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and fanctification: a right to heaven is purchased by the blood of Chrift, and the believer is the young heir of glory; but his poffeffion of heaven is fufpended till he be fit for it; till he do fome bufinefs for his Father, and be made meet for the inheritance of the faints in light. This is fweet encouragement the believer hath, to live unto God.

(3.) The threatenings of the law, in the hand of Chrift, have loft their old covenant-form, quality, and nature, and are now turned to threatenings out of love: there is no fuch threatening now to the believer, If thou do not, thou fhalt die. The penalty of the law of works is condemnation and eternal death, which the believer hath no caufe to fear, being dead to the law; no more than a living wife needs to fear the threatening of her dead hufband: "There is no condemnation to them that are in Chrift. He that believes in him, fhall never die." Believers are under no threatening of eternal wrath, becaufe under grace. It is a high expreffion that bleffed Rutherford hath to this purpose, "The gospel, fays he, forbids nothing under pain of "damnation to a juftified believer, more than to Jefus "Chrift.”—Though the fins of believers deferve hell, and the intrinfic demerit of fin is ftill the fame; [yea, I think the fins of believers being against fo much love, and fo many mercies, they deserve a thousand hells, where others deferve one ;] yet, being dead to the law, he hath no vindictive wrath to fear, the blood of Chrift having quenched the fire of God's wrath, Rom. v. 9. " While we were finners, Chrift died for us; and much more now being justified by his blood, we are faved from wrath through him ;" and fure he is not to fear that which God calls him to believe he is faved from: his flavifh fear, therefore, is from unbelief, and weakens his hands in duties. But now the law, in the hand of Chrift, hath threatnings and punishments, but they are fatherly and loving; a fhort view of them you may read, Pfalm lxxxix. 30,-35"If his children forfake my law, and walk not in my judgments: if they break my ftatutes, and keep not my

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commandments; then will I vifit their tranfgreffion with the rod, and their iniquities with ftripes; nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor fuffer my faithfulness to fail: my covenant will I not break. Once have I fworn by my holinefs, that I will not lie unto David." q. d. Though I will not fend them to hell, nor deprive them of heaven, no more than I will break my great oath to my eternal Son; yet, like a father, I will chaftife them; I will correct them for their faults; I will fqueeze them in the mortar of affliction, and prefs out the corrupt juice of old Adam that is in them; yea, I will hide my face; I will deny them that communion and fellowship with me that fometimes they had, and give them terror instead of comfort, and bitterness instead of sweetness. A filial fear of these fatherly chaftifements will do more to influence the believer to holiness, and obedience, than all the unbelieving fears of hell and wrath can do: fear, leaft he want that fweetnefs of God's prefence, which fometimes he hath had, will make him fay to his fins and lufts, as the fig-tree in Jotham's parable, "Shall I leave my sweetness, and be king over you?" O! fhall I leave all the fweetnefs that I have enjoyed with God, and take on with bafe lufts and idols! And hence, when the believer hath gone afide and backflidden, what is it that brings him back to God? He finds the Lord breaking him many ways, and he reflects, through grace, upon this fometimes. O! how am I deprived of thefe fweet interviews that once I enjoyed?" Therefore I will go and return to my firft Hufband, for then it was better with me than now." Yea, his freedom from lawthreatnings, and being only under fatherly correction, when he fees this, it breaks his heart, and melts it more than all the fire of hell could do.-The flavifh fear of vindictive wrath difcourages him, weakens his hands in duties, and makes him run away from God: but the filial fear of God's fatherly wrath, which is kindly, is a motive of love that encourages him to his duty. Which of these motives think you will work up the believer to moft obedience? viz. This legal one, O! my wrathful Judge will fend me to hell, if I do fo and fo; or this

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gofpel one; O! my God and Father in Chrift Jefus will be angry at me, and deny me his love-tokens? I fuppose the former works upon enmity, and raises it, but this works upon love, and inflames it.

But here a queftion may be moved, Ought not the believer to live unto God, even without refpect to the threatening of fatherly chaftifement and punishment? To this we answer,

No doubt, the more perfect his obedience be, the better, and the more like to the obedience of the faints in heaven, where no chaftifement is feared; but, while he is here, he carries a body of fin about him, and needs to be stirred up by fatherly correction. He fhould indeed ferve, God purely out of love and refpect to the command itself, and because he commands it: but thus the matter flands, that as on the one hand, being perfect in his Head, Christ Jefus, it is not his duty to have refpect to what the law of works either promifes, or threatens; fo, on the other hand, being imperfect in himself while here, it is his duty to have respect to what the law, in the hand of Chrift, promifes and threatens; which indeed is a loving respect, tending to advance holiness.

(4.) The whole form of the law as a covenant of works, being thus altered, the law in the hand of Chrift, is all love, all grace, and fo influences the man to fanctification. The man that is under the covenant of grace, he hath a principle of grace within him, ftriving against fin; he hath the Spirit of grace within him, caufing. him to walk in God's ftatutes; he hath the promise of grace to be fufficient for him: if fin prevail, and pollute him, he hath daily accefs to the fountain open for fin and for uncleannefs, to which he runs; if his back. flidings encreafe, he hath Chrift engaged by promife to heal his backflidings: which, when he views by faith, it doth not encourage him to fin, if he be in right exercise of his fenfes, but draws him to his duty, like a cord of love, and brings him back to his kindLord. In a word, being dead to the law, he is married to Chrift, who is like a green fig-tree, from whom all his fruit is found.Thus you fee what influence a man's being dead to the law, hath upon

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his living unto God. And so much for the fourth head proposed.

V. The Fifth thing in the method, was the Applica. tion, which we fhall effay in an Ule of Information, Examination, Lamentation, and Exhortation.

Is it fo, that being dead to the law, in point of juftification, is neceffary, in order to living unto God in point of fanctification? Then for Information, hence we may fee,

1. That the doctrine of the gospel is not a doctrine of licentiousness, or carnal liberty, however it be reproached in the world: and if the preachers thereof, who would bring off people from the law of works, and from their felf-righteoufnefs, be reproached, as if they were enemies to holinefs, I will venture to say it with confidence, in a place where falfehood fhould be an abomination, that it is a vile flander; for whatever finful weakness and imperfection may cleave to the preaching or practice of thefe, who defire to publish this gofpel-doctrine, yet the Lord God of gods is witnefs; yea, the Lord God of gods knows, and all Ifrael may know, and all whofe eyes God enlightens fhall know, that this doctrine of dying to the law, in point of juftification, is a doctrine according to godlinefs, and the very means of holiness itfelf, and of living unto God if this be Antinomianifm, I am content to be called an Antinomian *. But, we fee who are indeed

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*The rife and ground of this injurious accufation may be feen, in fone measure, accounted for, Serm. IV. page 238 -The Baxterian legal fcheme of doctrine had, by this time, fpread itself abroad, and diffused its dangerous and pernicious influence and direful effects, not only among the clergy in England, but had even crept into many of the pulpits in Scotland: This paved the way for exhibiting the charge of Antinomianifm against all thofe minifters who adhered to, and affiduously taught the doctrine of grace; especially those who maintained the abfolute freedom of the covenant of grace; the unlimited grant that God bath made of Chrift, and falvation with him to mankind; the neceffity of becoming dead to the law as a covenant, and of faith top prebend and appropriate Chrift, and his righteousness, for falvation. And though the Marrow of Modern Divinity was defigned to vindicate the doctrine of grace, in oppofition to Antinomian and Neonomian extremes; yet they who befriended this book, especially fuch who

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Antinomians, and enemies to the law and holiness; even all thofe who oppofe this doctrine, whereby we give the law all the honour imaginable; "Do we make void the law through faith; God forbid; yea, we establish the law :" as a covenant we establish it, while we preach Christ as our righteousness for juftification: and as a rule of holiness we establish it, while we preach Christ as our ftrength for fanctification of heart and life: and they that do not thus honour the law, do but dif grace and difhonour it, and are truly Antinomians, i. e. enemies to the law. And if this be called a new scheme of doctrine, by way of reproach, though I confefs it is a new covenant fcheme, in oppofition to that of the old, yet I will grant to no man that it is new otherwife; feeing it is not only as old as Paul here, but as old as the first publication of the covenant of grace in Paradife; fo that we fee where it is, that the reproach of

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appeared in defence thereof, when attacked and condemned by the Affembly, were accufed with being Antinomians, enemies to the law and holinefs, friends to licentioufnefs, and branded with introducing and venting new schemes of Divinity. Though it is a notour fact, and well known to many yet alive, that there were not greater friends in the whole church, to evangelical Doctrine, than those who befriended the Marrow Doctrine: They were juftly allowed to be first-rate Divines. It is true, indeed, they were enemies to all previous legal qualifications, to be performed by us, in order to fit and qualify us for coming to, and clofing with Chrift. And with refpect to our worthy Author, it is ob vious to every intelligent perfon, who either heard him preach, or have carefully perufed his writings, that he had a peculiar talent in ftating the difference between the law and the gofpel, and put a refpectable honour upon, and paid a due regard to each of them; and that he conftantly urged conformity to the law, as a rule of life: and affiduously inculcate the practice of holiness. Any who incline to fee the juftnefs of these obfervations, and have a complete view of this affair, may attain it, by perufing the Marrow itself, with attention, and carefully adverting to the judicious Mr. Boston's notes upon it; and the Brethren's Answers to the Affembly's Queries; and an Act concerning the Docti ine of Grace, by the Affociate Prefbytery: In which Act, the Doctrine of Grace, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and set forth in our Standards, is afferted and vindicated from the errors vented against it; the Marrow doctrine freed from the charge of Antinomianifm, laid againft it by the Affembly, and fhewn to be founded on the Scriptures, confiftent with our Standards, and agreeable to the fentiments of other approved Divines; and the Act of Affembly condemning the Marrow, evinced to be injuri ous to the Doctrine of Grace, contrary to many paffages of Scripture, and diametrically oppofite to our Standards.

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