regeneration, holiness and perseverance, as well as justification, adoption and glorification; we must be saved from our sins, as well as from the wrath of God, if we are made truly happy. Jesus the Mediator saves his people from their sins; Mat. i. 21. as well as delivers from the wrath to come; 1 Thess. i. 10.

one

These several blessings included in salvation, though they are all bestowed freely by grace, yet have a connexion with another, and dependance on each other; therefore some of them are represented as foregoing, others as following: some as means, the others as the end. Faith, repentance, regeneration, pardon, justification, adoption, sanctification, obedience, the assistance of the Holy Spirit, and perseverance, may all be esteemed as means, with regard to the great and final blessing of glorification, which is the end; and indeed, every foregoing blessing may be reckoned in some sense, as a means with regard to that which follows. Again, some of the blessings included in salvation are to be wrought in us, as repentance, sanctification, &c. Others to be only bestowed upon us, as pardon of sin, adoption, eternal glory, &c. Those that are to be wrought in us, are sometimes set forth in scripture, as duties to be performed by us, to stir us up in a rational way to seek them; and those that are only to be bestowed upon us, are set forth as blessings to be conferred in consequence upon such duties performed; for God will save us still as intellectual creatures, under a moral government, and will have our rational powers used in obtaining and possessing this salvation; and therefore it is sometimes set forth, as a proposed agreement between two intelligent beings, God and man, and is called the new covenant, a better covenant, and the word of reconciliation; Heb. viii. 6. 8. 2 Cor. v. 19.

Upon these considerations the gospel or covenant of grace is sometimes represented as a mere declaration of grace, or an absolute promise in scripture, and sometimes as a conditional' one. It is represented absolutely in these texts: Gal. iii. 8. The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. Heb. x. 16, 17. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them: And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Though the word covenant does usually signify an engagement on both sides, yet it is sufficiently evident, that in the language of scripture it does not always imply restipulation or mutual agreement; for it is applied to the day and the night, and their stated courses, to the beasts of the field, as inhabitants of this earth; Jer. xxxiii. 20, 25. Gen. ix. 9, 10.

All the blessings of the gospel, both the means and the end, are represented in a way of free or absolute donation by the apostle Paul frequently. So Eph. ii. 8, 9. By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, for we are his workmanship.-In other places of scripture, the gospel is represented in a conditional way, as Mark xvi. 15, 16. Preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth shall be saved. Mat. xi. 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. John vii. 37. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. 1 John i. 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. These are properly called conditional propositions in a logical rational view of the relations of things.

And it may be observed, that those very parts of our salvation, which in one scripture are commanded as duties, in another are promised as blessings. So faith and repentance are duties required. Mark i. 15. Repent and believe the gospel: They are blessings bestowed. Phil. i. 29. To you it is given to believe; Acts v. 3. God hath exalted him--to give repentance: And it is easy to bring instances of the like nature, concerning several other parts of our salvation. Now according to the distinctions I have laid down, the foregoing blessings which are as means, may be esteemed conditions with regard to others, which are as the end of them: So justification and adoption, as well as faith and repentance, and perseverance, all which are as means, may be called conditions in regard of glorification which is the last end. In that golden chain of salvation, Rom. viii. 30. Calling, justification, and glorification are three great links. Whom he called, them he also justified: And whom he justified, them he also glorified. But all agree if we are not called we shall not be justified: If we are not justified, we shall not be glorified. Thus every blessing of salvation that, in the necessary order of nature follows another, may be said to be suspended on that other, as a condition without which it shall not be bestowed.

Again, those blessings that are represented as our duties, and are to be wrought in us, may be said to be conditions with regard to consequent blessings that are only conferred upon us : For the word condition, in its most common sense, does by no means imply that it must be performed by our own power, nor does it include any thing of a valuable consideration or merit in it. And therefore in this sense, faith may be called a condition of justification, because faith and justification are connected together in scripture, and faith is represented as a foregoing blessing, and as a duty; justification is a consequent blessing, and a privilege which is suspended upon it. Gal. ii. 16. Knowing that a max is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that

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we might be justified. So the use of water is a condition of being made clean, so coming to the fire is a condition of being warmed, so the putting on a garment is a condition of being clothed, receiving a sealed pardon is the condition of a prisoner's release, committing the body to a physician is the condition of a sick or dying man's being healed: And, in this sense, faith is called a condition of our interest in Christ, by the assembly of divines, in their larger catechism under the question, "How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant? Answ. The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners a Mediator, and life and salvation by him, and requiring faith as the condition to interest them in him, promiseth and giveth his holy Spirit to all his elect, to work in them that faith with all other saving graces, and to enable them unto all holy obedience, as the evidence of the truth of their faith and thankfulness to God, and as the way which he hath appointed to salvation."

Nor can I see any sufficient reason why the grace of faith, as a blessing conferred, may be called the condition of a following blessing, and yet faith, considered as a duty, may not be called a condition of the same blessing, since both the habit and the act of faith, are the effects of divine grace working in us and by us; and where faith is proposed as a duty, it is represented more evidently in a conditional way, than where it is mentioned as a mere blessing. And upon the same account, holiness and perseverance may be called the conditions of our complete salvation in heaven, because holiness and perseverance are foregoing blessings and duties, and complete salvation in heaven is the final privilege; Heb. xii. 14. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord; Mat. xxiv. 13. He that endures to the end shall be saved. Nor doth Doctor Owen, nor other moderate writers in this controversy, refuse the use of the word condition in such a

sense.

What I have said concerning the various blessings of the gospel or new covenant, may be applied also to the seals or symbols of it, baptism and the Lord's-supper. These are seals on God's part, which he hath appointed for the confirmation of our faith, by the help of our senses, and that he might give us, as it were, a real pledge of the performance of his promises. Thus Abraham received circumcision a seal of the righteousuess of faith; Rom. iv. 11. Thus we receive baptism as a seal of our regeneration by the holy Spirit: Thus the Lord's supper as a seal of our pardon and life by the crucifixion and death of Christ. But as great privileges as they are, thus granted to us, we must remember they are also duties to be performed by us, and are seals on our part of our engagement to be the Lord's. Nor have we any reason to expect the comforts that arise from these sealed

-blessings of the gospel, if we wilfully despise and neglect the use of the seals: And, in this sense, they may be called conditions of the privileges, and comforts that are annexed to them.

I desire it here to be noted, that I speak not this to encourage and promote the common use of the word condition in these cases; for it is not used in scripture, except once in a parable; and that not in the original, but only in our translation. The text is Luke xiv. 33. where it is not at all to the purpose of the present controversy: The conditions there mentioned are not the conditions of our salvation, but quite another thing: The design of the parable is to shew that those who have not courage to fight with their spiritual enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, must even make conditions of peace with them, that is, sit still and neglect Christ and religion. Besides the word condition, though it be an innocent and an useful and expressive word in the matter of duty and privilege, yet it hath been ill explained by some preachers, and worse understood by some hearers, and thereby it hath given great offence: I say this therefore only to shew that there is not so much heresy and poison in those four syllables, as some learned men pretend, and some unlearned believe and fear. If any man will fix such a rigid sense on the word condition, as is inconsistent with the grace of the gospel, and then say, the gospel has no conditions in it, I will not contend with him; for he speaks consistently with himself, and with scripture too; because scripture does not use the word: But if condition be taken in a very plain and common sense, for any one thing upon which another is suspended, I do not know any scripture that forbids the use of it but such texts as these, 1 Cor. x. 32. Give no offence to-the church of God. Rom. xv. 2. Please your neighbour for his good to edification.

SECT. II-Question II. "Is the gospel a new law?" Whether commands and threatenings belong to the gospel? Answer. The word gospel or layyxic, though it signifies glad tidings in its original derivation, yet it is used in scripture sometimes in a larger sense, as well as sometimes in a more proper and limited one.

When it is used in its proper and limited sense, it denotes a mere declaration of the good-will of God for the recovery of fallen man: So the texts before cited Gal. iii. 8. Heb. x. 16, 17. And so 2 Cor. v. 19. where the gospel is called the word of reconciliation, the substance of it is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. So the first gospel that ever was preached to Adam, after the fall, was a free discovery of mercy; Gen. iii. 15. The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.

When the word gospel is used in its larger sense, it

includes predictions, commands, promises, threatenings, histc= ries, examples, and almost whatever is necessary to enforce those duties upon the consciences of men, which are as means appointed, in order to partake of the privileges.

So the gospel contains in it narratives of matters of fact, or histories; Mark i. 1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which seems to refer to all the following history of his life and death; and the four histories of the evangelists are called gospels, which title, if not divine, originally, yet has been the language of the church, through so many ages of christianity.

The word gospel contains, also, some doctrines; Col. i. 5. The hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of truth of the gospel. The gospel reveals truths before unknown to men. So life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel. 2 Tim. í. 10. that is, doctrines of the heavenly state.

Commands. 2 Cor. ix. 13. By the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection to the gospel of Christ. This subjection to the gospel, implies, that liberality is commanded in it. Acts xvi. 21. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. This is the command given to the convinced jailor.

Promises and threatenings. Mark xvi. 15, 16.-Preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned.

Predictions, particularly of the final judgment. Rom. ii. 16. God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. That is, according as I have preached.

It is plain, that sometimes the gospel is said to be the object of belief; as Mark i. 15. Believe the gospel; and there it signi fies a declaration of grace to sinners. Sometimes it is said to be the object of obedience. Rom. x. 16. All have not obeyed the gospel; there it must include duties and commands. It is also evident, that in many places of the New Testament, the gospel is used to signify the whole ministry of the apostles, and all the subjects of their preaching, as Rom. i. 9. Whom I serve in the gospel. 1 Cor. ix. 14. They that preach the gospel, should live of the gospel: viz. be maintained, not merely for preaching a promise, but for the whole of their ministration; and therefore the apostle sometimes calls it my gospel, and our gospel, to signify his whole ministry. Nor do I think there is any great difference, whether we include commands, threatenings, &c. in the word gospel, taken in a large sense, or call them appendices and attendants of the gospel, taking the word in a sense more proper and limited For the language of scripture seems to favour the one as well as the other. But this is the mischief that ariseth