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for sin, with faith or trust in the discoveries of his mercy, so far as it is made known, or revealed to us, in our age.

Or, perhaps, we may better describe this our acceptance of and submission to every dispensation of grace, by such a faith, or hope in the mercy of God, so far as it is revealed, as raises in the heart an unfeigned repentance for having displeased him, with a sincere and hearty love to him, which love produces a holy obedience to his will, or an upright and hearty desire to obey it, as far as it is made known to men. This last seems to be the most natural and proper way of describing our acceptance of the covenant of grace, under every dispensation, because it is a hope or trust in the mercy of God, which is, and must be the spring of true repentance, and new obedience in every sinner; for where there is no hope there is no encouragement to repent, or return to God; Ps. cxxx. 4. There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared, loved and obeyed.

VIII. Hence it comes to pass, that as under the covenant of works, man was to be justified by his own perfect righteousness of works commensurate to the demands of the law; Gal. iii. 12. and Rom. x. 5. So, under every edition of the covenant of grace, men, who can be no more justified by their works, because they are imperfect, are to be justified by their faith, or dependence on grace; as Rom. iv. 1-16.*. But this faith in the divine mercy, and forgiveness, doth in the very nature of it imply, or in the necessary consequences carry with it, a hearty acknowledgment or confession of guilt, or want of righteousness in ourselves, as well as a sincere return to God, and constant desire to please him, arising from that humble trust or hope in pardoning grace. Thus Abraham and David, under their different dispensations, were both justified by faith, or trusting in mercy, without a righteousness of works, as well as St. Paul and the Romans under the dispensation of christianity, as is most evident in Rom. ivt.

IX. To make this yet more evident, let us consider that the very light of nature, which requires of every creature a perfect obedience to all the will of God requires also of every sinner,

This doctrine is the chief design of the third and fourth chapters to the Romans. See the note on the words igis and miçiʊw at the fifth section of the viii. chapter of this treatise.

+ Though God justified good men by faith, and not by works, under every dispensation of the covenant of grace, as the New Testament informs us; Rom. Iv. yet there was no necessity, that every good man, who was justified should know this doctrine expressly and distinctly, under every darker dispensation of God. It was enough if they practised repentance and new obedience, under the influence of faith or hope in the divine mercy, or a belief of the grace which God revealed. This runs through the chapter in Heb. xi. God forbid, that we should suppose the knowledge of these christian controversies, and sublime doctrines, to be necessary to the salvation of every good man, under the darkness of those early dispensations. How far this accurate knowledge may be supposed to be new cessary, under the New Testament, I will not debate here.

perfect repentance and a complete return to universal obedience to all the commands of God." But this cannot be done or expected under our present degenerate state: And therefore, wheresoever men do truly repent of all sin, and return unto God with a honest heart, and sincerely, though not perfectly obey his commands, and comply with the requirements of that dispensation under which they live, from a hope of the favour and mercy of God, and under a sense of their failings do trust in divine mercy, so far as it is revealed, they shall have this faith or trust in the grace of a forgiving God reckoned unto them, and accepted of him unto their obtaining a justifying righteousness, that is, unto their pardon and justification, or their having a right to impunity and eternal life. This is righteousness; and this is is the plain sense of Rom. iv. 3, 5. Faith is counted or imputed for righteousness.

It may not be improper to dwell a little upon explaining this text. Observe here, first, that righteousness often in scripture, does not signify acts of righteousness, but a right to life, and so it is to be construed in this place. Observe, secondly, it is not said that faith is imputed or counted instead of righteousness which would have required the word up or an: But it is πιρις λογίζεται εις δικαιοσύνην, that is, faith is imputed or reckoned to our account, as an important or necessary thing, in order to our having a justifying righteousness, or a right to impunity and life. Survey the whole verse; Rom. iv, 5. to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is imputed for righteousness; that is, it is not the works of obedience which any man performs, that are or can be counted or imputed to him, in order to his justifying righteousness or justification; for when he first commences a believer, he has no good works, and when he has any, they are all imperfect, and answer not fully the demands of any law of God: But it is his faith or trust and dependence on forgiving grace, on the account whereof God accepteth and justifieth those who have been ungodly, even before they have actually wrought any such works of righteousness, whereby they might pretend to a justifying righteousness of their own, having had no time or opportunity for it.

Some interpreters make arßn, the ungodly, in this place to signify the Gentiles, as in some other scriptures; and so it stands as a parallel of Abraham's being justified by faith, in his uncircumcised estate, or before he obeyed God in being circumcised as it follows, verses 9, 10. But still it is faith, and not works whi h must justify such sinful creatures, as the best of mankind are in the sight of God; because faith implies an acknowledgment of the imperfection and insufficiency of our best works, and a dependence on the forgiving grace of God. As I take this to be

the true meaning of such texts of scripture, so it must be granted that the scripture teaches us elsewhere to add also, that the constant and persevering endeavours of such penitents after obedience and holiness, shall be approved and even rewarded by grace, so far as finally to obtain heaven and complete salvation, through the meritorious undertaking of the Mediator.

X. As this has been a matter of much controversy, let me endeavour to make it yet more plain to every reader. The best of men in this world have not a righteousness of works commensurate to any law of God whatsoever; for their faith and repentance, and even their sincerity are all imperfect, and do not fully answer the demands of God under any dispensation: But we are saved by a humble and hearty acknowledginent of sin, with a perpetual trust or dependence on true grace; always supposing our faith to be attended with a return to God by repentance and constant endeavours to please him. And though faith or trust in the mercy of God be in itself a work of righteousness, and though it be attended or followed by repentance and love, and worship and holy obedience, yet in the matter of our justification before God, it is not considered as a work of righteousness, or as fully answering the demands of any law of God whatsoever, and thereby claiming justification, by that law; but it is considered only as an act of the soul, whereby it humbles itself, empties itself, renounces itself and its own works as a sufficient ground for justification according to any law, and whereby it depends or trusts merely in the grace of God through a sense of its own guilt and imperfection. As when a son hath grievously offended his father by breaking his righteous laws or commands, and then throws himself down at his father's foot, and waits and hopes for pardon and acceptance, this hoping and waiting doth not justify him as a work of righteousness, but merely as renouncing all self-worthiness, and as a dependence on mercy; it is not considered so much as an obedience to his father's law, but as it is an acknowledgment of guilt, and trust in mere mercy. And this seems to be the true design of St. Paul, in the representation he makes of the matter, throughout the fourth chapter of Romans, which is the chief place in the bible, where this matter is most expressly and directly treated of, and argued.

XI. Thus our acceptance with God arising from faith and not works, none have any reason to glory in the presence of God: Justification by faith cuts off all boasting. And indeed this seems to be one main design of the blessed God, in appointing our justification under all the dispensations of the covenant of grace, to be obtained not by works but by faith, or trust in free mercy, viz. that since pride and self-sufficiency was one great spring of the first sin and ruin of mankind; this pride of man might be humbled, that no flesh should ever have the least ground

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for boasting; and that the salvation of man might appear to be all from God, and be acknowledged to be a work of mere grace; Rom. iii. 27, 23. Rom. iv. 2, 16. Eph. ii. 9. Therefore, it is of faith and not of works that boasting may be excluded.

XII. And the apostle adds, therefore it is by faith, that it might be all of grace; Rom. iv. 11. Therefore, neither the acts of love or zeal, or repentance, or fear, or worship, or any other actions of obedience are appointed to be the mediums or proper means of our justification, under any dispensation of the covenant of grace, because these actions carry in them an appearance of our own doing something for God, our answering the demands of some law, and this would make it look like justification by a law of works: But faith or trust is that act of the soul, whereby we renounce our own works as the ground of our justification or acceptance; we acknowledge our own imperfection, unworthiness and insufficiency, and give the entire honour to divine grace by our dependence on it. We are saved by grace that God may have the glory of all.

XIII. It is worthy of our observation here, that though the violation of the first covenant or law of innocency exposed us to the curse of God, and brought us under many frailties, afflictions, and death itself, which are not cancelled and removed at regeneration or repentance; yet by the covenant of grace all these calamities which continue to attack human nature, lose their sharpest sting, and are sanctified to our advantage; they are made use of to help forward our repentance and sanctification, and our growing fitness for heaven. Even temporal death itself, which follows all these painful evils or curses, is also turned into a blessing, because it is made a means of delivering our souls from this body of sin and sorrow, and of introducing them into the presence of God, and the commencement of our heaven and happiness.

Thus much shall suffice concerning the covenant of grace in general, and concerning the first edition of it*.

CHAP. III.

The Noahical Dispensation; or, the Religion of Noah. I. The second edition of the covenant of grace was the dispensation of Noah after the flood: He was the second father of mankind. It is sufficiently evident what an universal taint of

Since St. Paul in his discourses on the Doctrine of Justification to the christians at Rome and Galatia, makes it appear, that the constitution of the covenant of grace represents not only christians to be justified by faith, but even Jews and patriarchs, David and Abraham; I thought it necessary to introduce this doctrine, in my Representation of the First Patriarchal D.spensation, and to dwell something longer upon it here, because it runs through all the dispensations of grace and is common to them all, and adue knowledge of this will render the whole scheme easier to be understood.

iniquity had spread over all the race of Adam, when God the governor of the world saw it necessary in his wisdom to destroy mankind from the earth, for their abominable transgressions because all flesh had corrupted its way upon earth, so that there was not one person, or not one family left who maintained the purity of religion, besides Noah and his house? Gen. vii. 1.

II. Therefore, after this universal destruction by the flood, God was pleased to repeat and renew his dispensation of grace in another public edition of it unto Noah. It is true, this covenant is said to be made, not only with Noah, but with his sons also, and with every animal; Gen. ix. 9, 10. that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh: But it is sufficiently evident that there was contained in it the covenant of grace or salvation, for this was the great design of God in all his other covenants with men, since the fall; and if mankind be no more destroyed by a flood, it is that the covenant of grace may save men in following ages.

III. This edition of the covenant of grace, contained in it the same blessings, promises, and duties, with that of Adam after his fall, and probably the same sacrifices also: Here were superadded some further precepts about the distinction of meats, the prohibition of eating blood, the punishment of murder, and the promises of the church of God in the family of Shem, as well as the promise that the earth should no more be destroyed by water. Note, that this promise manifested the grace and longsuffering of God to men, in order to call them to repentance after the flood. Of this promise the rainbow was an appointed emblem or pledge, token or sign; and as such it stands round the throne of God, and Jesus the Mediator in Rey. iv. 3.

IV. This dispensation was published, not only to Shem, but to Ham and Japhet also, that is, to all mankind after the flood, by their father Noah, who was a preacher of righteousness; 2 Pet. ii. 5. By this dispensation Job and Melchisedec also were saved, with many others in that early age of the world.

V. Let it be observed here, that though we have a very short account of this dispensation in scripture, yet as Job probably lived under it, there are some bright discoveries of the resurrection of the dead, and of future happiness for good men, among the speeches of Job, especially in the xiv. and xv. chapters.

VI. Observe also, that this has been the last dispensation of grace which has been made known, and offered to most of the heathen nations, or their fathers, even to all such as were not descended from Abraham, and have never heard of Jesus Christ. All these therefore abide under Noah's covenant.

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