he works as a fpirit of bondage, convincing of fin and mifery, by the law, Rom. viii. 15. with John xvi. 8. The latter he works as a quickening fpirit, enlightening the foul in the knowledge of Chrift, by the gofpel, 2 Cor. iii. 17. 18.

Whosoever then would enter into the covenant of grace, muft in the first place have a faith of the law: for which caufe, it is neceffary, that the law, as well as the gospel, be preached unto finners. And that faith of the law confifts in a belief of these three things.

1. By it a man believes that he is a finner. The holy law pronounceth him guilty: and he believes the report of the law concerning himself in particular; his heavy and forrowful heart, by this faith, echoing to the voice of the law, guilty, guilty! Rom. iii. 19. The which faith refts not on the tef timony of man, whether fpoken or written; but is a divine faith, founded upon the teftimony of GoD, in his holy law, demonftrated by the Spirit of bondage, to be the voice of the eternal God, and the voice of that God to him in particular. And thus he believes, (1.) That his life and converfation is finful, difpleafing and hateful in the fight of a holy God, according to the divine teftimony, Rom. iii. 12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doth good, no not one. He is convinced, that he is gone out of the way of God, and walking in the way of deftruction; that the number of his errors of omiffion and commiffion he cannot understand; and that all his righteoufneffes, as well as his unrighteoufneffes, are as filtby rags before the Lord. (2.) That his heart is full of mifchief and iniquity, according to the divine teftimony, Jer. xvii. 9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and defperately wicked.. The law fhining into the heart, difcovers divers lufts there, which he little noticed before; and preff

ing the unholy heart, irritates them: and thus fuch a mystery of iniquity within his breast opens to his view, as he could never before believe to have been there. Rom. vii. 9. I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, fin revived, and I died. (3.) That his nature is quite corrupted, as one dead in trefpaffes and fins, according to the divine teftimony, Eph. ii. 1. ΤΟ the verdict of the law, Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Job xiv. 4. his foul, by this faith, echoes back, unclean, unclean! I was fvapen in iniquity, and in fin did my mother conceive me. He is conceived, his difeafe is hereditary and natural; and that therefore his nature must be renewed; that otherwife, he not only does no good, but can do no good. In all these refpects, he believes himfelf to be an object bathfome in the fight of God; loathfome in his nature, heart, and life.

to

2. By it a man believes, that he is a loft and undone finner, under the curse of the law; liable vengeance, according to the divine teftimony, Gal.. iii. 10. Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them. He can no more look upon the curfe as fome strange thing, belonging only to fome monsters of wickednefs, and not to him: for the fpirit of the Lord, as a fpirit of bondage, applies it clofely to him; as if he faid, Thou art the man. And, like one under fentence of death pronounced against him, hegrones out his belief of it, under the preffure thereof, Luke xv. 17. 1 perifb.

3. lastly, By it a man believes his utter inability to recover himself. He believes, that he cannot, by a ny doings or fufferings of his, remove the curfe of the law from off him; according to the divine teftimony of our being without ftrength in that point, Rom. v.6.; nor change his own nature, heart, and

life, fo as to render them acceptable to God; according to the infallible teftimony, Jer. xiii. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his fpots? then may ye alfo do good, that are accustomed to do evil. He is, in his own eyes, as in the fight of God, a fpiritually dead man; legally dead and morally dead, as the Apoftle teftifies of himself in that cafe, Rom. vii. 9.

This is the faith of the law. And the effect of it is a legal repentance, whereby a finner is broken and bruifed with fear and terror of the wrath of God; grieves and forroweth for fin, as a ruining and deftructive evil; and therefore really defires to be freed from it; defpairs of falvation by himself, and ferioufly looks out for relief another way, Acts ii. 17. and xvi. 29. 30. Thus the law is our fchool-mafter to bring us unto Chrift; and the faith of the law, makes way for the faith of the gospel. Not that either this legal faith or legal repentance, is the condition of our welcome to Chrift and the covenant of grace: our accefs to Chrift and the covenant is proclaimed free, without any conditions or qualifications required in us, to warrant us finners of mankind to believe on Jefus Chrift, as was shown before. But they are neceffary to move and excite us, to make use of our privilege of free access to Chrift and the covenant; infomuch that none will come to Chrift, nor embrace the covenant, without them in greater or leffer meafure. Even as if a phyfician fhould caufe proclaim, that he will freely cure all the fick of fuch a place, that will employ him: in which cafe, it is plain, none will employ him, but fuch as are fenfible of fome malady they labour under; yet that fenfe of a malady is not the condition of their welcome to that phyfician; nor is it requifite for his curing them, but for their employing him.

Now,

Now, in calling you to embrace the covenant, ye are called indirectly, and by confequence, to this faith of the law, namely, to believe that ye are finners in life, heart, and nature; left and undone, under the curfe; and utterly unable to recover your felves. Yet it is not faving faith, nor doth it inftate one in the covenant of grace; that is peculiar to another kind of believing of which in the next place.

The FAITH of the GOSPEL, inftating in the Cove

nant.

SAV

Aving faith, which unites to Chrift, is the faith of the gospel. For the gospel only is the miniftration of righteoufnefs, 2 Cor. iii. 9. It is in it that the righteoufnefs of faith is revealed unto faith, revealed to be believed on, Rom. i. 17. It is the alone word which gives finners the notice of a Saviour, of the atoning blood, and the new covenant in that blood; and therefore is the only word by which faving faith is begotten in the heart of a loft finner. In the word of the gofpel, the Lord and Saviour Chrift, with all his benefits and covenant, is; and that to be believed on, as appears from Rom. x. 6. 7. 8. 9. So that, the word of the gofpel being received by believing, we have Chrift, and his covenant, with all the benefits thereof faving faith being indeed the echo of the quickened foul, to the word of grace that bringeth falvation; a trusting of the word of the gofpel, and the perfon, to wit, the Saviour, and the thing, therein held forth to us, to be believed on for falvation. Mark i. 15. Believe the gofpel. Ifa. liii. 1. Who hath believed our report? Gal. iii. 2. Th hearing of faith. This is that believing, by which we are united to Chrift, entered into the covenant of grace, and inftated therein unto falvation. The which believing may be explained in

four

four particulars; (1.) The faith of Chrift's fuffici ency: (2.) The faith of the gospel-offer; (3.) The faith of our right to Chrift; and, (4.) The faith of particular truft for falvation. So putting the

QUESTION, What is that believing, by which I, a loft finner, under the curfe of the law, may unite with Jefus Chrift, and fo enter into, and be inftated in the covenant of grace, to my eternal falvation? We ANSWER thereto directly in these four particulars, by way of direction in this momentous point, whereon falvation depends.

I. The Faith of Christ's SUFFICIENCY.

In the first place, you are to believe, that there is a fulness of falvation in CHRIST for poor finners. This is the conftant report of the gofpel concerning him, Eph. iii.8. That I should preach among the Gentiles the unfearchable riches of Chrift. Heb. vii. 25. He is able to fave them to the uttermoft, that come unto God by him. In the word of the gofpel Chrift is held forth as an able Saviour; able to fave men from their fins, and from the wrath of God. His mérit is a fufficient fconce against the tempeft of fiery wrath, which incenfed juftice is ready to caufe to fly forth againft tranfgreffors: Ifa.xxxii. 2. A man fball be a covert from the tempeft. His Spirit is fufficient to fanctify the most unholy: 1 Cor. vi. 11. And fuch were fome of you: but ye are wafbed, but ye are fanctified, but ye are juftified in the name of the Lord Jefus, and by the Spirit of our God. The righteoufnefs he fulfilled as the condition of the covenant, is fo valuable in itself, and in the eyes of his Father, that it is fufficient to procure juftification, fanctification, and all other faving benefits to finners, who in themfelves deferve death and damnation: fo that they are happy who are in him; they fhall never perih, but have everlafting life, being eternally fecure

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