Part IV
PART IV
THE CONDITION OF MEN WHEN UNDER THE BROKEN COVENANT OF WORKS; AND THEIR DREADFUL STATE
UNDER THE CURSE
SECT. I
THE STATE OF MANY MEN UNDER THE BROKEN COVENANT OF WORKS; WHO THEY ARE; THE EFFECT OF THAT COVENANT UPON THEM; AND THE REASONS WHY SO MANY CONTINUE UNDER IT
GALATIANS 3:10
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
HAVING discoursed of the breaking of the covenant of works by all mankind in Adam, we are next to inquire into the state and case of sinners under that broken covenant. And that the text shews to be a very lamentable and dangerous one. In a shipwreck, when the ship is dashed in pieces upon a rock, how heavy is the case of the crew among the raging waves? The ship can no more carry them to the harbour, but failing them, leaves them to the mercy of the waves. If one can get a broken plank to hold by, that is the greatest safety there; but that doth often but hold in their miserable lives for a little, till the passengers are swallowed up. Such, and unspeakably worse, is the case of sinners under the broken covenant of works, which leaves them under the curse, as we see in the text. In which we have,
1. The covenant-state of some of mankind, yea, of many of them. They "are of the works of the law;" it is the same thing as to be of the law of works; that is, to be under the covenant of works. So "the works of the law" are opposed to "the hearing of faith," Gal. 3:2, that is, the law to the gospel, the covenant of works to the covenant of grace. But the apostle in our text intimates their covenant-state by a phrase which, in the first place, designs their habitual course and practice, viz. to seek life and salvation by the works of the law; but, in the next place, designs the covenant they are under, whereof their practice is a plain evidence. They are opposed to those who are of faith, who, being under the covenant of grace, by faith look for life and salvation by Christ's works.
The phrase, "As many as are of the works of the law," imports, that there are others who are not under that covenant. In the scripture we read of "two covenants," Gal. 4:24. Each of these have their children; and so the world is divided into two sorts of men; some under the covenant of grace, others still remaining under the covenant of works; which the phrase "under the curse," doth also bear; for since they are under the curse of the law, or covenant of works, they are surely under the law or covenant itself; for whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the the law," Rom. 3:19.
2. The state and case of men under that covenant; they "are under the curse." The covenant is broken, and so they are fallen under the penalty; the duty of the covenant is neglected and cast off; and so they are under the curse of the covenant. As the blessing or promise, which they have lost, comprehends all good for time and eternity, soul and body; so the curse comprehends all evil on soul and body, for time and eternity. To be under the curse is to be by the law's sentence separated and destined to evil, according to the threatening, Gen. 2:17, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."
3. The proof and evidence of this their miserable state and case; "For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." There is an
extract of the sentence of the law which is standing against them, Deut. 27:26, "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." That sets the matter in full light, from whence the conscience of every man under that covenant may conclude him under the curse.
The two following doctrines comprehend the full scope of the words, namely,
DOCT. I. There are some, yea, many, of mankind, who are still under the broken Covenant of Works.
DOCT. II. Man in his natural state, being under the broken covenant of works, is under the curse.
DOCT. I. There are some, yea, many, of mankind, who are still under the broken Covenant of Works.
In the prosecution of this subject. I shall,
I. Evince the truth of the doctrine, that there are some, yea many, of mankind, who are still under the broken covenant of works.
II. Describe who they are that are under this broken covenant.
III. Shew what is the effect of the broken covenant of works upon them.
IV. Shew why so many remain still under this broken covenant.
V. Lastly, Apply the subject.
Proof of the doctrine that many persons still continue under the broken covenant of works
I. I shall evince the truth of this doctrine, that there are some, yea, many of mankind, who are still under the broken covenant of works.
This will clearly appear, if ye consider,
1. That there are but "few that shall be saved," Matth. 7:14. Christ's flock is but a very little flock, Luke 12:32. But all who are brought from under the covenant of works, are brought into the covenant of grace; Rom. 6:14, they are not under the law but under grace; and all who are within the bond of the covenant of grace, are of Christ's flock, and shall be saved, Heb. 8:10. Hence it follows that the most part of mankind are left under the covenant of works. The truth is, all men by nature are under it, and so are born under the curse, Eph. 2:3. And many live and die under it; and therefore the sentence against the whole wretched herd of the condemned world runs in these terms, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire," &c.
2. The scripture is plain on this head. The apostle tells us that there are some under the law, Rom. 3:19, to whom the law doth say what it says, for conviction and condemnation; and that is under the law as a covenant of works, for otherwise all are under it as a rule of life. It curseth and condemneth many; Gal. 3:10, "Cursed is every one," viz., who is under the law; for its curse cannot reach others, there being "no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," Rom. 8:1. It condemns all unbelievers; John 3:18, "He that believeth not is condemned already," viz., by the sentence of the law as the covenant of works; for the covenant of grace condemns no man, John 5:45, said our Lord to the Jews, "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." Chap. 12:47, "And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world but to save the world."
3. As all men in Adam were taken into the covenant of works, so no man can be freed from the obligation of it, but they who are discharged from it by God who was man's party in it. This is evident from the general nature of contracts. And none are discharged from it but on a full answering of all it could demand of them, Matth. 5:18. For said our Lord, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." This no man can attain unto but by faith in Jesus Christ, whereby the soul appropriates and applies to itself Christ's obedience and satisfaction offered in the gospel; and so pleading these gets up the discharge; "For being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1. But certain it is that all men have not faith, nay, few have it; therefore few are discharged from the covenant of works, but most part are still under it.
4. Freedom from the covenant of works is such a privilege as requires both price and power, each of them infinite, to invest a sinner with it. The sinner is by nature under the covenant of works, bound to perfect obedience to its commands, to complete satisfaction of its sanction. None but Christ was able to purchase the sinner's freedom from that covenant, since none but he could answer its high demands. When the sinner's freedom is purchased, he is so loath to part with that covenant, that none but the Spirit of Christ, in his day of power, can make him willing to come away from under it. So it is the peculiar privilege of the elect, for whom Christ died; yea, of believers, whom the Spirit of Christ has translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, Rom. 7:4; Gal. 2:19.
5. There are many who still live as they were born; in the same state wherein their father Adam left them, when he broke; who were never to this day in any due concern how to be discharged from the debt he left upon their head, or of the bond of the covenant of works which in him they entered into. How can it be then, but that the debt remains, and the bond is uncancelled as to them? In one of the two Adams all mankind stand to this day; some in the first Adam, bearing the image of the earthly, sin and death; others in the second Adam, bearing the image of the heavenly, life and salvation. The translation from the first to the second none meet with in a morning-dream; both law and gospel have a part to act in their souls, are this work can be effected.
6. Lastly, There are but two covenants, viz. of works and grace, Gal. 4:24, as there never were but two ways of life and salvation, by works
and by grace; and but two federal heads of mankind, the first and second Adam. Under one of these covenants, and but under one of them, every son and daughter of Adam must be; either under the law or under grace, Rom. 6:14. The covenant of grace has not been so much as externally revealed or preached to many in the world; and among those to whom it is, how few are there who have really and truly embraced it? how do many stand at a distance from it, as they would do from fetters of iron? Since therefore but few are within the bond of the covenant of grace, it is evident that most men are under the covenant of works.
Hence the case of many, yea, most men, is most miserable, they are under the curse.
Those who are Under the Covenant of Works described
II. The second thing proposed was, Who they are that are under the broken ovenant of works? This is a weighty enquiry; it is in effect, who are they that are under the curse? because all that are under it, now that it is broken, are under the curse. Therefore take heed to it, and apply what may be offered on this head. I premise these four things, to make this the more clear.
1. Men may be under the covenant of works, and yet living under the external dispensation of the covenant of grace. There is a great difference betwixt one's visible church state, and the state of their souls before the Lord. The covenant of grace was preached to Adam in paradise, Gen. 3:15, yet was he in hazard of running back to the covenant of works, ver. 22. The Jews had the dispensation of the covenant of grace among them, and the ceremonial law clearly held out the way of salvation by the Messiah, yet most of them were under the covenant of works, being sons of the bondwoman. So, under the gospel dispensation to this day, many to whom the covenant of grace is offered, continue under the covenant of works. It is one thing to hear the new covenant proclaimed, another thing to accept of it by faith.
2. Men may receive the seals of the covenant of grace, and yet be under the covenant of works. Circumcision was a seal of the covenant of grace, yet many who received it were still sons of the bondwoman, to be cast out from inheriting with the children, Gal. 4:24, 25, 30. And so will many who are baptized in the name of Christ, and have partaken of the Lord's supper, yet be disowned at the last day, by the Head of the second covenant, as none of his, Luke 13:26, forasmuch as they never truly came into the bond of that covenant.
3. Men may be convinced in their consciences of the impossibility of obtaining salvation by Adam's covenant of works, and yet remain under it still. Where are they who are so very stupid, as to think that they can obtain salvation by perfect obedience to the law? The Pharisees of old, and the Papists to this day, will not venture their salvation on the absolute perfection of their own obedience; yet the former lived, and the latter do live, under that covenant. Let no man deceive himself here; such a conviction as hardly any man can shun, is not sufficient to divorce a man from the law or covenant of works.
4. Lastly, Men, upon the offer of the covenant of grace made to them, may aim at accepting of it, and so enter into a personal covenant with God, and yet remain under the covenant of works. Many miss their mark in their covenanting with God, and, instead of accepting God's covenant of grace, make a covenant of works with God, upon other terms than Adam's covenant was, for which there is no warrant in the word. The Galatians did not cast off Christ's righteousness altogether, but only mixed their own works with his; and thus do many still, looking on their faith, repentance, and obedience, such as they are, to be the fulfilling of a law, upon which they are to be accepted of God.
But more particularly, and directly,
1st, All unregenerate persons are under the covenant of works. Where is the unconverted man or woman, living in the state of irregeneracy, strangers to a saving change on their souls? That man
or woman is yet a branch of the old Adam, growing on the old stock, a stranger to the new covenant, because not in Christ, the head of the covenant. For "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new," 2 Cor. 5:17. Such an unregenerate person is still under the covenant of works. This is evident, in that the death contained in the threatening of that covenant has full sway over them, so that they are dead in trespasses and sins, Eph. 3:1, 5. They lie yet without spiritual life, as the first Adam left them. They have no communion with the second Adam, else they had been quickened; for he is a quickening head, as the other was a killing one.
2dly, All that have not the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them are under the covenant of works; For "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," Rom. 8:9. And says the same apostle, Gal. 5:8, "But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law." It is one of the first promises of the covenant of grace, the giving of the Spirit, Ezek. 37:27, "A new Spirit will I put within you." And the Spirit of Christ once entering into a man never changes his habitation. For, saith Christ himself, John 14:16, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter: that he may abide with you for ever." Wo to those, then, that have not the Spirit of grace, they are under the curse. And such are all prayerless persons, Zech. 12:10; ignorant, unconvinced sinners, who have not yet seen their lost and ruined state, John 16:8; refractory and rebellious ones, who will not be hedged in within the Lord's way, Ezek. 36:27; carnal men, who are under the government of their own lusts and unruly passions, Gal. 5:16.
3. All unbelievers, John 3:18. Whosoever is destitute of saving faith is under the covenant of works; for it is by faith that one is brought within the bond of the covenant of grace, is married unto Christ, being dead to the law. Every soul of man is under one of the two husbands, Christ or the law. All believers have their Maker for their husband; and all unbelievers have the law as a covenant of works for theirs, a rigorous husband, a week one, who can do nothing for their
life and salvation, but for their ruin and destruction. Faith unites the soul to Christ, Eph. 3:17. The unbeliever, what though he go about the duties of religion, walk soberly and strictly, he is not joined to Christ, therefore he remains under the covenant of works, under the curse.
4. All unsanctified, unholy persons, Rom. 6:14. The doctrinal staking sinners down under, and wreathing about their necks the yoke of the law as a covenant of works, is so far from being a proper method to bring them to holiness and good works, that contrariwise they shall never be holy, never do one good work, till such time as they are fairly rid of that yoke, and sit down under the jurisdiction of grace. So that true holiness is an infallible mark of one delivered from the law; and unholiness, of one that is yet hard and fast under it, Gal. 5:18, forecited. Legalism is rank enmity to true holiness, is but a devil transformed into an angel of light, and never prevails so in the church as in a time of apostacy, growing unholiness, untenderness, regardlessness of the commands of God, when all flesh has corrupted their ways. Take for an example, Popery, the grand apostasy. What set of men that call themselves Christians, set up for the law and good works in their doctrine, more than they do? and among whom is there less of these to be found? How can they be but unholy, who are under the covenant of works? for there is no communion with God in the way of that covenant now; so sanctifying influences are stopt, and they must wither and pine away in their iniquity. Whereas when once the soul is brought out from that covenant into the covenant of grace, the course of sanctifying influences is opened, the clean and cleansing water flows into their souls; the head of the covenant is a holy head, conveying holiness to his members; the spirit of the covenant is a sanctifying Spirit; the promises of the covenant are promises of holiness; the blood of the covenant is purifying blood; and, in a word, every thing in the covenant tends to sanctifying and making holy the covenanters.
5. All profane, loose, and licentious men, are under the covenant of works, Rom. 7:5, and 8:2. These men of Belial are under that heavy
yoke. For under that covenant, being broken, sin and death have the force of a law upon the subjects, as the worms, stench and rottenness, domineer in the grave without control. When one sees so many profane lives, unclean, drunkards, swearers, liars, thieves, cheaters, oppressors, and others, walking after their own lusts; he may conclude all these to be evidences and consequents of the curse of the broken covenant on them; even as when ye go through a field full of briers, thorns, thistles, nettles, &c., ye may sigh and say, These are the product of the curse laid on the earth. These people think they walk at liberty; but what liberty is it? Even such as that madman enjoyed, Mark 5:4, who had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him. The truth is, they are the arrantest slaves on earth, who are slaves to their own domineering lusts and passions; 2 Pet. 2:19, "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." Such kindly slaves are they of the worst of masters, that they have lost all just notion and sense of true liberty, Psalm 119:45.
6. All mere moralists, such as satisfy themselves with common honesty and sobriety, living in the meantime strangers to religious exercises, and without a form of godliness. These are under the covenant of works, as seeking justification and acceptance with God by their conformity (such as it is) to the letter of the law, Gal. 5:4. These are they who please themselves, in their wronging no man, doing justly betwixt man and man, and in their pretended keeping of a good heart towards God; while in the meantime, the rottenness of their hearts appears in their ignorance of God and Christ, and the way of salvation by him, their estrangedness from the duty of prayer and other holy exercises. Some of these have that scripture much in their mouths; Micah 6:8, "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" little considering that the last clause thereof writes death on their foreheads. They are under the covenant of works with a witness,
having betaken themselves to their shreds of moral honesty, as so many broken boards of that split ship.
7. Lastly, All formal hypocrites, or legal professors, these sons and daughters of the bond-woman, Gal. 4:24, 25. These are they who have been convinced, but never were converted; who have been awakened by the law, but were never laid to rest by the gospel; who are brought to duties but have never been brought out of them to Jesus Christ; who pretend to be married to Christ, but were never yet divorced from nor dead to the law; and so are still joined to the first husband the law as a covenant of works. Though they be strict and zealous professors and therein go beyond many; they are as really enemies to Christ as the profane are; Rom. 10:3, "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to stablish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." Though they will not let an opportunity of duty slip, but take heed to their ways, and dare not walk at random, as many do; all that they do is under the influence of the covenant of works, and therefore God regards it not, but they remain under the curse.
Of the Commanding, Debarring, Condemning, and Irritating Power of the Covenant of Works, upon those who are under it
III. I proceed to show what is the effect of the broken covenant of works upon those who are under it.
Of the Commanding Power of the Covenant of Works
First, It has and exercises a commanding power over them, binding them to its obedience, with the strongest bonds and ties of authority. Its commands are contained in the fiery law delivered from Mount Sinai, out of the midst of the fire, Deut. 5:22. The obedience of them, which it binds unto, is perfect obedience, every way perfect, Luke 10:27, 28. It has its full commanding power over them all that are
under it. It has become a question whether or not believers are set free from the commanding power of the covenant of works, as well as from the condemning power of it. We own the ten commands, which were delivered on Mount Sinai, to be the eternal rule of righteousness, and that these are given of God in the hand of Jesus Christ to believers, for a rule of life to them; that they require of them perfect obedience, and have all the binding power over them that the sovereign authority of God the Creator and Redeemer can give them, which is supreme and absolute. But that believers are under that law as it stands in the covenant of works, that these commands are bound on believers by the tie of the covenant of works, or that the covenant of works has a commanding power over believers, we must deny. For believers are dead to the law as a covenant of works, Rom. 7:4, and therefore as a husband cannot pretend to command his wife after she is dead and the relation dissolved; so believers being dead to the law as a covenant, it cannot have any commanding authority over them. They are not under it, Rom. 6:14, how then can it have any commanding power over them? They are not under its jurisdiction, but under that of grace; so though the commands be the same as to the matter, yet they are not to take them from the covenant of works, but from the law as in the hand of Christ. Our Lord Jesus did, in the name of all his people, put himself under its commanding power, and satisfied all its commands, to deliver his people that were under it, Gal. 4:4, 5, "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." And shall they dishonour him by putting their necks under it again? After Christ has got up the bond, having fully paid all the law's demands, shall we pretend to enter in payment again?
Let us take a view of the commanding power of the covenant of works, which it has over all that are under it.
1. It commands and binds to perfect obedience, under pain of the curse; Gal. 3:10, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Every the least duty is commanded with this certification, and this is the risk they
run upon every the least slip. The law in the hand of Christ unto believers commands obedience too, and that under a penalty. But it is a soft one in comparison of that, namely, strokes of fatherly anger; as appears from Psalm 89:30–33, "If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes," &c. This penalty is not the curse of a wrathful judge, Gal. 3:13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." But the covenant of works has no less certification, it cannot speak to its subjects in softer terms; so that though the stroke itself be never so small, yet there is a curse in it, if it were but the miscarrying of a basket of bread, Deut. 28:17.
2. It commands without any promise of strength at all to perform. There is no such promise to be found in all the Bible, belonging to that covenant. It shews what is to be done, and with all severity exacts the task; but furnishes not anything whereof it is to be made. So the case of men under that covenant is represented by Israel's case in Egypt, Exod. 5:18, "Go therefore now and work," said Pharaoh to that people; "for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks." Under the covenant of grace, duty is required, but strength is promised too, Ezek. 36:27, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." And the commands in the hands of the Mediator are turned into promises, as appears from Deut. 10:16, "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked." Compare chap. 30:6, "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Yea, the Mediator's calls and commands to his people bear a promise of help; Prov. 10:29, "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright." But there is no such thing in the covenant of works; the work must be performed in the strength that was given; they must trade with the stock that mankind was set up with at first: but that strength is gone, that stock is
wasted; howbeit the law can neither make it up again, nor yet abate of its demands.
Of the Debarring Power of the Covenant of Works
Secondly, The broken covenant of works has a debarring power over them that are under it, in respect of the promise; it bars them from life and salvation, as long as they are under its dominion, Gal. 2:16, "For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." While Adam kept this covenant, it secured eternal life to him; but as soon as it was broken, it set it beyond his reach; and neither he nor any of his descendents had ever seen life, if another covenant had not been provided. The broken covenant of works fixes a great gulf betwixt its territories and life and salvation; so that no man can pass from the one to the other. If any would be at heaven, they must get out from under the law, and get into the covenant of grace; so shall they have life and salvation; but not otherwise. There are two bars which this broken covenant draws betwixt its subjects and life and salvation.
1. There is no life to the sinner without complete satisfaction to justice, for the wrong he has done to the honour of God and his law; Heb. 9:22, for "without shedding of blood is no remission." The terms of the covenant were—"In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," Gen. 2:17. Now the covenant is broken, the penalty must be paid, in the true sense and meaning of the bond; the sinner must die, and die infinitely, die till infinite justice be satisfied. Can the sinner get over this bar? Is he able to satisfy, can he go to that death, a sacrifice for himself, and return again? Can he pay the penalty of the bond? No, no. In his blindness and ignorance, he thinks perhaps to get over it by his mourning and afflicting himself for his sin, by bearing as well as he can the afflictions God lays on him; but all his sufferings in the world are but an earnest of what he must suffer hereafter. For at best they are but the sufferings of a finite being, which cannot compensate the wrong his sin has done to the honour of an infinite God; and besides, he sins a new in his suffering too; he cannot bear a cross without some grudge against
God, and some impatience, which are new sins. So the sinner in this does but attempt to wash himself in the mire. Wherefore he can never get over this bar. And if he were over it, there is yet a.
2. Second bar betwixt him and life and salvation, namely, There is no life and salvation without perfect obedience to its commands for the time to come; Matth. 19:17, "If thou wilt enter into life," says Christ unto the young man in the gospel, "keep the commandments." This was the condition of the covenant; and it is not enough that a man pay the penalty of a broken covenant, but he must perform the condition of it, ere he can plead the benefit. Perfect obedience to the commands of God is the terms of life in that covenant; no less was proposed to Adam, who broke it; no less to Christ who fulfilled it in the room of his elect, Gal. 4:4, 5, forecited. As there was a necessity of passive obedience to it, Luke 24:26, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?" so was there of active obedience, Matth. 3:15, "It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." And there is no less proposed to all that are under it.
Is the sinner able to get over this bar? His stock of strength is gone; the fall in Adam has so bruised him, that his arm is broken, he cannot work for life; he is not fit to be God's hired servant now for life; for till he get life of free grace in Christ, he can do nothing, John 15:5. He must be saved before he can work one good work, saved from sin, the guilt and power of it; saved from the spiritual death he is lying under, as the penalty of the covenant of works; how then can he work for salvation? The scripture is express on this head, not only that we are not justified by works, but that we are not saved by works: for "By grace are ye saved," says the apostle, "through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them," Eph. 2:8–10. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost," Tit. 3:5.
I know the sinner, in his blindness, will think to please God by his doing as well as he can; by his pretended sincerity, though he cannot attain to perfection; by the will, where he cannot reach the deed. But alas! he considers not that the covenant of works will admit of none of these, all which are rejected by that one sentence of the law, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Besides that there is not one thing that he does that is well done, while he is not in Christ; there is no sincerity with him, but selfishness; no will but self-will.
And as there is no getting over either of these bars, so there is no removing them out of the way, that so the sinner may have a passage, without concerning himself with them, Matth. 5:18. Some fancy to themselves a removing of them by mere mercy. God knows that we cannot answer the demands of the covenant of works, so, think they, mercy will pass them for the safety of the sinner. But has not God sufficiently declared the contrary, in the sending of his own Son, who, before he could redeem the elect, behoved to get over them both by perfect obedience and satisfaction in their stead, Rom. 8:22. If the terms of life and salvation could have been abated, might not God's own Son have expected the abatement in his favour, while he stood in the room of elect sinners? but he got no abatement; how can ye expect it then; See Exod. 34:7.
Of the Condemning Power of the Covenant of Works
Thirdly, The broken covenant of works has a cursing and condemning power over them that are under it, in respect of the threatening. "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them," Gal. 3:10. Compare Rom. 3:19, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Every man and woman under it, is in a state of condemnation; they are condemned persons, bound over to the wrath of God in time and eternity, John 3:18, "He that believeth not is condemned already." So
that there have never any come to Christ but with the rope about their necks, as condemned criminals. Christ's kingdom is the jurisdiction of grace, where grace, life, and salvation reign through Jesus Christ. It is peopled by fugitives out of the dominion of the law; and they that flee thither are all such as find there is no living for them at home; they are such as the sentence of death is passed upon, and there is no access for a remission to them under the dominion of the law. And they never think of fleeing into the jurisdiction of grace, till once the sentence of death is intimated unto them, by their own consciences, and they begin to see they are in hazard every moment of being drawn to death; for till then, they will not believe it. Then they bethink themselves of making their escape out of the law's dominion.
This power the law, as a covenant of works, has over them by sin, forasmuch as it was a clause in the covenant, that man sinning should die the death, Gen. 2:17. It had no such power over man, till once sin entered; but upon the breach of the command, the penalty took place. And since every man is born a sinner, he is also born a cursed and condemned man by the sentence of the law, which abides on him so long as he continues under that covenant. And upon every sin committed, the yoke is wreathed faster and faster about his neck; so that upon every sin committed by persons while in that state, there is a new band by which they are bound over to wrath.
Of the Irritating Power of the Covenant of Works
Lastly, The broken covenant of works has an irritating influence upon all that are under it, so that instead of making them better, it makes them worse, stirring up their corruptions, like a nest of ants, being troubled by one's touching of them, Rom. 7:9, 10, 11, "For when we were in the flesh, says the apostle, the motions of sin which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.—And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me." Men under this covenant, whose
corruptions lie dormant after a sort, while the law is not applied to their consciences, when once the law is brought home to their souls, and they are touched with it, their corrupt hearts swell and rage in sin, like the sea troubled with winds. See a notable instance of it, Acts 7:54, in the case of the Jews after Stephen's speech to them, "When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth." And hence is that direction of our Saviour, Matth. 7:6, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." You may look to another instance, Hos. 11:2, "As they called them, so they went from them." And thus it is, that by the law sin abounds, and becomes exceedingly sinful.
Now, this is accidental to the law as the covenant of works; for it is holy, and just, and good; and therefore can never bring forth sin as the native fruit of it. But it is owing to the corruption of men's hearts, impatient of restraint, Rom. 7:12, 13, forecited. While the sun shines warm on a garden, the flowers send forth a pleasant smell; but while it shines so on the dunghill, it smells more abominably than at other times. So it is here. There are two things here to be considered in the case of the law.
1. It lays an awful restraint on the sinner with its commands and threatenings, Gal. 3:10. The unrenewed man would never make a holy life his choice; might he freely follow his own inclination, he would not regard what is good, but give himself a liberty in sinful courses. But the law is as a bridle to him; it crosses and contradicts his sinful inclinations; it commands him to obey under the pain of the curse, and threatens him with death and damnation, if he shall transgress the bounds it sets him. It is to him as the bridle and spur to the horse; as the master and his whip to the slave. So that the sinner can never cordially like it, but all the obedience it gets from him is mercenary, having no higher springs than hope of reward and fear of punishment.
2. In the meantime it has no power to subdue his corruptions, to remove his rebellious disposition, to reconcile his heart to holiness, or to strengthen him for the performance of duty; "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," John 1:17. As it finds the man without strength, so it leaves him, though it never ceases to exact duty of him. Though no straw is given to the sinner by it, yet the tale of the bricks it will not suffer to be diminished. Hence,
(1.) The very restraint of the law, as the covenant of works, awakens, and puts an edge upon the corruption of the heart, Rom. 7:11, forecited. It breeds in the corrupt heart a longing after the forbidden fruit, though it have nothing more to commend it than allowed fruit, but that it is forbidden. The sinner perceiving the thorn-hedge of the law betwixt him and sin, conceives a keenness to be over the hedge. And hence it is, that many are never so ready to break out into extravagancies, as after their consciences have been most keenly plied by the word. And thus many never give such a loose to their lusts, as after solemn occasions of communion with God.
(2.) In the encounter betwixt the law and lusts, lusts gather strength by the law's crossing them. They are irritated, provoked, and stirred up the more, that the law goes about to hold them down, Rom. 7:5. They swell, they rally all their forces, to make head against their enemy, that they may get the victory. The sinner, the more he is plied by the law to hold him back, runs the more fiercely down the steep place into the sea, like the swine possessed by the devil. If the law come into the heart without gospel grace to water the soul, it shall be like one with a besom sweeping a dry floor; the more forcibly one sweeps, the more thick will the dust flee up, and flee about into every corner. The sinner is like the unruly horse, which the more he is checked with the bit, rages the more. And hence the issue often is that which we find in Hos. 4:17, "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone;" and in Psalm 81:11, 12, "But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me; so I gave them up unto their own heart's lust, and they walked in their own counsels."
(3.) The sinner, finding the case hopeless, hardens himself, and goes on, like treacherous Judah, Jer. 2:25, "Thou saidst, There is no hope. No; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go." He looks to the height of the law's commands, and finds himself incapable to reach them; and he looks to the terror of the law's threatenings, and finds them unavoidable. So he gives up with hope, sits down hardened in secret despair, using all means to stop the access of light from the law for his conviction and disquietment. Thus he is like a tired horse, that bears the spur, but will not answer it; or if he be moved by it, turns back to bite the rider, but goes not one foot faster for all it.
(4.) Lastly, Hence the heart is filled with the hatred of the holy law, and of the holy God who made it, and holds by it. This is the fearful issue of the matter, Prov. 1:29, "They hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord." Rom. 1:30,—"Haters of God." As the condemned criminal hates the judge and the law, so do they. They cannot bring up their hearts to the purity the law requires, and cannot get the law brought down to the impurity of their hearts, but still it reads their doom; hence the heart cannot miss to rise against the law, being girded with the cords of death by it; and against God in secret grudges at his holiness and justice, and secret wishes that he were not such an one as he is.
This is a short account of what is called the irritating power of the law; from which alone one may see, what a fearful case it is to be under the law as it is the covenant of works. It tends to make the heart of man a very hell; and the truth is, in hell it comes to its height; and so they are held like wild bulls in a net.
The Reasons why so many persons still remain under the broken Covenant of Works
IV. I now proceed to shew, why so many do still remain under the broken covenant of works. As for those who never heard of, nor had the offer of the covenant of grace, we need not inquire much. The
case is plain; they know no other way. But men to whom the covenant of grace is proclaimed, yet remain under the covenant of works; they will still hang on about Sinai for all the thunders and lightnings there, and will not come to Zion. The following reasons of this conduct may be given:—
1. It is natural to men, being made with Adam, and us in his loins; it is engrained in the hearts of all men naturally. "Tell me," says the apostle, Gal. 2:21, "ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?" And there are impressions of it to be found in the hearts of all, among the ruins of the fall. The law as a covenant of works was the first husband that human nature was wedded to; and so it is still natural to men to cleave to it. And we have a clear proof of it,
(1.) In men left to the swing of their own nature; they all go this way in their dealing with God for life and favour. Look abroad into the world, and behold the vast multitudes embracing Paganism, Judaism, Mahometism, and Popery. All these agree in this, that it is by doing man must live, though they hugely differ in the things that are to be done for life. Look into the Protestant churches, and you shall see readily, that the more corrupt any of them is, the more they incline to the way of this covenant. Consider persons among us ignorant of the principles of true religion, who, not having received instruction, speak of the way of life and salvation as nature prompts them, and you shall find them also of the same mind. Finally, consider all unrenewed men whatsoever, having the knowledge and making profession of the expectation of life and salvation in the way of the covenant of grace; yet they in practice stumble at this stumbling-stone, Matt. 5:3.
(2.) In men awakened and convinced, and in moral seriousness seeking to know what course they shall take to be saved, and plying their work for that end. They all take this principle for granted, That it is by doing they must obtain life and salvation, Matth 19:16, "What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Luke 10:25, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And this obtains when they are
pricked to the very heart, and the law as the covenant of works has wounded them to the very soul. They never think of a divorce from the law, that they may be married to Christ; but how shall they do to please the old husband, and so be saved from wrath; as is plain in the case of Peter's hearers, Acts 2:27, when, being pricked in their hearts, they said, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" and in the case of the Philippian jailor, Acts 16:30, who being awakened by a train of very alarming incidents, and trembling through terror, cried out, "What must I do to be saved?"
(3.) In the saints, who are truly married to Jesus Christ, O what hankering after the first husband, how great the remains of a legal spirit, how hard is it for them to forget their father's house? Psalm 45:10. Adam having embraced the promise of the Messiah, yet was in hazard of running back to this covenant. There is a disposition to deal with God, in the way of giving so much duty for so much grace and favour with God, in the best, that they have continually to strive with. Self-denial is one of the most difficult duties in Christianity.
2. The way of that covenant is most agreeable to the pride of man's heart. A proud heart will rather serve itself with the less, than stoop to live upon free grace, Rom. 10:3. Man must be broken, bruised, and humbled, and laid very low, before he will embrace the covenant of grace. While a broken board of the first covenant will do men any service, they will hold by it, rather than come to Christ; like men who will rather live in a cottage of their own, than in another man's, castle. To renounce all our own wisdom, works, and righteousness, and to cast away all those garments as filthy rags, which we have been at so much pains to patch up, is quite against the grain with corrupt nature, Rom. 7:4.
3. It is most agreeable to man's reason, in its corrupt state. If one should have asked the opinion of the philosophers, concerning that religion which taught salvation by a crucified Christ, and through the righteousness of another; they would have said, it was unreasonable and foolish, and that the only way to true happiness was the way of
moral virtue. The Jewish Rabbis would have declared it scandalous, 1 Cor. 1:23, where the preaching of Christ crucified is said to be to the Jews a stumbling-block, (in the Greek, a scandal); and would have maintained the only way to eternal life to be by the law of Moses. To this day many learned men cannot see the reasonableness of the gospel-method of salvation, in opposition to the way of the covenant of works; and therefore our godly forefathers, who reformed from Popery, and maintained the reformed truth against Popery by their heroic zealous wrestlings even unto blood, while they shewed that acquaintance with practical godliness and real holiness, whereof there is little in our day, are in effect looked upon as a parcel of wellmeaning simple men, whose doctrine must be reformed over again, and rendered more agreeable to reason. A rational religion is like to be the plague of this day. But assure ye yourselves, that wherever the gospel comes in power, it will make the reason of the wisest sit down at its feet, and learn, and give ever its questions formed by Hows and Whys, 2 Cor. 10:5, It "casts down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringeth into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
Even unlearned and simple men, in whom this appears less, because they do not enter deep into the thought, will be found sick of the same disease, when once they are thoroughly awakened, and take these matters to heart How will they dispute against the gospelmethod of salvation, against the promise, against their believing their welcome to Christ, who are so sinful and unworthy! The matter appears so great, as indeed it is, that they look on the gospel-method as a dream, and they cannot believe it.
4. Ignorance and insensibleness of the true state of that matter, as it now is. There is a thick darkness about Mount Sinai, through the whole dominion of the law; so that they who live under the covenant of works, see little but what they see by the lightnings now and then flashing out. Hence they little know where they are, nor what they are.
(1.) They do not understand the nature of that covenant to purpose, Gal. 4:21. Any notion they have of it, is lame and weak, without efficacy. They see not how forcibly it binds to perfect obedience and satisfaction, how rigorous it is in its demands, and will abate nothing, though a man should do to the utmost of his power, and with cries and tears of blood seek forgiveness for the rest. They are not acquainted with the spirituality of the law, and the vast compass of the holy commandment, but stick too much in the letter of it. Hence they are alive without the law, Rom. 7:9. They narrow the demands of it, that so they may be the more likely to fulfil them.
(2.) They are not duly sensible of their own utter inability for that way of salvation; "There is one that accuseth them, even Moses," or the law, "in whom they trust," John 5:45. They know they are off the way, and that they have wandered from God; but they hope they will get back to him again by repentance; while, in the meantime, their heart is a heart of stone, and they cannot change it; and "the Ethiopian shall" be able as soon to "change his skin, the leopard his spots, as they may do good that are accustomed to do evil," Jer. 13:23; and there is no coming to God but by Christ, John 4:6. They know they have sinned, and provoked justice against them; but they hope to be sorry for their sin, to pray to God for forgiveness, and bear any thing patiently that God lays on them; while in the meantime they see not that none of those things will satisfy God's justice, which yet will have full satisfaction for every the least sin of theirs, ere they see heaven. They know they must be holy; but they hope to serve God better than ever they have done; while in the meantime they consider not that their work-arm is broken, and they can work none to purpose till they be saved by grace.
Application of the Doctrine of the Condition of Men under the broken Covenant of Works
This doctrine may be applied for information and exhortation.
USE I. Of information. Hence learn,
1. That some, yea many of mankind, are under the curse, bound over to wrath. For that is the case of all persons under that covenant. Their necks are under a heavy yoke; they are liable in payment of a penalty, which they will never be able to discharge, and to put off their heads. They may pay more or less of it in this world; but if they get not rid of it another way, it will not be paid out through all the ages of eternity.
2. See here whence it is that true holiness is so rare, and wickedness and ungodliness so frequent in the world. Most men are under that covenant, under which sin and death reign; and there is no holiness, there are no good works under it, Rom. 6:14. It has, being broken, barred communion betwixt God and sinners under it; and therefore of necessity there must be a pining away in iniquity while one is under it. It is only in the way of the second covenant that sanctifying influences are had.
3. Here ye may see the true spring of legalism in principles as well as in practice. Many are really under that covenant; no wonder then there be many to set up for that way. It is the way that backsliding churches in all ages have gone. It soon began in the primitive apostolical churches; and that mystery of iniquity wrought till it issued in Popery, the grand apostasy under the New Testament.
4. See whence it is that the doctrine of the gospel is so little understood, and in the purity of it is looked at as a strange thing. It is like other things which are not known in the country in which one is bred, and therefore stared at, and often mistaken. Hence it gets ill names in the world. When Christ himself preached it, he was called a friend of publicans and sinners; when Paul preached it, they would not believe but he made void the law by it, and that he opened a door for licentiousness of life, Rom. 3:8.
USE II. Be exhorted then seriously and impartially to try what covenant ye are under. It is true there is a covenant of grace made, proclaimed and offered unto you, and ye are
all under the outward dispensation of the covenant of grace; but yet many are notwithstanding really under the covenant of works still. As ye love your own souls, try impartially, whether ye be under it or not, but under the covenant of grace. For motives, consider
MOTIVE 1. Ye are all born under the covenant of works, being "by nature children of wrath," Eph. 2:3. It is in the region of the law that we all draw our first breath. And no man will get out from its dominion in a morning dream. We owe it to our second birth, whoever of us are brought into the covenant of grace; but that is not our original state. The law is the first husband to all and every one of Adam's children. I would have you try whether ye be dead to it, and divorced from it or not.
MOTIVE 2. Till once ye see yourselves under the covenant of works, and so lost and ruined with the burden of that broken covenant on you; ye may hear of the covenant of grace, but ye will never take hold of it in good earnest, Gal. 2:6. Here lies the ruin of the most part who hear the gospel; they were never slain by the law, and therefore never quickened by the gospel; they never find the working of the deadly poison conveyed to them from the first Adam, and therefore they see no beauty in the second Adam for which he is to be desired.
MOTIVE 3. Your salvation or ruin turns on this point. What covenant ye are under. If thou be within the bond of the covenant, of grace, thou art in a state of salvation; "He that believeth shall be saved," Mark 16:16. David could say, "God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation, 2 Sam. 23:5. If thou art under the covenant of works, thou art in a state of death; for, says the text, "as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse." And is this so light and trivial a matter that thou shouldst be unconcerned which of these covenants thou art under?
MOTIVE 4. There is no ease for a poor sinner but severity and rigour, under the covenant of works. One may easily see that we are not able to abide that now, when we are become weak and guilty; for, says the Psalmist, Psalm 130:3, "If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities; O Lord, who shall stand?" But while thou remainest under the first covenant, thou caust expect nothing but wrath and fury. There is no pardon under that covenant; the law-statute being, "In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," Gen. 2:17 The sinner must die the death. That ever we heard of pardon is owing to the second covenant, which secures pardoning mercy to those who come under the bond of it; for "by him (Christ) all that believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses," Acts 13:39. Though there is no question but the covenant of works requires repentance, a turning to God under pain of the curse; yet there is no grace for helping the sinner to it under this covenant; and suppose one could attain to it, it could not help him. There is no accepting the will for the deed under it. It is not good will, but perfectly good works that will satisfy it.
MOTIVE 5. While ye are under that covenant, ye are without Christ, Eph. 2:12. As a woman cannot, by the law of God, be married to two husbands at once, so one cannot be under the covenant of works and married to Christ at once. The first marriage to the law must be dissolved by death or divorce, ere the soul can be married to Christ, Rom. 7:4. And being without Christ, ye have no saving interest in his purchase.
Lastly, All attempts you make to get to heaven, while under this covenant, will be vain. The children of that covenant are, by an unalterable statute of the court of heaven, excluded from the heavenly inheritance; so that, do what you will, while ye abide under it, you may as well fall a-ploughing the rocks, and sowing your seed in the sand of the sea, as think to get to heaven that way; for what saith the scripture? "Cast out the bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman," Gal. 4:30. The way to heaven by that covenant is blocked up
to sinners, the angel with the flaming sword guards the tree of life, so that there is no access to salvation that way, but under a condition impossible for you to perform.
Now, to set this matter in a due light to you, I will,
1. Give some marks and characters of those that are under this covenant.
2. Discover the vanity of some pleas that such have, to prove that it is not to their own works that they trust for salvation, but to Christ.
First, I will give some marks and characters of those that are under this covenant.
1. They have never yet parted with the law, or covenant of works, lawfully, which all the saints have done. There are two ways of parting with that covenant. One is by running away from it; and thus we may apply to this case Nabal's tale concerning David, 1 Sam 25:10, "There be many servants now-a-days, that break away every man from his master." They break its bonds, and cast away its cords, value neither its commands nor threats; for they look on it like an almanack out of date, as a thing that they are not concerned with. This is no lawful parting, and therefore it cannot dissolve the relation betwixt them and it. A servant or a wife that is run away, is a servant or a wife for all that still. And the master can bring back the one, and make him serve or suffer; and the husband the other. And so will this covenant deal with such, and make them sensible they are under it still, in the strictest bonds. It will take them by the throat here or hereafter, saying, Pay what thou owest.
The other is parting with it, after fair count and reckoning with it, and payment instructed; a parting with it upon a divorce obtained, after a fair hearing given it before the Judge of all the earth. It is brought about in this manner. There is a summons given at the instance of the law, or covenant of works, to the conscience of the
secure sinner, to compear before the tribunal of God. Hereby the conscience being awakened, it appears and stands trembling at the bar; in the meantime the King's Son offers himself in a marriage covenant to the guilty soul, with his righteousness, obedience, and satisfaction. The law appears and pleads,
(1.) So much and so much owing by the sinner, for his breaking its commands. Mountains of guilt appear innumerable articles in its accounts; and the charge must be owned just, for it is just in every particular. Here the sinner, betaking himself to Christ, pleads by faith the satisfaction of Christ for him; and, embracing the gospel offers, he sets betwixt him and the law the death and sufferings of Christ, as full payment of that debt.
(2.) So much to be done before the sinner can be saved, according to the condition of the covenant, perfect obedience due to it by all the children of Adam. The sinner cannot deny the debt; but pleads by faith the Mediator's payment of it, by his obedience even to the death. He counts upon this score unto the law, all that Christ the Son of God did for the space of about thirty-three years on the earth, in the perfect obedience of all its commands.
Thus the sinner, embracing Christ, has wherewith to answer it. And the plea of payment that way is sustained, and the soul is declared free from the law or covenant of works, and so lawfully parted from it. What experience have ye of this? This will, for the substance of it, pass in every soul freed from the covenant of works. But alas! how many are there, [1.] Who were never troubled about that, how to get a discharge of that bargain from the Judge of all the earth, but have lived at ease without it? [2.] Who never saw a necessity of reckoning with the law, in order to their getting clear of it? [3.] Who have still aimed at putting off the demands of the law, with their own obedience and suffering, such as they were?
2. They are of a legal spirit, and have not the spirit of the covenant of grace. Caleb and Joshua had another spirit than the rest of the Jews,
so have those who are within the bond of the covenant of grace, Gal. 4:24. In the saints indeed there are wretched remains of that spirit, but it does not reign in them as in others.
1st, They are of a slavish spirit who are under that covenant; whereas the saints are acted by a son-like spirit. For, says the apostle, Rom. 8:15; "ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." As the slave is moved with fear, not with love; so is it with them. This slavish spirit appears in them thus:
(1.) They are driven from sin, and to their duty, by the fear of hell and wrath, rather than drawn from the one to the other by any hatred of the one, and love of the other, in themselves; like the Israelites of old, of whom it is said; Psalm 78:34, "When he [God] slew them, then they sought him; and they returned, and enquired early after God." It is the influence of the covenant of works in its terrible sanction, that moves them. Take away that, secure them but from hell and damnation, and they would give themselves the swing in their lusts; they have no other kind of principle to move them to holiness; all is selfish about them.
(2.) They content themselves with the bare performance of duty, and abstaining from any sin, without regarding the true principle, end, and manner of doing; even as the slave who is concerned for no more, but to get his task over, Isa. 29:13. It is not their business to get their hearts wrought up to the love of God, concern for his glory, and to the doing of their work in faith; but to get the work done, Luke 18:11. It may be they dare not neglect duty, but it is not their concern to find Christ in duty, nor is it their grief if they do not find him.
(3.) Under terror of conscience they do not flee to the blood of Christ, but to their work again, to amend what was done amiss, or make it up by greater diligence, Acts 2:37. Are not the consciences of men under that covenant affrighted sometimes? But consider how they are pacified again. Not by the sprinkling of Christ's blood on them by
faith, Heb. 9:14, but by resolves to do better in time to come, by prayers, mourning, &c. And hence it is that their corruptions are never weakened for all this, for the law makes nothing perfect; but the believing application of the blood of Christ not only takes away guilt, but strengthens the soul.
2dly, They are of a mercenary spirit; they are acted by the spirit of a hireling, who works that he may win his wages. The covenant of works is so natural to us, that we naturally know no other religion, but to work and win, do good works that we may win heaven by them. Hence the prodigal would be put among the hired servants, when he thought of returning; but when he returned, he insists not on that. This spirit appears in those who are under the covenant of works thus:—
(1.) Their work is for reward, to obtain God's favour and salvation by their works, Rom. 10:3. Whereas the saints look for salvation and the favour of God only through the obedience and death of Jesus Christ, Tit. 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." I own the saints, may have an eye to the gratuitous reward promised to them to crown their work and labour of love, as Moses is said to have "had respect unto the recompense of the reward," Heb. 11:26; and they may be thereby influenced in their duty. But then they look for that reward as coming to them, not for the sake of their work, but for the sake of Christ's work. They are sons, and have a more noble principle of obedience to God, Heb. 6:10, as God's own children, Rom 8:15, who, having the inheritance secured to them another way than by their working, are prompted to obedience by their love to God, and desire to please him. The truth is, those who are under the broken covenant of works, being destitute of saving faith, are void also of true love to God, 1 Tim. 1:5. It is themselves mainly, if not only, that they seek in their duties; and, were it not the hope of gain to themselves by them, they would not regard them. In a word, they serve God, not out of any kindly love to him, but that thereby they may serve themselves.