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thing to do for their own safety, all is safe by his management; but if he run the ship on a rock, and split it, and make his escape, every one of the passengers must be pilot for himself, and work for his own life and safety.

But this obedience behoved to be personal in the following respects. It behoved to be performed,

(1.) By man himself, and not another for him, Lev. xviii. 15, forecited. The covenant of works knew nothing of a surety or mediator. "In the day thou eatest thou shalt die," plainly imports, that man, the moment he sinned, broke the covenant, and was a dead man in law. If he could have provided a surety who should have obeyed, when he disobeyed, that would not have fulfilled that covenant, or kept it. If a surety was to have place, it behoved to be by a new bargain, wherein a new representation was settled.

(2.) By one person, and not by more; that is, the righteousness of the covenant behoved to be of one piece, and not one part wrought by one, and another part by another. The sinning soul behoved to die; and imperfect righteousness could not be accepted in part, more than it could be in whole, because such righteousness is not righteousness indeed, but sinful want of conformity to the law. Hence it follows,

[1.] That God's accepting of a surety, as well as his providing one for lost sinners in the second covenant, was purely of free grace. For "in him," says the apostle, "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace," Eph. i. 7; he might have held man to the first bargain, and made all mankind utterly miserable without remedy, baving once broke the first covenant. But the riches of sovereign free love and grace brought forth a new bargain, wherein a surety was admitted, when that benefit to us might have been refused; yea, and was provided by him too, when we could never have procured one to take that burden on him for us.

[2.] That the purchase of our salvation by the precious blood of Christ, which was a full price for it, is so far from lowering the riches of free grace in it, that it exceedingly heightens the same. When you hear of free pardon and salvation to sinners, through the satisfaction of Christ, beware of imagining, that satisfaction spoils the freedom of it; but remember, that God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, might have in justice insisted on our own personal, perfect satisfying of the demands of the covenant of works; and yet such was their love and grace to poor sinners, that the Father parts with his Son to die for us, the Son lays down his life in our stead, and the Holy Spirit freely applies his purchase to sinners. So that

all is of free grace to us. If it had been consistent with the nature of God, to have forgiven sin without satisfaction, such remission. would have been of free grace; but when there behoved to be a satisfaction made, and God admitted a surety, and provided the same himself, this speaks unspeakable riches of grace; As if a king should give his own son to satisfy the law for a traitor, John iii. 16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

[3.] That there can be no mixing of our own righteousness, in greater or lesser measure, with the righteousness of Christ, in our justification, by the second covenant, Gal. iii. 12, "For the law is not of faith; but the man that doth them shall live in them." We must betake ourselves wholly to the one or to the other. For the demands of the first covenant must be answered, by that righteousness on which we can be justified; and unless we have of our own a perfect righteousness to produce for that end, nothing we have can be accepted in that point, since there is no admitting of a pieced righteousness. And evident it is, that we cannot pretend to a perfect righteousness of our own, and therefore must go wholly to Christ for one.

The Promise of the Covenant of Works.

Secondly, The promise to be accomplished to man upon his performance of the condition. That was a promise of life, Rom. x. 5, forecited, which was implied in the threatening of death in case of sinning. For understanding the promised life, we must consider the condition to be performed, two ways.

1st, In the course of its performance, while man should have been in the way running the race of his obedience to obtain the crown; while he should have been on his trials for the subsequent reward, holding the way of God's commandments, and walking in the path chalked out to him by the divine law, during the time of his probation, without going off the way in the least. In this case the promise would have held pace with his continuance in the course of obedience. And by virtue of the covenant, he would have enjoyed a concomitant reward of life. "For in keeping of God's commands," says the Psalmist, "there is great reward," Psalm xix. 11. This is evident from the terms of the covenant in the text, which manifestly imply this, namely, While thou dost not eat thereof, thou shalt surely live. Now, this promised life was twofold, natural and spiritual, each of them perfectly prosperous: for, in scripture language, to live is to live prosperously, or in prosperity, 1 Sam. xxv.

6. Aud man's prosperity in the state of integrity, could not be a mixed prosperity, as now in this sinful state, but truly perfect, without mixture of anything that might mar it. And as for the life itself, natural and spiritual, they were both given him in his creation. So then the life promised, and to be accomplished in the course of his performance of the condition of the covenant, was,

A Prosperous Natural Life Promised.

1. A prosperous natural life, perfectly prosperous. The natural life was given to man by God's breathing in him the breath of life, Gen. ii. 7; knitting a rational soul unto his body, and so animating it which was presently discovered by man's breathing at his nostrils. While that union betwixt the soul and body remains, man lives a natural life. And thus man should have lived prosperously, while performing the condition of the covenant. This implied a threefold benefit.

(1.) The continuation of natural life, Rom. vi. 23. . Man's body was indeed made of dust; but, by virtue of the covenant-promise, it would have been secured from returning to the dust again. As it was created without any principle of death within it, so the covenant barred all hazard of death from without it, from any other hand, as long as that covenant should be kept. Till the bond of the covenant was treacherously loosed by man himself, there was no loosing of the silver cord that knits soul and body together.

(2.) The vigour of natural life. The keeping of the covenant was a perfect security against all decay and languishing of natural life, which tends unto death. Since man even in that state was to eat, drink, and sleep, no doubt his body was to be supported by these means; but the fruits of the untainted earth were fitted for the preservation of such a life; and while his soul continued pure, he could not but make a regular use of them, according to the appointment of the Creator.

(3.) The comfort of natural life, pure and unmixed with the sorrows of it, which are now felt, but not till sin entered. All men know, that life is one thing and the comfort of life another; but these could not be divided till the wedge of sin was driven to separate them. This lay in these two things:

[1.] Freedom from all evils and inconveniencies of life, which might embitter it to him. What these are, we all know from experience; a flood of them being let out on the world with the first sin, not to be dried up till the world end, and death and evil be cast into the lake of fire; Gen. iii. 17-19, " And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the VOL. XI.

tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Hence labour was to be without toil, strength without mixture of weakness and uneasiness, health without pain, or sickness, or indisposition of body.

[2.] The comfortable enjoyment of life with the conveniencies of it, Gen. ii. 16, where the Lord God said unto man, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat." Life itself sometimes is burdensome now, and the good things of it are beset as with thorns and briers; but innocent Adam could have had none of these things to complain of. He was lord of the inferior creatures, and they were at his disposal. What joy and comfort the creatures could yield to him, he was master of, and could not but have a more exquisite taste of than any man since. He was clothed with the greatest honour, and had it with the profits and refined pleasures of life, together with God's favour.

We know then where to lay the blame of the miseries of this life and death itself. The breaking of that covenant opened the sluice to that flood of them which now overflows the world.

A Prospero us Spiritual Life Promised.

2. A prosperous spiritual life, perfectly prosperous. The soul of man was and is in its own nature immortal, not liable to the dissolution to which the body is subject. But besides, it was endowed with spiritual life, whereby it lived to God in union and communion with him, as bearing the image of God, a lively image of his righteousness and holiness, Gen. i. 7, Eccl. vii. 29. And thus man would have lived prosperously, performing the condition of the covenant. And this implied a fourfold benefit.

(1.) The continuation of the image of God in him, the uprightness of his nature in which he was created. Nothing could have marred that while the covenant was kept. The knowledge of his mind would have remained with him, as would also the righteousness of his will and the holiness of his affections. That glorious likeness to God in which he was created, was a beauty which nothing but sin could mar.

(2.) The continuance of the love and favour of God. He was the friend of God, the favourite of heaven; and as long as he kept the covenant, nothing could dissolve the friendship. Life lies in God's favour, and upon his good behaviour he was surely to enjoy it still.

It could never have left him, as long as he kept God's way. For God cannot but love, favour, and delight in his own image, in whomsoever it is preserved entire.

(3.) Ready access to God, and fellowship with him. The covenant was a covenant of friendship; and while sin was kept out there was nothing to mar his intercourse with God. He would still have had immediate communion with God; for there was no need of a mediator where there was no breach, Gal. iii, 20. The means of communion with God, prayers, praises, &c. would at no time have been dry wells of salvation to him; no desertions, nor hidings of God's face, could have place.

(4.) Lastly, The daily comfort of his performance. He would still have had the pleasure there is in the very keeping of God's commands, and the comfortable feast of the testimony of a good conscience, upon every piece of obedience performed. And the greater this would have been, the longer he had continued, and the nearer he had come to the end of his race, where was the crown to be received.

Thus we may see God's bounty and man's ingratitude. He had wages in hand allowed him, a present reward of his work, according to that," Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn." Yet would he needs better his condition before the time, and so quite marred it.

Eternal Life in Heaven Promised.

2dly, We may consider the condition to be performed, as actually performed, and completely fulfilled. God had appointed to man a time of trial and probation, during which he was carefully to take heed to himself, that he obeyed perfectly and perpetually, as being liable to sin; and so to give proof of himself, of his awful respect to his Creator's will, and his right management of the talents given him by his great Lord to trade with. In this case, viz., upon man's standing in his innocence till that time was expired, eternal life was by the promise secured to him as the reward of his work, Matth. xix. 17. And in it these four benefits were implied.

1. The confirmation of his soul in innocence, righteousness, and holiness, that he should be set beyond hazard of sinning, and that for evermore, as the confirmed angels are. Being justified upon his perfect, personal, and perpetual obedience, this would have followed of course, according to the tenor of the covenant; otherwise he would have been for ever upon trial, which is inconsistent with the nature of the covenant. Mutability is woven into the very nature of the creature, and so Adam was created mutable; but he would have been, upon his obedience, secured from actual liability to

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