ruptions, in that it forbids finq; and the threatenings of it ferve to fhew what even their fins deferve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curfe thereof threatened in the law r. The promises of it in like manner,' fhew them God's approbation of obedience, and what bleffings they may expect upon the performance thereof, although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of workst: fo as a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one, and deterreth from the righteoufnefs of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit... Jam. ii. 11. For he that faid, Do not commit adultery; faid alfo, Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a tranfgreffor of the law. Pfal. cxix. 101. I have refrained my feet from every evil way: that I might keep thy word. v. 104, Through thy precepts I get undertanding therefore I hate every falfe way. v. 128. Therefore I efteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every falfe way. : Ezra ix. 13. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trefpafs, feeing that thou our God haft punished us lefs than our iniquities, deferve, and haft given us fuch deliverance as this: v. 14. Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of thefe abominations? wouldft not thou be angry with us, till thou hadst confumed us, fo that there fhould be no remnant nor efcaping? Pfal. lxxxix. 30. If his children forfake my law, and walk not in my judgments; v. 31. If they break my ftatutes, and keep not my commandments: v. 32. Then will I vifit their tranfgreffion with the rod, other, and their iniquity with ftripes. ▾ 33. Nevertheless, my loving-kind nefs will I not utterly take from him, nor fuffer my faithfulness to fail. V. 34. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. (Lev. xxvi. to the 14th verfe.) With 2 Cor. vi. 16. And what a greement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath faid, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they fhall be my people, Eph. vi. 2. Honour thy father and mother, (which is the firft commandment with promife). v. 3. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayeft live long on the earth. Pfal. xxxvii. II. But the meek fhall inherit the earth: and fhall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. With Matth. v. 5. Blessed are the meek: for they fhall inherit the earth. Pfal. xix. 11. Moreover, by them is thy fervant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. t. Gal. ii. 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jefus Chrift, even we have believed in Jefus Chrift; that we might be justified by the faith of Chrift, and not by the works of the law: for by the other, is no evidence of his being under the law, and not under grace v. VII. Neither are the fore-mentioned ufes of the law contrary to the grace of the gofpel, but do fweetly com→ ply with it w; the Spirit of Chrift fubduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and chearfully, which the will of God revealed in the law requireth to be done x. CHAP. XX. Of Chriftian Liberty, and Liberty of Confcience. THE 'HE liberty which Chrift hath purchased for believers under the gofpel, confifts in their freedom from the the works of the law fhall no flesh be juftified. Luke xvii. 10. So likewife ye, when ye fhall have done all those things which are commanded you, fay, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. v Rom. vi. 12. Let not fin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye fhould obey it in the lufts thereof. v. 14. For fin fhall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 1 Pet. iii. 8. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compaffion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: v. 9. Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwife, bleffing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye fhould inherit a bleffing. v. 10. For he that will love life, and fee good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they fpeak no guile. V. 11. Let him efchew evil, and do good; let him feek peace, and enfue it. v. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. With Pfal. xxxiv. 12. What man is he that defireth life, and loveth many days, that he may guilt fee good? v. 13. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from fpeak ing guile. v. 14. Depart from evil, and do good: feek peace, and pursue it. v. 15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. v. 16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. Heb. xii. 28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may ferve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. v. 29. For our God is a confuming fire. VII. w Gal. iii. 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteoufnefs fhould have been by the law. x Ezek. xxxvi. 27. And I will put my fpirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Heb. viii. 10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Ifrael after thofe days, faith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,and write them in their hearts : and I will be to them a God, and they fhall be to me a people. With Jer. guilt of fin, the condemning wrath of God, the curfe o the moral law a; and in their being delivered from thi prefent evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion o fin b, from the evil of afflictions, the fting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation c; as al fo in their free accefs to God d, and their yielding obe dience unto him, not out of flavifh fear, but a child-like love, and willing mind e. All which were common alfo Jer. xxxi. 33. But this fhall be the covenant that I will make with the houfe of Ifrael, After thofe days, faith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people." I. a Tit. ii. 14. Who gave himfelf for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 1 Theff. i. 10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come. Gal. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us: for it is written, Curfed is every one that hangeth on a tree. b Gal. i. 4. Who gave himself for our fins, that he might deliver us from this prefent evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. Col.i. 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath tranflated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. A&s xxvi. 18. To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of fins, and inheritance among them which are fanctified by faith that is in me. Rom. vi. 14. For fin fhall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace, Rom. viii. 28. We know that to all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Pfal. cxix. 71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted: that I might learn thy ftatutes. 1 Cor. xv. 54. So when this corruptible fhall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then fhall be brought to pafs the faying that is written, Death is fwallowed up in victory. v. 55. O death where is thy fting? O grave, where is thy victory? v. 56. The fting of death is fin; and the ftrength of fin is the law.' V. 57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jefus Christ. Rom. viii. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Chrift Jefus, who walk not after the fiefh, but after the Spirit. d Rom. v. 1. Therefore being ju ftified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jefus Christ. v. 2. By whom alfo we have access by faith into this grace wherein we ftand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. e Rom. viii. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the fons of God. v. 15. For ye have not received the fpirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 1 John iv. 18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love cafteth out fear: because fear to believers under the law f; but under the New Testament, the liberty of Chriftians is further enlarged in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish church was fubjected g, and in greater boldness of accefs to the throne of grace h, and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of i. II. God alone is Lord of the confcience k, and hath fear hath torment: he that feareth, is not made perfect in love. fGal. iii. 9. So then they which be of faith, are bleffed with faithful Abraham. v. 14. That the bleffing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jefus Chrift; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 8 Gal. iv. 1. Now I fay, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a fervant, though he be lord of all; v. 2. But is under tutors and governors, until the time appointed of the father. v. 3. Even fo we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. v. 6. And because ye are fons, God hath fent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. v. 7. Wherefore thou art no more a fervant, but a fon; and if a fon, then an heir of God through Chrift. Gal. v. 1. Stand faft therefore in the liberty wherewith Chrift bath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Acts xv. 1o. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the difciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? v. 11. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jefus Chrift, we shall be faved even as they. Heb. iv. 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is paffed into the heavens, Jefus the Son 1 left X. 19. of God, let us hold fast cur profeffion. v. 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Heb. Having therefore, brethren, boldnefs to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jefus, v. 20. By a new and living way which he hath confecrated for us, through the vail, that is to fay, his flesh; v. 21. And having an high priest over the house of God: v. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart, in full affurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil confcience and our bodies washed with pure water. i John vii. 38. He that believeth on me, as the fcripture hath faid, out of his belly fhall flow rivers of living water. v. 39. But this fpake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him, fhould receive : for the Holy Ghoft was not yet given, because that Jefus was not yet glorified. 2 Cor. iii. 13. And not as Mofes, which put avail over his face, that the children of Ifrael could not ftedfaftly look to the end of that which is abolished. V. 17. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. v. 18. But we all with open face, beholding as in a glafs the glory of the Lord, are changed into the fame image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 11. k james iv. 12. There is one law left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in any thing contrary to his word, or befide it, in matters of faith or worship l. So that to believe fuch doctrines, or to obey fuch commandments out of confcience, is to betray true liberty of confcience m; and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an abfolute and blind obedience, is to deftroy liberty of conscience, and reafon alfo n. : lawgiver, who is able to fave and to destroy who art thou that judgeft another? Rom. xiv. 4. Who art thou that judgest another man's fervant to his own mafter he ftandeth or falleth: yea, he fhall be holden up for God is able to make him ftand. I Acts iv. 19. But Peter and John anfwered and faid unto them, Whether it be right in the fight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. Acts v. 29. Then Peter and the other apoftles anfwered and faid, We ought to obey God rather than men. 1 Cor, vii. 23. Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the fervants of men. Matth. xxiii. 8. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Mafter, even Chrift, and all ye are brethren. v. 9. And call no man your father upon the earth for one is your Father, which is in heaven. v. 10. Neither be ye called Mafters: for one is your Mafter, even Christ. 2 Cor. i. 24. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy for by faith ye fland. Matth. xv. 9. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. : m Col.. 20. Wherefore if ye be dead with Chrift from the rudiments of the world: why, as though living in the world, are ye fubject to ordinances, . 22. Which all are to perifh with the using, after the comniandments and doctrines of men? III. They v. 23. Which things have indeed a fhew of wifḍom in will-worship and humility, and neglecting of the body, not in any honour to the fatisfying of the flesh. Gal. i. 10. For do I now perfuade men, or God? or do I feek to pleafe men? for if I yet pleafed men, I fhould not be the fervant of Chrift. Gal. ii. 4. And that becaufe of falfe brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to fpy out our liberty, which we have in Chrift Jefus, that they might bring us into bondage. v. 5. To whom we gave place by fubjection, no not for an hour; that the truth of the gofpel might continue with you. Gal. v. 1. Stand faft therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. n Rom. x. 17. So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom. xiv. 23. And he that doubteth, is damned if he eat, because he cateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith, is fin. If. viii. 20. To the law and to the teftimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Acts xvii. 11. These were more noble than thofe in Theffalonica, in that they received the word with all readinefs of mind, and fearched the fcriptures daily, whether those things were fo. John iv. 22. Ye worship ye know not what : we |