sincere Christians, all real saints are under; for under these two
There are natural antipathies between some creatures, as between
the lion and the rooster, the elephant and the boar, the camel and the
horse, the eagle and the dragon, etc. But what are all these
antipathies to that antipathy and enmity that is in the hearts of all
carnal men against God?
Now while men stand under a covenant of works, there is none to
interpose by way of mediation, but fallen man lies open to the wrath
of God, and to all the curses which are written in this book. When
breaches are made between God and man, under the covenant of
grace, there is a mediator to interpose and to make up all such
breaches; but under the covenant of works there is no mediator to
interpose between God and fallen man. These three things I have
hinted a little at, on purpose to work my reader, if under a covenant
of works, to be restless until he be got from under that covenant, into
the covenant of grace, where alone lies man's safety, felicity,
happiness, and comfort. Now this consideration leads me by the
hand to tell you,
2. Secondly, That there is a covenant of GRACE, that all believers, all
sincere Christians, all real saints are under; for under these two
covenants all mankind fall. The apostle calls this covenant of grace,
"the law of faith," Romans 3:17.
Now, first, this covenant of grace is sometimes styled an
"EVERLASTING covenant." Isaiah 55:3, "And I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." You
need not question my security, in respect of the great things that I
have propounded and promised in my word, for the encouragement
of your faith and hope; for I will give you my bond for all I have
spoken, which shall be as surely made good to you as the mercies
that I have performed to my servant David, 2 Sam. 23:5. The word
everlasting has two acceptations; it does denote,
(1.) Sometimes a long duration; in which respect the old covenant,
clothed with figures and ceremonies, is called everlasting, because it
was to endure, and did endure, a long time, Psalm 105:9-10;
(2.) Sometimes it denotes a perpetual duration, a duration which
shall last forever, Heb. 13:20, etc. In this respect the covenant of
grace is everlasting; it shall never cease, never be broken, nor never
be altered.
Now the covenant of grace is an everlasting covenant in a twofold
respect.
First, In respect of God, who will never break covenant with his
people; but is their God, and will be their God, forever and ever,
Titus 1:2; Psalm 90:2, and 48:14, "For this God is our God, forever
and ever; he will be our God even unto death." Yes, and after death
too! For this is not to be taken exclusively. Oh no! for "he will never,
never leave them, nor forsake them," Heb. 13:5. There are five
negatives in the Greek, to assure God's people that he will never
forsake them. According to the Greek it may be rendered thus, "I will
not, not leave you, neither will I not, not forsake you." [Five times in
Scripture is this precious promise renewed: Josh. 1:5; Deut. 31:8; 1
Kings 8:57; Gen. 28:15, that we may be still a-pressing of it until we
have pressed all the sweetness out of it, Isaiah 66:11.] Leave us! God
may, to our thinking, leave us; but forsake us he will not.
Psalm 89:34, "My covenant will I not break; nor alter the thing that
is gone out of my mouth." Though God's people should profane his
statutes, ver. 31, yet God will not profane his covenant; though his
people often break with him, yet he will never break with them;
though they may be inconstant, yet God will be constant to his
covenant.
Isaiah 54:10, "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be
removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall
the covenant of my peace be removed, says the Lord, who has mercy
on you." Though huge mountains should depart, which is not
probable, yet his covenant shall stand immovable; and his mercy and
kindness to his people shall be immutable. This new covenant of
grace is like the new heavens and new earth, which will never wax
old or vanish away, Isaiah 66:22. But,
Secondly, The covenant of grace is called an everlasting covenant, in
respect to the people of God, who are brought into covenant, and
shall continue in covenant forever and ever, Mal. 3:6; Hosea 2:19;
Gen. 17:7. You have both these expressed in that excellent scripture,
Jer. 32:40, "I will make an everlasting covenant with them; that I will
not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear
into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." Seriously dwell
upon the place; it shows that the covenant is everlasting on God's
part, and also on our part. [God will never cease to pursue and follow
his covenant-people with favors and blessings incessantly.] On God's
part, "I will never turn away from them to do them good;" and on our
part, "they shall never depart from me." How so? "I will put my fear
into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." That they may
continue constant with me, and not constrain me, by their apostasy,
to break again with them: I will so deeply rivet a reverent dread of
myself in their souls, as shall cause them to cling, and cleave, and
keep close to me forever.
In the covenant of grace, God undertakes for both parts; for his own,
"that he will be their God"—that is, that all he is, and all he has, shall
be employed for their external, internal, and eternal good; and for
ours, that we "shall be his people"—that is, that we shall believe, love,
fear, repent, obey, serve him, and walk with him, as he requires, Jer.
32:38; Ezek. 36:26-27; and thus the covenant of grace becomes an
"everlasting covenant;" yes, such a covenant as has the sure or
unfailable mercies of David wrapped up in it.
The covenant of grace is a new compact or agreement, which God has
made with sinful man, out of his mere mercy and grace, wherein he
undertakes, both for himself and for fallen man, and wherein he
engages himself to make fallen man everlastingly happy. "And they
shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one
heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of
them, and of their children after them: And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them,
to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me." Jeremiah 32:38-40. In the covenant of grace
there are two things considerable:
First, the covenant that God makes for himself to us, which consists
mainly of these branches:
(1.) That he will be our God; that is, as if he said, "You shall have as
true an interest in all my attributes for your good, as they are mine
for my own glory, Jer. 31:38; Psalm 144:15; 2 Cor. 6:16-18. My grace,
says God, shall be yours to pardon you, and my power shall be yours
to protect you, and my wisdom shall be yours to direct you, and my
goodness shall be yours to relieve you, and my mercy shall be yours
to supply you, and my glory shall be yours to crown you. This is a
comprehensive promise, for God to be our God: it includes all.
(2.) That he "will give us his Spirit." Hence the Spirit is called "the
Holy Spirit of promise." The giving of the Holy Spirit is the great
promise which Christ, from the Father, has made unto us. It is the
Spirit who reveals the promises, who applies the promises, and who
helps the soul to live upon the promises, and to draw marrow and
fatness out of the promises. The great promise of the Old Testament
was the promise of Christ, Gen. 3:16, and the great promise of the
New Testament is the promise of the Spirit, as you may see by these
scriptures. [Isaiah 44:3; Jer. 31:33; Joel 2:28; John 14:16, 20; Acts
2:23; Luke 24:49; John 15:26, and 16:7.] That in this last age of the
world there may be a more clear and full discovery of Christ, of the
great things of the gospel, of Antichrist, and of the glorious conquests
that are in the last days to be made upon him, the giving of the Spirit
is promised as the most excellent gift.
(3.) That he "will take away the heart of stone, and give a heart of
flesh," that is, a soft and tender heart, "I will also sprinkle clean
water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your
impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you
a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to
follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances." Ezekiel
36:25-27.
(4.) That he "will not turn away his face from us, from doing of us
good;" and that "he will put his fear into our hearts," Jer. 32:40.
(5.) That he "will cleanse us from all our filthiness, and from all our
idols," Ezek. 36:25.
(6.) That he "will rejoice over us, to do us good," Jer. 33:9-10, and
32:41.
The second thing considerable in the covenant of grace, is the
covenant which God does make for us to himself, which consists
mainly in these things:
(1.) That we "shall be his people."
(2.) That we "shall fear him forever."
(3.) That we "shall walk in his statutes, keep his judgments, and do
them."
(4.) That we "shall never depart from him."
(5.) That we "shall persevere, and hold out to the end."
(6.) That we "shall grow, and flourish in grace."
(7.) A true right to the creatures.
(8.) That all providences, changes, and conditions shall work for our
good.
(9.) Union and communion with Christ.
(10.) That we shall have a kingdom, a crown, and glory at last. And
what would we have more? [Jer. 32:38, 40; Ezek. 36:27; Job 17:9;
Proverbs 4:18; Psalm 1:3; Hosea 14:6-7; Zech. 12:18; Mal. 4:2; Jer.
24:5; Romans 8:28; Luke 12:32; Rev. 2:10; Psalm 84:11; John
10:28.]
By these short hints it is most evident that the covenant of grace is an
entire covenant, an everlasting covenant, made by God both for
himself and for us. O sirs! this is the glory of the covenant of grace,
that whatever God requires of us, that he stands engaged to give unto
us. Whatever in the covenant of grace God requires on man's part,
that he undertakes to perform for man.
That this covenant of grace is an "everlasting covenant" may be made
further clear,
[1.] First, From God's designation, who has often styled it an
EVERLASTING covenant. In the Old Testament he frequently calls
it, in Heb., a covenant of eternity. In the New Testament he calls it, in
Greek, the eternal covenant, or the everlasting covenant. And those
whom God has taken into covenant with himself, they have
frequently acknowledged it to be an everlasting covenant, as is
evident up and down the Scripture.
The covenant of works was not everlasting, it was soon overthrown
by Adam's sin; but the covenant of grace is everlasting. The joy that
is wrapped up in the covenant, is an everlasting joy, Isaiah 35:10;
and the righteousness that is wrapped up in the covenant, is an
everlasting righteousness, Dan. 9:24; and the life that is wrapped up
in the covenant, is an everlasting life, John 3:16; and all the
happiness, and glory, and salvation which are wrapped up in the
covenant is everlasting, John 12:2; Mat. 19:29; 1 Pet. 5:4; Isaiah
45:17. The covenant-relation which is between God and his people is
everlasting; and the mediator of the covenant is everlasting—namely,
"Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today, and the same forever," Heb.
13:8. Though the covenant, in respect of our own personal entering
into it, is made with us now in time, and has a beginning; yet for
continuance it is everlasting and without end; it shall remain forever
and ever. But,
[2.] Secondly, This covenant of grace, under which the saints stand,
is sometimes styled a covenant of LIFE: Mal. 2:5, "My covenant was
with him of life and peace." Life is restored, and life is promised, and
life is settled by the covenant. There is no safe life, no comfortable
life, no easy life, no happy life, no honorable life, no glorious life—for
any sinner who is not under the bond of this covenant. [Philosophers
say that a fly is more excellent than the skies, because the fly has life,
which the skies have not.] All mankind would have been eternally
lost, and God had lost all the glory of his mercy forever, had he not,
of his own free grace and mercy, made a covenant of life with poor
sinners.
A man, in the covenant of grace, has three degrees of life:
the first in this life, when Christ lives in him;
the second, when his "body returns to the earth, and his soul to God
that gave it;"
the third, at the end of the world, when body and soul reunited shall
enjoy heaven.
[3.] Thirdly, This covenant of grace, under which the saints or
faithful people of Christ stand, is sometimes styled a HOLY covenant.
Daniel, describing the wickedness of Antiochus Epiphanies, says,
"His heart shall be against the holy covenant," Dan. 11:28, 30. So the
psalmist, "For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his
servant," Psalm 105:42-43; [Heb., The word of his holiness, that is,
his sacred and gracious covenant that he had made with Abraham
and his posterity.] Promise is here put for covenant by a synecdoche.
Luke 1:72, "To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to
remember his holy covenant."
The parties interested in this covenant are holy. Here you have a holy
God and a holy people in covenant together. Holiness is one of the
principal things that is promised in the covenant. The covenant
commands holiness, and encourages to holiness, and works souls up
to a higher degree of holiness, and fences and arms gracious souls
against all external and internal unholiness. The author of this
covenant is holy; the mediator of this covenant is holy; the great
blessings contained in this covenant are holy blessings; and the
people taken into this covenant are sometimes styled holy brethren,
holy men, holy women. "A holy temple, a holy priesthood, a holy
nation, a holy people," as you may see by comparing these scriptures
together. [Psalm 50: 5; Heb. 3:1; 1 Thes. 5:27; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Peter
3:5; 1 Cor. 3:17; 1 Peter 2:9, etc.] Whenever God brings a poor soul
under the bond of the covenant, he makes him holy, and he makes
him love holiness, and prize holiness, and delight in holiness, and
press and follow hard after holiness. A holy God will not take an
unholy person by the hand, as Job speaks, chapter 8; neither will he
allow of such to take his covenant into their mouths, as the psalmist
speaks, Psalm 20:6.
[4.] Fourthly, This covenant of grace, under which the saints stand, is
sometimes styled a covenant of PEACE: Num. 25:12, "Behold, I give
unto him my covenant of peace." Peace is the comprehension of all
blessings and prosperity. All sorts of peace, namely, peace with God,
and peace with conscience, and peace with the creatures—flows from
the covenant of grace, Mal. 2:5. There is—
(1.) An external peace, and that is with men;
(2.) There is a supernatural peace, and that is with God;
(3.) There is an internal peace, and that is with conscience;
(4.) There is an eternal peace, and that is in heaven.
Now all these kinds of peace flow in upon us through the covenant of
grace. The Hebrew word for peace comes from a root which denotes
perfection. The end of the upright man is perfection of happiness,
Psalm 37:37. [This covenant is styled a covenant of peace, because it
breeds, settles, quiets, and establishes our hearts in perfect peace, it
stills all fears and doubts and thoughts of heart.] Peace is a very
comprehensive word. It carries in its womb, all outward blessings. It
was the common greeting of the Jews, "Peace be unto you:" and thus
David, by his proxy, salutes Nabal, "Peace be to you, and your
house." The ancients were accustomed to paint peace in the form of a
woman, with a horn of plenty in her hand. The covenant of grace is
that hand, by which God gives out all sorts of peace unto us: Isaiah
54:10, "Neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the
Lord, who has mercy on you." The covenant is here called the
covenant of peace, because the Lord therein offers us all those things
that may make us completely happy; for under this word peace the
Hebrews comprehend all happiness and felicity.
Ezek. 34:25, "And I will make with them a covenant of peace;" the
Hebrew is, "I will cut with them a covenant of peace." This
expression of cutting a covenant is taken from the custom of the
Jews in their making of covenants. The manner of this ceremony or
solemnity, Jeremiah declares, saying, "I will give the men who have
transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the
covenant which they had struck before me, when they cut the calf in
twain, and passed between the parts thereof," Jer. 34:18. Their
manner was to kill sacrifices, to cut these sacrifices in twain, to lay
the two parts thus divided in the midst, piece against piece, exactly
one over against another, to answer each other: then the covenanting
parties passed between the parts of the sacrifices so slit in twain. The
meaning of which ceremonies and solemnities is conceived to be this
—namely, as part answered to part, so there was a harmonious
correspondency and answerableness of their minds and hearts, who
struck the covenant: and as part was severed from part, so the
covenanters implied, if not expressed, an imprecation or curse;
wishing the like dissection and destruction to the parties
covenanting, as most deserved, if they should break the covenant, or
deal falsely therein. [This ceremony or solemnity of covenanting, the
Romans and other nations used. Some judge the heathens borrowed
this custom from the Jews. I have spoken of this before.]
To this custom God alludes, when he says, "I will cut with them a
covenant of peace," Isaiah 42:6; and this he did by making Christ a
sacrifice, by shedding his blood, and dividing his soul and body, who
is said to be given for a covenant of the people, that is, to be the
mediator of the covenant between God and his people. So Ezek.
37:26, "Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall
be an everlasting covenant with them," etc. The word for peace is
Shalom, by which the Hebrews understand not only outward
quietness, but all kind of outward happiness. Others, by the covenant
of peace here, do understand the gospel, wherein we see Christ has
pacified all things by the blood of his cross. And Lavater says, "it is
called a covenant of peace, Not only outward, but inward peace,
between God and us, is merited by our Lord Jesus Christ," Col. 1:20.
But,
[5.] Fifthly, This covenant of grace, under which the saints stand, is
sometimes styled a NEW covenant: Jer. 31:31, "Behold, the days
come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, and with the house of Judah." Heb. 12:24, "And to Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant," etc., Heb. 8:8, 13, and 9:15. Now
the covenant of grace is styled a new covenant in several respects.
(1.) In opposition to the former covenant, which was old, and being
old, vanished away, Heb. 8:13. It is called a new covenant, in
opposition to the covenant that was made with Adam in the state of
innocency, and in opposition to the covenant that was made with the
Jews in the time of the Old Testament.
(2.) To show the excellency of the covenant of grace. New things are
rare and excellent things. In the blessed Scriptures excellent things
are frequently called "new;" as a "new testament," a "new
Jerusalem," "new heavens," and "new earth;" a "new name," that is,
an excellent name; a "new commandment," that is, an excellent
commandment; "a new way," that is, an excellent way; "a new heart,"
is an excellent heart; "a new spirit," is an excellent spirit; and "a new
song," is an excellent song. [Mat. 26:28; Rev. 21:2; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev.
2:17; John 13:34; Ezek. 36:26, 27; Psalm 40:3.]
(3.) In regard of the succession of it in the place of the former.
(4.) In regard of the dilation and enlargement of it, it being in the
days of old confined to the Jewish nation and state, and some few
proselytes who adjoined themselves thereunto; whereas now it is
propounded and extended, without respect of persons or places, unto
all indiscriminently, of all people and nations who shall embrace the
faith of Christ.
(5.) Sometimes that is styled new, which is different from what it was
before: 2 Cor. 5:17, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature,"
that is, he is not such a man as he was before; a man must be either a
new man—or no man in Christ. [A new creature has a new light, a
new judgment, a new will, new affections, new thoughts, new
company, new choice, new Lord, new law, new way, new work, etc. A
new creature is a changed creature throughout, 1 Thes. 5:23.]
The substance of the soul is not changed, but the qualities and
operations of it are altered; in regeneration our natures are changed,
not destroyed. This word "new," in Scripture, signifies as much as
"another;" not that it is essentially new, but new only in regard of
qualities. A new creature is a changed creature: 2 Cor. 3:18, "But we
all, with open face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image, from glory to glory," that is, from grace
to grace. In this respect also, is the covenant styled new, not only
because it is diverse from the covenant of works, but also because it
is diverse from itself in respect of the administration of it, after that
Christ was manifested in the flesh, and died and rose again.
From the different administration, it is called old and new. This new
covenant has not those seals of circumcision and the Passover; nor
those manifold sacrifices, ceremonies, types, and shadows, etc., to
the observation whereof the Jews were strictly obliged; but now all
these things are taken away upon the coming of Christ, and a service
of God, much more spiritual, substituted in the place of them; upon
which accounts the covenant of grace is called a "new covenant."
(6.) It is styled new, because it is fresh, and green, and flourishing. It
is like unto Aaron's rod, which continued new, fresh, and flourishing,
Num. 17:8. [Austin, and others, think that the commandment of love
is called a new commandment, because it is always fresh, and green,
and flourishing; and why may not the covenant of grace be called a
new covenant upon the same account?] All the choice blessings, all
the great blessings, all the internal and all the eternal blessings of the
new covenant, are as new, fresh, and flourishing, as they were when
God brought your souls first under the bond of the new covenant.
But,
(7.) Such things are sometimes styled new, which are strange, rare,
wonderful, marvelous, and unusual—the like not heard of before. So
Jer. 31:22, "The Lord has created a new thing in the earth, a woman
shall compass a man;" as the nut encloses the kernel, not receiving
anything from without, but conceiving and breeding of herself, by the
power of the Almighty, from within. That a virgin should conceive
and bring forth a man-child, this was indeed a new thing, a strange
thing, a wonderful thing—a thing that was never thought of, never
heard of, never read of, from the creation of the world to that very
day.
Just so, Isaiah 43:19, "Behold, I will do a new thing, I will make a
way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." [The word "new"
does intimate some more excellent mercies than God had formerly
conferred upon his people.] This was a new work, that is, a wonderful
and unusual work; for God to make a plain or free way in the
wilderness, where the ways are accustomed to be uneven, with hills
and dales, and obstructed with thickets, and overgrown with
brambles and briars—is a strange and marvelous work indeed.
In this respect also, the covenant of grace is styled new, that is, it is a
wonderful covenant. O sirs! what a wonder is this, that the great God,
who was so transcendently dishonored, despised, provoked,
incensed, and injured by poor base sinners, should yet so freely, so
readily, so graciously, condescend to vile forlorn sinners, as to treat
with them, as to own them, as to love them, and as to enter into a
covenant of grace and mercy with them! This may well be the wonder
of angels, and the astonishment of men.
(8.) and lastly, It is called a new covenant, because it is never to be
antiquated, as the apostle explains himself, Heb. 8:13. But,
[6.] Sixthly, This covenant of grace, under which the saints stand, is
sometimes styled a covenant of SALT: Lev. 2:13, "Neither shall you
allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from the
meat-offering," etc. [Salt they were bound as by a covenant, to use in
all sacrifices, or it means a sure and pure covenant. Some, by the salt
of the covenant—do mystically understand the grace of the New
Testament.] The salt of the covenant signifies that covenant that God
has made with us in Christ, who seasons us, and makes all our
services savory. The meaning of the words, say some, is this—"The
salt shall put you in mind of my covenant, whereby you stand
engaged to endeavor always for an untainted and uncorrupted life
and conversation."
"By this salting," say others, "was signified the covenant of grace in
Christ, which we by faith apprehend unto incorruption, wherefore
our unregenerate estate is likened to a child new born and not
salted," Ezek. 16:4. Others say it signifies the eternal and perpetual
holiness of the covenant between God and man; and some there are,
who say that this salt of the covenant signifies the grace of God,
whereby they are guided and sanctified that belong unto the
covenant of grace. So Num. 18:19, "It is an everlasting covenant of
salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring." A covenant of
salt is used for an inviolable, incorruptible, and perpetual covenant.
This covenant which the Lord made with the priests is called a
covenant of salt, because, as salt keeps from corruption, so that
covenant was perpetual, authentic, and inviolable ["Of old, amity and
friendship was symbolized by salt, for its consolidating and
conserving property," says Pierius.]—as anciently the most solemn
ceremony that was used in covenants was to take and eat of the same
salt, and it was esteemed more sacred and firm than to eat at the
same table and drink of the same cup.
This covenant, in regard of its perpetuity, is here called a "covenant
of salt," that is, a sure and stable, a firm and incorruptible covenant.
So 2 Chron. 13:5, "Don't you know that the Lord, the God of Israel,
has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever
by a covenant of salt?" That is—perpetual and inviolable, solemn and
sure. By this metaphor of salt, a perpetuity is set forth, for salt makes
things last. The covenant therefore here intended is by this metaphor
declared to be a perpetual covenant, that was not to be abrogated or
nullified. In this respect these two phrases, "a covenant of salt," and
"forever," are joined together.
Some take this metaphor of salt to be used in relation to their
manner of making their covenant with a sacrifice, on which salt was
always sprinkled, and thereby is implied that it was a most solemn
covenant not to be violated. [Num. 18:19, but now opened, Lev. 2:13.]
But,
[7.] Seventhly, The covenant of grace, under which the saints stand,
is sometimes styled a SURE covenant, a FIRM covenant—a covenant
that God will punctually and accurately perform. In this regard, the
covenant of grace is in the Old Testament Shemurah—that is, kept,
observed, performed. The word imports care, diligence, and
solicitude lest anything be let go, let slip, etc. God is ever mindful of
his covenant, and will have that singular care and that constant and
due regard to it, that not the least branch of it shall ever fail, as you
may clearly see by consulting these special scriptures. [2 Sam. 23:5;
Deut. 7:9; 2 Chron. 6:14; Psalm 19:7, and 89:28; Titus 1:2; Psalm
132:11; Isaiah 54:10.]
Hence it is called the mercy and the truth: Mic. 7:20, "You will be
true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath
to our fathers in days long ago." The covenant is called mercy,
because mercy alone, drew this covenant; it was free mercy, it was
mere mercy, it was only mercy which moved God to enter into
covenant with us. And it is called truth, because the great God who
has made this covenant will assuredly make good all that mercy and
all that grace, and all that favor which is wrapped up in it. God
having made himself a voluntary debtor to his people, he will come
off fairly with them, and not be worse than his word. Hence Christ is
said to have a rainbow upon his head, to show that he is faithful and
constant in his covenant, Rev. 10:1. God has hitherto kept promise
with nights and days, that one shall follow the other, Isaiah 54:9-10;
therefore much more will he keep promise with his people, Jer.
33:20, 25. [The stability of God's covenant is compared to the
unvariable course of the day and the night, and to the firmness and
unmovableness of the mighty mountains, Isaiah 54:9-10.]
Hence also the covenant is called the oath: Luke 1:73, "The oath
which he swore unto our father Abraham." You never read of God's
oath in a covenant of works. In that first covenant you read not of a
mediator nor of an oath; but in the covenant of grace you read both
of a mediator and of an oath, the more effectually to confirm us as
touching the immutability of his will and purpose, for the
accomplishment of all the good and the great things which are
promised in the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace is
incomparably more firm, sure, immutable, and irrevocable than all
other covenants in the world. Therefore it is said, Heb. 6:17-18,
"Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose
very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an
oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope
offered to us may be greatly encouraged." That is, a valiant, strong,
prevailing consolation, such as swallows up all worldly griefs, as
Moses his serpent did, the sorcerers' serpents; or as the fire does, the
fuel. God's word, his promise, his covenant, is sufficient to assure us
of all the good that he has engaged to bestow upon us; yet God,
considering of our infirmity, has bound his word with an oath. [Who
shall doubt when God does swear? He cannot possibly deny himself
or to recant?]
His word cannot be made more true, but yet it may be made more
credible. Now two things make a thing more credible:
(1.) The quality of the person speaking;
(2.) The manner of the speech.
If God does not simply speak, but solemnly swear—we have the
highest cause imaginable to rest assured and abundantly satisfied in
the word and oath of God. An oath among men is the strongest,
surest, most sacred, and inviolable bond; "Men swear by someone
greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts
an end to all argument," Heb. 6:16. The end of an oath among men is
to help the truth in necessity, and to clear men's innocency, Exod.
22:11. O sirs! God does not only make his covenant, but swears his
covenant; "I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have
uttered. Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness--and I will not lie,"
Psalm 89:34-35. This is as great and deep an oath as God could take;
for his holiness is himself, who is most holy, and the foundation of all
holiness. God is—essentially holy, unmixedly holy, universally holy,
transcendently holy, originally holy, independently holy, constantly
holy, and exemplarily holy. Now for so holy a God to swear once for
all by his holiness that he will keep covenant, that he will keep touch
with his people, how abundantly should it settle and satisfy them!
Ah! my friends, has God said it, and will he not do it? Yes, has he
sworn it, and will he not bring it to pass? Dare we trust an honest
man upon his bare word, much more upon his oath; and shall we not
much more trust a holy, wise, and faithful God upon his word, upon
his covenant, when confirmed by an oath? The covenant of grace is
sure in itself; it is a firm covenant, an unalterable covenant, an
everlasting covenant, a ratified covenant; so that heaven and earth
may sooner pass away, than the least branch or word of his covenant
should pass away unfulfilled, Mat. 5:18.
The Covenant of Grace Proved and Opened (Part 2)
(1.) Let us but cast our eyes upon the several springs from whence
the covenant of grace flows, and then we cannot but strongly
conclude that the covenant of grace is a sure covenant. Now if you
cast your eye aright, you shall see that the covenant of grace flows
from these three springs.
First, From the free grace and favor of God. There was nothing in
fallen man to invite God to enter into covenant with him; yes, there
was everything in fallen man that might justly provoke God to
abandon man, to abhor man, to revenge himself upon man. It was
mere grace that made the covenant, and it is mere grace that makes
good the covenant. Now, that which springs from mere grace must
needs be unexceptionably sure. The love of God is unchangeable;
"whom he loves he loves to the end," John 13:3; whom God loves
once he loves forever. He is not as man, soon on—and soon off again,
Mal. 3:6; James 1:17; soon in—and as soon out, as Joab's dagger was.
Oh no! his love is like himself—lasting, yes, everlasting: "I have loved
you with an everlasting love," Jer. 31:3. Though we break off with
him, yet he abides faithful, 2 Tim. 2:13. Now what can be more sure,
than that which springs from free love, from everlasting love?
Romans 4:16. Hence the covenant must be sure. The former
covenant was not sure, because it was of works; but this covenant is
sure, because it is of grace, and rests not on any sufficiency in us, but
only on grace.
Secondly, The covenant of grace springs from the immutable counsel
of God. Heb. 6:17, "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the
heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an
oath." Times are mutable, and all men are mutable, and the love and
favor of the creature is mutable. But the counsel of God, from which
the covenant of grace flows—is immutable, and therefore it must
needs be sure, Isaiah 40:6; Psalm 146:3, 4; Jer. 33:14. The
manifestation of the immutability of God's counsel is here brought
in, as one end of God's oath. God swears, that it might evidently
appear that what he had purposed, counseled, determined, and
promised to Abraham and his seed—would assuredly be
accomplished; there would be, there could be, no alteration thereof.
His counsel was more firm than the laws of the Medea and Persians,
which alters not, Dan. 6:13.
Certainly God's counsel is inviolable: "My counsel shall stand."
Isaiah 46:10; Psalm 33:11, "The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Proverbs 19:21,
"Nevertheless the counsel of the Lord—that shall stand." The
immutability of God's counsel springs from the unchangeableness of
his essence, the perfection of his wisdom, the infiniteness of his
goodness, the absoluteness of his sovereignty, the omnipotency of his
power. God in his essence being unchangeable, his counsel also must
needs be so. Can darkness flow out of light, or fullness out of
emptiness, or heaven out of hell? No! no more can changeable
counsels flow from an immutable nature. Now the covenant of grace
flows from the immutable counsel of God, which is most firm and
inviolable, and therefore it must needs be a sure covenant. But,
Thirdly, The covenant of grace springs from the purpose of God,
resolving and intending everlasting good unto us. Now this purpose
of God is sure; so the apostle, 2 Tim. 2:19, "The foundation of God
stands sure." [Our graces are imperfect, our comforts ebb and flow;
but God's foundation stands sure.] That foundation of God is his
election, which is compared to a foundation; because it is that upon
which all our good and happiness is built, and because as a
foundation it abides firm and sure. The gracious purpose of God is
the fountain-head of all our spiritual blessings. It is the foundational
cause of our effectual calling, justification, glorification; it is the
highest link in the golden chain of salvation. What is the reason that
God has entered into a covenant with fallen man? it is from his
eternal purpose. What is the reason that one man is everlastingly
saved—and not another? It is from the eternal purpose of God, Ezek.
20:37.
In all the great concerns of the covenant of grace, the purpose of God
gives the casting voice. The purpose of God is the sovereign cause of
all that good that is in man, and of all that external, internal, and
eternal good that comes to man. Not works past, for men are chosen
from everlasting; not present works, for Jacob was loved and chosen
before he was born; nor foreseen works, for men were all corrupt in
Adam. All a believer's present happiness, and all his future
happiness, springs from the eternal purpose of God; as you may see,
by comparing these scriptures together. [Romans 8:28, and 9:11;
Eph. 1:11, and 3:11.] "For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on
whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion.' It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort,
but on God's mercy." Romans 9:15-16. "God, who has saved us and
called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but
because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in
Christ Jesus before the beginning of time." 2 Timothy 1:8-9.
This purpose of God speaks our stability and certainty of salvation by
Christ, God's eternal purpose never changes, never alters; "Surely, as
I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed," says
God, "so shall it stand." God's purposes are immutable, so is his
covenant. God's purposes are sure, very sure, so is his covenant. The
covenant of grace that flows from the eternal purpose of God, is as
sure as God is sure; for God can neither deceive nor be deceived.
That covenant that is built upon this rock of God's eternal purpose,
must needs be sure; and therefore all that are in covenant with God
need never fear falling away. There is no man, no power, no devil, no
violent temptation—which shall ever be able to overturn those that
God has brought under the bond of the covenant, 1 Pet. 1:5. "Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is
written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered
as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that
neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39. "My sheep
listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them
eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out
of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than
all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." John 10:27-29.
But,
(2.) Secondly, Consider that the covenant of grace is confirmed and
made sure by the blood of Jesus Christ, which is called "the blood of
the everlasting covenant," Heb. 13:20. Christ, by his irrevocable
death, has made sure the covenant to us, Heb. 9:16-17. The covenant
of grace is to be considered under the notion of a testament; and
Christ, as the testator of this will and testament. [The main point
which the apostle intended, by setting down the inviolableness of
men's last wills after their death, is to prove that Christ's death was
very requisite for ratifying of the New Testament: consult these
scriptures; Mat. 16:21; Luke 24:26; Heb. 9:16, 17.]
Now look, as a man's will and testament is irrevocably confirmed by
the testator's death—"For where a testament is, there must also, of
necessity, be the death of the testator; for a testament is of force,
after men are dead; otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the
testator lives." Heb. 9:16, 17. These two verses are added as a proof of
the necessity of Christ's manner of confirming the new testament as
he did, namely, by his death. The argument is taken from the
common use and equity of confirming testaments, which is by the
death of the testator. A testament is only and wholly at his pleasure
of the person who makes it. He may alter it, or disannul it while he
live, as he sees good; but when he is dead, he not remaining to alter
it, no one else can alter it. In the seventeenth verse, the apostle
declares the inviolableness of a man's last will, being ratified as
before by the testator's death. This he shows two ways:
(1.) Affirmatively; in these words, "A testament is of force after men
are dead."
(2.) Negatively, in these words, "Otherwise it is of no strength."
Now from the affirmative and the negative, it plainly appears that a
testament is made inviolable by the testator's death; so Jesus Christ
has unalterably confirmed this will and testament—namely, the new
covenant, by his blood and death, "For this reason Christ is the
mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive
the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom
to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."
Heb. 9:15. Christ died to purchase an eternal inheritance; and on this
ground eternal life is called an eternal inheritance; for we come to it
as heirs, through the goodwill, grace, and favor of this purchaser
thereof, manifested by the last will and testament.
Hence you read, "This is my blood of the new testament, which is
shed for many, for the remission of sins," Mat. 26:28. Again, "This
cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you," Luke
22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25. The covenant is called both a covenant and a
testament, because his covenant and testament is founded,
established, ratified, and immutably sealed up—in and by his blood.
Christ is the faithful and true witness, yes, truth itself; his word shall
not pass away, Rev. 3:14; John 14:6; Mark 13:31. If the word of Christ
is sure, if his promise be sure, if his covenant be sure—then surely his
last will and testament, which is ratified and confirmed by his death,
must needs be very sure. Christ's blood is too precious a thing to be
spilt in vain; but in vain is it spilt if his testament, his covenant,
ratified thereby, be altered. If the covenant of grace is not a sure
covenant, 1 Cor. 15:14, then Christ died in vain, and our preaching is
in vain, and your hearing, and receiving, and believing is all in vain.
Christ's death is a declaration and evidence of the eternal counsel of
his Father, which is most stable and immutable in itself. But how
much more it is so, when it is ratified by the death of his dearest Son,
"In whom all the promises are yes and amen," 2 Cor. 1:20; that is, in
Christ they are made, performed, and ratified.
By all this we may safely conclude that the covenant of grace is a
most sure covenant. There can be no addition to it, detraction from
it, or alteration of it—unless the death of Jesus Christ, whereby it is
confirmed—is frustrated and overthrown. Certainly the covenant is
as sure as Christ's death is sure. The sureness and certainty of the
covenant is the ground and bottom of bottoms for our faith, hope,
joy, patience, peace, etc. Take this corner, this foundation-stone
away—and all will tumble. Were the covenant uncertain, a Christian
could never have a good day all his days; his whole life would be
filled up with tears, doubts, disputes, distractions, etc.; and he would
be still a-crying out, "Oh, I can never be sure that God will be mine,
or that Christ will be mine, or that mercy will be mine, or that pardon
of sin will be mine, or that heaven will be mine! Oh, I can never be
sure that I shall escape the great damnation, the worm which never
dies, the fire that never goes out, or an eternal separation from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power!" 2 Thes. 1:9.
The great glory of the covenant is the certainty of the covenant; and
this is the top of God's glory, and of a Christian's comfort, that all the
mercies that are in the covenant of grace are "the sure mercies of
David," and that all the grace that is in the covenant is sure grace,
and that all the glory that is in the covenant is sure glory, and that all
the external, internal, and eternal blessings of the covenant are sure
blessings.
I might further argue the sureness of the covenant of grace, from all
the attributes of God, which are deeply engaged to make it good, as
his wisdom, love, power, justice, holiness, faithfulness,
righteousness, etc. And I might further argue the certainty of the
covenant of grace, from the seals which God has annexed to it. You
know what was sealed by the king's ring could not be altered, Esther
8:8. God has set his seals to this covenant: his broad seal in the
sacraments, and his privy seal in the witness of his Spirit; and
therefore the covenant of grace is sure, and can never be reversed.
But upon several accounts I may not now insist on these things. And
therefore,
[8.] Eighthly and lastly, The covenant of grace is styled a WELL-
ORDERED covenant. 2 Samuel 23:5, "He has made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. Will he not
bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?" Oh,
the admirable counsel, wisdom, love, care, and tenderness of the
blessed God, which sparkles and shines in the well-ordering of the
covenant of grace! [Romans 11:33-36; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:8, and 3:10;
Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:28; Rev. 7:12.] Oh, how lovely and beautiful,
with what symmetry and proportion, are all things in this covenant
ordered and prepared! Oh, what head can conceive, or what tongue
can express—that infinite wisdom which God has manifested in
ordering the covenant of grace, so as it may most and best suit to all
the wants, and straits, and necessities, and miseries, and desires, and
longings of poor sinners' souls! Here are fit and full supplies for all
our spiritual needs—so excellently and orderly has God composed
and constituted the covenant of grace. In the covenant of grace every
poor sinner may find a suitable help, a suitable remedy, a suitable
support, a suitable supply, Jer. 33:8; Ezek. 36:25; Psalm 94:19.
The covenant of grace, is so well ordered by the unsearchable
wisdom of God, that you may find in it remedies to cure all your
spiritual diseases, and cordials to comfort you under all your soul-
faintings, and a spiritual armory to arm you against all sorts of sins,
and all sorts of snares, and all sorts of temptations, and all sorts of
oppositions, and all sorts of enemies, whether inward or outward,
open or secret, subtle or silly, Eph. 6:10-18. Do you, O distressed
sinner—need a loving God, a compassionate God, a reconciled God, a
sin-pardoning God, a tender-hearted God? Here you may find him in
the covenant of grace, Exod. 34:5-7. Do you, O sinner—need a Christ,
to counsel you by his wisdom, and to clothe you with his
righteousness, and to enrich you with his grace, and to enlighten you
with his eye salve, and to justify you from your sins, and to reconcile
you to God, and to secure you from wrath to come, and after all, to
bring you to heaven? Rev. 3:17-18; Acts 13:39; 1 Thes. 1:10; John
10:28-31. Here you may find him in a covenant of grace. Do you, O
sinner! want the Holy Spirit to awaken you, and to convince you of
sin, of righteousness, and of judgment? or to enlighten you, and
teach you, and lead you, and guide you in the way everlasting? or to
cleanse you, or comfort you, or to seal you up to the day of
redemption? Ezek. 36:25-27; Luke 11:13; Eph. 1:13. Here you may
find him in the covenant of grace.
O sinner! Do you need grace, all grace, great grace, abundance of
grace, multiplied grace? Here you may find it in the covenant of
grace! O sinner! Do you need peace, or ease, or rest, or quiet in your
conscience? Here you may find it in the covenant of grace! O sinner!
Do you need joy, or comfort, or content, or satisfaction? Here you
may have it in a covenant of grace. O sinner, sinner! whatever your
soul needs are—they may all be supplied out of the covenant of grace!
God, in his infinite wisdom and love, has laid into the covenant of
grace, as into a common storehouse, all those good things, and all
those great things, and all those suitable things—that either sinners
or saints can either desire or need! Now the adequate suitableness of
the covenant of grace to all a sinner's wants, straits, necessities,
miseries, and desires—does sufficiently demonstrate the covenant of
grace to be a well-ordered covenant.
Look, in a well-ordered commonwealth—there are wholesome laws
to govern the people; and wholesome remedies to relieve the people;
and strong defences to secure the people. Just so, that must needs be
a well-ordered covenant, where there is nothing lacking to govern
poor souls, or to secure poor souls, or to save poor souls. And such a
covenant, is the covenant of grace. I might easily lay down other
arguments to evince the covenant of grace to be a well-ordered
covenant.
As for the right placing of all persons and things in the covenant of
grace, and from the outward dispensation of it—God revealed it but
gradually. First, he revealed it more darkly, remotely, and
imperfectly—as we see things a great way off. But afterwards the
Lord did more clearly, fully, immediately, frequently, and completely
reveal it—as we discern things close at hand. God did not at once
open all the riches and rarities of the covenant to his people, but in
the opening of those treasures that were there laid up, God had a
respect to the childhood and full-age of his people. And from God's
dispensing and giving out all the good and all the great things of the
covenant in their fittest time, in a right and proper season, when his
people most need them, and when they can live no longer without
them. But I must hasten to a closing up of this particular.
Thus you see in these eight particulars, how gloriously the covenant
of grace, under which the saints stand, is set out in the blessed
Scriptures.
Concerning the covenant of grace, or the new covenant, that all
sincere Christians are under, and by which at last they shall be
judged, let me further say—All mankind would have been eternally
lost, and God had lost all the glory of his mercy forever, had he not,
of his own free grace and mercy, made a new covenant with sinful
man.
The fountain from whence this new covenant flows, is the grace of
God: Gen. 17:22, "I will make my covenant." This covenant is called a
covenant of grace, because it flows from the mere grace and mercy of
God. There was nothing outside of God, nor anything in God, but his
mere mercy and grace, which moved him to enter into covenant with
poor sinners, who were miserable, who were loathsome, and polluted
in their blood, and who had broken the covenant of their God, and
were actually in arms against him! [Isaiah 41:1-2; Eph. 1:5-7, and 2:5,
7-8; 2 Sam. 7:21; Romans 9:18, 23; Jer. 32:38-41; Ezek. 36:25-27,
and 16:1-10. Surely if a woman commit adultery, it is a mere act of
favor if her husband accept of her again, Jer. 3:7. The application is
easy.] This must needs be of mere favor and love, for God to enter
into covenant with man, when he lay wallowing in his blood, and no
eye pitied him, no, not even his own. As there was nothing in fallen
man to draw God's favor or affection towards him; just so—there was
everything in fallen man which might justly provoke God's wrath and
indignation against him; and therefore it must be a very high act of
favor and grace, for the great, the glorious, the holy, the wise, and the
all-sufficient God, to enter into covenant with such a forlorn creature
as fallen man was. Nothing but free grace was the foundation of the
covenant of grace with poor sinners. Now let us seriously mind how
this covenant of grace, or this new covenant, runs both in the Old
and in the New Testament:
"The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will
not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my
covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "This
is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,"
declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on
their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying,
'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of
them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:31-
Now let us see how Paul explains this new covenant. "But the
ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of
which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on
better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first
covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God
found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares
the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made
with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out
of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I
turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will
make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will
put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be
their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his
neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they
will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will
forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By
calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and
what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." Hebrews 8:6-13.
This is the substance of the new covenant; and thus the Lord did
fore-promise it by Jeremiah, and afterwards expounded it by Paul.
Some small difference there is in their words, but the sense is one
and the same. Now this covenant is styled the new covenant, because
it is to continue new, and never to wax old or wear away, so long as
this world shall continue. Neither do the Holy Scriptures anywhere
reveal another covenant, which shall follow this covenant. [Where
then is the fire of purgatory, and that popish distinction of the fault
and the punishment? As for the fiction of purgatory, it deserves
rather to be hissed at, than by arguments refuted. And to punish sin
in purgatory, as popish doctors teach, what is this, but to call sin to
mind and memory, to view and sight, to reckoning and account?
which is contrary to the doctrine of the new covenant.]
If any covenant should follow this, it must be either a covenant of
works, or a covenant of grace. It cannot be a covenant of works, for
that would bring us all under a curse, and make our condition utterly
desperate. Nor can it be a covenant of grace, because more grace
cannot be shown in any other covenant than in this. Here is all grace
and all mercy, here is Jesus Christ with all his righteousness,
mediatorship, merits, purchase. This covenant is so full, so ample, so
large, so perfect, so complete, and is every way so accommodated to
the condition of lost sinners—that nothing can be altered, nor added,
nor mended. Therefore it must needs be the last covenant, that ever
God will make with man. "This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I
will write them on their minds. Their sins and lawless acts I will
remember no more." Hebrews 10:16-17.
Romans 11:26, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, who shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob." The person delivering is Christ,
described here by his office and by his original; his office, the
deliverer; the original word which Paul uses, signifies delivering by a
strong hand, to rescue by force, as David delivered the lamb out of
the lion's paw; ver. 27, "For this is my covenant unto them, when I
shall take away their sin." This covenant concerning the pardon of
believers' sins, and their deliverance by Christ, God will certainly
make good to his people.
Now from the covenant of grace, or the new covenant that God has
made with sincere Christians, a believer may form up this eighth plea
to these ten scriptures, [Eccles. 11:9, and 12:14; Mat. 12:14, and
18:23; Luke 16:2; Romans 14:10 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27, and 13:17; 1
Pet. 4:5.] which refer to the great day of account, or to a man's
particular account, namely, O blessed God, you have, in the covenant
of grace, by which I must be tried, freely and fully engaged yourself
that you will pardon my iniquities, and remember my sins no more;
so runs the new covenant: Jer. 31:34, "I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more." Heb. 8:12, "I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more." Heb. 10:17, "Their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more." Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your
sins." Ezek. 18:22, "All his transgressions that he has committed,
they shall not be mentioned unto him." Jer. 50:20, "In those days,
says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there
shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for
I will pardon them whom I reserve."
Now, O holy God, I cannot but observe that in the new covenant you
have made such necessary, choice, absolute, and blessed provision
for your poor people, that no sin can disannul the covenant, or make
a final separation between you and your covenant-people. [The new
covenant can never be broken. 2 Chron. 13:5; Psalm 89:34; Isaiah
50:7; 2 Sam. 23:5; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2; Isaiah 54:10.] Breaches
made in the first covenant were irreparable, but breaches made in
the new covenant are not so, because this new covenant is
established in Christ. Christ lies at the bottom of the covenant. The
new covenant is an everlasting covenant; and all the breaches that we
make upon that covenant are repaired and made up by the blood and
intercession of dear Jesus. Every jar does not break the marriage
covenant between husband and wife; no more does every sin break
the new covenant that is between God and our souls. Every breach of
peace with God, is not a breach of covenant with God. That free, that
rich, that infinite, that sovereign, and that glorious grace of God,
which shines in the covenant of grace, tells us that our eternal estates
shall never be judged by a covenant of works; and that the lack of an
absolute perfection shall never damn a believing soul; and that the
obedience that God requires at our hands is not a legal obedience,
but an evangelical obedience.
So long as a Christian does not renounce his covenant with God, so
long as he does not willfully, wickedly, and habitually break the bond
of the covenant; the main, the substance, of the covenant is not yet
broken, though some articles of the covenant may be violated. Just as
among men, there be some trespasses against some particular
clauses in covenants, which, though they be violated, yet the whole
covenant is not forfeited; it is so here between God and his people.