Part 15
while he was on the cross, saying, "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do," Luke 23:34.
Instructive Lessons from the Consideration of the Singular Condition
of the Covenant of Grace
Inf. 1. The redemption of the soul is precious. Is it not? Look to the price of the purchase, the ransom of souls, as stated in the covenant; the holy birth, righteous life, and satisfactory death of the Son of God; and ye must conclude it to be a costly redemption. Turn hither your eyes, (1.) Ye who value not your own souls. See here the worth of those souls ye sell for a thing of nought, for satisfying a corrupt passion, a pang of lust of one sort or another. Costly was the gathering of what ye thus throw away. Ye let them go at a very low price; but Christ could not have one of them at the hand of justice, but at the price of his precious blood. Ye cannot forego the vanities of a present world for them, nor spend a serious day or hour about them; but he, after a life-time of sorrows underwent a most bitter death for them. What think ye? Was he inconsiderate and too liberal in his making such a bargain for the redemption of souls? He was infinitely just, who proposed the condition; and he was infinitely wise, who went in to it. He was a Father that exacted this ransom for souls; and he was his own Son that paid it. Be ashamed and blush, to make so low an estimate of those souls, which Heaven set such a high price on. (2.) Ye who have cheap thoughts of the pardom of sin, and of salvation, correct your mistake here. You fearlessly run on in sin, thinking all may soon be set to rights again, with a God forgive me, have mercy on my soul; so as you may leap out of Delilah's lap into Abraham's bosom. O fearful infatuation! Is the mean and low birth, the sorrowful life, and the bitter death of Jesus the Son of God, not
sufficient to give men a just and honourable notion of the pardon of sin? Look into the condition of the covenant for pardon, written in the blood of the Lamb of God, and learn the value a just God puts upon his pardons and salvation. See, O sinner, that it is not words, but deeds; not promises and resolves to do better, but perfection of holiness and obedience; not drawing of sighs and shedding of tears, but shedding of blood; and not thy blood neither, but blood of infinite value, that could procure the pardon of sin, and salvation. And if thou have not upon thee by faith all that righteousness Christ fulfilled, to be presented unto God for a pardon, thou shalt never obtain it. Particularly, ye are apt to think light of the sin ye were born in, and the corruption cleaving to your nature; but know, that God does not think light of these. It behoved to be an article of the covenant, that Christ should be born holy, and retain the holiness of human nature in him to the end; else the unholy birth and corrupt nature we derived from Adam, would have staked us all down eternally under the curse. (3.) Ye that have mean thoughts of the holy law, rectify your dangerous mistake by the help of this glass. Ye make no bones of transgressing its commands; ye neglect and despise its curse: as it is a law, ye shew not so much regard to it as to the laws of men; and as it is a covenant, ye look upon it as out of date, being in no concern how it may be satisfied for you. And shall the honour of the holy law lie in the dust, in your case? Rather than it should so lie in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, God would have them laid in ashes with fire and brimstone. Yea, for vindicating the honour of the law, this whole world shall be burnt to ashes, and all the unholy cast out from the presence of the Lord for ever. And in the case of them that are saved, God would have the curse of the law executed upon his own Son as their Surety, and the commands of it perfectly obeyed in all points by him in their name. Sure, if you are possessed of any share herein, it will be great and honourable in your sight, as it is in the sight of God.
Inf. 2. The law is no loser, in that life and salvation are bestowed on believers in Christ. It is so far from being made void through faith, that it is established thereby, as the apostle witnesseth, Rom. 3:31. God would never dispense his pardons at the expence of the honour of his law; nor declare one righteous, without the righteousness of the law being fulfilled, either by him, or in him by another, Rom. 8:4. Wherefore, life and salvation being designed for the elect, the law's whole accounts of all it had to charge on them for life, were taken in; and an infallible method was laid down for clearing them, the burden of the payment being transferred on Christ their surety. By this exchange of persons the law had no loss. Nay, it was more for the honour of the law, that he was made under it, and satisfied it, in virtue of the claim it had upon him by the second covenant, than if they, being mere creatures, had satisfied it in all points. But the truth is, they being sinners, could never by any means have fully satisfied it; though it had eternally pursued them and exacted of them, it would never have had enough from them; whereas now, by Christ's taking their debt on him, it was paid to the utmost farthing.
Inf. 3. Faith hath a broad and firm bottom to stand on before the Lord. The believer hath a strong plea for life and salvation, which cannot miscarry; namely, the condition of the covenant fulfilled by Jesus Christ, even all righteousness: Having therefore, brethren, boldnesss to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus—let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith," Heb. 10:19–22. The broken boards of uncovenanted mercy, and men's own works, which presumption fixeth upon, cannot but fail, since the law admits no life for a sinner on these grounds. But forasmuch as there a gift of Christ and his righteousness proclaimed in the gospel is by the authority of heaven, he who by faith receiveth that gift, and makes the same his only plea before the Lord, cannot miss of salvation: Rom. 5:17, "They which receive (Gr. the) abundance of grace, and of the gift of
righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ;" where the abundance mentioned, relates not to different degrees of the grace or gift, but to the offence, as appears from ver. 20: As if he had said, "Who receive the grace and gift of righteousness which abound beyond Adam's offence saving them out of the gulf of ruin it plunged them into." Faith uniting a sinner to Christ the head of the second covenant, makes him partaker of Christ's righteousness, as really as ever his covenant-relation to Adam made him partaker of his guilt. So having all that Christ was, did, or suffered, for fulfilling the condition of the second covenant, to plead for life and salvation; it is not possible the claim can miscarry, justice as well as mercy befriending the plea of faith, as a righteous thing with God, 2 Thess. 1:6, 7.
Inf. 4. lastly, All who are in Christ the head of the covenant of grace, and so brought into it personally, are inherently righteous, or holy. For like as though Adam alone did personally break the first covenant by the all-ruining offence, yet they to whom his guilt is imputed, do thereupon become inherently sinful, through the corruption of nature conveyed to them from him; so, howbeit, Christ alone did perform the condition of the second covenant, yet those to whom his righteousness is imputed, do thereupon become inherently righteous, through inherent grace communicated to them from him by the Spirit. So teacheth the apostle in the forecited passage, Rom. 5:17, "For if by one man's offence, death reigned by one; much more they which receive the abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." How did death reign by Adam's offence? Not only in point of guilt, whereby his posterity were bound over to destruction; but also in point of their being dead to all good, dead in trespasses and sins: therefore the receivers of the gift of righteousness must thereby be brought to
reign in life, not only legally in justification, but also morally in sanctification, begun here, and perfected hereafter.
The True Character of Those Who are Personally and Savingly Interested by
Faith in the Covenant of Grace
Char. 1. They are all born again, and so made partakers of a new and holy nature: 2 Cor. 5:17, "Therefore," (namely, since he died for all, ver. 15,) "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." Christ's being born holy, secured a holy new birth to them in him: so they are all new creatures, "created in Christ Jesus unto good works," Eph. 2:10; new made in Christ, as sure as they were marred in Adam. And how can it be otherwise? Can a man be ingrafted in the true vine, and not partake of the sap and juice of the stock, that is, the Spirit and grace of Christ? No, surely: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," Rom. 8:9. Or, can the Spirit and grace of Christ be in any, and yet no change made on their nature, but it still remain unrenewed? No, indeed: "If Christ be in you, the body is dead, because of sin; but the Spirit is life, because of righteousness," ver. 10. Consider this, ye who pretend to rely on the righteousness of Christ, but are very easy in this point, whether ye are born again, or not; whether there is a holy nature derived from Christ to you, or not. Believe it, sirs, if it be not so, ye have no saving interest, part, nor lot in Christ's righteousness. Ye may on as good grounds pretend, that howbeit the guilt of Adam's sin was imputed to you, yet there was no corrupt nature derived from him to you; as pretend, that Christ's righteousness is imputed to you, while yet ye are not born again, your nature is not changed, by the communication of sanctifying grace from Christ, unto you. Deceive not yourselves; ye must be
regenerate, else ye will perish: for "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," 1 John 3:3.
Char. 2. They are all righteous and holy in their lives; Isa. 60:21, "Thy people also shall be all righteous." Chap. 62:12, "And they shall call them the holy people." How did ungodliness, unrighteousness, and profanity, enter into the world, the which are now overflowing all banks? Was it not by one man, by Adam's sin, which is imputed to all mankind? Rom. 5:12. Then be sure, if the second Adam's righteousness be imputed to you, holiness of life will come along with it: 1 Cor. 6:11, "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified." Does sanctification then go before justification? No: but it hath a necessary dependence on justification, and evidenceth it to the world, and to one's own conscience. Unjustified, un sanctified; and unsanctified, unjustified. Did our blessed Saviour come into the world, and in our nature lead a holy righteous life, that men might live as they list? Nay, quite the contrary; even that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life," Luke 1:74, 75. If then Christ lived for you, assuredly ye shall live for him. Consider this, ye who are far from righteousness of life, living in the neglect of the duties either of the first or second table, or both. Your ungodly and unrighteous life declares you to be yet in your sins, under the curse, and far from righteousness imputed. There is indeed a righteousness of Christ; but alas! it is not upon you: ye are naked for all it, and stand exposed to revenging wrath.
Char. 3. The old man is crucified in them all: Gal. 5:24, "They that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." Therefore I say to you in the words of the apostle, Rom. 8:13, "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." When our Saviour hung on the
cross, he hung there as representative of all that are his, with all their sins on him by imputation, that the body of sin might be destroyed in his sufferings for it, Rom. 6:6. He hung there as the efficient meritorious cause of their mortification, that by his death they might destroy the power of death in them; which appears not in any thing more, than in living lusts preying on their souls: Hos. 13:14, "I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues." See Tit. 2:14; Rom. 6:6, 7; Eph. 5:25, 26. And he hung there as the exemplary cause of their mortification; so that all who are his, and have sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, are likewise crucified and die to sin, after the similitude of his crucifixion and death; being crucified with him, Gal. 2:20; planted together (with him in the likeness of his death, Rom. 6:5; the fellowship of his sufferings making them conformable unto his death, Phil. 3:10. Will ye then live after the flesh, not wrestling against, but fulfilling the lusts thereof; living in sin and to sin, instead of being mortified to it; and yet pretend that the satisfaction of Christ is imputed to you for righteousness? Truly you may on as good grounds say, that the blood of Christ shed for you, hath proven ineffectual; and that he hath so far missed of his aim and design in suffering for you; or that he died for you, that you might live in your sin without danger. These would make a blasphemous profession. Accordingly, your presumptuous sinful life and practice, is a course of practical blasphemy against the Son of God, making him the minister of sin; and evidenceth your pretensions to the imputation of his satisfaction to be altogether vain. Nay, of a truth, if ye have any saving interest in the death of Christ, your old man is crucified with him, Rom. 6:6; and ye are dead with him, ver, 8; dead with him to sin, to the world, and to the law.
(1.) If ye have a saving interest in Christ's death, ye are dead with him to sin: Rom. 6:10, "In that he died, he died unto sin once." Ver. 11, "Likewise also reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin."
While our Lord Jesus lived in the world, the sins of all the elect, as to the guilt of them, hung about him, and made him a "man of sorrows" all along; when he was upon the cross, they wrought upon him most furiously, stinging him to the very soul, till they killed him, and got him laid in the grave. Then they had done their utmost against him, they could do no more. So dying for sin, he died unto it, he was delivered from it: and in his resurrection he shook them all off, as Paul shook the viper off his hand into the fire, and felt no harm; rising out of the grave, even as he will appear the second time, without sin. Wherefore, if ye do indeed know the fellowship of his sufferings, if you really have fellowship with him in them, death will have made its way from Christ the head unto you as his members; his death unto sin cannot miss to work your death unto it also. If you are dead indeed with Christ, as ingrafted into him, sin hath got its death's wounds in you; the bond that knit your hearts and your lusts together, is loosed; and ye will be shaking off the viperous brood of them into the fire, in the daily practice of mortification. But if ye are not dead, but still living unto sin, it is an infallible evidence ye are none of the members of Christ: Rom. 6:2, "How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Ver. 3, "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death?"
(2.) If ye have a saving interest in Christ's death, ye are dead with him to the world: Col. 3:1, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." Ver. 3, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." The world hated him, and used him very unkindly while he was in it; and when he died he parted with it for good and all, John 17:11, "Now I am no more in the world—I come to thee." The quietest lodging that ever the world allowed him in it, was a grave: and coming out from thence, he never slept another night in it. He tarried indeed forty days in it after that; as many days as the
Israelites' years in the wilderness; the former au exemplar, the latter a type of the Christian life, from conversion till the removal into the other world; nevertheless he was dead to the world still; he conversed now and then with his own, but no more with the world. Now, if ye are his, ye are dead with him unto the world too, in virtue of his death; being crucified unto it, Gal. 6:14. Union with Christ by faith lays sinners down in death, in Christ's grave; and so separates between them and the world for ever: and withal, it raiseth them up again with Christ into a quite new manner of life; no more that manner of life which they lived before their union with him, than that which Christ lived after his resurrection, was the manner of life he lived before his death: Rom. 6:4, "We are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." If your title to heaven is indeed settled, by your receiving tire atonement, now is your forty days before your ascension into it now are ye no more of the world, although you be in it: your treasure and heart are no more there. Ye are no more indwellers in it, as natives: but travelling through it, as "strangers, coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the beloved," Cant. 3:5.
(3.) Lastly, If ye have a saving interest in Christ's death, ye are dead with him to the law also: Gal. 2:19, "I through the law am dead to the law." Ver. 20, "I am crucified with Christ." Our Lord Jesus took on our nature to satisfy the law therein: the whole course of his life was a course of obedience to it, for life and salvation to us; and he suffered to satisfy it in what of that kind it had to demand, for that effect: in a word, he was born to the law, he lived to the law, and he died to the law; namely, to clear accounts with it, to satisfy it fully, and get life and salvation for us with its good leave. He was "made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law," Gal. 4:4, 5. And when once it fell upon him, it never left exacting of him, till it
had got the utmost farthing, and he was quite free with it, as dead to it, Rom. 7:4. In token whereof he got up the bond, blotted it out, yea, rent it in pieces, nailing it to his cross, Col. 2:14. Now, Christ became dead to it, dying to it in his death on the cross: so that the holiness and righteousness of the man Christ did thereafter no more run in the channel in which it had run before, namely, from the womb to his grave; that is to say, it was no more, and shall be no more for ever, obedience performed to the law for life and salvation; these having been completely gained and secured by the obedience he gave from the womb to the grave. "Wherefore, my brethren," if ye be his, "ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ," which became dead to it on the cross, Rom. 7:4. As ye will not be libertines in your life and practice, being dead to sin and the world with Christ; so ye will not be legalists in your life and practice neither, being also dead with him to the law as a covenant of works. Your obedience will run in another channel than it did before your union with Christ, even in the channel of the gospel. Ye will serve in newness of spirit, in faith and love. The frowns of a merciful Father will be a terror to you to frighten you from sin; love and gratitude will prompt yon to obedience. The grieving of the Spirit of a Saviour will be a spring of sorrow to you; and his atoning blood and perfect righteousness will be the spring-head of all your comfort before the Lord; your good works but streams thereof, as they evidence your saving interest in these, are accepted through them, and glorify God your Saviour. Ye will not continue to serve in the oldness of the letter, as before; at what time the law was the spring of all the obedience ye performed; fear of the punishment of hell for your sins, and hope of the reward of heaven's happiness for your duties, being the weights that made you go, though for all them you often stopped; your sorrows springing from your ill works, under the influence of the law allenarly; and your comforts from your good works, under the same influence; ye being alive to the law and dead to Christ. Rom. 7:6, "But
now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." If by faith you wholly rely on Christ's righteousness, the holiness of his nature, the righteousness of his life, and his satisfaction for sin, how is it possible but ye must be dead to the law? for the law is not of faith, Gal. 3:12. But if you perform your obedience for life and salvation, looking for acceptance with God on the account of your works, you go in a way directly opposite to the way of faith, and either altogether reject Christ's satisfying of the law, or else impute imperfection unto his payment of the bond. And "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace," Gal. 5:4.
Promises Peculiar to Christ Made in the
Covenant of Grace
First, Our Lord Jesus had a promise of assistance in his work: Psalm 89:21, "Mine arm shall strengthen him." Having undertaken the work of our redemption, he had his Father's promise, that when it came to the setting to, he would strengthen and uphold him in going through with it, Isa. 42:1–4. And in the faith of this covenanted assistance, he went through the hardest pieces thereof, chap. 50:6, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting." Ver. 7, "For the Lord God will help me." Accordingly, in his heaviness in the garden, "there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him," Luke 22:43. And this promised assistance was the token of his Father's good pleasure in, and liking of the work, while it was adoing.
Secondly, He had a promise of the acceptance of his work when once done; of the acceptance thereof, as a full discharge and performance of the condition of the covenant, intitling him to the promised reward. Hence in view of the sure performance of his work the acceptance thereof was, at his baptism, proclaimed by "a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Matth. 3:17. And it was renewed at his transfiguration, a little before his passion, chap. 17:5. Unto this promise of acceptance belongs the promise of his resurrection, and of his justification.
1. The promise of his resurrection from the dead: Psalm 16:10, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption;" which is expounded of the resurrection of Christ,
Acts 2:31. God, by raising Christ from the dead, did in effect declare his acceptance of the work by him performed. It evidenced the debt to be fully cleared, that he who laid him up in the prison of the grave, did bring him out of it again; sending his angel to "roll away the stone from the door" of it, and so to dismiss him legally. For thus it was agreed in the covenant, that as Christ should give himself to the death, for the satisfaction of justice: so the Father should bring him again from the dead, in respect of that satisfaction made by his blood, Heb. 13:20.
2. The promise of his justification: Isa. 1:8. "He is near that justifieth me." The accomplishment of which is observed by the apostle, 1 Tim. 3:16, "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit." Our Lord Jesus Christ having no personal sins to be pardoned, needed no personal justification; but as he was the surety of the elect, and had the iniquities of them all laid on him, it was provided in the covenant as just, that, the work he had undertaken being performed, he should have an official justification. Having paid the debt, he had by promise a full and ample discharge thereof, under the hand and seal of heaven. And here lies the great security of his people against the law's demand of satisfaction from them.
Lastly, He had a promise of a glorious reward to be conferred on him, as a proper merit of his work done, there was a joy set before him in the promise, for which he endured the cross, despising the shame, Heb. 12:2. Never was there such a work wrought; and never was there such a reward promised. Unto it there belongs a fivefold promise.
1. The promise of a new kind of interest in God, as his God and and Father: Psalm 89:26. "He shall cry unto me, thou art my Father, my God." Our Lord Jesus had God to his Father, by eternal birth-right:
but there was a new relation constituted between God and Christ as the second Adam, head of the covenant, founded upon his undertaking and fulfilling the covenant condition; whereby he became heir of God as his heritage, according to that of the apostle, Rom. 8:17, "Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ;" namely, with Christ as the primary heir. For by his obedience unto death, he purchased the enjoyment of God as a God and Father. I do not say, he purchased it for himself; the man Christ needed not to do that, forasmuch as he had it, in virtue of the personal union of the two natures: but he purchased it for sinners, who had lost all saving interest in God, but could not be happy without it.
2. The promise of a glorious exaltation, to be the Father's honorary servant, prime minister of heaven, as great administrator of the covenant: Isa. 52:13, "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high." Chap. 49:8. "I will give thee for a covenant of the people." In fulfilling the condition of the covenant, he took upon him the form of a bond-servant, and humbled himself even unto the death of the cross: wherefore God also, according to the promise of the covenant, hath highly exalted him to the prime ministry of heaven, and given him a name as great administrator of the covenant, which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, Phil. 2:7. 8, 9, 10. The nature, vast extent, and importance of this promise, will afterwards be unfolded, when we come to treat of the administration of the covenant, in virtue thereof put in the Mediator's hand.
3. The promise of a seed and offspring, numerous as the stars of heaven: Isa. 53:10, "He shall see his seed." Gen. 15:5, "So shall thy seed be;" namely, "as the stars of the sky in multitude," Heb. 11:12: even the whole multitude of the elect, all of them to live by his death, and to bear his image, as a child doth that of his father. He consented
to suffer the pangs of death; but they were travailing pains, to issue in a numerous birth. He was as a corn of wheat to fall into the ground, and die; but the promise secured to him, on that condition, his bringing forth much fruit, John 12:24. It is in pursuance of the accomplishment of this promise, the gospel continues to be preached from age to age; forasmuch as, in virtue thereof, "as many as are ordained to eternal life, shall believe."
4. The promise of his inheriting all things, as primary heir; Psalm 89:27, "I will make him my first-born." So the apostle says, God hath appointed him heir of all things, Heb. 1:2. And Christ himself declares his being put in possession accordingly, Matt. 11:27, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father." Thus he hath by promise suitable treasures for the supporting of the dignity conferred on him. But of this also more afterwards.
5. Lastly, The promise of victory and dominion over all his, and his people's enemies: Psalm 89:23, "I will beat down his foes before his face." He was to encounter with Satan, sin, and death, in the quarrel of the designed heirs of glory; and no sooner was he engaged against them, but the wicked world of men began a war with him too: but he had his Father's promise, for victory and dominion over them all: that, howbeit he should get the first fall, and die in the battle, yet his death should be the destruction of Satan's dominion, sin's power, and death's bands over his people; and that whosoever should go about to support that tottering interest, should fall under him: Psalm 110:1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
Promises of the Covenant of Grace to
God's Elect while yet in their State of
Rebellion Against Him
I. THE PROMISE OF PRESERVATION
The promise of eternal life to the elect, in the covenant, comprehends a promise of their preservation, till the happy moment of their spiritual marriage with Jesus Christ, wherein they shall be settled in a state of grace: Ezek. 16:6, "And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live." Heb. "I said to thee, Live in thy blood;" as several approven versions do read it. In this illustrious passage of scripture is shewed, under the similitude of an exposed or outcast infant, the natural state and wretched condition in which God found Israel, and finds all the elect; the former being a type of the latter. There is a twofold passing by this wretched out-cast, and these at two very distant times, intimated by the Holy Ghost. The first, on the day she was born and cast out, ver. 4, 5, 6. The second, after she was grown, and become marriageable; at what time she was actually married, vers. 7, 8. The former refers to the time of the elect's coming into the world in their natural state, not only as born into it, but as beginning to act in it as rational creatures; the latter, to the time prefixed in the eternal purpose, when, by means of the law in the hands of the spirit of bondage, their breasts, as it were, are fashioned, in the work of conviction; upon which ensues their spiritual marriage with Christ. But how is the out-cast preserved in the interval, that she perisheth not in her wretched condition? Why; though no hand was laid upon her, yet a word was spoken, which secured her life in a case naturally deadly. At the first passing by her, in the day she was born and cast out, God said to her, "Live in thy blood:" that is, "Notwithstanding that thou art lying in the open field, in thy blood, thy navel not dressed, so that, according to the course of nature, thy blood and
spirits must quickly fail, and this thy birthday must be thy dying-day; yet I say unto thee, Live: thou shalt not die in that condition, but grow up in it, being preserved till the happy moment of the designed marriage." And this is the promise of the elect's preservation in their natural state. And it hath two great branches; one respecting their natural life; another respecting their spiritual death. The
First is a promise of the continuation of their natural life, till such time as they be made partakers of life in Christ Jesus. God has said it; they shall live, though in the blood of their natural state. So it is not possible they should die before that time, whatever dangers they are brought into; even though a thousand should fall at their side, and ten thousand at their right hand; for, by the promise of the covenant, there is an unseen guard about them, to defend them. It is in virtue hereof, that all along during the time they are in that state, they are preserved, whether in the womb, or coming out of it, or in all the dangers of infancy, childhood, youth, or whatsoever age they arrive at therein. This is it that, so long as they are unconverted, doth so often bring them back from the gates of death; returning them in safety, when either by diseases, or other accidents, they are past hope in their own eyes, and in the eyes of friends and physicians. Though the elect thief was, in his natural state, nailed to the cross; yet death had no power to come at him, so as to separate his soul from his body, till such time as he was once united to Christ by faith, and made partaker of a new life in him. The
Second is a promise of keeping the grave-stone from off them in their spiritual death. The grave-stone is the sin against the Holy Ghost, the unpardonable sin; which, on whomsoever it is laid, makes their case, from that moment, irrecoverable, that thenceforth they can never rise from spiritual death to life: Mark 3:29, "He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never forgiveness." But although the
elect in their natural state, being dead in sin as well as others, may, through the activity of reigning and raging lusts, so rot in their graves, as to be most abominable in the eyes of God and all good men; yet, because of the promise of the covenant, it is not possible that that grave-stone should be laid on them. There is an invisible guard set on their souls, as well as on their bodies: and so it is infallibly prevented, as may be learned from that expression of our Saviour, Matt. 24:24, "Insomuch that (if it were possible) they shall deceive the very elect." While they are Satan's captives, he may drive them to a prodigious pitch of wickedness. So did he with Manasseh, and Paul: but, as far as he had carried them, he could not carry them forward that step.
This promise of the elect's preservation, as it is with the rest founded on the obedience and death of Christ; whereby eternal life was purchased for them, and consequently these benefits in particular, failing which they would be ruined for ever: so it is akin to, and seems to be grafted upon the promise of assistance made to Christ in the covenant; by which a divine support was insured to him, during all the time the sins of the elect, and the wrath of God for them, should lie upon him. And at this rate, the case of the head, and of the members, was jointly provided for in the covenant
II. THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT
THE promise of eternal life to the elect, comprehends also a promise of the Spirit of life to be communicated to them, and each one of them, at the nick of time, prefixed in their cases respectively, in the eternal council; that is, the time appointed to be the time of love, the dawning of the day of grace to them, however long and dark their night may be. This promise is found, Isa. 44:3, "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed." Ezek. 36:27, "I will put my Spirit within you." The
elect of God being, even as the rest of mankind, dead in sin, through the breach of the first covenant, could not be recovered, but through a communication of the Spirit of life to them: but that Spirit they could not have from an unatoned God. Wherefore, in the covenant, Christ undertook to fulfil all righteousness in their name, thereby to purchase the Spirit for them; upon which was made the promise of the Spirit, the leading fruit of Christ's purchase; called therefore the Father's promise by way of eminency, Luke 24:49. In token hereof the great outpouring of the Spirit was at Christ's ascension; when he, as our great High Priest, carried in the blood of his sacrifice into the most holy place not made with hands, Acts 2. For as the fire which was set to the incence on the golden altar, the altar of incense was brought from off the brazen altar, the altar of burnt-offering in the court of the temple; so the Spirit which causeth dead sinners to live, issueth from the cross of Christ, who suffered without the gate.
Now, of the promise of the Spirit there are two chief branches; namely, the promise of spiritual moral life, and the promise of faith.
1. The promise of spiritual moral life, in virtue whereof the soul morally dead in sin, is raised to life again, through the Spirit of life communicated unto it from heaven. This is the beginning, the very first of the eternal life itself promised in the covenant. It is the lighting of the sacred lamp of spiritual life in the soul, which can never be extinguished again, but burns for evermore thereafter. This promise we have, Isa. 26:19, "Thy dead men shall live." And it belongs to the promise of the Spirit; as appears from Ezek. 37:14. "And shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live."
The effect of it is the quickening of the dead soul, by the Spirit of Christ passively received: Eph. 2:5, "When we were dead in sins (God, ver. 4.) hath quickened us." This is the same with the renewing
in effectual calling, whereby we are enabled to embrace Jesus Christ, mentioned in our Shorter Catechism on that question. And it is fitly called by some divines, the first regeneration, agreeable to the style of the holy Scripture: John 1:12, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" ver. 13. "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Sinners in their natural state lie dead, lifeless, and moveless; they can no more believe in Christ, nor repent, than a dead man can speak or walk: but, in virtue of the promise, the Spirit of life from Christ Jesus, at the time appointed, enters into the dead soul, and quickens it; so that it is no more morally dead, but alive, having new spiritual powers put into it, that wore lost by Adam's fall.
2. The other chief branch of the promise of the Spirit, is the promise of faith; to wit, that Christ's spiritual seed shall believe in him, come unto him, and receive him, by faith: Psalm 110:3, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power;" and Psalm 22:31, "They shall come." God hath promised, that, upon the shedding of the blood of his Son, for the satisfaction of justice, there shall spring up in the earth, after that costly watering, a plentiful seed, to the satisfying of his soul, Isa. 53:10. And therefore, whoever they be that believe not, all those who were represented in the covenant, shall infallibly be brought to believe, as our Lord himself upon the credit of this promise, doth declare, John 6:37, "All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me." Now, this also belongs to the promise of the Spirit; who is therefore called the Spirit of faith, 2 Cor. 4:13, as being the principal efficient cause thereof, Zech. 12:10.
The effect of this promise is actual believing, produced by the quickening Spirit in the soul, immediately out of the spiritual life given to it by the communication of himself thereto: John 5:25, "The
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God;" compared with chap. 1:12, 13; 2 Cor. 4:13. As receiving Christ passively, the sinner that was spiritually dead, is quickened; so being quickened, he receives Christ actively. Christ comes into the dead soul by his Spirit: and so he is passively received; even as one, having a power to raise the dead, coming into a house, where there is none but a dead man; none to open the door to him, none to desire him to come in, nor to welcome him. But Christ being thus received, or come in, the dead soul is quickened, and by faith embraceth him; even as the restorer of the dead man to life, would immediately be embraced by him, and receive a thousand welcomes from him, who had heard his voice and lived. When Christ, in the womb of his mother, entered into the house of Zacharias, and she saluted Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist, he, the babe in Elizabeth's womb, leaped as at the entrance of life: so doth the soul, in actual believing, at Christ's coming into it by his Spirit. As God breathed into the first man the breath of life, and he became a living soul, who was before but a lifeless piece of fair earth; that is, God put a spirit, a soul, into his body, which immediately showed in the man's, breathing at his nostrils: so Jesus Christ, in the time of loves, puts his Spirit into the dead soul, which immediately shews itself alive, by believing, receiving and embracing him, known and discerned in his transcendent glory. And thus the union betwixt Christ and the soul is completed; Christ first apprehending the soul by his Spirit; and then the soul thus apprehended and quickened, apprehending him again in the promise of the gospel by faith.
Now, the promise of the Spirit, in both branches thereof, is granted upon the promise of a resurrection from the dead, made to Christ; and it is so interwoven therewith, that there is no separating of them. The promise of the resurrection, like the oil on Aaron's head, runs down to the skirts of his garments, in the promise of quickening his
members too. Herein the Scripture is very plain, Isa. 26:19, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise." Eph. 2:5, "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." Our Lord Jesus, in the eternal covenant, became the head of a dead body, to wit, of the body of elect sinners dead in sin; and that to the end he might restore it to life. And being legally united with that body, that so death might have access to spread itself from it unto him in due time, he had the promise of a resurrection, both for himself and his members, made unto him. The appointed time being come, death drew together its whole forces, and made an attack upon the head of the body, which alone remained alive. It stung him to the heart upon the cross, and laid him too in the dust of death: and so it had them all dead together, head and members. Thus the condition of the covenant was fulfilled. Now, the promise comes next, in its turn to be fulfilled, particularly the promise of a resurrection: namely, that, death having exhausted all its force and vigour on the head, he should be raised again from the dead; and that as death had spread itself from the members into the head, so life, in its turn, should spread itself from the head into the members, they together with his dead body arising. It was in virtue hereof, that the spirit or soul that animated Christ's body, and which he yielded up upon the cross, (Matth. 17:25,) shewed by his breathing out his last there, (Luke 23:46, Gr.) was returned again into his blessed body; whereupon he came forth out of the grave. And it is in virtue of the same, that the Spirit of life returns into the dead souls of the elect again; upon which they live and believe. The time of the return of the Spirit, both into the head and into the members, was prefixed in the covenant, respectively; so that as it was not possible Christ should be held in the grave after three days; even so it is not possible that the elect should be held in the bonds of spiritual death, after the time prefixed for their delivery: Hos. 6:2, "After two
days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight."
And thus the promise of eternal life to the elect works in this dark period of their days; which dark period ends here. It appears now, and runs above ground ever after.
Promises of the Covenant of Grace to God's Elect, from the Time of Actually
Embracing Christ Till Death
I. THE PROMISE OF JUSTIFICATION
THE promise of eternal life to the elect, comprehends the promise of justification, to be conferred on them, and each one of them, being united to Christ through the Spirit. This is found Isa. 53:11, "By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many," Chap. 45:15, "In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified." It is the leading promise of this period: and the effect of the accomplishment thereof, is, that the soul, legally dead under the sentence of the law, or curse of the broken covenant of works, is caused to live again accordingly; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith," Rom. 1:17. And this is the beginning of that life which is received from Christ by faith, and is mentioned John 5:40, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Chap. 6:57, "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me." There is a life received from Christ before faith, whereby one is enabled to believe; of which we have already spoken: and there is a life received from Christ through faith, according to John 20:31, "That believing ye might have life through his name." And this last is, according to the Scripture, eternal life too: chap. 5:24, "He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
The elect of God, lying under the breach of the first covenant, were dead in law, as being under the curse. They could not be restored to life in the eye of the law, but upon the fulfilling of the righteousness of the law; the which they not being able to do for themselves, Christ in the covenant undertook to do it for them; and thereupon was made the promise of their justification. This promise taking effect upon their believing, the curse is removed, and they are actually and personally justified. Thus they are restored to life in the eye of the law: which kind of life received by faith, is everlasting; forasmuch as, according to the covenant, the curse can never return upon them, for shorter or longer time: Isa. 54:9, "As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee."
Of the promise of justification there are two branches; namely, the promise of pardon, and of acceptance.
1. The promise of pardon of sin, whereby the guilt of eternal wrath is done away: Heb. 8:12, "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." The sins of the elect being, in the eternal covenant, imputed to, and laid on Christ; who becoming legally one with them, transferred their debt on himself, and undertook to pay the same; a promise was thereupon made of pardon to them, and each one of them. Now, as soon as they are mystically and really united to him by faith, by means of that union they have communion with him in his righteousness: whereupon his perfect satisfaction is imputed to them; and, upon the account of it alone, and not any deed of theirs whatsoever the free promise is accomplished, and the pardon actually bestowed on them, according to the eternal
agreement: Eph. 1:7, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."
Here is life from the dead; a pardon put into the hand of the condemned man, disarming the law of its condemning power, and death of its sting, as to him: causing him to lift up his head from off the block, and go away with acclamations of praise of the King's mercy, and his Son's merit. And it is eternal life: for all his sins past, present, and to come, are pardoned, as to the guilt of eternal wrath; a formal remission of these of the two former kinds being granted, and a not imputing of these of the latter sort, as to that guilt, being secured; as the apostle teacheth, Rom. 4:7, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." Ver. 8, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." And God will never revoke his pardons, chap. 11:29, "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."
2. The other branch of the promise of justification, is the promise of acceptance of their persons as righteous in the sight of God; according to that, Isa. 42:21, "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake." Compared with Matth. 3:17, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" and Eph. 1:6, "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." A holy righteous God, whose judgment is according to truth, cannot accept sinners as righteous, without a righteousness, even a perfect righteousness. They that are truly righteous in law, can never pass for righteous, but for unrighteous in the view of his piercing eye: "For in thy sight," says the Psalmist, Psalm 143:2, "shall no man living be justified;" to wit, "by the deeds of the law," or inherent righteousness, which is imperfect, as the apostle expounds it, Rom. 3:20. But our Lord Jesus having in the covenant undertaken to fulfill all righteousness for them, who of themselves could fulfil no righteousness; a promise was
thereupon made, to accept them as righteous upon the account of his surety-righteousness, which becomes truly theirs through faith, and that by a double right. (1.) By right of free gift received: inasmuch as Christ's righteousness being made over, in the gospel, as Heaven's free gift to sinners, the gift is by faith actually claimed and received; whence it is called the GIFT of righteousness, (Rom. 5:17,) revealed unto faith, (chap. 1:17. namely, to be believed on, and so received. (2.) By right of communion with Christ: inasmuch as sinners being united with him by faith, have thereby communion, or a common interest with him in his righteousness, Phil. 3:9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ." Upon these grounds, the holiness of Christ's nature, the righteousness of his life, and the satisfaction made by his death and sufferings, being the constituent parts of that righteousness, are, according to truth, imputed to the believer, or legally reckoned his: and, upon the account thereof precisely, he is accepted of God as righteous, being "made the righteousness of God IN HIM," 2 Cor. 5:21; the righteousness of God being "UPON all that believe," Rom. 3:22.
Here is life to the soul, righteousness unto justification of life, chap. 5:18; an everlasting righteousness, Dan. 9:24; a garment that never waxeth old, is never rent, nay, nor sullied; but always continues in its original lustre, from the moment that it is put on. Wherefore the life must needs be ETERNAL, grace must needs reign through that "righteousness unto eternal life," Rom. 5:21; for being once put on, is never put off again for one moment, in time nor eternity.
Now, the promise of justification, in both branches thereof, is grafted upon the promise of justification made to Christ. The condition of the covenant being fulfilled, the head is justified, according to the promise; and then the members in him. First, the Mediator gets up
his discharge for the whole debt; and then they, pleading it by faith for their own behoof, are discharged in their own persons.
II. THE PROMISE OF A NEW AND SAVING COVENANT-
RELATION TO GOD
The promise of eternal life to the elect, doth also comprehend the promise of a new and saying covenant-relation to God, which they, and each one of them, being justified, shall be brought into: Hos. 2:23, "I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." Dying both morally and legally, through the breach of the first covenant, they fell under a relative death too; whereby the blessed relation between God and them was dissolved: and it could not be constituted again, while they lay under the condemnatory sentence of the law. But upon Christ's undertaking, in the covenant, to bring in an everlasting righteousness, the price of the redemption of all saving benefits, this promise was made. Wherefore they being come to Christ by faith, united with him, and justified through his righteousness, which they partake of in him; God meets them there, even in Christ the appointed meeting-place; and there, with the safety of his honour, he takes them by the hand, and joins them again in a saving relation. Thus they have a relative life, according to that, Psalm 30:5, "In his favour is life." The which life is eternal: forasmuch as the relation is for ever indissoluble; the bond of the second covenant being so much surer than the bond of the first, as the second Adam's undertaking was surer than the first Adam's.
Now, of this promise there are three chief branches; namely, the promise of reconciliation, of adoption, and of God's being their God.
1. The promise of reconciliation between God and them: Ezek. 37:26, "I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting
covenant." They were by sin in a state of enmity with God; on their part, there was a real enmity against God; on God's part, a legal enmity against them, such as a judge hath against a malefactor, whom notwithstanding he may dearly love. But Jesus Christ having undertaken, in the covenant, to expiate their guilt, by the sacrifice of himself, the Father made a promise of peace and reconciliation with them thereupon. Hence we are said to be reconciled to God by the death of his Son, Rom. 5:10; inasmuch as by his death and sufferings he purchased our reconciliation, which was promised on these terms.
Now, this promise is accomplished to the justified sinner: being pardoned, he is brought into a state of peace with God, as saith the apostle, Rom. 5:1, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God." God lays down his legal enmity against him, never to be taken up again. And more than that, he takes him into a bond of friendship; so that he is not only at peace with God, but is the friend of God: James 2:23, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God."
This promise is grafted upon the promise of acceptance and justification made to Christ. For his sacrifice being accepted as well pleasing to God, and he discharged of the debt he became surety for; the reconciliation, as well as the pardon, of those united to him by faith, natively follows thereupon: 2 Cor. 5:19, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Eph. 1:6, "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." Ver. 7, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins."
2. Another branch of this promise, is the promise of their adoption into the family of God: Hos. 1:10, "It shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." And this is more than the former; as it is
more to be one's son, than to be his friend. We have before declared, how all mankind was, by the first covenant, constituted God's hired servants; and by the breach of that covenant, bond servants under the curse: and how Christ transferred that state of servitude of his spiritual seed on himself. Now, upon consideration of his taking on him the form of a bond servant for them, the promise of their adoption into the family of God was made. He was "made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons," Gal. 4:4, 5.
And being justified by faith, and reconciled to God, it is accomplished to them: forasmuch as then Christ's service is imputed to them, and a way is opened withal for their admission into the family of God, through their actual reconciliation to him: Rom. 5:1, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Ver. 2, "by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." John 1:12, "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Then are they taken as children into the family of heaven: God becomes their Father in Christ; and they his sons and daughters, to abide for ever in his house, John 8:35. And so they have a right to all the privileges of that high relation.
Now, this promise is grafted upon the promise made to Christ of a new kind of interest in God as his Father; according to that, John 20:17, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father." For by the Spirit of adoption we call God our Father, in the right of Jesus Christ our elder brother, spiritual husband and head.
3. The last branch is the promise of God's being their God: Heb. 8:10, "I will be their God." This is more than reconciliation and adoption: it is the height of the relation to God, which a sinful creature could be
advanced unto. They were by nature without God, Eph. 2:12: but forasmuch as the Son of God did, in the covenant, undertake to give himself for them, in their nature perfectly to satisfy the law, in his holy birth, righteous life, and exquisite death; a ransom of infinite value, quite beyond all created things whatsoever, graces, pardons, heavens; there was made, upon that consideration, a promise of God's giving himself to them, as the adequate reward of that service; which being performed by the Mediator, this reward was purchased for them. Hence God saith to Abraham, Gen. 15:1, "I am thy exceeding great reward."
Now, to the believer being justified, reconciled, and adopted into the family of God, this heritage falls, in accomplishment of this promise, Rom. 8:17, "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God." Gal. 4:7, "And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ;" God himself being the heritage. He becomes their God: they have a right to him, and are possessed of him, as their own property; a property which the thought of men and angels cannot fully reach the contents of. Not only are all the works and creatures of God, in the heavens, earth, and seas, theirs, 1 Cor. 3:22, "All are yours;" but himself is theirs: which is more than all that, as the bridegroom is more than all the marriage-robes, or his large possessions. All the attributes are theirs; his infinite wisdom to direct them, his power to afford them protection, his justice to make all the benefits purchased by Christ for them forthcoming to them, his holiness to transform them into the same image, his mercy to pity and succour them, his grace to deal bountifully with them, his faithfulness to fulfil all the promises to them in their time, and his all-sufficiency to render them completely happy. He is theirs in all his relations; their Shepherd, Provisor, Protector, King, Husband, Head, and whatever may contribute to their happiness. All the persons of the glorious Trinity are theirs: the Father is theirs, the Son is theirs, and the Holy Spirit is theirs: Isa.
54:5, "For thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name:" (Heb.) "Thy makers are thine husbands; Jehovah Sabaoth is his name."
This rich promise is grafted upon the promise made to Christ of a new kind of interest in God as his God: John 20:17, "I ascend to my God and your God." God being the Mediator's God by purchase, he becomes our God in him. Christ having performed the condition of the covenant, falls heir to the great heritage; and we fall to it also in him, being heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, Rom. 8:17.
III. THE PROMISE OF SANCTIFICATION
IN the promise of eternal life to the elect, is comprehended in like manner the promise of their sauctification: Ezek. 11:19, "I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:" ver. 20, "That they may walk in my statutes." See Joel 3:17, 21; Heb. 8:10. Through the breach of the first covenant they lost the image of God: their whole faculties were so depraved, that they could neither do, speak, nor think any thing truly good, and acceptable to God: they, were by nature altogether unholy; unclean, loathsome, and abominable, in their nature, heart, and life. And it was quite beyond their power to make themselves holy again: for mending of their nature could not affect it; it behoved to be renewed, Eph. 4:23. And the curse of the law lying upon them extinguished all saving relation between God and them; and so blocked up all saving communication with heaven: for it barred, in point of justice, all sanctifying influences from thence; these being the greatest benefit they were capable of, as assimilating the creature unto God himself, or rendering it like him. The curse fixed a gulf betwixt God and them, so that sanctifying influences could not pass from him unto them; more than their unholy desires and prayers could pass from them
unto him. So the fallen angels always were and the damned now are, beyond all possibility of sanctification, or of receiving sanctifying influences from heaven; there being no remedy to remove the curse, neither from the one, nor from the other. And in this case all Adam's posterity had lain for ever, had not Jesus Christ, as the head of the elect, undertaken in the second covenant to remove that bar, to fill up that gulf, and to found a new saving relation between God and them, through his own obedience and death. But upon that undertaking of the Mediator, the Father did by promise insure their sanctification; that Christ's people should be willing in the day of his power, in the beauties of holiness, Psalm 110:3; and that a seed should serve him, Psalm 22:30.
And this promise, the promise of sanctification, is indeed the chief promise of the covenant made to Christ for them: among the rest of that kind, it shines like the moon among the lesser stars. Sanctification is the very chief subordinate end of the covenant of grace, standing therein next to the glory of God, which is the chief and ultimate end thereof. The promise of it, is the centre of all the rest of these promises. All the foregoing promises, the promise of preservation, the Spirit, the first regeneration or quickening of the dead soul, faith, justification, the new saving relation to God, reconciliation, adoption, and enjoyment of God as our God, do tend unto it as their common centre, and stand related to it as means to their end. They are all accomplished on sinners, on design to make them holy. And all the subsequent promises, even the promise of glorification itself, are but the same promise of sanctification enlarged and extended: they are but as so many rays and beams of light, shooting forth from it as the centre of them all.
This appears from the scriptural descriptions of the covenant, in the promissory part thereof respecting the elect: Luke 1:73, "The oath
which he sware to our father Abraham." Ver. 74, "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear," ver. 75, "In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life." Here is the oath or covenant sworn to Abraham, as a type of Christ; wherein his seed's serving the Lord in holiness, is held forth as the chief thing sworn unto the Mediator by the Father; and their deliverance from their enemies, as the means for that end. See Heb. 8:10, 11, 12, where God's writing his law in their hearts, is set on the front, as the first thing in the divine intention, though the last in execution, as appears by comparing the 10th and 12th verses. This matter is also evident from the nature of the thing. For the great thing Satan aimed at in seducing our first parents, was the ruin of the image of God in them, that so mankind might be no more like God, but like himself: and the mystery of God, for the recovery of sinners, is then finished, when holiness is brought in them to perfection in heaven, and not till then.
From all which one may plainly perceive, that the sanctification of all that shall see heaven, is secured in the covenant, upon infallible grounds, beyond all possibility of failure: and that the unholy have no saving part nor lot in the covenant; and that the less holy any man is, the less is the covenant-promise accomplished to him. For the sanctification of sinners is the great design of that contrivance: it is that which the Father and the Son, looking therein to them, had chiefly in their view: and the promise thereof is the capital promise of the covenant, respecting them; being as it were written in great letters.
Now, at the time appointed for every one in the eternal council, this promise is accomplished. The sinner being justified by faith, and taken into a saving relation to God, being reconciled, adopted, and made an heir of God through Christ, is sanctified. The bar being
removed, the gulf filled up as to him, his saving interest in, and relation to a holy God being established; the communication between heaven and the sinner is opened, and sanctifying influences flow amain, to the sanctifying of him throughout.
This is, by some divines, called the second regeneration, agreeable to the Scripture: Tit. 2:5, "He saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" compared with Eph. 5:26, "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water." 2 Cor. 5:17, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;" namely, being "created in Christ Jesus unto good works," as the apostle himself explains it, Eph. 2:10. And as in regeneration taken strictly for the quickening of the dead soul, and called the first regeneration, new vital powers are given; so in regeneration taken largely for the forming of the new creature in all its parts and distinct members, which is called the second regeneration, there are new qualities and habits of grace infused: and it is the same with the second renewing, mentioned in our Shorter Catechism, on the head of sanctification, "whereby we are renewed in the whole man, after the image of God."
The matter lies here. The sinner being by faith united to Christ, through the communication of the quickening Spirit from Christ unto him, and thereupon justified, reconciled, adopted, and made an heir of God; there is a measure of every grace, even the seeds of all saving graces, derived from, and communicated out of all-fulness of grace in the man Christ the head, unto the sinner as a member of his, by the same Spirit dwelling in the head and members. Hereby the man is not only a spiritually living creature, but an all-new creature, sanctified wholly or throughout, renewed in the whole man, after the image of God. For the immediate effect of that communication of grace from Christ, must be the sealing of the person with the image of Christ; forasmuch as he receives grace for grace in Christ, as the
wax doth point for point in the seal. So that the restored image of God is expressed on us immediately from Christ the second Adam, who is the image of the invisible God: even as Eve was made after God's image, being made after Adam's, according to Gen. 2:18, "I will make him an help meet for him;" marg. as before him, that is, in his own likeness, as if he sat for a picture. Compare 1 Cor. 11:7, "He," (to wit, the man) "is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man." Ver. 8, "For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man." And 2 Cor. 8:23, "Our brethren are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ." And thus our uniting with Christ, through the Spirit, by faith, issues in our becoming one spirit, that is, of the same spiritual holy nature with him; as really as Eve was one flesh with Adam, being formed of him, of his flesh and of his bones, Gen. 2:23; to which the apostle alludes, in the matter of the mystical union between Christ and believers, Eph. 5:30, "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."