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5. Lastly, The covenant of grace was fo made, that it might be a fure covenant; even to the end the promife might be fure to all the feed, Rom. iv. 16. The first covenant was made with a mere creature, as a principal party, and contractor: and though he was a holy and righteous man, yet was he fo fickle and unstable, that he failed of performing the condition he undertook; and fo the benefit of the promise was loft; wherefore fallen men were not at all fit to be principal parties, or parties-contractors, in the new covenant, wherein the promise was to be sure, and not to mifs of an accomplishment. They being then wholly a broken company, not to be trusted in the matter, Jefus Chrift the Son of God was conftituted head of the new covenant, to act for, and in name of the fpiritual feed: and that to the end, the cove nant being in this manner fure in point of the fulfilling of the condition, might be alfo fure in point of the accomplishment of the promife. And this is the very hinge of the ftability of the covenant of grace, according to the fcripture: Pfal. lxxxix. 28. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant fhall stand faft with him., Verse 22. The enemy fhall not exact upon him; or, as others read it, and I think juftly, The enemy fhall not beguile bim, namely, as he did the first Adam. The original phrafe is elliptical, q. d. The enemy shall not beguile (his foul, Jer. xxxvii. 9.) in him.

Before I leave this point, I offer the following inferences from it.

Inf. 1. The covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace are not two diftinct covenants, but one and the fame covenant. I know that many divines do exprefs themselves otherwife in this matter; and that upon very different views, fome of which are no ways injurious to the doctrine of free grace. But this I take to be feripture-truth, and a native confequent of the account given of the covenant of C

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grace in our Larger Catechifm, to wit, "That the

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covenant of grace was made with Chrift as the fe"cond Adam, and in him with all the elect as his "feed: Gal. iii. 16. Now to Abraham and his feed "were the promises made. He faith not, And to feeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy feed, which "is Chrift. Rom. v. 16, to the end. Ifa. liii. 10, -When thou shalt make his foul an offering for fin, he fhall fee his feed, he shall prolong his "days, and the pleasure of the Lord fhall profper in "his hand. He shall see the travail of his foul, and

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fhall be fatisfied." &c. So the covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace are but two names of one and the same second covenant, under different confiderations. By a covenant of redemp. tion, is meant a bargain of buying and felling: and fuch a covenant it was to Chrift only; forafmuch as he alone engaged to pay the price of our redemption, 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. By a covenant of grace is meant a bargain whereby all is to be had freely: and fuch a covenant it is to us only, to whom the whole of it is of free grace; God himself having provided the ranfom, and thereupon made over life and falvation to us, by free promife, without refpect to any work of ours, as the ground of our right thereto.

To confirm this, confider, (1.) That in fcripturereckoning, the covenants for life and happiness to man, are but two in number, whereof the covenant of works is one: Gal. iv. 24. These are the two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, namely, generating bond-children, excluded from the inheritance, verfe 30. This is a diftinguishing character of the covenant of works; for fuch are indeed the children of that covenant, but not the children of the covenant of grace under any difpenfation thereof. These two covenants are called the old covenant, and the new covenant : and the old is called the first, which speaks the new

to be the fecond: Heb. viii. 13. In that he faith, A new covenant, he hath made the firft old. This is agreeable to the two ways unto life revealed in the fcripture; the one by works, the other by grace, Rom. xi. 6. The one is called the law, the other grace, chap. vi. 14. The former is the law-covenant with the first Adam, representing all his natural feed; made first in paradife, and afterward repeated on mount Sinai, with the covenant of grace: the latter is the covenant of grace, made with the second Adam reprefenting his fpiritual feed: 1 Cor. xv. 47, 48. (2.) It is evident, that the falvation of finners is by the blood of the covenant, which is the blood of Christ, Heb. x. 29. 1 Cor. xi. 25. And the fcripture mentions the blood of the covenant four times; but never the blood of the covenants; therefore the covenant, the blood whereof the fcripture mentions, and our falvation depends upon, is but one covenant, and not two. Now, that covenant is Chrift's covenant, or the covenant of redemption: for it was through the blood of it he was brought again from the dead; namely, in virtue of the promise made therein to be fulfilled to him, upon his performing of the condition thereof, Heb. xiii. 20. And it is alfo his people's covenant, or the covenant of grace, Exod. xxiv. 8. Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you. It is exprefly called their covenant. Zech. ix. 11. As for thee alfo, by the blood of thy covenant, I have fent forth thy prifoners out of the pit, wherein is no water. The words expreffing the party here spoke to, being of the feminine gender in the firft language, make it evident, that this is not directed to Chrift, but to the church: fo the covenant is propofed as their covenant. And the fpiritual prifoners are delivered, in virtue of this their covenant, which certainly must be the covenant of grace. By all which it appears, that the covenant of grace is the very fame covenant that C 2

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was made with Chrift, in refpect of whom it is called the covenant of redemption.

Inf. 2. Likeas all mankind finned in Adam, so believers obeyed and fuffered in Chrift the fecond Adam. For as the covenant of works was made with Adam as a public perfon and representative, all finned in him, when he broke that covenant; fo the covenant of grace being made with Christ, as a public perfon and reprefentative, all believers obeyed and fuffered in him, when he fo fulfilled this covenant. This is the doctrine of the apostle; Rom. v. 19. As by one man's difobedience many were made finners: fo by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Chap. viii 3. God fending his own Son, in the likeness of finful flesh, and for fin condemned fin in the flesh: verfe 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. 2 Cor. v. 21. That we might be made the righteoufness of God in him. Gal. ii. 20. I am crucified with Chrift. And it affords a folid answer for believers, unto the law's demand of obedience and suffering for life and salvation.

3. Believers are juftified immediately, by the righteoufnefs of Chrift, without any righteoufnefs of their own interveening; even as all men are condemned, upon Adam's fin, before they have done any good or evil in their own perfons: Rom. v. 18. As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even fo by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto juftification of life. And thus believers are righteous before God with the felf-fame righteoufnefs which was wrought by Jefus Chrift, in his fulfilling of the covenant. The which righteoufnefs is not imputed to them in its effects only; fo as their faith, repentance, and fincere obedience, are therefore accepted as their evangelical righteoufnefs, on which they are juftified : but it is imputed to them in itself, even as Adam's fin was.

4. The covenant of grace is abfolute, and not conditional to us. For being made with Chrift, as representative of his feed, all the conditions of it were laid on him, and fulfilled by him. Wherefore all that remains of it to be accomplished, is, the fulfilling of the promises unto him and his spiritual feed; even as it would have been in the cafe of the first covenant, if once the first Adam had fulfilled the condition thereof.

5. The covenant of grace is a contrivance of infinite wisdom and love, worthy to be embraced by poor finners, as well ordered in all things and fure, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. O admirable contrivance of help for a defperate cafe! Wonderful contrivance of a covenant of God, with them who were incapable of standing in the prefence of his holiness, or of per forming the leaft condition for life and falvation! A new bargain for the relief of loft finners made on the highest terms with thofe who were not able to come up to the lowest terms! Infinite Wisdom found out the way, to wit, by a reprefentative. The love of the Father engaged him to propofe the reprefentation; and the love of the Son engaged him to accept of it. Thus God had one, with whom he might contract with the fafety of his honour; and who was able to fulfil the covenant, to the reparation of the injuries done to his glory: and finners alfo had one able to act for them, and to purchase falvation for them at the hand of a holy and juft God. So a fure covenant was made, and a firm foundation laid, upon which God laid the weight of his honour, and on which finners may fafely lay their whole weight: Therefore thus faith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion--a fure foundation: he that believeth, fhall not make hafte, Ifa. xxvi. 16.; fhall not be ashamed, Rom. ix. 33.

6. Laftly, The way to enter perfonally into the covenant of grace, fo as to partake of the benefits thereof, unto falvation, is to unite with Chrift the

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