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cafe, God does me no wrong, though he fhould destroy me; and he does not wrong his own juftice, but is a juft God in fo doing: yea, I cannot fee how the credit of his juftice should be falved, and how he fhould be glorified in his juftice, if he do not execute judgment upon me, either in my felf, or in a furety for me, becaufe I have offended fuch an infinitely glorious Being: " Against thee, thee only have I finned,that thou mighteft be juftified when thou fpeakeft; and clear when thou judgeft," Pfalm li. 4. Is God unrighteous, that takes vengeance? God forbid," Rom. iii. 5,6. The offence done against the greatest of Beings, deferves the greatest of punishments, even the eternal deftruction of the creature. It is true, God delights not in the death of a finner; "As I live, I have no pleafure in the death of a finner," Ezek. xviii. 32.; that is, as it is a destruction of the creature, though he delights in it, as it is the execution of juftice; even fo, the finner convinced by the law, though he cannot take pleasure in this, to think of being deftroyed, yet there is fome fecret kind of justifying that which God takes pleasure in, namely, the execution of juftice. O how fit is it, that God's juftice be glorified! And, how juft is God, in executing infinite judgment upon fuch an infinite evil as fin is! And indeed the finner would not fee falvation to be free, if he did not fee damnation to be juft; but the fight of this, in the glafs of the law, and in the light of the Spirit, tends, in a manner, to reconcile the man with the device of falvation through Chrift, whofe bloody facrifice gives juftice full fatiffaction. He is now content that God's juftice be glorified by a fatisfaction more glorious than that which the damned in hell can give; and fo it tends to make him dead to the law, and to all other legal pennances, and fham fatisfactions, which thofe, who are ignorant of God's equity and righteoufnefs, are ready foolishly to invent.

5. Through the law a man gets the conviction of his own inexcufablenefs, which is that effect of a legal work of the Spirit, whereby the foul is left without

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excufe of, or defence for itfelf: "Whatsoever things the law faith, it faith to them that are under it, that every mouth may be flopt, and all the world may be come guilty before God," Rom. iii. 19. Now the whole foul of man cries out, Guilty, guilty; his fig-leaves of excufes are blown away; his former fhifts and cavils, in defence of himfelf, do now evanith: he hath not a word to speak in favours of himfelf. What said he formerly? Why, it may be, his heart faid, if not his mouth, I hope there will be no fear of me, Adam's fin was not mine; original fin is what I could not help, it came with me to the world; as for my actual fins, I fee others guilty of greater; as for my omiffion of duties, and commiffion of trefpaffes, I fee none but have their faults; and God is a merciful God, and I hope he will not be fo unjust as to damn his own creatures.-Thefe, and the like, fhifts and excuses, formerly took place; but now he becomes fpeechlefs; his mouth is ftopt. They fee they will but deceive themselves, by thefe miferable fhifts; and that they are guilty, guilty, and finful wretches, blacker than the very devil, and have not a mouth to open for themfelves; and fo they die to all conceit of themselves, and their own righteoufnefs.

6. Through the law the man comes thus to get a conviction of his abfolute need of the gospel, or of the SAVIOUR revealed thereby; being convinced of his finful and miferable ftate by nature, and humbled under the serious confideration and view of his fin and mifery, fearing the wrath of God due to him for fin, beholding the equity of God, though he fhould caft him into hell; having his mouth ftopt, and defpairing of getting out of this condition, by his own power, or the help of any other creature; he is now convinced of the need of a Saviour: OI perifh, I perifh for ever, unlefs the Law-giver provide a law-binding righteoufnefs for me! Now, the foul is ready to cry out, not in Rachel's fenfe, "Give me children, or elfe I die;" but in her phrafe, O give me Chrift, or elfe I die; give me a Surety, or elfe I die. Now, he is content to be for ever indebted to the righteoufnefs of another: and

thus

thus the law is the occafion of bringing a man to Christ. And so you fee how it is, that through the law, they are dead to the law, that they may live unto God.

III. The Third thing is to fpeak of the believer's LIFE, which is the fruit of this death; it is a living unto God. And now, in fpeaking hereto, I would, 1. Enquire what kind of life it is? 2. What are the fcriptural defignations of it? 3. What is imported in its being called a living in general? 4. What is imported in its being called a living unto God in particular?

Ift, What kind of life is it that the believer hath in confequence of his being dead to the law? And,

1. It is not a natural life, either in a physical or moral fenfe. Natural life, in a phyfical fenfe, is that which we received from Adam by generation; and it is the function of natural faculties, in living, moving, ufing of fense and reafon; that is a life that is common to all men, who yet may be dead; neither is it a natural life in a moral fenfe, fuch as heathens may have; the heathens may have common notions of God, and of good and evil, fo as to render them inexcufable in their unnatural immoralities, Rom. i. 19, 20. They have a book of nature, both internal, in the remainders of the law in their heart, fo as they do by nature the things contained in the law, Rom. ii. 14, 15. and external, in God's works of creation and general providence; "The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament fheweth his handy-work," Pfal. xix. 1. Now, this natural life cannot be the living to God here fpoken of, because this natural life flows only from a natural state, which is a flate of death: by nature we are dead, legally dead under condemnation; fpiritually dead in fins, wholly corrupt, and the tree being bad, the fruit must be bad alfo a filthy fountain can bring forth nothing but filthy ftreams. This natural life does proceed from natural principles, and these are corrupt; fuch as the defires of the flesh and of the mind; the lufts of the fleth, the luft of the eye, and the pride of life. At beft their natural life flows from felf-love, or love to its own ho nour, praises, profits, or pleasures: all nature's works are

fel

felfish, however heroic they may be. This natural life is directed by a natural rule, fuch as the light of nature inward, or outward, accompanied with the counfels and examples of naturalifts; neither does it ever come up to that fame rule of nature's light, which therefore does condemn them as guilty. This natural life hath only natural defigns, and ends: the natural man acts from felf as his principle, to felf as his end, afcribing the glory of all his actions thereunto: thus Herod gave not God the glory of his fine oration, but took the praise to himself; but he was immediately fmitten of an angel, and eaten up of worms.-This natural way of living, it is in a natural manner, after the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, Eph. ii. 2. which is nothing but a walking in the lufts of the flesh, fulfilling the defires of the flesh and of the mind: yea, in this natural life, nothing of Christ, or of his gofpel, is either in the ftate, practice, rule, end, or manner of it; nay, they are without Chrift, being aliens from the commonwealth of Ifrael, and strangers to the covenant of promife; having no hope, and without God, [or, ATHEISTS] in the world, Eph. ii. 12.

2. It is not a legal life, either of Jewish conformity. to the ceremonial law, or of perfect conformity to the moral law: It is not that legal life of Jewish conformity to the ceremonial law, or according to the Old Teftament difpenfation; for that ceremonial law is a brogated in Chrift, the fubftance of all the old fhadows; and fo that Jewish life is unprofitable, and vain; yea, it is damnable, and prohibited under the highest penalties, Colof. iii. 20, 21. And therefore, fays the apostle, Gal. v. 2. "If ye be circumcifed, [or live accord. ing to the ceremonial law, or any other law of works, fo as to expect juflification thereby.] Chrift fhall profit you nothing." Neither is this living to God that perfect life of conformity to the moral law, according to the old covenant of works, which required perfect, perfonal, and perpetual obedience, as the condition of life; and threatened death upon the leaft failure: I fay, it is not this life either; for man hath become guilty, and

for.

forfeited life, and incurred death by Adam's firft tranf-greffion; "By one man fin entered into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all men, for that all have finned," Rom. v. 12. Thus we are for ever incapable of that life, which Adam was capable of before the fall. It is alfo impracticable, becaufe man is by nature without ftrength, Romans v. 6. We have no ftrength to give that obedience which the covenant of works requires, becaufe we must be redeemed from the curse thereof, and reftored to the righteousness thereof, before we can be capable to do what it requires.—And though Adam's fin and tranfgreffion were not imputed to us, as indeed it undoubtedly is, yet feeing every adult perfon at least hath finned after the fimilitude of Adam's tranfgreffion; for, "No man liveth and finneth not ;" therefore he can never perform the perfect obedience therein required; and, "By the deeds of the law, no flefh can be juftified." Befides, there is no article of the covenant of works, that provided for a remedy in cafe of a breach; but all that the covenant of works doth, is, to promife life to perfect obedience in man's own ftrength, and threatens death in cafe of failure, and fo leaves the tranfgreffor thereof under its curfe.-In a word, the life according to that covenant cannot be the life here meant, becaufe that covenant speaks nothing of Christ, or of his gofpel, by whom, and by which, only we can now come to this living unto God; and because this living unto God prefuppofes a being dead to the law, or dead to that covenant, otherwife we can never live unto God.

3. It is not a Pharifaical life of external, legal, but imperfect conformity to the law, and thereby endea vouring to establish a righteousness of our own, as the Jews, Romans ix. 31, 32. and x. 3. Many reckon an outward moral converfation to be this living unto God, whether in performing the natural duties of civility and moral honefty, or in an external performance of religious duties, fuch as prayer, praise, reading, hearing and waiting upon divine worship. The church of Laodicea was felf-conceited; they thought they were rich and increased with goods; but, behold the

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