Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

loved us." And "if ye love me, keep my commandments," John xiv. 15. And "if they break my statues, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes; nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take away from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail," Psal. lxxxix. 31-23. Thus, you see, that both these laws agree in saying, "Do this." But here is the difference; the one saith, "Do this, and live;" and the other saith, "Live, and do this;" the one saith, Do this for life; the other saith, Do this from life: the one saith, "If thou do it not, thou shalt die;" the other saith, "If thou do it not, I will chastise thee with the rod." p The one is to be delivered by God as he is Creator out of Christ, only to such as are out of Christ; the other is to be delivered by God, as he is a Redeemer in Christ, only to such as are in Christ. q Wherefore, neighbour p See pages 250, 251, notes s, u.— .—Of this penalty of the law of Christ, the author treats afterwards.

q To direct the believer how to receive the law of the ten commandments with application to himself, he assigns this difference betwixt the law of works and the law of Christ. The one, namely, the law of works, is the law of the ten commandments, but supposed to be delivered by God as he is Creator out of Christ; and so standing in relation to man, only as Creator, not as Redeemer; the other, namely, the law of Christ, is the same law of the ten commandments, but supposed to be delivered by God, as he is not only Creator but Redeemer in Christ. And although the notion of Creator doth not imply that of Redeemer, yet the latter implies the former; as he is Redeemer he is Sovereign Lord Creator, else we are yet in our sins, for none of inferior dignity could remove our offence or guilt; but the word of truth secures this foundation of believers' safety and comfort; Isa. xliv. 6, 24, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the First, and I am the Last, and besides me there is no God. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." Chap. liv. 5," Thy Maker is thine Husband."

66

Now, the law of the ten commandments is given, the former way, only to unbelievers, or such as are out of Christ, the latter way to believers, or such as are in Chrsit. And to prove whether this be a vain distinction or not, one needs but to consult the conscience, when thoroughly awakened, whether it is all a case to it, to receive the law of the ten commandments in the thunders from Mount Sinai, or in the still small voice, out of the tabernacle, that is, from an absolute God, or from a God in Christ.

It is true, unbelievers are not under the law, as it is the law of Christ; and that is their misery, even as it is the misery of the slaves, that the commands of the master of the family, though the matter of them be the very same to them, and to the children, yet they are not fatherly commands to them, as they are to the children, but purely masterly. And they are not hereby freed from any duty, within the compass of the perfect law of the ten commandments; for these commands are the matter of the law of works, as well as of the law of Christ. Neither are they thereby exempted from Christ's authority and jurisdiction, since the law of works is his law, as he is with the Father and Holy Ghost, the Sovereign Lord Creator; yea, and even as Mediator, he rules in the midst of his enemies, and over them, with a rod of iron.

Neophitus, seeing that ye are now in Christ, beware that you receive not the ten commandments at the hands of God out of Christ, nor yet at the hands of Moses, but only at the hands of Christ; and so shall you be sure to receive them as the law of Christ. r

Nom. But, sir, may not God out of Christ deliver the ten commandments, as the law of Christ?

Evan. O no! for God out of Christ stands in relation to man, according to the tenor of the law as it is the covenant of works; and therefore can speak to man upon no other terms than the terms of that covenant. s

§ 2. Nom. But, sir, why may not believers amongst the Gentiles receive the ten commandments as a rule of life, at the hands of Moses, as well as the believers amongst the Jews did.

Evan. For answer hereunto, I pray you consider, that the ten commandments being the substance of the law of nature t engraven

r The receiving of the ten commandments at the hands of Christ, is here opposed (1.) To the receiving of them at the hands of God out of Christ. (2.) To the receiving of them at the hands of Moses namely, as our lawgiver. The first is a receiving of them immediately from God, without a Mediator; and so receiving them as the law of works. The second is a receiving of them from Christ, the true Mediator, yet immediately by the intervention of a typical one, and so is a receiving of them as the law of Moses, the typical Mediator, who delivered them from the ark or tabernacle. To this it is, and not to the delivering of them from Mount Sinai, that the author doth here look, as is evident from his own words.-Page 310. The former manner of receiving them is not agreeable to the state of real believers, since they never were, nor are given in that manner to believers in Christ, but only to unbelievers, whether under the Old or New Testament. The latter is not agreeable to the state of New Testament believers, since the true Mediator is come, and is sealed of the Father, as the great prophet, to whom Moses must give place, Matth. xvii. 5; Acts iii. 22.— See Turret, loc. 11. q. 24. th. 15. However, the not receiving of Moses as the lawgiver of the Christian church, carries no prejudice to the honour of that faithful servant; nor to the receiving of his writings, as the word of God, they being of divine inspiration, yea, and the fundamental divine revelation.

s This plainly concludes, that to receive the law of the ten commandments from God, as Creator out of Christ, is to receive them as the law (or covenant) of works; unless men will fancy, that after God hath made two covenants, the one of works, the other of grace, he will yet deal with them neither in the way of the one, nor of the other.

Calling the ten commandments but the substance of the law of nature, he plainly intimates, that they were not the whole of that law, but that the law of nature bad a penal sanction. Compare his speaking of the same ten commands, still as the substance of the law of works, and of the law of Christ.-Page 305. Indeed, he is not of opinion, that a penal sanction is inseparable from the law of nature. That would put the glorified saints, and confirmed angels in heaven, (to say nothing more) under a penal sanction too; for without question, they are, and will remain for ever,

in the heart of man in innocency, and the express idea, or representation of God's own image, even a beam of his own holiness, they were to have been a rule of life both to Adam and his posterity, though they never had been the covenant of works; u but being become the covenant of works, they were to have been a rule of life to them, as a covenant of works. v And then, being as it were razed out of man's heart by his fall, they were made known to Adam, and the rest of his believing fathers, by visions and revelations, and so were a rule of life to him; w yet not as the covenant

under the law of nature. The truth is, the law of nature is suited both to the nature of God, and to the nature of the creature; and there is no place for a penal sanction, where there is no possibility of transgression.

u The ten commands being the substance of the law of nature, a representation of God's image, and a beam of his holiness, behoved for ever unalterably to be a rule of life to mankind, in all possible states, conditions, and circumstances; nothing but the utter destruction of human nature, and its ceasing to be, could divest them of that office, since God is unchanging in his image and holiness. Hence, their being a rule of life to Adam and his posterity, had no dependance on their becoming the covenant of works; but they would have been that rule, though there never had been any such covenant: yea, whatever covenant was introduced, whether of works or of grace, whatever form might be put upon them, they behoved still to remain the rule of life; no covenant, no form whatsoever, could ever prejudice this their royal dignity. Now, whether this state of the matter, or their being the covenant of works, which was merely accessory to them, and might never have been at all, is the firmer foundation, upon which to erect them into a rule of life, is no hard question to determine.

And would have been so always to them all, till they had perfectly fulfilled that covenant, had they not been divested of that form, unto believers, through Christ Jesus their surety. To them they remain to be a rule of life, but not under the form of the covenant of works; but to unbelievers they are, and still will be, a rule of life under that form.

w And to them. One will not think strange to hear, that the ten commands were as it were, razed out of man's heart by the fall, if one considers the spirituality and vast extent of them, and that they were, in their perfection, engraven on the heart of man, in his creation, and doth withal take notice of the ruin brought on man by the fall. Hereby he indeed lost the very knowledge of the law of nature, if the ten commands are to be reckoned, as certainly they are, the substance and matter of that law; although he lost it not totally, but some remains thereof were left with him. Concerning these the apostle speaks, Rom. i. 19, 20, and ii. 14, 15. And our author teaches expressly, that the law is partly known by nature, that is, in its corrupt state. -See page 313. And here he says, not simply, that the ten commandments were razed, though in another case (page 186.) he speaks after that manner, where yet it is evident he means not a razing quite; but he says, They were as it were razed.” But what are these remains of them in comparison with that body of natural laws, fairly written, and deeply engraven, on the heart of innocent Adam? If they were not, as it were razed, what need is there of writing a new copy of them in the hearts of the elect, according to the promise of the new covenant? "1 will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them," Heb. x. 16, and viii. 10; Jer.

[ocr errors]

of works, as they were before his fall, and so continued until the time of Moses. And as they were delivered by Moses unto the believing Jews from the ark, and so as from Christ, they were a rule of life to them, until the time of Christ's coming in the flesh. x And since Christ's coming in the flesh, they have been, and are to be, a rule of life both to the believing Jews and believing Gentiles, unto the end of the world; not as they are delivered by Moses, but as they are delivered by Christ: for when Christ the Son comes and speaks himself, then Moses the servant must keep silence; according as Moses himself foretold, (Acts iii. 22.) saying, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things which he shall say unto you." y And therefore, when the disciples seemed to desire to hear Moses and Elias z speak on the mountain Tabor, they were presently taken away; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him," Matt. xvii. 4, 5. As if the Lord had said, you are not now to hear either Moses or Elias, but my "well-beloved Son ;" and therefore I say unto you, Hear HIM. a And is it not said (Heb. i. 2.) "That in these last days God hath spoken to us by his Son ?" and doth not the apostle say, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; and whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." The wife must be subject unto the husband, as unto Christ; b the child must yield obedience to his parents, as unto Christ; and the believing servant must do his master's business, as Christ's business; for says the apostle, "Ye serve the Lord Christ." Col. iii. 16-24. Yea, says he to the

xxxi. 33. What need was there of writing them in the Book of the Lord, the Bible, in which they were made known again to us, as they were to Adam and the believing fathers, the author speaks of, by visions and revelations ? the latter being as necessary to them as the former is to us, for that end, since these supplied to them the want of the Scriptures. As for those, who neither had these visions and revelations given to themselves, nor the doctrine thereby taught communicated to them by others, it is manifest they could have no more knowledge of those laws, than was to be found among the ruins of mankind in the fall.

As to the delivering of the ten commandments from the ark, or the tabernacle, see the sense of it, and the Scripture ground for it. Page 214, note i, and page 223,

note o.

y See page 308, note r.

z The former, the giver of the law, the latter the restorer of it.

a "Which words establish Christ as the only doctor and teacher of his church; the only one whom he had intrusted to deliver his truths and will to his people; the only one to whom Christians are to hearken.”—Sup. to Poole's Annot. on Matth. xvii. 5.

b Wives submit yourselves unto your husbands as unto the Lord." Eph. v. 22.

Galatians, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ," Gal. vi. 2.

Ant. Sir, I like it very well, that you say, Christ should be a Christian's teacher, and not Moses; but yet I question whether the ten commandments may be called the law of Christ; for where can you find them repeated, either by our Saviour, or his apostles, in the whole New Testament.

Evan. Though we find not that they are repeated in such a method as they are set down in Exodus and Deuteronomy, yet so long as we find that Christ and his apostles did require and command these things, that are therein commanded, and reprove and condemn those things that are therein forbidden, and that both by their lives and doctrines, it is sufficient to prove them to be the law of Christ. c

Ant. I think, indeed, they have done so, touching some of the commandments, but not touching all.

Evan Because you say so, I intreat you to consider,

1st, Whether the true knowledge of God required, (John iii. 19.); and the want of it condemned, (2 Thess. i. 8.); and the true love of God required, (Matt. xxii. 37.); and the want of it reproved, (John v. 42.); and the true fear of God required, (1 Pet. ii. 17. Heb. xii. 28.); and the want of it condemned, (Rom. iii. 18.); and the true trusting in God required, and the trusting in the creature forbidden (2 Cor. i. 9; 1 Tim. vi. 17.); be not the substance of the first commandment.

And consider, 2dly, Whether the "hearing and reading of God's word," commended, John v. 39; Rev. i. 3; and "prayer," required, Rom. xii. 12; 1 Thess. v. 17; and "singing of psalms," required, Col. iii. 16; Jam. v. 13; and whether "idolatry," forbidden 1 Cor.

c Whether or not this be sufficient to prove them to be the law of Christ, having a divine, authoritative, binding power on men's consciences, notwithstanding of the term, doctrines, here used by the author, one may judge from these texts: Matth. vii. 28, 29, "The people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." John vii. 16, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me." Heb. i. 1-3," God who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers, by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person," &c. Matth. xxviii. 18-20, "All power is given unto me in heaven and earth: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." The original word, in the Old Testament, rendered law, doth properly signify a doctrine. Hence, Matth. xv. 9, "Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men," i. e. the laws and commands of men, for the laws and commands of God. Compare verses 4-6.

« PoprzedniaDalej »