this fenfe Jacob promi- 
 sed, that the Lord Jhould be his God * ; that is, that he 
 would fo frame his whole life, as became one in cove- 
 nant with God. The Ifraelites alfo, when they fo- 
 lemnly renewed the covenant, Jof. xxiv. 18. faid, 
 We will ferve the Lord, for he is our God* In like man- 
 * Gen. xxviii. 21. 
 
 k rr^ dVW .^ ' ^*~*z* *&52&1 
 
 ••■" *-S y -"S *! *~~** -^A"' '"^" '/ 
 
 Vj ^t 
 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. 229 
 
 ner God promifes in the covenant, that he will be the 
 God of his covenant-people ; that is, difplay the riches 
 of his all-fufftciency for their falvation *. This is my 
 covenant , that I will make with the houfe of Ifrael, I will 
 be their God. Deut. xxvi. 17. Thou hap avouched the 
 Lord (thou haft made the Lord fay) this day to be 
 (that he will be J thy God. The very meaning of the 
 word [which we render God | implies this : for n^S 
 Eloah, derived from n^K, he /wore or adjured, denotes 
 him, whofe prerogative it is to bind us, by oath, to 
 love and faithful obedience to him, and to whom we 
 ought, by oath, to give all obedience ; and who on 
 his part engages that he will be all-fuflicient to his 
 faithful fervants for falvation. He therefore who pro- 
 fefles Eloah to be his God, does at the fame time, by 
 virtue of the covenant of God, call himfelf the ser- 
 vant of God ; for -oy, fervant, is the correlate 
 of rfttf, Eloah, or, XPKVtVL Eiohim : as Pf. Ixxxvi. 2. 
 ^rhx HHN TOyyunn Preferve thy SERVANT, thou 
 my God. And in this manner the Father calls Chri/l, 
 in many places, his fervant, If. xlix. 5.6. Befides, 
 fuch a one profeffes, that he entirely depends on the 
 promife and teftimony of that covenant : in which 
 things the whole nature and defign of the covenant 
 confifts. Since therefore Chrijt calls God the Father 
 his God, and, on the other hand, the Father calls Chrift 
 his fervants both of them do, by that name, indicate 
 a compact concerning obedience and reward. 
 
 X. But let us now proceed more particularly, and 
 difcufs all the parts of this covenant, Each part of this co _ 
 that it may not only appear that there vtn^nt demonitrated 
 fubfifts fome covenant between Chrift *" rom Scripture, 
 and the Father, but what that covenant is, and of 
 what nature. The contracting parties are, on 
 the one hand, the Father, whom Chrift calls my Lord \ ; 
 on the Other, the Son, whom the Father calls bis fer- 
 vant J. The law of the covenant is propofed by the 
 Father || ; This commandment have I received of my Fa- 
 • Jtr. xxxi. 23- t Pfel- *vi. a. J If. liii. n. \\ Johnx. 18. 
 
230 The CoxMpact between Book II. 
 
 ther ; and *y The Father which fent me, he gave me a 
 commandment. To that law a promise is added by the 
 Father f ; When thou /halt make his foul an offering for 
 fin (when his foul fhall make itfelf an offering for fin J, 
 he fhall fee his feed, &c. ; and J, // is a light thing, 
 that thou Jhouldft be my fervant, to raife up the tribes of 
 Jacob, &c. On performing that law, the Son acquires 
 a right to alk the reward || ; Afk of me, and I flail 
 give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance, and the ut~ 
 iermoft parts of the earth for thy pcfjeffon. Thus far 
 the proposal of the covenant on the part of the Fa- 
 ther ; the acceptance on the part of the Son confifts 
 in this ; that he willingly fubmitted himfelf to the law 
 of the covenant | ; Mine ears haft thou (bored) opened ;. 
 that is, thou haft engaged me as a willing fervant to 
 thyfelf, having agreed about the reward. Then J aid 
 I, Lo ! I come, I delight to do thy will ; yea, thy law is 
 within my heart. See alfo John xiv 31. Nor did the 
 Son only take this upon himfelf, but actually perform- 
 ed it, being made of a woman, made under the law -*~. / 
 have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his 
 love : and John viii. 29. 1 do always thofe things that 
 fleafe him. Nor did he part with his life, till he had 
 truly faid, TETEAESTAI, // is fnifhed -t- . In the courfe 
 of this obedience, the Son comforted himfelf in the 
 faithfulnefs of the Father, to accomplifli his promifc ; 
 I faid, Surely my judgment (reward) is with the Lord, 
 and (the recompenfe of) my work with my God -»--+. And 
 when he drew- near the end of his courfe, he claim- 
 ed, with great confidence of mind, the reward pio- 
 mifed him = ; I have glorified thee on earth : I have fi- 
 nifhed the work, which thou gavefl me to do. And now, 
 O Father, glorify thou me with thine own fclf, with the 
 glory which I had with thee before the world was. "What, 
 pray, can be fuppofed wanting to complete the form 
 of a covenant, which we have not here? 
 
 • John xii. 49. -f tt. liii. ic— -12. % If. xlrx. 6.-— 8. 
 
 i) Pfal. 3 i. 8. 4 Pfal x!. 7.— 9. +- Gal.iv. 4. John xv. to. 
 
 -4- John >:ix. 30. «-»• If. xhx. 4. = Johnxvii. 4. 5.. 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. 231 
 
 XL In fine, all thefe things may be confirmed from 
 this, that Chrift likewife made ufe chritt alfo ufed facra- 
 of the facraments ; not only as to ments for confirming 
 the matter of thefe inftitutions, as lhe covenant, 
 they were commands divinely enjoined, the obfervance 
 of which had a refpect to virtue ; but as to the form, 
 as they were figns and feals of the covenant ; God the 
 Father, by the -ufe of them, fealing to the Son the fe- 
 deral promife concerning j unification f&m fins, not his 
 proper and perfonal fins, either of commiffion or omijfton, 
 (for fuch he had none *), but from thofe, which, by 
 a voluntary engagement, he took upon himfelf as his 
 own, and from which, as Surety, he was juflified in 
 the fpirit f , and alfo concerning life eternal, to be be- 
 ftowed on him and his ; and God the Son, in the ufe 
 of them, acknowledging himfelf a debtor to fulfil all 
 righteoufnefs : as thefe things have been learnedly ob- 
 ferved and explained by thefe celebrated gentlemen 
 Voetius I and EfTenius ||. But let us illuflrate this by 
 an example. In the baptifn of Chrift, there was an 
 evident fealing of the covenant on both fides. Chrift 
 declared, that it was his province to fulf I all righteouf- 
 nefs. To that he bound himfelf by baptifn ; telling John 
 upon his refufing to baptize him, Suffer it to be fo now ; 
 for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteoufnefs \. The 
 Father declared, that he accepted the furetiflnp ; In thee 
 I am iuell pleafed -*-+ ; and put him in mind of the inhe- 
 ritance, Thou art my Son. And all thefe things he fat- 
 ed by the fymbol of the Holy Ghoft defcending upon 
 him. 
 
 XII. As thefe things are evident, and contain ade- 
 monftrationofthetruthtothecon- In proof of this cove . 
 
 ficiencc, I would not have Pf. XV'i. nant, Pf. xvi. 2. adduced 
 2. drained to this purpofe : Thou by a learned perfon. 
 haft faid unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord wy ^2 TD>3 
 
 * 2 Cor. v. 21. 1 Pet. ii. 16. f 1 Tim. iii. 16. t Difput. 
 
 de fide Chrilli, rjufque facramentorum ufu, difp. t. ii. p. \(o. \\ Dc 
 fubje&ioDC Chrifti ad legem divinan;, c. 10. § 1 1. 4 Matth.iu. 16. 
 *-* Luke iii. 2z. 
 
232 The Compact between BookIL 
 
 my goodnefs (is not upon thee) extendeth not to thee : as if 
 in thefe words there was an addrefs of God the Father 
 to the Son, to this purpofe: I require nothing more 
 of thee, as a fatisfaction to me, in order to difplay 
 my grace. For thus a learned author paraphrafes 
 thefe words. Thou haft /aid to the Lord, &c. Thou, 
 Son of man, haft acknowledged, that Jehovah is the 
 Lord, and, as a fervant, haft engaged obedience to him. 
 Thou, by loving and obeying even unto death (to 
 which thou offereft thyfelf), haft declared me to be 
 Lord, and honoured me with a perfect obedience. As 
 to any advantage to be obtained, my goodnefs, that is, 
 my grace, and the benefits depending thereon, extend- 
 eth not to thee, [is not upon thee] ; that is, thou art 
 TiltKuuptvcc, an abfolute and perfect Saviour. What 
 was laid upon thee, or what thou waft bound by fure- 
 tifhip to perform, that my goodnefs might extend to 
 mankind, that thou haft performed. I accept of it. 
 Thus *7y generally denotes fomething due, both a- 
 mong the Hebrews, and in the facred writings. 
 
 XIII. But I think, thefe things are {trained, and do 
 Eut not (o not run with proper fmoothnefs. For, i. 
 properly. There is nothing which obliges us to ima- 
 gine, unlefs we incline to do fo, that there is contain- 
 ed in thefe words an addrefs of God the Father to the Son ; 
 fince the whole of this pfalm has not the leaft appear- 
 ance of a dialogue, but only reprefents a fingle perfon, 
 fpeaking in one continued difcourfe, whom Pifcator, 
 by weighty arguments, proves to be the Lord Jefus. 
 The learned perfon himfelf fpeaks thus : " This dil- 
 " courfe may certainly be afcribed to the Son, as ad- 
 " drefling himfelf-" And therefore I fay, it is certain- 
 ly poiiible, that this difcourfe cannot contain the ap- 
 probation of the Father acquiefcing in the obedience of 
 the Son. For if the Son addreffes his own foul, which 
 faid to Jehovah, Thou art my Lord, and my goodnefs ex- 
 tendeth not to \\s not upon] thee ; doubtlefs the Son faid 
 this to the Father, and not the Father to the Son. 2. 
 I own, that thefe words, which the Son fays to the 
 
Chap; 2. the Father and 'the Son. 233 
 
 Father, or the Father to the Son, are fo emphatical, 
 that they cannot^ in their full fignification, be fuppo- 
 fed to be fpoken by either of them to the other, on ac- 
 count of the 'peculiar excellence which is in the Son *; 
 But I queftion, whether any can be eafily perfuaded, 
 that the approbation of the mod perfect obedience of 
 the Son, and the acquiefcence of the Father then In, 
 are exprefled in fuch ilender terms, Thou haft fiid> 
 Thou art my Lord. I appeal to any, who teaches \_m> 
 derflands~\ the good knowledge of the Lord, as it is faid of 
 the Levites f, whether thofe words of fcripture be fuch, 
 as " that no one can devife any thing more proper to 
 " illuftrate thatfenfe," which the very learned perfon 
 elfewhere requires, before he acquiefces in the mean- 
 ing affignedj. 3. It is very true, that ^y fometimes, 
 among the Hebrews, fignifies fomething due. The 
 very learned de Dieu || has long ago obfervcd this, 
 from the writings of the Hebrews, and alfo of the A- 
 rabs. But that iignidcation does not feem proj «.r to 
 this place. For Cbrift was neither indebted to God fcr 
 his goodnefs, or grace, and the blellings depending up- 
 on it ; nor did he properly owe the grace of God to be- 
 lievers. But, by virtue of a compact, he owed obedi- 
 ence to God ; which being performed, God owed to 
 Chrijl, and to them who are Chrijl* s, the reward promi- 
 fed by the compact, which is given to Chriit as a due 
 debt. The fignification of being due might be iniifted 
 upon, had it been faid, My law, pr fitisficlion to my 
 juflice, or fomething to that purpofe, is no more upon 
 thee, [no longer extendeth to thee.'] But we muli fetch a 
 ftrange compafs to make thele words, My goodnefs ex* 
 tendeth not to [is not uponj thee, to lignify, Thou art 
 no longer indebted to , my goodnefs ; and again, that the 
 meaning of them mould be, 4t Thou hall done every 
 M thing, to which thou wait bound, that my good- 
 " nefs might be extended to men." And 1 verily 
 doubt, whether it could ever come into any one's 
 
 • Heb. i. 4. f 2 Chron. xxx. 22. t Sum the: 1 c. iii. ( 33, 
 !! In Gen. xvi. 5." 
 
 Vol. I. I g 
 
234 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 mind, that " fuch an explication is the fulleft, the mod 
 " fimple, and mod fuited to the connection ; in fine, 
 " that it is fuch, that none who compares it with the 
 " words of fcripture, can devife a more happy manner 
 <: of expreiling the thing ; and that therein an inex- 
 " preiTible degree of light, truth, and wifdom, may 
 u be difco^ericL^ For thefe are laws of interpreta- 
 tion, which the very learned perfon himfelf has laid 
 down *. 
 
 XIV. 4. Another fenfe may be fairly brought from 
 
 The genuine the Words of the pfalm, which has no- 
 meaning of that thing either harfh or ftrained, and con- 
 place difcovcred. tains what is becoming the wifdom of 
 God, in this manner : The Lord Jefus, being deeply 
 engaged in holy meditations, addreffes his foul, that 
 is, himfelf; and declares, that, while in his medita- 
 tion, he faid to Jeh ovah the Father, Thou art the Lord, 
 all-fufficient to and by thyfelf for all happinefs. Where- 
 fore by this whole work of my mediation, and conse- 
 quently by all my obedience, no acceflion of new or 
 greater happinefs is made to thee, nor canft thou be 
 enriched by my fatisfaction. My goodnefs extendetb net 
 to thee : thou rcceiveft no benefit thereby. All the 
 fruit of my fatisfaclion redounds to thy pious and cho- 
 fen people. See Job xxii. 2. & xxv. 7. The com- 
 ment of Ben Nachman on the former place is elegant, 
 agreeing very much with the phrafeology in our text. 
 " He declares, that no addition of good is made to 
 " God, when any good is done." All thefe words 
 contain a falutary truth, inftru&ing us concerning the 
 oll-fufficiency of God, to whom no new good can accrue 
 from any quarter, and concerning the fruit of ChrijVs 
 fails faction, as redounding to the godly ; and are moil 
 adapted to the words and analogy of the whole pfalm. 
 For ^y many times in fcripture fignifies the fame as S^, 
 to. I fhall produce a place or two, which occurred to 
 me, when meditating on thefe things in reading the 
 fcriptures. What Micah fays \\ c^Gy V?y ITU and fee- 
 # Sum. theol.c. vi. § 38. -f-Chap.iv. I. 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. ^35 
 
 fie Jlmll flow unto it ; this Ifaiah exprefles as follows *, 
 CD'UH ^D vh& \VQ> *^ ^ nations ft all flow unto it. 
 Where -y and ^s are taken in the fame figmfication. 
 In like manner f, wrote letters c^SN ty, that is, to the 
 Ephraimites. 'Tis ftill more to the purpofe, what we 
 have 1 Sam. i. 10. ,-^j-p ^y S^SPP' f ra y*d unto tf:e 
 
 Lord ; and Pfal. xviii. 41. They cried n i"P U U' unto 
 
 the Lord, but he anfwered them not. Sometimes it fig- 
 nifies the fame thing as is u p to, or quite to, as 2 Chrc.n. 
 xxx ii. 5. r^^H-On Hx ^ffj ^ ;; ^ >'^ ; jW (the wail) ///> /o 
 /Zy towers : not that it is credible, the wall exceeded 
 the towers in height. Jer. iv. 18. ~[2*7 u !£ s;j, it 
 reacheth unto thine heart. You may add other inltan- 
 ces from Glaflius f. As therefore the ufe of this par- 
 ticle is very extenflve, we have no reafon to reftrain 
 its lignification to owing or being due, wh ch ieemsleis 
 adapted to this place. 
 
 XV. 1 fpeak not thefe things, with a view to detract 
 any thing from the due praifes of the very And ^fended 
 learned interpreter, to whom 1 even profeis agaimt Van 
 myfelf greatly indebted; but becaufe no- dcr WfW"- 
 thing is dearer to me, than to fearch out the tree mean? 
 ingof theSpiritof Godfpeakingin theicriptures. While 
 1 am wholly intent upon this, 1 cannot avoid Jb:rctimc& 
 examining theopinions ofothers ; evenofthofe lor wh 
 I have the greateft veneration. Faith is none of thole 
 things, which may beimpoledby any human authority : 
 neither is any injury done even to the grcateU of men, 
 when we declare our diilent in a modeit manner. Whe- 
 ther we have done fo here or not, mult be left to the 
 determination of the impartial reader; who mav alio 
 
 -e, whether, by theie observations, 1 have d< 
 ved fo furious a mower of bluitering language, as the 
 very famous perfon Dr John van dtr Waeyen has been 
 pleated to pour down upon me in Sunima thai C 
 lib. i. c. 4. § 267. 6 J /--. He very much compl 
 that I called that explication of the celebrated Coccei- 
 us harjb and faced, and that the words of the p 
 
 • Chap. ii. 2. I 2 Chron. xxx. i . J Phil. facr. p. 773. 
 
 G g 2 
 
236 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 were wrefled to that meaning. This, I own, I had for- 
 merly wrote, out of my fimplicity ; nor did I imagine, 
 there was either reproach or injury contained in thefe 
 words. But there is no force of argument in the tart- 
 nefs of language. That not the leaft appearance of 
 that may remain, I now alter it, and inftead of wrefl- 
 ed, fay, harjh, not running Jo /monthly. The reft I can- 
 cel. I freely forgive the ill language of my reprover, 
 as becomes a Chriftian. It does not belong to him, 
 but to our common Lord, to pafs a judgment on my 
 intention. As to the fubjecl itfelf, I befeech the read- 
 er, to compare my reafonings with his ; and if he 
 thinks, that mine are folidly confuted, I am not againft 
 his differing, in every refpect, from me. It appears 
 otherwife to me : and the Ample explication of the 
 words, which 1 maintain, with the generality of expo- 
 fitors, began the more to pleafe me, the more I faw 
 my reprover ftand in need, for the defence of his opi- 
 nion, of fuch a compafs of words, and fo far-fetched 
 and intricate fubtilties. I have no inclination minute- 
 ly to confider the reft. Each one has his own temper, 
 his own way of writing : which if I cannot commend, 
 I endeavour to bear with. But I return from this un- 
 willing digrefllon. 
 
 XVI. As the doctrine of the compaft between the Fa- 
 
 tk:- rnB ,„,A k»L m J. lim Fo ther and the Son is fo often and 
 TL his compaa between the r a- . r . 
 
 ther and the Son, mentioned 10 exprefsly delivered in fenp- 
 
 by the greateft divines, and tUie, that it is Ulljuftly tradu- 
 
 theiefore not to be traduced as ce d as anew and late inven- 
 a late and iingulardacovery. ^ Though I find few a- 
 
 mong the more ancient, who have profefledly handled 
 this fubjecl: ; yet I fee fome of the greateft divines have 
 fometimes made mention of this compact. \ fay no- 
 thing now of Arminius, who does not carelefsly dif- 
 courle of this compact, in his oration for the degree 
 of Doctor ; from which the very accurate Amelius 
 produces and commends fome things *. Amefius 
 himfelf f charges a certain diftinction of the Remon- 
 
 * fcn refcxiptione ad Grevinchovium, c. i. t In Anti-'fynodalibus, 
 de morte Chxifli, c. i. § c. 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. 237 
 
 ftrants with this abfurdity, that " it denies, that the 
 " covenant entered into with Chrift, (He Jh all fee his 
 " feed, and the pleafure of the Lord f/j all prof per in his 
 * c hand), had been ratified." Gomarus, treating of 
 the baptifm of Chrift *, fays, that it was the " iign 
 Xi and feal of the covenant between God and Chriii ; 
 *' namely, that God would be his God, and the be- 
 " flower of falvation ; but he himfelf was bound to 
 M perform obedience from a principle of perpetual 
 " gratitude." In like manner, on the circumcifion 
 of Chrift f, he fays, that it was " a fign and feal of 
 " the covenant with God : which covenant confifted 
 " in this ; partly that God was the God of Chrift, ac- 
 " cording to the general promife, made alfo to him, 
 " Gen. xvii. 7. as to the feed of Abraham, Gal. iii. 
 " 16. and according to the fingular character given 
 " of him, Pfal.xlv. 7. Heb. i. 9.; partly, that Chrift 
 " was bound to obey the will of God, John vi. 38. 
 " Matth. v. 17." See his Difp. de merito Chrift /, § 1. 
 The very learned Cloppenburg \ not only men- 
 tions this fubjecT, but fully and accurately handles 
 it. The very famous Voetius || fays, M He (Chrift) 
 " was fubjecr. for us to a fpecial law of paying our debt 
 " by a condign punifhment, as our Mediator and Sure- 
 " ty, according to the tenor of the covenant entered 
 ?' into with the Father." Eftenins, formerly his fcho* 
 lar, and afterwards his colleague j, fays, " The fedt- 
 " ral fealing of the divine promife did alfo really take 
 " place in Chrift, according to If. liii. 10. n." Dr 
 Owen handles this very fubject at large, on Heb. torn, 
 ii. exercit. iv. p. 49. Nor was this doctrine unknown 
 to the Popifh doctors. Tirinus on If. liii. 11. thus 
 comments, that the prophet there explains " the com- 
 " pact agreed on between the Father and Chriit," by 
 which, on account of the fuflerings and death of Chrift, 
 redemption, juftitication, and glorification, are de- 
 
 # In Matth. iii. 13. f \ n Luke ii. ; . J Difp*t. iii. de 
 
 fccJere Dei. |j Dij'put. t. ii. p. 266. | De fubje&tonc CiiriiU id le- 
 gem, C. X. J2. 
 
r^ 
 
 238 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 creed to be the rewards of all thofe who faithfully ad- 
 here to Chrift. Whence it appears, that thefe lenti- 
 rnents concerning the compacl between the Father and 
 Son, are not to be fligmatized with the brand of fin- 
 gularify. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 The Nature of the Compact between the Father 
 and the Son, more fully explained. 
 
 Four things propofed to A S the compact between the 
 t>3 more largely explain- /j^_ Father and the Son is the 
 ed in this chapter. foundation of the whole of our 
 
 falvation, it will not be improper to Hop here a little, 
 and, in our further meditation, inquire, 1. From whence 
 the beginning of this compact ought to be taken, and in 
 what periods of time it was completed. 2 . What the law 
 of the covenant contains, how far, and to what it binds 
 the Son. 3. Whether the Son could not have engaged in 
 this compact, or have withdrawn bimfelf from it, and 
 had no more to do with it. 4. What and how great 
 a reward was promifed to the Son, to be obtained in 
 virtue of the compaT:. 
 
 II. I confider three periods, as it were, of this com- 
 The beginning of this pact. Its commencement is to be fought 
 compadinthe eternal in the eternal counfel of the adorable 
 counfel of the Trinity. Trinity : \ n which the Son of God was 
 conftituted by the Father, with the approbation of the 
 Holy Spirit, the Saviour of mankind ; on this condi- 
 tion, that, in the fulnefs of time, he mould be made 
 of a woman, and made under the law ; which the Sort, 
 undertook to perform. Peter has a view to this, when 
 he fays *, that Chrifl was foreordained before the foun- 
 dation of the world. To this purpofe is alfo, what the 
 Supreme Wifdom teftifies concerning itfelf \, I was 
 Jet up [anointed] from everlafling ; that is, by my own, 
 and the will of my Father, which is one and the fame 3 
 
 * 1 Pet. i. 20. t ProY. viii, 2y 
 
Chap. 2. the Father and the Son. 239 
 
 I was appointed to the performance of the mediatorial 
 office in time. Paul likewife declares, that we were 
 cbofeninChrift before the foundation of the world*, Confe- 
 quently, Chrift himfelf was con ftituted from everlafting^ 
 the Head of thofe that were to be faved, and they were 
 given unto him f , for whom he was to merit falvation, 
 and in whom he was to be glorified and admired. 
 From this conftitution, the Son from everlafting bore 
 a peculiar relation to thofe that were to be laved. 
 Hence the book of life is by a fpecial appropriation a- 
 fcribed to the Lamb J, as containing a defcription of 
 the peculiar people afligned to the Lamb from all eter- 
 nity. Hence alfo it was, that God, in his amazing 
 wifdom, fo ordered many things in man's ftate of in- 
 nocence, that the attentive remembrance of them after 
 the fall, and the comparing them with thofe things 
 which were afterwards revealed, might have remind- 
 ed man of this divine counfei; as we have fhewn, a- 
 bove, book i. chap. vi. § 3. 
 
 III. The fecond period of this covenant I place in that 
 intercejwn of Chrift, by which, im- The fecond period in 
 mediately upon the fall of man, he the interceffion, be- 
 offered himfelf to God, now offend- g un immediately after 
 edbyfin, actually to perform thofe lhe fal1, 
 things, to which he had engaged himfelf from eter- 
 nity ; faying, Thou haft given them to me, I will 
 make fatisfaction for them : and fo making way for 
 the word of grace to be declared to, and the covenant 
 of grace to be made with them. Thus Chrift was 
 aclually conjlituted Mediator, and declared as iuch im- 
 mediately after the fall ; and having undertaken the 
 furctijkip, he began to act many things belonging to 
 the oilices of a Mediator. As a Profhut, and the 
 terpreter of the divine will, he even then, by his 
 pint, revealed thofe things which relate to the lithw 
 ion of the elect, and by his minifters publilhed them |j, 
 fay, he himfelf fometimes appeared in the ctu- 
 
 * Eph. i. 4. - 1 John xvii.6. J Rev. xiii. ?. 
 
 If. xfvUi. 1 5. 1 Pec. i. 1 1. and ill . 19. 
 
240 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 racier of an Angel, inflructing his people in the coun- 
 fel of God. As a King, he gathered his church, and 
 formed to himfelf a people, in whom he might reign 
 by his word and Spirit. For it was the Son of God, 
 who faid to Ifrael, Exod. xix. 6. Te Jhall be unto me a 
 kingdom of priejls, and who, with more than royal 
 pomp, publifhed his law on mount Sinai *, and whom 
 Ifai'ah faw fitting as king upon a throne f. As a Priest, 
 he took upon himfelf the fins of the elect, to be expia- 
 ted by the facrifce of his body, which was to be fitted 
 for him in the fulnefs of time. In virtue of this, as 
 being a faithful Surety, he likewife interceded for the 
 elect, by declaring his will, that they might be taken 
 into favour, faying, Deliver them from going down to the 
 pit, J have found ?^cy, a ranfom J. For what angel could 
 fpeak thus, but the Angel of the covenant f who even then 
 was called an angel, before his coming in the flefh, be- 
 caufe he was accomplilhing what depended upon that 
 future miflion. He hone of athoufand, the Captain of 
 the hoft of angels, that guards each believer, the chief efl 
 of [the ftandard-bearer above] ten thoufand ||. In 
 like manner, the archangel Michael (and who is 
 this but the Lord Jefus Chrift ?) is called D'T^n in* 
 tDWKVIj one °f the chief princes |, that is, the un- 
 parallelled among the chiefs, becaufe he is ^Wl itLTI, 
 that great prince ■+-. It is he who declares to man his righ- 
 teoufnefs, both the- right eoufnefs of God and of man. It is 
 he who is H2D the propitiation, whom God hath fet forth 
 as iKOLsvficv, a propitiation -t- . See alfo Zech. i. 12. 13. 
 
 IV. The third period of this compact is that, when. 
 The third on attaining on his ajfuming human nature, he 
 human nature. fuffered his ears to be bored «-* ; that 
 
 is, engaged himfelf as a voluntary fervant to God, 
 from love to his Lord the Jr/ather, and to his fpoufe 
 the church, and his fpiritual children, (for the ears of 
 fuch voluntary fervants were bored = ; yiyoy.^c; Ctto rzu:r 9 
 
 * Ads vii. 38. t Chap. vi. compared with John xii. 41. 
 
 I Job xxxiii. 24. || Cant. v. 10. + Dan. x. 13, 
 
 +* D^n. xii. 1. -+Rom. iii. z" y ♦* Comp.rePfal. xl. 7. with 
 
 Heb. x. 5. = Exod. xxi. 5. 6. 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the Son. 241 
 
 was made under the law *,fubje£ling himfelf to the law : 
 which he fblemnly teftified by his circumcifon. on the 
 eighth day after his birth, whereby he made himfelf 
 a debtor to do the whole law f. 
 
 V. The law propofed to the Mediator, may be con- 
 fidered in a twofold view : 1. As the Various cori r ;dera . 
 d'neftory of his nature and office. 2- As tions of the law of 
 the condition'of the covenant. The Medi- the covenant, and 
 ator himfelf may be confidered thefe cf the Mediator, to 
 
 . \ n j a m wnomit wasoiven. 
 
 three ways. 1. As God. 2. As Man. ° 
 
 3. As Mediator God-man. We are diitinctiy to compare 
 thefe things together. 
 
 VI. The Son, as precifely God, neither was, nor 
 could be fubjed to any law, to any fupe- The Mediator, 
 fior : that being contrary to the nature of as God, fubjut 
 the Godhead, which wenowfuppofe the to no law. 
 Son to have in common with the Father, who thought 
 it no robbery to uvoy 't<r<x OioJ, to be equal with God. No 
 ibbjection, nothing but the higheft fupereminence is 
 competent to the Deity, nor can it otherwife be con- 
 ceived. In this refpect he is King cf kings, and Lord 
 of lords \. The Emperors Gratian, Valentine, and 
 Theodofius, laid long ago, that " he is a true^hriftian, 
 " who believes, that the Deity of the Father, Son, 
 " and Holy Ghoft, is one in equal power ; that un- 
 
 <c DER THE SAME MAJESTY THERE IS ONE DEITY J 
 
 " and he who teaches the contrary, is a heretic ||." 
 
 VII. Nor is it any objection againft this, that the 
 Son, from eternity, undertook for men, The eternal furcti- 
 and thereby came under a certain pe- fhlpof the Sonim- 
 culiar relation to thole that were F ,ics no Objection 
 to be faved. For that engagement, as of his Godh ^« 
 
 it was nothing but the moil glorious act of the divine 
 will of the Son, doing what none but God could do, 
 implies therefore no manner of fubjeclion : it only im- 
 ports, that there Ihould be a time, when that divine 
 
 pcrfon, on afluming flefh, would appear in the form 
 
 • 
 *Gal.iv. 4 . f Gal. iii. 3. I 1 Tim. vi. ?c. || Cc4. lib. I • tit I. 
 
 Vol. I. f H h 
 
242 .TrtE Covenant between Book IL 
 
 of a fervant. And by undertaking to perform this 
 obcdiencej in the human nature, in its proper time, 
 the Son> as God, did no more fubjecl himfelf to the 
 Father, than the Father fubjected himfelf to the Son, 
 to the owing that reward of debt, which he promifed 
 him a right to claim. All thefe things are to be con* 
 ceived of in a manner becoming God. 
 
 VIII. Nor ought it to be urged, that the Son, even 
 ttor hi; being called 'before his incarnation, was called 
 in angei before his "\vho the Angel *. For that fignilies 
 incarnation. no inferiority .of the Son, before the 
 time appointed for his incarnation ; but only a form 
 refembling the appearances of angels, prefiguring his 
 future million into the world. 
 
 IX. As man, he was doubtlefs fubject to the moral 
 As man, was fubject law, as it is the rule both of the na- 
 to the ©oral law. ture and adions of man. For it is a 
 contradiction, as we proved before, to fuppofe a ra- 
 tional creature, fuch as is the human nature of Chrift, 
 to be without law. And in this manner he was really 
 bound by the law : i To preferve the holinefs implanted 
 into his nature from his firft conception, unfpotted. 2. 
 To expr«F it in the moft perfect manner, in his life 
 and all Ins actions, with all his heart, all his foul, and all 
 his lirength. 3. Conjlantly to perfevere therein, with- 
 out yielding to any temptations, to the end of his 
 courfe. 
 
 X. And as Chrift was not only a man, and a com- 
 A? sn HVaelitc, Yub- Tt\oi\ inhabitant of the world, but 
 jefl to the ceremoni- alfo an Jfraelite, that is, a member of 
 at and political law. t / je c hurch of the Old Teflament, and 
 a cii'iten of the commonwealth of Ifrael ; he was alio 
 rubject. to the ceremonial and political laws, which were 
 then itili in force, according to the divine inftitution. 
 By virtue of thefe laws, Chrift made ufe of the fa- 
 craments of the Old Teflament, obferved the fcjlivals, 
 repaired to the temple, and behaved as an obedient 
 
 fubjeel under a lawful magijlracy. lie initiated him- 
 * uen. xiviii. 16. Exod. xxiii. jo. 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the SoxV. 243 
 
 felf by circamcifion to the obedience of the ceremonial 
 law : declared his obedience to the political laws by- 
 paying tribute *. 
 
 XL It may be objected, that as to ceremonial obfer- 
 vances, Chrift declared himMf great- Th ; s fobfcaitfn not in- 
 er than the temple f, and Lord of the validated by Matth.xii. 
 fabhath \; as to the political, that 6 - s - andxvii. 26. 27. 
 being the Son of God, he was exempted from paying 
 tribute ||. But this may be foived from the diilerent 
 relations which Chrift fuftained. Certainly as God, and 
 the Son of God, he was Lord of the law, the Lawgiver 
 himfelf, who, on account of his divine nature, had 
 authority to difpenfe with precepts of a mutable and 
 pofkive inilitution : and if, when he became man, he 
 had infifted on his being the Son of God, and for that 
 reafon had acted as equal to God, in that refpect nei- 
 ther the officers of the temple, nor the queftors of the 
 Emperor could have demanded any thing of him as an 
 inferior. But Chrift did not think proper to infill on this 
 . his right; but rather to behave as a fervant of rulers j. 
 
 XII. But further, as Mediator and Surety, he is un- 
 der the law in another manner, and that As Mediator, 
 two ways. 1. As Injoining the condi^^^o ways u:.- 
 tion of perfect obedience, upun which he w the law. 
 and his were to partake of happinefs. 2. As binding 
 to the penalty due to the fins of the elect, which he 
 had taken upon himfelf. 
 
 XIII. As to the former: Had the Son of God been 
 plcafed to appear in our nature, but not iii 
 
 the quality of a Surety, he would ncceflaii- l^^til- 
 ly have been a holy perfon, and conformed dmon, up<m 
 to the law of God, prefcribed to the hu- whichjw:aq4 
 man nature. For every man, as fuch, is ^*»ooJdaf 
 bound to be fubject to God, in all righteouf- [j-J^ **'" 
 nefs and holinefs, which is exactly defbribed 
 in the divine law. But by the ferfonal covenant-engage* 
 ment of the Mediator, to that able-lute iubjection ot 
 
 * Matth xvii zy. 2-. + Matrh.xii. 6. \ V?r. 8. 
 •X-vii. z6. z~. 4 li t ::!;:.. 7. 
 
 II h 2 
 
244 The Compact between Booklt. 
 
 nature, which is eternally to continue without end, 
 there is added another obligation tofubjec"fion, limited 
 to a certain period of time, which the apoftle * calls 
 the days tf his flejb ; during which, Chrift, obeying 
 the law, was not in the ftate of pofTefling, but merit- 
 ing happinefs ; confidering this law, not only as a rule 
 of life, but alfo as prefcribing the condition of acquiring 
 happinefs. For, if we feclude the procuring of our 
 falvation, nothing hindered him from the pofleflion of 
 glory and happinefs, from the very beginning of his 
 conception. As he was the Son, he was actually heir 
 of all things. But it was owing to his voluntary co- 
 venant-engagement, that though he ivas rich f, and 
 might have acted as equal to God, from the very be- 
 ginning of his affuming humanity, yet for our fakes he 
 became poor. That this fubjection to the law, as enjoin- 
 ing the condition of happinefs, is to be diftinguifhed from 
 that other abfolute fubjeciion to it, as the rule of holinefs , 
 appears hence, that Chrift has now laid afide the firft, 
 while this laft continues, and will continue to eternity. 
 XIV. The ufefulnels of this diftinclion is confider- 
 
 ww^w;^ rt J.t able, in order to the folvinfif that 
 Which having under- tt'i • r r 
 
 taken en ou£*ccount, problem, kozv the aclive obedience of 
 } is adive obedience is Chrift, fo called, though not fo prO- 
 juftly imputed to us. perly, may be imputed )o us, feeing as 
 man he owed it for himfelf For, befides that on our 
 account he was made man, it was not barely from his 
 being man, that he was under the nectflity of meriting 
 eternal life by the legal covenant : nay, and confider- 
 ed as God-man, abftracted from his furetifhip-engage- 
 inent, he might have exempted himfelf from. all indi- 
 gence, and all neceflity of meriting ; and consequent- 
 ly might have gloriouily exercifed all power in heaven 
 and in earth, in and by the human nature, from the 
 jirft moment of his incarnation : for this flows from 
 the union of the humanity with the perfon of the Sen 
 of God. But his fubjecting himfelf to the law, as 
 prefcribing the condition of happinefs, is wholly from 
 * Hcb. v. 7. f s Ccr. viii. 9. 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the Son. 24^ 
 
 his voluntary covenant-engagement, undertaken on 
 our account; which, by every right or juft title, may 
 and ought to be imputed to us. The very ingenious 
 and judicious divine, Francis Gomarus, feems to have 
 had this in his view, when he thus comments on PhiU 
 ii. 9. " For our lake, he alio veiled his glory for a 
 * ; time, which he might juftly have enjoyed, and 
 " fubmitted to the curled death of the crofs ; which, 
 < ; if we conlider his merit and power, he might have 
 « declined.'' 
 
 XV. Befides, the Son of God was, in virtue of the 
 compact, fubjett to the curfe of the Secondly, he was under 
 law, being made a curfe for us *. the \sw, as binding to 
 For as the law likewife exacted /w- punifomeot. 
 nifbinent from the tranfgrelibr, and Chrift bound him- 
 felf, by his engagement, to fulfil the whole law; it 
 was neceflary, that he Jhould come in the likcnefs of fin- 
 ful flefh, to condemn fin in the flefh \. Which likenefs 
 of linful flelh confifts in this, that Chriil being, from 
 his very birth, obnoxious to various miferies, both of 
 foul and body, at laft he concluded the courfe of his 
 painful life by that death, in which the mod linking 
 figns of every kind of curfe appeared : for it was juft 
 that the finner mould thus live and die. Now Chrift, 
 confidered fimply as a righteous per fon, might have been 
 exempted from thefe miferies, and from fach a death. 
 But after he had once, by a voyntary engagement, fub- 
 mitted himfelf to the law for us, he became bound to 
 fatisfy alio this lanclion of the law, which threatened 
 death to linners. As all thefe things arife from the me- 
 diatorial covenant, they belong to Chriil as Mediator. 
 
 XVI. But fince in Chriil, as Mediator, there is an 
 union of the divine and human natures, , v , , • nu -,. 
 
 , . ,. iV , . . .. n ,r , Whether in Lhnlc 
 
 this diiiiculty remains to be di feu fled, the Nfcdiator.bod* 
 
 whether both natures were in fomc wxx- natures were in 
 fine lubject to the law. Nothing for- ,ome ™ afure fub - 
 bids us to allirm this of the human, as >ct t0 thc law * 
 we have already lb often fhewn j but it ieems, from 
 * G..1. ii:. 16. + Uom.viii. *. 
 
2^6 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 what we have confirmed, § 6. it muft be denied with 
 refpecr. to the divine. But as the human nature does 
 not, without the divine, complete the perfon of the 
 Mediator, the Mediator, as fuch, does not feem to 
 have undertaken fubjection to the law, without bring- 
 ing his divine nature like wife to (hare therein. 
 
 XVII. In order to remove this difficulty, weareac- 
 
 Thoogh the divine nature of the irately to diitinguifll be- 
 Son was not properly fubjeft, yet twecn both natures conuder- 
 he in in fome meafure veiled ed fcparately, and the per/on 
 his majefty under the aflumed of God-man, COnmYms; of both 
 form of a fervant. . •, , T . 
 
 natures united. It was pro- 
 per, that both natures fhould act. fnitably to them- 
 ielves and their diftinct properties. "The divine nature, 
 as characterized in the Son, fince it could not truly and 
 really be fubjefl, did not, by virtue of the covenant, 
 exert or difplay all its majefty, in the aflumed form of 
 a fervant ; nor hinder that nature, to which it was u- 
 nited by the hypoftatical union, from being truly fub- 
 ject to the law, both as to the condition of the reward, 
 and as to the penal fanction ; which indeed was neither 
 a real renunciation, nor degradation of the divine fupe- 
 riority, but only a certain (Economical veiling of it for 
 a time. 
 
 XVIII. The human nature was really and properly fub- 
 
 rr, , jeel to the law : nay, from the 
 
 The human nature not on- J n • i • 1 r 
 
 !y under a natural fobjedian, hypoftatical union there was iu- 
 but under a certain peculiar peradded a certain peculiar obli- 
 obligation arifmg from the 7a t' l0 n upon the human nature 
 hypollatical union. y q^ confidcred in re l at \ ork 
 
 to the furetijhip to be undertaken for us as his brethren. 
 For as men are bound to love God in fuch a manner 
 as above all things to feek his glory, which mines moil 
 illuftrioufly in the j unification and fanclification of the 
 finner ; and fo to love their neighbour, as to deiire to 
 deliver their brother from fin and mifery, even at their 
 own peril^ if poffible : but no mere man can effect this ; 
 yet the man Chrift, who is likewife true God, and 
 therefore is able, by his obedience and fuffering, to, 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the Son. 247 
 
 promote this glory of God, and the falvation of his 
 brethren, was by that very thing obliged to undertake 
 and undergo all thofe things, in which he might fhew 
 forth this moft intenfelove of God and his neighbour. 
 Since he only of all men could do this, he only of all 
 was bound to do it. "What others were obliged to 
 will conditionally, as we obferve a fpark of this love in 
 Mofes *, and in Paul f, was incumbent on the man 
 Chrift abfolutely ; becaufe, being God-man, he could 
 abfolutely perform it. 
 
 XIX. We commonly afcribe to the f erf on God-man 
 the relation of an inferior to a fu- Totheperfon God . maQ 
 
 penor, by a COnltltUtlOn, Or ap- is commonly afcribed the 
 pointment ; fo that, both by do- relation of an inferior to 
 ing and fullering, thofe things a ^P e "°r- 
 might be accomplished, according to the condition of 
 each nature, which were requifite to our falvation : fo 
 that the very obedience and fufferings themfelves, are 
 not only to be appropriated to the human nature, but 
 to be confidered as truly performed and fuffered by 
 the God-man. If this was not the cafe, they would 
 not be of infinite value and dignity, nor fufficient for 
 our redemption. Hence, he who is in the form of God y 
 is faid to have made himfelf of no reputation [emptied 
 himfelf], and become obedient unto death \ \ and to be 
 , the Lord of glory who was crucified ||. 
 
 XX. It is uiual here to inquire, whether Chrijl, as 
 Mediator, is inferior to the Father and whether Chriil, as 
 
 fubordinate to him? But this controver- Mediator, be infc. 
 fy, it feems, may be eafily fettled a- rior t0 the Father. 
 mong the orthodox. If the Mediator be confidered 
 in ihe fate of humiliation, and the form of a fer- 
 vant, he is certainly inferior to the Father, and fub- 
 ordinate to him. It was not of his human nature on- 
 ly, but of himfelf in that Rate, that he himfelf faid \, 
 The Father is greater than I. Nay, the very mediate* 
 rial office in itielf, may be reckoned to import a pei> 
 
 • Ixod. xxx. 32. f Rom.ix. 3. \ Phil. ii. 6. 7. 8. J| 1 Cor. 
 ii. 8.. 4 John xiv. 28. 
 
248 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 tain (economical inferiority or fubordi nation ; as being to 
 be laid down, when all things fhall be perfectly finifh- 
 ed, and God himfelf Jhall become all in all. Yet fo 
 that this undertaking and mediation, and the bringing 
 of fallen man to God, to grace and glory, is not fo 
 much beneath the excellency of the Deity, but we 
 may, without the leaft hefitation, aiHrm, that this glo- 
 ry of mediation is incommunicable to any creature. Ic 
 is the glory of Jehovah to be the righteoufnefs of If- 
 rael. This glory he gives to none who is not God. 
 To be Mediator does not merely denote a fervant of 
 God, but the great God and Saviour; who, as the 
 firft and principal caufe of faving grace, equal to the 
 Father, works, by his own power, our reconciiiation 
 with God, by means of the fubjection and obedience 
 of his human nature, without which the coequal Son 
 could neither perform his fervice, nor obey the Father. 
 XXI. The third thing we promiied to inquire into, 
 Nothing bound the Son, was this ; Could the Son refufe to 
 as God°, to this engage- undertake, or withdraw bzAftlf 
 merit, from which as man f rm t }j' l5 compact f To which que- 
 he could not withdraw. fti6n ^ Q ^ aga j n tQ anfwer ^ 
 
 tinftly. 1. lit be Son be confidered as .God, the whole 
 of this covenant was of his own molt free will and 
 pleafure. There neither was, nor could be any neccf- 
 lity, to bind the Son of God, as fuch to this covenant. 
 Here is nothing but mere mood pleafure, philanthropy un- 
 limited, and altogether liberal, pure, and unmixed 
 grace. 2. It he be confidered as man, he indeed en- 
 tered into this engagement freely and fpontaneoufly, 
 without being ccjeftrained ; yet he could not, without 
 fin, from which he is at the greateft diftance, with- 
 draw from this agreement. Which we prove in the 
 following manner. 
 
 XXIl/ I. The human nature of Chrifc, as we have 
 
 Ht lm A , , r often faid, could not be with- 
 
 Chnft was under the law of . ' . , . , . , 
 
 love, which eminently re- put law. The law under which 
 
 quires, that one lay down it naturally is, is the roycJ law 
 his life for his brethren, ofk~JC. Which does not indeed 
 
Chap. 3. Ttt £ Father and the Son. z^g 
 
 formally, as it was made for man in innocence, but yet 
 eminently contain this precept, which John inculcates * 5 
 That one lay down his life for the brethren. I fay, the 
 law of love, as given to man in innocence, contains 
 not this precept formally ; becaufe death isinconfiftent 
 with fuch a ftate, and perfect obedience, which is all 
 fummed up in love, frees man from all necefiity of dy- 
 ing, according to the promife, He who doth thofe things, 
 Jball live in them. And therefore we have (hewn, that 
 if Chrift be confidered in himfelf as a holy per/on, with- 
 out refpecl to the decree of God, and his own engage- 
 ment for his miferable brethren, he was, by virtue of 
 his perfect holinefs, under no necefiity of dying and 
 fuffering. But the law of love does, fuppofing the re- 
 quifite circumftances, eminently contain the command 
 of dying for our brethren. For it enjoins us to love 
 God above all, and our neighbour as curfelves. And he 
 who loves God above all, does not only delight in God 
 his Creator, Benefaclor, Lord, and Example ; not only 
 ftudies to do every thing agreeable to him, but endea- 
 vours to direct and to promote all things that are God's 
 to his glory. And as he ought to cfteem the glory of 
 God dear above his own advantages, he alfo ought to 
 be ready to undergo every thing, by which the glory 
 of God may be moft illuftrated. And fuppofing fuch 
 a one to have brethren in diftrefs, from which he can 
 deliver them by his death, fo that God fhall, in an e- 
 minent manner, appear glorious in them ; the lo^ cf 
 our brethren, together with the love of God, enjoins 
 him not to decline dying for them ; efpecially, if he 
 himfelf, becoming a conqueror over death, fhall there- 
 by obtain a moft diftinguifhing reward at laft. Since 
 therefore Chrift, as man, could not but be under the 
 law of love ; and a holy man, as doubtlefs it became 
 him to be, cannot be conceived as deftitute of love, 
 much lefsas having a contrary difpofition ; it follows, 
 that he could not, in fuch circumftances, withdraw 
 himfelf from his agreement to fatisfy for men ; becaufe 
 
 • I cp iii. 16. 
 
 Vol.. I. I I I 
 
*5^ The Compact between Book II. 
 
 the law of love eminently contains fuch an obligation. 
 
 XXIII. 2. The Son of God had from eternity enga- 
 
 If Chriit's human nature could g e <3 to fatisfy this COmpacl, 
 
 withdraw from this covenant, by afTuming human nature, 
 
 ic would nullify the eternal en- anc l obeying in it, as we 
 gagementoftheSon. ^^ ^^ § ^ ^ ^ 
 
 human nature, perfonally united to him, could have 
 withdrawn itfelf from, and renounced the compact, it 
 was poflible that the Son of God himfelf might have 
 violated his plighted faith. For, in that cafe, Chrift 
 would not have been either the true and faithful God, 
 who cannot lie, or not be God omnipotent, as who be- 
 ing willing from eternity to take that province upon 
 himfelf, could not, in time, induce the human nature 
 to execute that, for which it was alTumed at firft. Nor 
 do I fee what reply can be made to this argument, un- 
 lefs one mall venture to fay, that it is contrary to the 
 nature of liberty, that the will mould be thus bent by 
 a fuperior caufe : and that, in fuch a cafe, the human 
 nature, declining to if and to that compact, would be 
 deprived of the honour of the hypollatical union, an 
 another be affumed in its Head. But befides that this 
 overthrows the infeparability of the hypoftatical union, 
 admitted on both fides, the fame difficulty recurs with 
 1 efpect to the nature newly affumed - y becaufe equal li- 
 ber (y is to be afcribed to it. 
 
 XXIV. 3. God had, by an eternal and irrevocable 
 And make void the decree, appointed, promifed, and con- 
 decree, promik, and firmed by oath, the inheritance of all 
 cath of Liod. bleffings in Chrift *. Butfuppoiing 
 Chrift could have withdrawn himfelf from the compact, 
 then the decree of God might be rendered void, his pro- 
 mifi be deceitful, and his oath faljijied, and confequem- 
 ly the whole counfel of God concerning the ceconomy 
 of our falvation, fo often inculcated in the propheti- 
 cal writings, become of no effect : which is indeed 
 blafphemy to imagine. There is no occafion to fug- 
 geii, as one has done, that God could, without tlie 
 
 * Heb. vi. 13. — 18. Lukei. 73. 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the Son. 2jt 
 
 payment of any price, have remitted the debt of fin, 
 and among fome thoufand methods have found out 
 another way of faving mankind, feeing this method 
 had failed of its end. For as this is very much more 
 than we can readily yield to, fo it is nothing to the 
 purpofe. For God did not only, in general, appoint, 
 promife, and fwear to give falvation to his elect ; but 
 falvation to be obtained by Chrift and his obedience ; 
 which decree, promife, and oath, could be accomplilh- 
 ed no other way. Not to fay, how unworthy it is of 
 God, to be obliged to make new decrees, after the 
 former had not reached the defired iflue. Which is 
 the very bane of the llemonftrant divinity. 
 
 XXV. 4. Let usfuppofe, that the human nature of 
 Chriit, to fpeak plainly, could have which could n<~t he 
 withdrawn itfelf from this compact ; attempted without a 
 yet it could not do it at leaft without horrl ' ie fjn - 
 
 a horrible fin, after the preordination of God, the eter- 
 nal will of the Son, and the promife and oath had been 
 ,; fcovered to him. Nay, it had been a more dread* 
 1 1 fin than that of the firft Adam, for him obftinate- 
 ly to oppofe all thefe confiderations, and prefer his 
 own private advantage to the glory of God and falva- 
 tion of the elect. And by this means we fhould be re- 
 duced, by this hypothecs, we are now contending a- 
 gainft, to the mocking blafphemies of fome fchoolnien, 
 who affirm, that " Chrift could have finned, and 
 u confequently have been damned." Thefe are the 
 depths of Satan, which all Chriitians ought to pro* 
 nounce accurfed. 
 
 XXVI. Hence we fee what we are to think of the 
 divinity of the Remonitrants on this head, The Remoi - 
 who, in chap. xvii. p. 187. b. of their a- Grant opioior, 
 fology or remonitrance, lay, that u the obedience ot 
 " Chrift was of a different nature from ours; but a- 
 u greeing in this, that it was altogether fvec. Chriit 
 " obeyed the will of his Father, not as we obey the 
 " law of God under the threatening of eternal death, 
 # in cafe of diibbcJiencc : God forbid -, but as an am- 
 
 I i 2 
 
 Jj+ 4^ ^OL4^~ 2f 
 
 wj«*~ •**<- A^^^4/ / A/u-^ i^vfc> * 
 
 
l$t The Compact between Book 11. 
 
 w bafTador is faid to obey his fovereign, or a beloved 
 ** fon his father, when his fovereign or father confers 
 " on either an honourable office to be executed by 
 fC them, adding the promife of fome extraordinary 
 M reward, if they will freely and on their account un- 
 " dertake it, Whoever obeys in this manner, that is, 
 " willingly takes that office upon himfelf, he, indeed, ■ 
 " properly and freely obeys ; not that he would pro- 
 " perly fin, did he not undertake it; or when under- 
 '" taken, lay it down again, with the good-will of the 
 " father ; much lefs that he would deferve eternal pu- 
 " niihment, if he did not undertake it, or excufe 
 ** himfelf from undertaking or bearing the burden 
 " thereof ; as it is moft certain, that when we difobey 
 " God and his law, we deferve puniffiment. But no 
 *- fuch threatening of punifhment was made to Chi ill ; 
 <c but he could either not undertake it, or when he 
 " undertook it, refign his charge, and fo not enjoy or 
 •" forfeit the promifed reward." 
 
 XXVII. In this difcourfe there are as many faults, as 
 Confuted; liberty not con- fentences. We will now remark 
 fining in indifference. thefe principal ones. i. The lead- 
 ing error of the Remonftrants, from whence their other 
 errors flow, is this, that the liberty of the will con- 
 fids in indifference, fo as one may, or may not obey ; 
 whereas it is to be placed in the free good pleafure of 
 the mind* Unlefs one would affirm either of thefe 
 things, that either the holy angels, and the fpirits of 
 jufl men made perfect, nay, Chrifl: himfelf exalted, 
 could not do the will of God, or not do it free- 
 The grace of Chrift, ly. 2. They diftinguiih not the per- 
 making himfelf of no r on Q f the Son of God, and thegraccy 
 
 legation, to be dif- . j^ h humb l ed himfelf tO UU- 
 
 t:n:u meifrom h so- / , t . . , , 
 
 beliencein his humi- dertake obedience in the human na- 
 tation, ture to be affumed, from the humarL 
 nature itfelf, and obedience of Chrift, now in his ftate 
 of humiliation. The grace of the Son of God was fo 
 free, that he could not be againit this humiliation, or 
 emptying of himfelf, thut he rrught come under an 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the Son. 253 
 
 obligation to obedience. There is no reafon, but the 
 moft free good pleafure of the divine will, why this 
 future humiliation was decreed by the adorable Trini- 
 ty, and confequently by the Son himfelf. Yet, fup- 
 pofing this free decree, the human nature affumed by 
 the Logos for this purpoie, could not decline, or draw 
 back from the office affigned to Chrift, and now un- 
 dertaken by the Logos himfelf, without fin and difobe- 
 
 dience.* 3. They do not confi- . . , ... . - , 
 , . ■> . .' r And the obligation to ho- 
 
 der, that the human nature^ of ii nt r , to be diftingiiilh- 
 Chrift was bound by an indifpen- ed from undertaking the 
 fable neceffity, to the holinefs of mediatorial office. 
 the image of God : iince they compare the whole of 
 Ch rill's obedience with the undertaking of fome office, 
 which a fovereign confers on his amlmjfador, or a father 
 on his fin. For as an ambaflador, in the quality of 
 a j abject, and a fon, as fuch, are bound by the law 
 cf nature itfelf, to perform to a fovereign and a fa- 
 ther, an obedience diflincl from that, which ariics 
 from their willingly undertaking this honorary office : fo 
 in like manner the human nature of Chrift was, and 
 irill continues to be, bound to perform obedience to 
 God, in order to maintain this conformity with the 
 holinefs of God; which obligation is diftincl from his 
 undertaking themediatorial office. 4. They falfely place 
 the ejjential difference between the obedi- The obedience of 
 ence of Chtijl and ours in this, that we Chrift and ours not 
 obey under the threatening of eternal effemially differed 
 death ; but Chrift not fo. For that threatening docs 
 not properly belong to obedience, which really ought 
 not to be extorted from us by the fear of puniihment, 
 but to proceed freely from a reverence to the divine 
 command, and a love to holinefs. Our obedience will 
 be no lefs obedience in heaven, when the threatening 
 of eternal death fhall no longer have any place. Acid, 
 that the fame law, which is propofed to us, was tlfo 
 the rule of the life and actions of Chrift, But that 
 law had the fanction of eternal death, which it wis 
 incumbent on Chrift to believe to be juft and right ; 
 
254 The Compact between Book IL 
 
 tending to inform the confcience of God's hatred to 
 fin, and to inflame it likewife with a hatred of fin 
 and unrighteoufnefs. And thus far, after Chrift had 
 humbled himfelf for us, he obeyed the law even un- 
 der the threatening, and acknowledged the fame to 
 be juft ; and that very threatening of the law pro- 
 duced in Chrift afenfe of the wrath of God, when he 
 Chrift could not, with fufFered for us. 5. They abfurdly 
 the confent of the Fa- pretend, that Chrift could, with 
 ther, decline his office. /& Father's confent, decline the of- 
 fice committed to him, or refign it, after he had un- 
 dertaken it: as if one fhould fay, that a fon could 
 Tiave the confent of a virtuous father, to make him 
 a liar and guilty of perjury. For God the Father 
 had promifed, and folemnly confirmed by oath, that 
 he would procure our falvation by the Son. 6. It is 
 Becaufeof many no lefs abfurd, that they perceive no in- 
 abfurdities. convenience flowing from the non-fufcep- 
 tion, or from the refignation of that office, but this one, 
 that, in that cafe, Chrift would not enjoy, or would forfeit 
 the fromifed reward ; fince the very falvation of all the 
 eleel:, and, which is the greateft of all, the whole of the 
 glory of Qod, would thence fall to the ground. I would 
 alfo fain know, what reward Chrift would, according 
 to that hypothefis, have forfeited ; whether the ho- 
 nour of thehypoftatical union, or eternal falvation itfelf, 
 and the communion of the divine love and glory ; or 
 whether that fublime glory, in which he is now emi- 
 nently placed above the reft of the creatures : alio, 
 whether it is not blafphemy to fay, that either the hy- 
 poftatical union is diffolved, or that any nature hypo- 
 ftatically united to the Son of God can have no fhare in 
 eternal falvation ; or, if in a ftate of happinefs, he has 
 not a more excellent name than the reft of the creatures : 
 in like manner, whether the lofs of fo great a happi- 
 nefs can, in an intelligent nature, be without an eter- 
 nal fenfation of the moft bitter anguifh : in fine, whe- 
 ther it is not much better, and more worthy of G O D 
 and his Chrift, to believe, that Chrift could not but 
 undertake the office laid upon him by the Father, and 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the Son. 255 
 
 never withdraw from it, than run headlong into fuch 
 abfurdities. 
 
 XXVIII. We fhall briefly difpatch the fourth thing 
 remaining; namely, the reward The reward to be obtained 
 which the Son was to obtain, in in virtue of this covenant. 
 virtue of this compact, by inquiring, firft, what reward 
 was promifed the Son : and then, what relation his obe~ 
 dience had to this reward. 
 
 XXIX. The reward promifed to the Son, is the high' 
 eft degree of glory * : Father, glorify The reward of the 
 thy Son, that thy Son alfo may glorify thee, human nature. 
 Now, this glory may be confidered diflinctly with re- 
 fpecf to the humanity, to the Deity, and to the whole 
 ptrfon. In the humanity, I obferve thefe three degrees 
 of glory. 1. That, together with the elect, his fel- 
 lows \, and co-heirs J, it is blelTed in the perrect frui- 
 tion of God. 2. lhat it is exalted above all crea- 
 tures, on account of the dignity of the hypoftatical 
 union. 3. That the glory of the Godhead mines forth 
 therein, with a more iliuftrious refulgence, than in 
 the days of the fleih : fo that the man Chrift cannot 
 be feen, but he muft appear to be the glorious Son of 
 God, and his glory be, as the glory cf the only begotten 
 of the Father ||. 
 
 XXX. The Deity of the Son could properly acquire 
 no new increafe of elory, as it could ~ , ~ . , 
 
 ... & . { ' „ . To the Deity there 
 
 not properly be humbled. For as the cou id be none* ac, 
 humiliation of Chrift, with refpect to ceflionofgiorv; but 
 his Godhead, confilled in this, that only a rnoreillu.itn- 
 
 uia'ei the human form of a fervant, ° us £ !l f lay oi u 
 ... -r . . . ' than before. 
 
 which he allumcd, he covered the 
 bi ightnefs of his glory as with a veil : fo the glorifica- 
 tion of the Deity confifts in this, that all the magnifi- 
 cence of the glorious majefty of God beautifully dis- 
 covers itfelf, and becomes more confpicuous. And 
 this is what Chrift prayed for j. And wv, O Father, 
 glorify thou me with thine ownfelf with the glory which 
 I had with thee, before the world was. 
 
 • John xrii i. | Pfcl. x lv. 7. J Ram. viii. 17. [| John i. J4. 
 4 John xvii. 5, 
 
256 The Compact between Book II. 
 
 XXXI. The whole per/on of the Mediator obtains this 
 
 The reward of reward. I. That God hath u;r£/>u\J,w«, o- 
 
 the whole per- ver raifed, highly exalted him, and given 
 *° D * him a name, which is above every name *. 
 
 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and 
 dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this 
 world, but alfo in that which is to come], 2. That the 
 whole church is given him as his peculiar pofleflion {, 
 and he himfelf is given as head over all things to the 
 church ||, and all power is given him in heaven a?id in 
 earth |, that he may govern all things, for the benefit 
 of the church. 3. That, on account of the moft inti- 
 mate union of the church, as his myftical body, with 
 himfelf, he receives all thofe gifts, which on the ac- 
 count of his merit are bellowed on the elect. For 
 the church united to Chrift, the body together with 
 the head, is called Chrift -+.. And thus literally run 
 the words, Pfal. Jxviii. 18. Q"fea HUna r->np*7, Thou 
 haft received gifts in men, as the Septuagint alio renders 
 them, sVa^sc Vo/jLciTOL 'a wfyoTrae. Inftead of which the a- 
 poftle, Eph. iv. 8. not tranflating literally, but giving 
 the fenfe of the words, fays, $w*i Ib^dr* roi<; aVfy^cc, 
 he gave gifts to men. For as Chrift is fuppofed to re- 
 ceive them, when they were given to his members, fo 
 he gives his members what he received of the Father. 
 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and ha- 
 ving received of the Father the promife of the Holy Ghoft, 
 he bath [bed forth this which ye now fee a?id hear «•*. 
 
 XXXII. The obedience of Chrift bears to thefe blejings, 
 Thefcriptureexprefsly not ™ ] Y th « relation of antecedent 
 <fcdares, that Chrift to confequent, but of merit to re- 
 iwerited thefe rewards ward : (o 'that the obedience of 
 for himfelf. chrift is the cau j e and t j Je con dition 
 
 now fulfilled, by virtue of which he has a right to the 
 reward. This feveral exprefs paiTages of fcripture de- 
 clare. Thou loveft righteoufnefs, and hat eft wickednefs =, 
 
 • Phil. ii. 9. f Eph. i. 21. \ P&l- «■ 8. If. l.n. 10. || Eph. i. 
 22. + Match, xxvii. i3. +- 1 Cor. xii. 12. t+ Afts ii. 33. =ffal, 
 
 Xlv.7. 
 
Chap. 3. the Father and the Son. 257- 
 
 (in thefe words the obedience of Chrift is defcribed) 
 O 4 ?^ therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with 
 the~oil of gladnefs above thy fellows, Thefe words 
 contain the reward, intimating the moll joyful en- 
 trance of Chrift into the kingdom of his glorious de- 
 light. The relation of obedience to the reward is fet 
 forth by the word, therefore ■, which denotes the caufe, 
 and not a mere antecedent. In like manner *, \^ 9 
 therefore will I divide him a portion with the great , 
 and he fhall divide the fpoil with the flrong, n~n 
 "\JVH because he hath poured out his foul unto death. 
 Where the relative particles, -U?M n~P, and \^7 f 
 exprefsly indicate that commutative juftice, whereby 
 the reward due bears a reciprocal relation to the obe- 
 dience performed. He became obedient unto death, 
 even the death of the crofs : lib xolI b 0<;c cI-jtov uTt^itycm, 
 wherefore God alfo hath highly exalted him f. Akt/ r^ 
 TfozuuivYK ol'v-u %<ipac vmEfiitri s-a^y, who, for the joy that 
 was fet before him, endured the crofs }. Where there is 
 an exprefs interchange of obedience and reward. 
 
 XXXIII. And the thing fpcaks for itfelf. For as 
 this covenant between the Father and The thing fpeaks 
 the Son is, When thou flmlt make his for itfelf. 
 
 foul fif the foul of the Son fhall devote himfelf ] an 
 offering for fin, he fhall fee his feed, If. liii. 10. upon 
 performing the condition, the Son acquired a right to 
 the reward, and fo has a merit by ccmpacl. Nay, as 
 this obedience is not that of a mere man, but of 
 Chrift God-man, an infinite perfon, it is alfo of an in- 
 finite value, confequently bears the jufteft proportion 
 to the grcateft correfponding glory ; and thus far it is 
 a merit of condignity, as it is called ; fuch as falls to no 
 mere creature. 
 
 XXXIV. The paflages of fcripturc, which reprcfent 
 the humiliation of Chrift, as the ante- The principal ob- 
 cedent to the fubfequcnt glory, are not jeaions brie;: 
 contrary to this doctrine. For every iwcrttl - 
 
 caufe is an antecedent, though every antecedent is not 
 
 * If. Hi'- 12. f Phil ii. 8.9. J H#i>.*ii. 2. 
 
 Vol. I. 1 K k 
 
258 The Compact, &c< Book II* 
 
 a caufe. And the merit of Chrift for himfelf is fo far 
 from being prejudicial to his merit for us, that, on 
 the contrary, they are infeparably conjoined. For if 
 lie merited for himfelf in order to be the head of the 
 elect in glory, and to receive gifts for them, he cer- 
 tainly, at the fame time, merited for the elecl, in or- 
 der to their being glorified, and enriched with gifts, 
 becoming the myftical body of Chrift. Neither by 
 this doctrine is the excellency of the love of Chriit to- 
 wards us diminimed, though in his ftate of humiliation 
 he had likewife an eye to his own exaltation. For he 
 might have been glorious as to himfelf, without going 
 to it by this way of death, and the pains of hell. Be- 
 fides, he looked upon his own glory, as the begin- 
 ning and caufe of ours, and whofe fruit was all to re* 
 dound to us. And it was the higheft pitch of love, 
 that he would not be glorious without us. Nor mould 
 the word xxf'^ rM \ given, which the apofile ufes, Phil. 
 ii. 9. be urged too clofely, as if the rewards there 
 mentioned were of mere grace, freely given to Chrift, 
 without any regard to his obedience, as the caufe of 
 his right or title to them. For Paul there exprefsly 
 aflerts, that they were given to Chrift on account of 
 his obedience. Nor does that term always denote 
 mere grace. Hefychius, that very excellent mafter 
 of Greek, explains it by fyar rdi v.iyx?ic^cL, to do what is 
 acceptable. But thofe things alio are called accept- 
 table, which are due : the Greeks fay, &u% hi^oc^kt^ol 
 fibt&r, to do what is acceptable to the gods. Whence the 
 fame thing, which here, in refpect to Chrift, is called 
 jtftfijjut, is, If. xlix. 4. called -inS^S^ ^ ?e f rice °f ^ IS ^ a ~ 
 hour, the reward of his work, adjudged to him by the 
 jti'ft judgment of God. For my judgment is with the 
 j ' r/rd. and the reward of my work with my God. So that 
 the plain n. caning of this pafTage in Paul is this ; be- 
 came Chrift fubmitted himfelf to the Father by fo 
 free or voluntary an obedience, the Father therefore 
 alio hath done acceptable things in him, by giving 
 him a name above every name. - 
 
Chap. 4: Of the- PERSON, &c, 259 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the Per/on of the Surety. 
 
 HAving, not without fomc degree of care, ex^ 
 plained the nature of the.cove- what is to be known 
 nant between the Father and the Son, of the Surety. 
 it is fit we treat a little more diitinctly of the Surety 
 himfelf, concerning whom thefc are the principal par- 
 ticulars ; and firft, let us confider the person of the Sure- 
 ty, and what isrequifite to conititute fuch : and then 
 that satisfaction, which he undertook to make by 
 his furetifhip ; the truth, necessity, effects, and 
 extent of which we ihall diitinctly deduce from 
 the facred writings. 
 
 II. Thefe four things are required, as necefiiry to 
 the person of a Surety, that he might The require con- 
 be capable to engage for us. 1. That dittoes iq him. 
 he be true man, confiding of a human foul and bo- 
 dy. 2. That he be a righteous and holy man, 
 without any fpot of fin. 3. That he be true and eter- 
 nal God. 4. That he be all this in the unity of plr- 
 son. Of each feverally and in order, 
 
 III. That our Surety ought to be true man, is 
 what Paul declares more than once *. The firft, that he 
 
 T€, it became him, it behoved him, it be true-map, 
 was becoming God, I hat he whofanclifieth, and they zu/jq 
 are fanclifed, be all of one, of one human feed, fa that 
 they might call each other brethren. In all things it 
 behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, in order to 
 be their Goel or Kin I'm an -Redeemer : for verity he took 
 not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the /led 
 of Abraham, [did not take upon him to deliver an- 
 gels, but to deliver the iced of Abraham.] 
 
 IV. This allumption does not feem to me to de- 
 
 * Heb. ii. 10. 1 1. :6. i-. 
 
 K It % 
 
s6o Or the PERSON B^ok II. 
 
 Heb. ii. 1 6. note the aflummg human nature into per- 
 Bxpjainedl. fonal union, but the afTumingof the elect 
 in order to their deliverance. For, i. The caufal 
 conjunction for indicates, that the Apoftle ufes this 
 middle term to prove, what he had faid, ver. 14. 
 about the partaking of flefh and blood, and which, 
 ver. 17. he deduces by the illative particle wherefore. 
 But the middle term muft be diftinguifhed from the 
 conclufion : and fo there is no tautology in the a- 
 poftle's very juft inference. 2. Since the aflumption 
 of the human nature was long before the apoftle wrote 
 thofe things, he would not fpeak of it in the prefent 
 tenfe, as he docs here, but in the preterite, as he did 
 ver. 14. 3. As it would be an uncouth expreflion 
 toYay, The Son of God aflumed or took man, if we 
 fuppofe he only meant, that the Son of God aflumed 
 human nature ; and in like manner this other expref- 
 lion would appear harfh, The Son of God did not 
 aflume angels, to denote that he did not affumc the 
 nature of angels. 4. In the fcriptui e-ftyle f**c/pjg«W 
 Qai lignifies to deliver, by laying hold of one ; thus 
 Matth. xiv. 31. And immediately Jefus ft retched forth > his 
 handy and hrikafien c/.vtv, caught him : and this fignifi- 
 cation is molt appofite to the context. For, in the 
 preceding verf'e, the apoftle had faid, that Chrift de- 
 livered them, who through fear of death wet e all their 
 lifetime fubjeel to bondage, alluding, it feems, to the 
 bondage of Egypt. But God is reprefented to us in 
 icripture, as, with a ftretched-out hand, laying hold 
 on and bringing his people out of Egypt ; In the day 
 that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land 
 of Egyp *. Which the apoftle thus expreHes in Greek, 
 
 ¥.Tthap'c t uivyi r?,t, ^tyjf ctvluYj i£,y.ycx.jiiv o.vt^ ex }rc Aij^Ikj lH 
 
 the day when I took them by the hand^ to lead them cut 
 of the land of Egypt : where we have the f?me woid 
 iTixxfA^an^au And in profane authors, it denotes to 
 claim fomething as one's property, and fay, accord- 
 ing to Virgil, Thefe l are mine. Thus Plato f, *[\ in jjg 
 * Jer. xxxi. 32. ^ xii. dc legibus. 
 
ChapjA. 
 
 of the SURETY. 2S1 
 
 titfnatro< £, xa/ ftiltiie imafalat, " if one is in pofleffion 
 " of any thing, and none claims it as his own." To 
 this anfwers the Hebrew faj. Thefe things make 
 me, with many very learned men, think, that thefc 
 words of the apoftie, whofe genuine fenfe we have 
 been inquiring into, rather contain an argument for 
 the incarnation of Chrift, than aflert the incarnation 
 itlelf. 
 
 V. Moreover, it may be proved by invincible argu- 
 ments, that it was neceflary our jhe Surety ought to 
 Surety mould be man. Let us paufe be man, that he might 
 a little here, and fee, whether we faciify thehwforus. 
 may not poflibly fearch this truth to the bottom. The 
 legal covenant, entered into with the iiril man, is 
 founded on the very nature of God ; at leaft with re- 
 fpecc. to the commands of the covenant, and the threat- 
 enings annexed to them : fo that it would be a contra- 
 diction, if thefe precepts of the law of nature mould 
 not be propofed to man, or if man, after the violation 
 of them, mould be faved without a fa tisf action ; 
 which I now prefuppofe, as having proved it before, 
 and fhall further confirm it in theiequel. I therefore 
 proceed : This fatisfaction can be nothing elle, but the 
 performing the fame precepts, and the undergoing the 
 fame penalty, with which God had threatened thefia- 
 ner. Bccaufc from our hypothecs it appears, that it 
 is unworthy of God to grant life to man, but on con- 
 dition of his obeying thofe precepts ; nor poflible for 
 the truth and juflice of God to be fatislied, unlefs the 
 punifhment, which the finner deferved, mould be in- 
 iiicted. I add, No creature but man can perform thofe 
 precepts, which were given to man. This appears, 1. 
 Bccaufc the law, which is fuitable to the nature of 
 man, requires, that he love God with all his foul, and 
 ferve him with his whole body ; feeing both are God's. 
 None can do this but he who confifts of foul and body, 
 that is, man. 2. The fame law requires the love of 
 our neighbour ; now, none is our neighbour but man, 
 who is oi "the lame blood with us. r lu thispisrpoie is 
 
262 Of the PERSON Book II. 
 
 that emphatical faying of God to Tfrael, Hide not thy- 
 felf from thine own f/ejh *. And thus our Surety ought 
 to cherifh us, as one does his own fleih ; and confe- 
 quently we ought to be of his flefb and of his bones f . 
 3. It requires alfo, that we lay down our lives for our 
 brethren, which, we haveftxewn above, was eminent- 
 ly contained in the royal ksa& of love. None but man 
 again can do this. For who elfe is our brother \\ 
 or. who befides could lay down his life for us ? No o- 
 ther creature but man could undergo the fame fuffer* 
 ings, as hunger, thirft, wearinefs, death. It became 
 God to threaten finning man with thefe things ; that 
 even the body, which was the inftrument of fin, might 
 alfo undergo its fliare of the punifhment. .And after 
 the threatening, the truth of God could not but inflict 
 thefe things, either on the fmner, or the Surety. The 
 dignity of the fufFerer might indeed fuflkiently com- 
 penfate for the duration of the punifhment. But the 
 truth of God admits of no commutation of the fpecies 
 of punifhment. Wherefore our Surety was partaker of 
 flefJo and bicod, that, through death, he might deflroy him 
 that had the power cf death |j. All thefe tilings put to- 
 gether, inconteitably prove, that our Surety ought to 
 be man, that he might fatisfy the law for us. 
 
 VI. This is what the apoftle means, when he joins 
 The fame truth (hewn thefe two together by an infeparable 
 from Gal. iv. 4. connection, made of a woman, and 
 made under the law\. for he intimates, that the prin- 
 cipal and immediate fcope and end of Chrift's incarna- 
 tion was, that, in the human nature, he might be fub- 
 jecfc to the law, to which it is under obligation : and 
 fo that God, according to the fame right, might re- 
 new with him the fame covenant, which he had before 
 entered into with the firft man ; which he could not 
 have done with any other nature whatever, without a 
 contradiction. 
 
 VII. There is this further confideration : Our Sure- 
 
 * If. Iviii. 7. t Eph. v. 3c. X Heb. ii. \ i. 
 
 (j Heb. ii. 14.. + Gal.iv. 4. 
 
Chap. 4. of the SURETY. 263 
 
 ty ought to have fuch a nature, in order to The law of 
 our being united to him in one body. For marriage re- 
 it is neceffary, that the fatisfaction of one 4 ulres thic - 
 be as it were the fatisf action of all, and the Spirit who 
 fits for a holy and a happy life, mould flow from him, 
 as the head, to us as his members ; and fo that he be- 
 come the Saviour of the body *. The fcripture frequent- 
 ly calls this myftical union a marriage. Now, it is the 
 inviolable law of marriage, that the perfons married 
 be of the fame nature : Thefe Hvo jhall be one flejh |. In. 
 which words Paul hath taught us, that the myltery 
 of the fpiritual marriage of the church with Chrift lies 
 concealed \. , 
 
 VIII. We obferved, that the fecorid condition requi- ^\ 
 red in the Surety was, that he be a The Surety ought to 
 
 RIGHTEOUS and HOLY MAN ; in all be a holy man. 
 things like unto hisbrethren, yet without Jin ||. This ho- 
 linels confuted in this, that, from the firft moment of 
 his conception, he mould be free from any guilt and 
 {tain of fin of his own ; and on the contrary, be fur- 
 nifhed with the original rectitude of the image of God : 
 that, moreover, through the whole courfe of his life, 
 he fhould keep himfelf from all fin, and perfectly ftfl- 
 fil all righteoufnefs : and in fine, that he fhould con- 
 ftantly perfevere in that purity to the end, without 
 yielding to any temptation. 
 
 IX. And this alfo is clear from what has been alrea- 
 dy faid. For feeing our Surety ought to proved by fc- 
 fave tfs, according to the firft treaty of the veral reafoot' 
 co^fnant, whereby perfect: holinefs was required of 
 man, it alfo behoved him to be perfectly holy. And 
 as the gate of heaven was fhut by fin, it could not be 
 opened again but by holinefs. This theapoftle urges, 
 For as by one man 7 difobedience many were made /inner J, 
 
 Jo by the obedience of one Jhall many be made righteous \. 
 Now, that obedience excludes all lin. And how, pray, 
 could a /inner fatisfy for others, who cannot fatisfy 
 (or himfelf, when by one fin he forfeits his own foul i 
 
 •Eph. v. 23. f Gen. ii. 24. J Eph. v. 31. 32. jj Ilcb. iv. 1 5. 
 4 Rom. v. 19. 
 
264 Of the PERSON BookIL 
 
 For who is this (from among finful men) that can en- 
 gage his heart to approach unto me f faith the Lord *. Or 
 who can be our Prieft, familiarly to aproach for us to 
 God, and offer an acceptable facrifice and prevalent in- 
 terceflion to him, but one who is himfelf pure from e- 
 very fin ? Such a high priejl became us, who is holy, harm- 
 lefs, undefled, feparate from [inner s |. He then can of- 
 fer hirnfelf, as a lamb without hlemifh and without fpot {, 
 whofe offering may be to God for a fweet-fmelling fa- 
 vour || . For none other, who cannot offer himfelf to 
 God without fpot, can purge the conference from 
 dead works {. This was formerly fignified by the le- 
 gal purity of the high prieft, without which it was fuch 
 a crime for any to intermeddle in holy things, that he 
 was to be punifhed by death ; and by the purity of the 
 beads, which were to be without any blemifli. And 
 feeing it is well known, that God heareth not finners -h i 
 whofe prayers are an abomination to him -4- ; who elfe can 
 be the general Intcrcefforand Advocate of all with the 
 Father, but he who is eminently righteous 1-+ ? In line, 
 how could he, who is himfelf impure, fanittfy the 
 church, and pre Cent it to himfelf a glorious church, not ha* 
 ving fpot or wrinkle, or any fuch thing, but that it jhould 
 he holy and without blemifh = ? There cannot be more in 
 the effect, than there is in the caufe. Since all theie 
 things ought to be done by the Surety, it appears ne- 
 ceffary, that he be a holy man. 
 
 X. But here the adorable wifdom of our God mines 
 The Surety ought not only £o \ th : <?ur Surety ought not 
 to be man, but alio the Son only to be man, but alio taken 
 of man, that he might be from among men, the Son of 
 our near kinfman. ma7lt f ov ^ fog human nature 
 
 was created out of nothing, or out of the earth, he 
 would certainly be true man, yet not our kinfman, 
 not our brother. In order to this therefore, it became 
 him, like other children, to be a partaker of flefl; and 
 
 * Jer. xxx. 21. f Heb. vii. 25. % ' P et - »• ! 9- II "P n - v - z - 
 \ Heb. ix. 14. -♦• John ix. 31. 4- ?rov. xxviii. 9. ♦-* 1 John ii. 1 r 
 — Ej>h. v. 26. 27. 
 
Chap. 4. of the SUREtt 265 
 
 blood*, and to be born of a woman]. But it feemed 
 inconfiftent with the unfpotted holiaefs of the Surety, 
 that he mould be defcended of the pofterity of Adam, 
 who are all infected with hereditary pollution from 
 him : for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean J ? 
 Here let us adore the unfearchable wifdom of God, 
 He would have a Surety to be born of And the fan of * 
 a woman, but of her as a virgin, virgin, in order to 
 For this, if nothing elfe was intend- be without fin. 
 ed, was at leaft an evidence of thefe two things : 
 
 1. That the Surety was not from Adam's covenant, as 
 not being born according to the law of nature, and 
 confequently not under the imputation of Adam's (in. 
 
 2. Nay, that he could not be fo much as conlidered 
 as exfiting in Adam, when Adam finned. Seeing he 
 was not born in virtue of that word, whereby God 
 blefTed marriage before the fail, Increafe and multiply • 
 but in virtue of the promife concerning the feed of the 
 woman, which followed on the fail. And thus he was 
 created a new Adam, in oppofition to the firftj For 
 the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, P^pj 
 TU 311DH a wo?nan (hall compafs a man j|. We are, it 
 feems, to take this in the utmoil fignifica- Jer. xxxi. 22. 
 tion the words can admit of. That a wo- explained. 
 man, who is only fuch, and hath nothing of a woman 
 but the fex, fhould compafs, not by embrace, but by 
 conception. (For fuch a compafling is meant, as is 
 the work of God alone, and not the voluntary opera- 
 tion of man.) A male ; denoting the more excellent 
 fex: as Rev. xii. 5. Aid Jhe brought forth a mile child. 
 This then is a new thing, and a creation altogether di- 
 vine. On tjiis depend the blefling of the eirth, and 
 the fatiating the weary foul, which are promifed in the 
 following verfes. 
 
 XI. It may here be inquired, Whether the nativ : ty fro-n 3 
 whether the miraculous nati- vi g nd->esaf .tfelfiecur-free- 
 vity from a virgin does, of It- dom from fin.orwr.Hieri: has 
 felf, Secure to the human na- on! >' the n:u " ****** 
 
 • H b. ,i. ij. f Qal. i Y . 4. t ] ^ -^- 4- It Jer. xxxi, 22. 
 
 Vol. I. fL 1 
 
266 Of the PERSON BodkIL 
 
 ture of Chrift immunity from fin, and this ought to 
 be fetched from the nature of the thing ; or whether, 
 indeed, it has only a refpecT: to a fymbol appointed by 
 God ? 1 fhall here prefent the reader, for his more ac- 
 curate meditation, with the words of two great men, 
 who conceive differently of this matter. There is a 
 learned man who fpeaks thus : " That miraculous na- 
 " tivity from the virgin, really bears no other rela- 
 " tion to the holinefs of the conception and nativity of 
 " Chrift, but that of a fymbol appointed by God, where- 
 <c by he was feparated from finners : nor could that 
 " miracle of itfelf alone, namely, the impregnation of 
 " the virgin's womb, fecure in the leaft an exemption 
 " to the fleih of Chrift from the inheritance of fin : 
 *'• for the origin of fin is not derived from the male fex 
 e< alone, or male feed ; nor did the apoftle, Rom. v. 
 " fo underftand one man Adam, as to exclude Eve : 
 " which is here the leading error of fome *«" The o- 
 ther of thefe learned men reafons in this manner : " He 
 " could be born of the virgin without any pollution : 
 " becaufe what is in the body of a finner, as it is God's 
 " creature, is no otherwife under curfe and pollution, 
 " but in fo far as it is a part of the finner, when he is 
 ," to be puniihed, or is the inftrument of fin, or the 
 p means of the Ordinary propagation of nature, as 
 " that iomething fliould be born refembling what ge- 
 " nerates. There might therefore be fomething in the 
 " virgin's body, that was not under a curfe ; as the 
 " fweats, and other evacuations from the human bo- 
 u dy, arc not under curfe or guilt, nor a means of 
 " transferring guilt ; but are parts of matter created 
 Si by God, and are no longer any part of man f ." 
 Perhaps, the fame learned perfon has elfewhere exprefT- 
 ed himfelf more clearly, as follows : " He who was 
 " born, not of father and mother, but of a virgin, 
 " was not under guilt and condemnation. For he on- 
 " ly received from his mother, what was prepared by 
 
 • CJoppenbnrg. exercic. de fan£Hficata origine cajnis Cbrifti. 
 f. Cocccii iuin. thcolog.c. 58. J 1. 
 
Chap. 4. f t h e S U R E T Y. 267 
 
 " God ; that thence the Son of God might take to 
 " himfelf the materials for building a temple. For 
 " though what belongs to the finner is, on account of 
 " the finner, to whom it belongs, under the fame con- 
 " demnation with the finner himfelf; yet that which 
 " is fo contained in the fubftance'of the finner, as that 
 u it cannot be a part of his fubftance, but prepared by 
 " God for an extraordinary generation, is not under 
 " condemnation folely, becaufe the Redeemer and rc- 
 " deemed partake of flefh in common. And there- 
 " fore it is rightly faid to be fanclifed, that is, prefer* 
 * vedfrom the common condemnation of the Jons of Adam. 
 " For the word fanclified, cannot in that cafe iignify 
 M purified, or delivered from impurity ; as it ilgnifies, 
 " when applied to the other fons of Adam V Which 
 of thefe two opinions is the more fimple and more folio, 
 we leave to the judgment of the prudent reader to de- 
 termine. The words of both feemed however to me 
 worthy of being inferted here. 
 
 XII. Thirdly, it is further required in our Surety, 
 
 that he be TRUE AND ETERNAL God. I The Suretyough: 
 will help thee, faith the Lord, "] L W1. 10 be true Go - • 
 ^ttlttJ 1 t0fp> and thy redeemer, the holy one of ' ffrael-f. I, 
 even I am Lord, and there is no Saviour befides me }. 
 Salvation is not fuch a work, that it can be in truth 
 faid, The Lord hath not done all this ||. It is peculiar to 
 the true Saviour to fay of himfelf, what lfaiah pro- 
 phefied |, ^HP P1U V-yi PipW TDK ^7rtlT3 1*< Surely in 
 the Lord (he faid to me, or concerning me, namely, the 
 Father, who beareth witnefs of Chrifl, John viii. 18.) 
 are righteoufnefs and ftrength ; even to him Jhall men 
 come. And the reafons are evident. 
 
 XIII. None but God can reftore us to true liberty^ 
 If we conceive, that any creature None but God can rcco- 
 could redeem a.nd deliver us, we ver us to true liberty. 
 fhould become the peculiar property of that creature. 
 For he who fets us free, makes a purchaie of us tor 
 
 * Cap. 34. 12. t If. xli. 15. \ If. xliii. 11. 
 
 J| Dcut. xxxii. 27. ^ Chap xlv. 24. 
 
 L 1 2 
 
268 Of th£ PERSON Book II, 
 
 his property and pofleflion *. But it is a manifeft contra- 
 diction, to be freed and to be free, and yet at the fame 
 time to be the property and fervant of any creature. 
 True liberty cbnfifts in fuhjection to Cfod alone ; fo that 
 all things are ours, and we belong to God, and Chrift 
 himfelf f» Adam, before the fall, was under no do* 
 minion but that of God. If, by our deliverance from 
 the fall, we were put under the dominion of any crea- 
 ture, that would not be a deliverance, but a change 
 pf fervitude. Therefore our Lord fays, If the Son 
 Jhall make you free, ye Jhall be free indeed J. 
 
 XIV. None too but God can give us eternal life ; 
 Orgiveeter- which confifts in the molt intimate union 
 pal life. with God ; nay, in having God for our inhe- 
 ritance, pofleflion, and treafure, and even our -portion 
 for ever ||. But what creature can poflibly beftow God 
 Upon any ? None but God himfelf can give God. 
 Hence thefe two are joined, the true God and eternal 
 life[. 
 
 XV» None but God can give us &<r/a«, power or tight w^j 
 Or make us to become the fons of God *- ; which how- 
 fonsof God. ever belongs to the office of Surety. For 
 who but God will give us the Spirit, by whom we 
 become the Sjons of God by regeneration ; fp that of 
 him the whole voltpicc, family in heaven and earth, may 
 be named -f ? "Who but God will give us thefe great 
 and precious promifes, by which we might be partakers of 
 the divine nature *-* f Who elfe but God himfelf, who, 
 alone is Lord of heaven, will bequeath to us by teftai 
 rnent the heavenly inheritance ? And who but God 
 Will give us that Spirit, who is fo the Spirit of the Fa- 
 ther, as to be alto the Spirit of the Son, by whom we 
 may cry Abba, Father => and who beareth witnefs with 
 our fpirit concerning the future inheritance ** ? 
 
 XVI. In fine, for man to glory in any one as his Sa- 
 
 * i Cor. vi. 19. 20. f 1 Cor. iii. 22. 23. \ John viii. 36. 
 
 || Pfal. l.xxiii. 26. 4 1 John v. iti •*- John i. 12. 
 
 .h- Eph. iii. 15. +4 2 Tet. i. 4. ~Gal.iv.6. 
 /!• Rem viii. 16. 17. . 
 
Chap. 4. Of the SURETY. 269 
 
 viour, and give him the ho- Or claim the honour of glory- 
 Hour of the new creation, or in g in him as our Saviour. 
 
 refign himfelf to his pleafure, and become his proper- 
 ty, and fay to him, Thou art Lord of my foul ; is an 
 honour to which no mere creature can have the lead 
 claim. In Jehovah fball all the feed of Ifrael be jufti- 
 fed, and fh all glory *. My fpirit hath rejoiced in God 
 my Saviour, Luke i. 47. Whom we acknowledge to 
 be our Saviour, we muft likewife acknowledge to 
 be our Judge, our Lawgiver, and our King f . A ho- 
 ly foul can only thus rejoice in God ; The Lord reign- 
 eth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of ifles be 
 glad \. 
 
 XVII. It appears then, that none, but he who is 
 
 true God, could poffibly be Whether neceffarily the Son 
 Surety; but whether was it ab- mould become Surety, not 
 folucely neceffary, that he ea % determined. 
 fhould be the Son of God, and the fecond perfon in 
 the Trinity ? Here we cannot commend the rafhnefs 
 .of the ichoolmen, who too boldly meafure the things of* 
 God by the ftandard of their own underftanding. No 
 better reafon can be afligned for the Son's undertaking 
 the furetifhip, than the holy good-pleafure of the ado- 
 rable Trinity. But when it is revealed to us, it is our 
 duty to obferve and proclaim the wifdom and goodnefs 
 pf God in this confutation. 
 
 XVIII. Did not God moll wifely order, that he who 
 created man, mould reitore, j n t h is coun f,i f the Tri- 
 and as it were create him nfcy it adifplay of the high- 
 anew? and that he, who is eft wifdom and goodnefs. 
 the perfonal Word of God, which called light out of 
 darkneis, and by which all things were made ||, ihould 
 be the fublijb§r of the word of t a\ whereby 
 God minei in the hearts of the t ad new crea- 
 tures, not yet exifting, 1 5 d It d, and by 
 that call brought, as it v into lung? Further, 
 as the fecond perfon alone he Son, k nd our falva- 
 tion confifts in adoption, was it not proper, that the 
 Son of God ihould become the Son of. man, that, ha- 
 
 ♦ If. xlv. 25. 1 If. rail). 22. I PfcL xcvii. 1. fl John i. 3. 
 
270 Of the PERSON Book II. 
 
 ving obtained a right of adoption by him, we might 
 be made his brethren and co-heirs ? Add to this, that 
 the Son alone is called the image of the Father *, 
 and by way of eminence, the beloved of the Fa* 
 ther f. Seeing man therefore had by fin fliamefully de- 
 faced the image of God, which he received in the firft 
 creation ; and thereby moft juftly expofed himfelf to 
 the hatred of God ; was it not worthy of God to re- 
 ftore that image by his own effential image, in the hu- 
 man nature he had affumed ; in order, by that means, 
 to open a way for our return to the favour and love of 
 the Father ? In fine, could the philanthropy and love of 
 the Father be more illuftrioufiy difplayed to us, than 
 in giving his only begotten Son to us and for us, that 
 in Kim we might behold the Father's glory ? The Lord 
 Jefus himfelf leads us to this J. 
 
 XIX. The laft condition requifite in the Surety is, 
 The Surety ought that he mould be God-man ; God and 
 to be God-man. man, at the fame time, in unity of perfon : 
 one Mediator between God and men ||. For as it was ne- 
 ceflary, he mould be man, and alfo God, and one Sure- 
 ty ; it was neceffary, he mould be both thefe in uni- 
 ty of perfon ; God manifefled in the flefk \ ; The word 
 made flejh *- ; Of the feed of David acor ding to the flefb, 
 in fuch a manner, as at the fame time to be the Son of 
 
 , a God with power -+. Which may be further made ap- 
 pear in this manner, 
 
 XX. Had he been God only, he could neither have 
 That his fatisfaftion might been fubjecr., nor have obeyed, 
 be of infinite value. nor f u ffered : if mere man, his 
 obedience, fubje&ion, and fufFering, would not have 
 been of fufficient value for the redemption of the e- 
 lect. Nay, a mere creature is fo bound to fulfil all 
 righteoufnefs for itfelf, that its righteoufnefs cannot 
 be imputed and imparted to others : and if a man, 
 perfectly indeed holy, but yet a mere man, fhould 
 according to the law of love, offer himfelf to death 
 
 * 
 
 Col. i. 15. Heb. i. 3. + Matth. iii. 17. Col. i. 13. 
 
 "J John iii. 16. f| 1 Tim, ii. 5. + I Tim. iii. 16, +- John i. 1 4. 
 rt Rom. j. 3, 4. 
 
Chap. 4- of the SURET Y,i 271 
 
 for his brother, he himfelf would doubtlefs obtain a 
 reward by his righteoufnefs ; but could merit for a 
 guilty perfon either nothing, or, if any thing, exemp- 
 tion from punifhment at raoft. And therefore it be- 
 hoved our Surety to be man, that he might be capable 
 to fubmit, obey, and fuffer ; and at the fame time 
 God, that the fubjection, obedience, and fuffering of 
 this perfon God-man, might, on account of his infi- 
 nite dignity, be imputed to others, and be fufficient 
 for faving all, to whom it is imputed. 
 
 XXL Moreover, a mere creature could not bear the 
 
 load of. divine wrath, fo as That he might bear and remove 
 
 to remove it, and rife again, the load of the wrath of God - 
 when he had done. Who knoweth the power of thine 
 anger ; even according to thy fear, fo is thy wrath * ; fee 
 Nah. i. 6. It was therefore neceffary for our Surety 
 to be more than man, that, by the infinite power of 
 his Godhead, he might fupport the afiumed human 
 nature, and fo be able to bear the fiercenefs of divine 
 wrath, and conquer every kind of death. 
 
 XXII. I ihall not conceal what is objected to this 
 argument ; namely, that God could which the Surety 
 have fo fupported the human nature, ought to do by 
 though not perfonally united to himfelf, his own P ower - 
 by his divine power, as to have rendered it capable to 
 endure and conquer all manner of forrows. I for 
 my part dare not refufe this. But yet that would 
 not be fnflicient in the prefent cafe. Becaufe, by 
 that hypotuefis, it would be God himfelf, by the 
 Surety, who. would have vanquifhed his enemies. But 
 it is nee cfTary, that our Surety mould do this by his 
 own power, that his own arm Jhould bring fa hat ion unto 
 him f ; and therefore be the mighty one cf Jacob J, the 
 mighty God ||, himfelf- ftronger than the ftrong man | ; 
 ha/mg life in himfelf ■*-+, and having power to take his life 
 again =. To wiiich is required the exceeding greatnefs 
 
 # Pftl. xc. 11. f If. Ixiii. v X If. IX. 16. || If. ix. 6. 
 
 ! Luke. xi. 21, 22. -^ John v. 26. = John x, i&. 
 
272 Of the PERSON, &c. Book II. 
 
 of his power *, and fo fhould be declared to be the Son 
 of God with power t» 
 
 XXIII. Thefe are the tremendous myfteries of our 
 Thefe myfteries difco- religion, which were kept fecret fince 
 vcr the divinity of the the world began, but are now made 
 Chriftian religion. manifefl, and, by the fcriptures of 
 the prophets, according to the commandment of the ever- 
 lajling God, made known to all nations for the obedience of 
 faith {. From hence the divinity of the Chriftian re- 
 ligion appears with evidence. What penetration of 
 men or angels was capable of deviling things fo my- 
 fterious, fo iublime, and fo far furpafling the capacity 
 pf all created beings ? How adorable do the wifdom, 
 juilice, holinefs, truth, goodnefs, and philanthropy 
 of God, difplay themfelves in contriving, giving, and 
 perfecting this mean of our falvation ? How calmly 
 does confcience, overwhelmed with the burden of its 
 fins, acquiefce in fuch a Surety and in fuch a fureti- 
 ihip ; here at length obferving a method of our recon- 
 ciliation, both worthy of God, and fafe for man ? 
 Who, on contemplating thefe things in the light of 
 the Spirit, would not break out into the praifes of the 
 moft holy, the moft righteous, the moil true, the 
 moil gracious, and the moil high God ? O ! the depth 
 of the wifdom and knowledge of God ! O the myile- 
 An addrefs ries which angels defire to look into ! Glory to 
 to God. the Father who raifed up, accepted, and 
 gave us fuch a Surety ! Glory to the Son, who cloth- 
 ing himfelf in human fleih, fo willingly, fo patiently, 
 and fo conftantly, performed fuch an engagement 
 for us. Glory to the Holy Spirit, the revealer, the 
 witnefs, and the earneft, of fo great happinefs for us. 
 smdto All hail! O! Chriiljefus, true and eternal God, 
 Jefus. and true and holy man, both in one, who re- 
 taineil the properties of both natures in the unity of 
 thy perfon. Thee we acknowledge, thee we worfhip, 
 to thee we betake ourfelves, at thy feet we fall down, 
 from thy hand alone we look for falvation. Thou 
 
 • Eph. i. 19. 20. f Rom. i. 4. % Rom. xvi. 25. 26. 
 
Chap. 5. Of the Suretiship, &c. 273 
 
 art the only Saviour. We defire to be thy peculiar 
 property, we are fo by thy grace, and mall remain 
 Mich for ever. Let the whole world of thine elect, 
 with us, know, acknowledge, and adore thee, and thus 
 at length be faved by thee. This is the fum of our 
 faith, of our hope, and of all our wifhes. Amen. 
 
 CHAP. V; 
 
 Of the Suretifiip and Satisfaction of Chriji. 
 
 HAVING thus fpoken of the per/on Chrift called our 
 
 of the Surety, fo far as the nature Surety, not for 
 
 of our defign requires, now is the time 5 n S a S ,n S t0 ■" 
 
 and place, to treat a little more accurate- Gody but f or el> . 
 
 lyof THE SATISFACTION itfelf, which by gaging to God 
 
 his furetifhip he undertook to give. For tor us. 
 lie is called the Surety of the covenant or teflament * ; 
 rot only, nor principally, becaufe he engaged to us 
 in the name of God, to fulfil the promifes contained 
 in that teflament, if we obeyed his commands, as 
 Curcellaeus, treading in the footfleps of his mafter So- 
 cinus, artfully pretends ; but becaufe he engaged to 
 God for us, to perform ail thofe conditions in our Head, 
 upon which we were to receive the teftamentary in- 
 heritance. Hezekiah defired the faving fruit of this 
 fureti'fhiP) when he prayed, If. xxxviii. 14. / am cp- 
 preffedy \3D~iy, undertake for me. And God himfelf, 
 when he gives to his Son all the glory of this fureti- 
 fhip, expreiTes himfelf thus f : For who is this that J >£ 
 engaged his heart to approach unto me f faith the Lord. 
 That is, What mortal, nuy, what creature dares en- 
 gage, to perform all thofe things, which are incum- 
 bent on the prieft, who fhall have a right to approach 
 to me for himfelf and his people? Our Surely there- 
 # fore thus engaged to God for us. To what purpoie 
 *is*fuch a furety, who Ihould only engage Xa-us in the** 
 
 * Hcb. vii. 22. # J", xxx. 2f. 
 
 Vol.T. I M m 
 
^74 ° F the Suretyship and Book II. 
 
 name of God ? If Chrift be a mere man, fuch as they 
 reprefenthim, could his engagement give us a greater 
 ailurar.ce of the truth of the divine promifes, than if 
 we heard them immediately from the mouth of God 
 •himfelf ? Was it not previoufly necefiary, that God, 
 who cannot lie, mould firft of all engage to us, that 
 the man Chrift would be true in all his fayings, be- 
 fore we could with fure confidence rely upon them ? 
 Is it not much better and more fafe, to rely upon the 
 oath of the infallible God, by which he has abundant- 
 ly confirmed to the heirs of promife, the immutability of 
 his counfel *, than on the declaration of a mere man, 
 let him be ever fotrue and faithful? And what pecu- 
 liar excellency would Chrift have had above others in 
 this cafe, to be dignified with the honour of being 
 the alone Surety, had he only, by the publication of & 
 faving doctrine , which he confirmed by his martyrdom, 
 allured us of the certainty of the promifes of grace : 
 feeing the other prophets and apoftles of Chrift did the 
 very fame, not fcrupling to undergo the moft cruel 
 deaths, in order to feal with their blood the truth of 
 God's promifes, which they had declared? What can 
 vi'ify Chrift, or make void his furetifhip, if this does not ? 
 II. Chrift therefore is called our Surety, becaufe he 
 
 The fatisfadlion ENGAGED TO GoD TO MAKE SATISFAC- 
 
 of chrirt.what. tion for us. Which fatisfaction a<nin 
 is not to be underftood in the Socinian fenfe, as if it 
 only confifted in this; that Chrift moft perfectly ful- 
 filled the iuifi of God, and fully executed every thing 
 God enjoined him, on account of our falvation, and 
 fo in the fulleft manner fatisfied God, and that for us, 
 that is, on our account ^ for our higheft and eternal 
 good : as Crellius, when making the greateft concef- 
 iions, would fain put us off with thefe fair words. 
 But it conlifts in this, that Chrift, in our room and 
 fteid, did, both by doing and fuffering, fatisfy divine 
 'jUjlice, both the legiflatory^ the retributive ', and ' vindictive y 
 in the moft perfect manner fulfilling all the righteouf- 
 iicib uf the law, which the law otherwife required of 
 * Htb. vi. j 7. 
 
Chap. j*. Satisfaction of CHRIST. 27^ 
 
 us, in order to immunity from punifhment, and to 
 our having a right to eternal life. II Chrift did this, 
 as we are immediately to fhew he did, nothing hin- 
 ders, why we may not affirm, that he fatisfkd for us 
 in the fulleft fenfe of the word. For to what purpofe 
 is it fupcrcilioufly to reject a term fo commodious, 
 becaufe not to be met with on this fubject in (cap- 
 ture, if we can prove the thing fignified by it? 
 
 III. We find his engaging to make this fatisfaction, 
 Pfal. xl. 6. 7. 3. expreffed by Chrift to pfoi. x l. 6. 7. 8. 
 God in thefe words : Sacrifice and cffer- explained. 
 in^ thou didft not defire ; mine ears haft thou opened i 
 burnt-offering and /in-offering haft thou not required. 
 Then /aid /, Lo I I come : in the volume 0/ thy btok it is 
 written 0/ me : I delight to do thy will, my God : yen, 
 thy law is within my bowels [or heart. ~] Where ob- 
 ferve, 1. The compact between the Lord Chrift and 
 the Father, by virtue of which Chrift calls the Father 
 his God. 2. 1 hat Chrift freely, and of his own accord, 
 entered into this compact with the Father ; fince he 
 compares himfelf to afervant, whofe cars were bored, 
 in order that he might voluntarily ferve his beloved 
 Lord. 3. That, by virtue of this compact, Chrilt 
 prefented himfelf to do the acceptable 1^ will of his 
 God. 4. That that will was expreffed by a law, which 
 Chrift has within his bowels, which he loves from his 
 foul, and is to keep with all his heart. 5., That that 
 law requires, not only perfect righteoufneii, in order 
 to obtain a right to eternal life, but alfo the bearing of 
 the punifhment due to the iinner. Becaufe all this 
 fignified by the faciiiices, gifts, burnt- offerings, and iin« 
 offerings of the law. For when the (inner offered to 
 God beafts or corn, which were given to himfelf for 
 food, and was careful to have them contained by 
 as it were in his own room, he thereby confeffed, that, 
 on account of his fms, hedeferved the moft dreadful 
 deftrucHon, and even the eternal flames of bell. 6. 
 That thefe external ceremonies of iacriiiccs could ne- 
 ver, without a refpeel to the tli aificd, plcaje 
 
 M m 2 
 
2j6 0? THE SURETISHIP AND Book II. 
 
 God, nor purge the confcience from dead works : there- 
 fore Chrift offered himfelf, in order to accompliih that 
 will of God, by which we are fanctified *, both by ful- 
 filling all the righteoufnefs prefcribed by the law, and 
 by undergoing the guilt of our fins, that he might 
 atone for them as an expiatory facrifice. All thefe 
 things are contained in the furetifhip of Chrift defcrif 
 bed by David. 
 
 IV. Chrift could, without any injury, undertake 
 Chrift, without any injury, fuch a furetifliip ; i. Becaufe he 
 cculd undertake this. wa s the Lord of his own life, 
 which, on account of his power over it, he could en- 
 gage to lay down for others ; / have power to lay it 
 down f . 2 . Becaufe he was able to perform what he 
 undertook, by enduring condign punifhment, by ful- 
 filling all righteoufnefs, and, in both, performing an 
 obedience of fuch value, becaufe he is God-man in 
 one perfon, as to be more than equivalent to the obe-r 
 dience of all the elect. 3. Becaufe, by that means, 
 he gave an inftance of an extraordinary and incom- 
 prehenfible degree of love, both to the glory of God, 
 and the falvation of men. 4. Nor has his human na- 
 ture any reafon to complain, becaufe a creature could 
 have no greater glory, than to be hypoftatically uni- 
 ted with a divine perfon, and be fubfervient to him for 
 accomplishing the greateft work, which the whole 
 choir of elect angels will, with aftonifhment, celebrate 
 through eternity ; efpecially, feeing it was affured, 
 that after its fufferings, which were indeed the great- 
 eft that could be, yet of a fhort duration, that which 
 was made a little lower than the angels, mould obtain a 
 name above every name. 
 
 V. It was alfo worthy of God the Father, both to 
 To procure and accept procure and accept of this fureti- 
 of which, was beco- ihip of his Son ; becaufe, in the ex- 
 m ng God. curion of it, there is a manifefta- 
 tion of the truth of God, exactly fulfilling every 
 thing he had promifed in his law to juftice, and had 
 
 * H.eb. x. 10 , I John x. 18. 
 
Chap. 5. Satisfaction of CHRIST. 277 
 
 threatened againft fin ; and of the gcodnefs of God, 
 reconciling to himfelf finful and wretched man, on 
 giving and admitting a proper Mediator ; and of the 
 juftice of God, not dealing the guilty, without a fuf- 
 ficient fatisfaction ; nay, accepting a far more excel- 
 lent fatisfaction, than could ever be given by man 
 himfelf, becaufe of the more excellent obedience of 
 Chrift, and his more meritorious fufferings * ; and of 
 the bolinefs of God, not admitting man unto a blefled 
 communion with himfelf, unlefs juftified by the blood, 
 and fanctified by the Spirit of Chrift ; in fine, of the 
 all-fufficiency of God, who, as what feemed almoft a 
 thing incredible, is, by this means, become, without 
 any diminution to any of his perfections, the God 
 and falvation of the finner. Hence it is, that the 
 Lord Jeius, in the execution of his undertaking, pro- 
 fefles, he manifefted the name, that is, the perfections 
 of God f, particularly tliofe which we have juft now 
 mentioned. / have not hid thy righteousness within 
 my heart ; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy 
 salvalion : / have not concealed thy loving-kindness 
 and thy truth from the great congregation {. Since then 
 nothing can be thought more worthy of God, than 
 the manifesting, in the moil illuftrious manner, the 
 glory of the divine perfections, and thefe perfections 
 ihine forth no where with greater luftre, than in the 
 fatisfaction of Chrift, it was altogether worthy of 
 God to procure and admit his undertaking luch a fa- 
 tisfaction. 
 
 VI. Nor, by the admiflion of fuch fui etiihip, is there 
 any abrogation of, or derogation to, , ■ . 
 
 . J ,. . n , ... o ,. ' In it no abrogation 
 
 the divine law; as little any contradic- <*, nor derogation 
 ban of, or fubftitution of another ; to the divine law, 
 but only a favourable construction put bur a favourable 
 upon it; becaufe the law, as it ftood, SH^ 
 but only taken in a favourable fenfe, 
 was moll fully fatisfied by the Redeemer, who was in, 
 fhe clofeft union with us, when he paid the due 
 'jid. iii. 25. t John xvii. 6. \ Pfal. xl. \o. 
 
278 Of the Suretiship and BookIL 
 
 ranfom. Whence the apoftle faid *, the righteoufnefs 
 of the law was fulfilled by Chrift. We ihajl not im- 
 properly conceive of the whole, in the following man- 
 ner: The law declares, that there is no admiffion for 
 any to eternal life, but on the account of a perfect and 
 abfolutely-complete righteoufnefs ; alfo, that every 
 finner fhall undergo the penalty of death, the domi- 
 nion of which is eternal. However, it is a doubtful 
 / matter, and not explained by the law, whether that 
 ' perfect righteoufnefs muft neceffarily be performed by 
 the very perfon to be faved, or whether a furety may 
 be admitted, to perform it in his room. Again, it is 
 doubtful, whether it was neceflary the finner mould, 
 in his own perfon, fuffer the deferved punifhment, or 
 whether he could truly undergo it in the perfon of a 
 fponfor. In fine, it is a matter of doubt, whether he, 
 who was to undergo the penalty, ought to do fo to an 
 infinite degree, with refpect to duration ; or whether 
 he could undergo it, if that dominion of death could 
 be abolifhed, by the fufficient dignity and worth of 
 the perfon who mould undergo it, and fo death be 
 fwallowed up in victory. Strict juftice would, as the 
 words feem to import at firft view, demand the for- 
 mer : but the favourable conftruction, which, accord- 
 ing to Ariftotle f , " is an amendment of the law, 
 " where it is deficient, on account of its univerfality,'* 
 admits of the latter, where it can be obtained ; as 
 really was, and is, the cafe with Chrift and ChrifHans. 
 Thus therefore, that in which the law ieemed to be 
 defective from its univerfality, comes to be corrected ; 
 not as to the intention of God the Lawgiver, which is 
 altogether invariable, and always molt perfect; but as 
 to the exprefs form of the words : almoit in the fame 
 manner, as if a father mould be admitted to pay an 
 equivalent fine for Lis fon, and inftead of iilver, make 
 payment in gold. This would be a favourable inter- 
 pretation of the law. 
 
 * Rom, viii, 4. t Ethic, lib. v. c. io« 
 
 4^) jk~ ■ t^^Uo ^l^^*Ar%^ 
 
Chap. 5. Satisfaction of CHRIST. 279 
 
 VII. Nor was it unjuft, for Chrift to be puniQied 
 for us : feeing Socinus himfelf and Noinjijftice inChritt's 
 Crellius own, that it was not un- being puniftied for us. 
 juft, that the moil grievous torments, nay, death it- 
 felf, might be inflicted on Chrift, though moft inno- 
 cent ; which alfo appears from the event. For God, 
 in right of his dominion, could lay all thofe afflictions 
 on Chrift ; efpecially with the effectual confent of the 
 Lord Jefus himfelf, who had power over his own 
 life. The whole difficulty lies in the formality of the 
 punifhment. But as Chrift, by the moft free good 
 pleafure of his own will, took upon himfelf our tranf- 
 greffions, and the trefpafles we had committed againft 
 the divine majefty, and offered himfelf as a Surety 
 for them ; God, as the fupreme Governor, could juft- 
 ly exact punifhment of Chrift in our room, and ac- 
 tually did fo. And thus U2i"7ttf 1D1Q the chaflifement 
 of our peace, that exemplary punifhment inflicted on 
 Chrift, in which God, as by the brighteft example, 
 fhews his implacable hatred to fin, but which 
 brings pardon and peace unto us, was upon 
 him *. For that is here IQ^ the exemplary punifhment , 
 in which God's wrath againft fin is difcovered, well 
 adapted to deter others from it. Thus Jer. xxx. 14. 
 ^lON "D'O the punijhment of a cruel one ; and Prov. vii. 
 22. < y N "ID1Q the exemplary punijhment of a fool ; and 
 Ezek. v. 15- It Jhall be a reproach, and a taunt y an 
 inflruclion IDiO [an example], and an afloniflnnent. 
 
 VIII. But we certainly take too much upon us, 
 when we prefume to examine the e- Which alfo appears 
 quity of the divine government by from the evenr. 
 
 .the ftandard of our reafon : when the fact is plain, 
 wc are always to vindicate God againft the fophiftry 
 of our foolilh reafonings. That man is certainly the 
 author of a monftrous, horrible, and deteftable hercfy, 
 and difcovers a profane arrogance, who, like Socinus, 
 is not afhamed to write as follows: " As for my 
 " part, indeed, though fuch a thing ihould be Sound 
 
 U'.liii.c. 
 
280 Of the Suretiship and Booktl. 
 
 ** not once, but frequently, in the facred records, I 
 " would nqt, on that account, believe it to be fo." 
 But modefty fliould teach us rather to fay \ " That 
 •* truly for rny part, though my reafon, which I 
 4i know is blind and foolifh, and apt to be clamo- 
 " rous againft God, mould a thoufand times gainfay 
 " it, I would not therefore prefume to call in que- 
 " ftion, what I find but once in the facred records; 
 " nor, by feeking fome other interpretation, would 
 u I force on the words of fcripture, any meaning 
 " more confonant to my reafom" When therefore 
 we mail have proved from holy writ, that the Lord 
 Chrift has made fatisfaction to the juftice of God, we 
 ought not to be thought to have proved that there is 
 any injuftice in it : according to the maxim, which 
 nature itfelf dictates, that all the ways of God are 
 righteoufnefs and truth. 
 
 IX. No Chriftian queftions, that Chrift fulfilled all 
 C7^ It 15 generally r.*ned, righteoufnefs. The multitude of 
 that Ch-ift fulfilled all the Jews teftified concerning him, He 
 righrecuinefs. ftM done a // things z-vell *. He de- 
 
 clared this truly, as he did every thing el'fe, concern- 
 ing himfelf : / do alivnys thofe things thai pleafe him\. 
 Hence he boldly appealed to his enemies, Which of you 
 tonvinceth me of fin \ f nay, even to his Father himfelf, 
 Pfal. Ixix. 5. GocU thou knowefl my fooliftmefs^ and my 
 explained . fins are not hid from thee )|. For 1 fuppoie, 
 this pfalm contains a prayer of the Lord Chrift, as 
 appears from feveral parts of it being often quoted in 
 the New Teftament : And thefe words, I think, con- 
 tain a proteftation of the Lord Jefus to his Father, of 
 his own innocence ; of which Theodoras in Catena, 
 has given no improper paraphrafe: " Whether I have 
 •* been guilty of any fault againft them, thou thyfelf 
 *\ knoweift \ and art my witness, I have done TO- 
 " thing.*' But I think the meaning may be more 
 fully expreffed thus : " It is true, ray God, I have 
 take* guilt upon me, and am made a curfe: but thou 
 * Markvij. 37. t John lift. '£, ; Yvr. 4$ ! ! Pfal. brix.$. 
 
Chap.5. Satisfaction of CHRIST. 281 
 
 knoweft all my fins, even to the flighted offence, for 
 which I fuffer ; that in all there is not the leaft fault 
 of mine, by which I have violated thy law, fo as to re- 
 /lore what I have taken" The truth of this protefta- 
 tion the Father attefts, when he calls Chrift his righ- 
 teous fervant *, and juftified him in the Spirit f , de- 
 claring, that, as man, he was innocent of every crime 
 falfely laid to his charge ; on the contrary, that he 
 honoured his Father by his perfect obedience ; and 
 that as Mediator, he diligently executed the office af- 
 figned him, fo that he was deficient in nothing. 
 
 X. 'Tis allowed, that the moil holy obedience of 
 Chrift was for our good : becaufe therein fe ^ a u 0W ed al- 
 wehave, 1. A confirmation of his heaven- { 0y t h at it was 
 ly doctrine ; the works of his moft per- dons for our 
 feet holinefs, no lefs than his miracles 2 cod - 
 which he performed, being a demonftration that he 
 was a preacher of divine truth, fent down from 
 heaven. 2. A living law and moll perfect pattern of 
 holinefs, worthy both of God and of the children 
 of God; of which we had an exact delineation 
 in the written law, but which mining forth in its 
 lively vifage and native light in Chrift and his actions, 
 is fitted to ftir up every man who beholds it with a 
 fpirituai eye, to the love of it. Mankind wanted this, 
 even to difcern the unfpotted image of the divine ho- 
 linefs in any of their brethren ; which at length they 
 obtained in Chrift, who left us an example, that we 
 fhould follow his ftcps \. 3. A pointing out of the 
 way to heaven ; Chrift teaching us not only by his 
 words, but his actions, tint without holmefs no aid-: pall 
 
 fee the Lord ||. 
 
 XI. But we mud proceed a ftcp further, and affirm, 
 that the obedience ol Chrift was accom- But it h moreover 
 plifhed by him in our room, in order there- t o be believed, 
 by to obtain for us a right to eternal life. t i,ac ic w3i dou « 
 The law, which God will have fecurcd i nour r °°™' 
 inviolable, admits none to glory, but on condition 
 
 • If. liii. 11. f 1 Tirr.iii. 16. \ 1 IV:. ii. zi. || H.b. > . 
 
 Vol. I. f N T 11 
 
282 Of the Suretiship and Book II. 
 
 of perfect obedience. This none was ever pofTefFed 
 of but Chrift, who beftows it freely on his own peo- 
 ple. This is what the apoitle declares, But the free {rift 
 of Jcfus Chrift is of many offences e/c S/xofyua', for the 
 ground of righteoufnefs \_unto juftif cation * ;] that is, 
 though we want thofe works, for which the reward 
 may be due ; nay, though, for fo many fins, we may 
 have deferved an eternal curfe ; neverthelefs, there is 
 fomething, which is fufticient, not only for aboliftiing 
 many offences, but likewife to be the meritorious caufe 
 of righteoufnefs ; namely, the obedience of one man; 
 and it becomes ours by gratuitous gift. More clearly 
 Hill, ver. 19. For as by one man 9 s difobedience many were 
 made [conftituted]] finners, fo by the obedience of one 
 Jhall many be made [conftituted] righteous. The for- 
 mer one man was Adam, the root and federal head of all 
 mankind. By his difobedience, the whole multitude 
 of men belonging to him, was involved in the guilt 
 of the curfe : and as he fuftained the perfon of all, 
 what he did amifs, is accounted as done by all. "The 
 other is the one man Chrift., who neither finned in and 
 with Adam, nor on whom the dominion of fin and 
 death paifed, and who is worthy to be both Lord and 
 Head, a fecond Adam, and the origin and fource of the 
 inheritance to be devolved on his brethren. He is pof- 
 fefled of an obedience, even to the whole law of God, 
 which enjoined him to have a perfect love for the glo- 
 ry of his Father, and for the falvation of his brethren. 
 By that obedience, the collective body of thofe who 
 belong to him, are conftituted righteous ; that is, are 
 judged to have a right to eternal life, no lefs than 
 if every one had performed that obedience in his own 
 perfon. 
 
 XII. Nor ought, it to appear ftrange, that that obe- 
 Thar obedience of Chrift fuf- dience of Chrift is fufficient to 
 
 fkient for redeeming all ihe acquire to them a right to e- 
 
 ciei>, becaufe of the dignity ternal life ; even though' it be- 
 o: his perfon. came ^ m ^ v^ tQ ^y Q _ 
 
 * Rom. v- 16. 
 
Chap.5- Satisfaction of CHRIST. 283 
 
 bedience for himfelf For we are here to confider the 
 dignity of the per/on obeying ; who being man in fuch 
 a manner, as at the fame time to be the eternal and 
 infinite God, is much more excellent than all the elect 
 taken together ; and therefore his obedience is defer - 
 vedly efteemed of fuch value, thai it may be imputed 
 to all, for obtaining a right to a blefled immortality. 
 And, although the divinity, in the abftracl, did not 
 obey; yet he, who did, is God; and thus the divini- 
 ty of the perfon contributes very much to the digni- 
 ty of the obedience. It is true indeed, ^or is it any bar that 
 that, as man, he owed obedience for asmanhealfoowed 
 himfcif; but fincehe became man on our n *° r himfelf. 
 account, he alfo performed that obedience in our room. 
 Moreover, as man, he was not necelTarily under the 
 law, as prefer ibing the condition of bappinefs ; becaule, 
 if we fit afide the confideration of the furetifhip un- 
 dertaken for us, he would have enjoyed all manner 
 of happinefs, from the firft moment of his incarna- 
 tion, on account of the union of the humanity with 
 the Godhead, as we have more fully fhewn, chap. hi. 
 feci. 15. 14. 
 
 m XIII. It would likewife be falfe to infer from this, 
 that if Cfarift performed obedience for N^ r( j ces u hence 
 us, we oui fclves arc under no neceflity follow, that we 
 of obeying ; becaule no demand can be are under no necef- 
 made on the principal debtor, for what »7 of ^}' in S- 
 the Surety has performed in his room. For our 0- 
 bedience may be confidered, either as it is the duly oi 
 the rational creature, with refpect to his fovcrcigu 
 Lord ; or as it is a condition of acquiring a right to e- 
 ternal life. In the latter refpect Cfarift accomplifhed 
 it for us, and therefore, under that relation, it neither 
 is, nor can be required of us, as if, for want of per- 
 fect obedience, we could be excluded from eternal 
 life. But in the former refpect, we by all means o\v 
 obedience, the obligation or which is rather increafed 
 than diminifhed by this iniiancc of Chrift's love, For 
 what more proper, than by this to 1'iew our gratitude, 
 
 N n 2 
 
284 Of CHRIST'S Book II. 
 
 and declare not fo much bywords as actions, that we 
 acknowledge him for our Lord, who has purchafed 
 us for himfelf as his peculiar people ? In fine, that 
 as adopted fons we decline no obedience to our heaven- 
 ly Father, whom his natural Son and of the fame fub- 
 ftance with himfelf, fo chearfully obeyed. 
 
 XIV. But befides, Chrift fatisfied the vindiclive jmi 
 Chrift alio fatisfi d ftice of God, not only for our good, 
 vindi&ive jufuce buralfo in our room, by enduring thofe 
 by fuffering. mo ft. dreadful fufferings, both "in foul 
 
 and body, which we had deferved, and from which 
 he, by undergoing them, did fo deliver us, that they 
 could not, with the wrath and curfe of God, as the 
 proper punjfhment of our fin, be inflicted on us. 
 If there is any point in our divinity accurately proved, 
 and folidly defended againft the exceptions of the So- 
 cinians, by illuftrious perfons in the church, it is cer- 
 tainly this ; which I chufe not to repeat, defiring 
 the reader to fetch the arguments from a Grotius, a 
 Junius, a Turrettine, a Hoornbeeck, an Effenius, 
 and the like renowned heroes ; which will bafHe all 
 the efforts of the adverfaries, properly to anfwer. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 What Sufferings of Ckrijl are fathfaclory. 
 
 Onecontend ? , that Chrift's T> UT it is really to be Iament- 
 fctisfaflory fufferings were JJ ed, that, in thefe our days, 
 
 only thefe, during the three a new quefticn mould be ftart- 
 hours of folar darknefs. ed amQng the orthodox? name . 
 
 ly, which of the fufferings of Chrift ought to be deem- 
 ed fatisfactory in our dfcom ? There is one in particu- 
 lar, who feems to acknowledge none of the fufferings 
 of Chrifr^ro be fatisfactory for us, but thofe which he 
 underwent during the three hours of the folar dark- 
 nefs, while he was upon the crofs, and before he expi- 
 red ; excluding from the number of fatisfaclory fuf- 
 ferings, thofe agonies which he endured in the garden, 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 2$$ 
 
 the night in which he was apprehended, and that blood 
 which he died before, and when he was crucified, and 
 after he expired on the crofs. He had not, fays he, 
 commenced his fatisfactory actions, when he had, by 
 a word, levelled his enemies with the ground, cured 
 Malchus, and promifed paradife to the thief: no expi- 
 ation was yet made when an angel came to ftrengthen 
 him. Nay, he aflirms, that Chrift did not fuffer cor- 
 poral death as our Surety, and in our room, and that 
 confequently it belongs not to the fatisfaclion, which 
 he made to the juftice of God, if indeed he then fully 
 fatisfied God when he died. But«in cafe Chrift fhnuld 
 fcem to have fuffered all thefe things in vain, the learn- 
 ed perfon concludes, that they were done, in order to 
 fatisfy the veracity of God, which had foretold that 
 thus it JJjculd be, and to fulfil the types by which they 
 were prefigured in the Old Teftament. Diftinguifh- 
 ing, moreover, between convincing and compcnfating 
 punimments, between warlike fufferings and judiciary ; 
 he calls thofe compenfating and judiciary, which Chrift 
 endured during the three hours of darknefs ; the o- 
 thcrs only convincing and warlike fufferings, having 
 this tendency, that Chrift might learn to become a 
 merciful High Priell. 
 
 II. But it will be worth while to The ground ofthis 
 trace the hypotheiis of this very learn- opinion more folly 
 ed perfon from the foundation ; which explained. 
 he has done himfelf very accurately, in a letter to a 
 friend, publiLhed after the fir ft and fecond editions of 
 my work *. lor he maintains, i. That when God 
 threatened man, if he finned, with death, he meant 
 that death, which our firil parents incuned on the ve- 
 ry day they iinned, and which Chrifi the Surety un- 
 derwent in the room and ftead of fome, and which the 
 damned themfelves, who are without a ihfcty, fhai! 
 lufler and he forced to undergo for themfelves. Now, 
 that is the death of the ivhole man ; becauie the fub 
 ot it is man, made up of foul and body united ; and 
 it coniifts not only in ihe privation of the fenfe of God's 
 * Jac. Alttng. epilt. ad Joh. Rudol. Walt. op^r. torn. ult. p, 393. 
 
286 Of CHRIST'S Bookll. 
 
 favour, and of communion with him, and of a joyful 
 delight in the enjoyment of him ; but is alfo attended 
 with all the torture and racking pain, which the wrath 
 of God andhisomnipotencecan inflicf. 2. Our firft pa- 
 rents underwent that death immediately upon their fin : 
 for in the cool of the fame day in which they finned, 
 when drawing towards the evening, they heard the 
 voice of the Lord continually walking in the garden. 
 It was not that articulate voice, which Adam was before 
 accuitomed to hear, and was afterwards pleafed with 
 its found ; but fuch as was heard at Sinai, Exod. xix. 
 16. 17. and defcribed Pfal. xxix. & lxxvii. 18. 19. 
 1 he voice of thunder and lightning, - a token of God's 
 wrath and power, which the guilty creature could nei- 
 ther bear nor avoid, which made Adam and Eve hide 
 themfelves in the thickeft of the trees of the garden, 
 juft as the damned will defire to do, Rev. vi. 15. 3. 
 While our firft parents endured this threatened death, 
 fatisfaction was made to the veracity of God, but not 
 to his juftice, demanding a plenary and fufficient com- 
 penfation. But, on account of the mediatorial cove- 
 nant between the Father and Son, there intervened 
 the long-fufFering of God, or a deferring of his wrath, 
 which removed that death from men, and deferred it 
 to the day of wrath and the laft judgment. 4. Chrift 
 the Surety, in the fulnefs of time, underwent this fame 
 death of the whole man, in foul and body united, 
 while, hanging on the crofs, he was forfaken of God, 
 and, at the fame time, had the fcnfation of his moft 
 dreadful wrath, who, while demanding payment of 
 him, was pleafed to bruife him : a bruifing not inflict- 
 ed by men, but immediately by God, who punifhed 
 him with affliction and imprifonment, which will be 
 the punifhment of the damned ; as it was of Chrift, 
 who is laid to be HJVQ and ixy afflifted and in pri- 
 fon 9 If. liii. 4. 8. 5. Men were not able to behold this 
 dreadful part of his punifhment ; a moft thick and out- 
 ward daiknefs concealing Chrift from every eye. His 
 whole man fuffered this death, till divine juftice was 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 287 
 
 fatisfied ; and it fufficiently appeared to have been fa- 
 tisfied, when God removed the darknefs, that the crea- 
 ture, who had before acted as an enemy againft him, 
 on whom God was taking vengeance, might again re- 
 frefh him ; and when he likewife comforted him with 
 a fenfe of his paternal love, fo that he could now call 
 God his Father, and commend his fpirit into his hands, 
 &c. 6. Moreover, he felt and properly bore this death 
 on the crofs, when he cried out, My God! why haft 
 thou forfaken me f He dreaded this death in the garden, 
 as he faw it coming upon him, which is therefore call- 
 ed the antepajjion ; and he was delivered from it, when 
 he faid, It is Jinifbed. 7. The Mediator Chrift was 
 bound, by his covenant-engagement, to this death a- 
 lone, and neither to fpiritual death, which fuppofes a 
 want of rectitude, nor to corporal death ; who when 
 he was made known in the firft gofpel-promife, Gen. 
 iii. 15. no mention was yet made of corporal death, till 
 ver. 1 9. He therefore could not be bound to that by 
 any vicarious title. The apoltle tells us, what his cor- 
 poral death was, Heb. x. 20. When the blood of the 
 facrifice was fhed for fin, atonement was made : but 
 in order to prefent it to God, the prieft carried the 
 blood, which procured the atonement, into the holy 
 of holies ; and the vail, which denoted feparation by 
 lin, was made to give way. In like mannei alfo, when 
 Chrift completed his death, or endured the whole load 
 of anguifh and wrath, having obtained eternal redemp- 
 tion, which he teftified by his faying, // is fimjhed, he 
 was to carry his blood, or foul, into the heavenly fanc- 
 tuary. The vail (landing in the way was his human 
 nature, which, upon taking upon him the fins of the 
 elect, kept him at a dillance from God ; but after fa- 
 tisfaction made, that vail was rent afunder, by the fe- 
 paration of foul and body, and conveyed his fpirit, by 
 an open way, to the prefence of God. And thus the 
 corporal death of Chrift belongs not to the meritorious, 
 (which may be done by the alone death of man, not 
 leparated with refpect to his eiiential parts), but to the 
 
 
288 Of C H R I S T's BookIL 
 
 reprefentlng fatisfattion. Thus far this learned perfon. 
 And who can deny, but thefe things are ingenioufly 
 devifed, and learnedly connected ? But whether they 
 are as folid, as they are uncommon, I imagine I may, 
 with the confent of the lovers of truth, modeftly in- 
 quire. 
 
 III. I remember to have learned, in the communion 
 The received doc- of the reformed church, to the follow- 
 trine of the reform- ing effect : i. That the death where- 
 ed church. with God threatened man for fin, com- 
 
 prizes in its whole extent all that mifery, which, by 
 the jufteft difpleafure of God, has followed upon fin, 
 and to which the finner man is obnoxious all his life, 
 and whofe principal part confifts in the want of the fa- 
 vour of God, and in the keeneft fenfe of the divine 
 curfe, to be chiefly inflicted, when it {hall fo pleafe 
 God. 2. That Chrift, by the interpofition of his en- 
 gagements for the elect, took upon himfelf all that 
 curfe, which man was liable to on account of Jin ; 
 whence it was, that, in order to the payment of the 
 debt he engaged for, he led a life, in the afTumed hu- 
 man nature, fubject to many viciflitudes of mifery, 
 juft like the life of a human finner. 3. That, as God 
 ufes much forbearance with refpect to finners, and 
 moderates the bitternefs of life with fome fweetnefs of 
 patience, till the day of vengeance, and of the retribu- 
 tion of his righteous judgment, when the whole weight 
 of the curfe of God mall light upon the condemned 
 iinner ; fo alfo Chrift, when in the form of a fervant, 
 bad not always fuch a fenfe of the painful effects of the 
 fins that were laid upon him, but that he fometimes 
 rejoiced in an eminent mixture of favour ; till the hour 
 and power of darknefs came, when, being called to the 
 bar, he had every thing dreadful to undergo. 4. That 
 as that death, which confifts in the feparation of foul 
 and body, is infiieted on the finner man, as the fad ef- 
 fect of the wrath of God ; foin like manner Chrift un- 
 derwent the fame death, that, in this refpect alfo, ma- 
 king fatisfaftion to divine juftice, he might remove all 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 289 
 
 the curfe of that death from the elect. 5. In fine, that 
 as all thofe miferies, taken together, are what fin de « 
 ferves ; fo Chrift, who, by his engagement, took up- 
 on himfelf all the debt of the elect, did, by all thefe 
 miferies, to which he was fubject all his life, fatisfy 
 divine juftice; fo that, taken ail together, they con- 
 ftitute the ranfom which was due for our fins. This, 
 if I miflake not, is the common opinion of our divines, 
 which our catechifm has alfo expreffed, quell. 57. 
 namely, that all the fufferings which Chrift endured 
 both in foul and body, through the whole courfe of 
 his life, from its commencement to the moft dreadful 
 death of thecrofs, conftitute his one and perfect fatis- 
 faction ; though it be certain, that thofe were the moft 
 grievous fufferings, with which he encountered on 
 the laft night and day ; and that thofe which he bore 
 in his body, were far exceeded by thofe that opprefTed 
 his foul: Juft as the whole of Chrift's molt holy obe- 
 dience is imputed to us for rigliteoufnefs, though he 
 gave an eminent demonftration or it, when he was o- 
 bedient to his Father ft? the death, even the death of the 
 crofs ; which con filled in a voluntary fubmiilion of 
 foul, rather than in any motion of the members of the 
 body, directed by his holy foul. Which we prove 
 from fcripture in this manner. 
 
 IV. 1. When the fcripture fpeaks of the fatisfactioa 
 of Chrift, itafcribes it to the fufferings The f cr ; M ,„ r „ a _ 
 of Chrift in general ; as If. liii. 4. S«r/-f C rjbesf«twfeaioa 
 ly he hath borne our griefs, and carried to Chriit's fu&rr- 
 our forrows ; that is, he hath fuffeied all *»5 S «■ : £W»1| 
 the pains and forrovw due to us for fin : 
 and that not only for our good, but in our ftead. For, 
 ver. 5. he was wounded for our tvanfgrqjiuns, he was 
 brui fed for our iniquities ; fo that thefe iin s were the me- 
 ritorious caufc or the grief* and anguiih or Q\u 
 becaufc the Lord n y\)£H made tl.h\ up- 
 
 on him, ver. 6. and for thefe / .'./, ver. ;. 
 
 when the iniquity of us all Vj} > -^ 
 
 Judge and Avenger. But that affliction SYCfl theq lay 
 
 Vol. I. |G o 
 
290 Of CHRISTY BooklL 
 
 upon him, and our iniquity was exacted of him, when 
 he was brought as a lamb to the /laughter, and as a ftoeep 
 before her /hearers, was dumb : which certainly hap- 
 pened before the three hours of darknefs, ver. 7. 
 He therefore gives too great fcope to his fancy, who 
 reltrains the things which are affirmed of the afflic- 
 tions, griefs, and anguifh of Chrift in general, to the 
 three hours fufferings. 
 
 V. Add what the Apoftle writes, Heb. ii. 10. It be- 
 Heb. ii. iame him, to make the captain of their falvation 
 \o. perfecl (to confecrate) through fufferings. So 
 that thofe fufferings, which Chrift endured, (and who 
 fhall pretend to except any, the apoftle fpeaking in 
 fuch general terms ?), were requifite, in order to 
 Chrift's being a perfect Saviour to us, and a facrifice 
 confecrated and acceptable to God : for this the Tikifoatc 
 or perfecting of Chrift lignifies ; the performing of all 
 thofe things, to which he bound himfelf by his fure- 
 tifhip, and efpecially of thofe required to the full ac- 
 complifhment of his facerdotal expiation. And the 
 apoftle generally applies the fufferings of Chrift to this 
 perfecting or confccrating. Whence Chryfoftom con- 
 cludes well : " Wherefore the fufferings are the per- 
 ct feeling and the caufe of falvation." Nay, thefacred 
 writer had here in view all thofe fufferings, by which 
 he learned obedience ; for being made perfecl by them, he 
 became the author of eternal falvation unto all them that obey 
 him *„ But he learned obedience not only by his three 
 hours fufFerings, but in general by all his fufferingj 
 from which he learned and experienced the full extent 
 of that obedience, to which he voluntarily fubmitted : 
 nay, indeed, he principally learned obedience from 
 his foregoing fufferings, by which, as by certain prin- 
 ciples, he was trained up to undergo thofe that were 
 extremely painful. And -thus the caufe of our falva- 
 tion is afcri bed to all the fufferings which Chrift endu- 
 red in the days of his fle(h. 
 
 VI. In like manner fpeaks Peter j, Chrift vroAir &V*/> up**, 
 
 • Heb.v. 3. 9. t * Pet. ii. 21. 
 
Chap.6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 2CjI 
 
 Suffered for us. Tofuffer here denotes to be in 1 p e t. 
 affliction ; for all thole fufferings are here in- fi- »i. 
 tended, in which Chrift has left us an example of pa- 
 tience. Thefe fufferings he affirms to be for us, that 
 is, undergone as well in our /lead, as for our good. 
 For this is ordinarily the fignification of the word 
 i)7r\f> : as in Euripides in Alcefte, pi Wx y "*fy ™ S* **%fk % 
 hV iya frfa <n 9 " Die not for this man, as little fhali I 
 *' for thee ;" which is to be underftood in no other 
 fenfe, but that of fubftitution ; as the fubject of the 
 tragedy, exibiting the wife dying in the room of her 
 hufband, plainly (hews. In the fame manner, De- 
 mofthenes in Corona, fays, boiwov t>It»c, uxkkqv li iyu> iZff 
 vTrif a* Troihu, " Alk thefe, or rather 1 mall do it for 
 " you." And that this is the true meaning of Peter, 
 we conclude hence, that in chap. iii. 18. he fays, 
 Chrift fuffered for fins ; namely, that he might be 
 the propitiation for our fins, 1 John iv. 10. Bat the 
 fufferings which Chrift underwent in our room? I i- 
 magine, may be faid to be fatisfacfory. 
 
 VII. In fine, as the likemfs of finful flefo, confifting 
 in the forrowful and contemptible condition of R m. 
 Chrift, runs parallel with the whole courfe of his »&. $. 
 life, and he took it upon him for fin ; fo that God did 
 therefore condemn Jin, and declare it had no manner 
 of right over believers, either to condemn them, or 
 reign over them * ; it is manifeft, that the fcriptuve 
 afcribes the fatisfaction of Chrift to the whole of his 
 humiliation j confequently they don't take the fcrip- 
 tures for their guide, who confine it to the fufferings 
 only of thofe three hours. 
 
 VII I. 2. The fcripture fo exprefsly declares, that 
 Chrift's death, even his corporal The corporal death of 
 death, is to be efteemed a part of Chrift alio faiisiactorj, 
 his fatisfaction, that it is altonifh- ,r - llil - ,0 - 
 
 ing how any one can deny it. Thus If. liii. 10. When 
 thou /halt make bis foul (when his foul ihall make il- 
 fclf) CZ1U& an offering for ftn ; which Chrift himi'clf | 
 
 • Rom. viii 3. f Mauh. jx 2 S. 
 
 O O 2 
 
2?2 Of CHRIST'S Book II. 
 
 calls, to give his life a ranfom for many ; and he fays *, 
 / lay down my life for the fheep. Now, to give his life, 
 is to die a corporal death, which the refurrection puts 
 an end to. For thus Chrift explains it f, / lay down 
 my life, that I may take it again. And John fays J, 
 when defcribing the corporal death of Chrift, he gave 
 up the ghofl. The argument will ftill be ftronger, if 
 weconlider, that here is a manifeft allufion to that ty- 
 pical fatisfaclion, which was effected by fheddmg the 
 blood of the victim, fo feparated from the body as 
 to be accompanied with death. But the blood is gi- 
 ven for the life. Therefore a true fatisfaclion was 
 tnade by the Reparation of the foul from the body of 
 Chrift, in order to keep up the refemblance between 
 the type and the antitype. 
 
 IX. Add what Paul writes, Heb. x. 20. that Chrift 
 Heb. x. hath confec rated for us a new and living way 
 2c. to the heavenly f ancillary, through the vail, that 
 
 is fo fay, his flefh. The flefh of Chrift was doubtlefs 
 the vail, which hindered our accefs. l^or while it 
 ftill continued entire, it was an indication that fin 
 was not yet abolifhed, nor the curfe removed. It 
 was therefore neceffary, that the vail, that is, the flefh, 
 of Chrift, fhould be rent ; which was done, when the 
 Spirit quitted the flefh : for then the body ceafed to 
 be a fyiiern of orgafis, and became a heap of dufty par- 
 ticles, foon to return to duft, unlefs its refurrection 
 fhould be battened. And thus a new way was confe- 
 crated for us, that is, complete liberty purchafed, 
 and full right to the heavenly fanctuary. Which was 
 fignificd and fealed by that rending of the vail in the 
 temple, which happened at the very inftant of Chrift 's 
 death ||. llence the body of Chrift is faid to be bro* 
 ken fir its [. It is not improperly obferved by the 
 learned perfon, that, upon fhedding the blood of the 
 facrifice, expiation was made, which was afterwards 
 to be prefented to God by bringing the blood into 
 the holy of holies. But I wifh he would confider, 
 
 * John x. 15. f "Ver, 17. \ Chap. xix. 5c. || Matih. xxvii. 5 1. 
 t 1 Cor. xi. 24. 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. Zpj 
 
 what I have juft hinted, that the reparation of the 
 foul of Chrift from the body anfwered to the fhed- 
 ding of the blood, which is the rending of the vail, 
 and breaking of the body ; as the bringing the foul 
 into heaven, to prefent to God the fatisf action made 
 by death, anfwers to the introduction of the blood in- 
 to the holy of holies. 
 
 X. And what is more evident than that paffage of Pe* 
 ter *, that Cbrift bath fuffer ed once for fins , being i Pet. iii. 
 put to death in the fiefh, that is, in the body ? i8 - 
 where the death of the body is fee forth as a part of 
 thole fufferings, which Chrift endured for fins. Add 
 Col. i. 21. 22. He hath reconciled you in the body of his 
 fle/h through death, Rom. v. io. We were reconciled to 
 God by the death of his Sen, Heb. ix. 15. That by means 
 of death, for the redemption of the iranfgrejfions thai were 
 under the fir ft t eft anient, they which are called might re- 
 ceive the promife of eternal inheritance. And what 
 death does Paul here mean ? Doubtlefs that w-hich 
 muir intervene for the confirmation of the teftament, 
 ver. 16. 17. which certainly is the death of the body : 
 Who is he that condemneth t It is Chrift that died f . To 
 explain all this in fuch a manner, as by death not to 
 imderftand what in every language the death of a man 
 fignifies, namely, the feparation of lbui and body, is 
 harili and unrcafonable. 
 
 XL 3. Befides, both IfaiahJ and Peter || affirm, that 
 our healing is, in a more fpecial manner, To t h e ftripes of 
 owing to the ftripes of Chrift, as a part Chrift we owe 
 of his fufferings, while they fay, By our healing. 
 \jiuith~] his ftripes we are healed. For by that cruel 
 fcoui ging, whereby the whole body of the Lord Je- 
 fus waS fe mangled, as in a manner to become one 
 continued ftripe, together with his other fufferings, 
 he merited, th.it we mould be delivered from the buf- 
 ferings 6f Satan, arid the ftrokes of divine venge- 
 ance. And further, when we contemplate the fuffer- 
 ings of Chrift, and, among them, that cruel fcour- 
 
 • I Pct.iit. 18. 1 Rom.viii. 34. ; If. liii. 5 || 1 Pet. ii. 24. 
 
,*94 Of CHRIS T's Bookll. 
 
 ging, whereby the Lord Jefus was made a fpectacle to 
 men and angels, we then underftand, what the holi- 
 nefs of God is, what is due to God, in order to the 
 remiflion of fins, what the finner mull undergo, if he 
 would make fatisfaction to God and to his holinefs, 
 what a dreadful thing fin is, and how much, in fine, 
 we are indebted to Chrift, for enduring fo much for 
 .us. And this healing from fin is ours, if we dread 
 the wrath of God, are in love with his holinefs, and 
 make returns of love to Chrift. And thus it appears, 
 though we fay we are healed by the ftripes of Chrift, 
 as by an example ; yet there is in the fcourging of 
 Chrift, a demonfl ration of the jujlice of God, that we 
 may know it ; and, by knowing it with due affection, 
 be reftored to the likenefs of God. In thefe ftripes 
 there is WCI^© ^C 1 0, an exemplary punifbment bringing 
 peace to us ; as we lately fhewed, to be the import of 
 that word. 
 
 XII. 4. Nothing can appear more abfurd than to 
 / The abfurdity of exclu- exclude from thefatisfactory fuf- 
 
 / ing the fuffering in Geth- ferings of Chrtfl, by way of emi- 
 femane, from Chrift's fa- nence, that forrow of his foul, 
 tisfaftion. t j lat g rea t trouble and heavinefs, 
 
 that horror and amazement, that exceeding great for- 
 row, even unto death, thofe clots of bloody fweat, 
 thofe prayers and fupplications, with tears and ftrong 
 cries, the refult of thefe agonies, all which the Holy 
 Ghoft fo circumftantially defcribes. This great trouble 
 and agony did not arife only from the fympathy of the 
 
 Y- foul with the body, nor from the mere horror of im- 
 pending death : it was fomethingelfe, that afflicted the 
 foul of Chrift ; namely, his bearing the fins, not of 
 Thecaufe of thefe one man, but of all the elect; he be- 
 affigned. held the 'awful tribunal of God, be- 
 
 fore which he was prefently to be filled, in order to pay 
 what he took not away : he faw the Judge himfelf 
 armed with his incomprebenfibje vdngeance, the law 
 fcrandifhing all the thunders of its curfes, the devil 
 
 \^ ' A+u'TJUo «Ua^<n^ *K-j£f£^ *4i~u6&6 
 
 0o^-P <>* ^/»>^fcy — * &%s^c$/» sftdjt*^ tz^trtA^t ^2 
 
 S^c^C* ^fi£**S& ~~f0i^- 7 , *~6 - *S /t**^ 4*^l£**«^<*L^ 4*^+*^ ^ A^^ 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 295 _ 
 
 and all the powers of darknefs, with all the gates 
 of hell, juft ready to pour in upon him ; in a word, 
 he faw juftice itfelf inexorable and moft rigid, to 
 which he was bound to make full fatisfaclion even to 
 the lafl farthing : he faw the face of his deareft Fa- 
 ther not now fmiling with a fingle ray of favour, nay 
 rather burning with the terrible heat of all wrath a- 
 gainft the fins of mankind, which he had undertaken 
 to atone for. And whitherfoever he turned, not the 
 leaft glimpfe of relief Appeared for him, either in hea- 
 ven, or on earth, till with refolution and conftancy 
 he had acquitted himfelf in the combat. Thefe, thefe 
 are the things, which, not without reafon, ftruck 
 Chrift with terror and amazement, and forced from 
 him groans, fighs, and tears. And if all thefe things 
 were not expiatory and fatisfaclory for our fins, what 
 reafon (hall we ailign, why the other fufferiogs of Chrift 
 in the three hours of darknefs, mould be accounted 
 fatisfaclory ? 
 
 XIII. He certainly thinks too meanly of them, who 
 affirms, that thofe horrors, and this xo confider them as 
 angutfh, were, in comparifon of the aforetane of the pains 
 more grievous tortures which Chrift of the crols » is loti 
 endured on the crofs itfelf, to be «■*"**«■ 
 deemed only an antepajjion, or a kind of prelibation 
 or foretafte. But neither do the fcriptures, which re- 
 prefent thefe things with fuch a flow of words, nor 
 our expofitors on Heb. v. 7. fpeak in this manner, 
 though one of them perverts their words to that pur- 
 pofe. And it would be difficult to point out, what 
 the foul of Chrift endured on the crofs itfelf, which 
 could fo vaftly exceed thefe horrors. Then he com- 
 plained of iorrow, now he was not filent ; there he 
 bore the curfe due to us, now he almoft funk under 
 it ; there he complained of being forfaken of his Fa- 
 ther, now he almoft fainted away on taking the moft 
 bitter cirp of wrath : nay, greater %ns of confterna- 
 ation could fcarce be obierved on the crofs, than what 
 appeared here. We ihall presently reply to what \v$ 
 
2 9 6 Of CHRIST'S Book II. 
 
 read about the comforting angel. It muft indeed have 
 been an exceeding great diftrefs, at the firft onfet of 
 which, refolution and conftancy itfelf began to be a- 
 mazed, in heavinefs, and exceeding for rowful even unto 
 death ; that made him offer prayers and (applications, 
 with ftrong cries and tears, to him who could preferve 
 bim from death ; that made him ftruggle with fo 
 much agony, as rendered the appearance of a com- 
 forting angel neceffary, and made the fweat trickle 
 down his body, like clots of blood falling to the 
 ground. This difcovered fuch a commotion of the 
 ipirits and blood, as we fcarce, ii ever, meet with a 
 iimilar inllance in hiftory. Let us cheiefore beware, 
 that we take not upon us, with too much confidence, 
 to determine, what fuiTerings of Chrift, and in what 
 degree, fame were more grievous than others. Let us 
 rather fet on each their due price, and acknowledge 
 the fatisfaclory value of them all. This is far more 
 fuitable to the glory of Chriit, and to the fincerity of 
 our faith. 
 
 XIV. 5. and laflly, Qhjift endured all thofe fuf- 
 Chriil's {offerings, fevings, cither as a Surety, or in fome 
 as a Surety, mult be other refpecL If as a Surety, we gain 
 all fatisfa&ory. our p U rpofe ; for he engaged to fatis* 
 fy divine juftice, not only for our good, but in our 
 room, by undergoing the punifhment of our fins, the 
 guilt of which lie had voluntarily taken upon himfeif. 
 This is a fundamental point among the orthodox : nor 
 will the learned perfon, wnofe opinion we have taken 
 in pieces, deny it. If we Ivy afidea furecilhip, Chriit 
 can be no otherwife coufidered than as innocent and 
 perfectly holy. But it does not feem to be very con- 
 iiftent with the juftice of God, that an innocent per- 
 fon, as fuch, mould be punimed v and that to the lhed- 
 ding of his blood, to cruel and reexprerTible agony of 
 foul, in a word, to death itfelf. Or, mould God, at 
 any time, be pleafed to expofe an irxnoqent creature to 
 fuch dreadful tortures, in order to f);ew his inconteft- 
 ablc authority over ail } it is not K-ely, he would 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 297 
 
 chufe to give fuch a proof of that fupreme authority 
 in the perfon of his only beloved Son, who fully ac- 
 knowledges the right or authority of the Father. And 
 then, of what ufe were thole fufferings of Chrift, if 
 they were not undergone in our room ? Was it in or- 
 der to confirm his doctrine ? or to give a pattern of 
 patience, and (hew us the way, by which, through 
 {traits and difficulties, we might reach to things noble 
 and divine ? Or was it that, being made a merciful 
 High Prieft, he might readily afford afTiftance to the 
 tempted ? Or was it to fulfil the truth of the prophe- 
 cies, and anfwer the fignification of the types ? But 
 there is none of thefe particulars, which the blafphe- 
 mous Socinus, with his followers, will not eafily ad- 
 mit. And if we here (top fliort, we (hall allow no 
 greater value to thefe fufferings of Chrift, „than tliefe 
 worft perverters of our religion, and of the hope and 
 confolation of believers, have done. 
 
 XV. But the very learned perfon takes a far differ- 
 ent courfe, whofe obfervations, which -, r ^ • r 
 
 , . . . ' r The iufterings ot 
 
 lately came to hand on account or chrift, asSimty, 
 their late publication, defer ve a parti- diftinguifhed from 
 cular hearing. Seeing the (inner man, tho [ e of Chrift, as 
 lays he, was, according to what God Reiieemer - 
 had threatened, become liable unto death, till he had 
 fatisfied divine juftice *, and was brought into that 
 condition by the devil, who had conquered man, and 
 thereby was become his lord f , under whofe dominion 
 and captivity man afterwards lived ; in order to deli- 
 ver, and perfectly reltore him, it was necefTary, be- 
 caufe he could do neither of thefe things himfcif, both 
 that another Jbould undergo and conquer for him the 
 dc.ith which he deferved, and that another Jbould re/cue 
 him from the power of the devil, who was refcucd from 
 him by violence and military prowefs. The former 
 requires a Surety, who, taking guilt upon himfclf 
 in man's name, fhould willingly and patiently under- 
 go the juft penalty at the hands of the molt righteous 
 • Gen. ii. 17. j 2 Pet. ii. 19. 
 
 Vol. II. f P P 
 
* 9 8 O f C H R I S T's Bookll. 
 
 Judge, to Ills full fatisfaclion. The latter calls for a 
 Redeemer or Avenger, who, by ajuft claim, may 
 refcue ilaves out of the hands of an unjuft tyrant, 
 (fuch as he who, by fraud and violence, acquires a do- 
 minion), and, by oppofition and refinance, injures 
 the innocent. To both thefe purpofes God appointed 
 his own Son, whom, by an eternal covenant, hechofe 
 to the mediatorial office ; and revealed in his word, 
 that he mould be the valiant conqueror of the ferpent, 
 and the deliverer of fome men *, alfo, a vicarious Surety , 
 and afterwards ajacrifce, which was pointed out by 
 clothing our firft parents with fkins f« The fuffer- 
 ings of Chrift therefore are of two forts : One judicial \ 
 which he endured as Surety, juftly on the part of 
 God, for the debts of others, which he had under- 
 taken to pay, and which being done, a reconciliation 
 is the confequence : the other, warlike, which he en- 
 dured as Deliverer [or Redeemer ], unjuftly brought on 
 him by his enemies, Satan and his inftruments, becaufe 
 he will bring to falvation thofe whom he redeemed by 
 his ranfom. Both thefe kinds of fufferings belong to 
 the perfecling of Chrift. 
 
 XVI. In this difcourfe of the very learned perfon, 
 A aiftinftion not every thing favours of learning, much 
 fufficiently folic!, alfo is genuine and folid ; which I hearti- 
 ly approve. For it is certain, that Chrift is not only 
 our Surety, but alfo our Deliverer ; what merits our 
 confideration in this queftion is only this, whether, 
 when Chrift, by his judicial fufferings as Surety, fully 
 fatisfied divine juftice, other fufferings are alio requi- 
 fite, by which, as Redeemer, he might overcome Sa- 
 tan, and bring the redeemed to heaven by his ran- 
 fom. To me the matter appears in this light : As all 
 tiie fufferings of men arife from the demerit of cheir 
 .,/ins, no matter whether immediately inflicted by God, 
 or by means of Satan and his inftruments J ; fo, in 
 like manner, all the fufferings of Chrift arofc from 
 t vc demerit of our lins ; for which when he had fa- 
 
 * Gen. iii. 15, tVer. 21. } Jcr. ii. j 5. 16. 17. 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 299 
 
 tisfied divine juftice, he merited for his own deliver- 
 ance, not only from the wrath of God, but alfo from 
 the tyranny of the devil ; from which that he may 
 deliver his redeemed ones, there is no occaiion for 
 fufFcrings of another kind, but only for his power 
 and authority. It is fuflicient for this, that he is the 
 mighty God *, the mighty one of Jacob f , flronger than 
 the ftrongman\. I own Chrift had to ftrugglfi with 
 the devil, which he could not do without iurferings : 
 but even this very thing was owing to the demerit of 
 our lins. For when God by a juit fentence delivered 
 up to the tyranny of Satan, man who had fuffered 
 himfelf to be overcome by the devil ; it was neceiiary 
 that Chrift, as man's Surety, fhould be expofed to 
 the haraffment of the devil, that, in that refpecl alfo, 
 he might fatisfy divine juftice : nor could the devil or 
 his inftruments ever have had any power to give vexa- 
 tion to Chrift, if he had not, being loaded with the guilt 
 of our crimes, been expofed by God the moft righ- 
 teous Judge to injuries from them ||. But we are to 
 fpeak more at large of this pi efently. 
 
 XVII. And thus we are now come to the examina- 
 tion of thole diilinctions, by which the The d'nlinaion 
 learned perfon explains and maintains J^ ween co.npen- 
 
 1 • r 1 l i-n- -n i_ iating and con- 
 
 his caufe : namely, he diftinguilhes be- vinci * g pun , lh . 
 tween compenfating and convincing punijb- menu explained, 
 ments, between judicial and warlike fuffe rings. The 
 meaning of thefe diilinctions, if I rightly take them, 
 in this. Compenfating punifhrnent is that, whereby 
 fatisfaclion is made ro divine juftice, of which Rom. 
 ii. 5, 6. 8. 9, and called the wrath to come, Matth. iii. 
 7. 1 Theft, i. ic. Convincing punijbment is that, which 
 is only inflicted, in order thereby to convince man of 
 his fin, yet fo that, by undergoing it, no fatisfaclion is 
 made to divine juftice, nor any guilt removed, but 
 it ftill remains to be further avenged. Such punish- 
 ments the ici ipture calls DQJl nil^n convictions of wrath 
 
 • K. ix 6. t If lx. 16. -t Luke xi. 21. 22. |J Afti ii. 23. 
 P p 2 
 
god Of CHRIST'S Book II. 
 
 {furious rebukes *. Of thefe it is faid \, "PWH / will 
 Convince \_reprove~] thee, and fet them in order before thine 
 Judiciary and eyes. Judiciary fufferings are thofe which 
 warlike are inflicted by God, as a fever e impartiaJ 
 
 judge, for a compenfation to his juftice, in which 
 there is wrath ; and thus they are the fame with com- 
 penfating punifhments. Warlike fufferings are thofe , 
 to which Chriit was expofed, when conflicting with 
 the devil, who perfecuted him immediately upon his 
 birth by means of Herod, afterwards tempted him in 
 the wildernefs, and many ways reviled and maltreat- 
 ed him by the enraged miniftcrs of his malice, ac- 
 cording to what God fays J, I will put enmity, &c. In 
 thefe, with refpect to Chrift, there was no wrath of 
 God ; but it rather tended to grace and glory, as when 
 one differs for righteoufnefs fake ||. 
 
 XVIII. To this we reply as follows : There can be 
 Paternal chaft ; fement no doubt, but a diftinftion is to be 
 different from the pu- made between the fore calamities, 
 niir.mcDt of a judge. w h e reby God brings his elect and 
 believers to the knowledge and fenfe of their fins, which 
 fpring from love, and are called fatherly chajlifements | ; 
 &nd the heavy calamities, which are inflicted on the 
 wicked, who are under the wrath and curfe of God. 
 But of thefe punfhments of the wicked, tofuppofe fome 
 only convincing, and others compenfating, is neither 
 authorized by fcripture, nor countenanced by reafon. 
 
 XIX. The fcripture, indeed, makes mention of the 
 All the run.'fh- wrath to come, which, doubtlefs, is 
 ments of the wic- compenfating ; but it alfo frequent- 
 ed, tvcnin th s ]y fpeaks of a prefcnt wrath and curfe ; 
 lift, compenfating. p faL lvi . 8# & lix# ^.-compare 2 Theff. 
 ii. if5. John iii. 36. The wrath cf God abideth on him. 
 Wherefore unregenerate linners are called ■*-* timto °fy<k 9 
 children of wrath, not only becaufe they are liable to 
 the wrath to come, but alfo on account of the wrath 
 and curfe of God actually hanging over them, while 
 they are not tranflatedinto Hie kingdom of the Son of 
 his love. For the wrath Gf God is revelled from heaven 
 
 * Ezsk, v. 15. I Pfal.l.21. % Gen. iii. 15, 
 
 J 1 Ptt.iv. 14. 4 Heb. jdi. 6, •«• Eph. ii. |, 
 
Chap.6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 301 
 
 avainft all ungodlinefs and unrightetufncfs of men *. 
 Which wrath of God againft the wicked, being very 
 different from that, with which he is faid to be angry 
 aeainft the fins of his own children, no reaion can be 
 aiiigned, why it may not be deemed compensating, 
 fince it is the beginning of the eternal curfe, from 
 which it differs not in effence, but in degree. 
 
 XX. Add, that this prefent wrath is a judiciary 
 punijhment, inflicted by the righteous And called in fcrip- 
 ientence of God on the wicked, tare judgments. 
 The obftinate unbeliever n Jk *kf?m P condemned aU 
 ready -f, God taking punifliment on the wicked in this 
 life, executes ncru-1 *\X? C3tjia judgments in anger, 
 and in fury +. As in Egypt, he executed C3V30 
 cVl-13 great judgments ||. ( That all may know, P*T7* 
 XHtO cyOSVj tuat &* 7J a God that jidgeth in the 
 earth \. But why may not a judiciary punifhrneat be 
 alfo deemed compenfating ? 
 
 XXI. And then thofe punifhments of the wicked, 
 
 wllich the fcripture Calls nTOn, There is wwi and com- 
 
 rebukes, are fometimes fo deicri- pon&tmi bo rebuking; 
 bed, that they muft be compenfa- lhe kicked. 
 tins;. Pot what elfe is a compenfating punifliment, 
 but the vengeance which an offended God takes on 
 thofe that defpife him, in order to manifeft his hatred 
 ajrainff them ? Now, all this is contained in thofe con- 
 vincing rebukes, which the Lord denounces againft 
 the Philiftines: And I will execute great vengeance 
 ttpon them with furious rebukes [rebukes of great an- 
 ecr] ; and they jhall know that I am the Lord, wJxn I 
 Jball lay my vengeance upon them *~*. 
 
 XXI I. Convincing or rebuking punifhments are alfo 
 * no lefs compenfating. , Who (hall deny Compenfating pa- 
 that it is a compeuiating pumihmenr, nitlimems are alfo 
 when Godconfumcsthe wicked m his convincing. 
 fury ? For that in the higheft degree convinces them 
 of their guilt. Con/:: me them in -jurat h, confume thcm x 
 
 » Rom. i. 1 8. 1 Joh . Hi. 18. I ttzek. v. 15. |[ Exod. vi. 6. & vii. 4, 
 I Pfa}. I'.iii- 1 1. ti Bzck. txi. 17. 
 
$02 Of CHRIS T's Bookll. 
 
 ih at they may not be ; ana tet them know that God ruleth 
 in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth *. And furely no- 
 thing can convince the wicked more of the heinouf- 
 nefs of their fins, than a punifhment heightened to the 
 greateft degree, and in which there is a moll evident 
 demonftration of the wrath of God, fuch as a compen- 
 sating punimment is. Juftly therefore we reject that 
 diftinciion, which has not any foundation in fcrip- 
 ture, and whofe parts are contrary to the rules of 
 found logic. 
 
 XXIII. Moreover, though we mould admit that dif- 
 Punifhments merely tinction, how is it applicable to the 
 convincing had no Sufferings of Chrift ? Here, I own, I 
 place in Chrift. do not fully underftand the learned 
 author's meaning. To what purpofe is this diftinciion 
 of convincing and compenfating punifhments ? Is it, 
 that as the punifhments which the wicked endure in 
 this life, are only convincing ; and a compenfating pu- 
 nifhment will at length be inflicted, in the day of wrath 
 and judgment ; fo alfo the fufferings, which Chrift un- 
 derwent during the whole time of his life, anfwer to 
 thofe convincing punifhments, and the three hours 
 fufferings to the compenfating punimment ? But what 
 neceflity exacted convincing punifhments of Chrift, 
 feeing he both perfectly owned, and voluntarily con- 
 feffed, the guilt of thole fins he had taken upon him, 
 and moft willingly performed every thing by which he 
 might expiate that guilt ? Was it perhaps with this 
 view, that, from a fight of the fufferings of Chrift, be- 
 lievers might be convinced of their fins ? But that can- 
 not be done more effectually, than when they confider 
 them as punifhments due to their fins, and fo as a fa- 
 tisfaction for them. As therefore no punifhments of 
 Chrift can be faid to be merely convincing, it remains, 
 that all of them are compenfating or fatisfactory ; 
 which is what we contend for. 
 
 XXIV. The diftinction between judiciary and war- 
 
 .* Pfal. lix. 13. 
 
Chap. 6. satisfactory Sufferings. 303 
 
 like fufferings is no lefs impertinent. For All the fuffer- 
 Chrift incurred no fufferings but by the ings of Chrift 
 fentence of God the Judge. When Chrift judiciary. 
 was afflicted, the iniquity of us all WX ivas exacled *. But 
 that was the exaction of the Judge. When Satan, 
 with his infernal powers, aflaulted Chrift, then was 
 the power of darknefs f. A determinate fentence was 
 granted by God to the prince of darknefs to harafs 
 Chrift. And Chrift girding himfelf for that conflict, 
 had in view that fentence, or commandment of God, as 
 he himfelf fpeaks {. 
 
 XXV. What elfe is that very word Gen. iii. 15. Sentence 
 of God, from which the original of pafled both againit 
 thewarlikefufferingsisderived,than Chrift and the Went, 
 the fentence of God the Judge, againft the ferpent, 
 who was to be deftroyed by Chrift, and againft Chrift 
 as to his human nature, in which he trod the earth, 
 who was to be haraffed and flain by the ferpent ? I 
 would fain know, if what is foretold concerning the 
 bruiiing of his heel, does not alfo comprize thofe fuf- 
 ferings of Chrift, which are judiciary. If not, the firft 
 gofpel-promife does not explain the method of obtain- 
 ing falvation by the fatisfaclion of a Mediator : and 
 we are ordered to believe, that the words fignify lefs 
 than they can, or it is proper that they fhould, if, as 
 they fuppofc, they contain an enigmatical fummary 
 of things to be believed. But if, as is certainly right, 
 we allow, that the fatisfaclory fufferings of Chrift are 
 comprehended in thefe words, that new diftinction is 
 very improperly built upon them. 
 
 XXVI. Let us dwell a little longer on this medita- 
 tion. Whatever power the devil has chrift expofed to the 
 K) harafs wicked men, before he drag aflaults of the devil, 
 them to eternal death, he has it by onl y b Y lhe fentence 
 the righteous fentence of God the of God thc Jud S e ' 
 Judge, which Peter has expreffed ||. The elect them- 
 selves, as finners, were alio fubject to that power ; 
 and, on that account, are faid to be not only the prey 
 
 * \i. liii. 7. f Luke xxii. 53. ; Jchn xiv. 51. |J 2 Pc:. ii. 19. 
 
304 Op CH.RIST's Bookll. 
 
 of the mighty, but likewife of the lawful one *, he ha- 
 ving a right over them by the fentence of the fupreme 
 Judge. Jefus the Surety came in their room, who 
 therefore, in virtue of the fame fentence, became fub- 
 jecl: to the buffetings of Satan. And by this means all 
 the fufferings inflicled on him by the devil, were in 
 the moft proper fenfe judiciary. 
 
 XXVII. Nor is it any objection to this truth, that 
 Ko objection, that ^ ofe conflicfa with Satan proved glo- 
 the combat with nous to Chrift, as having endured 
 the devil proved them, becaufe of the juftice, and for 
 glorious to Chrift. advancing the glory of God. For all 
 Chris's fufferings, even thofe which, according to this 
 new hypothefis, we mall call judiciary, if the caufe and 
 c^ent be confidered, were highly glorious to him. He 
 never more glorioufly difplayed his love to God and 
 man, he never undertook a more excellent work, 
 which the whole choir of angels beheld with greater 
 applaufe, and God the Father himfelf was never more 
 pleafed with it, than when, hanging on the crofs, he 
 refoiutely ftruggled with the horrors of eternal death. 
 But it that be confidered as an evil, which is contrary 
 to nature, earneftly bent upon its own advantage $ 
 certainly, in thefe harailings of Satan, there was the 
 wrath of God againft fin, which Chrift had taken up- 
 on himfelf. 
 
 XXVill. What too mould hinder thofe fufferings, 
 Judiciary are al- which, according to this hypothefis, are 
 fo warlike fuf- judiciary, to be called warlike? For who 
 brings- will deny, that Chrift, when hangino- 
 
 on the crofs, was, as it were, wreftling with the in- 
 fernal powers, and the horrors of eternal death ? In- 
 deed, Paul teftifies, that Chrift had then made openly a 
 Jke-w of principalities and pszvsrs, triumphing over thetil 
 on the crofs f . * But who can refufe, that there was firfi: 
 a conflict before fuch a noble triumph and victory? 
 From all thefe things we conclude, that the diftir.c- 
 tionofpunimments into convincing and compenfating, 
 • Jf.-xlix. 24. 1.0\ ii 15. 
 
Chap.6. satisfactory Sufferings. 305 
 
 and of fufferings into warlike and judiciary, is un- 
 fcriptural, antifcriptural, and irrational. 
 
 XXIX. Let us now come to the arguments of the 
 oppolite fide, as far as we have had accefs Arguments for 
 to know them. Some of them are gene- the oppofice o- 
 ral againft all the fufferings of Chrift, and P inion - 
 others more fpecial againft fome parts of his fufferings* 
 The general ones are partly taken from fcripture, part- 
 ly from the apoftles creed, and partly from the cate- 
 chifm. 
 
 XXX. From fcripture they thus argue : 1. That the 
 fin of the whole earth fh all be removed in one day, From 
 
 according to Zech. iii. 9. And Paul feveral fcripture. 
 times affirms, that the one offering of Chrift, once made 
 on the crofs, was that expiatory facrifice, by which all 
 the elect are perfected * ; and therefore the preceding 
 fufferings of Chrift were not fatisfactory* 2. Further, 
 that Chrift, from the beginning of his life, was neither 
 a prieft, who could offer an expiatory facrifice, nor a 
 facrifice which could be offered. Not a prieft, becaufe 
 he could not lawfully be one before the thirtieth year 
 of his age : not a facriiicc, as a lamb could not be fuch 
 before the feventh day. But the truth of the types 
 ought to appear in Chrift. 3. Add, that Chrift thro* 
 the whole of his life, except for a few hours, was in 
 the favour of God; increafed in favour with God f ; 
 was acknowledged to be the beloved Son of Godt; 
 was glorified in the mount j| ; rejoiced in fpirit |. But 
 at the time in which he was in the favour of God, and 
 rejoiced, he did not bear the wrath of God. 
 
 XXXI. From the Creed it is obierved, that profeff- 
 ing our faith concerning the fatisfactcry iut- p r0 .-, t i 15 
 ferings of Chrift, we do not barely lay, that ap> 
 
 he fuffored, but that he fujfered under Pontius creed - 
 Pilule ; words never to be disjoined, to teach i-i>, that 
 only thofc fufferings were iadsiactory, which he en- ■ 
 dared under Pilate. 
 
 9 Heb. ix. 28. & x. 10. 12. 14. tLukeii.jz. \ Matth.ni. 17. 
 H Match, xvii, 2. 4 Luke x. ,i. 
 
 Vol. I. -} Q^<\ 
 
3o6 Of CHRIST 's BooklL 
 
 XXXII. From the [Heidelberg] catechifm are quoted 
 From the queftions 31. 67. 70. 75. 80. where the impe- 
 cate- tration of our falvation is referred to the one 
 chifm. offering of Chrift, once made on the crofs. 
 But as to what is alleged to the contrary from queft. 
 37. where it is faid, that " for the whole time of 
 " his life which he lived upon earth, efpecially at the 
 a end thereof, he fuftained the wrath or God againft 
 't, .the fin^of q.'l mankind, both in body and foul £*. 
 they aniwer, that to fuftain the wrath of God there, 
 'cannot fignify, to feel the wrath of God, but to be 
 •bound to endure it. They illuftrate and prove this 
 
 explication by queft. 6*4. where it is declared, con- 
 cerning unbelievers and hypocrites, that " the wrath 
 - " of God and*eternal damnation do lie on them fo 
 * c long as they go on in their fins :" which cannot be 
 underftood of a compenfating punifhment, unlefs we 
 would fuppoie, that the^wicked, by fuffering on earth, 
 make fatisfaction to divine juftice, which is abfurd. It 
 therefore follows, that we explain this of their being 
 obnoxious to divine wrath, and eternal damnation. 
 As, in the fame fenfe, our Lord declares, He that be- 
 lt ev el h not the Son, the wrath of God abide th on him *, 
 that is, he is obnoxious to wrath. 
 
 XXXIII, To thefe arguments we humbly reply, as 
 Sins cancelled, follows. To the first we fay, that all 
 when the urtermoft Chrift's fufferings together, ought to 
 fanning was paid. oe deemed one full accomplifhment of 
 that facerdotal office, which our Lord undertook, in 
 order to expiate our fins ; which at laft was fully 
 completed, when Chrift, dying on the crofs, offered 
 himfelf to the Father for a fweet-fmelling favour : then 
 the utmoft farthing was paid : which being done, God 
 declared, he was latisfied to the full, and on that day 
 he blotted out the fins of the whole earth, and expun- 
 ged them from his book. From whence it cannot be 
 inferred, that the preceding fufferings of Chrift were 
 not fatisfactory \ but that then only the fatisfaction 
 
 * John iii. 36. 
 
Chap. 6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 307 
 
 avis completed; of which completion this was the fruit, 
 that on that very day the fins of all the elect were 
 blotted out. And this is the mind of God in Zecha- 
 
 riah. But what Paul fo often Expiation of fin afcribed to 
 
 fpeaks of the one offering, by the crofb of Chriit, as the 
 which we are perfected, is to complement of his fuffexing*. 
 be underftood in the fame fenfe ; namely, fince the fuf- 
 ferings of Chrift, when hanging on the crofs, were the 
 mod grievous, and the complement of the whole, 
 therefore the fcripture commonly afcribes the expiation 
 of our fins to the crofs of Chrift ; becaufe, without 
 that, his foregoing fufferings had not been fufticicnt; 
 as the payment of the utmoft farthing completes the 
 fatisfaclion, which is immediately followed by tearing 
 the hand-writing, and giving a difcharge. 
 
 XXXIV. To the sj-cond we reply : That here many 
 things are aflerted, which we can by no chriit, from the 
 means yield to. 1. It is not true, that beginning of Mi 
 Chrift was not a prieft from the begin- Kfc a P neft - 
 
 ning of his life. For, from the beginning of his life, jx^* 
 he was the Chrift, that is, the Lord's anointed, no ids 1 
 to the facer dotal than to his other oilices. And fmce, r 
 when lying in the manger, lie was lulu ted King by the 
 wife men, and, when twelve years old, he (hewed 
 himfelfa Piophct amidft the doclors ; who will, after 
 all this, prefume to deprive him of the honour of his 
 frieflhood? And as it belonged to the priefts to jh. 
 in the houfe of the Lord*, was there not fome difplay 
 of his facerdotal office in that apology to his parent^ 
 Wift ye not that I mujl be about my Father's buftnefi \ f 
 Nay, even before his incarnation, he exhibited ionic 
 prelude of his priellly function by his intei ceflion for 
 the church}. We own indeed, that Chrift was pu- 
 blicly inaugurated, in the thirtieth year of his age, to 
 his mediatorial ollice : but we can no more inter troui 
 that, that Chrift was not a Prieft, than that he was 
 not Mediator, before that time. 
 
 XXXV. 1 cannot but here fubjoin the very iblid 
 • Pul. exxxiv. 1. \ Luke ii. 49. J Zcch< i. 12. 13. 
 
 <^ 4 2 
 
a 
 
 cc 
 
 308 Of CHRIST'S Book II. 
 
 ciopp enburg rcafoning of the celebrated Cloppenburg * : 
 
 praiied. « It C0 J ld not be> but thatj j n the daily 
 
 <c practice of piety, and the obedience due to God, 
 " which he performed in the days of his flefli, Chrift, 
 * c who knew his unction from a child, (as appears 
 cc from Luke ii. 49 .), mould offer prayers and fuppli- 
 ** cations for the falvation of the church, whofe King 
 <c and Saviour he was born; compare Luke ii. 11. 
 " with Heb. vii. 5. And nothing hinders us to extend 
 *< the words of the apoftle to all the days of his flefli, 
 " and all the fufferings he endured from his infancy ; 
 * £ becaufe by thefe he learned obedience : and fo it was 
 €C altogether the conftant apprenticefhip or noviciate 
 * c of the mediatorial office of Chrift, who walked from 
 a child with God : wherein he from day to day ful- 
 filled, by a perfevering obedience, the work which 
 the Father had given him for the redemption of the 
 church, which was to be fully completed by crown- 
 " ing his whole obedience with the offering up of 
 *' himfelf a facrifice, when he mould be publicly call- 
 * c ed thereto, John xvii. 4. Acts ii. 23." 
 
 XXXVI. 2. Neither is it true, that Chrift was not a 
 Chrift, from the beginning facrifice from the beginning of his 
 of his life, a facrihee. life. For though his offering was 
 completed on the crofs, and by his death, yet he was 
 even before that the Lamb of God, that taketh away the 
 
 fin of the world f . The iniquities of us all were laid 
 upon him ; and it was for no other caufe, that he car- 
 ried the form of a fervant, and the likenefs of finful 
 flefli, and, though he was rich, yet, for our fakes, 
 became poor 5 and in fine, was expofed, from his very 
 infancy, to griefs, forrows, and persecutions. All 
 thefe calamities proceeded from this, that, as both 
 prieft and facrifice, he took our fins upon himfelf, in 
 prder to their being at laft wholly abolifhed by his 
 death. 
 
 XXXVII. 3. The proof of this paradoxical aflertion, 
 
 * Ex. difputat. devita Chrifti privata, § 15. 16, t johni. zq. 
 
Chap.6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 309 
 
 taken from the types of the Old The contrary not 
 Teftament, is in many refpects de- proved by the types, 
 fective. For, (1.) There is no folid foundation for 
 that hypothecs, that all the circumftances of the 
 types ought, in the fame manner, to be found in the 
 antitype. Otherwife it would follow, that Chrift 
 muft have been (lain at a year old, according to the 
 type of the pafchal lamb. (2.) It is alfo a ram afler- 
 tion, that none could act as a prieft before his thirtieth 
 year. There is no fuch command in the facred writings. 
 The Levites, indeed, were, by the Annal law, not ad- 
 mitted to the noviciate before their twenty-fifth year*, 
 nor before their thirtieth year, to the full exercife of 
 their function f . " But indeed I find no where a- 
 " mong the Rabbins," fays Selden J, " that the years 
 " of the Levites, as Levites, indicated the legal age 
 u cf the priefts. And I very much wonder, great 
 " men fhould admit of this, even while they marply 
 u criticife upon others." It is the conftant tradition 
 of the Hebrews, that a prieft is fit for his office at his 
 thirteenth year, after his years of puberty, though he 
 is not bound to take his turn with the reft, before his 
 twentieth year. See Outram defacrijic. lib. i.e. 5. § 3. 
 Jofephus relates of Ariftobulus, " that when a young 
 u man, and out of his feventeenth year, he, by the 
 " law, afcended the altar to ofliciate." 'Tis aftoniih- 
 ing, the very learned perfon did not attend to thefe 
 things, which, from his fkill in the Hebrew ritual, he 
 could not be ignorant of. (3.) If this argument is to 
 be urged, it would thence follow, that Chi id could 
 have been a facritice after the feventh day from his 
 birth, and immediately upon his thirtieth year, be a 
 prieft ; which is contrary to what is fuppofed in the 
 icntiment we here oppofe. 
 
 XXX VIII. To the third, we reply, 1. That the 
 question is not, whether Chrift did, all j n what f en(c 
 his life long, lb endure the wrath of God, Chrhi endured 
 
 * Numb, v i 1 i . 24. t Numb. iv. 3. X Dc fucceflion. ad pontiiicat. 
 JLbiceor. lib. ii. c ^. 
 
310 Of C H R I S T's BookIL 
 
 l5 e , "Jn? , ? f as * n tne mean time to be favoured with 
 
 God all his life. nQ confo l ation> with no j Qy of the g^ 
 
 comforting him ? None will affirm this. But theque- 
 ftion is, whether all thofe fufferings, which Chrift at 
 any time endured, and all that form of a fervant 
 which he aflumed, belong to the perfection of his fa- 
 tisfaclion ? A thing that cannot be overthrown by 
 fome mining intervals of joy, now and then. 2. 
 
 Which he ^° ^ e t ^ ie De ^ ove ^ S° n of God, and at the 
 could bear, fame time to fufFer the wrath of God, are 
 and be the not fuch contrary things, as that they can- 
 
 b f 1 r C H S ° n n0t ^ an< ^ t0 5 etner - * 0r > aS ^° n J aS tne 
 
 holy one, while obeying the Father in all 
 things, he was always beloved ; and indeed moft of 
 all, when obedient even to the death of the crofs : for 
 that was fo pleafing to the Father, that, on account 
 of it, he raifed him to the higheft pitch of exalta- 
 tion *, though, as charged with our fins, he felt the 
 wrath of God, burning, not againft himfelf, but a- 
 gainft our fins, which he had taken upon himfelf. 
 Who can doubt, that Chrift, even hanging on the 
 crofs, was in the higheft love and favour of God, fo 
 far as he was Son, though at the fame time he was 
 made a curfe for our fins ? 3. It has never been 
 proved, that it was a thing improper and inconfiftenr, 
 for Chrift to have fome mitigation granted him, while 
 he fatisfied for our fins, by means of fome rays of 
 confolation, at intervals, mining in upon him, by 
 which he might be animated refolutely to acquit him- 
 felf in the conflict. Nor is it credible, that he had 
 always the fenfation of divine wrath, or that it was 
 always equally intenfe, even on the very crofs itfelf ; 
 or that he was as much prefled down by his agonies, 
 when he made a promife of paradife to the thief, and 
 fpoke fo affectionately with his mother and John, as 
 when he complained, that he was forfaken of God. 
 See that kind addrefs of God the Father to Chrift, 
 
 * Phil. ii. 9. 
 
Chap. 6. satisfactory Sufferings. 311 
 
 when he was defpifed by every one, and abhorred by the 
 people ', and a fervant of rulers *. 
 
 XXXIX. What is argued from the creed, fcarce de- 
 ferves any anfwer. For when The creed denies not all" 
 Chrift is laid to have fuffered un- the fufferings of Chrift 
 der Pontius Pilate, nothing lefs is to be fatis factory. 
 hinted than a diftinction of the fatisfaefcory fufferings 
 of Chrift from thofe which are not : a fiction, I ima- 
 gine, that none ever thought of. But the time is 
 limply indicated, in which Chrift completed his fuffer- 
 ings, and the perfon, by whofe authority he was con- 
 demned to the crofs. Nor will the maintainer of this 
 paradox affirm, that all the fufferings, which Chrift: 
 endured under Pilate, or by his authority, were fatif- 
 factory ; fince both the fcourging, and thofe indigni- 
 ties, which Chrift fuffered in the pretorium, and his 
 condemnation, nay, his very crucifixion and death, 
 muft be excluded thence, if the fatisfaction is to be 
 reftriefced to the three hours of darknefs. 
 
 XL. It is without doubt that violence is done the ca- 
 techifm, which refers the impetration of our violence 
 falvation to the one offering of Chrift, with done to the 
 no other defign, than what Paul does, whofe catechifm. 
 meaning I have already explained. The words of queft. 
 37. appear to be perverted and mifinterpreted. 1. Be- 
 caufe it is an anfwer to this quellion, " What belie- 
 w veft thou, when thou fayeft, he suffered ?" Now, 
 that expreflion, He fuffered, does not fignify the bare 
 fufecption of guilt, but the enduring of forrov.s. 
 2. \t to endure the wrath of God does not there fignify 
 to feci it, but only to take its guilt upon himfelf, it 
 would follow, that even at the clofe of his life he did 
 not feel the wrath of God. For, in the fame fenfe, 
 the catechifm affirms that very thing of the whole of 
 Chrift's life, and of the clofe thereof. ^.Urfinusis a 
 more faithful interpreter of the catechifm, when he 
 writes, " Under the appellation of fullering, are un- 
 " derftood, all the infirmities, miferies, griefs, rack*. 
 
 * If. xlix. 7. 
 
312 Of CHRIST'S Book II. 
 
 " ing tortures of foul and body, to which, on our ao 
 <c count, Chrift was obnoxious, from his nativity to 
 <c his laft breath," &c. 4. 'Tis in vain tofeek for any 
 pretence to this forced fenfe from queft. 84. and John 
 iii. 36. For it is not an obnoxioufnefs to the wrath of 
 God that alone hangs over unbelievers and hypo- 
 crites ; but they are really in a ftate of wrath and 
 curfe ; and that curfe, which they are now under, is 
 the beginning and a part of thofe pains, which they 
 fliall fufler for ever. 
 
 XLI. The more fpecial arguments and exceptions, 
 Morefpecial either regard the death of Chrift, or his a- 
 arguments, gonies in the garden, or are taken from the 
 beginning and end of the folar eclipfe ; which I mail 
 fet in fuch a light, as at the fame time to refute 
 them. 
 
 XLII. If any fhalt fay, that the fcripture, when a- 
 
 fcribing our redemption to the death 
 
 ™% v\ of Chrift, means by that death thofe 
 
 Chrift, which is a ' r . ' r 1,1 
 
 ranfom, fignifies very intenfe pains of eternal death, 
 not only the paias which Chrift endured both in foul 
 of eternal death, anc j. body together, when he com- 
 bat alio the death la j d ^ t he ^ f or fak cn f his 
 of the body. *L _ \ r . . \ . . 
 
 God ; I anfwer, that indeed they 
 
 are not, on any account, to be fecloded from the 
 compafs of the word death ; but that the death of 
 Chrift is not to be fo confined to them, as to exclude 
 the death of the body, or the feparation of foul and 
 body. For Peter fpeaks exprefsly of the death of the 
 fiefly *, and the whole fcripture afcribes our ranfom to 
 that death, from which Chrift arofe by his refurrec- 
 tion : and in fine, Paul makes the facrifice which 
 Chrift offered, to confift in a death, which is like to 
 that which is appointed for all men once to under- 
 go f , and which J is a facrifice, and was fhadowed 
 forth by the flaying of the legal facrifices. And we 
 have already mentioned feveral places, which cannot, 
 without manifeft violence, be fo explained, as to ex- 
 • i Pet. Hi. 18. tHeb.ix, 27. \ Ver. 26. 
 
Chap. 6. satisfactory Sufferings. 313 
 
 elude the death of the body from from being inclu- 
 ded in his death. 
 
 XL1II. If you object, that Chrift had before faid, 
 7/ is finifhed ; I anfwer, it ought to be i n what fenfe 
 underftoodot his finiftiing all thofe things, Chrift faid, It is 
 which he was to fufter and do in life, fo finl ^ ed - 
 that nothing remained, but to conclude the whole bf 
 a pious death. Juft as Paul faid* I have finified my 
 courfe * ; and Chrift himfelf, / have Jini'hed the work 
 which thou gavejl me to do f . Whence one would ab- 
 furdly infer, that there remained for Chrift, on fay- 
 ing this, nothing further to be done or fuffered ; 
 when he was flill to be made perfect by his laft fuf- 
 ferings. The meaning is evident ; namely, that Chrift^ 
 in discharging his office, had perfectly performed all 
 he was thus far to perform. 
 
 XLIV. If you inlift upon it, that his death was 
 calm and gentle, without the appearance ch rift's gentle 
 of any pains of eternal death, having al- death not with- 
 ready undergone thefe : I anfwer, it was out a curl ~~ 
 a gentle death indeed, in fo far as the faith of Chrift, 
 now victorious over all temptations, was well appri- 
 zed, that he had furmounted the greateft pains, and 
 was fecure about his refurrection and the promifed re- 
 ward ; but yet he died a curfed death, inflicted by the 
 wrath of God againft fin ; and the curie of it was typi- 
 cally figured by his hanging on the tree, which ftill 
 continued in and after death. For, while he hung on, 
 the tree, fo far he was doubtlefs under the curie, ac- 
 cording to Gal. iii. 13. By which is fignified, that 
 his punifhment ought to be taken as holding forth 
 guilt, and the curie of God. 
 
 XLV. But, fay you, believers are flill to die ; and 
 therefore Chrift did not fatisfy for The death »f believers no 
 
 them by his death. I anfwer, the argument agair.fl the fatis- 
 
 catechumens have been taught f^tory death cf Chri:>. 
 to anfwer this objection horn qucft. 42. of the 
 # 2Tim.1v. 7. f lohnfttii a. 
 
 V01.I. tRr 
 
314 Of CHRIST'S Book II. 
 
 Heidelberg catechifm *. By the death of Chrift, death 
 hath ceafed to be, what it was before, the punifh- 
 ment inflicted by an offended judge, and the en- 
 trance into the fecond death, and is become the exter- 
 mination of fin, and the way to eternal life; and at 
 the laft day it fhall be altogether abolifhed. And if 
 you go on to argue in this manner, I (hall eafily make 
 it appear from your own hypothecs, that even that 
 very anguifh of Chrift, when he complained of his 
 being forfaken of God, was not fatisfactory for us ; 
 for believers themfelves often complain of fpiritual 
 defertion : But Zionfaid, HVT ^Hty, The Lord hath for- 
 faken me, If. xlix. 14. Where we have the very fame 
 word, which the Lord Jefus ufes, Pfal. xxii. 2. And 
 Zion fays fo truly, with refpeft to the fenfe of grace, and 
 the influence of fpiritual confolation. The difference 
 between the defertion, whereby Chrift was forfaken 
 of his Father, and that of believers, confifts in this, 
 that, in the former, there was the wrath and curfe of 
 God, and the formal nature of punifhment, which 
 are not in the latter ; neither are thefe in their death. 
 XLV1. As to what is objected to our argument, ta- 
 The being (lengthened ken from the agonies of Chrift in 
 hy an angel, no obje&ion Gethfemane, it is pretended, that 
 to the fu£t rings in the gar- tne f e fufferings were not iatisfac- 
 
 den being iausfadory. tQry ^ ^ yery ^^ ^ then 
 
 an angel appeared to comfort him ; whereas a good 
 angel could not have done this, without a moil grie- 
 vous fin againft God, if Chrift was then actually ma- 
 king fatistaclion ; efpecially as he was to tread this 
 wine-prefs alone, and it was foretold, that, while 
 making fatisf action, he mould be deprived of aii con- 
 folation, There is none to take pity, comforters I found 
 none f : this argument is very inconclufive. For, 
 I. That angel did not tread the wine-prefs toge- 
 ther with the Lord Jefus; nor was any part of his fuf- 
 
 * Q.But fince Chi iit died for us, why muft we alfo die? A. Our death 
 is net a fatisfaclion for fin, but the abolishing of fin, and our paiTage in- 
 to everlafting life. 
 
 f Pfal. Ixix. 20. 
 
Chap.6. SATISFACTORY SUFFERINGS. 315 
 
 fcrings laid upon him; nor, by any natural influence, 
 did he affift Chrift in carrying that burden. He 
 itrengthened Chrift no otherwife than in a moral fenfe, 
 by fetting before him the glorious iflue of the conflict 
 he had undertaken, and by other arguments to the like 
 purpofe. 2. There is no reafon, why fome fmall (hare 
 of comfort fhould not be adminiftered to Chrift, while 
 in the act of making fatisfaclion ; efpecially if done 
 with a view to preferve him for more, and not fewer 
 fuflerings. The words of Pfal. Ixix. are not to be 
 taken in fuch a general fenfe, as to exclude all man- 
 ner of confolation and pity : for a great company of 
 people and of women bewailed him *, as did alio all the 
 people that came together to that fight •, and fmote upon 
 their breafts f , and the beloved difciple John, and above 
 all his pious mother, whofe foul then a fword pierced J. 
 Nor is there any thing in the words of the pfahn, 
 which obliges us to confine thefe things to the three 
 hours darknefs. It treats of that time, in which they 
 gave him gall for his meat, and in his thirjl gave him 
 vinegar to drink ||, which was not done during the dark- 
 nefs. 3. It cannot be inferred, that God the Father, 
 in fending that angel, had not then either affumed 
 or then laid afide the character of a ftrict and impar- 
 tial judge ; any more than it can be inferred, that the 
 minds of 1 brill's enemies were difpofed to pity, when 
 they laid the crofs on Simon of Cyrene, in order that 
 he might carry it after him. For both was done with 
 a view, left Chrift finking under his prefent pains, 
 fliould efcape thole that were to cnfue. 4. We fhall by 
 this be better able to form a judgment of the incre- 
 dible load of anguifh, with which that mighty Lion of 
 the tribe of Tudah was fo preiTed down, that he ap- 
 peared almoft ready to fink under it, unlefs he was, in 
 fome manner at leaft, heartened. 5. Nor, on any 
 pretence, can that angel beaccufed of any bad action, 
 in ftrengthening Chrift, while fatisfyingfjr us ; fince, 
 
 • Lukexxiii. 27. t Vcr. 48. t Luke ii. 3c. 
 
 II Vcr. 21. 
 
 R r 2 
 
3 i6 Of CHRIST'S, &c. Bookll. 
 
 by that confolation, he neither went about to rob 
 Chrift of his glory, to whom alone the praife of faif- 
 fying remains entire ; nor to oppofe the decree of 
 God, to execute which with refolution he animated 
 Chrift ; nor to put any bar in the way of our falva- 
 tion, to acquire the right to which by conftancy in his 
 fufferings he encouraged the Lord. x t. 
 
 XLVII. To pretend to infer from the beginning and 
 Thefohreclipfeno- end of the iolar eclipfe, during the 
 thing to the prefent paflion of Chrift, the beginning and 
 purpofe. en ^ f hi s fatisfaction, is a cabbalifti- 
 
 cal fancy, founded neither on fcripture, nor folid rea- 
 fon. I will not deny, that, in that darknefs, there 
 was a kind of type of the very thick darknefs, with 
 which the greatly-diftrefled foul of the Lord Jefus was 
 then overwhelmed, without a fingle ray of confolation 
 breaking in upon him, but what his unfhaken faith, 
 grounded on the inviolable promifes of his Father, 
 and not daggering as to the certainty of the future re-* 
 ward, darted in at times upon his trembling foul* 
 But the queftion is not, Whether Chrift was then ac- 
 tually fatisfying ? this we all allow : the queftion is, 
 whether then only ? 
 
 XLVIII. But let us now conclude this debate; which 
 Ccnclu^ has fo much difquieted the mind of this very 
 fion. learned perfon, as his friends wanted the world 
 fhould know from letters, publifhed after his death. 
 But God and my copfcience are my witneffes, that 
 nothing but the love of truth, which is only to be 
 derived from, and defended by the fcriptures, obliged 
 me to enter upon this fubjecl:. I know not in what 
 I can be blamed, unlefs in the liberty I have taken to 
 diflent from the author. But if, by taking a wrong 
 pa til, I have ftrayed from the truth, how acceptable 
 will the kind admonition be ! How readily fhall I own 
 and correct the error ! I heartily wifh, we could ge- 
 nerally endeavour to pleafe ourfelves lefs, in order to 
 pleafe God more. I ever had a veneration for this 
 learned per!bn 3 though, after our dilpute, I found lie 
 
Chap. 7- The EFFECT, &c. 317 
 
 was much difgufted. But I thought this mould be no 
 hinderance to my profiting by his learned commen- 
 taries, which I own I did, with a juft commendation 
 of the author ; as my other writings abundantly te- 
 ftify, I have done, and that very fincerely. 
 
 y CHAP. VII. 
 
 Of the EffeB of Chrift s Satisfaction. 
 
 TH E effeft of Chrift's fatisfaftion is twofold: The 
 firfl regards Chrift himfelf ; the chriit by hisfatisfac- 
 cther, the etecl. Chriit, by his fatif- tion obtained a right 
 faction, obtained for himfelf as Me- to all the eled. 
 diator, a right to all the elect : which the Father 
 willingly and defervedly bellows upon him \ Afk ef 
 me, and I Jhall give thee the Heathen for thine inheri- 
 tance, and the uttermaft parts of the earth for thy poffef- 
 fion *. This is Chrift's nfyfi, work with his God, that 
 he Jlmdd not only be his fervant, to raife up the tribes of 
 Jacob, and to rejlcre the preferred of Ifrael ; but that 
 he fbould be given for 'a light to the Gentiles, that he 
 might be God's falvation unto the end of the earth ]. It 
 appears alfo from that promife, If his foul Jhall 
 make iff elf an offering for Jin, he Jhall fee his feed J. 
 And thus we become his inheritance ||, his peculiar 
 treafure \, his peculiar people *•«■. 
 
 II. Befides, it is'rtot poilible, but Chrift fltouW ex- 
 ercife that right, which he acquired Which right he can- 
 at fo dear a rate. When, according to not but excrcife. 
 the determinate counfel of the divine decree, the 
 time of the gracious vifitation of every one of the e- 
 lcct is come, he actually delivers them, as his proper- 
 ty, by an outfiretched arm. And why fliould he not ? 
 Seeing he can eaiily effect: it by the power of his Spirit, 
 turning and inclining their heart. Is it credible, he 
 fliould fuller thofe, who are his lawful right, to be 
 
 * Pfal. ii. 9. f If. x!ix. 4. 6. t If. liii. jo. |j fch, i. 
 4 Pitf, exxxv. 4. m Tit. ii. 14. & 1 Pet. i:. 5. 
 
 1 1. 
 
3i8 Of the EFFECT of Book II. 
 
 and to remain the flaves of Satan ? Is it worthy of Chrift, 
 that he fhould not be actually glorified in the fanctifi- 
 cation and happinefs of thofe, for whom he under- 
 went fo much infamy ? or fhould fuffer any of thofe 
 to perifh, whom he purchafed for his own poffeflion 
 by his precious blood ? Chrift himfelf hath taught us 
 thus to reafon : And other fheep I have, which are 
 not of this fold ; them alfo I mufl bring, and they Jhall 
 hear my voice *. Becaufe thefe (heep were of right his 
 property, it therefore became him actually to lay hold 
 of them as his own, and bring them into his fold. 
 Nor can the right of Chrift be made ineffectual, or re- 
 main without actual poffeflion ; especially, as he was 
 not promifed by the Father a bare right, but alfo a 
 poffeflion by right upon his making fatisf action -, as the 
 places above quoted evince. 
 
 III. The Lord Jefus obtained for the elecl, by his fa- 
 He obtained for the tisfacUon, an immunity from all mi- 
 ele&, immunity from fery, and a right to eternal life, to 
 mifery, and a right to be applied unto them in effectual 
 life everlafhng. ca ]li n g, regeneration, falsification, 
 
 confervation, and glorification. This the fcripture 
 declares. Thus, This is my blood of the New Tefla- 
 ment, which is fhed for many for the remiffion of fins f . 
 He gave himfelffor our fins, that he might deliver us from 
 this prefent evil world, according to the will of God and 
 our Father J. Gave himfelffor us, that he might redeem 
 us from all iniquity, and purify unto himfelf a peculiar 
 people, zealous of good works || . Chrifl loved the church, 
 and gave himfelf for it, that he might fanclify it — that 
 he might prefent it to himfelf a glorious church +, &c. In 
 a word, This is that faithful faying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Chrifl Jefus came into the world tofave 
 ftnners +i.' By thefe and many other like paffages, 
 which it would be needlefs to enumerate here, it evi- 
 dently appears, that the effect of Chrift's fatisfa&ion 
 was not a bare pofflbility of the remijfwn of our fins, 
 
 • John x. 16. f Matth. xxvi. 28. \ GaL i. 4, 1| Tit. ii, 14. 
 4 Eph.v. 25. 26. 27. ♦* 1 Tim. i, 15, 
 
Chap. 7- CHRlST's Satisfaction. 319 
 
 and of our reconciliation with God, but an actual re- 
 mijjion and reconciliation, an abolition of the dominion 
 of fin, and at length falvation itfelf : of which it is not 
 poiilble the elect fhould have no fhare, unlefs Chrift 
 fliould be deemed to have fatisfied the Father for them 
 to no purpofe. It is certainly incumbent on us, ne- 
 ver to enervate the force of the words of the Holy 
 Ghoft ; leaft of all in thofe places and expreffions of 
 fcripture, where the fubject of our falvation is deliver- 
 ed ; nor to detract in any thing from the value of the 
 fatisfaction of our Lord. 
 
 IV. This truth alfo appears from thofe places of 
 fcripture, in which the fatisfaction jhe fatisfaftion of Chrift 
 of Chrift is called d-roKifr^iQ, a re- therefore faid to be a re- 
 demption, made by the payment demption. 
 
 of tor?*, a ranfom, or «\t/xJt/>v, a price of redemption. 
 For the proximate effect of redemption, and of the 
 payment of a ranfom, is the fetting the captive at li- 
 berty, not a bare pofiibility of liberty. It is neither 
 cuftomary, nor equitable, that, after paying the price, 
 it mould dill remain uncertain, whether the captive 
 is to be fet free or not. A true redeemer procures the 
 reftitution of liberty to the miferable captive, where- 
 ever good faith and an agreement are of force. One 
 may poflibly treat about the price, though uncertain 
 of the event ; but it is neither prudent nor juft, to 
 make any payment, before what is ftipulated be made 
 fure and firm. The fcripture itfelf defines redemption 
 fo, ihal it makes the proximate effect of it to be the 
 actual rcmiffion of fins, and our reftoration to liberty. 
 We are juftifed freely by his grace, through the redemp- 
 tion that is in Chrift Jefus *. In whom we have redemp* 
 tion through his bloody the forgivenefs of ftns, according 
 to the riches of his grace f. And Col. i. 14 is to the fame 
 purpofe. In like manner, Heb. ix. 12. By his own blood 
 he obtained eternal redemption for us ; the fruit of which 
 is eternal liberty and ialvation. 
 
 V. Of the like nature are thofe phrafes, by which 
 
 • Rom, iii. 24. I Eph. i. 7. 
 
3*q Of the EFFECT of BooklL 
 
 And believers are the elect are faid to be fought with a 
 faid to be purcha- price, purchafed with blood, redeemed by 
 fed by Chriil. Cbrijl's fubjedion to the law : as I Cor. 
 
 vi. 29. Te are bought with a price. Acts xx. 28. To 
 feed the church of God, which he bath purchafed with 
 bis own blood* Gal. iv. 4. 5. Made under the law, to 
 redeem them that were under the law. Now, whoe- 
 ver makes a purehafe of any thing, has an unqueftion- 
 able right to it, and it not only may, but actually does 
 become his property, in virtue of his purehafe, upon, 
 paying down the price. And herein confift our liber- 
 ty and falvation, that we are no longer our own, nor 
 the property of fin, nor of Satan, but the property 
 of Chrift. Whence it appears, that the effect of 
 Chrift's fatisfaction is not a bare poflibility of our fal- 
 vation, but falvation itfelf. 
 
 VI. A right to all the benefits of the covenant of 
 A right to all the bene- F"ace ^ purchafed at once to all 
 fits of the teftament pur- the elect by the death of Cnriit, 
 chafed at once to all the fo far as that, confiftently with 
 eua by Chrift's death. t h e truth and julHce of God, and 
 with the covenant he entered into with his Son, he 
 cannot condemn any of the elect, or exclude them 
 from partaking in his falvation ; nay, on the contra- 
 ry, he has declared, that fatisfaclion being now made 
 by his Son, and accepted by himfelf, there is nothing 
 ior the elect either to fuffer or do, in order to acquire 
 either exemption from punifhment, or a right to life ; 
 feut that it only remains, that each of them, in their 
 own order and time, enjoy the right purchafed for 
 them by C.hriit, and the inheritance arifing from it. 
 And this is what the apoftle fays, God was in Chrift 
 reconciling the wprld to himfelf not imputing their trefpaf 
 fes untq them *. That is, feeing God accepted of the of- 
 fering of his §on, when he gave himfelf up to death 
 for his people, he received, at the fame time, into fa- 
 vour, not only the preferved of Ifrael, but alfo all na- 
 tions, and all families of the earth, which in other 
 • 2, Cor. v. 19. 
 
Chap. 7. CHRIST'S Satisfaction. 321 
 
 refpects, lay in wickednefs, and were liable to the 
 wrath of God, declaring that fatis faction was now 
 made to him for their fins, and that thefe could no 
 longer be imputed to them for condemnation, nor for 
 excluding from his faving grace. 
 
 VII. To the fame purpofe is that, Zech. iii. 9. For 
 behold, the ft one that I have laid before Jo- Zech. iii. 9. 
 ftjua : upon one ft one Jhall be /even eyes ; behold, explained. 
 / will engrave the graving* thereof, faith the Lord cf hofts, 
 and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 
 The ftone here is doubtlefs the Lord Jems Chriit, as 
 Dan. ii. 34. Pfal. cxviii. 22. on which the church is 
 built, and by which it is fupported. It is laid before 
 Jolhua and his companions the priefts, that, as archi- 
 tects, they may lay it for the foundation of faith, ac- 
 knowledge it as the corner- ftone, and build thereon 
 both themfelves and other believers. This ftone is but 
 one : for other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, 
 which is Jefus Chrift *. Upon this none there are fe* 
 ven eyes, either of God the Father, viewing it with 
 care and pleafure, or of the church univerfal, looking 
 to it by faith. Its gravings engraved by God, repre- 
 sent thoie very clear indications or characters, by which 
 lie may and ought to be diftinguifhed, as one given by 
 the Father to be a Saviour ; among which characters 
 were thofe fuflerings, by which he was to be made 
 perfect. Thefe things being done, to fhew that all 
 the iigns of the Meffith were in him, God declares, 
 that he would remove the iniquity of all that land (clearly 
 Signifying the whole world, according to the iynecdo- 
 che juit explained) in one day, together and at once, 
 in the lalt day ot Chi ill's paflion. Thus by ChrifVs 
 fatisfartion we are taught, that deliverance from iin, 
 -and all the happy effects, of that immunity, were pur- 
 chafed together and at once for all the eleei in general. 
 
 VIII; Ii is however certain, that true favin 
 
 * i Cor. iii. II. 
 
 Vol. I. ft i 
 
322 Of the EFFECT of Book II. 
 
 Hence the elcel, even before fi , tS J ire bcftowcd Oil none of the 
 
 their efFeclual calling, have elect, before he be effectually 
 feveral privileges above the called, and actually united to 
 re P robate - Chrift by a lively faith : but 
 
 that did not hinder Chrift, by his fatisfaction, from 
 purchafing for all the elect at once, a right to thofe be- 
 nefits, in order to their poffefling and enjoying them, 
 in their appointed time. Nay, before actual conver- 
 fion, and the poffeflion of faving blefiings, they are fa- 
 voured with no contemptible privileges above the re- 
 probate, in virtue of the right which Chrift purchafed 
 for them. Such as, i. That they are in a ftate of re- 
 conciliation and juftification * actively confidered, fa- 
 tisfaction having been made for them by Chrift, as we 
 fee from 2 Cor. v. 19. That is, that God confiders 
 them as perfons for whom his Son has fatisfied, and pur- 
 chafed a right to eternal life. 2. That God loves them 
 with a pcculir love of benevolence, according to the 
 decree of election \ which love of benevolence will, at 
 the time appointed, certainly iffue in a love of compla- 
 cency. For as it proceeded from a love of benevo- 
 lence, that Chrift was given to be their Saviour ; io 9 
 fatisfaclion being made, God, in confequence of the 
 lame love, will form them, fo as he may defervedly 
 acquiefce in them, as fit objects of his love of compla- 
 cency. May we not refer to this, what God fays, / 
 have loved thee with an everlafling kve, therefore with lo- 
 vivg-kindnefs have I drawn thee f ? 3. It is the effect of 
 this love, that they are favoured with the means of fal- 
 vation, the preaching of the gofpel, &c. accompanied 
 with fome internal illumination, and fome incitement 
 to good, though not yet faving : and that with this de- 
 iign, that, in their own time, they may be effectually 
 converted by thofe means. 4. Hence it likewife fol- 
 lows, that God preferves them, while living under the 
 means of falvation, from the fin againft the Holy 
 Ghoft ; from which no one is converted. 5. and laft- 
 
 * b'ce § uk of this chap, where this is further explained. 
 I Jer. xxxi. 3. 
 
Chap. 7. CHRIST'S Satisfaction. 323 
 
 ly, The Spirit is given them, rendering thofc means 
 effectual, to their actual and complete regeneration, 
 and uniting them to Chrift by the infulion of faith, 
 in order to their enjoying benefits truly faving. 
 
 IX. As matters ft and thus, we may eifily gather, 
 what judgment we are to form of the notions Armi.-.i^'s 
 of Arminius and his followers, on this point, opinion. 
 Arminius propofes his fentiment> in Examine fradejihi. 
 Perkinf. p. 75. 76. as follows : " Let us add to all theie 
 things, by way of conclufion, the proper and immedi- 
 ate effect of the death and paflion of Chrift. Now, it 
 is not an actual removal of fin from this or that par- 
 ticular perfon, nor actual remifiion of fins, nor j uni- 
 fication, nor the actual redemption of thir or that per- 
 fon, which none can have without faith and the Spirit 
 of Chrift : but the reconciliation of God, the impetn 
 tion of remifiion, juftification, and redemption be. ore 
 God : hence God now may, notwithft meting his j-u- 
 ftice, which is fatisfied, forgive men their fins, and be- 
 ftow the Spirit of grace upon them : though he w$S 
 really inclined before, from his own mercy, (fbr from 
 that he gave Chrift to be the Saviour of the world), to 
 confer thefe things on finncrs, yet'his juftice prevent- 
 ed the actual communication of them. How ever, God 
 hasftill an entire right to beftow thofe benefits on whom 
 he pleafes, and on what conditions he things proper 
 to prefcribe. And, on the contrary, if we a_rce to 
 fuch a method of mediation, as you, Perkins, feem to 
 approve of, namely, that the fins of all the elect w 
 actually removed from them, and la ; d upon Chriii, 
 who, having fuffered for them, did actually deliver 
 them from puniihrnent ; and that obedience was requi- 
 red of him, who accordingly performed it, and there- 
 by merited eternal life, not for lumfclf, but for them; 
 no otherwife than if we ourfelves had appointed th s 
 Mediator in our room, and by him had paid our debts 
 to God ; we mult now likewise believe, that, accor- 
 ding to the very rigour of God'l juftice and law. :, 
 dom from punifhment and eternal life arc du. 
 
 b i 2 
 
324 Of the ETFECT of Book IT. 
 
 elect, and that they may demand thefe benefits from 
 God. in right. of payment and purchafe made, and yet 
 God have no manner of right to demand of them faith 
 in Chrift, and converiion to God. Bat it is not eafy to 
 fay with how many abfurdities this opinion is charged. 
 I .vill confine it only by one argument, but a very co- 
 gent one, and taken from the apoitohc writings. The 
 nghteotifaefs wrought out by Chrift is not ours, as 
 wrought out, but as imputed to us by faith, lb that 
 faitli itfelf is faid to be imputed to us for righteoufnefs, 
 Horn. iv. 5." Thus far Arminius, whofe very words 
 almoft we have exhibited, omitting only thole which 
 are not to the purpoie in hand. His followers have 
 things of the like nature, in their Scripta Synodalia, 
 adding, that the impetration is fuch, that, " from tlie 
 *- nature of the thing, it may remain entire, and be 
 " every way perfect, though there were none to ap- 
 " ply to it, or none to enjoy the benefit of it." 
 
 X. There are many things in this difcourfe, which 
 Which are are confiftent neither with fcholaflic accura- 
 neither ac- cy, nor with the other tenets of the llemon- 
 curate; ftrants, nor with theological truth: which 
 we are now to fhew in order. 1. Arminius docs not 
 fpeak accurately, in faying, that the proper effect of 
 the death and paflion of Chrift is not the actual rcmii- 
 iion of iins, nor justification, nor actual redemption of 
 this or that perfon, &c, but the impetration of remif- 
 iion, juflification, and redemption before God. For 
 the members of this diftinction are not properly oppo- 
 fjd : to actual rcmiflion, and to actual juitification, is 
 not oppofed the impetration of remiffion and of juitiii- 
 cation \ but a poiTible remiflion, and a pofiible juitifi- 
 cation. And thus Arminius ought to have expreffed 
 himfelf, if he would have fpoken accurately and fairly. 
 1 . Nor is it an accurate way of fpeaking, to fay, that 
 the effect of the pafiion and death of Chriit is impetration 
 of remijjion and of jufiific at ion . He o n gh t t o h 1 v e fa id , 
 it is remiilion and justification itfelf, whatever that be. 
 For fo Arminius himfelf hath taught us to fpeak with 
 
Chap. 7. CHPvIST's Satisfaction. .325 
 
 accuracy, p. 72. <c AdiftincHon may be made between 
 *} the act, by which reconciliation is obtained, and the 
 " effect of that act, which is reconciliation. The act 
 " impetrating reconciliation, is the offering which 
 " Chriit made on the crofs : the effect is the reconcili- 
 M ation itleif." And fo he ought to have faid here : 
 in the death and paifion of Chriil:, the impetrating act 
 is thai voluntary fufception of all kinds of fufferings, 
 which he undertook both from his love to God and 
 in.cn. The effccl is remiflion and justification. The 
 -impetrating act is the fatisfaction of Chrift. The ef- 
 iect is immunity from debt. In this manner Arminius 
 -fpoke, before he had degenerated to worfe opinions *. 
 " The effects of the prieftly oilice are reconciliation 
 «.' with God, impetration of eternal redemption, re- 
 <c miiiion of fins, the Spirit of grace, and eternal life." 
 -3. Nor has that exprellion a juit meaning, at lead it is 
 not accurate, that it is by means of the pailion of Chriil, 
 God can forgave fins : as if fome new, fome greater, 
 and more extenfive power of God, was tiie effect of 
 -the fufferings of ChriiL The power of God is infinite, 
 and altogether incapable of increafe. And then what 
 •is impctrated fom any one, ought previoufiy to be in 
 his power. The Remonftrants have more accurately 
 exprtfled their fentiments in their SynuiaUa^ in ihefe 
 words : " The effect of reconciliation or propitiation, 
 " is the impetration of divine grace, that is, reftitution 
 " to Inch a ftatt,V &c. So that a change in ourftate, 
 and not an increafe of God's power, is the effect of the 
 Satisfaction of Chriil, 
 
 - XI. Beiides, Arminius is in this difcourfe confiftenr, 
 neith^ r with blmfelf^ nor with his ad- \ K , r a ,. ree Wlt ^ t v c 
 
 1. events. Not Willi himfclj ': for his other tenets et "the 
 
 wholt deflgQ is to ihc\v, tli.it the ^JPOflftiaauu 
 proper ana immediate effect of the death of Glmft, is 
 only a poffioility o( remiflion of iin ; and vet he afferts, 
 proper effect of the death of Ghrift is the re- 
 conciliation of God, anil the impetration of lcmillion, 
 
 * DifpaUfc p iv..: 7. 
 
326 Of the EFFECT of Book II. 
 
 juftification, &c. But how do thefe things agree, fee- 
 ing a poflibility of remiflion of fins may confift with a 
 perpetual enmity between God and men ? What kind 
 of reconciliation is that, which does not hinder an e- 
 ternal enmity from flill fubfifting ? What fort of impe- 
 tration of remiilion is that, if neverthelefs it be poflible, 
 that fins may never be pardoned ? Nor does Arminius 
 here better agree with the hypothefes of bis followers ; 
 who exprefsly deny, that God cannot, on account of 
 his vindictive juftice, remit fins without a previous fa- 
 tisfaction. I now omit mentioning the laboured dif- 
 putation of Vorftius on this head againfl Sibrandus 
 Lubbertus. Thus the Remonflrants profefs, in ex- 
 prefs terms, in their apology, p. 466. drawn up in the 
 name of all, " That to fuppofe the vindictive juftice of 
 " God to be fo eflential to him, that, in virtue of it, 
 " he is bound and neceflitated to punifh fins, is high- 
 " ly abfurd and unworthy of God." 
 
 XII. From this alfo a very evident confequence may 
 Nay, makes ^ e inferred, that the death and fuffer- 
 void all the fruit ings of Chrifl were in vain, and with- 
 of Chrift's paflion. out an y f ru £t or effect: which I thus 
 demonftrate. If there is in God, even before, and ex- 
 clufive of the fatisfaction of Chi ift, a power of remit- 
 ting fins, notwithstanding his vindictive juftice, Chrift 
 has therefore done nothing, by fuffering and dying, 
 in order to the exiftence of fuch a power in God. 
 But the Remonflrants ftrenuoufly fay, delare, and 
 maintain, that God can, without fatisfaction, and with- 
 out the violation of his effential juftice, let fins go un- 
 punifhed ; and they cry out, that the contrary is high- 
 ly abfurd : Chrift therefore procured nothing by his 
 death. For what he is faid to have obtained by it, did 
 already exift without it. " God could have faved us 
 " without the fatisfaction of Chrift : but did not chufe 
 " to do it," fays Corvinus *. 
 
 XIII. In a word, this aflertion of Arminius is incon- 
 
 * Qenfuraanatom. Molicaei, p. 436. 
 
Chap. 7. C-HRIST's Satisfaction. 327 
 
 con- 
 
 fident with theological truth. For, 1. The And 
 fcripture no where teaches, that the fruit of trary to 
 Chrift's death is a poflibility of the remiflion {cri pture. 
 of fins : nor is one paflage of fcripture produced by Ar- 
 minius to that purpofe. But to fpeak of the fruit of 
 Chrift's death without fcripture, is untheological. 2. 
 Nay, the fcripture afferts the contrary, as we have at 
 large fliewn, § 3. 4. 5. 3. It is alfo contrary to allrea- 
 fon to fay, that the proper effect of Chrift's mod per- 
 fect fatisfaction was, that God might let the captive 
 go free, yet fo that the captive might always remain 
 in prifon, and be liable to pay the debt. How abfurd 
 is it, that God mould receive full fatisfaction by the 
 death of his Son, for the fins of any particular perfon, 
 and yet, notwithftanding this plenary fatisfaction of 
 Chrift, that man is to be fent to eternal fire, there to 
 fatisfy, in his own perfon, for thofe very fins, which 
 Chrift had fully fatisfied for already? 4. Such a bare 
 poflibility of remiflion, which, from the nature of the 
 thing, may never become actual, overturns the un- 
 changeable covenant between the Father and the Son ; 
 the fum of which Arminius himfelf has well expreffed 
 in his oration on Chrift's priefthood, p. 14. " God re- 
 " quired of Chrift, that he mould make his foul an of- 
 " fering for fin, give his flefh for the life of the world, 
 " pay the price of redemption for the fins and capti- 
 " vity of mankind ; and promifed, if he did fo, that 
 " he fhould fee his iecd^ and become an eternal prieft. 
 " The prieft accepted this condition," See. Chrift, 
 relying on this infallible promife, did willingly give 
 himfelf up to death. But from this affertion uf Armi- 
 nius and the Remonftrant,s, it was poffiblc, that Chrift, 
 after having paid theraniom, mould fee no feed, be a 
 king without any kingdom of grace, an everlafting fa- 
 ther without any children, a bridegroom without a 
 bride, a head without a body. All which arc cnoft ab- 
 omina <le. 
 
 XIV. Arminius, however, defends his opinion by 
 
328 Of the EFFECT of Book II. 
 
 Impofllble, that GoJ three arguments. The firft is this : 
 Ihould not give crrace c * God has full i ight to impart thofe 
 and glory to thofe for u benefits, to whom he thinks pro- 
 whom Chnil died. < £ p^^ and Qn what C()nditions he ig 
 
 " pleafed to prefcrihe." Whence it follows, that Chrift 
 has not merited the beftowing thofe benefits actually 
 upon any one ; for this is the tendency of thefe words 
 of Arminius. I anfwer, i. We deny, that it is left en- 
 tire to God not to impart thofe benefits, which Chrift 
 has merited, to thofe for whom he died. God had entire 
 right to appoint the perfons for whom Chrift was to 
 die: but, this appointment being once fettled, God is 
 not at liberty not to give that grace and glory, which 
 was purchased by the death of Chrift, to thofe for 
 Faiih alfo and re- whom he died. 2. Arminius is further 
 pentance are gifts miftaken, when he fays, that God had 
 arifing from the a f u \\ right to impart thofe benefits, oa 
 xnerk of Chrift. wha( . con ditions he pleafed to prefcribe,' 
 fuppofing, that the performance of thefe conditions, 
 namely, faith and repentance, or the grace neceffary 
 to the performance of them, was not among thofe bleff- 
 ings which Chrift had merited for us by his paftion. 
 For it was contained in that compact between the Fa- 
 ther and the Son, according to which Chrift gavehim- 
 felf up to death, that all adult perfons ihould, in the 
 way of faith and repentance, arrive at the faving en- 
 joyment of the other blefiings of it : nor can any other 
 conditions be now fettled by agreement. Befidcs, it 
 was alfo fixed, that the Father ihould, from the con-' 
 fideration of Chrift's merit, ^rant the Spirit of grace 
 for faith and repentance, to thofe for whom Chrift had 
 died, as we have feen Arminius himfelf orthodoxly 
 reckoning the Spirit of grace among the effects of the 
 facerdotal office of Chrift. For, feeing God hath blejf- 
 ed us u\th all fpiritual blcjfings in Chrijl *, that is, thro' 
 and for the merits of Chrift, and the gift of faith is one 
 of the moft excellent of thefe bieffings f , that likewifc 
 certainly comes to us on account of his merits. 3. 
 * Bpfc, i. 3. t Phil. i. 29. 
 
Chap. 7. CHRIST'S Satisfaction. 329 
 
 Nor is it agreeable to fcripture-lan- And not pre-reqaifite 
 guage, to fay, that faith and repent- conditions to all com- 
 ance are requifite conditions, before m umcationof Chria'* 
 any effects of Chrift's death are com- merl s " 
 municated to a perfon. Certainly, they are not re- 
 quired previous to our regeneration and vivification 
 from the death of fin, and our deliverance from this 
 prefent evil world, which are reckoned among the ef- 
 fects of Chrift's death by Paul *. We may therefore 
 fay, if you will, that thefe are conditions pre-requifite 
 for applying to our confcienees that confolation purcha- 
 fed for us by the death of Chrift, yet fo that from the 
 merit of Chrift grace flows, that is powerfully and ab- 
 undantly effectual to perform thofe conditions. 
 
 XV. Arminius's fecond argument is this. u If the 
 " actual remiffion of fins, &c. be the The ekcl may lay 
 " effect of Chrift's death* we mufl claim to the faving 
 " then allow, that, according to the benefit in right gf 
 « very rigour of God's juftice and chrift ' s P a >'* ent - 
 " law, both an eternal life and an immunity from 
 " punifhment, are due to the elect, and that therefore 
 4< they are entitled to afk thofe benefits of God, in 
 " right of the payment and purchafe made ; without 
 " God's having any right to require of them faith in 
 * Chrift and converfion to God/' I anfwer, 1. We 
 are wholly of opinion, that one, who is renewed* 
 may come boldly to the throne of grace, and afk for 
 thofe blefllngs, at God's hand, in right of the pay- 
 ment and purchafe made by Chrift. For why fhoujd 
 we not venture to afk of God, that he would perform 
 for us what he was pleafed to make himfelf a debtor 
 for to his Son and to his merits ? 1 his is the itatfj*/«j 
 or boldnefs of our faith, to expeel tne crown of righ- 
 tcoufnefs from God, as a merciful and gracious giver, 
 in refpect of our unworthinefs, but a^ a juft judge, in 
 refpect to the merits of Chrift -f* 2. 'Tis an invidious 
 reflection of Arminius, to fay, " without God's ha- 
 " ving any right to require of us faith in Chrift, and 
 • Eph. ii. c. and Gal. i. 4. f <* Tim. iv. 8. 
 
 Vol. I. I T t 
 
330 Of the EFFECT of Book 11 
 
 " converfion to himfelf." For it is impofiible, that 
 thefe things fliould not be performed by him, who 
 approaches to God, to afk thofe bleffings. For how 
 can any afk thofe benefits from God in the name of 
 Chi ill, without faith in God and Chrift, and without 
 converfion to the Father and the Son ? 3. Let us 
 God requires not of thee- freak plainly. If we admit of 
 
 left faith and repentance, Uinlt S iatlSfacfron, add Of the 
 
 as condirions of the cove- ratification of the covenant of 
 runt of -race, in the Ar- p-race, and the New Teftament, 
 * ,nian renfe ' then God can, by no right, re- 
 
 quire faith and converfion from the elect, as conditions of 
 the covenant of grace, in the fenfe of Arminius and 
 the Remonftrants ; namely, (1.) As to be performed by 
 us, without grace w r orking them in us fupernaturally, 
 effectually, and invincibly. (2.) As, by fome gra- 
 cious appointment of God, coming in the place of 
 that perfect obedience to the law, which the covenant 
 of works required. For in this manner Arminius ex- 
 plains thefe things ; that, inftead of perfect obedience, 
 which the covenant of works required, the act of 
 faith fncceeds, in the covenant of grace, to be, in God's 
 gracious account, imputed to us for right eoufnefs, 
 that is, to be our claim of right to afk eternal life. 
 But the nature of the covenant of grace admits of 
 no fuch conditions, however framed, on which to 
 build a right to life eternal, either from the ju Mice, 
 or the gracious eftimation of God, And thus far 
 Arminius concludes well, if the Mediator has fo fa- 
 tisfied for us, as if we ourfelves had by him paid our 
 debts, no condition can, by any right, be required of 
 \is, which, in any refpect, can be reckoned inftead of 
 payment. The whole glory of our right to eternal 
 life, ought to be purely afcribed to the alone merit of 
 our Lord ; and, on no pretence, be transferred to any 
 one of our acts. 
 
 XVI. There is ftill one argument, which Arminius 
 The righteoufnefsof imagines to be very cogent, g The 
 Chiiii is curs, as it " righteoufnefs/' lays he, " wrought 
 Id performed for us. a ou tby Chrift, isnotours, as wrought 
 
Chap. 7. CHRIST'S Satisfaction. 331 
 
 u out, but as imputed to us by faith." I anfwer, 1 . What 
 does Arminius infer from this ? Does he conclude, that, 
 befides thefatisfaction of Chrift, faith is alio neceflary to 
 falvation ? And what then ? Therefore Chrift did not ob- 
 tain for us the actual remiflion of fins. We de/iy the 
 confequence. For faith is notconfidered as impetra- 
 ting, but as applying the impetrated remiflion. And as 
 the prefuppofed object of faving faith is remiflion, al- 
 ready impetrated for all the elect by Chrift, it muft cer- 
 tainly be the proper effect of the death of Chrift. 2. 
 This righteoufnefs of Chrift was really hk, as it was 
 wrought out by him ; and it is ours, as it was wrought 
 out for us : therefore, in a found fenfe, even ours before 
 faith, being the meritorious caufe of that grace, which 
 is effectual to produce faith in us. It is ours, I lay, 
 in refpect of right, becaufe, both in the decree of God 
 the Father, and the purpofeof the Son, it was wrought 
 out for us, and in the appointed time to be cerjtaiidy 
 applied to us : though it was not yet ours by ftjfcffion, 
 as to our actual tranilation from a ftate of wrath to a 
 ftate of grace, and our acknowledgment and fenfe of 
 fo great a benefit vouchfafed unto us. The diftinction 
 between active and paflive juftification is well known *. 
 The former is that ientence of God, by which he de- 
 clares his having received fatisfaction from Chi ill, and 
 pronounces, tha: all the elect are made free from guiit 
 and obligation to punifhment, even before their faith, 
 fo far as never to exact of them any payment. T/.>e 
 Litter is the acknowledgment and fenfe qf that rooft 
 fweet fentencc, intimated to the conference by the 
 Holy Spirit, and fiduciary apprehended by each of 
 the elect. The one precedes faith, at leaft as to that 
 general article, which we juft propofed ; the other 
 follows it. And thus we have defended the value and 
 efficacy of Ch rift's fatisfaction againit the cavils of 
 Arminiu 
 
 * Others diftingBifl) the jufti6caticn of the eleft, into that which is 
 decretive, virtual, and aClu.i!. The firtt is Gods eternal puq 
 
 r t 2 jaAty 
 
33? Of the NECESSITY of Book II. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Of the Neceffity of Chrifis Satisfaclion. 
 
 HAVING explained, from fcripture, the value 
 of the fatisfaction of our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 The contro- to his own glory, and for the confolation, 
 Ycrfy ftatcd. of the elect, it will not he unfeafonable to 
 treat of the neceffity of this fatisfacfcion ; as what we 
 have fhewn, § n. from the apology of the Remon- 
 firants. naturally leads to this. And here we chufe 
 not toWlate the controverfy in the manner, we ob- 
 ferve, the otherwife great Chamier has done in his 
 Panftratia ; namely, whether God could not, by an acl 
 cf his abfolute power, grant remijjion of Jin, without any 
 faiisfaclion. We are not willing to enter into any dis- 
 pute about the abfolute power of God ; fince the con- 
 fideration of that feems not to fuit this prefent con- 
 troverfy. For this debate is not to be explained, and 
 finally determined from the attribute of the power of 
 God ; but from thofe of his holinefs, juftice, and the 
 like. Seme, when they confider the power of God a^ 
 lone, affirm every thing about it : not reflecting, that 
 God can do nothing but confidently with his juftice, 
 holinefs, veracity, wifdom, immutability, in a word, 
 with all his other perfections. The lawyer Papinian * 
 has faid well concerning a good man : " that we are 
 it to believe, that he neither does nor can do any 
 H thing prejudicial to piety, reputation, modefty, ancl 
 " in general, that is contrary to good manners." 
 This certainly ought much more to be affirmed of the 
 
 juitify Tinners in time, by the righteoufnefs of Chrift ; but God's e- 
 ternal purpofe to juftify the eledr. is one thing, and the execution of it 
 another. There was alfo a virtual juftification, upon (Thrift's having 
 made fatisfaftion ; and juftification is aftual, when the e!e& {inner is 
 tnabJed to believe in the Son of God, and by faith is united to ^im. 
 Sec boolw lii. chap. viii. § $7. &c. 
 
 *> ff. lib, xxviii. tit. 7 leg. 15. 
 
Ghap.8. CHRIST'S Satisfaction, 333 
 
 great God, that whatever is not a difplayof, or what- 
 ever throws a flur on, any perfection, or on the glory 
 of God, cannot be the work of God. Origen has 
 judicioufly pleaded this caufe againft Celfus *. " Ac- 
 * c cording to our opinion, God, indeed, can do all 
 •' things, confidently with his Deity, wiidom, and 
 * c goodnefs. But Celfus (not underftanding, how 
 " God may be faid to do all things) affirms, he can- 
 " not will any thing unjuft, granting he can do what 
 " is fo, but not will it. But we fay, that as what 
 iC is capable of imparting its natural fweetnefs to other 
 " things, cannot embitter any thing, becaufe that 
 " would be contrary to its nature ; nor as what na- 
 " turally enlightens, can, as fuch, darken : fo neither 
 " can God act unjuftly. For the power of acting 
 " un'Justly is contrary to his veryDeity, and to 
 " every power that can be afcribed to God." And 
 therefore wc think it very unbecoming, on every 
 queftion about the moll facred right of God, to bring 
 his abfolute power on the ftage. We would rather 
 ftate the contrnverfy thus : namely, whether God's 
 requiring Chrift to give him fatisfaclion, before he 
 reftore finners to his favour, was owing to the mere 
 good pleafure of the divine will ; or whether the na- 
 tural holinefs, the juftice, and the like effential per- 
 fections of God, which he cannot potfihly part with, / 
 required a fatisfaction to be made? We judge the laft 
 pf thefe to be more true and fafe. 
 
 II. In the preceding book, chap. v. § 19. & feq, 
 we proved at large, that the very nature and immu- 
 table right of God could not let lin go unpunilhed ; 
 which we may now lay down as a foundation. At 
 prefent, we will fubjoin other arguments more nearly 
 relating to the fatisfaclion of Chriit itfelf. 
 
 III. And JirJI, we may certainly form no contemp j 
 tible argument from the event, and a T . .... , 
 
 . n • • x? r > j ^ , Jt 1S nct credible, that 
 
 fojlericrt. >or as God does not God ihould arbitrarily 
 
 needldsly multiply beings, what and without amy necef- 
 Mib.iii.p. i;|, 
 
334 Of the NECESSITY of Book II. 
 
 fity, cxpofc his moftbe- probable reafon can be affrVned, 
 
 loved Son to fuch anguim. u ••! fc rr i 
 
 feU why, without any neceflity, he 
 
 fhould make his beloved Son, in whom he was well 
 pleafed, a curfe for us ? Let us infill a little on this 
 thought. The infinite wifdom of God contrived the 
 admirable union of the human nature with one of the 
 divine perfons : fo that God himfelf might be laid to 
 obey, to fuffer, to die, in a word, to make fatisfac- 
 tion. That perfon was holy, harmlefs, and undefiled, 
 the man of God's delight, his only begotten and only 
 beloved Son. Him the moil affectionate Father expofed 
 to the moil ignominious reproaches, to the mofl cruel 
 fufferings, and to an accurfed death, as a ranfom for 
 the redemption of finners. Thefe fufferings he, a 
 long time before, predicted in various obfeure ways, 
 and alfo prefigured by the whole train of facrifices 
 appointed by Mofes. He permitted the world, after 
 fo many other crimes, to be il-ained with the guilt of 
 Deicide, (from the view of which the very fun with- 
 drew his rays), a crime, indeed, truly inexpiable, and 
 in the guilt of which the whole Jewifh nation was in- 
 volved. Would not all this, to fpeak with reverence, 
 feem a kind of folemn farce, if God, by a fingle 
 breath, could difpel all our^fins as a cloud ? Is it not 
 contrary to the goodnefs, the wifdom, and the holi- 
 nefs of God, without any neceflity, and, to fpeak fo, 
 in a mere arbitrary way, to proceed in this manner ? 
 If he could have reached his end in a direct and com- 
 pendious way, why did he take fuch a wide and per- 
 plexed compafs ? 
 
 IV. 1 would not have any reply here, that God act- 
 Not done, to e ^ in this manner, in order to manifeil, 
 (hew his unli- that his infinite right or authority over 
 mited right over the creature was fuch, that he might in- 
 any creature. £^ ^ mQ Q. g r i evot ^ jgrn^nts eV^nfOn^ 
 
 the innocent. If God plcaies to* claim tfia't right and 
 authority to himfelf, furely, he fcarce, if ever, has 
 made ufe of it. If at any time he has done fo, it was 
 in fufferings of a far more gentle and mild nature, 
 
Chap. 7. CHRIST'S Satisfaction. 335 
 
 than what Jefus Chrift our Lord underwent. In a 
 word, if, for the difplay of that right, he might 
 at times inflict fuch grievous torments, yet he would 
 with-hold his hand from his moft beloved and only 
 Son, in whom he fo clearly teftified that he was well 
 pleafed. 
 
 V. To infift upon it, that the whole of this affair 
 was otherwife ordered by the arbitrary j\j or w j t h a V - 1CW to . 
 will of God, for confirming the faving ertablifh the truth 
 doctrine of Chrift, by this exemplary of Chriirs doftrine 
 martyrdom, is contrary both to rea- y ls eat " 
 fon, fcripture, and experience. For God had many 
 other means, of a far more eafy nature, by which he 
 could confirm the doctrine of falvation, than by the 
 dreaful pafiion of his beloved Son. And the fcripture 
 fhews us, that this was done by Chrift's miracles, ac- 
 companied with his moft effectual preaching, and the 
 native demonftration of the truth (hewing the divini- 
 ty of his doctrine ; by which things he approved him- 
 felf to John's difciples *, and even to the whole mul- 
 titude j. And laftly, we gather both from fcripture 
 and experience, that the crofs of Chrift was unto the 
 Jews a ft [ umb Ting- block, and unto the Greeks fooliflmefs \. 
 
 VI. Nor are we to aflert, that it was neceflary we 
 fhould be taught in fo laborious a Nor only to teach u?, 
 manner, or even by the very ex- that through dificul- 
 ample of the Son of God, that it is ties is the way to the 
 through many tribulations we are crovvn * 
 
 to enter into the kingdom of heaven. For, if nothing 
 elfe was intended, we might have been fufticiently 
 taught all this, by the examples of other martyrs. 
 And then, of the thouiands otAhofe who are faved, 
 there is fcarce one, who, in the way to falvation, fe- 
 cluding the curfe of God, has been called to fuffer fo 
 many dreadful and great indignities as Chrift did. 
 Why then were we all to be taught, by the example 
 of the Son of God, that the gate of heaven is on no 
 
 • Match, xi. 5. f Luke vii. 16. and John vi. 14. \ 1 Cor. 
 i. 23. 
 
336 Ofthe NECESSITY of Bookll. 
 
 other terms open, but by parting through thofe hard 
 fufferings ? Unlefs we fay, that fatisfaetion was made 
 to the juftice of God by the fufferings of Chrift, and 
 that in no other way fatisfaclion could be made there- 
 to ; there can no other juft, holy, and wife reafon, 
 and worthy of God, be ever afligned for them. Cer- 
 tainly, for my own part, I never remember to have 
 heard of any. 
 
 VII. If any affirm, that no fatisfaclion was necef- 
 
 Norisittobe averted, that W 0n account of the juftice of 
 
 God wanted fatisfa&ion by God, but that he exacted it on 
 Hs Son, to declare his will account of fbme other perfec- 
 a«d power to puniih fin, t i onSj na m e ly, to declare his 
 woeceflariljr. power and will to punilh fin, 
 
 which he might fuffer to go unpunifhed : I an- 
 fwer, fuch power and will are fcarcely to be 
 called perfections in God ; feeing Chrift * reckons 
 God's mercy, long-fufFering, and bounty towards men, 
 even the unjuft, among his perfections. Which 
 would certainly be moil laudable, if God could, at 
 pleafure, let fin go unpunifhed, and if that impunity 
 was nowife inconfiftent with his moft holy nature, 
 and law, which is the tranfeript of that nature. 
 Nay, if God can, confidently with his higheft glory, 
 not punifh fin, it nyght be queried whether he can, 
 confiftently with this, inflict punifhment at all : be- 
 caufe, in that cafe, he feems to afflict thefinner with- 
 out a reafon, and ill-treat the work of his hands. But 
 to do any thing without a reafon, can on no account 
 be for the honour of God. 
 
 VIIL Perhaps, fome will judge it the fafeft courfe, 
 Nor are we to not t0 i ntnj de into the depths of the un- 
 afHrm,thauhere fearchable wifdom and infinite power of 
 may be rcafons God, and to fay, God, indeed, was 
 though un- pleafed for wife and good reafons, tho' 
 
 known to us. knQwn tQ him f e lf a l CQe> t0 f e t US at li- 
 
 berty, on no other terms, but by the fatisfaclion of 
 
 his Son 3 but yet could, in a far different way, bring 
 
 • Matth. v. 45. i§- 
 
Chap.8. CHRIST'S Satisfaction. 337 
 
 us to falvation, nay, and redeem us by a tfrord or 
 iign. And indeed, the great Auguftine formerly 
 fpoke in this ftram. " God could have done all things, 
 " had he fo willed : but did not, and that for wife 
 " reafons, though unknown and incomprehenfible to 
 " us: but though he had done otherwife, yet he would 
 " equally have difpleafed your folly *." And again, 
 * Let us maintain, that this method, by which God 
 " fees proper to deliver us, by a Mediator between 
 " God and men, the man Chrift Jefus, is perfectly 
 " good and for the honour of God : but alio, let us 
 " acknowledge, that God was at no lofs for another 
 ** poflible method, as all things are equally fubject to 
 " his power: but yet none was more adapted to de- 
 " liver us from our mifery, neither was any necef- 
 " fary f ." I am certainly much pleafed with that ex- 
 treme modefty, by which we dare not determine any 
 thing rafhly concerning the reafons and ends of the 
 actions of God ; nor judge inconfiderately about his 
 ways, becaufe there is that in them, the reafons 
 whereof our ignorance cannot unfold ; nay, which 
 feems to our prefumptuous folly to be againft reafon. 
 But when we are able to knojv and give fuch reafons 
 for the divine conduct, as terfd to let the glory of his 
 aVlorable juftice, wifdom, holinefs, and goodnefs in the 
 cleareft point of light; it is no longer modefty, but 
 rather tends to darken the glory of the perfections of 
 God, not to acknowledge them ; which is the cafe here. 
 The reafon, why God, willing to fave elect Tinners, 
 chofe to do it by the fatisfaction of his Son, is, be- 
 caufe, in his wifdom, he faw no other way, by which 
 fatisfaction could be made to his eiTcntial holi- 
 nefs and jultice. And by affirming this, we dero- 
 gate nothing from the pou'er of God, who doubtlcfs 
 cannot but act agreeably to his holinefs and juilice: 
 and we admirably proclaim his wiidoin, which found 
 a. means, which appeared impoflible to every created 
 underitanding, whereby fatisfaction might be made to 
 
 • Dc .igoncChrifliaflo. f D'e Trinitaw, li&. xiii. c. jq. 
 
 Vol.1. j U u 
 
S5 8 Of the NECESSITY of BookIL 
 
 his juftce, and the firmer, confidently with his holi- 
 nefs, befaved. In order the more clearly to illuftrate, 
 and, at the fame time, the more firmly to eftablifh all 
 this, let us attentively confider, what the fcripture de- 
 clares concerning the impuliive and final caufe of gi- 
 ving Chrift. 
 
 IX. The facred writers, on feveral occafions, incul- 
 rr r, ■ • rr>u a cate, that God's not fparinff his 
 
 If the giving of Lhnft ' f . & , . 
 
 ivasunneceflary for our OWn proper Son, but giving him 
 
 ia'.vurion, there is not to us, and delivering him up to 
 fuch a difplay of the death for us, proceeded from his un- 
 
 Si eatnefs of divine leve. fpeakable lov£ tQ the human race *. 
 
 But if we could be faved any other way, than by the 
 fufferings of the SON of God, the love of G O D 
 would not mine with fuch luilre in" the giving of that 
 method. For love is truly great and inexprefilble to 
 the laft degree^ when, implacable juftice having de- 
 manded the punifhment of mankind, God's love to 
 man, and free purpofe of giving falvation, have never- 
 theiefs prevailed, by finding out, for that end, in 
 the trcafurcs- of divine wifdom, an amazing method 
 of reconciling juftice with mercy; and fuch indeed, 
 as there could be no room for, without giving up the 
 moil beloved Son to the moil cruel torments for us. 
 But if, without any prejudice to juftice, our falva- 
 tion could be procured many other ways than this, 
 and even by a fingle word or nod, what great ardency 
 of love was there in giving the Son ? It would, cer- 
 tainly, haVe been an inltance of a very lingular 
 and notable mercy, to have forgiven our fins. But 
 to have effected this by the death of his Son, when, 
 without any urgent necefiity, with equal advantage 
 he could have fcattered our fins, fome other more com- 
 pendious way, by a nod or fign, as fome affirm, why 
 is that urged by Chrift and his apoftles, as an argu- 
 ment of fuch inconceivable love? 
 
 X. As to the end of Chrift's fatisfaction, the apoflle 
 
 * John iii. i6. Rom. v. 8. i John iy. 10. 
 
Chap. 8. CHRISTY Satisfaction. 339 
 
 teaches, that it was a demmft ration Nor j n the u cod c f 
 of the right eoufnefs of God. Whom Chrilt will there be a 
 God hath ft forth to be a propitiation proof cf the juitice of 
 (propitiatory, mercy -feat J through ° * 
 faith in his blood, etc tyoi&v tk liy.xic7-jy,^ c.^Ty, to declare 
 his right eoufnefs *. God fet forth his Son, both to 
 himfef, delighting in him f, appointing him, in his e- 
 ternal counicl, to be the Mediator, and viewing him 
 as thus appointed ; and to us, placing him in open 
 view, and fetting him on a throne of grace and glo^ 
 ry, in the iight of all. He fet him forth as a propiti- 
 ation (propitiatory, mercy-feat) ; where the apoitle al» 
 ludes to the cover laid upon the ark of the covenant, 
 which was called JTKDj ^xanf/W, the propitiatory, mer- 
 cy feat : fignifying that by which God is reconciled 
 to man, in which he dwells and reds, and from which 
 he gives gracious anfwers. Moreover, it is not calK 
 ed the propitiatory, mercy-feat, unleis it be fprinkled 
 with blood, to be applied to us by faith. That is, 
 Chrift did not reconcile us to the Father but by fuffer- 
 ings. In the tabernacle was Tytf/ emu T^^, a mer- 
 cy-feat in the blood of the goat, that is, fprinkled with 
 the blood of the goat {. Here nothing avails but the 
 blood of him, who is fet forth to be a propitiation ; 
 unlefs we would here tranflate t\*wfior 9 an atonement ; 
 an appellation given to Chriit, becaufe he is the facri- 
 fice to ^>e offered for (in : which, coming in the room 
 of the guilty, to bear their punifhment, not only 
 merits their freedom from puniihment, but reconciles 
 God, who before was olfended, fatisfaciibn being made 
 to vindictive juitice by this vicarious puniiRmcnt. 
 But to what purpofe was all this ? "To declare the 
 t eoufnefs of God, h* tw -y.^ty, for the remiffton of (ins . 
 are pajl, through the forbearance of God. God had palled 
 by, and not ppntQied (he iins of believers in former 
 times, and, notwithstanding thefe, he called the faith- 
 ful to enter upon the heavenly inheritance. But it was 
 necefTary to ihew, that this was done without any in- 
 * Rom. iii. 25 . f If xlii. i. x Lev. xvi. 15. 
 U u 2 
 
34<* Of the NECESSITY of Book II. 
 
 jury to the juftice of God. Now, it is evident, that 
 no iatisfaction was made to divine juftice, either by 
 the repentance of believers, or the typical pomp of fa* 
 crifices, or by the blood fprinkled on the golden mer- 
 cy-feat. • It. remained therefore, tl>at the righteoufnefs 
 of God mould be manifested in the propitiation and 
 blood of Chrift ; by which was plainly mewn, that 
 God, agreeably to his juftice, fuffers not the fins, of 
 any to go unpunifhed. But if God, without injury 
 to his juftice, without any difficulty, and without a 
 fatisfa&ion, can pardon fins ; this whole bulinefs ap- 
 pears to have been an empty fliew, and by no means 
 worthy of God, without any nccefiity, to appear 
 with fuch terrible majefty in the molt cruel death of his 
 moil beloved Son. Which being fo horrid to think 
 of, we conclude, from this difcourfe of Paul, that it 
 was not poffible, but God muft punifli fin ; unlefs he 
 intended to let forth Chrift: as a propitiation, and fo 
 declare his righteoufnefs : becaufe not to punilh fin, 
 without a propitiatory atonement, would be a difap- 
 probation of divine juftice. For, when juftice is not 
 manirefted, it is difapproved of; efpecially in this 
 grand work of our falvation. For io God himfelf 
 jpeaks : My falvation is near to come, and my righteouf- 
 nefs io be revealed *. 
 
 XI. Some perhaps will fay, that the righteoufnefs of 
 By which is not God here means, as in other places, his 
 here underfiood veracity and conftancy in performing his 
 the veracity of p rom if es . the apoitle only intending, 
 God * ' that God therefore fet forth his Son to 
 
 be a propitiation, in order to fulfil his prophecies .and 
 promiies, and thus (hew himfelf juft, that is, faithful. 
 i3ut it is quite otherwife : for the righteoufnefs of God 
 here denotes that rectitude, by which, according to 
 his law, by inflicting condign punifhment, he dii- 
 covers the demerit of fin and his hatred to it, and 
 how unbecoming it is for him to have fellowfhip with 
 the firmer, at the expence of his own glory. And 
 
 * it hi. i. 
 
Chap. 8. CHRIST'S Satis factiox. 341 
 
 that this is the meaning of this pafTage, is plain, bc- 
 caufe the apoftle's defign is to explain, in what man* 
 ner God, without any injury to his jufrice, had forborn 
 finners, and pafTed by their fins; and he moft beautifully 
 {hews, that all regard was paid to the honour of di- 
 vine juftice in the propitiation, by Chrift's blood made 
 and revealed in due time. For it was in virtue of 
 this, that the fins of the believers in paft times were 
 forgiven. But the other explication removes the dif- 
 ficulty juft mentioned. The defign of the whole is 
 to ftiew, that God is juft, when lie j unifies the fin- 
 ner for the merits of Chrift. 
 
 XII. It like wife is remarkable, that the apoflle has 
 expreGly faid and often repeated, If wilbout an alonc . 
 that the legal iacrinces could never meiit An wild be re- 
 abolifti the guilt of fin *. But why mavvit why rot by 
 might not a thing fo eafy to be re- k 2 al <****• ? 
 moved without atonement, be expiated by the death 
 of legal facrifices ? And it is to be carefully obferved, 
 that when the apoflle denies this, he attends to the 
 nature of the thing ; which it is (aid they could not 
 do, becaufe it feemed otherwise to God; but be- 
 caufe fin is of fuch a nature, that no blood of bulls 
 or of goats can wafh out its fiain ; which the light of 
 nature itfelf will readily yield to, as a thing certain. 
 And indeed the church of the Lid left am cut profeff- 
 ed, that their fins could not be expiated by any blood 
 of calves or rams, not though multiplied to thouiands ; 
 by any libations of oil, though ten thoufand rivers 
 thereof were poured out ; nay, not by tne death of 
 their firfl-born f. 
 
 X'Yil. And w e muft not omit the apoftle's inference, 
 whereby a fiom the inability of lerai ~ .-'.,., 
 iaenhces to make iatistaction, he con- oJ 
 eludes th<* lu-cdlity bf the alone iacn- 
 fiee of Chilli:. For after he nud faid, &* »P< to bfirri 
 it is hot njjiblc, that the bleed of bulls Lli,t y of 
 
 ana (J goat* jt.ouid take away Jins ; he 
 
 • Hcb. x, 1. 4. ii. f Micuh v i. 6. 7. 
 
34* Of the NECESSITY of Book II. 
 
 immediately fubjoins, Wherefore when he cometh into the 
 world, he faith, &c. adding, He taketh away the fir/} ; 
 namely, the offering of beaits ; that he may eflablifo the 
 fecond ; namely, the offering of the body of Chrift. 
 •But that inference would not hold, if there could be 
 fbme third way by which lins may be expiated, or if 
 no fatisfaction was neceflary. But now the apoftle 
 argues, by fuppofing it a thing granted by the Jews, 
 that fins cannot be forgiven without a proper atone- 
 ment ; but as this could not be effected by the legal 
 victims, it certainly follows, that it is to be fought tor 
 in the offering of Chrift, without which, the ftain of 
 iin remains for ever indelible, i The juftnefs of this 
 inference of the apoftle arifes from the nature of God, 
 and of the thing itfelf : for if we are to infer the ne- 
 ceflity of the offering of Chrift from the free and ar- 
 bitrary good pleafure of the divine will, the apoftle 
 would in vain have connected thefe confequences. 
 The good pleafure of God only was to be iniifted 
 upon. 
 
 XIV. In like manner, the fame apoftle argues, Rom. 
 A , f iii. 19. 20. 21. &c.wherehelaysitdownas 
 
 inability of the a fundamental truth, that the whole 
 law, infers tfe world is fubject to condemnation before 
 neceffity ofju- God, whence he infers, that none can be 
 
 ftification by : u ft ified by the works f thc ] aw . an d 
 
 from that concludes, that we can be julti- 
 fied no other way, but by the blood of Chrift ; which 
 is, doubtlefs, a very trifling way of arguing, if God, 
 by his mercy alone, by his bare nod, can take away 
 fin, and adjudge the finner to life. For the Jews would 
 yery readily anfwer, that there is another far more 
 compendious way of juftification in the infinite mercy 
 of (God, and in the moft free act. of his power, without 
 expollng the Mefliah to reproach. And, to mention 
 it once more, we are not to have recourfe to the moft 
 free difpofition of the divine will, as if that was the 
 alone caufe of this neceflity. For if the apoftle makes 
 any fuch fuppofition, theie is an end of all further 
 
Chap. 8. CHRIST'S Satisfaction. 345 
 
 reafoning. He would have gained his point, jufl by- 
 mentioning that difpofition. And if he does not fup- 
 pofe this, his argument is of no force. Which is far 
 from being the cafe. 
 
 XV. Nor is it proper to omit here that exprefHon 
 of the apoftle, by which he cuts off thofc . ff 
 who have finned againft the Holy Ghoft, a!1 ho es ot - 
 from all hope of falvation, by this argu- falvauon for 
 ment ; becaufe, having rejected ChriiTs ex- whom no fa- 
 piation, there remaineth no more facrifice for cnt ? ce re " 
 fin *. Where he would intimate, that there 
 
 was no hope of pardon left, there he afferted, that there 
 remained no more facrifice ; laying it down as an un- 
 doubted truth, that the offering of a facrifice necef- 
 farily goes before pardon. If this was not the cafe, 
 why might not man, who wanted a facrifice, hope 
 for pardon, without any fatisfaclion, from the infi- 
 nite mercy of God ? 
 
 XVI. To the fame purpofe is, what the apoftle fays f , 
 // is impoffible to renew thofe a^ain unto repent- Keb. vi. 6. 
 ance, who crucify to themf elves the Son of God explained. 
 afrejh) and put him to an openjbame. Which laft words 
 are varioufly explained by divines. But doubtlefs 
 they are intended to give a reafon, why tfiofe who 
 have made the crucifixion of Chrift of no ufe to 
 themfelves, are excluded from all hopes of falvation : 
 becaufe, without that, it is impoffible to obtain falva- 
 tion. The very learned Mofes Amyrald } thus ex- 
 pounds it ; namely, becaufe thofe apoftates have no 
 further intereft in the facrifice already offered, becaufe 
 they have rejected it ; and therefore, if they would 
 be favcd, they muff look out for another. And be- 
 caufe none could offer a true expiatory facrifice except 
 Chrift alone ; if they will be laved, it is neceffary they 
 give up Chrift to be crucified afrelh, and again expo- 
 ied to open fhame. But it is impious to dcfign fuch a 
 thing, nor can it, on any account, be obtained of 
 
 * Heb x. »6, t Hcb. vi. C. \ In difputlt. Ue pecca'.o ia 
 
 Spiritum Lar.tlum, § ^o. 
 
9 
 
 344 Of the N E C E S S I T Y of Book II. 
 
 God *. If this expofition be admitted, it prefents us 
 with a very ftrong argument for our opinion : becaufe 
 it fuppofes fuch an abfolutc neceility for the fatisfac- 
 tion of Chrift, that if what he has already done, be of 
 no avail, a new fatisfaction muft be made, before e- 
 ver the finner can have any hopes of mercy. 
 
 XVII. Moreover, this fentimem of ours tends to 
 This opinion d.f- *!**? the gW of the moft excellent 
 plays the glory perfections of Go*L It fets off his ho- 
 of the divke per linefe, by reafon of which, he can, in 
 fetfions. no refpecli, become like a finner, or, 
 
 wthont due fatisfacUon, allow him to have communion 
 with hinafelr, and the inhabitation of his Spirit. It 
 exalts the jufl'ue of God, which is implacably inclined 
 to punifh fin. It preferves inviolable the infinite ma* 
 jefty of God, which, being zealous for his honour, can 
 fuller no contempt put upon it, as all fin does, to go 
 unpuniftied. It glorifies the unfearchable wifdom of 
 God, which found out a way, above the reach of all 
 created underftanding, by which juftrce and mercy 
 might' be happily reconciled, and the honour of them 
 both maintained: pure. In a word, it magnifies the 
 ineftimable grace and love of our Lord, who, when 
 there were no other means of our falvation, fpared 
 not his own Son, but gave him up for us all. And who 
 will not with both hands embrace an opinion, that dif- 
 plays in fuch an eminent manner the glory of God ? 
 
 XV11L Nor is it lefs fubfervient to the promotion 
 And fervesto pro- of piety. It teaches us to tremble be- 
 mote p^ty. fore the majefty of the moft high God, 
 
 who, from his being God, cannot clear the guilty. 
 It heightens the horror of fin, which it becomes us to 
 believe is of fo atrocious a nature, that nothing fhort 
 of the blood of a moft holy a#d truly-divine facrifice 
 could watli it away. It fets before us the moft un- 
 f potted holinefs. of God for our pattern, that, like him, 
 \ve may entertain a mortal hatred to fin, and keep 
 * Rom. vi. 9. ic. 
 
Chap.8. CHRISTY Satisfaction. 345 
 
 ourfelves pure from all manner of fellowfhip with it. 
 In 2 word, it inflames our hearts, with the mo ft de- 
 ferved returns of love, willingly to devote ourfelves 
 to his fervice, who, out of pure grace, delivered up 
 his Son for us unto death, without which we mould 
 have remained miferable through eternity. And thus 
 our opinion contains that true doctrine, which is ac- 
 cording to godlinefs. 
 
 XIX. And it does not derogate in the leaft from 
 any of the divine perfections: not Derogates nothing from 
 from his abfolute power ; becaufe, any of the divine per* 
 without doubt, God cannot deny fr^wni. 
 himfelf and his own perfections ; nor, by his actions, 
 teflify fin not to be contrary to his nature ; nor ever 
 behave, as if he took pleafure in it, by granting com- 
 munion of himfelf to the finner. Not from his moft 
 free will ; as God neither wills, nor can will any thing, 
 but what tends to his glory, which requires his ap- 
 pearing as unlike the finner as poflible. Seneca fpoke 
 well *. w God is not hereby lefs free, or lefs power- 
 " ful : for he is his own necessity." Nor does it 
 derogate from the liberty of thofe aftions of God, 
 which are called ad extra, or without him. For tho* 
 he is, by no neceflity of his nature, conftrained to 
 external operations, confidered in the grofs ; yet, fup- 
 pofing the exigence of one operation without him, 
 many others neceflarily follow. For inftance, God 
 was at liberty to create a world out of nothing : but 
 fuppoling a creation, and by it the exigence of a 
 world, it became neccllary, that he mould govern the 
 fame, in a way agreeable to his juftict*, holinefs, wil- 
 dom, and goodnefs. In like manner, here God was :\t 
 liberty to permit lin ; but then having permitted it, 
 his eflential juftice requires it to be puniihcd. He was 
 alfo at liberty to fave iome finners ; yet, having de- 
 clared his will with refpect to this, there was a necef- 
 fity for a fuitable fatisfav "tion to intervene : and all this 
 proceeds from the immutability of the divine pe:k-- 
 • Qua- ft. 11.it. lib. 1. 
 
 Vol. I. f X x 
 
346 Of the NECESSITY, &c. Book II. 
 
 tiara, which he cannot, in any of his actions, difa- 
 vow. As little does this derogate from the wife court* 
 fel of God, in ordering the puniflimentof it, as to the 
 time, the degree, and the perfons. For though we 
 don't think, that God inflicts punifhment from his na- 
 ture, in fuch a manner as fire burns, (though*- even in 
 this refpect, he compares himfelf to fire *) ; yet his na- 
 ture is a ftrong reafon, why he orders and inflicts pu- 
 nifhment in a moft wife manner. Now, the nature of 
 God requires, that his juftice be fo difplayed, as to 
 admit a manifeftatijn of his goodnefs, becaufe of its 
 riches. Nor does it derogate from the infinite good* 
 nefs of God, as if by that he could grant repentance 
 to the finner, and fo receive him into favour, without 
 a fatisfaction. For the beflowing of the Spirit of re- 
 generation, is an effect of the higheft love. But that 
 God mould fo much love a finner, continuing ftill im- 
 penitent, without the confideration of a fatisfaction, 
 is a conduct inqonfiflent with his other perfections, as 
 we have already fo frequently fhewn. God cannot 
 but take his Spirit from him, who maketh a mock of 
 him. It is not becoming to grant repentance by 
 means of the fame Spirit, without the intervention of 
 the facrifice of the Prieft, whereby fin may be expiated. 
 
 XX. Seeing therefore both the nature and actions 
 ,The conclu- of God, and the reafonings of the facred 
 fion from it. writers, teach us the neceflity of a fatis- 
 faction ; fince by that doctrine the eminent perfections 
 of God are placed in the moft ftiining light: feeing 
 the right obfervance thereof tends very much to pro- 
 mote piety ; and as thereby there is no derogation made 
 from any of the divine perfections ; we conclude, it 
 is the faieft courfe foberly to embrace it. 
 
 XXI. Yet we muft obferve, when we fpeak in ge- 
 Itsdueli- neral of the neceility of a fatisfaction, that 
 mi aiion. is, of fuch a punifhment of fin, wherein the 
 righteous and holy God may be juftified and fanctifi- 
 ect, that we fet no bounds to the time, the degree, 
 
 • If. xxvii. 4. and Deut. iv. 24. 
 
Chap. 9. For whom CHRIST satisfied. 347 
 
 or the fpecial manner of the puniftiment. The hiftory 
 of the life and death of Chrift makes it very evident, 
 that manifold difpenfations, and mitigations, at leaft a 
 compensation by an equivalent, took place here, and 
 consequently could juftly take place. And who can 
 affert, or, if he mould prefume to fay fo, can plainly 
 prove, that it was impoflible that Chrift fhould under- 
 take and fubmit to Sufferings, - rewer in number, Short- 
 er in duration, lefs intenfe in quantity, as to the parts 
 of the body, and faculties of the foul, the moments 
 and periods of his life fpent here upon earth, and fo 
 make fatisfaction ? And here let that faying of Paul 
 be ever a rule to us, Not to thhik mote highly than lue 
 ought to thinks but to think Joberly *. 
 
 CHAP, IX. 
 
 Of the Perjojis for whom drift engaged and' 
 fatisfed* 
 
 WE mould have no certainty of Chrift LihM on . 
 all thofe things, which it is \y for rbo$ who 
 proper for us to know, for the glory are &»ed. 
 of the Lord Chrift, and our own confolation, con- 
 cerning his furetilhip and fatisfaction, did ic not alio 
 appear, for whom he Satisfied, according to his en- 
 gagement. The folution of this queftion is indeed of 
 very great moment ; but it does not appear very dif- 
 ficult, if we only carefu'ly attend to the nature of 
 Child's furetiihip and fatis taction, which we have al- 
 ready explained, proved, and defended from the (crip- 
 tures. For fince drift did, by his engagement, un- 
 dertake to cancel all the debt of thofe perfons, U v 
 whom ji c engaged , as if it was his own, by Suffering- 
 what was meet, and to fulfil all righteoufnefs in their 
 room ; and fince he has moft fully performed this by 
 his Satibf action, as much ab if theie linncrs them Selves 
 
 * Rom. xii. 3. 
 
 x * 1 
 
 / 
 
34-8 For whom CHRIST satisfied. Book II. 
 
 had endured all the punifhment due to their fins, and 
 had accomplished all righteoufnefs : the confequence 
 is, that he has engaged and Satisfied for all thofe, and 
 thofe only, who are actually faved from their fins, 
 Reafon clearly teaches this. For Chrift neither enga- 
 ged, nor Satisfied, but for thofe whofe perfon he Sus- 
 tained. Which Arminius himfelf * frankly owns. 
 Moreover, that any of thofe, whofe perfon Chrift 
 fuftained, and for whom he fatisfied as their Surety, 
 Should be obliged to fatisfy for the fame debt, by e- 
 ternal death, is mofl inconfiftent with the faithfulnefs 
 and juftice of God. Nor does it, on any account, 
 appear poflible, that any one Should in earneft plead, 
 that Chrift died for all and every one in particular, 
 till he has firft weakened the force of that expreffion, 
 to die for any one, by which, we lately made appear a- 
 gainft the Socinians, is denoted a fubftitution in the 
 place of another. But it is worth while diftinctiy to 
 Set forth the true opinion, contained in fome pofi- 
 tions. 
 
 II. We therefore conclude, i. That tli-e obedience 
 ChritVs obedience fuffi- and fufferings of Chrift, con- 
 cient for faving all man- fidered in themfelves, are, on 
 kind, had God lopleafed. account of the infinite dignity 
 of the perfon, of that value, as to have been fufficient 
 for redeeming not only all and every man in particular, 
 but many myriads befides, if it had fo pleafed God 
 and Chrift, to have undertaken and fatisfied for them. 
 
 III. 2. That Chrift as man, fubjecl to the law of 
 _, . a .„ , love, did, in a holy manner, love 
 
 Chnft as man wilhed „ ' ' . .• f , , ' ., 
 
 well even to thofe, $ ™en as his neighbours, heartily 
 
 for whom, as Media- wifhed them well, ferioufly lament- 
 tor he did not engage. e( j t h e ruir^ of thofe that perifhed, 
 whom yet, as God, he knew were reprobates, and 
 for whom, as Mediator, he had not engaged. Yet 
 fo that he Submitted this human affection, command- 
 ed by the law, which is common to Chrift, and to 
 us ? to the divine appointment, and reftricted it to the 
 # Adverfus Perkinfum, p. 72. 
 
Chap-9- Fo R whom CHRIST satisfied. 349 
 
 purpofe of the decreeing will of God ; in this manner 
 
 proving the holinefs of his will, in the glorifying of 
 
 the divine counfel, and in a due fubjection thereto. 
 
 This appears from the tears, which Chrift, as man t 
 
 fhed over the calamities that were coming upon that a- 
 
 bandoned city, which had partly flain, and partly 
 
 loaded with contempt and ignominy the prophets; 
 
 pay, had been the only butchery in the whole world 
 
 for them ; and was at length, by a moil horrid parri- +hJju* 
 
 cide, to devote itfelf, with its unhappy poflerity, to ^Jy ^wy> 
 
 the lafting curfe of God *. &*++ fl 
 
 IV. g. The furetiihip and fatisfaclion of Chrift, have^f- 7^ 
 alfo been an occafion of much chrift's fatisf.aion an oc- ^ 
 good even to the reprobate. For cafion of much good alio 
 it is owing to the death of Chrift, to the reprobate, 
 that the gofpel is preached to every creature, that grofs 
 idolatry is aboliihed in many parts of the world, that 
 hellifh impiety is much reftrained by the dhcipline of 
 the word of God, that they obtain at times many and 
 excellent, though not faving, gifts of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, that they have efcaped the pollutions of the world 
 through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jefus 
 Chrift f . And who can in fhort enumerate all thofe 
 things, which they enjoy, not by accident only, be- 
 fide the intention of God and of Chrift, but by the 
 determinate purpofe of God ? Not indeed with a de- 
 fign and purpofe of faving them according to the te- 
 ftament ; but from a view to fhew his long-fulFei ing 
 towards the veflels of wrath, that is, thole who are 
 foperiih, who dwell among thofe who are to be faved. 
 For, with refpecf. to the intention of God, nothing 
 falls out by accident. Every thing happens accor- 
 ding to his determinate couniel. 
 
 V. 4. That the obedience and fufTerings of Chrift 
 are of fuch worth, that all men with- ^ rr , . . 
 
 ' . Of fuch worth that 
 
 out exception, who come to him, may ;l iimen without tx- 
 find perfect falvation in him : and it ception, comm<; to 
 was the will of God, that this truth hin '» ma . v fi,lti ul * 
 fhould, without diitincHon, bepropoicd ™ on " hiaK 
 . t Luke -xix. 41. I 2 Pe;. ii. 20. 
 
t 
 
 350 For whom CHRIST satisfied. Book U. 
 
 both to them that are to be faved, and to them that 
 are to perifh ; with a charge not to neglect fo great 
 falvation, but to repair to Chrift with true contrition 
 of foul ; and with a mod fincere declaration, that all 
 who come to him, mail find falvation in him *. 
 
 VI. 5. That, however, Chrift, according to the 
 But by the will of the Fa- will of God the Father, and his 
 ther, fatisfadion was made own purpofe, did neither engage 
 only for the elefi. nor f at i s fy, and confequently in 
 
 k no manner die, but only for all thole, and thofe a- 
 lone, whom the Father gave him, and who are actual- 
 ly faved. This is that truth, which is controverted, 
 and which we are now to confirm, in a concife, but 
 folid manner, from the facred writings. 
 
 VII. The fcripture declares, that Chrift fatisfied for 
 Proved from the whole body of the elect, when \t tefti- 
 zCor.v. 15. fies, that fee he died for all, and that all 
 things ilier e reconciled by him, as 2 Cor. v. 1 5. Heb. 
 ii. 9. Col. i. 20. And as this is not tobeunderflood 
 
 ;>! of all and every man in particular, it muft be meant 
 * of all and every one of the elect. Now, that it can- 
 not be underftood of all and every individual, I prove 
 from the palTages quoted, in t he following manner. 
 Thofe all for whom Chrift *^iaid to have died f, are 
 thofe who are alfo dead, namely, as to the old man, 
 whom, in virtue of the crucifixion of Chrift, they 
 have crucified J, and who live not to themfelves, hut to 
 Chrift, and to Chrift, indeed, whorofe again for them. 
 But thefe things are fuch that they cannot be applied 
 to any but the elect. None but they are dead to them- 
 felves, the world, and to fin : none elfe live to Chrift. 
 In a word, according to the very hypothefis of the 
 Remonftrants, the efficacy of Chrift's refurrection is 
 reftrained to believers alone. In like manner, thofe 
 From Heb. all for whom Chrift is faid, by the grace of 
 »• 9- God, to have tafted death ||, are fons brought, 
 
 or to be brought, unto glory, who have Chrift for the 
 Captain of their falvation ; who are fanclified ; whom 
 * John vi. 40. t 2 Cor. v. 15. J Rom. vi. 6. || Heb. ii. 9. 
 
Chap.9- For whom CHRIST Satisfied. 351 
 
 he calls his brethren, which God gave him *. Thefe 
 things again are fuch, that they can fuit the elect on- 
 ly, not the reprobate. In like manner, thofe all things 
 which are fad to be reconciled to God, by the peace made i 
 through the blood of Chrift f, can extend no farther than 
 to the elect. The thing is felf-evident. ■ For reconci- 
 liation and peace-making with God are peculiar to e- 
 lect believers J. On the contrary, the reprobate are 
 perpetual enemies to God, on whom the wrath of God 
 abideth ||. By thofe things which are on earth, are 
 understood believers, ftill refiding in the world ; as 
 by thofe things which are in heaven, are'meant, not an- ~ * 
 gels, but men in the ftate of blifs, who enjoy, in the 
 fulleft manner, the fruits of Chrift 's atonement and 
 reconciliation. 
 
 VIII. Let us add that remarkable paflage, God will 
 have all men to be faved, and to come unto From 1 Tim. 
 the r acknowledgment^ knowledge of the truth ; ii- 4- 6 « • _ 
 
 Chrift gave himfelf a ranfom [ price of redemption J for all {.A ( 'T/Jp^ 
 Where, by all, we ought not to underftand all and e- 
 very one in particular, but the elect of whatever na- TWiWv. 
 tion and condition, I make evidently to appear in this 
 manner. 1. They for whom Chrift gave himfelf a 
 ranfom, are actually refcued from the dominion of Sa- 
 tan, are brought to liberty, and can never be thruft in- 
 to an eternal prifon, in order to fatisfy again for thofe 
 debts, which Chrift paid to the utmoft farthing. This 
 we muft certainly maintain, unlefs we would have 
 Chrift's payment go for nothing. But all and every 
 one in particular are not let free from the dominion of 
 Satan. Many are, and do ftill remain, children of dif 
 obedience, in whom that impure fpirit worketh «-• ; and 
 who are for ever held captive at his will, in the fnare of 
 the devil ; and thefe fhall be forced to fatisfy for their 
 own guilt. Chrift therefore did not give himfelf a 
 ranfom for them. 2. Paul fpeaks of all thofe, whofe 
 Mediator Chrift is. Now, he is Mediator, both by the 
 
 , * Ver. 10. ii. 13. f Col. i. 20. J Rom. v. i. || John iii. 36. 
 4 1 Tim. ii. 4. 6. *-► Eph. ii. 2. 
 
 Tv . \*, .. v .1 Cx 
 
352 For whom CHRIST satisfied. Book It. 
 
 offering of his body and blood, and by his powerful in- 
 terce/pon. Which latter part of his mediation can, on 
 no account, be excluded here, when the apoftle is 
 treating concerning our prayers, of which we have a 
 moft perfect pattern in the prayers of Chrift. Befides, 
 as the Remonftrants acknowledge, Chrift's interceflion 
 is not for all and every man in particular. Therefore 
 Chrift is not the perfect Mediator of all and every in- 
 dividual. 3. What is here fpoken, is concerning all 
 thofe whom God will have to be faved, and come to the 
 ^acknowledgment \ knowledge of the triith. But this is not 
 his will concerning every man in particular, becaufe 
 he will have unbelievers condemned *. And the ac- 
 knowledgment of the truth, or faith, is not the privi- 
 lege of all f, but of the eleft \. Nor is it the will of 
 God itlhould. He hardeneth whom he will ||. Befides, 
 it is unworthy of the divine majefty, to imagine, that 
 there is an incomplete, unrefolved, and ineffeclual vo- 
 lition in God |. And it is mere trifling and mean, to 
 underftand here a bare will of precept, enjoining all to 
 work out their own falvation with fear and trembling, 
 and, with all diligence, to feek the knowledge of the 
 truth ; or a will of good pleafure, approving what is 
 according to the precept ; nor do they with whom we 
 now argue, take it in that light. 4. The perfons here 
 meant are all thofe for whom we are to pray. But 
 we are not to pray for all and every one in particular : 
 not certainly for thofe who are already damned ; not 
 for the falvation of all who are now alive, collectively 
 taken ; becaufe we cannot do it in faith ; and we are 
 fure, that many of them will be damned : nor, in fine, 
 for thofe who have finned the fin unto death -h*. 6. and 
 laftly, it is acknowledged, that thefe words are made 
 ufe of by the apoftle, as a motive for the prayers which 
 he requires, and which he would fhew lhall not be in 
 vain. But if the words of the apoftle only Agnized, 
 that Chrift has, by his fatisfac~Uon, obtained no more 
 
 • John iii. 36. f 2 TheiT. iii. 2. % TjpffTi. jj Rom. ix. 18, 
 4- Pkl. cxv\ 3. *-► John v.. ;6. 
 
Chap-9. For whom CHRIST satisfied. 353 
 
 than a poflibility for God to be reconciled to all and e- 
 very one in particular, though, by the nature of that 
 -impetration, it is poflible none may be actually faved, 
 they would exprefs no confequence ; becaule, if that 
 death has only procured a poflibility of falvation, and 
 if our delires after that falvation might be ineffectual, 
 we could neither be fure of their being heard, nor have 
 that hope of audience, which maketh not afhamed. It 
 remains then, that we conclude, that Chrift gave him- 
 felf a ranfom of redemption for all the elect, of what- 
 ever nature and condition, and that it is the will of 
 God, they all mould be faved ; confequently, that it 
 is our duty to be fubfervient, by our prayers, to this 
 counfel of God ; and as we know not how to diftin- 
 guifli the elect from the reprobate, to pray indifcrimi- 
 nately for all, referring it to God, to diitinguim thole 
 that are his ; especially, becaufe we are certain, we 
 fhall not pray in vain for thofe whom God wills to be 
 faved, and for whom Chrift gave himfelf. 
 
 IX. The fcripture inculcates the fame truth, when 
 it fays, that Chrift gave his flejl for From thofc pa fr a£es 
 the life of the world * ; that he is the where lie is laid to 
 propitiation for our fins, and not for have g iven him;"elf 
 ours only, but a If o for the fins of the forthc wond - 
 whole world]", that God was in Chrift reconciling the 
 world to himfelf \ ; that Chrift is the Lamb of God, that 
 taketh away the fins of the world ||. And other paffigcs 
 to the like purpofe. Where by the By tthich wor ^ tho 
 term world, cannot, nay, ought not, tcf\\e&\ve body of the 
 properly to be underftood the whole cUa is feawima de- 
 of mankind, but the elect. Which ncud * 
 
 we prove by the following arguments. 
 
 X. It is clear, "that, in the holy writings, things are 
 fometimes faidof the world, which do not a- chrift 
 gree but to the elect and to believers. Thus prays 
 Chriit pray*, that the world may believe, that lhev - 
 thou haftfent me\ ; and <*-+, that the world may know, t 
 
 • John yj. 51. t 1 John ii. 2. } 2 Cor. v. 19. Hjvhni.ro. 
 \ John xvii. 21. --Ver. 23. 
 
 Vol. 1. I Y y 
 
354 * 0R whom CHRIST satisfied. Bookll. 
 
 thou haft fent me. But thefe things belong to that fa- 
 cerdotal intercefllon of Chrifl, " concerning which we 
 " may, with the greateft certainty, conclude, that it 
 " will never be rejected," fays Arminius * ; and which, 
 it is certain, is not made for the world of reprobates, 
 Chrift having exprefsly declared that f ; and they with 
 whom we argue, do not refufe it. It is therefore ne- 
 cefTary, that by the world we here underftand the world 
 of the elccl, who believe on Chrift, and know him by 
 faith, by virtue of the interceflion of Chrift, and by 
 means of the miniftry, together with the holy and glo- 
 rious example of believers. 
 
 XL Moreover, many texts, which fpeak of falva- 
 tion, not only as impetrated, but as applied, afcribe it 
 to the world. Thus Chrift declares, For God fent not 
 his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the 
 world through himmight befaved\. But the intention of 
 God in fending his Son is not to fave all, but that who- 
 fcever believcth in him, Jhoidd not perifb, but have eternal 
 life, as Chrift explains himielf in the foregoing verfes. 
 la like manner, The bread of God is he which comet b 
 down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world |j. But 
 Chrift gives life only to the elect, to thefheep, and not 
 to the goats |. Thus Chrift, in profecuting his dif- 
 courfe above quoted, John vi. reftrains the term world 
 to thofe whom the Father gave bim, who fee the Son, 
 and believe on him, ver. 39. 40. 
 
 XII. Thefe expreflions likewife, the Father of thofe 
 Ahraham, in the fame fenfc, that believe, and the heir of 
 called the father of the faith- the zvorld, denote the fame 
 frl, and heir of the world . thing, in the promife made to 
 Abraham h-. Abraham is the father of thofe that be- 
 lieve. 1. As a pattern of faith. 2. As a pattern of the 
 bleiTmg, or of juftification by faith. 3. On account of 
 Chrift, who defcended from him, and by whofe Spi- 
 rit theelecl are born again. WhenceChrift, along with 
 his myftical body, is called the feed of Abraham -*- . He 
 
 * In orationedefacerdotioChrifti. \ Ver. 9. t John iii. 17* 
 il John vi. 35. 4 Johnx. 27.2S. +-Rom. iv. 1 U 12. 13. -+ Gal. 
 
 lit r ' ). 
 
Chap. 9. For whom CHRIST satisfied. 355* 
 
 is the heir of the world, that is, of all the families of the 
 earth, who are blefled in him, as in the pattern of 
 faith and of the blefling by it, and in his feed Chrift, 
 as the fountain of every blefling. For this is that 
 world which Chrift receives for an inheritance ; as al- 
 fo, Abraham, and confequently every believer, who 
 are his feed, in Chrift ; that is, who becomes Chriit's 
 own pofTeflion, and with whom Abraham and every 
 believer have communion, exulting in the good things 
 which are beftowed upon them *■ For that ftrici: u- 
 nion and fincere love which fubfift between them, are 
 the reafon, that every one rejoices in, and glorifies 
 God, on account of the benefits beftowed on his neigh- 
 bour, as if beftowed on himfelf. And thus we hive 
 made it appear, that the term world fometimcs in 
 fcripture denotes the collective tody of believers , or of 
 the elect. 
 
 XIII. We add, that the Holy Ghoft fpeaks in this 
 manner, with great propriety, and The whole body of the 
 for feveral fubftantial reafons. For, eleft called the wwlcf, 
 1. The termor/;/, generally in the »• on account of their 
 common way of fpeaking, denotes rru lllude * 
 any large body or multitude of men whatever. Thus 
 the Pharifees Jjiid among them/elves, Perceive ye hozu ye 
 prevail nothing f behold, the world is gone after him f . 
 We have a like phrafeology in Horajot. c, 3. inGema- 
 ra; «« When Rabbi Simeon, the lbn of Gamaliel, en- 
 " tered," (namely, into the fynagogue), " the whole 
 w world role up before htm ;" that is, all who were 
 prefent in the fynagogue. What then fhould hinder 
 a very large and almoit infinite multitude of the chofea 
 people from among all nations, that great multitude 
 which no man can number \, from being elegantly I i - 
 figned by the appellation world f 2. Elect D r , 
 believers, conhdered in thenuelvcs, and fore vocation, 
 before effectual calling, are a part of the tl.c. were a p.r: 
 world lying in w'ukednefs |J. (fl time. f aft ol lke iw»P 
 they walked in trefpajjes and fins, according world * 
 
 * I Cor. iii. 21.22. 1 John xii. 1^. J Rev. ^9. Jjijohnv. 15. 
 Y y 2 
 
356 For whom CHRIST Satisfied. BookIL 
 
 to the cow fe of this world *. And fo far they belong to 
 that world, which is become guilty before God f. But 
 this tends to illuftrate the glory of the love of God 
 and (Thrift, and to the humiliation of believers ; that, 
 while they were a part of the wicked world, Chrift was 
 given to be their Redeemer. 3. Elect believers, after ef 
 3. But after voca- fedual calling, and coniidered as beauti- 
 tion the berer pare fred with divine grace, are though the 
 of the world. tefs, yet t ] ie fop p art pf t j ie wor y i The 
 
 faints and the excellent, that are in the earth \. The ho* 
 ly feed, which is the fub fane e [fupport] of the earth \\. 
 And as the Jews are wont to fpeak, Ci the juft are the 
 V pillars of the world." But what is more ufual, 
 what more fuitable, than that the whole mould, by a 
 fynecdoche, fignify the better, as fometimes the great- 
 er part ? It is therefore not without its emphafis, and 
 yields ufeful inftruefcions, when we hear the collective 
 body of the eleel defigned by the name of the world. 
 
 XIV. Now let us apply thefe things to the paiTages 
 Johnvi. 5?. we have already quoted, §5, Chrift indeed 
 explained, fays, when fpeaking of impetration, John vi. 
 5 1 . that he will give his flejh for the life of the world ; 
 but, in the fame chapter, ver. 33, when fpeaking of 
 the application, he fays, that he giveth life to the world : 
 and fo he explains, what, in the fubject of redemp- 
 tion, he would have us to underftand by the world. 
 But it is a capital truth, that the application of redemp- 
 tion extends no further than to believers and the elect. 
 
 XV. When John writes, that Chrift is the propitiation' 
 not only for our fins, but alfo for the fins of the whole world \ ; 
 he ihews us by thefe words, who they are that can 
 take comfort to themfelves from the interceilion of 
 Chrift, and the remiflion purchafed by him. Now, e- 
 lecr. believers alone can do this ; he is their Advocate 
 with the Father, and not that of the reprobate. To 
 t'lem, and not to the reprobate, God hath fet him forth 
 fo be a propitiation through faith in his blood *r. More.- 
 
 * Kph- ii. 1.2. f Rom. iii. 19. t f{ A \ t X vi. 3. |J If; vi. rf% 
 
 4 ! John ii. 2. hjAgiii. iii- -:. 
 
Chap. 9. For whom CHRIST satisfied. 357 
 
 over, this confolation belongs not only to the elecl 
 from among the Jewifh nation, fuch as John was, but 
 alfo to the elect from among the Gentiles, whom Paul 
 exprefsly points out by the name of the world*. By 
 a phrafeology very ufual among the Hebrew doctors, 
 who call the Gentiles ctyy rnci>*, the nations of the 
 ivor Id. Nor does this faving truth yield comfort to 
 thofe believers only, who lived at that time, and to 
 whom, as to his little children, John was writing; 
 buc alio to thofe who lived in the antediluvian world, 
 and under the Mofaical pedagogy, whofe fins were no 
 otherwife expiated, than by the blood of Chrift ; and 
 in fine, to thofe believers, who, from John's days, 
 were to be brought to Chrift out of all nations whatever, 
 to the end of the world ; which very great multitude is 
 defervedly deligned by the name of the whole world. 
 For it is very certain, that by the whole worid is not 
 denoted the collective body of all and every one of 
 mankind : for John exprefsly difcriminates himfelf, and 
 thofe to whom he is writing, from the whole world, 
 whom yet he could not feclude from being a part of 
 the collective body of mankind. 1 
 
 XVI. When Paul fays f, that God was in Chrijl re- 
 conciling the world to himfelf, he immediately fubjoins, 
 that this was, by not imputing their trefpaffes unto them: 
 to teach us, that reconciliation and non-imputation are 
 of equal extent. But the latter is the privilege of rlic 
 elect and of believers alone, and of thole in whofe 
 heart there is no guile. For David declares thofe bleff- 
 cd, to whom God imputeth not iniquity J. Therefore, 
 by the world, the world of the elect is iigniiied. 
 
 XVII. Chrift is called the Lamb of God, which laketh 
 away the fins of the world ||. But, like that goat, on 
 which the iniquity ot the children of Ifracl was laid, 
 he taker h them away, by taking them upon himfelf, 
 by fatislying for them, as if tl • y were his own, and 
 by taking them away from his people, as to their guilt, 
 
 Rom. xi. I?, iq. t 2 Ccr. v. 19. t Pf*U vxxii. 1. 1. acd 
 Eoni \\ . 6. 8. |! John i, ?y. 
 
3^8 For whom CHRIST satisfied. Book II. 
 
 by juftification, and as to their dominion and ftain, 
 by fanctification : compare i Pet. ii. 24. But as thefe 
 things point to the impetration of falvation, fo as at 
 the fame time to include its application, they cannot 
 * be extended beyond the world of the elect believers. 
 Blejed is y^s i-i^j r^ he whofe tranfgreffton is taken 
 away [forgiven *.] 
 
 XVIII. And thus we have fhewn, that though the 
 A fine tefti- fcripture, when fpeaking of the world of 
 mony of St the redeemed, really defigns fome collective 
 Profper. bodVj yet ifc j s tha( . of the ded Qm y w^^ 
 
 Profper elegantly exprefled f : "In the elect, even 
 " thofe foreknown, and difcriminated from every ge- 
 cc nerality, or collective body, there is deemed to be 
 <c a certain peculiar kind of univerfality ; fo as that a 
 " whole world feems to be delivered out of a whole 
 " world, and all men to be redemed from among all 
 " men." 
 
 XIX. Let us now more efpecially fhew, that Chrift 
 Scripture reftrains ™ de Satisfaction for the deft only. TV 
 the efficacy of this purpofe are thofe paliages of fcnp- 
 Chrift's death to ture, in which the death of Chrift is re- 
 certain perfons. ft r ia e d to his Jheep, his churchy his peo- 
 ple, nay, and his peculiar people {. From which we 
 thus argue : What the fcripture reftricts to fome cer- 
 tain kind of men, to the manifeft exclufion of the reft, 
 ought not to be extended abfolutely to all men. But 
 the fcripture, in the palfages quoted, limits the death 
 of Chrift to a certain kind of men, fo as manifeftly to 
 exclude the reft. Therefore, &c. The truth of the 
 major is evident from the terms : that of the minor, 
 from the paiTages quoted. In order to illuftrate this, 
 we are to fhew thefe two things : 1. That the fubject- 
 matter is the impetration of falvation, which is the act 
 of Chrift ; and not the fruition alone, which is our act. 
 2. That the death of Chrift is fo rejlricled to thofe, who 
 are there defcribed, as to exclude the reft of mankind. 
 
 * Pfal. xxxii. !. 1 De vQcat. Gent. lib. i.e. 3. or in another edi- 
 tion, c. 9. I John x. 15. Aftsxx. 28. Eph. v. 25. Tit. ii. 14.. 
 
Chap.9- For whom CHRIST satisfied. 359 
 
 The Remonftrants, not being able otherwife to refift 
 the force of this argument, deny both thefe. 
 
 XX. As to the former, namely, that the impetration 
 OiValvation is here intended, I thus which is to be underftood 
 
 prove. I . The very terms which of the impetration,and not 
 
 the Holy Spirit ufes in the paffa- of the fruition alone, of 
 ges quoted, to lay down his life for falvat,on - 
 fome, to fur chafe fome, to give himfelf for fome, import 
 fatisfaction, impetration, and acquifition. Nor does 
 the fcripture ufually fpeak in any other ftrain, when 
 the fubject is evidently concerning impetration. 2. 
 In the paffages quoted, we have a clear defcription of 
 what Chrift has done, both without us and without 
 our concurrence ; whereas the real fruition, concern- 
 ing which the Remonftrants will have thofe paffages 
 to be underftood, is our act. Thefe two differ much 
 both in nature and time. In nature ; for the one re- 
 fembles a mean appointed for fome end ; the other an 
 extrinfic end, or rather the ufe of that, for which 
 that mean is appointed. In time ; for thefe propofi- 
 tions were completely verified the moment, in which 
 Chrift laid down his life : but the actual enjoyment is 
 a thing accomplifhing fucceflively for a long tract of 
 time in all the elect. 3. The Remonftrants themfelves 
 produce fimilar phrafes from fcripture, of dying for 
 fome, pur chafing fome, &c. when they contend, that 
 the impetration of the grace of God reaches to others 
 befides the elect ; with what colour, then, do they de- 
 ny that impetration is here the fubject-matter? 4. They 
 mew, that they lay no ftreis on thefe paffages, when 
 they afterwards ailirm, they cannot refer to believers 
 alone, and maintain that, by the church, we are not 
 to underftand the elect alone, or that Chrift gave him- 
 felf for them only. Therefore, I fay, to purchafeand 
 give himfelf for a perfon, cannot here be underftood 
 of real enjoyment, which is peculiar to believers only. 
 5. and laftly, By making this exception, the anfwer 
 of the Remonftrants comes only to a begging the que- 
 flion : for we maintain, and are directly to prove it by 
 
360 For whom CHRIST satisfied. Book II. 
 
 the ftrongeft arguments, that the application of faving 
 grace is as extenfive as its impetration ; and we own, 
 the queftion here is not concerning fuch an impetration, 
 as may have its plenary effect, though applied to no 
 body. For fuch an impetration Ave judge abfurd, un- 
 theological, and highly unworthy of Chrift. 
 
 XXI. The second, namely, which refpects the ex- 
 All are not cluiion of the reft of mankind, when dif- 
 Chrift'slheep. tinct mention is made of the ftieep, the 
 church, a peculiar people, I fhall make evident ; firft, 
 by fhewing, that by thefe appellations, Jheep, church, 
 peculiar people, cannot be underftood ail men in gene- 
 ral ; and then that what is here afferted of the Jheep, 
 church, peculiar people, flows from that extraordinary 
 love of Chrift, which he has not for the reft of man- 
 kind. The firft has no great difficulty in it : for Chrift 
 exprefsly fays to fome, Te are not of my Jheep *. And 
 therefore he divides mankind into Jheep and goats ; of 
 whom, the laft are undoubtedly reprobate, the for- 
 mer, certainly the elect, and heirs of eternal life f . 
 
 XXII. Our opponents themfelvcs will not affirm, 
 Nor do all be- tnat ^ belong to the church. They in- 
 long to the deed fay, that the vifible church is meant, 
 church, j n vvhich there are others hefides the elect. 
 But, i. It fufficiently anfwers our purpofe, that all and 
 every one in particular cannot be underftood. 2. That 
 what is faid of the vifible church, is fometimes of fuch 
 a nature, as can be underftood only of the elect 
 therein: as when the apoftle, writing to the vifible 
 church of the Ephcfians, fays, He hatb chofen you in 
 him \ : and in like manner, 1 Theff. i. 4. And we fhall 
 prciently fhew ; that what is faid of the church in 
 the places quoted, is of the fame nature. 
 
 XXIII. In a word, that all cannot be numbered a- 
 or to the peo- mong the people cf God, God himfelf de- 
 p!e of God. clares, while he cries to fome, ^y )&i 21? 
 are not my people, Lo-ammi ||. And they who diffent 
 from us, take a wrong courfe, when by people they 
 
 » Johnx. 26. f Mauh, zxv. 33. i Eph. i. 4. (J Hof. i. 9. 
 
Chap. 9. For whom CHRIST satisfied. 36*1 
 
 underftand the Jews, among whom too were reprobates. 
 Thus we learn from Paul, that, with refpect to fpiritual 
 privileges, they are not all accounted Ifrael, who are of 
 Ifrael, and therefore not to be reckoned the people, 
 Rom. xi. 1. *♦* 
 
 XXIV. But it is not enough to have fhewn, that 
 the names Jheep, church, people, do not What chrift d;d 
 comprehend every individual of man- f or theele&, theef- 
 kind: for it is poflible, that, on a par- fed of his extraor- 
 ticular occafion, fomething might be din ary^ love for 
 faid of fome perfons, which certainly l emaone - 
 agrees to them, but not to them only. The queftion 
 is not, whether Chrift died for the elect, but whether 
 for them only ? Our adverfaries fay, this cannot be 
 concluded from thole paffages, where the particle only 
 is not added. We mult therefore (hew, that thefe 
 things are fo appropriated to the elect, as to exclude 
 the reft of mankind. I prove it thus : All the paffages 
 quoted tend to amplify the extraordinary love of Chrift 
 towards his fheep, for whom he laid down his life ; 
 towards the church, which he purchafed with his own 
 blood ; towards his people, for whom he gave himfelf. 
 But if in this bufinefs the fheep, the church, and peo- 
 ple of Chrift have nothing peculiarly diftinguilhing 
 beyond all other men, what probable reafon can be af- 
 figned, why that infinite love of Chrift, in laying 
 down his life, fhedding his blood, and giving him- 
 felf, fhould efpecially be appropriated to them ? 
 
 XXV. To this reafoning our adverfaries abfurdly 
 oppofe Paul's gloriation, who, while wri- Gal. n 20.0b- 
 ting f, that Chrift was given for him, jeAedwiifs. 
 does not exclude others from a (hare in the fame love. 
 For, in that text, Paul does not fpeak of any divine 
 love, whereby God peculiarly difiinguiihed him from 
 others, who had the like precious faith with himfelf ; 
 nor does he confider himfelf as Paul, but as an tle£i 
 perfon, and a believer, propoling himfelf there, as ail 
 
 * To this quotation of the author's may be ade'ed, Rom« i- x - &• 
 + Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 Vox. I. f Z 2 
 
362 For whom CHRIST satisfied. BookIL 
 
 example, in the name of all believers : and we are fb 
 far from being able to infer from this, that what Paul 
 affirms of himfelf was peculiar to him, that quite the 
 rcverfe -ought to be concluded. Ihis inftance there- 
 fore does not fait the cafe* 
 
 XXVI. But let us confider each parage apart. When 
 For thofe (heep only Chrift publicly declares, that he 
 Chrift fays down liis lays down his life for his Jheep^ he 
 life, to whom he thence infers, that he muft brin? them 
 
 gives eternal hie. f() ^ fa ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 fold and one fl:ephcrd *. But it is certain, that thefe 
 Lift afTertions agree to eleel believers only, and there- 
 fore alfo the firft, from which the others are deduced. 
 For it would not be a juft inference, to fay, I lay down 
 my life for my fheep, therefore I muft bring them to 
 hear my voice, &c. did he lay down his life for fome* 
 whom he never brings &c# 
 
 XXVII. When Paul faid, that Chrift fur chafed his 
 
 T . „ Wr v .^i. church with his own blood f, he more 
 1 nc church, purcna- n . . . »* 
 
 fd by Chnil, is alone clnuncUy explains, inhis epiitle to the 
 his ipoufe, for whom, Ephefians J, what he means by the 
 cut of conjugal love, church, which Chrift loved and gave 
 
 he gave Welt himfelf fo^ nam€ l y , t he fpoilfe of 
 
 Chrift, whom alone he loves with a conjugal affection, 
 and fanclines, and prefents glorious to himfelf. Now, 
 that love of Chrift,- which was the motive of his gi- 
 ving himfelf, and of the fanclification and glorification 
 of the church, which are the fruits of that donation, 
 belongs to elect, believers only ; therefore alfo the very 
 giving itfelf, which is the confequence of that love, 
 and the caufe of the fanciification of the church. 
 Moreover, that this conjugal love of Chrift, whereby 
 he purchafed the churcln as his fpoufe, by his own 
 biood, has the general aftembly ot the eleel alone for 
 its object', to wave other confederations, may be hence 
 alfo inferred, becaufe Paul propofes it here as a pat- 
 tern of the conjugal love of the hufband for the wife. 
 
 " Jehu x. 15. 16. 17. f Adis xx. 28. I Chap. v. 25. 
 
Chap. 9. For whom CHRIST satisfied. 363 
 
 But this love ought doubtlefs to reach no farther than 
 the wife. 
 
 XXVIII. Laftly, when Paul reminds his fon Titus, 
 that Chrift {rave himfelf for us, that he might ch . ift 
 redeem us from ail iniquity, and purify unto r jf ies fucii 
 himfclf a peculiar people^ zealous of good as he trave 
 works *, he evidently fhews, what was the Jj^fc" 
 fruit of Chrift's giving himfelf ; namely, re- 
 demption from iniquity, and the purification of a pe- 
 culiar people, &c. And confequently they who are 
 not redeemed from iniquity, nor purified, nor made: 
 his peculiar people, &c. cannot glory in this, that 
 Ciiriir gave himfelf for them. 
 
 XXIX. What the apoftle writes in this chapter, ver. 
 II. that the grace of God, that bringcth fal- Tit. ii. 11. 
 vation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us, explained. 
 that denying ungodlinefs, &c. neither avails ouradverfa- 
 ries, nor is any wife detrimental to the truth we 
 maintain. For, 1. The preaching of the gofpel, by 
 which the favjng grace of God is offered, and which 
 is here intended by that expreffion, had not reached 
 all mankind without exception, nay nor evti-y nation, 
 in the days of Paul. 2. The preaching of the gofpel 
 reaches the ears of a great many more than of thole, 
 who are the objects of that love of Chrift which bring- 
 eth falvation : for it is only an external mean, 
 which the elect, out of every nation, are brought 
 the communion of Chrift. And therefore the gofpel 
 is to be preached to every nation, that the elect there- 
 in may hear it. 3. We fhould o'oferve the apolile's 
 fcope, which is to encourage fervants to the 3&ei 
 
 of univerfal piety, that, by their holy convolution, 
 they may adorn tie doctrine of Chrift in all things, 1 lie 
 reafon he gives for this is, becaufe the faving grace of 
 Chrift has appeared, both to mailers and fervank, 
 teaching us, &c, As if he had laid, « That all ;. 
 of whatever rank, prof effing the gofpel, ought to 
 reckon it their duty to adorn its docfrine by the pa- 
 
 % Tit, ii. 14. 
 
 % Z z i 
 
364 For whom CHRIST satisfied. Bookll. 
 
 rity of their manners : for as to the doctrine itfelf, it 
 
 fo phinly, fo exprefsly, and fo efficacioufly inftructs 
 
 us in all goodnefs, as none but they who wilfully 
 
 Hop their eartf car** be igfiora§£**of. And therefore 
 
 v- all the profefTors of it, as well mafters as fervants, 
 
 fliould take care, left they bring a fcandal on this 
 
 moll perfect of all rules, by lives which have little or 
 
 %» no conformity to it." This is the full import of thefe 
 
 / words, fo that any may fee, that they make nothing 
 
 for the univerfal efficacy of Chrift's death. 
 
 XXX. If we fearch the matter to the bottom, we 
 
 r>u -a a- a ^ will moft clearly difcern, that it never 
 
 Chrut cid not en- . J . ' . 
 
 £a<re, con r equently was C^hriit s intention, to latisry tor all 
 not Tatisfy for all in in general. Certainly, he fatisfied only 
 general, either by for thole he engaged for. But he en- 
 JnSE^^ g^dto do theynll of his Father*. 
 But this is the will of his Father, not 
 eitfj** *k at every man mould be faved, but thofe that were 
 */j r* : S* ven ^^ m ' tnat * s ' tne e ^ e< ^- out °^ ever y nation, who 
 M&U/ffl are to receive the gift of faith. Thofe the Father gave 
 him for an inheritance by an irrevocable teftament. 
 For thus Jehovah fpeaks f . It is a light thing, that 
 thou floouldfl he my fervant, to raife up the tribes of Ja- 
 cob, and to re/lore the preferred of Ifrael : I will alfo 
 give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayfl be 
 my fahation unto the end of the earth. And Chrift 
 himfelf ftill more clearly {. This is the Father's will, 
 which hath fent me, that cf all which he hath given me, 
 JJbould lofe nothing. But all are not given to Chrift, 
 only thofe that come to him ||. All that the Father 
 giveth me, pall come to me. He therefore only enga- 
 ged for thefe, according to the will of the Father : he 
 took their fins upon him, carried them on his heart, 
 when he offered himfelf to the Father ; claims them 
 as his peculiar property, in virtue of his merit, ac- 
 cording to agreement, challenges them for his own, 
 and will, 2ft length in due time, prefent them holy 
 and glorious ifc> his Father, faying, Behold I, and the 
 * Pfal. xl. 9. f If xllx. 6. x John «; 39- II Y er * 3?1 
 
 
 St 
 
 — Jl*}- 
 
Chap. 9. For whom CHRIST satisfied. 365 
 
 children which God hath given me *. All thefe things 
 naturally flow from the very nature of the covenant 
 which fubfifts between the Father and the Son, as/ />/ ' / 
 formerly explained. kfo (***- H*OUl *&£ Ca^l, To fr^uS/" 
 
 XXXI. And thefe particulars may be further illu- 0U> yoc*- 
 fixated and confirmed from Aaron's typi- The fame thing 
 cal priefthood. The high prieft, on the fhewn from Aa- 
 folemn day of expiation, flew one of the ron ' s typical 
 goats, on which the fins of all Ifrael P nefthood - 
 were laid, and fent the other into the wildernefs. 
 All thefe things were typical. The high prieft, the 
 facrifice, the fcape-goat, all fet forth Chrift. But who 
 were typically defigned by Ifrael? Not indeed all men. 
 For what is more abfurd than that Ifrael fhould be a 
 type of the Edomites and Egyptians, and of all thac 
 world, out of which they were chofen, and from 
 which, on fo many accounts, they were diftinguifhed ? 
 "We therefore conclude, that they were typical of the 
 elect, who are the true Ifraelitcs, Je'ws inwardly, and 
 in the fpirit, and whom the apoftle loves to diftinguifh 
 by the name of the eleclion \ . For the nature of the 
 type confifted in this, that the people of Ifrael was 
 chofen by an external pomp of ceremonies, was re- 
 deemed, and in their meafure was a holy priefthood. 
 They therefore prefigured thofe, who were truly 
 chofen, redeemed, and confecrated a royal priefthood 
 to God ; as Peter feems not obfeurely to fignify J. 
 As therefore the high prieft formerly offered an ato- 
 ning facrilice not for the Egyptians or Canamites, but 
 for the typical Ifrael only ; fo our High Prieft ac- 
 cording to the order of Melchizedek, offered himfclf 
 once, not for abandoned reprobates, but for myftical 
 lirael, that is, the truly-choien. 
 
 XXXII. This fame truth will appear mofl clearly, 
 if we attend to fome of the infepa- AnJ from me infepa . 
 rable eftects of Chrift's fatisfaclion. rablecffedsotChnit's 
 It would carry us too far to enume- f«ti»f-aioo, 
 rate all : let us confider fome of the principal. If they 
 
 * iicb. ii. 13. f Rom. li. 7. \ i Pet. 
 
366 For whom CHRIST satisfied. Book II. 
 
 who were enemies to God were reconciled by the death of 
 his Son, much more being reconciled, they Jhall be faved 
 by his life *. For whom God, not fparing his own 
 Son, gave him up unto .death* with him freely he gives 
 them all things f . We may boldly fay to then% for 
 whom Chrift died, Who Jhall lay any thing to the charge 
 of God's eleel * It is God that jujlifeth. Who is he that 
 condemneth \ t &c. They whom Chrift redeemed from 
 the curfe of the law, are not under the curfe, but the 
 blejfmg of Abraham comet h upon them ||. But this is 
 not true of all and every one, but of elect believers 
 only, that they are faved by the life of Chrift ; that 
 with Chrift God freely gives them all things ; that 
 none can lay any thing to their charge, or bring an 
 accufation againft them ; that upon them is come the 
 blefiing of Abraham. Therefore they alone are the 
 perfons, of whom the foregoing things may be truly 
 affirmed. 
 
 XXXIII. Add, that that fictitious fatisfaction for the 
 A fatisfaaion for reprobate, and thofe who perifh, is 
 thofe who perifh, is altogether a vain and ufelefs thing, 
 altogether ufelefs. For whom does it profit? Not certain- 
 ly God, who by no act can be rendered happier than 
 he is. Not Chrift himfelf, who, as lie never feeks 
 thetn, fo he never receives them for his peculiar pro- 
 perty ; and neither is he enriched by poffefling them, 
 though fuppofed to have purchafed them at a dear 
 rate. Not believers, who, content with their portion 
 in God and in Chrift, and fully redeemed by Chrift, 
 enjoy a happinefs in every refpect complete. In line, 
 not thofe that perifh, who are conftrained to fatisfy, in 
 their own perfons, for their fins to the utmoft far* 
 thing. But to aflirm the fatisfaction of Chrift to be h 
 vain and ufelefs thing, is abfurd, and borders upon 
 blafphemy. Remigius, formerly bifhop of Lyons, 
 faid extremely well, when difcourfing at large on this 
 controverted point, " The blood of Chrift is a great 
 
 * Rom. .v. 10. f R:m. viii. 32. J, Vcr. 33. 34. ?, GaJ. 
 111 lh l *' * ^ \i a ' A- 
 
Chap. 9- For whom CHRIST satisfied. 307 
 
 " price ; fuch a price can, in no refpecl, be in vain 
 «« and ineffectual, but rather is filled with the fuper- 
 " abundant advantage arifing from thofe blefllngs, 
 " for which it was paid." See Forbef. inftruct. hid. 
 lib. 8. c. 16. 
 
 XXXIV. Nor are we to fay, that therefore the re- 
 probate have no benefit by the fatif- HadC hriftfatisfiedfor 
 faction of Chrift, becaufe the condi- t hem, he would alfo 
 tion of faith and perfeverance, which have merited faith and 
 the reprobate do not perform, is ne- perfeverance few them, 
 ceflary to that purpofe. For, firft, it is not true, that 
 faith and perfeverance are pre-requifite conditions, 
 before a perfon can enjoy any of the fruits of ChrifTs 
 fatisfaction . For regeneration itfelf and effectual cal- 
 ling, which go before actual faith ; juftification, ad- 
 option, and fa notification, which precede final perfe- 
 verance in the faith, are the fruits of Chrift's moft ex* 
 cellent fatisfaction. And then, from the want of faith 
 and perfeverance in thofe that perifh, we have a moft 
 effectual proof, that the blood of the new covenant 
 was not fned for them ; for by that, Chrift has merit- 
 ed for his people the continuance of the new life in 
 faith and love. Seeing he is the Mediator of that better 
 covenant^ which was eflablifhed upon better promifes *. 
 But thele promifes are, fanclification f ; / will put my 
 laws into their mind; and the continuance thereof, / 
 will be to them a God, and they Jhall be to me a people. 
 For, in the new covenant, to be a God to any, is to 
 be an everlafting Saviour, as we gather from Matth. 
 xxii. 32. and which the oppofition made between the 
 new and the old covenant, in like manner, (hews J. 
 Thefe promifes, being graciouQy and actually confer- 
 red on the elect, in virtue of Chrift's fatisfaction, would 
 have certainly been conferred on the reft of mankind, 
 had Chrift equally fatisfied for them. 
 
 XXXV. Nay, the fatisfaction of Chrift for the re- 
 probate had not only been ufelefs, but Satisfaction f or the 
 highly unworthy both of God and of reprobate unworthy 
 * HeW. viii. 6. \ Vcr. le. \ H«b. viii. 8. 9. 
 
368 How CHRIST used Bookll. 
 
 of God and of Chrift. Unworthy of the wifdom, goodnefs, 
 Chnft. and juftice of God, to exact and receive fatif- 
 
 facHoi; fro. n his moft beloved Son for thofe, whom he 
 neither gave, nor wanted to give to his Son, and 
 whom he decreed to confign to everlafting confine- 
 ment, that they might fuffer in their own perfons 
 according to the demerit of their crimes. Unworthy 
 of Chrift, to give his blood a price of redemption for 
 thofe, whom he had not in charge to redeem. And, 
 if we may fpeak freely, this alfo, in fome refpect, would 
 be for Chrift to account the blood of the new covenant, 
 or the new covenant itfelf, by which he was fanclijied, 
 a common^ or unholy thing, 
 
 XXXVI. It would now remain to refute -the argu- 
 Conclu- ments of thofe on the other fide of the que- 
 fion. ftion : but this has been done at large, and 
 with fo much judgment, by very learned men, 
 that we can fcarce make any addition. The very accu- 
 rate dhTertation of Gomarus on this head, may efpe- 
 cially be confulted, which is inferted in his commen- 
 taries on the epiltle to the Galatians. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 After what manner Chrljl nfed the Sacraments. 
 
 The covenant between npHUS far we have at lanre 
 
 and by certain fymbols. relate to the compact between 
 Chrift and the Father : and we 
 might feem to have completely finifhed that fubject, 
 was it not proper to add fomething concerning the 
 |acraments, by which that compact was confirmed. 
 The apoftle has obferved *, that, not without an oath, 
 Chrift was made Prieft, and the Surety of a better 
 teftament* As this manifefted the liability of the 
 * Heb. vii. *o. 21. 
 
Chap. 10. the Sacraments. 369 
 
 covenant, and the immutability of God's counfcl ; fo 
 it likewife contributed to the full afTurance of Chrift 
 the Mediator. It moreover pleafed God, to confirm 
 that covenant by certain external fymbols, and indeed 
 the very fame, by which the covenant of grace was 
 fealed to believers, under the different difpenfations 
 of it. We have above hinted fomething on this fub- 
 jecl, which we are now to enlarge upon more diftinctly, 
 
 II. It is evident, that the Lord Jefus was circwn- 
 
 ci fed on the eighth day from his birth ** ^, , a . 
 
 / . . rt , <L • 1 i • ,• Chrift a partakef 
 
 that he kept the pajjover with his di- f c j rCumc ; 
 
 fciples f, and 'was baptized by John J, thepaflbvcr, bap* 
 
 Though the evangelifts do not indeed tifm > and tlie 1U P- 
 
 exprctsly affert, that he alfo partook of f er * 
 
 the holy flipper ; yet they relate what we think may 
 
 make it more than probable he did. 
 
 III. 1. It is certain, that our Lord, in the inftitu* 
 tion and ufe of the myftical (upper, 
 
 borrowed moil of the rites from the ft ^ c g^'by 
 Jewiih paffover. The very learned chrift, none of tie 
 jofeph Scaliger, Ludovicus Capellus, gucfts allowed to ei.t 
 and moft particularly, Buxtorf in a ?^Jf*jf et |, €mSr 
 peculiar diflertation, have made this ' er ° dmi T\ 
 
 as clear as noon-day. Thus our Lord took the bread 
 and cup diftincHy, feparately blelTed them both, 
 and gave them to his difciples, after the Jewiih 
 manner. It was beiides, a cuftom among the Jews, 
 for the mailer of the family to eat firit of the bread 
 after blefling. To this purpofc Maimonides j| 
 fays, M The gucfts were not to eat or tafte any tiling, 
 " till he who broke, haci tafted firft." Nor was it 
 permitted, at feftivals and folemn feaits, for any of the 
 gucfts to drink of the cup, till after the mailer ok the 
 family had done it fir ft ; according to an ex{ 
 i'age quoted by Buxtorf from the Talmud, where it 
 is (aid, " to be an excellent precept, that ho 
 "Janclilies pr blelles, mould hi it tali j, i cr all 
 
 •LuLtii. 21. f Luke xxii. S. 11. X M-'.ih. ; . 
 
 || In H.lcot Bcrachot, c. 7. 
 
 Vol. i. j- j A 
 
370 Plow CHRIST used Book II- 
 
 " the guefts fitting down, tailed ; every one took a 
 " draught ;" fee the above diflertation, § 76. In this 
 manner Chrift acted at the pafchal fupper, Luke xxii. 
 15. 17. and why not fo at this new myftical fupper? 
 
 IV. 2. This obfervation will be more cogent, if we 
 Chriil's drinking of confider, that the fame phrafeology, 
 the cup hinted, ufed by Chrift of the pafchal cup, 
 IVIauh.xxvi. 29. L u k- e xxii. 18. I will not drink of the 
 fruit of the "cine, until the kingdom of God fh all come, is 
 alfo, according to Matth. xxvi. 29. made ufe of con- 
 cerning the cup at the holy fupper. Whence we infer, 
 that then Chrift likewife drank of the cup with his 
 difciples. 
 
 V. 3. We may add, that no reafon can be afllgned, 
 Chrift ought to par- wn y Chrift mould not partake of the 
 take of the fupper fupper, as he did of baptifm, and 
 as of baptifm. confecrate, in his own perfon, thefe 
 two facraments of the New Teftament. 
 
 VI. 4. Nay, this feems requifite from the mutual 
 As what the union union between Chrift and believers, 
 or Chriit and be- and that intercourfe of intimate fami- 
 uevers requireth. Harity, which, among other things, 
 was fealed in this myftical feaft, and which our Lord 
 himfelf has very elegantly propofed, under the fimili- 
 tude of a mutual fupper * ; I willfup with him, and he 
 with me. 
 
 VII. This alfo was the opinion of the fathers: As 
 Authorifedbv of Jerome t. " Not Mofes, but the Lord 
 the fathers of " Jefus gave us the true bread : he him- 
 tfce cl.urch. « felf at once the entertainer and the enter- 
 tainment ; the eater and the food." Of AuguftineJ. 
 < ; And having firft tafted the facrament of his body and 
 " blood, he fignified his meaning." Of Chryfoftom *. 
 " lie " alfo drinks thereof, left, on hearing his words, 
 <• they mall fay, And do we then drink biood and eat 
 <'- flem? And therefore, in order to prevent this, he 
 4 * himfelf fets them an example," &c. 
 
 * Rev. iii. 20. f In e ? ift - ac '- Hedibiam, quaeft. 2. % De do- 
 arina Cariiliaaa, lib. z. c. 3. : | VUx\\\. Iw^ii. w Matth. 
 
Chap. 10. the Sacraments. 371 
 
 VIII. This ufe of the facraments, was not a matter 
 of choice to Chrift, but a part of his The ufe cf the fa- 
 rivhteoufnefs, and a duty incumbent cements a part of 
 upon him. For he himfelf declared, Chritt's duty and of 
 when John refufed to baptize him, hls »**<*****• 
 Suffer it to be fo now : for thus jr/ww k'S ii becometh us 
 to fulfil all righteoufnefs *. Where by righteoufnefs 
 he means the obedience due to the Matth. iii. 15. ex- 
 command of God ; and it became plained. 
 both John and Chrift, to fulfil all, and confequently 
 this part. The part of Chrift was to prefent himfelf 
 to be baptized by John ; and John's duty not to deny 
 Chrift in this : thus it became both of them : which 
 in this place does not limply denote a matter of mere 
 fitnefs, as if baptifm was a thing unnecefTary, (it being-, 
 as we have already faid, a part of the righteoufnels 
 which Chrift was to fulfil) ; but it fignified every du- 
 ty incumbent, the performance of which is an orna- 
 ment to the faints, and renders them beautiful in the 
 eyes of God : as the pfaimift lings f : Holinefs nlJO 
 [[is the ornament of] becometh thine houfe. In this fenfc 
 Paul faid, as jr/tTW, becometh faints \ ; and • wfvtru^ 
 which becometh women prof effing godlinefs || ; and for 
 tT;£Tt, it became him. The rectitude (a), beauty, or 
 comelincfs of God, who is adorned with rectitude and 
 beauty h-, fT Hon, (which rectitude he can neither 
 deny, nor act contrary to), required, that the Captain 
 of ourlalvation fhould be made perfect by fuSerings; 
 Such a High Priejl became us «~». From which it ap- 
 pears, that the baptifm of Chrift was a part of his du- 
 ty, by which he rendered himlclf comely both in the 
 eyes of God and men. 
 
 IX. But befides this, the facraments which Chrift 
 
 * Matth. iii. 15. f Plal, xciii. 5. I Eph. v. j. I i Tim. ii. ir. 
 4- Heb. ii. 10, •+- Pfal, Ixxxix. P. «~» Heb. vii, 26. 
 
 (a) The author here ufe->a word of a very general ngnific.ition, fi£. 
 nifying every thing that is faittbie to the perfcAiona or God. And 
 as the divine re&itude, holinefs, or lightcoulnefs, is his beaurv ; (q 
 this, I apprehend, is what the author means here by daentia Dei. 
 
 3 A 2 
 
37* How CHRIST used Book II. 
 
 Were befides feals to made ufc of, had ftill a further re« 
 Mm of the covenant, fpecl. They are not only to becon- 
 fidcred as atls of obedience, enjoined by the law, but 
 alio as ftgns and feals of the covenant, whereby the mu- 
 tual ( i gagemeiits of the contracting parties are fealed. 
 For God aid arit militate the facraments with a view, 
 that any mould place virtue and holinefs in the bare 
 exercifc of thole acts., but that they might be feals of 
 fpi ritual things. Nor does he make a proper ufe of 
 the facraments, who does not apply them to that end. 
 And as to Chrift, we are not to doubt, but that he 
 made ufe of thefc inftitutions agreeably to the inten- 
 tion of :God, who appointed them, as was proper to 
 be done by that moft perfect and excellent fervant, 
 in whom God was well pleafed. There was there- 
 fore, in the ufe of the facraments, a confirmation of 
 the promifes, both of thofe made by the Father to 
 the Son, and by the Son to the Father. 
 
 X. Moreover, the promifes made to Chrift were of 
 promifes made to various kinds. Some were made to 
 Chritf, either as him as a particular man, born holy, 
 mr.n, or as Me- who was to be juftified and made hap- 
 ^ iator * py, upon conflantly perfevering in the 
 
 courfe of his commenced purity. For Chrift was in- 
 deed a creature, but holy ; now to make a holy crea- 
 ture happy, who preferves its holinefs untainted, is 
 fo agreeable to the divine goodnefs, that it is fcarce, 
 if at all, poflible, it could be otherwife, as we have 
 proved at large, book i. chap. 4. feci. 12. & feqq. 
 And thefe promifes are legal, and belong to the cove- 
 nant of ivorks. Other promifes made to him as Sure- 
 ty and Mediator, by which his per/on, and his office and 
 iuo)k) as Mediator, mould be acceptable to God, and 
 very iuccefsful : and a twofold effect was certainly to 
 enfue, one for him/elf viz. a moft excellent degree of 
 glory ; the other for the eleB, who were to be united to 
 him, namely, their falvation. And thefe laft are pro- 
 perly the promifes of the covenant of which we treac s 
 and of- which we have given a fpeciineii, book ii. 
 chap. iii. §1?. & fe<j. 
 
Chap. 10. th e Sacraments. 373 
 
 XI. We ^nay now inquire, whether both thefe kinds 
 of promifes were fealed to Chrift, Theformer , as being le- 
 by the ordinary facraments of the ga i, f ee m not to be fealed 
 Old and New Teftament, which to Chritt by the facra- 
 he partook of. But we muft not ™ en £ ot the covenant 
 determine any thing raihly with ° grd< 
 
 refpect to this : and therefore I fhall modeftly pro- 
 pose, what I think moll probable. There is, indeed, 
 no reafon, why Chrift as a holy man, and who, as 
 fuch, was to be made happy, might not be confirmed 
 in the faith of this promife by ibme certain facra- 
 ments. This appears from the facraments of the 
 covenant of works given to Adam before the fall. 
 But that fuch facraments were, for that purpofe, 
 granted to Chrift, does not appear from fcripture. 
 Moreover, 1 dare not affirm, that the ordinary facra 
 ments, which Chrift made ufe of, were fubiervient to 
 the confirming the legal promifes, belonging to the 
 covenant of works. The reafon is, becaule they are 
 facraments of the covenant of grace. And it does 
 not feem confident, that the promifes of the covenant 
 of works (hould be fealed by the facraments of the 
 covenant of grace. 
 
 XII. I cannot indeed refufe, that there is a great dif- 
 ference in fome drcumftances, as T*e facraments figmfied 
 to the lignification of the facra- different things to Cnriit 
 ments, as made ufe of by Chrift, a!ld Severs. 
 
 and as ufed by believers. For to the latter they feal 
 regeneration, the mortification, of the old, and the 
 vivification of the new man, the iemifiion of iins ; 
 which as they neither had, nor could have any place in 
 Chriii, the holy One of God, io they could not, in 
 this manner, be feals to him. Chriii: alio, by the fa- 
 craments, engaged to perform obedience othcrwife 
 than believers do; for he engaged to perform the moft 
 perfect obedience, without any defect, and bound 
 himfelf to bear the curie of the law, and that in or- 
 der tofatisty divine juftice. lklieveis indeed, in the 
 ufe of the facraments, engage to perforin liixere obe- 
 
374 HowCHRISTused Book II. 
 
 dience, yet not that which is abfolutely perfect, (for 
 that would be to be guilty of a formal lie) ; neither 
 do they bind themfelves to bear the curfe, nor pro- 
 mife any thing, by which, of themfelves, they may 
 fatisfy the juftice of God. So that not all the fame 
 things, at leaft not in the fame manner, were fealed 
 to Chrift by the facraments, which by thefe are feal- 
 ed to believers. 
 
 XIII. That very accurate divine, Gomarus, having 
 The opinion of Go- duly examined thefe things, has pre- 
 marus and Voetius. fented us with a certain general fig- 
 nification of the facraments, which he maintains to 
 have had place in Chrift. According to him, it was 
 this, namely, a ftgn and feal of his covenant with God, 
 and communion with the church, that God Jhould be his 
 God, and the be/lower of fahation : and he himjelf 
 J>ound to perform perpetual, grateful obedience to him* and 
 joined in communion with the church *. Though there 
 is no impropriety in thefe things, and they were 
 doubtlefs fignified in the facraments, which Chrift 
 made ufe of, yet they do not feem to come up to the 
 full iignification of the facraments ; fince the proper, 
 proximate, and principal end, and confequently the 
 very nature of thefe facraments, is efpecially to be 
 a feal of the new covenant. And here holds what 
 is commonly faid in the fchools, the principal act fpe- 
 cifies, as the great Voetius f has accurately obferved. 
 
 XIV. I therefore conclude, that the promifes made 
 The facraments fealed to to Chrift as Mediator, were prin- 
 Chrift the promifes made cipally fealed to him by the facra- 
 to him as Mediator. ments. Chrift indeed obtained 
 thefe in virtue of his merits, or, to fpeak with Paul, 
 becaufe he fulfilled the righteoufnrfs of the law ; yet 
 in themfelves, and as they relate to believers, they are 
 promifes of the covenant of grace ; by which it was 
 declared, that Chrift fhould become the glorious Lord 
 and head of believers, and that they fhould be redeem- 
 ed by his fatisfaction, juftified by his merits, and at 
 
 • In Mauh. iii. 13. t Dlfput. torn. 2. p. 161, 
 
Chap. 10. the Sacraments. 375 
 
 length made perfectly happy with him, that fo he 
 might for ever exult for joy with them, and in them, 
 as his glorious inheritance. 
 
 XV. The j uftification of the Lord Jefus is contain- 
 ed in thefe promifes, concerning in which is included the 
 which he himfelf fays, He is near judication of Chrift. 
 that juftifieth me, who will contend with me f Who is he 
 that Jh all condemn me * t And Paul, He was jujlified 
 in the Spirit f. This j unification does not only con- 
 fift in his being declared innocent of thofe crimes, 
 with which he was falfely accufed, and for which he 
 was condemned by men ; nor in the Father's de- 
 claring him to be holy and righteous, and worthy of 
 his favour, on account of the perfect holinefs of his 
 nature and actions ; but in his being, as Mediator, 
 declared to have performed every thing he was bound 
 to for the payment of the debt he had taken upon 
 himfelf. So that he, who had before appeared in 
 the likenefs of finful flejl) J, was now to be feen *xpfU 
 itfuLfrtac, without Jin by thofe that look for him unto 
 
 falvation. 
 
 XVI. Yet I dare not fay with a certain divine, in 
 other refpccts very judicious, that Not properly to be cal- 
 the remifiion of thofe fins which led remiffion of fins. 
 Chrift as Surety took upon himfelf, was fealed to him. 
 For the fcripture no where fpeaks in this manner. 
 Befides, the remiffion of fins is the forbearance or re- 
 moval of the punifhment due to them. Which can- 
 not lie faid of Chrift, becaufe he fuffered the punifh- 
 ment due to us, and, in the fullelt manner, fatisfied 
 the jufticc of God. Oar fins are forgiven us, on ac- 
 count of the fatisfaction of Chriit, But neither fcrip- 
 ture nor reafon will authorife us to fay, that fins were 
 forgiven to Chriit. 
 
 XVII. However, agreeably to both it may be faid, 
 that the regeneration of the elect, To thofe promifes belong 
 the remifiion of their fins, their all the benefits to be 
 fructification and glorification, in pw^ ^ thccle:t. 
 
 * If. 1. S. 9. + 1 Tim iii. :5. J Rom.viii. 3. 
 
376 How CHRIST used Book II. 
 
 a word, all thofe benefits, which, by virtue of the co- 
 venant of grace, are bellowed upon them, were pro- 
 rnifed and fealed to Chrift by the facraments. For 
 fince, by virtue of the myftical union, founded on the 
 decree of God, Chrift and the elect are one fpiritual 
 body, Chrift received thofe gifts in the elect, which 
 are given to them ; as we have feveral times hinted 
 from Pfal. lxviii. 18. 
 
 XVIII. May we not here alfo refer what Paul 
 Eph.i. 23. writes *, thai the church is ttxy^u*. ™ t* 
 explained, nfx/jx a zuhi i&btfv/u**, the fuhiefs of him that 
 
 jilleth all in all f Fulnefs, I fay, not only to be com- 
 pleted by Chrift, but alfo, in its meafure, which makes 
 Chrift complete, who himfelf feems not to be com- 
 pleted without his whole body. So that the promifes 
 made to the elect, may fo far be looked upon as 
 made to Chrift, and thus fealed to him by the facra^ 
 jnents. 
 
 XIX. Moreover, Chrift, on the other hand, promi- 
 What Chrift fed tns Father, in the ufe of the facra- 
 promifed in the ments, that he would faithfully and per- 
 facraments. feveringly perform all he bound himfelf 
 to by agreement, .tor, in the ufe of the facraments, 
 there is, as it were, a kind of renewal of the cove- 
 nant, and, if we may thus fpeak, a repeated folemni- 
 fation thereof. Chrift therefore, by that act, public- 
 ly protefted before God and the church, that he would 
 not fail in any part of his duty. 
 
 XX. Some perhaps may think, to what purpofc 
 J., . , , r , . Arz thisjnutual fealin^ of the pro- 
 
 Which he ufed not without ., . r ° c r . 
 
 a very wife reafon, thereby miles by facraments : for net- 
 to be confirmed in the faith ther was the faith of Chrift 
 
 ot the promifes of the Father, fabject to any vitious flaw of 
 
 weaknefs, to render fuch a confirmation neceflary; 
 nor the Father under any doubt as to the fidelity of 
 his engaging Son. But the anfwer is eafy. 1. The 
 inftitucion and ufe of facraments do not, from the 
 nature of the thing, prefuppofe fin, or any weaknefs 
 • Eph. i. 23, 
 
Chap. io. the Sacraments. 377 
 
 of faith. This appears from the facraments infdtu- 
 ted before the fall. They are not therefore to be 
 efteemed a vain inftitution ; for that would be inju- 
 rious to the wifdom of God, who appointed them. 
 2. Though the faith of Chrift had noftain, yet it was 
 but human, and depended on the influence, fupport, 
 and corroboration of the Deity : and as he ufually does 
 this by the means he has appointed for that purpofe, 
 it was the duty of the man Chrift, to obey this will 
 of the Deity, and carefully apply the means adapted 
 to that end ; fome of which are the facraments. g. 
 None, I imagine, will deny, that Chrift preferved, 
 exerted, andftrengthened his own faith by devout pray- 
 ers, pious meditation on the word of God, an atten- 
 tive obfervatior: of the ways of God towards himfelf 
 and other believers, contemplation of the divine per- 
 fections, and by a full exercife of inftituted wor i ip. 
 For as thefe are things infeparable from the duty of a 
 pious man, fo they very much contribute to puferve 
 and ftrengthen faith. Why fhould we not then be- 
 lieve, that they had the fame effect on Chrift, as 
 what, by their nature, they are adapted to have ? 
 And if by thefe means the faith of Chrift was fupport - 
 ed, why not alfo by the facraments ? 4. Nay, as of- 
 ten as a more bitter temptation or dreadful affliction 
 affiulted him, he was confirmed in the faith of the 
 promifes by extraordinary means ; fuch as the appear- 
 ance of God at Jordan, the defcent of the Holy Spi- 
 rit *, the miniftry of angels f, the glorious transfi- 
 guration on the holy mountain J, a voice from hea- 
 ven ||, and an angel ftrengthening him in his agony |. 
 From which I conclude, that lince it was fit, Chrift 
 fhould at times be confirmed in faith by extraordina- 
 ry means, it was nowife unfit to allow the ordinary 
 means of the facraments to he applied for the fame 
 purpofe. 
 
 • Matth. iii. 16. 17. f Matth. iv.n. J M.u:h. x\ii. I. fltQi 
 j| John xii. 28. 4 Luke xx. 43. 
 
 Vol. 1. ] 3 B 
 
37^ Ho w CHRIST used Book IL 
 
 XXI. Nor was it lefs proper, that Chrift fhould fo 
 And to teflify folemnly reiterate his engagements in the 
 his fidelity to ufe of the facraments, though the Father 
 his Father. was f u ]ly perfuaded of his veracity and fi- 
 delity. For, i. That free and often-repeated profef- 
 iion of Chrift's alacrity to perform every thing he en- 
 gaged for, contributed to the glory of the Father. 2. 
 The zeal of Chrift himfelf, though never vitioufly lan- 
 guid, was yet rouied'and kindled to a flame by that re- 
 petition of his obligation. 3. It was highly ufeful to 
 believers, who either were eye-witneffes of his actions, 
 or otherwife acquainted with them, attentively tocon- 
 iidcr that open declaration of Chrift's readinefs. For 
 thus they were both ftrengthened in the faith of Chrift, 
 and excited to a like alacrity of zcbL Whence we 
 conclude, that the ufe of the facraments was neither 
 a vain, nor an empty thing to Chrift. 
 
 XXII.. Having premifed thefe things in general con- 
 Whatcircumcifion cerning the facraments which Chrift 
 Signified to Chriil. ufed, let us briefly take a view of each. 
 And the firft is his circumcision, intimated Luke ii. 
 21. Which fignifted and fealed to Chrift, 1. That he 
 was acknowledged by the Father, as the prom i fed feed 
 of Abraham, in whom all the nations of the earth were 
 to be biefted. 2. That his death and cutting off out 
 of the land of the living *, fhould be the means of the 
 preicrvafion and life of his whole myftical body, as 
 the cutting off of the forefkin in the Jews, was a mean, 
 for the prciervation of the whole perfon. For they 
 who neglected this, were threatened to be cut off from 
 among their people f . 3. That his people were to de- 
 rive from him the circumcifion made without hands, 
 con lifting in putting off the body of the fins of the 
 fiefh, to be begun in regeneration, carried on in fane- 
 t.ification, and confummated in the glorification both 
 of body and fool J. 
 
 XXIII. On the other hand, Chrift promifed in cir- 
 
 * K liii. 8. Gen xvii. 14. % Cvl ii. 11. 
 
Chap. 10. the Sacraments. 379 
 
 cumcifion, 1. That he would in general what Chiift 
 perform all righteoufnefs ; fee Gal. v. 3. promifcd 
 And, on his coming into the world, he pro- lllelein - 
 claimed this by this folemn token, Lo, I come to do thy 
 wtii, God *. 2 . More efpecially, that he was ready and 
 prepared to flied his blood, and undergo thofe iu. 
 ings, by which he was under obligation to fatisiy the 
 jultice of God. For he entered upon life by undergo- 
 ing pain and medding his blood on the eighth day, 
 And, 3. Moft of all, that being now made fieih of our 
 fleih f, he would willingly, at the appointed time, 
 give himfelf up to death, and to be cut off out or the 
 land of the living, in order thereby to be the Saviour 
 of his myilical body J. 
 
 XXIV. Of a like nature is the confideration of the 
 baptism of Chrift. In which, 1. The Fa- The fig n ifi« 
 ther openly declared, that he acknowled- carton of 
 ged the Lord Jefus for his Son, whofe per- b -P llm - 
 ion and offices were moft acceptable to him. 2. That 
 Chrift (hould be filled with the gifts of the Spirit, not 
 only to be furnifhed with them, in the fulled nunner, 
 for the executing his oilice, but for believers to de- 
 rive abundantly from his fulnefs. This was ligniiied 
 both by the water of baptifm ||, and by the Symbol of 
 the defcending dove. 3. That, in the appointed time, 
 Chrift ihould, by a glorious refurreciion, come out 
 of the waters of tribulation, and lift up his head |, ms 
 the baptized pcrfon afcends out of the water. 4. On 
 the other hand, Jefus declared his readinefs to plungq 
 lata the torrents of hell, yet with an allured faith an4 
 hope of a deliverance. 
 
 XXV. In the passover was ligniiied to the Lord Jc? 
 fus, 1. His being acknowledged by the Fa- And of the 
 ther the Lamb without fpot or blemUh, and paijover. 
 ieparate from linners. 2. That, by his blood, he Was 
 
 ainly to obtain for believers deliverance frpm the 
 deftroying angel, as the IfraelLtes in Egypt were deli- 
 
 * Pfa!. xl, 8. 9. f 1 ph, v. 30, ; I 
 
 )| Ezek.xxxyi. 25. 17, 4 IT. i-x. 7. and Pfal. 
 
 2 IS 2 
 
 pn. v. 1 
 
380 How CHRIST used Book II. 
 
 vered by the blood of the paflbver. On the other hand, 
 Jefus made a declaration of his readinefs to undergo 
 the moft bitter things for his people, prefigured by the 
 bitter herbs of the paflbver, and tofhed his blood, and 
 be ilain and fcorched in the fire of the divine anger 
 burning againft our fins ; in a word, to give himielf 
 wholly for us, as the pafchal lamb was all of it to be 
 confumed. 
 
 XXVI. Here I cannot omit what the celebrated Bux- 
 Wherein was an elegant torf has obferved in the diflerta- 
 preflguration of Chrift's tion above quoted, §54. that the 
 crucifixion. circumcifion of Chrift, and his 
 
 death on the crofs, were very elegantly and exactly 
 prefigured, by the flaying of the pafchal lamb. The 
 form is defcribed in the Talmud, treatifeon thepaflbver, 
 chap. v. in Mifchna, in thefe words : " How do they 
 hang up and excoriate [flay off the fkin of] the lamb to 
 be flain? Iron hooks, or nails, were fixed in the walls and 
 pillars ; on which nails they hanged up and flayed the 
 Iamb. If, on account of the number of the flayers, there 
 was not room enough on the nails, they had recourfe 
 to flender fmooth flicks ; upon one of thefe a perfon 
 took up the lamb, and laid it on his own and his neigh- 
 bour's fhoulders ; thus they hung up and excoriated 
 the lamb." And much to the fame purpofe is what 
 Bochart has remarked in his Hierozoicon, l.ii.c. 5. from 
 Maimonides. in his book de pafch. c. viii. §13. " When 
 they roaft the pafchal lamb, tliey transfix it from the 
 middle of the mouth to the pudenda, with a wooden 
 fpit, and placing fire underneath, fufpend it in the mid- 
 dle of the oven." In order therefore to roaft it, they 
 did not turn it on an iron fpit, in the manner ufed by 
 us, but fufpended it transfixed with one made of wood, 
 which, in fome meafure, reprefented Chrift hanging on 
 t'ie crofs. Efpecially, if what Juftin Martyr mentions 
 i> true, in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew. " The 
 roafted lamb was made into the figure of a crofs, by 
 empaling it from head to tail, and then from one fhoul- 
 der to the other with a fkewer, on which laft were ex> 
 
Chap. 10. the Sacraments. 38 1 
 
 tended the fore-feet, and thus it was roafted." And 
 why may we not give credit to this relation of a man 
 not only pious, but alfo well ikilled in the Jewifh cu- 
 ftoms, having been born at Sichem, and the fon of a 
 Samaritan ? Since then the paflbver prefented fuch a 
 clear refemblance of the crucifixion ; Chrift, when he 
 partook of it, promifed obedience even unto the crofs. 
 XXVII. The fignification of the holy supper is much 
 the fame. By it was fealed to Chrift, 1. The fignification 
 That he mould be to the elect the fweet- of the f upper, 
 eft meat and drink for their fpiritual and eternal life. 
 2. That the virtue of his merits fhould be celebrated by 
 believers, till his return again to judgment. 3. That, 
 together with believers, he fhould enjoy a heavenly 
 feaft, never to have an end. But then again, Chrift 
 promifed the breaking of his body, and the fliedding 
 of his blood. And thus in all and each of the fa- 
 craments, which Chrift made ufe of, there was a fo- 
 lemn repetition and a fealing of the covenant entered 
 jnio between him and the Father, 
 
THE 
 
 OECONOMY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Divine Covenants, 
 
 ****************************** ******** 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 ************************************** 
 
 C H A P. I. 
 
 Of the Covenant of God with the Ele3. 
 Theorderof r | l HE plan of this work, formerly 
 
 treating this g h j d d hag nQW b ht us 
 
 T 
 
 -IL. to treat of God's covf.nant with 
 the elect, founded on the compact between theFa- 
 ther and the Son. The nature of which we mailer/? 
 unfold in general, and then more particularly explain 
 it ; and that in the following order ; as, firft, to fpeak 
 of the contracting parties; then inquire into the 
 promises of the covenant, and moreover, examine, 
 whether, and what, and how far, any thing may be 
 required of the elect, by way of a condition in the 
 covenant : in fine, to debate whether this covenant 
 has its peculiar threatening s. 
 
 II. The contracting parties are, on the one part, 
 God as all fuffieiem, g °d \ ™ the other, the elect. And 
 offers the covenant God is to be confidered, i. As truly 
 G f grace to theeleft. atl-fufficient^ for all manner of happi- 
 nefs, not only to himfelf, nay, nor only to the inno- 
 cent creature, but alfo to guilty and finful man. He 
 himfelf imprefled this upon Abraham, at the renewal 
 of the covenant, when he emphatically called himfelf 
 
Chap, r. Of God's COVENANT, &c 383 
 
 Hto *7K> the almighty God) or God all-fufficient *. ^ 
 denotes fliong, powerful, as Prov. iii. 27. *]^i ^S, //><? 
 ^oww of thine hand. It therefore denotes him, who is 
 endowed with fuch power, as that he is able to do ex- 
 ceeding abundantly above all that we afk or think f . With- 
 out whom we can do nothing, and in whom we can 
 do all things. n"ttp fignifiesfufficient* whether we fup- 
 pofe it compounded of the relative #, and H, fo as to 
 denote one who is fufficient ; or whether derived from 
 "1U/, fignifying both a pap or breaft, and deflation or 
 ravage. If we join each of thefe together, we may 
 fay, that God is fo powerful and fo fufficient, as that 
 he himfelf is in want of nothing, and from his -plentiful 
 breafl all things derive their being, their life, and their 
 motion : which breaft being once withdrawn, all things 
 relapfe into deflation. Such he declares himfelf to be 
 to his chofen people, in the covenant of grace, for 
 whofe benefit he is poflefled of this mod powerful all- 
 fuiiiciency. That name, therefore, is often repeated 
 to the patriarchs, as the fountain of every blefling {. 
 2. As moft merciful and gracious, rejoicing to commu- 
 nicate himfelf to the iinful creature ||. 3. And at the 
 fame time as moft juft, not entering into a ftate of 
 friendfhip with the finner, but in away confident with 
 his holinefs, and after having obtained full fatisfaction 
 to his juft ice : for he will by no means clear the guilty. 
 4. and iaitly, As moft wife, having found out an ad- 
 mirable mixture of his mercy and juftice, without in- 
 fringing the rights of either. For by this means, un- 
 to the principalities and powers in heavenly places , is made 
 knovjn by the church n ttqkuwoi'hiw toft* tv 0t*, the manifold 
 wifdom of God |. 
 
 111. But here men are confidered, 1. As finners, mi- 
 ferable and loft in themiclves, who could Men conGu'red 
 not be rcftorcd by their own, or by any here a> lingers. 
 Other created power ; in a word, poflefled of nothing, 
 on account or which they could pleafe God -»-->-. 2g. 
 
 * Gen. xvii. I. f Rpji, iii. 2c. \ Gea. xxviii. 3. xxxv. 1 1. 
 
 ami xliii. 11. || F.xod. xzxiv. 6. 7. \ Lph. iii. ju. «-► I 
 xvi. 1, — 6. Tit. iii. 3. 4. 
 
384 Of God's COVENANT Book lit. 
 
 But cho- As chofen by God to grace and glory, accor- 
 fen. ding to his moll abfolute good pleafure, and 
 
 fo appointed heirs of eternal life, conflituting that lit- 
 tle flock, to whom it is the Father's good pleafure to give 
 the kingdom*. As ihofefor whom Chrift engaged, or 
 made fatisfaction : for this ou^ht to be confidered as 
 neceffary, before it could be worthy of God, to make 
 mention of his grace to iinful man. 
 
 IV. The ceconomy of the perfons of the Trinity in 
 The ceconomy of tms bufinefs of the covenant of grace, 
 the Trinity in the claims alio our attention. The Fa- 
 covenant of grace. the r is held forth as the principal au- 
 thor of it, who was in Chrift, reconciling the world to him- 
 
 Jelf\ ; and has appointed the elect to be heirs of him- 
 felf, and joint heirs with his Son {. The Son is not 
 only Mediator, and Executor of the covenant, but is 
 himfelf alfo the Teftator, who, by his death, ratified the 
 teftament of grace ||, and the Diftributor of all the blelT- 
 ings of it ; I give unto them eternal life |. The Spirit 
 brings the elect to Chrift, and, in Chrift, to thepoflef- 
 fion of the benefits of the covenant, intimates to their 
 confciences rd wntt rl Aa£/S ra *tr* 9 the holy pledges, 
 the fure mercies of David, and is the feal and earneft of 
 their complete happinefs +*. 
 
 V. Moreover, as we reftricl this covenan; to the e- 
 The communion of the lee*, » is evident, we are fpeaking 
 covenant e'uher internal of the internal, myftical, and fpi- 
 or external. ritual communion of the covenant. 
 For falvation itfdf, and every thing belonging to it, 
 or infeparably connected with it, are promifed in this 
 covenant, all which none but "the elect can attain to. 
 If, in other refpecls, we confider the external cecono- 
 my of the covenant, in the communion of the word 
 and facraments, in the profeflion of the true faith, in 
 the participation of many gifts, which, though excel- 
 lent and illuftrious, are yet none of the effects of ther 
 
 * Lukexii. 32. f z Cor. v. 19. t Rom. viii. 17. || Luke 
 xxii. 29.. Heb. ix. 16. I \oha s. zS. f»iC • n. 12* 
 
 Eph. i. 13. 1^. 
 
Chap. i. with the ELECT. 385 
 
 fancfcifying Spirit, nor any earned of future happinefs ; 
 it cannot be denied, that, in this refpecl, many are ia 
 covenant, whofe names, notwithstanding, are not in 
 the ceftament of God. 
 
 VI. And thus we have begun to mention fome things 
 concerning the promifes of the covenant, The pro mi ie> of 
 which, in general, may be included un- thi- covenant .re 
 der the names of grace and glory, as grace and glory, 
 is done by the pfalmift *, The Lord will give grace and 
 glory. Which are commonly fo diilin: ii hed Dy di- 
 vines, as to refer grace to this life, and glory to that 
 which is to come : though the grace of this li^e be 
 glorious, and the glory of the future life gracious. 
 We may likewife not improperly fay, that, in the co- 
 venant of grace, are promifed both faivation itfelf, 
 and all the means leading to it, which the Lord hathj 
 briefly comprized in the/e words : But this Jhall be the 
 covenant that I will make with t^e houfe of Ifrael; After 
 thofe days, faith the I„ord, I will put my law in their in- 
 ward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and will be 
 their God, and they (hall be my people]. And again, And 
 they fhall be my people, and I will be their God. And I 
 will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear 
 vie for ever, for the good of them, and of their children 
 after them. And I will make an everlafling covenant 
 with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do 
 them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that 
 they Jhall not depart from me \. 
 
 VII. Here we arc to obferve a remarkable difference 
 between the promifes of the covenant of works, ^v;^ are 
 and thofe of the covenant of grace. 'lhc promifed to 
 fame eternal life is promifed in both, which themfmhiscb- 
 can be but one, confuting in the commu- vcnant other- 
 nion and enjoyment of God; but if is ^J } £^fa 
 promifed in a manner quite different in the 
 one, from what it is in the other. In the covenant of 
 works God promifed life to man, on condition of p< r- 
 fect obedience, but he did not promife to produce or 
 
 * Pfal. Ixxxiv. ||. tjer. xxxi. j}. J Chap. xxx'J. 38. Jo, 4Q. 
 
 Vol. I. f 3 C 
 
^86 O* God's COVENANT Book M, 
 
 lie J this obedience in man. In the covenant of grace, 
 he fo promifes life eternal, as at the fame time to pro- 
 mife faith an d repentance, and perfeverance in holinefs, 
 without which life cannot be attained j and which be- 
 iflg granted, life cannot but be obtained. And e- 
 ven in this fenfe it may be faid, that the covenant, of 
 which Ghrift is the Mediator, is more excellent^ and e- 
 fiablijliedon better promifes * ; becaule it does not depend 
 on any uncertain condition, but being founded on the 
 furetiihip and actual fatisfaclion of Ghrift, does infalli- 
 bly fecure falvation to the believer, and as certainly 
 promife faith to the elect. 
 
 VIII. Divines explain themfelves differently as to 
 
 Tho covenant of grace, the CONDITIONS of the covenant 
 
 with refpeel to us, pro- of grace. We, for our part, a- 
 pe.iy w.thout conditions. g ree with thofe, who think, that 
 the covenant of grace, to fpeak accurately, with re- 
 fpeel to us, has no conditions, properly fo called : which 
 ientiment we fhall explain and eftablifh in the follow- 
 ing manner. 
 
 IX. A condition of a covenant, properly fo called, 
 A cordiuoo is an ac- is thM action, which) being performed, 
 lion, which, perform- gives a man a right to the re-ward, 
 rd, gives a right :othe c j3 ut that fuch a condition cannot b? 
 levVd required of us in the covenant of 
 grace, is felf- evident : becaufe a right to life neither is, 
 nor indeed can be, founded on any action of ours, but 
 on the righteoufne^ of our Lord alone ; who having 
 perfectly fulfilled the righteouihefs of the law for us^ 
 nothing can, in juftice, be required of us to perfdrm, 
 in order to acquire a right, already fully purchafed mn 
 us. And, indeed, in this all the orthodox readily agreA 
 
 X. Further, the apotlle, more than once, fees forth 
 The covenant the covenant of grace, under the appeflR 
 of grace, a tion of a testament, which is God's ifc- 
 teftament. mutable purpofe, not fufpended on any one 
 condition : and as it is founded on the unchangeable 
 counfel of God, and ratified by the death of the Teila- 
 
 * Htb, viii. 6. 
 
Chap. i. with the ELECT. 587 
 
 tor, fo it is not poflible, it fhould be made void by any 
 unbelief of the elect, nor acquire its fcability from any 
 faith of man ; feeing in this very teftament God has 
 as immutably determined concerning faith, as falva- 
 tion. Thus, Gal. hi. 15. we fee the covenant of Gud 
 with Abraham is called a teftament ; the ratification of 
 which muft alfo be the lame with that of a teii anient. 
 And the covenant to be made with Ifrael, Jer. xxxi. 
 has the fame appellation , Heb viii. 10. As alfo that 
 covenant with Ifrael mentioned by Moles, Ex^l. xxlv. 
 and the declaration of the manner of enjoying the 
 love of God through faith in Chriit, Heb. ix. 15. 20.- 
 And likewife, the compact of the Father with the Son,- 
 Luke xxii.£2i " In which pafiage, iiril, the vviil of 
 * God is publifhed, by which he deerc-:^, I 
 " Son mould, by the divine power of tk<2 I 
 " train the inheritance of the world, and a k 
 " fecondly, the will of Chriit, that the ap( •' 
 
 *' thers given him, mould, through faith, bee 
 " heirs of righteoufnefs, and of the heavenly L 
 •« dom, and of that of the world. Compare Gal. hi. 
 w 8. But why theapoitle mould call the covenant of 
 " Abraham, and that mentioned, Heb. viii. 10. a 1 f- 
 " stament, and whether it ought not to be in t 
 f < Matth. xxvi. 18. and in other places, mall be con 
 " lidered in its place *." And, in a word, 
 not whether Paul, when fpeaking of the covenant of 
 grace, did, at any time, or in any pafiage, give ie any 
 other name than that of a teihment. " Bjlt At that 
 " time" (at leaft if we give in to Cocceius's opirii 
 " that word iigniiied, neither to Greeks, nor Ikiieniu 
 «•' Jews, nor to the Hebrews, any other thing b\ 
 " teftament f." I do not produce thefe things, as if t 
 v> anted to confound the notions of a covenant ar.d a te- 
 ftament; but to f hew, that the covenant pf grace 1 i TE* 
 STAMEXTAiiv, and to be ditlinguiihed horn a covei 
 founded on a compaftj agreement, or law. N 
 
 • Cocceiuo $t ^. f Cocccios ad G~!. iii. \ 
 
 3 C - 
 
°H Of God's COVENANT Book in. 
 
 conceal, that I found this inCocceius*. Which made me 
 wotider, that a certain learned perfon, who is a great ad- 
 mirer of Cocceius, fhouid find fault with thefe things. 
 
 XI. The famous Cloppenburg, formerly the orna- 
 Cloppcnburg ment of the univerfity of Friefland, has 
 praifed. accurately obferved the fame thing ; whofe 
 words I fhall fubjoin -f. " The other difpofition of 
 " the covenant (which regards us) is teftamentary, 
 " whereby the grace, by which we are faved, comes 
 " to us from the moft perfect merit of Clift the 
 " Surety. For we are reckoned to be in covenant 
 ' with God. by the new covenant of grace, without 
 " having fuperadded to the covenant confirmed 
 " with Chrift, the Surety, by the renewal of the 
 " old agreement, any condition, by which God 
 <c mould tranfacf. with us, but giving a gratuitous 
 " coll to the inheritance t>f the promifes, whofe tefta- 
 ** ment Chrift ratified by his death, and whofe Media- 
 " tor he now is in heaven ; namely, of. full reconcili- 
 and Ju- " ation with God and of eternal life." Junius, 
 nius. in like manner {. " The conditions being fulfil- 
 <{ led by the angel of the covenat, the catholic church 
 <c was, through and for him, conflituted heir of eter- 
 " nal life, without any condition." 
 
 XII. Betides, when God propofes the form of the 
 The gcfpel rtntfiy taken covenant of grace, his words, to 
 confiih of mere promifes. this purpofe, are mere\ promifes, 
 as we have lately feen from Jer. xxxi. and xxxii. 
 Our divines therefore, who, in confequence of the 
 quirks of the Socinians and Remonilrants, have learn- 
 ed to fpeak with the greateft caution, juftly maintain, 
 that the gcfpel, ftrictly taken, confifls of pure pro- 
 miles of grace and glory. 
 
 XIII. And indeed, if we were to take the promifes 
 „,, ,. , . . r , of the covenant of grace altoge- 
 
 \v hatcver can be devifed .o o 
 
 as a condition, ism.clu- ther without exception, we could 
 
 ced in the univeifality of not, ib much as in thought, de- 
 
 the piomifes. v ;f e an y thing in us, as the con- 
 
 • De feed. § 87. t Ex difputat. 3. de fcederibus, thef. 20... 
 \ In thefib. difputat. 25. § 29. 
 
Chap. i. withtheELECT. 389 
 
 dition of thefe promifes. For whatever can be con- 
 ceived as a condition, is all included in the univerfali- 
 ty of the promifes. Should God only promife eternal 
 life, there might be fome pretence for faying, that 
 repentance, faith, and the like, were the conditions 
 of this covenant. But feeing God does, in the fame 
 breath, as it were ratify both the beginning, progrefs, 
 uninterrupted continuance, and, in a word, the con- 
 fummation of the new life ; nothing remains in this 
 univerfality of the promifes, which can be looked up- 
 cm as a condition of the whole covenant. But we 
 here treat of the condition of the covenant, and not 
 concerning any thing in man, which muft go before 
 the actual enjoyment of confummate happinefs. 
 
 XIV. It is, however, certain, that God has, in a 
 yeiy wife and holy manner, fo ordered Yet none come5 t0 
 it, that none fhould come to falvation, f a ]va::en, but in 
 but in the way of faith and holinefs ; the way of faith 
 and has fo ranged his promifes, that and ho:ine ^« 
 none fhould attain to the more principal or more per- 
 fect happinefs, but they who fhould fiift be made par- 
 takers of the preceding promifes. Whence we gather, 
 that none can take comfort in the infallible hope of 
 happinefs, who has not fincerely applied himfelf to 
 the practice of faith and godlinefs. And as the fcrip- 
 ture now and then afTures us, that it is impofiible for 
 any to pleafe God without faith, or fee him without 
 Jiolinefs ; hence many have been induced to call faith 
 and a new life, the conditions of the covenant : where- 
 as, to fpeak accurately, and according to the nature 
 of this covenant, they arc, on the part of God, the 
 execution of previous promifes, and theearneftof fu- 
 ture happinefs, and, on the part of man, the perform- 
 ance of thofe duties, which cannot but precede the 
 confummate perfection of a foul delighting in God. 
 Or if wc will inliit upon it, to call thefe things condi- 
 tions ; they are not io much Nut f muc h conditions of 
 conditions of the covenant^ as the cover.ar.t, as of the aifu- 
 *f the affutuncc- that we mall racce of thoicinccvcnir.t. 
 
390 Of God's COVENANT Book III. 
 
 continue in God's covenant, and that he mall be our 
 God. And 1 make no doubt, but this was exactly the 
 meaning of thofe very learned divines, though all of 
 them have not fo happily expreffed themfelves. 
 
 XV. Let us again hear our own Cloppenburg on 
 Cloppenburg this fubject, to whofe accuracy on this 
 praiied again, point I have nothing to add *. Nor do 
 the conditions of the new covenant, enjoined by a law, 
 Adapted thereto, as repentance, faith, and the practice 
 of love to God and our neighbour, deftxoy this evangelical 
 difplay of the grace of the new covenant, which the 
 teftamentary donation, made on account of death, 
 demands. For thefe conditions of the new covenant 
 are inferted in the teflament in fuch a manner, as to 
 exclude the impenitent, the unbelieving, and the un- 
 godly, from inheriting the promifes, but not as if the 
 difpenfation and donation of falvation depended on 
 thefe ; or that, by our works of obedience to the Law- 
 giver, we obtain a right to the promife of the inheri- 
 tance. — What then ? Conditions of new obedience 
 are inferted into the teflament of the new covenant, 
 under a legal form indeed, as the rule of our sf.i.f- 
 examination, and of becoming gratitude, left, with- 
 out having the undoubted characters of the ions of 
 God, we fhould, without any ground, think our- 
 felves fure of the inheritance : yet fo that repentance 
 itfelf, coniifling in the mortification of fin and the 
 practice of good works, is alfo promifed under ano- 
 ther form, to wit, as the gift of God, which he him- 
 felf works in us, that, by that fign or evidence, we 
 may, from the time of our truly repenting and be- 
 lieving, perfectly hope in that grace, which is brought 
 to us at the revelation of Jefus Chrift j, having e- 
 ternal life already begun in ourfelves, together with 
 the new creation of the new fpiritual life, by the Spi- 
 rit of God. Thus far Cloppenburg, the accuracy of 
 whofe diilertation nothing can exceed. 
 
 ♦ Pifputat. 4. defeder. thef. 26. § 27. f 1 Pet. i. 13. 
 
Chap. r. with the ELECT. 391 
 
 XVI. We are not to think, that, by this fentiment, 
 
 the nature of a covenant is deftroyed, _, c 
 
 ,., m - n- 1 .- a The covenant of 
 
 which con tilts in a Jtipulation and re- g race , with refpeft 
 
 ftipulation. For there is no abfurdity, to the S^ety, a 
 
 *{hould we maintain, that that difpo- covenant ; with re- 
 
 fition of the new covenant, which { ?f a t0 us - rather 
 
 . 10 • 1 1 a teitamenc. 
 
 was made to the Surety, retained the 
 proper notion of a covenant, fignifying a compact be- 
 tween two parties of mutual faith ; but that the other 
 difpofition made to us, comes nearer to the form of a 
 teftament, and is rather unilateral, or appointed by V- 
 one party. Nor is the word rvHD any obflacle, which 
 we have fhewn, book i. chap. i. § 3. is of variousfigni- 
 fications, and often denotes the fame as pn, a conflitu- 
 tion, or fignifies a certain promife, though not mutual. 
 XVII. Moreover, God, by a certain wonderful ace 
 
 of condefcenfion, publifhes the promifes ,„ , . 
 
 c l- £ !• . 1 Tis the good- 
 
 ot his grace to his covenant-people, in ne f s of b Go( j 
 
 this manner; to fhew that it is his will, that he has pro* 
 that they feek for, and expect from him, po^d his pro- 
 what he promifes, juft as if it was a ™ ires to f maa 
 promife of reward, and proceeded from JL y 
 covenant and agreement, and was irrevo- 
 cable, on the account of the right of him, who fues 
 for the performance of it. Which is, indeed, an a- 
 ftpniftiing degree ok the Lord's goodnefs ; neverthe- 
 less, we are not to ufe it as an argument for condi- 
 tions of the covenant of grace, properly (o called. 
 
 XVIII. But, which is the principal thing, we ima- 
 gine, the bell way to conceive of this , , c , 
 h .'. . r J y . By the law, lab- 
 
 conltitution ot the covenant, is as f e rvient tothe cove- 
 
 foilows : The covenant of grace, or nant of grace, the 
 the gofpel, ftrictiy fo called, which is promife Kmcmmj 
 the model of that covenant, iince it bllate;aL 
 c->n fills in mere promifes, prefcribes nothing pro- 
 nely as duty, requires nothing, commands noticing; 
 not even tin^, Beficvc, truft, hope in the Lord, and 
 the like. But it declares, lets forth, and fignifies to 
 u<, what God proaiiici in Chnu, what he would have 
 
392 Of God's COVENANT Book III. 
 
 done, and what he is about to do. All prefcription 
 of duty belongs to the law, as, after others, the ve- 
 nerable Voetius has very well inculcated *. And we 
 are, by all all means, to maintain this, if, with the 
 whole body of the reformed, we would conftantly 
 defend the perfection of the law, which comprehends 
 all virtues, and all the duties of holinefs. But the 
 law, adapted to the covenant of grace, and, accor- 
 ding to it, infcribed on the heart of the elect, enjoins 
 to receive all thofe things which are propofed in the 
 gofpel, with an unfeigned faith, and frame our lives 
 fnitably to that grace and glory which are promifed. 
 When God, therefore, in the covenant of grace, 
 promifes faith, repentance, and confequently eternal 
 life, to an elect finner ; then the law, whofe obliga- 
 tion can never be diflblved, and which extends to e- 
 very duty, binds the man to affent to that truth, high- 
 ly prize, ardently delire, feek, and lay hold on thofe 
 promifed bleflings. Moreover, lince the admirable 
 providence of God has ranged the promifes in fuch 
 order, as that faith and repentance go before, and 
 falvation follows after, man is bound, by the fame 
 law, to approve of, and be in love with, this divine 
 appointment, and allure himfelf of falvation only ac- 
 cording to it. But when a man accepts the promifes 
 of the covenant, in the order they are propofed, he 
 does, by that acceptance, bind himfelf to the duties 
 contained in the foregoing promifes, before he can 
 allure himfelf of the fulfilment of the latter. And 
 in this manner the covenant becomes mutual. God 
 propofes his promifes in the gofpel in a certain order. 
 The man, in confequence of the law, as fubfervient 
 to the covenant of grace, is bound to receive the pro- 
 mifes in that order. While faith does this, the be- 
 liever, at the fame time, binds himfelf to the exerqfe 
 of a new life, before ever he can prefume to entertain 
 a hope of life eternal. And in this manner it becomes 
 a mutual agreement. 
 
 * Difput. torn. 4. p. 24. &fcq. 
 
Chap, f . with thiELECT. 393 
 
 XIX. But let none here object, that life is promised 
 in the new covenant, to him that Not every a£bon, ta 
 believes and repents, no lefs than which life is appointed, is 
 it was, in the old covenant, to him properly a condition. 
 that worketh ; in order thence to conclude, that 
 faith and repentance are now, in the fame manner, 
 conditions of the covenant of grace, that perfect obe- 
 dience was the condition of the covenant of works. 
 For when life is promifed to him that doth any thing, 
 we are not directly to underftand a condition, proper- 
 ly fo called, as the caufe of claiming the reward. 
 God is pleafed only to point ouc the way we are to 
 take, not to the right, but to the pofleffion of life. 
 He propofes faith as the inftrument, by which we lay 
 hold on the Lord Jefus, and on his grace and glory ; 
 good works, as the evidences of our faith and of our 
 union with Chrift, and as the way to the pofleffion of 
 life. 
 
 XX. But we mud not forget to obferve, that faith 
 has quite a different relation with refpect Faith has here 
 to the bleflings of the covenant of grace, a peculiar re- 
 from what the other works of the new life ktion. 
 have. In this, indeed, they agree, that both conjoint- 
 ly are the way to the promifed blifs ; but faith has 
 fomething peculiar. For as faith is an aftipulation, 
 or aflent given to the divine truth, it includes in it the 
 acceptance of the benefit offered by the covenant, and 
 makes the promife firm and irrevocable. " Here is my 
 " Son," fays God, " and falvation in him. I offer 
 " him to whoever defires him, and believes, that he 
 " fhall find hisfalvationin him. Who defires him ? who 
 U believes this ?" " I do," fays the believer, " I great- 
 " ly long for him. I believe my falvation to be laid up 
 " in him. I take him as thus offered to me." " Be 
 " it fo," faith the Lord. And in this manner the pro- 
 mife is accepted^ the truth of .God fealed, the donation 
 of Chrift, and of falvation in him, becomes irrevoca- 
 ble. From all which it is evident, that faith has a 
 quite different relation in the new covenant, from what 
 
 Vol. I. t 3 D 
 
394 Qp God's COVENANT Book III, 
 
 works formerly had in the old* What the difference 
 is between giving and receiving, fuch feems to be the 
 difference between a condition of works and of faith : 
 which the celebrated Hoornbeck has not unhappily ex- 
 plained in Socin. confute torn. ii. p. 280. 
 
 XXL Let us now laftly confider the threatening s, 
 Some comminutions purely whether there be any fuch in this 
 Ugz.\i others have a refpedt covenant. It cannot indeed be 
 to the covenant of grace, denied, but that, in the doctrine 
 of Chr ill and the apoftles, we frequently meet with ve- 
 ry many comminations, which have their peculiar re* 
 (peel to the covenant of grace, and which could not 
 have thus been fet before us, if there had been no fuch 
 covenant. For inftance, Whofoever /ball not believe in 
 Chrijl, whoever jhall def fife the counfel of God agaiajl his 
 own foul, whoever fhall not obey the gofpel, fball be con* 
 damned. And thefe threatenings feem to bediitinguifh- 
 ed from thofe which are evidently legal ; fuch as the 
 following: Curfed is he that continueth not in all things, 
 Szc. Yet, if we would weigh the matter narrowly, the 
 covenant of grace has no threatenings fo peculiar to it- 
 felf, but what may well be referred to the law, from 
 which every curfe proceeds* 
 
 XX ii. Which I would explain thus : We no where 
 Yet Ml from the law, near °f anv threatenings, which may 
 to which they proper- and ought not to be deduced from 
 h' bcl " n §- that threatening, which doubtlefs is 
 
 purely legal, Curfed is everyone that continueth not in all 
 things, &c. In this moll general threatening are in- 
 cluded the other more particular ones. Moreover, 
 when falvation by Ghrift alone is propofed, in the co- 
 venant of grace, as, the principal truth, the law, which 
 enjoins man to embrace every truth made known to 
 him by God, with a firm faith, obliges him to receive 
 this truth in particular, and rSe delighted with the glo- 
 ry of God lhiaing forth in it, and that his own falva- 
 tion is connected with the glory of ($od. Should w« 
 deny, that the law lays us under this obligation, we 
 ihould then affirm, that the law does not enjoin us to 
 
Chap. i. with the ELECT. 395 
 
 acknowledge God as true, and that there is a holy love 
 of God, and of ourfeives, which the law does not 
 command ; all which are moft abfurd. I go further : 
 When man, as the law prefcribes, receives the truth 
 of the gofpel with a lively faith, then, not the law, 
 but the gofpel, promifes falvation to him. For the 
 law knows of no other promife, than what depends on 
 the condition of perfect obedience. But {houkl man 
 flight and obflinately reject that truth propofed to him, 
 he fins againit the law, and fo incurs its curie, accor- 
 ding to the general rule fo often inculcated. And 
 fince we have fuppoied the gofpel declaring, that fal- 
 vation flows from the faith of Chrift alone, the law 
 enjoins, that all who defire falvation, fhould feek it by 
 the faith of Chrifl alone; and confequently it cannot 
 but thunder the curfcagainft thofe, who, rejecting the 
 gofpel, believe not on Chrift. As therefore unbelief, 
 or the rejecting of the gofpel, is a fin aguLnft the law, 
 which is the only perfect rule of all virtue, (it can be 
 called a fin againit the gofpel, only objectively) ; foe- 
 very threatening of the curfe and of wrath againit un- 
 believers, and the defpifers of the gofpel, muft come 
 from, and be reduced to the law, but then it is to the 
 law, as now fubfervient to the covenant of grace. 
 
 XXIII. In the difcourfes of the prophets, Chriit 
 and his apoftles, there is a certain i„ : hedikojrfe; ofthc 
 mixture of various doctrines, which prophets, Chri:t and 
 indeed are clofely connected, and his a ?<> ltles » J nuxtu.-e 
 mutually fubfervient ; each of which of Uw * I:d && 
 ought to be reduced to their proper heads, fo that the 
 promifes of grace be referred to the gofpel, all injunc- 
 tions of duly, and all threatenings againit tranigici- 
 fbfts: to the law. 
 
 3 1> 
 
396 Of the ONENESS of the BookUL 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the O N e n e s s of the Covenant of Grace, as 
 to* its SuBjlance. 
 
 The covenant of TT is a matter of the higheft moment, 
 grace one, as to X that we learn diftinctly to confider 
 fubftance. th e covenant of grace, either as it is in 
 
 its fubjlance or effence, as they call it, or as it is diverfe- 
 ly propofed by God, with refpecl to circumjlantials, 
 under different ceconomies. If we view the fubjlance 
 of the covenant, 'tis but only one, nor is it poflible it 
 fhould be otherwife. There is no other way worthy 
 of God, in which falvation can be bellowed on finners, 
 but that difcovered in the gofpel. Whence the apo- 
 ftle has beautifully faid, that there is not another gofpel *. 
 And that teftament, which was confecrated by the 
 blood of Chrift, he calls everlajling \, becaufe it was 
 fettled before all ages, publifhed immediately upon the 
 fall of the firft man, conftantly handed down by the 
 ancients, more fully explained by Chrift himfelf and 
 his apoftles, and is to continue throughout all periods 
 of time, and, in virtue of which, believers fhall inhe- 
 rit eternal happinefs. But if we attend to the circum- 
 As tocircumftan- fiances of the covenant, it was difpen- 
 ces, varioufly dif- fed at fundry times, and in divers man- 
 4 ;enfed. mrs ^ un d'er various ceconomies, for the 
 
 manifeftation of the marlifold wifdom of God. Con- 
 cerning this fubjeel we fhall treat in the following chap- 
 ters, in fuch a manner, as, firft, to difcourfe on thole 
 general things, which appertain to the fubjlance of the 
 covenant, and have continued in every age ; and then 
 explain the different ceconomies, or difpenfations, and 
 the new acceffions made to each. This we will, firft, 
 do in a general and concife manner, in this and the 
 following chapter ; then gradually defcend to the more 
 fpecial configurations. 
 
 ♦ Gal.i. 7. t Heb. xiii, 20. 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant of GRACE. 397 
 
 II. We therefore maintain, agreeably to the facrei 
 writings, that to all the elect, living \ n tne covenant of grace 
 in any period of time, 1. One and is one falvation, one Sa- 
 the fame eternal life was pro- viour > one faith - 
 mifed. 2. That Jefus Chriit was held forth as the one 
 and the fame author and beftower of salvation. 3. 
 That they could not become partakers of it any other 
 way, but by a true and lively faith in him. If wc 
 fliall demonftrate thefe three things, none can any- 
 longer doubt, but that the covenant of grace mufl be, 
 as to its fubftance, only one from the beginning. For 
 if the falvation be the fame, the author of it the fame, 
 and the manner of communion not different, the co- 
 venant itfelf will certainly be one. 
 
 III. The fcriptures fo evidently declare, that eternal 
 life was promifed to the elect from xh;it eternal life was 
 the beginning, that it is aftoniihing promifed to the eleft 
 any perfons under the Chriftian name troin the beginning, 
 mould venture to deny it ; who, in- a ^ e ^ s ^J°- v -39- 
 deed, are much blinder than the Jews themfelves ; of 
 whom our Lord teftifies, Ye do fearch the fcriptures ; 
 for in them ye think ye have eternal life *. And that 
 
 they were neither ralh nor erroneous in thinking that 
 the promifes of eternal life, and the manner of enjoy- 
 ing thcrn, were contained in the fcriptures which they 
 had, we prove by the moft cogent arguments. 1. Be- 
 cause not only the Lord Jefus does not by the leafl 
 hint charge them, in this refpect, with the fmalleft er- 
 ror, but makes ufe of that as a reafbn to recommend 
 to them the fearch of the fcriptures. Now, it is very 
 inconfiltent with the great fjncerity of the Lord Jefus, 
 and the divine dignity of the fcriptures, to recommend 
 them by arguments not genuine, or to recommend 
 their value andnifefulncfs from Jewifh forgeries. Nay, 
 had the Jews falfely perfuaded themlelves, that the 
 promifes of eternal life were contained in the Old-te- 
 itament records, our Lord ought not, by any concef- 
 fion, to have chcrimed that prejudice, which wouUJ 
 * John v. y). 
 
39 s Of the ONENESS of the Booklll. 
 
 have hindered them from acknowledging the excel- 
 lence of his doctrine, and confequently the divinity of 
 his perfon. But it would have been better to have 
 exclaimed againft them ; " In vain do you fearch the 
 fcriptures, in hopes of finding eternal life in them; 
 attend rather to me and my doctrine, who am the firft 
 that came into the world as a preacher of eternal life." 
 But every one may fee, how inconfiftent this was with 
 the defign of the Lord Jefus. 2. To this we add, 
 that Paul joins his hope as founded on the law and the 
 prophets, with the expectation of the Jews : Believing 
 all things, which are written in the law and the prophets ; 
 mnd have hope towards God, which they themfelves aifo 
 allow, that there Jbail be a refurredion of the dead, both 
 of the jufl and unjujl * He teitiiles, that the Jews ex- 
 pected a refurrection of the dead : he profefles to have 
 the fame belief and hope with them ; and that he did 
 not do fo, reding on a vain prefumption, but on the 
 law and the prophets, which they alfo, in their man- 
 ner, carefully read, and from which they had derived 
 the fame expectation with him. 3. The Jews were fo 
 far from judging amifs in this refpect, that, on the 
 contrary, the Lord Jefus reproved the Sadducees, as 
 ignorant of the fcriptures, becaufe from them they had 
 not learned eternal life and the refurrection f . 
 
 IV. But let us argue from the very books of the Old 
 And Mattb. Teftament ; and firit, after the example of 
 xxii. 31.32. our Lord, who fpeaks to this purpofe : But 
 ns touching the refurrection of the dead, have ye not read 
 that which was fpoken unto you by God, faying, I am the 
 God of Abraham, and the God of Ifaac, and the God of 
 Jacob f God is not the God of the dead, but of the living \. 
 This inference appeared fo evident to the very multi- 
 tude, that they were aftonimed at his doctrine, and 
 the Sadducees mouth was ilopt ||. And indeed, if the 
 words of Mofes, quoted by Chrift, be accurately weigh- 
 ed, the evidence of this argument will eaiily appear to 
 /the attentive reader. 
 sJt£lL m Mm rit. xxiv. 14. 15. t Ma:th. XX11.-29. \ lb. 3?. 32. || Ver- 
 33- 3*i 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant of GRACE. 399 
 
 V. For, 1. That expreflion, to be a God to any, ta- 
 ken in its full import^ includes life e- whfn em haticaI . 
 ternal. For when God becomes the i y faid that God is 
 finner's God, he then becomes to him God to any cne, it 
 what he is to himfelf. But what is he includes eternal 
 to himfelf ? Doubtlefs, the fountain of 
 
 eternal and complete bleffednefs. When God, out of 
 his grace, gives himfelf to man, he gives him all things; 
 for himfelf is all things. Such a man finds in God a 
 jh'ield againfl every evil, and an exceeding great reward *. 
 And what can he defire more in order to his perfect 
 happinefs ? Whence the apoftle joins thefe two +, God 
 to be the God of any onc^ and to have prepared for them a 
 city. And feeing the gifts of God's grace, efpecialiy when 
 he gives himfelf, are without repentance J, hereby alfo 
 the eternity of this happinefs is eftablifhed. 
 
 VI. 2. Moreover, this covenant is not made with 
 the foul, but with the man ; and God The covenant of 
 net only requires the worihip of the God with thewhole 
 
 foul, but alfo the fubmiflion of the bo- man, promifes fal- 
 
 dy, as Redeemer of both, in order to va ' Jon tolhc wh oic 
 his being glorified in both ; as he alfo man * 
 appointed a f\gn of his covenant to be in the body ||. 
 £onfequently, when he calls himfelf the God of the 
 7* whole man, he promifes his falvation not to the foul 
 alone, but to the body alfo. 
 
 VII. 3. Thefe confiderations will be more cogent, 
 if we reflect, that the words from God cal!ed himfelf 
 which our Lord argues, were ipoKen the God of the pa- 
 of the patriarchs, who had been dead triarchs, longaitti 
 long before |. But as God is not the rieir death. 
 God of perfons who have no exiftencc, it was firft evi- 
 dent, that their fouls furvived, and enjoyed the bea- 
 tific vifion of God; and fince, as we have juft faid, 
 their body alfo was comprehended in the covenant, it 
 followed, that, at the appointed time, their very bo- 
 dy, when railed from the dull, mould be reunited to 
 the foul, in order to partake of the fame happinefs. 
 
 • Gen xv. 1. f Heb. xi. 16. J Rem. xi. 29. |J Gen. xvii. r. 
 .4- lixod. ii:. 6. 
 
400 Of the ONENESS of the Booklll. 
 
 VIII. 4. To be the God of any one, fignifies, in the 
 
 God delivers him, ? fual % le . of kripture deliverance 
 whofe God he is, rrom enemies ; compare rial. 111. 7.8. 
 from his enemies, Now, death is our greateft and laft e- 
 conrequently from n emy *. As therefore God delivers 
 deaLh - thofe whofe God he is, out of the 
 
 hand of their enemies, he cannot be the God of thofe 
 who always remain ui:der the power of death : but 
 all who Jiave him for their God, muft necefiarily, af- 
 ter death is fwallowed up, exultingly fing thatfong of 
 triumph, death ! where is thy viftory? 
 
 IX. 5. It is beyond all controverfy, thaCGod promi- 
 A , , . , , , fed to thofe illuftrious patriarchs, 
 
 As the patriarchs had no- . . .. . . . r_ . ' 
 
 thing extraordinary in this when he called ^ himfelf their 
 life, it remains that this God, fomelhing highly excellent, 
 promiferefertothelifeto and by which they were to be 
 Cume * peculiarly diftinguifhed above o- 
 
 thers, who were not io eminent in theferviceof God. 
 But they obtained nothing fo very diftinguifhing a- 
 bove other men, in this world, that could equal the 
 greatnefs of this promife. Many wicked men lived 
 more happily in the land of Canaan, and elfewhere. 
 It remains then, that thefe things regard concerns 
 of a fuperior nature, and belong to eternal life in 
 heaven. 
 
 X. 6. and hilly, If we are benefactors to any here 
 c . n , • r * «. for the fake of another, we will 
 
 Seeing God promned to > , . 
 
 blefs others on account much more do good to him, it It 
 of the patriarchs, much is in our power. Now, God wants 
 more does he bleis them. no power. And he declares he 
 \\ill be a benefactor to the pofterity, for the fake of 
 Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob : much more then he 
 is, and will be a benefactor to themfelves. But they 
 could not be capable of receiving any good, if they 
 did not exift ; nor of the higheft benefit, if they were! 
 for ever to be under the dominion of death. It there- 
 fore follows, that, when thefe words were fpoken, 
 their fouls were in being, and, at the time appointed, 
 * i Ccr. xr. 26. 
 
Chap. 2* Covenant of GRACE. 401 
 
 were to be reftored to life, that God in adiftinguifhing 
 manner might be their benefactor. All thefe things 
 are deduced from the words of Mofes by no {trained 
 confequence. 
 
 XI. What Volkelius fays is to no purpofe, when, 
 being pinched by this pafTage, he re- The prevarication 
 quires us * to produce teftimonies, of Volkelius. 
 
 in which this benefit is promifed to us [viz in the OldJ 
 in as clear and evident terms, as in the New Tefta- 
 ment ; for he refufes, that the pafTage we are now 
 treating of, can, on any account, be of that number ; 
 as appears from this, that, " before Chrift explained 
 " it, none ever ventured fo much as to fufpecr. it con- 
 " tained any fuch thing. For it is not credible, that 
 1C the Pharifees, who were very well (killed in the di- 
 * 6 vine law, and who, as it feems, frequently and 
 " warmly difputed with theSadducees about the refur- 
 " rectum of the dead, would have pafled over this 
 " place in filence, if they had imagined it to contain 
 " a teftimony to that purpofe. '' 
 
 XII. All this is trifling. Tor, 1. The queftion is 
 not, whether the teftimonies con- r™ n . , 
 
 '. 1 it rr> 1 *he queftion not, whe- 
 
 cerning eternal life are expreffed t h e r lite eternal was then 
 in fuch plain and clear words in plainly promifed, but 
 the Old Teftament as in the New, whether at all. 
 which none of us aflirm, who own that thefe cecono- 
 mies differ exceedingly in the degrees of their clear- 
 nefs : but whether any teftimonies at all, concerning 
 eternal life, are to be found in the Old Teftament \ 
 which the heretics obltinately deny. For Volkelius, 
 at the beginning of the fame chapter, fays, It app: 
 that that promife (of eternal life) was not at all 1 
 in that old covenant. How unfair then is it to require 
 us to produce fuch plain and clear teftimonies? 
 
 XIII. 2. He is of a different opinion from Chrift, in 
 commending the Pharifees for Pharifees falfely com- 
 being very fkilful in the divine mended as highly ik 
 law, who reproves them f, as in ^ 
 
 * Lib. iii.cn. 1 Matth 
 
 Vol. I. f 3 F, 
 
402 O'f the ONENESS of the Booklll. 
 
 blind and foclijb guides, and charges them with taking 
 away the key of knowledge * : and of whom Paul te- 
 stified, a vail was upon their heart, that, in reading 
 Ihfesand the Old Te [I anient, they did not under fland -}-. 
 
 XIV. 3. A nd we are not much concerned after what 
 It does not appear, m anner, or from what topics, they 
 norisitourbufmef^to formerly argued ; fince it appears, 
 know, m wKat mau- that Chriit, which impudence itfetf 
 
 ner they argued. ^yj no( - dare tQ den ^ rea f oncc i j u . 
 
 diciouCy. Nor will our adverfary be able in any man- 
 ner to prove, that they never argued from this paiTage. 
 For who has given us a hiftory of all their diiputa- 
 tions ? 
 
 XV, 4. AjVhatever it be with the Pharifees, certain- 
 Obfervations of rhi- ly, of the ancient Jews, Philo feems 
 to and other Jews. to have had fomething like this in 
 his mind ; whofe words theilluftrious Grotius, a name 
 novvife unacceptable to our adverfaries, adduces J to 
 this purpofe : " To fay, that God is eternal, is the fame 
 " as to fay he is one, whobeflows grace, not at fome 
 " certain times only, but incefTantly at all times." The 
 celebrated Lightfoot j| has obferved, that our Lord's 
 argument would appear with greater evidence, if com- 
 pared with the mind and doctrine of the Jews. For 
 Habbi Simeon Ben Jochai faid, " The bleifed and ho- 
 " \y God docs not put his name on the righteous who 
 44 arc alive, but on thofe who are dead. As it is faid, 
 44 Pfal. xvi. j. to the faints that are in the earth, 
 *" When are they faints? When they are laid in the 
 u earth. For the holy and blefTed God does not put 
 " his name upon them, all the days they live. Why 
 " fe ? Becauie the holy and bleifed God docs not con- 
 vC fide in them, as if - they could not be turned away 
 4 - from die right path by evil affections : but when 
 t; they are dead, the holy and blefTed God puts his 
 " name upon them." See Tanchum on Gen. xxviii. 
 and Men ae hem on Exod. iii. Which comes to this 
 
 * F.uke xi. 52. f 2 Cor iii. 14. 1 c. T Tn comrnentanis fuis in 
 .\-aiih. xxii. 32. || Spicilegia in kxoduro, § 5. 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant of GRACE. 403 
 
 purpofe, that God, in a far more exceelcnt manner,- 
 is Paid to be the God of thofe who are dead, than of 
 thofe who ftiil live in the mortal body. And what 
 reafon can poflibly be afligned for this, but that the fe- 
 parate foul enjoys a more excellent life ? Abcn Ezra, 
 among the moderns, had the fame view of this, who * 
 explains thofe words, I am the Ijord thy God, as con- 
 taining a promife of life in both worlds. And Men . 
 Ben llrael f ufes our Lord's very argument, 
 
 XVI. What can be more evident than that teftirno- 
 ny, by which the apoftle recom- Theho cscf th , roJ . 
 mends the faith of Abraham r He \y f j n c ]d times" not 
 looked for a city, which hath foua- founded on cop jctfures, 
 daiions, wheje builder and maker is butoiuhewordofGod. 
 Cod I : adding as to the other patriarchs, For they that 
 fay fuch things^ declare -plainly that theyfeek a country \\ ; 
 but now they defire a better country, that is, a heavenJy -j . 
 To pervert thefe things to a bare expectation, and a 
 vain perflation, founded only on conjectures, as Smalci- 
 us cxprefles it, is doing an injury to thefe pious he- 
 roes, and contradicting Paul, who in this matter cele* 
 brates their iaith. But it would not have been a faith 
 founded on the word of God alone, but a culpable 
 temerity, to hope for fo great things to them -elves, 
 without a pro mile from God. Franzius +-*■ ufes here 
 a molt excellent climax or gradation. " How couid 
 ct they have hoped, had they not believed ? How could 
 " they have believed, what they had not heard ? 
 " Mow could they have heard, unlefs it had been 
 *'* preached to them i' But how could any have preach- 
 " ed to them, hud not God fent them for that i 
 " pofe, and exprelsly commanded them to 
 " this very thing? As the apoille or the Gent 
 " argues in a like cafe." 
 
 XVII. But left they Ihould cavil, that we 
 
 * Ad Levit. xviii, 4. t •])<■ refurre&. mortnor. lib. 1. c. io. 
 
 J Hib. xi. ie, || vcr. 1 4. + vcj. 16. ♦* Difyut. 7, thxrf: ^5. 
 
 F? Rem. x. 
 
404 Of the ONENESS of the Booklll, 
 
 To this pur- our arguments only from the New Tefta- 
 pofe is Jacob's ment, (tho* none can better inftrucl us irt 
 prophecy, the contents of the Old Teftament than 
 Gen. xfix, 18. Q ir ift anc i h; s apoftles), come let us con- 
 sider fome paflages of the Old Teftament, and free, 
 them from the mifconftru&ions of our adverfaries* 
 And firft we have that fwan-like fong of Jacob *, 
 f •. VP TIME "|nylty^7 / wait for thy falvation, Lord. The 
 aged prophet was now at the point of death ; and 
 being full of the Spirit of God, he, in the midft of 
 his prophecies, in which he foretells what was to befal 
 his children and lateft pofterity, breaks out into thefe 
 words ; which were not fpoken without the Spirit of 
 God, fo as with Smalcius to be referred to a vain per- 
 fuafion, nor poftibly to be wrefted to any other, but 
 this fpiritual and eternal falvation. 
 
 XVIII. Here again, let a perfon of the Jewifh nation 
 Paraphrafe of put the followers of Socinus, if poffible, 
 the Jerufalem to the blufh : in oppofition to whom we 
 Targum thereon. p ro ^ llce this paraphrafe of the Jerufa- 
 lem Targumift. u Our father Jacob faid, My foul 
 " does not expecl the redemption of Gideon, the fon 
 " of Jcaz, that being only momentary ; nor the re- 
 " demption of Samfpn, becaufe a tranfient redemp- 
 64 tion ; but the redemption thou haft mentioned in 
 c: thy word, or by thy word, which is to come tq 
 " thy people, the children of Ifrael ; my foul, 1 fay, 
 " expects this thy redemption. " Is not this a very 
 clear teftimony of the moft certain perfuafion and the 
 fuluft anurance of their falvation? 
 
 XIX. Nor muft we pafs by the celebrated paftage 
 Job, xix. 25. 26. 27. of Job f, where, in very clear terms, 
 pophefies of there- he declares his belief of a future re- 
 iur region and eter- furrection ; For I know that my Re- 
 * aI lil? - deemer liveth, and that he will ft and 
 
 at the latter day [over the duff] upon the earth. And 
 though after my fkin, worms defray this body, yet in my 
 J/efbfhal! I fee God ; whom 1 fi all fee for myfelf, and mint 
 * Gen. xlix. 18. f Qhap. xix. 25. 26. 27. 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant of GRACE. 40$ 
 
 eyes pall behold^ and not another •, though my reins be con- 
 fumed within me. On this confellion of faith I would 
 make the following remarks. 
 
 XX. t . That it is fomething very great, that Job 
 here treats of, appears both from the r™ , v. c nf 
 
 r i 1 r • r • ' n r ^ n t * " e ""tineiS Ot 
 
 iacred lortinels and majelty of the ftyle, t h e ftyle fnews 
 and the preface w T ith which he ufhers the fubjed to 
 them in ; namely, his earned defire, that be fome £ reat 
 thefe his words might be written and -print" mattt 
 ed in a book, and graven with an iron pen and lead in the 
 rock for ever. And nothing was more becoming fuch 
 a defire than the profeffion of his faith in the Mefliah, 
 and his hope of a blefied rcfarrection. 
 
 XXI. 2. Job clears his innocence againft the accu- 
 fations of his friends, who con- He could m>t better clear 
 demned him as a wicked perfon^ his innocence, than by a 
 and one who did not acknowledge profeffion of the hope of 
 the JlrongGod*. "I am fo far," ***£*»■•• 
 
 fays he, " from being fuch as you reproachfully re- 
 " prefent me, that, on the contrary, being fully pof- 
 " feffed of the hope of the righteous, I know both 
 " God and my Redeemer, and expect greater bleflings 
 " at his hands than can be contained within the com- 
 < c pafs of this world." This indeed was far more 
 powerful to filence the accufations of his friends, than 
 if he had harangued concerning fome extraordinary 
 happinefs in this life. 
 
 XXII. 3. He fpeaks of a thing he was certain of, and . 
 which therefore ought to be built on the Was not fure of 
 infallible prornifc of God. But it does not bring ufiored 
 appear, that any promife was made him ln this llie * 
 
 of being reitored, in this life, to his former flate. 
 Nor are there any general promifes, from which this 
 could be certainly concluded. Nay, there are not a 
 few things which perfuade us, that Job had no fuch 
 expectation . l'or he wiihes f, that it would pleafe 
 God to grant him the thing he longed for, that is, death, 
 and to deftroy him. For, fays he, what is my Jhcngth, 
 
 • Job xviii. 21. f Job yi. 8. 9, II. and vii, 7. 8. 
 
406 Of the ONENESS of the Book III. 
 
 that IJhould hope out f or what is mine end, that I Jhouli 
 -prolong my life I 
 
 XXIII. 4. All the words of the text direct us to the 
 Evervwordof blefled refurreclion to happen to believers 
 the texr points in Chrift. He fpcaks of his T8U GocTy who, 
 xo a happy as ^ iC redeemer of believers, and, as Thec- 
 T&vtftm. dotion tranflates j tj theirnext of kin, had the 
 right of confanguinity to redeem them. He declares, 
 that he liveth, being the true God and eternal life *, 
 and who has taught us to reafon from his life to our 
 own ; Bccaufe I live, yefball live alfo\. Though lie was 
 really once to die, nevcrthelefs he fays, / am he that 
 liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore \. 
 And this is what Job adds, He fb all ft and, at the latter 
 day, upon the earth {over the duft7\ After having 
 triumphed over all his enemies, he will manifeft him- 
 felf in. the field of battle both alive and a conqueror : 
 or, he fhall (land upon the earth, or over the dud, 
 the receptacle of death, as an enemy proflrate under 
 "his feet ; as 1 Cor. xv. 26. 27. The la ft enemy thatfball 
 he defrayed, is death. For he has put all things under his 
 feet. He confidered this refurreclion of Chrift, as an 
 'earned: of his own. And though after my fkin, worms 
 deflroy this body, which he pointed to with his finger, 
 yet in my flefh fhall I fee God, namely, that great God 
 and Saviour Jefus Ghrifl, at that time to be manifeited 
 in his glory ||. Whom he was to fee for himfelf, tor 
 his own falvation and confummate joy ; in like man- 
 ner alfo, as David foretold, As for me, I will behdd 
 thy face in right eoitfnefs ; I fhall be fatisfed , when I awake, 
 with thy Ukcnefs |. This virion therefore was different 
 from that, of which he fpeaks chap. xlii. 5. 6. which 
 affecled him with grief, and humbled him to dull and 
 allies. Nor was it pomble, but fuch a firm hope of fo 
 great happinefs muft excite an ardent longing after 
 the enjoyment of it. And this is what he adds, my 
 reins are confumed, that is, are wailed and languiih 
 through my longing (fee the figniiication of this word 
 
 * 1 John v. 20. f John xiv. 19. J Rev. i. 18, 
 
 J{ 1 John -in. 2. 4 Pfu!. xvii. 15. 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant of GRACE. 407 
 
 n^D Pfal. lxkxivi 2. and cxix. 81.) within me. In the 
 fame manner alio as the apoftle ardently longed to know 
 the power of ChrijVs refurreclion ; if by any means he 
 might attain unto the refurreclion of the dead *. All 
 thefe things mo ft exactly agree with Job's defign, 
 with the force and magnificence of the ftyle, with 
 the whole tenor of fcripture, and, was it not for pre- 
 judices, could never be perverted to any other mean- 
 ing. 
 
 XXIV. We therefore conclude in the v/ords of Je- 
 rome to Pammachius, concerning the er- Thetefiimop.y 
 ror of John of Jerufalem. " What is more of Jercme. 
 
 " evident than this prophecy ? None afcer (Shrift 
 " fpeaks fo plainly of the refurreclion, as he before 
 « Chrift." 
 
 XXV. Let us fubjoin the prophecy of Daniel f ; 
 And many cf. them thatfleep in the daft Dan xii. 2. treats of 
 of the earth jhall awake ^ fome to ever- the fame happinef?. 
 
 w life, and fome to Jbame and ever Lifting contempt. 
 On this place I obferve thefe following things: 1. 
 r l hat a general refurreclion of ail, and among thefe, 
 of the righteous, to life eternal, can fcarce be de- 
 icribed in more evident terms. Indeed, under the 
 New Teilamcnt, the Lord Jefus, fpeaking of this 
 very myflery, uies alm'oft the very fame words, John 
 v. 28. 29. I appeal to any confeience, had Daniel been 
 appointed to prophefy or the refurreclion of the d 
 whether he could have defcribed it in clearer language ? 
 % ■.":. 2. It is no objection, that Daniel fays, many 
 of them that fleep, fhall be raifcd. By m™y i, intended 
 For not to mention, that many fome- a dlftriSui 
 times fignifies the fame thing as all, n**>clafi*i. 
 .1 >m. v. 15. compared with 12.) it is evident, 
 ■A divides the whole collective body of thole that 
 1 in the dull: of the earth, into twoclaffes, one of 
 
 nil rife again to life, the other to ihainc. 
 .VII. 3. And this moil auguft pi , cannot 
 
 * Phil. iii. u. 11. 1 Chap. xii. z. 
 
4o8 The ONENESS of the Book III. 
 
 Thisprophcy be ex P lained to fi g nif V nothing but a tern- 
 cannot be poral and corporal deliverance from the 
 wreitedtothe oppreflion of Antiochus. For how did 
 deliverance tranfgrefTors rife out of the duft after An- 
 chuT. ntl °" ti° c ^us, feeing they were then rather dead, 
 and rendered contemptible ? For, during 
 the life of Antiochus, they even flourifhed. And how 
 were the pious and perfevering delivered to eternal l\fe y 
 for they all doubtlefs died again ? Will you affirm 
 with Volkelius, that this is to be underllood of thofe, 
 " who conftantly adhered to the law of God, and to 
 " whom that deliverance was to turn to an eternal 
 '< glory ?" Then, I fay, we have an evident promife 
 of eternal life in the books of the Old Teftament : 
 which is what we contend for. But if we allow c- 
 ternal glory to have been promifed to them, why not 
 too the refurrection of the dead, which precedes con- 
 fummate glory ? 
 
 XXVIII. 4. Nor ought it to be urged, that.thefe 
 
 The oppreffed ^ m ^ a S ree not with the time of w hich 
 
 by Antiochus not Daniel prophefied, namely, the tyranny 
 unStly comfort- of Antiochus, and the deliverance there- 
 ed by a promife f rom . p or mould we grant, that Daniel 
 
 r°eaion PPyrefUr " f P caks > in the verfes immediately pre- 
 ceding, of Antiochus, yet it does not 
 follow, that he could not in this fpeak of the refur- 
 rection of the dead. For the prophet was here (Hew- 
 ing, that God, after having difplayed fo illultrious an 
 initance of his glorious power, would proceed in the 
 extraordinary deliverances of his people, till all fhouki 
 terminate in the happy refurrection of the dead. If 
 you infift, that the things here foretold, were to exill 
 at that time, about which he had hitherto been fpeak- 
 ing ; I anfwer, firil, that this is not in the text. This 
 verie, indeed, is connected with the foregoing by the 
 particle, ^ and, where the words concerning that time: 
 are round. But nothing is more frequent in the pro- 
 phets, than thus to join two things, which arc to ex- 
 iit at very different Hmes : of which we have unex- 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant of G R A C E, 409 
 
 ceptionable inftances, Matth. xxiv. It has likewife 
 been obferved by very learned mca, that the particle 
 Ifoinetimss fignifies at length, or after wards. Second- 
 ly, it may alfo be faid, that tfvn W)1 denotes after 
 that time: asjof. v. 5. -DFISXl (ignifies, after they came 
 forth. And the promife of the refurrection ought. not 
 to be thought a thing foreign to the times of Anti- 
 ochus : becaufe it is certain, that they who continued 
 ftedfaft in the ways of piety, might comfort them- 
 felvesby that hope, under all their dreadful torments, as 
 may be feen, 2 Maccab. vii. 6. 1 1. 14. and Heb. xi. 34. 
 
 XXIX. But nothing hinders us, with very excellent: • 
 expofitors, to refer the things The fefegomg prophecy 
 
 Which Daniel prophelies of to- may baundirttoodof An- 
 
 wards the clofeof the chapter, to ric&rto,oroftheeniperon 
 the Nevv-teftament Antichnft, or WAmrttoku.. 
 to the Roman emperors fubfervient to Antichrift in 
 promoting the myftery of iniquity. Cuiiradui Gra- 
 ferus has very learnedly handled this fentiment in a pe- 
 culiar treatiie. An J thus the refurrection of the dead 
 would be joined with the delr.ru~t.ion of Antichrid, 
 as is likewife done llev. xx. 10. 13. 
 
 XXX. This being the cafe, we may juftly be fur- 
 prifed, that aperfon, in other fefpecte very a mifinterpreta- 
 learned, and orthodox in the main Or than ofacertain 
 this inquiry, could not lind the general l earRe ^ perion. 
 refurrectaon of the jufl in the fecond verfe, when he 
 could find, in the firif, the wars of the Engiifli with 
 the Dutch, of the Danes with the Swedes, of the 
 Tartars in China, and of the Chinefe in Florida, of 
 the Portuguefe with the Civilians, and a great many 
 other things of a modern date. But let thefe things 
 fufficc to lhew, that, even under the Old Teilament, 
 eternal life was pro mi fed to believers. 
 
 XXXI. Our writers have dif tin-illy anf.vered what, 
 ever heretics have advanced to the con- j n what fc-nfe the 
 trary. The whole comes to this: When promifin of tta 
 the apoftle * calls the pnmijes of the N - vv reftamen: 
 New Teitamcnt better, (that may be un- 2rt> bcntrr ' 
 
 * Heb. viii. 6. 
 
 Vol. I. f 3 F 
 
 t 
 
aio Of the ONENESS of th* Bookltt. 
 
 derftood in various refpects. If referred to eternal 
 life, ic does not regard fo much the thing promi- 
 fe<l, as the plainnefs and Certainty of the pro- 
 mife ; which is not now wrapt up in certain obfcure 
 words, fhadows, and ceremonies, but diftinctly pro- 
 pofed ; does not depend on fome uncertain condition, 
 but* in the fulleft manner, is confirmed by the blood 
 o^ the teftator. The apoiile himfelf fuggefts this an- 
 iwer, ver. 9. 10. 
 
 XXXIL When it is faid, that Chrifl hath abolijbed 
 2 Tim. i. 10. death, and hath brought life and immortality 
 • explained. f light through the gofpel *, it cannot be un- 
 derftood of the ilrft promife of eternal life, unlefs any 
 ihali fayj that it was not made before the refurrection 
 of Chrift, which is what is here fpoken of. But none 
 will fay fo. The plain meaning is, that the Lord Je- 
 fus, being rifen from the dead, fhewed to the whole 
 world, both Jews and Gentiles, to whom the gofpel 
 was preached, that he was the true author of life and 
 immortality : namely $ on his coming forth out of the 
 grave, the light: of this truth was very widely diftu- 
 ied, even among thofe who before fat in darknefs, and 
 in the fhadow of death. 
 
 XXXIII. When the fame apoflle afKrms, that. our falva* 
 And Heb. lion at the fir ft began to be fpoken by the Lord t* 
 ii. 3. it is clear, he fpeaksof the gofpel completed, 
 and of the MefTiah, the author of falvation, already 
 exhibited ; which gofpel the Lord firft publilhed, with 
 reipecc to the apoilles, evangelifts, and the other ordi- 
 nary preachers, that followed him. For otherwiie 
 who Cc\n deny* that Zacharias, the father of John the 
 Baptiil, and Mary the mother of our Lord, and the 
 angels who proclaimed his nativity, and the aged Si- 
 meon, and John the Baptift, were preachers of falva- 
 tion before the Lord ? Of the fathers the arpoftle him- 
 fejf affirms, that they were hzyythiruiyci, gofpel I fed, or 
 that the gofpel waf preached unto them as well as unto 
 us t. 
 
 * j T*m. i. 10. f Kcb. ii. 3. X Heb. iv. z. 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant of G R A t E, 411 
 
 • XXXIV. When it is written, that the way unto the 
 holieft of all was not yet made manifeft, while And Hcb. 
 as the frft tabernacle was yet /landing *; the i*, 8. 
 apoftle indeed intimates, that the manner of obtain- 
 ing falvation was in fome meafure bid, in companion 
 of the brighter luftre of the gofpel. For then, doubfr 
 lefs, the way to life was clouded with much pomp of 
 ceremonies and figures : which being now difpellcd, 
 we behold with open face, and ardently deiire, hea- 
 venly and fpiritual things. But from this it apwife 
 follows, that the ancients had no knowledge of falva- 
 tion ; any more than it can be concluded, that we 
 know nothing of our glorious ftate, becaufe John fays, 
 It doth not yet appear what we Jball be f . We may al- 
 moft, in the fame manner, anfwer the other objections 
 advanced by our adverfaries. But ic is no part of our 
 defign to examine each in particular. 
 
 XXXV. Now let us proceed to the fecond 'tbirtgt 
 which we undertook to prove ; that ix j> e kndcats ft- 
 Chrjst, and in virtue of his furetifhip, v*d alio byChrift, 
 the ancients alio obtained falvation even A&sxV. n. 
 as we. Which Peter declares almoft in fo many words, 
 But we believe, that, through the grace of the Lord J ejus 
 Chrifl, we Jball be faved even as they j. Where the 
 pronoun they is to be referred to the fathers, on whofc 
 neck an unlupportable yoke of ceremonies was put, 
 as appears both from the grammatical coniideration of 
 the gender, from the connection, and the force of the 
 apoiile's argument. For fince kguu7w is mafculine, 
 and ?a i'fof, the Gentiles, mentioned ver. 7. is neuter, 
 it is not fo properly referred to the Gentiles, as to the 
 fathers. And we are not here, without njeceffity, to 
 have recourfe to an enallage of gender. And then 
 loo, what method of commenting is it, to imagine fb 
 wide an hyperbaton, or tranfpoiuii n, and to' bring 
 from ver. 7. a noun, to which, after the intcrpoiitioa 
 of fo many other tilings, a pronoun liiall at length an- 
 fwer in ver. 11. and which yet does not anfwer; be- 
 
 # H-b. ix. 8. f 1 Johniii. 2. \ Afti XV. I l. 
 
 a F 2 
 
412 Of the ONENESS of t«e Booklll. 
 
 caufe, in the words immediately preceding, you may 
 find a noun, with which the pronoun in queftion may 
 be very well joined ? In fine, it will either be nonfenfe, 
 or very infipid, if the words be fo conftrued. For 
 what manner of reafoning is it, if we fuppofe the apo- 
 ftle to have faid, " The yoke of ceremonies ought not 
 to be put on the necks of the Gentiles, becaufe we Jews 
 and apoftles believe, that we fhall be faved in the fame 
 manner as they, by the alone grace of the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift ?" For befides that it was improper to propofe 
 the Gentiles to the Jews and apoftles as a pattern of 
 falvation, fince it appears, that the contrary fhould be 
 done ; this only could be concluded from that pofition, 
 that the apoftles and Jews were not bound to circum- 
 cilion, and the other ceremonies, any more than the 
 Gentiles. But that was not the thing in difpute. 
 Now, according to our interpretation, the apoftle ar- 
 gues in the ftrongeft manner : " You ought not to put 
 the yoke of ceremonies on the necks of the difciples, 
 who are converted from among the Gentiles, becaufe 
 the fathers themfelves, who were under that yoke, 
 really felt the uneafinefs of it, but did not find falva- 
 tion in it j and yet they were faved, not in confequence 
 of thefe ceremonies, but by the grace of our Lord Je- 
 fus Chrift. Neither are we, nor any of the human 
 race, to take any other way to attain falvation. They 
 therefore are under a miftake, who tell the difciples, If 
 you will be faved, you mull be circumcifed, and keep 
 the law of Mofes." To fum up the whole then in a few 
 words, the apoftle here declares three things, i. 1 hat 
 the fathers ivere faved. i . By the very fame covenant that 
 we are. 3. through the grace cf our Lord Jefus Chrift ; 
 intimating likewife by all this reafoning, that there can 
 pofiibly be no more but one way of ialvation. 
 
 XXXVI. This is likewife confnmed by that famous 
 
 Heb. xiii. 8. paffage, Jefus Chrifl the fame y eft er day ^ and 
 
 explained. to-day, and for ever*. In the foregoing 
 
 verfe the apcftie admonifhed them, to keep frefti ia 
 
 • Heb. xiii. 3. 
 
Chap.2. Covenant of GRACE. 413 
 
 their memory the word, which their guides had fpoken 
 unto them, 'whofe faith they fiould follow. Now, be 
 gives this for the reafon of that admonition, becaufc 
 Jefus Chrifl U the fame yeflerday, and to-day, and for 
 fver; conftantly preached by all the teachers of the 
 truth, believed on by all, and to be believed on by 
 thofe that come after, if they will imitate the faith of 
 their predeceflbrs. The fame doctrine therefore is al- 
 ways to be retained, becaufe Chrift, who was always 
 both propofed and believed as the Author of falvation, 
 changeth not. Now, the particles, yeflerday, today, 
 find for ever, denote all the differences of times. Nor 
 does yeflerday here fignify fomething of a late date, as 
 we uiually fay, yeflerday or lately ; but all the time fafl > 
 as the phrafe to-day denotes the time of grace under the 
 New Teflament, For this is compared to feme one pre- 
 sent day ; as chap. iii. 13. While it is called, To-day ; 
 and chap. iv. 7. Again, he limit eth a certain day, faying 
 in David, To-day ; of which 2 Cor. vi. 2. Behold, now 
 is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of falvation* 
 As therefore Chrift is to-day, under the New Tefta- 
 ment, acknowledged the alone Author of faivation, 
 and will be acknowledged as fuch for ever; fo in like 
 manner, yeflerday, under the Old Teftament, which 
 clay is now paft, he was the fame, and as fuch was de- 
 clared and acknowledged. 
 
 XXXVII. Let us alio add what we have in Heb. ix. 
 15. And fir this caufe he is the mediator of the and Heb. 
 new Uftament, that by means of death, for the ix - ■$» 
 redemption of the tranfgreffiom that were under the jirfl 
 (eflament, they which are called might receive the premije 
 cf eternal inhetitance. Where we have an open decla- 
 ration, that the death of Jefus Chrift was effectual for 
 the redemption of tranfgreflions committed under the 
 Old leftament, Fpr thus the apoftle proceeds. He 
 fijppofgs, that the fathers of the Old Jdhment were 
 laved, notwithstanding their iins ; which Socinus with 
 his followers dare not deny. He fays further, that 
 the blood of bullocks., and of goats, and consequently 
 
414 Or THE ONENESS of the BookllL 
 
 of all facrifices whatever, could not really, and before 
 the tribunal of God, expiate fin, and purify the con- 
 icience. Yet fince, as he declares, without fhcdding 
 of blood there can be no remiflion, ver. 22. he con- 
 cludes, it was neceffary , that the death of Chrift ihould 
 intervene, to be undergone indeed, in order not only 
 to the eftablifhment of the New Teftament, but by 
 virtue of which the redemption of former fins might 
 alfo be obtained. This is the genuine meaning of the 
 facred writer. 
 
 XXXVIII. And truly Grotius fhamefully fliuffles, 
 Grctius's when, to favour the Socinians, he thus writes 
 ihufiiing. on this place : " His death intervened for tliis 
 " end, that men might be delivered from thofe fins, 
 " which generally prevailed, before Chrift, among 
 <s thofe called God's people." Is it really fo ? Would 
 thus the redemption of the tranfgrejfons that were under 
 the frjl teftament, denote fuch an action of Chrift, 
 whereby iucceeding ages would abftain from the like 
 fins, as were formerly committed ? God forbid, we 
 fhould ever pervert fcripture thus. Redemption is 12D 
 an expiation of fin, upon paying a ranfom. Chrift 
 paid this for all the fins of his elect, at whatever time 
 they lived. And in virtue of that payment, to be 
 made at the appointed time, believers, even under the 
 Old Teftament, obtained redemption. 
 
 XXXIX. Moreover, fince it is evident, that the pi- 
 No falva- ous ancients were faved, it mult likewife be 
 tion bat evident, that they were faved through Chrill. 
 in Chrift. p or our Saviour himfelf fays, No man ccmeth 
 unto the Father but by me *. And Peter, Neither is there 
 
 fahation in any other ; for there is none other name under 
 heaven given among men, whereby we muft be fared]. No- 
 thing can be plainer than theie words, which feem to 
 be written as with a fun-beam. Yet the itch of con- 
 tradiction has found fomething to fay ; but that fome- 
 thing is lefs than nothing. 
 
 XL. Our adverfaries except, that thefc paffages 
 * John xiv. 6. f Afts iv. j 2. 
 
Chap. 2. Covenant, of GRACE/ 4.T5 
 
 mould be under flood of thofe who live which hoi Is true 
 under the New Teftamcnt, and there- both under the 
 fore that both Chrift and Peter fpeak in old and New 
 the prefent, and not in the paft time, of Teftaments - 
 us, and not of the ancients ; of the times when Chrift 
 was exhibited, and not of the ancient ages. We an- 
 fwer : 1. As both texts are exprefTed in univerfal terms, 
 they are not to be limited without caufe and necefiity, 
 as there is none in this cafe. For if ialvation could be 
 obtained formerly without Chrift, equally as now thro* 
 Chrift, what need had we of Chrift's coming ? or what 
 fo very great matter do we obtain in Chrift ? 2. Nay, 
 there are very folid reafons, why they neither ought nor 
 can be thus reftricled. Becaufe they who were with" 
 cut Chrift, were ft rangers from the covenants of promije, 
 having no hope, and without God in the world *. 3. The 
 quibbling about the verbs being of the prefent time, 
 is idle ; becaufe verbs of that time may equally refer to 
 all times. And whatever phraie had been ufed, whe- 
 ther denoting the future or paft time, there might al- 
 ways be room left for fuch cavils. Befides, no rea- 
 fon can be afligned, why the paft time mould be ex- 
 cluded any more than the future, if that verb of the 
 prefent tcnfe is thus to be racked. What is falfe rea- 
 soning againft the Supreme Being, and a childifh ab- 
 uie of one's genius and parts, if this be not fo ? 
 
 XLI. That which, in the third and laft place, we 
 promifed to prove, namely, that there is No communion 
 noother means of communion with Chrift with Chrift but 
 but faith, appears from that very noted b y faith - 
 paflage of Habakkuk, fo often quoted by the apoft le, 
 But the juft fl?all live by his faith, or the faith of 
 him, namely, of the promifed Mefliah }. From which 
 Paul, at different times, proves our juftification, who 
 live under the New Teftamcnt, through faith. And 
 then Mofes declares concerning Abraham, And be be- 
 lieved in the Lord, and be counted it to him for right eouf- 
 nefs I ; which the apoftle quotes for the fame purpoie |l. 
 
 *Efh. U.12. f Hab. U* 4. J Gen. xv.6. II Rom. iv. 3. 
 
4i(5 Of the ONENESS of the Booklll. 
 
 David likewife declares the man bleffed that palteth his 
 truft in him [the Son *j. And Ifaiah counfels the /in- 
 ner X.otake hold of the Jlrength of the Lord, and thus make 
 peace with him f . But what is it to take hold of the 
 fortrefs of the Lord, but to believe in the Lord ? And 
 finally, Paul, by a long enumeration of examples, 
 which he took from the Old-teftament fathers, at- 
 tempts to prove this general truth, that without faith 
 it is impoffible to pleafe God J. 
 
 XLII. Our adverfaries objecl, that the paiTages a- 
 Befide a gene- DOve mentioned treat only of a general 
 fal frith in God, faith in God, and not of a fpecial faith 
 ftith in Chriit is i n Chrift. We deny not, that as Chrift 
 rcquifite. was t j ien more obfeurely revealed, fo 
 
 believers had likewife a lefs diftincr. knowledge of him ; 
 yet we boldly affirm, that they had fome knowledge, 
 and fufScient for their time, upon the authority of 
 our Lord, who fays, Abraham faw my day, and rejoiced \\ ; 
 and of Paul, who teftifies concerning Mofes, that he 
 efteemed the reproach of Chrift greater riches than the 
 treafures in Egypt | ; and concerning the other fathers, 
 that they faw the promifes afar off, and embraced them -+■ ; 
 and laftly of Peter, who tells us, that the prophets 
 fearched what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of 
 Chrift which was in them, did Jignify, when it teftifed be- 
 forehand thefufferings of Chrift, and the glory thatfhoidd 
 folLw «--►. Since then thefe things were faid of the he- 
 roes of that time, it will not be hard to determine, 
 what we are to judge concerning other believers, ac- 
 cording to their rank and ftation. And the patriarchs 
 and prophets had not acted the part of honed men, 
 if they had enviouQy concealed from other believers, 
 fuch a valuable talent, which' was committed to their 
 troth 
 
 XLIII. The apoftle writes nothing in oppofition to 
 No derogation to this this truth, when he fays =, But 
 truth from Gal. iii. 25. before faith came, we were kept under 
 
 * Pfal. ii. 1 2. * l£ xxvii. 5. J BJeb. xi. 6. || John viii. 56. 
 4 Heb. xi. 26. -*Ven 3l » YPet'/f. li. = Gal. iii. 23. 
 
Chap. 3. Covenant of GRACE 417 
 
 the law. For it is far from the apoftle's intention to 
 deny, that faith in Chrift prevailed before his coining 
 in the flefh ; becaufe, in the fame chapter, he had 
 highly commended the faith of Abraham, and pro- 
 poled it as a pattern to us all *. But by faith we here 
 underhand either the object of faith, tne doctrine of 
 the gofpel, as chap. i. 23. and the Lord Jefus him 
 believed on in the w6rld f , or the faith of the redemp- 
 tion already actually wrought out, as conti adiitin^uimed 
 from the hope of the Old-teilament faints, who, wicii 
 earnett longing, as it were, expected the coming of 
 the Lord, waiting for the conflation of Ifrael, Luke -i. 
 25. And thus we have now ihewn, that the Oid-te- 
 ftament faints had the fame promifes of eternal life 
 with us, to be obtained by the fame drift, and the 
 fame faith in him, and confequently alfo had the lamd 
 covenant of grace with us. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Of the different Oeconomies or Difpenfithns of the 
 Covenant of Grace. 
 
 IT neverthelefs pleafed God, at fan- The fa^ie co/en.mt 
 dry periods of time, and in di- ofgracx* di^-r^niy 
 verfe manners, to difpenfe the fame difpenfed. 
 covenant of grace. We lhall exhibit, in this chapter^ 
 a fhort reprefentation of thefe difpenlations, in lucii 
 a method as, fir ft * fimply to explain what, in this 
 matter, feems to us molt accurate jnd agreeable to the 
 whole tenor of icripture ; and then freely, but calm- 
 ly, weigh the reflections of other learned men. 
 
 II. the diverlity of thefe oeconomies is comprized 
 under two principal heads, which the Hence the Old a id 
 apoftle calls by the names pf the Old N4W reiWnacnc, 
 and New TlStamknt. Where we are to note, that 
 by the Old Teft amen t, we are by no means to under* 
 * Gil. iii. 6. 7. q. 
 
 Vol. I. f 
 
418 Of the Old and New Book IIL 
 
 ftand the legal covenant , concerning obtaining falva* 
 tion by our own works ; which is very different from 
 the covenant of grace. But, according to us and 
 Paul, the Old Teftament denotes the teftament [or 
 covenant] of grace under that difpenfation, which 
 fublifted before the coming of Chrift in the flefli, and 
 was propofed formerly to the fathers under the vail of 
 certain types, pointing out fome imperfection of that 
 ftate, and confequently that they were to be abolifhed 
 in their appointed time : or, as Calvin has very well 
 cxprefied it *, The Old Teftament was a difpenfation 
 involved in a Jhadow and ineffectual obfervation of cere- 
 monies ) and zuas therefore temporary ', becaufe a thing in 
 -fufpenfe, till eflablifhed on a firm and fubflantial bottom. 
 The New Teftament is the teftament [or covenant] of 
 grace, under that difpenfation which fucceeded the 
 former, after being confecrated and eflablifhed by the 
 blood of -Chrift. For this reafon Chrift calls the cup, 
 which he reached to his difciples in the fupper, the 
 cup of the new teftament in his blood f, to fignify, that 
 then at length the New Teftament would be perfected, 
 when fealed by the blood of the teftator fhed at his 
 death. 
 
 III. It is carefully to be obferved, that the difference 
 
 of thefe teftaments is not to be placed 
 
 conk noT^tbe in * e fabftance of the promifed in- 
 
 fubilanceofthepro- heritance, as if, under the Old le- 
 
 mifcd inheritance, ftament, was allotted the inheritance of 
 
 aTthe ^ If nbCr the land ° f Canaan ' and the inheri " 
 «e pro tance of heaven under the New. No- 
 
 thing can be imagined lefs accurate and juft. The al- 
 lotment of the heavenly inheritance proceeds from 
 the teftament of grace abfolutely conlidered, which 
 remains invariably one and the fame under every ce- 
 conomy. Only the fame inheritance is propofed in a 
 different manner ; in the Old Teftament under iha- 
 dows, and in a certain period thereof, under the 
 pledge of the land of Canaan, and which at the ap- 
 • Inftkut. lib. 2. c. ii. § 4, f Mattfc, xxvi. 28. 
 
Chap. J, TESTAMENT. 419 
 
 pointed time was to be purchafed by the death of the 
 teftaror : in the New Teftament clearly, without a 
 pledge, to which any regard was to be had, and as 
 now purchafed by the death of the teftator. The 
 promife of the common falvation, which is in Chriil*, 
 whether formerly made to the fathers, or to us at this 
 day, does not belong to the Old or New Teflament 
 as fuch, but abfolutely to the teftament or covenant 
 of grace. The difference of the teflamcnts confifts 
 in the different manner of difpenftng and proposing 
 the fame faving grace, and in fome different adjuncts 
 and circumftances. Whatever was typical . in that 
 difpenfation, and denoted imperfection, and an ac- 
 knowledgment that the ranfom was not yet paid, 
 belongs to the Old Teftament. Whatever fliews, that 
 the redemption is actually wrought out, is peculiar to 
 the New Teftament. Without carefully adverting 
 to this, it is not poffible, we can have an accurate 
 knowledge of the nature of both teftam 
 
 IV. But let us inftft a little further on this point, if 
 poflibly we may advance, what may fet More accurately 
 the truth in a clear light. Three things explained. 
 are to be diftinguifhed : the teftament of grace, the 
 Old and New Teftament. To each its own inheri- 
 tance is to be afligned. That of the teftament of 
 grace is eternal falvation, with every thing belonging 
 to it, through Jefus Chrift ; which is equally common 
 to believers in all ages. The Old and New Teftament 
 being different ceconomies of this one teftament 
 of grace, which they comprize, fuppofe alio and in- 
 clude the fame heavenly inheritance. . But in fo far 
 as they are different, the inheritance alio attributed 
 to each is different. Now, that difference coniifts 
 chiefly in two things : iirft, in the diftcrcnt manner 
 of propoftng it, which, I hope, I have how clear! v 
 explained : then, in the circumftantial U of the 
 
 principal inheritance. Thcfc in the ,1 Tcilamcut 
 are, the inheritance of the land of Canaan, as a pledge 
 of heaven, with a bondage to the elements ot 
 
 3 G 2 
 
4?o Of the Old and New Book III. 
 
 world, and the exclufion of the Gentiles, and a lefs 
 meafiire of the Spirit of grace, In the New Te- 
 ftament, the inheritance of the Gentiles, with liberty, 
 and a more plentiful meafure of c:race. 
 
 V. We begin the ceconomy of the Old Teflament 
 The Old Te.u- immediately upon the fall, and the 
 inent begins imme- firlt promife of grace, and end it in 
 di itely on the fall. Chrift ; as bah the nature of the thing 
 and fcripture direct us to do. We argue from the na- 
 ture of the thing, in this manner : Since believers had 
 the covenant of grace propofed and confirmed to them, 
 immediately -after the fall, by fuch figns, as contained 
 a confeflion, that guilt was not yet expiated ; and 
 which therefore were, at the time appointed, to be ab- 
 X )^ated by the introduction of the New Teftament ; 
 there can be no reafon, why the promife thus propo- 
 fed and ratified, fhould not be the Old Teftament. 
 We don't refer to the Old Teftament the promife of 
 the feed ci" the woman bruifing the ferpent's head, and 
 of the enmity eftablifhed between the feed of both \ 
 for thefe things abfolutely belong to the covenant of 
 grace, But the Sacrifices which are added, by the blood 
 of which that teftament was confirmed, belong in- 
 deed to the OW Teftament. It appears more than 
 probable to us, with fome very learned men, from 
 the Moiaic hiftory, that immediately upon the pro- 
 mulgation of the covenant of grace, Adam, at the 
 command of God, flew beafts for facrifice, whofe 
 fkins were, by the favour of God, granted to him 
 and his wife for cloathing : which was not without 
 its myftical fignification, as fhali he explained in its 
 proper place. It is certain we have an exprefs account 
 of facrifices *, which account, in the opinion of chro- 
 nolorers, happened about the year of Adam 129. 
 Seeing therefore thefe facrifices belong to the tefta- 
 ment of grace, and typically feal the blood of Chrift, 
 which was to be fried in due time, and likewife remind 
 of guilt not yet expiated, they can be referred to no- 
 thing but the Old Teftament. For whatever is thus 
 
 * Gen. iv. 2. & feq. 
 
Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 421 
 
 joined to the covenant of grace, and cannot poflibly 
 be referred to the New Teftament, the very force of 
 the words requires its being hid of the Old Teftament. 
 To this argument a certain very learned perfon objects 
 as follows : " Adam, the deluge, and the rainbow, 
 " were types, and previous to the actual performance 
 u of redemption, and yet they belong not exprefsly 
 " to the Old Teftament. For this laft was abrogated 
 " with all its fhadows. But thefe others ceafe not to 
 '" be types of greater and fpiritual things to us." But 
 the anhver feems to be eafy. The deliverance of the 
 Ifraelites out of Egypt, the paffage through the Red 
 tea, their wonderful fupport in the wildernefs by man- 
 na, and water from the rock, the fall of Jericho, 
 the expulfion of the nations out of Canaan, the car- 
 rying away of the Ifraelites into Babylon, their re- 
 turn from Babylon, and many other things of the 
 like nature, (for it would be endlefs to recount all), 
 do they not all belong to the Old-teflament cecono- 
 my ? But thefe very things certainly ceafe not, accor- 
 ding to the fentiments of very learned men, to be all 
 of them types of the greateft things to the Chriftian 
 church. The city of Jeruialem itfeif, the very temple, 
 with its whole pomp of ceremonies, though no long- 
 er in being, any more than Adam and the deluge, yet 
 ought alfo to beconfidered by us Chriftians as types of 
 the heavenly city, and temple not made with hands. 
 In a word, the whole of the Mofaic law, though 
 abrogated as to any obligation of observance, ceafes 
 not to exhibit to us, for our inftruciion, a type of 
 fpiritual things. 
 
 VI. There is another reafon taken from Paul ; who re- 
 duces all thefe institutions of God to Thcaobtlong all 
 the Out Telbmcnt *; Which decoy and abrogated iuftuii- 
 icax old, and are ready to vamjh. aw ui GotJ - 
 
 Now, it is certain, that not only thole things which 
 were lii ft ordained by Moies, but thole ajfq whi; h 
 were in force long before Moles, as facniiccs and cir, 
 
 * lie!:, vili. 13. 
 
422 Op the Old and New Book HI, 
 
 eumcifion, were abrogated by the introduction of the 
 New Teftament. But thefe were not abrogated, be- 
 caufe, as the learned perfon would have it, they were 
 reduced by Mofes, with the reft of his conftitutions, 
 into one fhadowy fyftem, but becaufe they were of 
 the fame nature with the Mofaical ; namely, ftradows, 
 X which were to give place to Chrift the fubftance. 
 And they were fo, not from their being renewed by 
 Mofes, but from their iirfl inftitution. 
 
 VII. Nor do we fpeak without fcripture, when we 
 Paul, Heb.ix. i5.afiigns reckon all that time which fol- 
 all the preceding time to lowed from the fall to the CO- 
 
 the icrmer teftarnent. m \ n g G f Chrift, to the Old or for- 
 mer Teftament. For thus we have the apoftle's 
 authority * : And for this caufe he is the mediator cf 
 the new teftament, that by means ef death, for the redemp- 
 tion of the tranforejfions that were under the fir st testa- 
 ment, they which are called, might receive thepromife of eter- 
 nal inheritance. Now, it is evident, that, by the death 
 .of Chrift, the tranfgrefiions not only of thofe belie- 
 vers who livec\ under the Mofaic ceconomy, but alfo of 
 the more ancient patriarchs, were expiated from the 
 foundation of the world ; to which the apoftle's rea- 
 foning leads us, as by the hand f . Therefore to their 
 time aifo the first testament belongs. Nor can 
 any reafon be given, why the apoftle fhoulcrmake par- 
 ticular mention of any determinate period, feeing the 
 efficacy of Chrift's death equally extends to all belie- 
 vers backward. Which was alfo finely obferved by 
 Cocceius himfelf in his comment on this place : 
 " Thofe very fins therefore, which have been, and 
 cc were not remitted under the firll teftament, feeing 
 " that fin which all men have in common, becauie 
 « c all are faid to have finned, when Adam finned, 
 <c Rom. v. 12. and all other fins his children were 
 " guilty of, as alfo the fins of thofe who expected 
 cc Chrift, in order that the teftament, which gives 
 " remifliQn and the inheritance, might be ratified, 
 * Heb. ix. 15. I ver. 26. 
 

 Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 423^ 
 
 " ought to be expiated by the death of the Mediator, 
 <c as by a ranfom." 
 
 VIII. We will again confider and examine the very 
 learned perfon's exception : and thus he Oppofed, in- 
 fpeaks ; " From the time that fin was deed, by :hp 
 
 " imputed, to wit, from the time learned perfon. 
 
 " of the law, there being made, by the law of Mofes 
 " and the Mofaic inftitutions, a commemoration and 
 " exprobration [or charge or accufationj of fin, and 
 " a hand-writing exacted, Heb. x. 3. Col. ii. 14. hence 
 " all the preceding fins, committed during all the time 
 " of the forbearance, are faid to have been in ape- 
 " culiar manner under the Old Teftament. Not that 
 cc the Old Teftament was from the time in which fin 
 " was firft committed, but that thofe committed be- 
 " fore the Old Teftament, are faid, in a peculiar man- 
 " ner, to have then chiefly exifled when they were im- 
 " puted, commemorated, and exprobrated [or char- 
 " ged.] Nor did it contribute a little to heighten the 
 " virtue of Chrift's death, exprefsly to have obferved, 
 " tnat fins not only not imputed, when there was no 
 " law, t)Ut alfo very often imputed and charged, were 
 " yet, by the death of Chrift, entirely removed, fo 
 " that there is no more remembrance of them." 
 
 IX. Thefe things are fo fubtile, (for I hardly dare 
 call them obfcure and perplexed, left the But to no 
 learned perfon fhould be offended), that I purpofe. 
 own I do not underftand them all ; I will however at- 
 tempt it. He fuppofes with me, and with all the or- 
 thodox, that the virtue of Chrift's redemption extends 
 to the removing all the fins of all the elect, from the 
 beginning of the world. This being fo, he inquires, 
 why Paul called thofe fins the tranfgreffions that were 
 uuder the fir ft teflameut. The reafon of which he will 
 not have what we contend for ; namely, that the Old 
 Teftament was from the time in which fin was to be 
 expiated by Chrift, but that all the preceding fins, 
 committed from the beginning of the wdrld, arjfiiii, 
 in a peculiar manner, ft a hays MXEH and ts have 
 
424 Of the Old and New Book III. 
 
 isted under the Old Teftament, or Mofaic ceconomy. But 
 why did thofe very old fins exift under the Old Tefta- 
 ment ? Becaufe then they were imputed and charged, 
 by that remembrance of fin that was made by the law 
 of Mofes. From this reafoning 1 firfl afTert, that, by 
 the tranfgreflions under the firfl teflament, are under- 
 stood all the preceding fins, which were committed 
 during the whole time of the forbearance. Whence by 
 a very eafy confequence it follows, that the times of 
 the forbearance, in the fenfe the learned perfon ufes 
 that expreffion, that is, the ages which went before 
 the coming of the Mefliah, and of the fir Jl teflament, 
 are of equal extenfion. No, fays he: But the very 
 old fins, fuppofe of Adam, Enoch, Noah, are faid to 
 have exifted under the Mofaic covenant or tePiament. 
 Where, learned Sir ? Where, I fay, is it faid, that the 
 iins committed before the Old Teitamcnt, exifted in a 
 peculiar manner, upon the introduction of the law of 
 Mofes ? Not certainly in thefe words of Paul. For 
 the very word exi fling is not to be found there, much 
 lefs in the fenfe you frame to yourfelf. I imagine the 
 learned perfon had in his eye, Rom. v. 13. For until 
 the law, fin was in the world. But in what manner 
 foever this may be explained, the apoftle never and no 
 where, that I know of, fays, that the fins, for inftance, 
 committed by the inhabitants of the firft world, exift- 
 ed in a peculiar manner under the ceconomy of the 
 Mofaic teftament, And in what fenfe, pray, fhould 
 they be faid to have then exifted ? Becaufe, fays he, 
 they were thtm imputed and charged. But to whom ? 
 Not certainly to thofe very perfons, who, dying in 
 the faith, were received into heaven. And how im- 
 puted and exprobrated by the introduction of the Mo- 
 faic teftament? Seeing it was fo much later than their 
 death and filvation, it does not greatly regard thofe de- 
 parted pious and happy perfons, at leaft as to its ri- 
 gour. I don't refufe, that the Ifraelites were convin- 
 ced of their iins by the Mofoic law, and that a remem- 
 brance of fin was made, and that ail mankind was con- 
 
f**^ 
 
 Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 425 
 
 demned in the Ifraelites : but that the fins of the moil 
 ancient believers were then imputed and charged, and 
 then in a peculiar manner exifted, is neither afferted 
 in fcripture, nor confonant toreafon. 
 
 X. But this alfo deferves coniideration, that he 
 would have the apoftle exprefsly mention the The refu- 
 Moiaic teftament, becaufe that tended to am- tadon 
 plify the virtue of ChrihVs death, as peculiar- continued. 
 ly mining forth therein ; feeing it has removed all re- 
 membrance of thofe very fins, which were often im- 
 puted and charged upon them by the law. Which 
 does not indeed appear to me to be very pertinent to / 
 that matter. For iince the commemoration and re- 
 membrance of fins are made in the repeated offering 
 of the fame facrifices, which could not take away fins, 
 and facrifices of that kind began to be ufed immediate- 
 ly upon the promulgation of the teftament of grace ; 
 thde very fins were alio commemorated and charged 
 by facrifices, which were anterior to the Mofaic ceco- 
 nomy. But if, on the introducing the law of Moles, 
 that charging of fin was more frequent and ftrono-; 
 the promife, in the fame law, was likewife more fre- 
 quent and ftrong, as likewife the fign and feal of the 
 remiHiun of fins, which the Mefiiah was to procure. 
 For the fame inilitutions which commemorated iin, 
 figmfied alio and fealed the future expiation of it by 
 the MeiTuh. If therefore, on the one hand, it may 
 feenu ftrange, that thofe very fins were alio expiated ' 
 by Chrift, which were fo often commemorated and 
 charged ; on the other hand, the expiation of thofe, 
 lins which was io often lignified and fealed, appears 
 lefs ftran^e. But the pious meditation of the redemp- 
 tion pu related by Chrift, ftands in no need of any 
 fuch ittbtihica of idle difputation. It is luilicient to 
 fay With Paul, that the ellicacy of the death of Chrift, 
 who is tiie Mediator of the New Teltament, is fuch 
 that it has pure ha led for the elect in every age, the re- 
 demption of thofe tranlgrcflions, which could never 
 be expiated by any blood of bulls or goats. Our ar- 
 Vol.I. J 3 II 
 
4*6 Of the Old and New Book IIL 
 
 gument therefore remains in its full force, and is in 
 vain attacked by the windings and mazes of a per- 
 plexed difcourfe. The tranfgrejlions under the firjl te- 
 (lament^ are fins committed from the mod ancient pe- 
 riod of the world ; therefore the fir ft teftament compri- 
 zes all the ages from the firft origin of the world. 
 
 XI. Moreover, in this ceconomy of the Old Tefta- 
 The Old Tcfia- ment > fevera) periods are diftinclly to 
 nent eoafiiU of be observed. For God, at fundry times 
 fevcral periods, and in divers manners, /pake unto the 
 the M of which f ot }, crs *. The firft period reaches 
 begins with Adam. * c * j xt u j 
 
 fa from Adam to JNoan, and compre- 
 
 hends the whole age of the firft world. In which e- 
 very thing was very fimple and plain. The firft gofpcl- 
 promife was publimed by God, received, by faith by 
 our firft parents, was inculcated on their children by 
 inceflant catechifing, or inftruction, fealed by facrifi- 
 ces offered in faith. The death of the Pvlefliah, the 
 righteous One, the moil beloved of God, who was to 
 be ilain by his envious brethren, was prefigured in the 
 perfon of Abel, who was murdered by Cain ; his a- 
 icenlion into heaven, with all his faithful people, was 
 io\ efhewn in the type of Enoch, who alfo, according 
 to jv.de, vcr. 14. prophefied of his return to judgment 
 with ten thcuiands of his faints ; and in fine, the fepa- 
 ration of the fons of God from the fons of men for the 
 pure worfliip of God* 
 
 XII. The fecond period begins with Noah ; in whom 
 r rhe fe- ' ns father Lamech feems to have beheld a 
 c vd with certain type of the Meftiah, when he faid, 
 isoj'n. This fame /hall comfort us concerning our work 
 end toil of our hands, and therefore he called his name 
 Noah, wnich figniiies reft J. He was a juft and upright 
 man in his generation, and a preacher of right eoufnefs J. 
 l?y him Ghrift / reached to the fpirits in prifon \\. He 
 was not only heir of the right eoufnefs of faith |, but the 
 head and reilorer of a new world, and in that refpecl 
 
 * Mcb. i. 1. I Gen.v. 29. % 2 Tct ii. 5. \\ 1 Pet. iii. 19. 
 • Htb. xi. 7. 
 
Chap. 3. T E S T A M E N T. 4 2 7 
 
 an eminent type of Chrift. For the feme purpdfe the 
 ark was built by him ; the facrifice of afweet tmeiimg 
 favour offered to Cod ; God's gracious covenant en- 
 tered into with the habitable world after that facnfice, 
 and fealed by the rainbow ;• and many other things of 
 the like kind, full of myftical feafe, which (hall be ex- 
 plained in due time. TTus fecond period reaches down 
 to Abraham. 
 
 XIII. To this fuccceds the third period from Abra- 
 ham to Mofes. There were indeed very great Tte third 
 and precious promifes made to Abraham ; as uith Ab- 
 of the multiplying his feed, of giving that r a ham - 
 feed the land of Canaan, of the Meiliah tofpringfrom 
 his loins, of the inheritance of the world, and the like. 
 The covenant of grace was folemniy confirmed with 
 him, and fealed by the new facrament of circtimci L 
 fion ; and himfelf conftituted the father of all the i 
 ful, both of his own feed according to the iieih, 
 
 of the Gentiles *. Mekhizedek a prieft and 
 kins: of rijjhteoufneis and oeace, meets him fatfeaed 
 after the overthrow and purfuit of his enemies, who 
 alfo blefled him, and presented to him ir. himfelf, as i:i 
 an eminent type, a view of the Meiliah. Hence 
 kindled in Abraham a defire of feeing Mill more cle.11- 
 ly the day of Chrift, which he both law, a iced 
 
 at f- -Ihis favour of the Supreme Being wa 
 nued to Abraham's fon andgrandfon, Uaac and J icob/, 
 to whom he often made himielf known by repeated 
 revelations, which confirmed to them the prom s 
 made to that great patriarch, and propofed them t6 
 future generations as t he chiefs of his covenant, 
 thus the old promifes of the covenant of grace \ 
 enlarged with many additions, and enriched with 1 
 fuller declaration. 
 
 XIV. But things put on a quite different afpecl un- 
 derthe fourth period, which wasintrod iced The four tfi 
 by the miniitry of MosE9. The people . 
 
 were delivered OLit pt by an out ft retch- ' 
 
 ed arm and by ti .-*. The 
 
 • Rem. iv. j 2. 1 ! )hl viii. 
 
 3 II 2 
 
428 Of the Old and New Book III. 
 
 before all the congregation of the people, declared 
 himfelf to be the King of Ifrael, by the folemn manner 
 in which he gave the law from mount Sinai, amidft 
 thunderings and lightnings. The tabernacle, and the 
 ark of the covenant with the propitiatory [or mercy- 
 feat], the gracious refidence of God, were conftructed 
 with wonderful art. An incredible number of cere- 
 monies was added to the ancient iimplicity. So many 
 myriads of men (ftrange to relate) were fed with man- 
 na from heaven, in the horrid and fcorched deferts of 
 Arabia, for forty years, and fupplied with water from 
 a rock, which Mofes ftruck with his rod. Whole na- 
 tions, were caft out before them, and devoted to de- 
 ilruction. Ifrael, as the favoured inheritance of God, 
 was introduced, after a very great deftruclion of their 
 enemies, to the promifed poflellion of Canaan ; and 
 who can pretend to enumerate all the things with 
 which this period was ennobled above the others ; of 
 which we cannot now /peak particularly * ? 
 
 XV. Seeing all the inftitutions of former ages were 
 
 t w .• „~ . renewed under the direction of 
 
 To whole time, on account . 
 
 cf the extraordinary revolu- Mofes, and enlarged with very 
 tion, the Old-teftament co many additions, and reduced 
 venanthfomerixnesafcribed. to a cer tain form of worfhip, 
 and, as it were, into one body or fyftem ; and the co- 
 venant was folemnly renewed with Ifrael both at 
 mount Sinai, and in the plains of Moab ; therefore 
 it is, that, in the facred writings, the Old-teftament 
 covenant is afcribed to Mofes, and to his miniftry and 
 times f . Not that either at that; time all thefe things, 
 on which the Old Teftament depended, were firft in- 
 stituted, or that, on no account, it is to be referred 
 to the preceding times ; for the religion of both 
 times, namely, both before and after Mofes, was the 
 fame ; and many rites the very fame, as facrifices, the 
 diir.inct.ion of clean and unclean beafts, circumciiion, 
 and many others : but that then the confirmation both 
 of old and new rites was reduced into a certain form 
 
 * Heb. ix. 5. f Hcb. viii. 9. from Jer. xxxi. 32. 
 
Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 42^ 
 
 of a ritual, and that period was fo diftinguiflied by a 
 folemn renovation of the covenant, and by many ad- 
 ditions, that it feemed to fwallow up, as it were, all 
 that went before. We likewife at other times read, 
 that fomething is faid to be given by Mofes, which 
 was long before Mofes's time. Our Lord fays, Mofes 
 therefore gave unto you circumcifion, not becaufe it is of 
 Mofes, but of the fathers *. God alio is faid to have gi- 
 ven Ifrael in the wildernefs his ftatutes, which if a man 
 do, he fball even live in them -j . Yet who could from 
 thence conclude, that the origin of thofe ftatutes was 
 only to be derived from that time? feeing it is plain, 
 that they were contemporary with man, and from the 
 beginning made known to all believers by the teach- 
 ing of the Spirit of God. This Mofaic period lafted 
 (though, under the kings David and Solomon, there 
 was a great acceffion of magnificence made to the pu- 
 blic worfhip, by the fuperb ftruclure of the tem- 
 ple, and the appointment of its miniilry) even to 
 the Lord Jefus, or his forerunner John. For thus 
 we are taught, The law was given by Mo/is, but grace 
 and truth came by Jefus Chrijl J. The law and the pro- 
 phets were until John ; fince that time the kingdom of 
 God is preached |j. 
 
 XVI. When the Old Teftament evaniflied, the NEW 
 fucceeded ; whole beginning and epo- Thee-ocha of the 
 cha divines do not fix in one and the KcwTdbMneatdif. 
 fame point of time. Some begin the fercntlj fettled. 
 New Teftament /tf/w the birth of Chrift, becaufe of 
 that exprefiion of the apoftle, Gal. iv. 4. in which he 
 aiTerts the fulnefs of time was come, w'hen God fent 
 his Son made of a woman : to which they add, that, 
 on that very day, the angels proclaimed die gofpcl 
 concerning (Jhriit manifeikd j. Others begin the New 
 Teftament from the year of ChrijV s preaching, alleging 
 Mark i. 1. Where the evangelift feems to refer the 
 beginning of the gofpel to that year, in which John 
 and Chrut began to preach j which is more clearly 
 
 • John vii. 22. f Back. JU. II, li John. i. 17. jj Luke xvi. 16. 
 (.pkf i\. jo. 11, 
 
43° Of the Old and New Book III. 
 
 taught in that paflage, juft cited from Luke xvi. 16. 
 Others again place the beginning of the New Tefta- 
 ment at the moment ofChriJI's death, upon the authori- 
 ty of the apoftle, who fays, that the New Teftament 
 was ratified by the death of Chrifl the Teitator *. 
 Some, in fliort, on the day of Pentecqft, or the efru- 
 fion of the Holy Spirit on the apoftles, on which the 
 New Teftament was, as it were, fealed, and its law 
 came out of Zion f. 
 
 XVII. But all thefe things are eafily reconciled, if 
 
 t. f rr we allow fome latitude to that fulnefs of 
 Its fuccefiion in . . . . . . . T r , . , ■ 
 
 the place of the time, in which the New iuccceded the 
 Old has feme Old Teftament. God, indeed, began to 
 latitude. prepare for the New Teftament from 
 
 the very birth of Chrift, on which very day the go- 
 fpel of Chrift exhibited began to be preached to the 
 fhepherds ; but thofe beginnings were very fmail ; 
 but foon after ihone forth more illuftrioufly by the 
 preaching of John, proclaiming the kingdom of hea- 
 ven to be at hand J, and of Chrift himfelf, averting 
 it was already come, and even among the people of 
 the Jews |j. Yet the kingdom of heaven did not di- 
 rectly and all at once attain to its full ftate of maturity, 
 but by flow degrees acquired ftrength, till Chrift, ha- 
 ving finifhed the work which the Father gave him to 
 do, completed all by his death, and ratified the New 
 Teftament. By this death of Chrift. the Old Tefta- 
 ment was of right abrogated. Yet there was an ac- 
 ceilion of greater folemnity to the New, when, after 
 the death, refurrection, and afceniion of our Lord, 
 upon the plentiful effufion of the Spirit on the apo- 
 ftles, the doctrine of falvation was proclaimed over 
 all the habitable world, God, at the fame time, bearing 
 witnefs by figns and wonders, and various virtues 
 and gifts of the Holy Ghoft. Yet fo that the church 
 did not enjoy the full liberty of the New Teftament, 
 till after God had rejected the people of Ifrael, who 
 ftifEy adhered to their ceremonies, till their temple 
 ♦ Heb. ix. 17. f Kt& 3- * M.uth. :ii. 2. || Lukexvii. 21. 
 
Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 431 
 
 was burnt, and their whole land was fmitten with a 
 curfe ; which time of full liberty the apoftle, in his 
 day *, called the world to come. 
 
 XVIII. Hence we fee, that the clofe of the Old Te- 
 ftament gradually van i thing a- The clofe of the Old and 
 way, and the beginning of the beginning of the New 
 
 New gradually gaining ground, Teltament coalefced into 
 
 both centered in one point of one P oint * 
 time. For as, on the birth of Chrift, a more joyful 
 period fhone forth, and the fongs of the pious were 
 heard, concerning the truth of God's covenant con- 
 firmed by the accomplifhment of the promifes ; io 
 Chrift acknowledged himfelf to be fubjecl to the laws 
 of the Old Teftament by his circumcilion, and the rites 
 following upon it. And as the kingdom of heaven, 
 which is a kingdom of liberty, was preached by our 
 Lord f, fo he ordered, in the mean time, the perfon 
 cleanfed of his leprofy to offer the facrifice enjoined by 
 the law of Mofes J. Which is an evident indication 
 of the Old Teftament ftill maintaining its ground. 
 Of right it was entirely abrogated, when, upon Chrift's 
 death, the vail of the temple was rent, and the holy of 
 holies before hid and concealed, was then fet open to 
 all ; and by the blood of a dying Chrift the New Tefta- 
 ment was fealed. However, for fome time the apoftlcs 
 thcmfelvcs apprehended, that there was a fanclity in the 
 ceremonies, till Peter was better taught by a heaven- 
 ly vifion |j. In fhort, the church ftruggled with the 
 obfervation of thefe ceremonies, now in the pangs of 
 death, till Jerufalem was taken and deftroyed by the 
 Romans, and the temple fet on fire; together with 
 thefe, all remains of the Old Teftament, which were 
 long before condemned to death, quite expired, and 
 made way for a New Teftament, then at laft blazing 
 forth in the full luftre of its liberty. 
 
 XIX. And here again wc are to obferve various pe- 
 
 # He!), il. 5. 1 John iv. 21. 25. 1 Matth. viii. 4. U AGs *. 
 
 10. ! I. & 
 
432 Of the Old and New Book III. 
 
 The New Tefta- riods, which are diftinctly defcribed in 
 ment has alfo its the prophetic writings, efpecially in 
 periods. fa m yftical revelation of John, fome 
 
 of which the church has already experienced, and ex- 
 pects the reft with faith and patience. Periods, I fay, 
 not relating to any new worfhip, either inflituted or 
 to be inflituted by God, after the preaching of the e- 
 verlafling go f pel ; but refpecting very different vicini- 
 tudes in the church, and times either more adverfe or 
 more profperous, in which truth and piety were ei- 
 ther oppreffed, and, being wounded and fpent by ma- 
 ny perfecutions, were forced to conceal themfelves in 
 deferts, or then victorioufly triumphed over their ene- 
 mies, and being placed on an illuftrious throne, daz- 
 zled the eyes of all with the refulgent beams of their 
 light. Of all thefe we wall alfo fpeak in their place. 
 
 XX. In this manner we imagine, we have reckoned 
 Others make three up properly enough, and* agreeably to 
 economies. the facred writings, the ceconomies of 
 the times. Yet fome very learned men have thought 
 otherwife, who are better pleafeS with the trichotomy, 
 or threefold divifion, than with the received dichotomy < 9 
 or twofold diftribution. They therefore confider the 
 adminiftration of the covenant of grace, i. Under 
 i. Under the the PROMISE, before the la w, which they 
 promife. contend to have been a promife of mere 
 grace and liberty, without any yoke or burden of an 
 
 2. TJoderthe aCCllhng law. 2. UNDER THE LAW, where 
 
 law. they will have the Old Teftamcnt begin. 
 
 3. Under the gospel, where the New begins. This 
 3. Under the diverfity would not be of that importance, 
 gofpel. as to oblige us therefore to throw up the 
 caufe we plead for, if it conhTted only in the com- 
 putation of times. But feeing a vaft difference is 
 made between thefe ceconomies, it will not be from 
 the purpofe more minutely to examine thefe thoughts. 
 
 XXI. It appears certain, that the fathers living be- 
 The fathers before fore the Mofaic law, were loaded with 
 Mofes did not en- a much lignter burthen of ceremonies, 
 joy full liberty. than the lu aclites were under and at 
 
Chap. 3 . TESTAME.NT. . 43; 
 
 ter Mofes : yet it does not appear, that th< A y enjoyed 
 full liberty, without any yoke and burthen of an 
 accufing hw. For, to fry nothing of the law of 
 nature, which, with its appendages of curfes, wis 
 
 handed down by conftant inftruction, they had pre- 
 cepts concerning facrifices, not indeed binding them 
 to a certain time and place, but yet enjoining facrift* 
 ces, (which indeed were not wtll-woriliip), and dif- 
 tinguifhing clean from unclean bealls. This I ima- 
 gine the very learned perfons will not deny, At IcAl 
 the celebrated Cocceius finds fault with Grotius, who 
 affirms, that the offering of Abel was made < ; without 
 " any command of God, from the dictates of reafbn 
 " only ;" and he infills, that Abel could not have 
 offered in faith " without the word of God ;" and 
 that he did not offer" according to his own pleafurc 
 " and fancy, but by the direction of the Holy Spirit, 
 " Adam doubtlefs being the interpreter, and letting an 
 iC example here." The fame thing he proves at large, 
 in Sum. de f<zd. § 505. on Gen. iv. § 14. 19. zr. 
 another of thofe, whofe opinion we are now exami- 
 ning, writes to this purpole * : " The facrilices of be- 
 " lievers were doubtlefs of divine inftitution :" which 
 after he h^d proved by various arguments, he thus 
 concludes : " In fine, if God made a diltinclion be- 
 " tween clean and unclean animals before the deluge, 
 <c which was done on account of facrilices, doubt 
 " God alfo appointed facrilices." But in every facri- 
 fice there was a remembrance of fins not yet expiated j 
 and, as Athanafius fpeiks, c';r/,rru;.;, a reproaching ot, 
 and a hand-writing, which was very much againit the 
 (acrificers. For the reproadiing with fin conii'ls not 
 only in this, that the offering of facrilices was limited 
 to a certain time and place, as was d^v.c under Mofefi ; 
 but in the very offering of the facrifices : tor wlien a 
 man Hew and burnt the animals which God granted 
 him for food, he thereby iignihed, that he himlelf de- 
 ferred deftruclion ; nay, and to perifli in avenging 
 
 * Momma on the threefold ccconomv, book i. chap. 3. § ;c. 
 
 Vol. 1. f 3 I 
 
434 °f the Old and NewBooIcIIL 
 
 flames for ever ; and that he who, by the one offer- 
 ing of himfelf, was truly to expiate the fins of all the 
 elect, was not yet come : and that when he offered 
 frohcfcme animals, who are apt to go affray from the 
 flock, unlefs kept by the fhepherd, thereby were fig- 
 nified the guilt of iin and our going affray, as very 
 learned men have obferved from If. liii. 6. 
 
 XXII. It is therefore ftrange, that a great man, in 
 Before the law there anfwer to this queftion, Whether A- 
 were alfo facrifices bel's facrifice ^was propitiatory or eu- 
 for fin - chariftical ? mould fay, " that before 
 
 " Mofes's time facrifices for fins were not inftituted 
 " by God, the defign of w^iich was to accufe of fin *. 
 That this is faid without proof, appears plain : i. Be- 
 caufe in that cafe no facrifices were inftituted before 
 Mofes, to be types of the propitiatory facrifice of 
 Chrift. For as it was neceffary there lhould be an 
 agreement between the type and antitype, thofe fa- 
 crifices, which fhadowed forth the propitiatory facri- 
 fice of Chrift, were alfo in their meafure propitiatory ; 
 that is, they fo expiated fin to the cleanfing of the 
 flefh, us at the fame time to condemn fin, and to fhew, 
 that they were not fufilcient for its real expiatioD, be- 
 caufe they were to be often repeated. Neither do 
 the learned doubt, but that the facrifices even of the 
 oldeff patriarchs were facraments and types of Chrift's 
 facrifice ; for they write, in exprefs words, that " the 
 f c fathers offered before Mofes's time the fame facri- 
 " fices with Mofes, and apt tofignify the fame things -j-." 
 2. It alfo appears, that Job, who, it is probable, lived 
 before, certainly without the Mofaic polity, offered 
 ni"^y burnt-offerings for his children and friends, in or- 
 der to expatiate the fins they had committed J. Now, 
 the end of a burnt-offering is, " to be accepted for 
 " him that offers, to make atonement for him, Lev. 
 <: i. 4. And by fuch facrifices the believers of that 
 " time teftified, ,, (which is the learned perfon's own 
 obfervation ||), " that they acknowledged, that fuch a 
 
 * Cocceius in Gen. vi. § j i. t Ibid. 20. \ Job i. 5. and xlii. 8. 
 
 || In Job i. 5. 
 
Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 43i - 
 
 " fatisfaclion was due to God, which was not pofllble 
 " for themfelves to make." This was a charge of 
 guilt and inability ; which the fame great man could 
 not conceal, when he treats of the burnt-offerings 
 offered by Job, at the command of God, for his 
 fiiends ; and expreffes himfelf thus *: " For though 
 " many facrifices were flain, and the man indeed, 
 " upon offering a beati:, was no longer deemed a fin- 
 " ner, but a righteous perfoi among men ; yet con- 
 " science was /iCCusED of sin, and confequently 
 " offerings were both to be accumulated and repeated 
 " without end." See the fame author on Job ix. 28. 
 but efpecially on Job vii. 1. " Job complains not," 
 fays he, " of that fervitude, whereby we obey God ; 
 " but of that laid on the fathers, which is a heavy 
 " yoke of fear, and of the terror of the law, with 
 " the greater! incumbrance of ceremonies. — But tho' 
 " Job feems to have lived before the law of Mofes, 
 " and not to have been loaded with fo many ceremo- 
 " nies as the Ifraelites ; yet his condition was no bct- 
 " ter than theirs." There were therefore, in the fa- 
 crifices which God enjoined from the beginning, a re- 
 proaching with, and an accufation of fin ; and con- 
 fequently a yoke, not confident with that liberty of 
 the fathers, which thefe learned men imagine. 
 
 XXIII. And what will they anfwer us with refpect 
 to circumcifion ? Was not that alfo a yoke ? Circwncifioh 
 fince it was " not to be performed with- aifoayokc 
 " out blood, and mixed with much pain and fhame." 
 Was there not in it an accufation of fin ? " When the 
 ,c new-born infant could not enter into God's cove- 
 " nant, without fir it fhedding his blood. Whence 
 " this iacrament was performed on the genital mem- 
 ". ber, to denote the original ftain ; and by the cut- 
 Cl ting off of a fmall part of the flefh, the whole man 
 " was declared to be worthy of death f ." Let the 
 learned perfons here acknowledge their own words. 
 And what is more plain from the holy writings of 
 * In J.l) xlii. S. f Burman. fyoopf. lib. 3. c. 6. «} 19. 11. 
 
 3 I 2 
 
436 Of *he Old and New Book III. 
 
 the New Teftament, than that circumcifion was con- 
 fidered by the apoftles as the principal part of the 
 heavy yoke * ? Neverthelefs, it does not appear, 
 that Mofes made any addition of rigour to it ; ha- 
 ving been, long before, enjoined upon Abraham at firil 
 under pain of being cut off. From whence we con- 
 clude, -that the condition of the ancient patriarchs is 
 too much extolled above* that of the Jewifh church, 
 when it is infilled, that they lived in liberty," with- 
 out any charge of fin, without any yoke; though we 
 readily grant, that the fervitude was heightened, and 
 the yoke made heavier under the Mofaic polity. And 
 this is what we had to fay on the firft period. 
 
 XXIY. They make the law to be the fecond period. 
 The arguments cf thofe, who under which they would have 
 begin The Old Teftameat the Old Teftament to begin : 
 from -mount Sinai. which they define, to be " the 
 
 u will and purpofe of God, whereby he determined 
 " to give fome of Abraham's pofterity, as his own 
 " .people, the inheritance of the land of Canaan as his 
 {< ov.'ti land." And they add, that this' teftament 
 *• commenced from the departure out of Egypt, and 
 < c from mount Sinai." Which a very learned per fon 
 endeavours to prove by feveral arguments briefly 
 joined together in the following manner f. The 
 icripture fays L that God made the Old Teftament 
 with the fathers, when he brought them out 
 of* Egypt ; that is, called them to the inheritance 
 of the land, as of a pledge, &c. In like man- 
 ner Paul j| fays, that the. two teftaments were iig- 
 .nified by liagar and Sarah, and that the firft was tru- 
 ly from mount Sinai. The fame Paul fays j, Nei- 
 ther the fir jl teftament was [initiated] dedicated without 
 blood. He has his eye on Exod. xxiv. 8. He fays 
 tyuxou'rijFoii, it was initiated ; therefore that teftament 
 then became xiVv, new, Confequently, that tcita* 
 
 * Ach xv. ^.compared with ver. ic. f Cocceii Sum. theol. c. 
 53. * 5. An'unadvetf. ad £3 qureil. § 2. confer prxfat. in enitt. ad 
 iiptcl. I Jef. .v:;:u. 32. || Gal. iv. 24. 4- Hcb. ix. 1 S. 
 
Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 437 
 
 ment was then introduced. Nay, it is faid, "The 
 Lord our God made a covenant ivitb us in Horeb : the Lord 
 made not this covenant with our fathers *. — How can we 
 conceive, that tjie fathers had that which, we are 
 told, had not been intimated to them ? 
 . XXV. Our reflections on this fubjecl, which we 
 fubmit to the examination of the The old Teftament do€S 
 learned, are thefe. 1 . They feem not coniift in the alone al- 
 to confine the Old Teftament lotment ot" the land of 
 within too narrow bounds, who Canaan « 
 define it only by the deftination of the land of Ca- 
 naan as a pledge of heaven ; as we {hewed § 2 . Doubt- 
 lefs, according to the Old Teftament,, the inheritance 
 of the land of Canaan was given to the Ifraelites : but 
 this does not complete the whole fubftance of the Old 
 . Teftament, which Paul clearly enough declares +, 
 without fpeaking any thing of the land of Canaan, 
 confided in a typical profpeel of the heavenly inheri- 
 tance, and comprized every thing that imports a typi- 
 cal fervitude, and was to be abolifhed upon the intro- 
 duction of the New Teftament. 
 
 XXVI. 2. When learned men fay, that the Old 
 Teftament commences from the de- The if , cf vj 
 parture out of Egypt, and from land ? f Canaan was 
 mount Sinai, and call it the will or noc made at mount Si- 
 purpofe of giving the land of Ca- g4 bat 43° y ears 
 naan, they underftand not by that e ore * 
 will or that purpofe, the counfel or decree of God, 
 as it is from eternity ; nor the execution of that de- 
 cree, which was not eftecred at mount Sinai, but for- 
 ty years after, when, under the conduct: of Jofhua, 
 they were introduced into the land : but they under- 
 ftand the declaration of the counfel of God by an irre- 
 vocable promife. Now, that promife was not lirft made 
 at mount Sinai, but long before, even to the patri- 
 arch Abraham, four hundred and thirty years before 
 the giving of the law ; Unto thy feci wilt f give this 
 land }. And it was confirmed by folemn figns, and 
 
 * Dcul. v. z. 3. | Gal. iv. uA Hcb. ix. \ Gnu x:i. 7. 
 
438 Of the Old and New Book III. 
 
 fealed by the blood of facrifices *. Whence we con- 
 clude, that, if the Old Teftament be the declaration 
 of the will of God, about giving the land of Canaan, 
 ic did not commence from Mofes, but from Abraham. 
 
 XXVII. 3. Hence it appears, what anfwer ought to 
 
 In Jer.xxxi. 3 2. and Gal. }> e S iven t0 J«* «# 3^ and Gal. 
 iv.24. the fubjed is not 1V ; 24. namely, that the firft in- 
 the firft inftitudon of the ilitution of the Old Teftament is 
 Old Teftament, but its not treated of in thefe places, but 
 
 folemn confirmation. thc folemn renewal and confirma . 
 
 tion of it, and the acceffion of many new rites, which 
 we mentioned § 18. For God himfelf teftified oftener 
 than once about that time, that he did all thofe tkings 
 in virtue of his covenant entered into with Abra- 
 ham. God remembered his covenant with Abraham f, 
 &c. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning 
 the which I did /wear [with my uplifted hand~] to give 
 it to Abraham, to Ifaac y and to Jacob ; and I will give 
 it you for an heritage J. It therefore remains, that the 
 teftament about giving the land of Canaan, was not 
 then firft publifhed, but folemnly repeated, when God 
 was now meditating the accomplilhment of it. And 
 this is what Jeremiah and Paul intend in the places 
 quoted. 
 
 XXVIII. 4. What the apoftle fays, Neither the firft 
 
 r^y • • • .•„„ „c ,u„ teftament was ["initiated! dedicated 
 The initiation of the / J L J 
 
 firft teftament may be Without blcod % is very general, and 
 referred to t^e firft (a- may be extended to the firft facri- 
 crifices. fices, which wereflain at God's com* 
 
 mand. The very learned Cioppenbufg \ from the 
 fame pafTage of Paul infills, that there was no inter- 
 val of time between the firft promifc of the future 
 feed of the woman, and the firft facrilice. cc The a- 
 " poitle," fays he, " confirms this our opinion, when 
 " he fays, that the Old Teftament was not dedica- 
 <c ted without blood, and that without fhedding of 
 w blood there is no remiilion of lins. For hence it 
 
 * Gen. xv. 7. f Exod. ii, 24. \ Chap. vi. 3. R Heb. uu 18. 
 4. In Schola faciificioru;n, problem, 1. § 3. 
 
Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 439 
 
 < c follows, that, with that promife about the future 
 " feed of the woman, there was either no folemnizing 
 " of the fpiritual covenant of God with man, by 
 " which he might hope for and believe the remiffion 
 " of fins, or that there was none without fhedding 
 " of blood." The apoftle, indeed, mentions what 
 we have in Exod. xxiv. as an example. But it does 
 not thence follow, that no other example of that 
 truth could be given before that ; or that any would 
 miftake the fubject, who mould add to the apoftle's 
 argument, what we find Gen. xv. about the beafts 
 which were flain by Abraham. 
 
 XXIX. And the term dedicated ought not to be fo 
 infilled upon, as if that neceffari- FrQm theterm . , 
 
 Iy inferred, that the teftament, Micafe ^ no conclufioa 
 thus dedicated, was entirely can be mate, that the te- 
 new. For even that may be faid foment *as then entirely 
 to be dedicated, which is again 7:ew ' 
 folemnly dedicated, though the thing itfelf was 
 in being long before. Thus the author of 1 Mace, 
 chap. vi. writes about the temple profaned by 
 Antiochus, km hrticurhBti to aylatr/ist o>; r) 7tpot^cv 9 and 
 the f ancluary teas dedicated as before. Yet Antiochus 
 had not deftroyed the fanctuary, fo as to make it ne- 
 ceffary to build one entirely new, but had only profa- 
 ned it, which Judas Maccabeus purified *, and thus 
 dedicated it to God. From this was ra tyxo/r/*, thefeajl 
 of the dedication^ John x. 22 f. On which place Groti- 
 us comments; w *Zyx*pi Jur, to dedicate, whence the 
 " appellation iyxa/wa, the feaft of dedication, is in 
 " Hebrew -|.n, which is ufed of any dedication, whe- 
 P tlier the fiift, or that which is renewed." And in- 
 deed, when the apoftle was faying J, that Chrift btmum 9 
 confecrated a way to heaven, he by no means intimated, 
 that there was no way to heaven before that time. 
 
 XXX. But let us grant, that the Old 1 eftament was 
 then new ; and that this may be it m.iy be granted theOia 
 proved by the word iy*txaiF/rtei 1 Tettament was then new, 
 
 * phaf,iT*43i t Johnx.2j. 1 Hcb x zo. 
 
440 Of the Old and NEwBookUL 
 
 rot absolutely, but circum- let us alfo grant, that the apo- 
 ftantially. file, fpeaking of the fhedding of 
 
 blood, with which the teftamenr, was dedicated, does 
 not look back to any time prior to that defcribed Ex- 
 od. xxiv. Yet nothing will be concluded in favour of 
 the hypothecs. For the Old Teftament was certainly- 
 new at that time, not abfotutely, and in its whole fub- 
 ftance, but only with refpect to thofe circumftances, 
 under which it was propofed to Ifrael, promifing them 
 the immediate pofTellion of the land of Canaan, for an 
 inheritance, together with the impofition of fo many 
 new rites. We ought to be upon our guard againft 
 being guilty of the fophifm, called arguing from what 
 is hypothetical to what is abfolute. As thefe things 
 are neither unfkilfully nor improbably obferved by ve- 
 ry learned men, I could have wifhed, that hard fay- 
 ing had not dropt from the learned perfon, that they 
 who thus proceed, " wreft this paflage contrary to the 
 " meaning of the Holy Ghoft." Is this a difpute of 
 fuch a nature, that it cannot be determined, without 
 fuch thunders and lightnings of language ? 
 
 XXXI. On Deut. v. 2. 3. many things have been 
 The covenant not exhibited taken notice of by interpreters, 
 to the fathers in the fame Nothing appears to us more 
 form as to the Ifraclites. fimple and folid, than what the 
 very learned Dutch interpreters have obferved, to the 
 following purpofe : That this covenant was not enter- 
 ed into with the fathers, in the fame manner, with all 
 its circumftances and particular laws, and in that form 
 (as we ufe to fpeak), in which it was revealed to Ifrael 
 at Sinai or Horeb. For even the believing patriarchs 
 had the fubflance of the moral and ceremonial law, 
 and, by the grace of God, managed their religious 
 worfhip according to it. This cxpoiition is confirmed 
 chiefly by two reafons. 1 . 1 hat it is no new thing in 
 the facred writings, for fomething not mentioned be- 
 fore to be faid, and revealed at that time, when it is 
 more clearly difcovered, and fome new additions made 
 to it. Thus the apoftle writes concerning the myile- 
 
Chap. 3. TESTAMENT. 441 
 
 xy of the gofpel, Which was kept fecret Jince the world 
 began, but now is made manifeft * : and yet the fame a- 
 poftle fays, preached before the gofpel to Abraham f, and 
 to the other ancient fathers J. It was therefore kept 
 fecret not fimply, but in a comparative fenfe ; not 
 preached in the fame manner, as now. The apoftle 
 himfelf thus explains the matter : Which in other age* 
 was not made known unto the fins of men, as it is now 
 revealed to his holy apoflles ||. What God here fays may 
 be taken in the fame fenfe ; that he did not make this* 
 covenant with their fathers, namely, in the fame man- 
 ner and form, by fpeaking to them from the midft of 
 thunderings and lightnings, giving them the law of 
 the covenant written with his own hand, with an ad- 
 dition of fo many ceremonies. 2. Nor can thefe words 
 of God only be explained to the fame fenfe, but they 
 alfo feem to require the very fame meaning. For fince 
 the decalogue, which conftitutes the principal part of 
 the federal precepts, was likewife, with refpecl to its 
 fubftance, given to the ancient patriarchs, as God's 
 covenant-people, for a rule of gratitude and a new life ; 
 and the fum of it was comprized in thofe words, with 
 which God, when he formerly entered into covenant 
 with Abraham, addrefled him, / am the almighty God ; 
 walk continually before me, and be thou [ fincerej perfecl | ; 
 it cannot therefore abfolutely be denied, that that co- 
 venant, whofe firft and principal law is the decalogue, 
 was alfo entered into with the ancient patriarchs. Nei- 
 ther, as has been often hinted, do all the ceremonies 
 owe their original to Sinai or Horeb. From the whole I 
 conclude, that it cannot be proved from the alleged paf- 
 fages, that the Old Teftament took its firft commence- 
 ment from the departure out of Egypt* or from mount 
 Sinai ; and that it is more probable, and more agree" 
 able to the analogy of fcripture, to adhere to the recei- 
 ved opinion. But how great the difference is between 
 
 * Rom. xvi. 25.26. t Ga!. iii. B- \ Hcb if, ~. fj ft 
 4 Grn. xvii. i. 
 
 Vot. I. f 3 K. 
 
442 Of the Old and New, &c. Book III. 
 
 the ceeonomy of the Old and New Teftament, and 
 what prerogatives the laft has above the firft, we fhall 
 explain, but not in a carelefs manner, in its proper 
 time and place. 
 
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 / 
 
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 The End of the First Volvmj. 
 
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