A Treatise on the Covenant of Works

John Colquhoun

Monergism Books

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No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Editor’s Note – Though it is rare for errors to remain post-edit, unfortunately they may remain if uncaught. My sincere apologies in advance where such errors occur. As the Puritan Edward Leigh once said "If thou findest faults and Errata in the book, let love cover them, for to err (as the Satirist saith) is the sad privilege of mortality, and he (of all men) erreth most, who challengeth a privilege from error."

Contents

1. PREFACE.

2. INTRODUCTION.

3. 1. CHAP. I. Proofs of a Covenant of Works.

4. 2. CHAP. II. Of the Contracting Parties in that Covenant.

5. 3. CHAP. III. Of the Condition of the First Covenant.

6. 4. CHAP. IV. Of the Promise of the Covenant of Works.

7. 5. CHAP. V. Of the Penal Sanction of the Covenant of Works.

8. 6. CHAP. VI. Of the Seals of the Covenant of Works.

9. 7. CHAP. VII. Of the Reasonableness of God’s Entering into a Covenant of Works with Man.

10. 8. CHAP. VIII. Of the Breach of the First Covenant.

11. 9. CHAP. IX. Of the Imputation of Adam’s First Sin to his Natural Posterity.

12. 10. CHAP. X. Of the Subjection of Mankind, to the Broken Covenant of Works.

13. 11. CHAP. XI. Of the Dreadful and Inevitable Misery of Mankind, Under the Curse of that Broken Covenant.

14. 12. CHAP. XII. Objections Answered.

15. 13. CHAP. XIII. Conclusion.

16. 14. APPENDIX. – Scripture References.

PREFACE.

As the doctrine of the Covenant of Works, and of our breach of that covenant in the first Adam, is a fundamental doctrine of Divine revelation, which the Holy Spirit usually employs, for convincing sinners of their sinfulness and misery; the main design of the following Treatise is, to explain and apply it for that important purpose.

“By the law,” says an Apostle, “is the knowledge of sin.” It is not so much, our preaching the spirituality, perfection, and great extent, of the moral law in its general acceptation, to sinners, that is a means of convincing them thoroughly, of their sin and misery; as our pressing upon their consciences, a deep consideration of that spiritual, perfect, and most extensive law, in its covenant form. It is, when we demonstrate from Scripture, to the conscience of the secure sinner, that the law as a covenant of works, demands from him in particular, perfect obedience as the condition of eternal life, and that it condemns him, for his innumerable sins, to death in all its dreadful extent and duration; that, he is most likely to be convinced and alarmed.—As the unregenerate sinner, is under the law in its federal form, it is in this form only, that it can be pressed upon his attention, with any reasonable hope of reaching conviction to his mind.

The enemies of the truth, have often insinuated, and even affirmed, that the gospel, in its strict acceptation, tends to licentiousness; and its friends have frequently evinced, by argument, that, instead of having any such tendency, it is, on the contrary, the only doctrine that is according to godliness. When we preach, for instance, this fundamental and cheering doctrine of the gospel,— “By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous;” and accordingly inform our hearers, That Christ, as the Surety of elect sinners, yielded, in their stead, perfect obedience to the moral law, for their justification, and that this consummate obedience, is imputed to all who believe in Him; our adversaries, willingly take occasion to draw from our doctrine, the following inference, which, after all that we have said in defense of the gospel, appears to them, an obvious one:— “If Christ, as the Surety of his people, yielded all that perfect obedience for them, that the law required of them, and if this be imputed to them, as soon as they believe in him; then, the law cannot justly require any obedience from them, in their own persons: its demand of perfect obedience is already satisfied by their Surety, and, therefore, it can have nothing more to demand from them.” But if, instead of saying in general terms, as is too often done, That Jesus Christ performed perfect obedience to the law, for his people, we declared explicitly, as we ought to do, that he yielded perfect obedience, for them, to the law only as a covenant of works;—we would leave to the enemies of the gospel, no apparent occasion for such an inference. The only inference that, with any show of reason, they could deduce, would be, That believers, by Christ’s obedience unto death, imputed to them for their justification, are set free from obligation to obey the law, in its covenant-form. This inference would be no less true than obvious: for the apostle Paul informs us, That believers are delivered from the law, as a covenant of works; in order that, they might be enabled to serve in newness of spirit, Rom. 7:6. By their having been delivered from the law as a covenant, they are laid under the firmest obligation possible, to yield even perfect obedience to it as a rule of duty. As for the gospel, I see not, how it can be dispensed faithfully to condemned sinners; except the law as a covenant of works be, on proper occasions, exhibited to their view, and pressed upon their attention.

To understand clearly, and to relish well, the doctrine of the covenant of works, as contained in the Scriptures, is necessary to our attaining, under the illuminating influences of the blessed Spirit, clear, spiritual, and delightful, views of the covenant of grace. It is by comparing the grace, manifested in the first covenant, with the exceeding riches of grace, displayed in the second, that the devout reader will be able to discern more distinctly, and consistently, the transcendent glory of the wonderful scheme of redeeming grace, which shines in the latter.

Though to some readers, there may appear in the following work, too frequent a recurrence of the same sentiments, and of similar modes of expression; yet, I cannot but entertain the hope, that to others, these will, in some degree, serve to render my meaning the more plain and determinate. Such repetitions of the same, or almost of the same, sentiments, as they have been made with new illustrations, and applications, will not, I trust, be counted vain repetitions.

I occasionally consulted several of those writers on the subjects treated of, who appear to me, to have been the most judicious and consistent; especially, Turretine, Witsius, Rutherford, Brown, Gib, Edwards, and Boston. These especially I consulted,—not that they might, in the smallest degree, divert my attention from the sacred Oracles; but, that they might, in the hand of the Spirit of truth, afford me some assistance in searching them, and in extracting from them, those heavenly treasures, of which they are incomparably full.

I shall only add, that as, if I know myself, I have uprightly intended this treatise for the glory of God, and for the welfare of immortal souls, without sinister views; I now lay it at His feet, looking up to him for a blessing upon it, that spiritual fruit may abound to the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Leith, 30th November, 1821.

INTRODUCTION.

In order to render Divine grace and condescension the more glorious, the happiness of men, in subordination to the Divine glory, the more secure, and their obedience to God, the more cheerful and free, JEHOVAH, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, from eternity, purposed to deal with them in a covenant-way. He never dispenses, either Grace or Providence to them, but according to the tenor of a covenant, previously made with them. The relation in which he stands to them, is a covenant-relation. The bond, in which he is united with them, and they with him, is the bond of a covenant. A covenant established with them, either in their own persons, or in the person of a public representative, is the invariable rule of his procedure toward them.

The original word in the Old Testament, which the Spirit of inspiration employs to express a covenant, denotes, in some passages, a sure promise; in others, a precept; and in others, an unalterable statute or constitution. But properly and most frequently, it signifies a mutual paction, agreement, or covenant, upon certain terms proposed. In general, it denotes a constitution or establishment.

Hence, we read of God’s “covenant with day and night.” The word seems to have been derived from a root, which, in one of its forms, signifies to choose out, and in another, to cut dozen, or strike through. The parties between whom, the objects for which, and the conditions upon which, a covenant was wont to be made, were usually selected for that purpose. And when persons in ancient times, entered into a solemn covenant with one another, they used on the occasion, to cut or strike a beast in two, and to pass between the pieces of it, in token of their wish, that God might so strike and cut asunder, the party who should break the covenant. In allusion to this ancient rite, the making of a covenant is, in the Old Testament, often styled the cutting of it. As the word, which the Spirit of truth uses in the Old Testament, denotes in general, an establishment, so does the word which he uses in the New. It signifies a disposition) or an establishment in the form of a testament, or a testamentary covenant.

The covenants which God has made, for promoting his manifested glory in the happiness of mankind, are two;—the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace. The former of these, the apostle Paul (Rom. 3:27.) styles, “The law of works” and the latter, “The law of faith.” He calls the covenant made with Adam, “The law of works;” because the terms of it were all proposed to him, by JEHOVAH the sovereign Lawgiver. We sometimes style it, “The covenant of nature” because the law of it is the law of nature, and because Adam was endued, by the glorious Author of his nature, with sufficient ability to perform the condition of it; and, “the covenant of friendship” because God made it with Adam, as with a friend. We also style it, “the legal covenant,” to show, that perfect conformity of heart and of life to the law, written on the heart of the first man, was the condition of it; “the first covenant,” because it was first revealed, and was made with the first Adam; “the old covenant,” to distinguish it from the covenant of grace, that new, and better covenant; “the covenant of life” because life in all its extent, was the blessing promised in it; and “the covenant of works” because obedience, or the performing of works of obedience, was the sole condition of obtaining a title to the promise of it.

These two covenants, are the bonds of all our religious connexion with JEHOVAH, the adorable THREE IN ONE. They are the two hinges on which, as it were, all the other parts of revelation turn. What is the Gospel, but an exhibition of the covenant of grace, to sinners of mankind? And what is the Law, in subservience to the gospel, but a display, an awful display of the covenant of works, and of the direful consequences of their breach of it, in the first Adam? To understand, therefore, these two covenants well; or to discern clearly, the nature, the properties, and the designs of each, is the way to attain clear, consistent, and connected views, of all the other articles of revealed truth.— Such views of the truth, especially when they are rendered spiritual, and experimental, are of inexpressible importance to the holiness, the usefulness, and the comfort, of the true Christian. The knowledge of Christ, and of Him crucified; or, in other words, the saving knowledge of the everlasting covenant, made with him as the last Adam; as it is the most excellent knowledge, so it is the most necessary. “This is life eternal,” says our blessed Lord, “to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” And says the prophet Isaiah, “It is a people of no understanding; therefore, he that made them, will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them, will show them no favor.”

Persuaded that the doctrine of the covenant of grace, which is a covenant of reconciliation, cannot be understood to advantage, without a previous and proper knowledge of that of the Covenant of Works, which was a covenant of friendship; and at the same time, ardently desirous that I may, in the hand of the Spirit of truth, be instrumental in assisting those into whose hands this Treatise may fall, to attain, as easily and as early as possible, a clear and connected view of this first covenant, I shall, in humble dependance on the Father of lights, observe the following method: In the first place, I shall prove that there was and still is, such a covenant. Next, I shall take a view,—of the Parties contracting;—of the condition;—of the promise;—of the penal sanction;—of the seals; —of the reasonableness and equity;—of the breach of that covenant;—of the imputation of Adam’s breach of it, or of his first transgression, to all his natural posterity;—of the subjection of mankind to it, as a broken covenant; and,—of the inexpressible, and inevitable, misery of such as are under the dreadful curse of it. After which, I shall suggest answers to some objections; and then, conclude with a few general reflections.

CHAP. I. Proofs of a Covenant of Works.

A Covenant, is a free and mutual compact between two Parties, on express terms or conditions. By the covenant of works, the reality of which, I propose in this chapter to evince, I understand, a free compact or agreement, between JEHOVAH and the first Adam, as the head and representative of all his natural offspring; in which, he promised to him life, in all its possible extent and duration; if he would continue for a limited time, to perform perfect obedience to his commandments, and threatened death, in all its awful extent and duration, if he would in the least instance disobey; to which, Adam freely and fully consented.

Now that JEHOVAH, the blessed THREE IN ONE, did, in the astonishing greatness of his condescension, enter into such a covenant with Adam, whom he had lately formed after his own image, will, I trust, appear evident to the humble and impartial reader, from the few following arguments, drawn from the oracles of truth.

1. This contract between God and the first Adam, is in sacred writ, expressly styled a covenant. “These are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.” Here are two covenants mentioned, the one of which, genders to bondage, and the other, to liberty or freedom. The covenant of grace, or “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” is the one which genders to liberty, or which makes free from the law of sin and death. The one, therefore, which genders to bondage, must be that law or covenant of works, which was republished to the Israelites, from mount Sinai; which required perfect obedience to the ten commandments, on pain of death, and contained a promise of life, to the man who should do, or perform such obedience. This covenant, which “the thunderings, and lightnings, and thick cloud, and voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, on the mount,” proclaim to have been a covenant of works, “gendereth to bondage.” By the awful manner, in which it was then displayed; by the strictness of its precepts, and the dreadful severity of its penalty, it tends to beget a slavish and servile spirit, in all who are under the dominion of it, and to subject them to bondage of the most ignominious kind. Now this covenant, is here contrasted with the covenant of grace, which, for his comfort, was revealed to Adam immediately after the fall; and, therefore, it must have been made with him, before the fall. And indeed, we cannot suppose that JEHOVAH, to whom infinite Goodness, as well as infinite Justice, is always essential, could have published such a covenant of works, from Sinai, to man in his state of sin, in which he is “without strength” to obey, if he had not already entered into it with him, in his state of innocence.

2. We find mention made, in the sixth chapter of Hosea and the seventh verse, of Adam's having transgressed a covenant. “But they, like men,” on the margin, “like Adam, have transgressed the covenant.” The original word, is found only in two other places: in one of which, (Job 31:33.) our translators have rendered it, as Adam; and if they had so translated it, in the other, (Psal. 82:6,7.) the passage would have been much more plain, and striking. “I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children, Heb. sons of the most High: but ye shall die like Adam,” like Adam who was a son of God. The phrase in Job, evidently refers to Adam’s excusing, or attempting to cover, his sin of eating the forbidden fruit. As, therefore, the word is the same in all the three places, the marginal reading in Hosea, which is the literal one, seems to many others, as well as to me, to be the true one: “But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant.” If the Spirit of inspiration, in one of these passages, refers to Adam’s covering of his transgression, and in another, to the death to which, by his transgression, he became obnoxious; is it not natural to conclude, that in the third, he refers to the transgression itself, which occasioned both the one and the other? Since then the Israelites transgressed, like Adam, the covenant, under which they at that time were, it follows, that Adam transgressed some covenant. But, we nowhere read of any covenant, transgressed or broken by Adam, except the covenant of works. This one, he transgressed;—he covered his transgression; and—he died for his transgression.

3. If a covenant had not been made with Adam, for such a purpose, he could not have been the moral representative of his natural descendants; and, if he had not been legally constituted their head and representative, they could not have sinned, nor died, in him, as the Scriptures declare they have done. They could not possibly have sinned in him, when he committed his first sin, otherwise than by representation. If, therefore, he who was created their natural root, had not, by a covenant made with him, been at the same time, constituted their moral representative; they could not, in the estimation of law or justice, have fallen under the guilt of his first sin, any more than of the other sins, which he afterward committed. They could no more have been found guilty of his first transgression, or been punished for it as their sin, than a child could in justice be charged with, or condemned for, a crime, which one of his remote ancestors had committed, hundreds of years before he was born. But, it is abundantly evident from many passages of Scripture, that all the posterity of Adam, by natural generation, are under the guilt of his first sin; or, in other words, that they have all sinned in him, and died in him.

To illustrate and enforce this argument, I shall select, and endevour to explain, only two passages in the fifth chapter of the epistle to the Romans. The one, is in the 12th verse of the chapter;— “Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The one man, in this very remarkable text, can be no other than the first Adam, that first man. The sin, that individual sin, which entered into the world by that one man; and did not follow after, but went before, and introduced his falling under the sentence of death, could only be his first transgression, his sin of eating of the forbidden fruit. By him, that sin entered into the world of mankind, and by that sin, the death; the sentence, and the beginning of death, which had seized on himself, as the due desert of sin, entered into the world, and passed upon all men, or found their way to all his natural posterity. All the human race, then, are become subject to that death in all its extent, which entered into the world, by the first sin of that one man, and found its way to all men; or, as our Apostle elsewhere expresses it, “In Adam all die:” —In Adam; on account of the first transgression of Adam, all mankind die, or are subject to misery and death. But how comes it to pass, that under the government of that adorable JEHOVAH, who is infinitely holy, and just, and good, all mankind are condemned to die in Adam; to die, as the punishment due for his first sin? The Apostle here assigns the reason; “For that all have sinned.” The original words, according to the marginal reading, run thus: “In whom, all have sinned;” In whom, namely, in the one man, and in his first sin, all have sinned. They all sinned in him; and his first transgression, was the sin, the only sin, that ever they committed in him. But there is no need to depart here, from our translation of the words; because the meaning is, in all respects, the same. For, by all who have sinned, we must understand, all men upon whom death is said, in the foregoing clause, to have passed; all the men, descending from Adam by ordinary generation, that ever were, are, or shall be, in the world. All these, are here said to have sinned; to have already sinned; which they could not possibly have done, in their own persons, and therefore must have done, in the person of that one man, as their public representative. They are said to have sinned, not after, but—before death made its way to them, or passed upon them: for it is expressly declared, that death passed upon all men, “for that,” in regard that, because that, all have sinned; —have sinned, previously to the passing of death upon them. The sinning therefore which preceded, and procured, the passing of the sentence, and, of the beginnings of death, upon all men, could only be the first sin of that one man; the sin, which he committed as their public representative, and which, on that ground, is legally accounted their transgression.

But might not Adam’s first sin, have been imputed to all his natural offspring, merely on the ground of his having been their natural root or first parent; and not, on the ground of his having been their federal representative? No; for if natural relation only, were the ground of the imputation of iniquity, the sins of our intermediate, and especially of our immediate parents, because our natural relation to them is nearer, would have been imputed to us, rather than the sin of Adam, our most remote parent. Nay, if the imputation of Adam’s transgression to us, had been founded solely, on his having been our natural root or first parent, which after the fall he still continued to be, all his sins would have been imputed to us; but instead of this, it is by—one offence, as it is rendered on the margin, (Rom. 5:18.) that “judgment came upon all men to condemnation.” It follows, then, that all the natural descendants of Adam, sinned in him, not only as their natural root, but also and chiefly, as their head and representative: and he could not otherwise, have been constituted their representative, then by his having a constitution or covenant, made with him, appointing him to stand in that relation to them. He could not otherwise, have been their moral, then by having been their federal or covenant-representative.

The other passage which I select, to illustrate and enforce the same argument, is that which follows immediately upon the former; (Rom. 5:13,14.) “For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed, when there is no law: nevertheless, death reigned, from Adam to Moses, even over them, that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come.” The sin, which, by one man, had entered into the world, and had an entail of death upon it, as the proper punishment of it, was, since the time it was committed, or since the fall, always in the world. It lay, in all its guilt and demerit, upon the world of mankind, as their sin, which they had all committed in that one man. Thus it was in the world, until the law; until the external revelation of the law, given by Moses, during a period of more than two thousand five hundred years. All that time, it was so in the world, as to be imputed to every individual, who descended from the one Man. Now this evidently supposes, that there was then a law, of which that sin was a transgression, and which was the ground of the imputation of it; “for sin is not imputed, where there is no law.” If during that period, there had been no law, there could have been no transgression; and, by consequence, no legal ground for either the imputation, or the punishment, of transgression. “Nevertheless,” adds our Apostle, “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression.” By sinning after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, we are not to understand, the eating of the forbidden fruit, like him; for this is what none of his posterity had ever access to do. It is here asserted, however, that some of them, had not sinned after the similitude of his transgression; which supposes that others of them, had sinned in such a manner. The Apostle, therefore, could mean no more, than the general similitude or likeness of his sinning; namely, of his sinning actually, or committing an actual transgression. By them, therefore, who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, we must necessarily understand, infants, who were incapable of committing actual sin, like him. Now, says our Apostle, “Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of his “transgression” that is, death, with all its dismal train of attendants, during the whole time from Adam to Moses, exercised an universal dominion even over infants, who could not possibly have committed any actual sin, to deserve such a punishment.—Since, then, the Judge of all the earth, who in all his procedure is unchangeably just, hath punished infants with death, who could commit no actual transgression, to deserve such a punishment, it follows that they deserved it, by their original transgression; by that one offence of the first, man, imputed to them.

But that sin could not justly, or legally, have been placed to their account, but upon the ground of Adam’s having been their head and representative in law, at the time in which he committed it; and this he could not have been, but by virtue of a constitution or covenant, made with him for that purpose. I conclude then from this, and the former passage, That a covenant was made with the first Man, and with all mankind in him, not merely as their natural root, but as their moral representative.

4. The law of works, and the law of faith, are in Scripture set in opposition to one another.— “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay; but by the law of faith.”

The law or doctrine of works, is the moral law, under the form of a covenant of works; requiring works, or acts of obedience, as the ground of one’s title to eternal life. It is the law of the ten commandments, not as a rule of life, but as a covenant of life, which enjoins men or commands men to obey, as the condition of their title to the promise of life. Since it requires perfect obedience, as the condition of eternal life, it makes the reward to be of debt; and so, does not exclude boasting. Whereas, the doctrine of the covenant of grace, or of the free justification of a sinner, by grace, on the ground of the surety-righteousness of the last Adam, received by faith, and not on that of the works of the law, excludes boasting, and shuts it out of doors for ever. As therefore, the law of faith, or doctrine of justification by faith, without the works of the law, which excludes all boasting on the part of the sinner, is the law or doctrine of the covenant of grace; the law of works, which as we have seen admits of boasting, can be no other than the covenant of works.

5. The apostle Paul informs us, That the commandment was ordained to life, “The commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.” By the commandment, as the context plainly shows, is meant the moral law, that bright transcript of the image of JEHOVAH; which is a system of holy commandments, so intimately connected, and so entirely consistent with each other, as if they had been but erne precept. This law, he tells us, “was ordained to life,” or was unto life. When it was given to mankind, it was given with a promise of life, to all who should yield to it a perfect obedience. Now since it is evident, that the perfect obedience, either of Adam, or of any other mere man, could not by any intrinsic value of its own, merit life for him, at the hand of the infinitely high and holy JEHOVAH; it follows, that when the law was given with a promise of life, to such as should perfectly obey, it must have been given as a covenant of life; a covenant, according to which the Lord condescended to promise life, upon condition of perfect obedience; saying, “The man which doeth those things, shall live by them.” The law could not have secured a title to life, to such as should have performed perfect obedience, if it had not been vested with the form of a covenant of life, for that, as well as for other purposes.

6. The covenant of works, is by the apostle Paul referred to, under the terms, Old covenant. We read that Jesus is the Mediator of the New covenant. The new covenant or covenant of grace, of which Christ is the Mediator, is doubtless here intended, in contradistinction from another covenant, which was an old one, and of which he was not the Mediator. The covenant of grace, indeed, is represented in one place, as covenants in the plural, and in another, as an old covenant and a new. But the terms used in the last of these passages, primarily denote two different and distinct dispensations of one and the same covenant of grace; the one, called the Old Testament-dispensation of it, and the other, the New. It is also readily granted that, when Jesus is styled the Mediator of the new covenant, it has a more immediate respect, to the New Testament-dispensation thereof under the Gospel, in distinction from the Old Testament-dispensation of it under the law, as published from Sinai. At the same time, as the covenant of grace was administered, as really, under the Old Testament, as under the New; and as Jesus was as really, though in a different manner, the Mediator of it, under that dispensation, as under this; the terms new covenant, as applied to the covenant of grace, can convey no complete meaning, except as referring ultimately to another, and an old covenant, altogether different from the covenant of grace, under what dispensation soever, it be viewed.

The New Testament or covenant of which, Jesus, in the most positive terms, is styled the Mediator, cannot but refer ultimately to an old covenant, of which he was not the Mediator; and to which, after it had been broken, and become weak through the flesh, the first dispensation of the covenant of grace, succeeded.

7. That there was a covenant of Works, made with mankind in Adam, is demonstrated from these words of the apostle Paul:— “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” It is evident from the scope of the Apostle in the context, and from the words themselves, especially when compared with the 10th and 13th verses of the third chapter of this epistle, That by the “law” here, we are chiefly to understand the moral law, the foundation of the ceremonial and judicial laws, given to the ancient Israelites; that law, which in sacred writ is presented to us, under no other general form, than either that of a rule of life, or of a covenant of works. The Apostle here informs us, that Christ, the eternal Son of the Father, was “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” But is it the moral law considered as a rule of life, that is meant? Let us suppose for a moment that it is, and then attend to the consequence of such a supposition. It will make the Apostle’s meaning to be this: “God sent forth his Son, — made under the law” as a rule of life, “to redeem them that were under the law” as a rule, from subjection to the authority of it, or from obligation to perform obedience to it.—This detestable doctrine, if admitted to be true, would at once, dissolve the believer’s obligations to holiness, and make Christ the minister of sin.

Far be it from me to believe that this, can be the meaning of the holy Apostle. If, then, Christ was not made under the moral law as a rule of duty, to redeem his people from subjection to it, the Apostle must be understood to mean, That he was made under it as a Covenant of Works, to redeem them from the dominion and curse of it under that form. —This, and no other, must be his meaning. Since the Lord Jesus Christ, as last Adam, and Surety of his people, engaged to stand in their law-room, it behoved him to be made under the law, in the same form, in which they were under it, and according to which, they were to be redeemed from it. Now they were all under it, and were to be redeemed from the bondage, and the curse of it, as it is a covenant of works. “God therefore sent forth his Son, — made under,” or made subject to the precept, and to the penalty, of the law as a covenant of works; that by his obedience, sufferings and death, he might redeem them who were under the law as a covenant, from their bondage under the dominion and curse of it, in that particular form. The moral law, then, was given to Adam, and in him to all the human race, under the form of a promise of life, for perfect obedience, and of a threatening of death, for disobedience; which is the form of a covenant of works.

8. The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, thus expresses himself: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law, by the body of Christ.” “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” By the law, in these, and in all the other passages of the epistle, where the term occurs, is principally meant the moral law, the remains of which, were still found in the consciences of the Gentiles; the law according to which, “all the world is become guilty before God,” and by which, “is the knowledge of sin;” the law that says, a man “shall not steal, shall not commit adultery,” and “shall not covet;” concerning which our Apostle thus writes— “Do we make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”— “I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”— “We know that the law is spiritual.”— “I delight in the law of God, after the inward man.” Such things as these, cannot be affirmed of any law but the moral law. Now the Apostle, in the passage above cited, asserts that he and the believers to whom he wrote, were become dead to, and were delivered from that law. He surely cannot mean, that they were delivered from it as a rule of duty; for he tells us, that the express design of their having been delivered from it, was, that they “might bring forth fruit unto God” and, that they “might serve in newness of spirit.” His meaning therefore is, That they were dead to it, or were delivered from the dominion, and the curse of it, as it is a covenant of works. The moral law, then, was given to all mankind in Adam, under the form of a covenant of works.

9. That a covenant of works was made with the first man, is no less evident, from the ardent, and y incessant, desire after eternal happiness which God, when he created him, impressed on his heart. Perfect obedience was, what he already owed to that God who had created him, who still preserved him, and who was infinitely exalted above him; and therefore it could not in the smallest degree, merit for him that happiness, which consists in the never-ending enjoyment of the infinite God. Since, then, his desire of eternal life, was lawful and reasonable; since his infinitely kind Creator impressed it on his heart; not surely with a design to torment him with disappointment, but with an intention, upon his having performed the perfect obedience required by the law, to satisfy it to the full;—there must have been a promise of this happiness, made to him, which, in the event of such obedience, should have been fulfilled to him. He could not have claimed it, on the footing of any intrinsic merit in his obedience; and, therefore, could not have claimed it at all, nor have had the least ground to expect, that ever he should have attained the enjoyment of it, unless a positive promise of it, had been made to his perfect obedience. But a promise of life, made to man upon condition of his obedience, is the very form of a covenant of works.

10. The parallel which is stated in the fifth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, between the first and the second Man, evinces, in the clearest manner, the reality of such a covenant. In the 14th verse, the Apostle informs us, that Adam “was the figure of him who was to come.” By “him who was to come,” is evidently meant, the Lord Jesus Christ, who said to his eternal Father, when the covenant of grace was proposed to him, “Lo, I come;” and, who accordingly was to come into this world, in the public character of a federal Representative, and of a Head of righteousness and life to his spiritual seed. Now Adam “was the figure of Him.” In a manner peculiar to himself, and entirely different from that of all other men, he was an eminent type or figure of Him. In respect of themselves as persons or individuals, the disparity between them was infinitely great. “The first man Adam, was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” “The first man is of the earth, earthy,” a mere man; “the second Man is the Lord from heaven.” In no respect, then, could the former be the type or pattern of the latter, but in that of a public character, common to both, and peculiar only to themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ sustains the public character of a covenant-Head, representing his spiritual seed; and Adam’s having been the figure of Him, can import no less, than that he likewise was a covenant-head, representing his natural offspring.— As, therefore, it was by a covenant made with Christ, that he was constituted the Representative of his spiritual offspring; so it must have been by a covenant made with Adam, that he was constituted the representative of his natural descendants.

In the 18th verse of the same chapter, our Apostle thus expresses himself: “Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men, unto justification of life.” An opposition is here stated between condemnation, and justification; between the condemnation of all men, that is, of all men descending from, and belonging to Adam the first man, and the justification of all men, belonging to Christ the second Man. The condemnation of those, is by the offence of one, or as the words might be rendered, by one offence; the justification of these, is by the righteousness of One, or by one righteousness. While, therefore, the justification of all the spiritual seed of Christ, comes by his one, his individual righteousness, which he as their federal Representative, fulfilled for them, the condemnation of all the natural posterity of Adam, comes by the one offence, of which he as their covenant-head, was guilty.

Once more: In the 19th verse, we have these very remarkable words; “For as by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous.” The causal particle for, intimates that the Apostle is here proving, as well as explaining, what he had advanced in the immediately preceding verse, concerning condemnation and justification. Here he presents to our view, the legal ground of the condemnation, of all the natural descendants of Adam, namely, his one offence or act of disobedience, imputed to them; and the legal ground of the justification, of all the spiritual offspring of Christ, which is, his obedience imputed to them. “For,” says he, “as by one man’s disobedience” imputed to them, “many,” even all his natural descendants, “were made,” or judicially constituted, “sinners,” and as such, were condemned; “so, by the obedience” or righteousness “of one,” imputed to them, “shall many,” even all his spiritual seed, be judicially constituted righteous, and as such, be justified. Now, as the obedience of the last Adam, is so imputed to his spiritual children, as to be legally accounted their obedience in him, their Covenant-Representative; the parallel and opposition continued in this verse, require, that the disobedience of the first Adam, that one man, be so imputed to his natural posterity, as in law, to be reckoned their disobedience in him, their head and representative. Many were constituted sinners, then, by their offence, their one act of disobedience in Adam their public representative. A covenant, therefore, was made with him, constituting him the head and representative of all, who by ordinary generation Should descend from him.

11. To conclude, In the account given of this transaction by Moses, we find everything, that is requisite to constitute a proper covenant.—All that is necessary to constitute a covenant, is, contracting parties, a condition, a promise, and if one of the parties be fallible, a penalty. Now, the inspired Historian thus expresses himself: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden, thou mayst freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” Here, are Parties contracting; “the LORD God,” and the man whom he had formed. Here, is obedience to a Divine command, prescribed as the condition; “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.” Here also is an awful penalty denounced, if the condition be not performed; “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” Here likewise, is a promise of life, though not expressly mentioned. The threatening of death, for disobedience, necessarily implied a promise of life, upon obedience; and the license too, which God had given Adam, to eat freely of the tree of life, imported such a promise.—Now, the promise of life, and the threatening of death, superadded to the Divine law or precept, made it to the man, a covenant of works, proposed; and his own voluntary consent, which a holy creature could not refuse, made it a covenant of works, accepted. Adam’s silent acquiescence in the will of the LORD, implied this consent. The rectitude of his nature while it continued, was such as to secure his consent, both to the righteous command of God, and to the promise of eternal life in the full enjoyment of him. Eve acknowledged this consent. “The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” When an absolute prince proposes to his subjects a law, and promises to them, a reward for obeying it; what he in this manner proposes to them, is a covenant, as well as a law; and when they consent, to perform obedience to such a law, they enter thereby into a covenant with him, and may, upon fulfilling the condition, claim the promised reward.—In like manner, the law given to Adam, while it was a law of works, was no less a covenant of works.

Thus I have selected, and endeavored to illustrate, a variety of Scripture-arguments, to prove that a covenant of works was made with Adam, and in him, with all his natural posterity. I have shown,—that the contract between JEHOVAH and the first Adam, is in Scripture, styled a covenant; —that mention is made in Hosea, of Adam’s having transgressed a covenant;—that if a covenant had not been made with Adam, for that purpose, he could not have been the moral representative, of his natural posterity, and, that if he had not been their moral head and representative, they could not have sinned and died in him, as the records of truth declare, they had done;—that the law of works, and the law of faith, are, in the epistle to the Romans, placed in opposition to each other that the commandment was ordained to life;—that the covenant of works is referred to, by the Apostle of the Gentiles, under this title or designation, The old covenant.—That there was such a covenant, I have also shown from these words; “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law;” from these words in the epistle to the Romans; “Wherefore, my brethren, ye are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ:” “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter;” from the ardent desire after endless happiness, which God, in his creation, impressed on the heart of the first man;— from the parallel which, in the fifth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, is stated between the first and the second Adam;—and, from the account given of this contract by Moses, in which, we find all that is requisite to constitute a proper covenant. I conclude, then, that a covenant of works was made with Adam, and in him, as their natural root, and moral representative, with all his natural posterity.

From what has been said in the preceding pages, presented to our view, we may see what ground we have to believe, and at the same time, how necessary it is, that we firmly and with our heart believe, that JEHOVAH made a covenant of works with the first Adam, as our natural root and moral representative, and with us in him. This is necessary to a true discernment of the connexion, consistency, and glory of the doctrines of redeeming grace, the only doctrines that are according to godliness. Without admitting the reality of such a covenant, we cannot consistently with our doing so, believe any article of that glorious gospel, which is an exhibition of the covenant of grace, to sinners of mankind. Except we believe, that such a covenant was made with the first man, it will be impossible for us, ever to account for the imputation of his sin, consistently with the honor of Divine justice, to his posterity. It will be impossible otherwise, to account for the imputation of his first sin, rather than for that of the other transgressions, of which he was afterwards guilty; or, for the imputation of his sin, rather than for that of the sins of our intermediate progenitors. Without admitting the imputation of Adam’s first transgression, to his natural descendants, it will be utterly impossible to account, consistently with the infinite equity of the Divine administration, for the conveyance of universal depravity of nature, from him to them. If the universal corruption of human nature, be not admitted to be true, it will never be in our power, to account for the unnumbered actual transgressions, that are every moment, committed by the children of Adam, in this world. And without the supposition of actual, as well as of original sin, we cannot account for the necessity, of having an infinite atonement made for the sins of the elect; of the imputation of the righteousness of the second Adam, to their persons; or, of the communication of holy influences, to their souls. In a word, if you believe not, that the infinitely high and holy ONE, entered into a covenant of life with Adam, and with you in him, you cannot consistently believe, that you are by nature, and by practice, undone sinners; nor, that you stand in need, either of the righteousness, or strength, of Christ the second Adam.

The apostle Paul tells us, as was already observed, That true believers, “are become dead to the law by the body of Christ.” As he cannot be supposed to mean, that they are dead to it as a rule of duty; his meaning must be, that they are become dead to it as a covenant of works. But how can they be dead to it as a covenant of works, if such a covenant never existed?—Do you, reader, believe, then, that a covenant of works, was made with the first Adam, as your natural root, and public representative; and that in him, you have broken that covenant? Do you believe it with the heart? It is only “with the heart, that man believeth unto righteousness.” If you believe it with the heart, you approve and embrace it, as a part of the Divine testimony. You receive it affectionately or in love. What does your belief of it, issue in? Does it issue in a deep and abiding conviction of the infinite malignity, deformity, and demerit, of the sin of your nature and life? And in an impressive, and abiding concern, to be by faith, instated in the covenant of grace; that everlasting covenant, which the creature cannot break, and which the Creator will not f See, O see, I beseech you, that you be under no deception, in a matter of such unspeakable moment.

On a review of the foregoing detail, we may also learn not to wonder, that working to entitle themselves to life, is so very natural to all the children of Adam. A covenant of works, was the covenant which was made with the first man, and in him, with all his natural descendants; and so, it is consonant to the nature of man. Legal principles and tempers, are natural to men; and, therefore, though good works are seldom seen, works performed to entitle the performer to heaven, are very frequent. It is as natural to the sons of Adam, to rely on their own professions and performances, for a title to eternal life, as it is, to breathe. Nothing can destroy this legal spirit, this inclination in them, to lean to the way of the old covenant, for acceptance with God, but the quickening Spirit of the last Adam. Reader, are you convinced by the law, in the hand of the Spirit of Christ, that such a legal temper is in you; and, that it is so deeply rooted in your heart, that no power can enable you to mortify it, but the exceeding greatness of Almighty power? If your conviction of it be saving, you see, nay, you feel, the strength of it to be so great in you, that no strength appears to you, to be fit to deal with it, but the strength of the grace of Christ. It is only the second Adam, who can cast the first Adam out of the heart, and seize upon it for himself; who can make the proud legalist willing, instead of “going about to establish his own righteousness” for life, to go about to work righteousness from life already received.

CHAP. II. Of the Contracting Parties in that Covenant.

After having, in the preceding chapter, evinced the reality of the Covenant of Works, it will be proper now, as was proposed, to take a view of the contracting Parties.

The Party, on the one hand, who planned and proposed that covenant, was God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Three-One, the infinitely adorable JEHOVAH; considered as the almighty Creator, the great Preserver, the supreme Governor, and the sovereign Disposer of man, as well as of every other creature. “The LORD God commanded the man,” &c. Though without the smallest imputation of injustice, the high and lofty ONE might have governed man, his own dependent creature, by a law simply so called, without promising to him, the least reward for his obedience; yet, he was graciously pleased to propose, and to enter into, a covenant with him; by which he bound himself to reward his perfect obedience, and to reward it with nothing short of life, in all its vast extent and duration. “The man which doeth those things, shall live by them.”

1. Now, in proposing this covenant to the first man, JEHOVAH, in the first place, manifested infinite and admirable condescension. Man, his creature, his dependent, his subject, was infinitely beneath him, infinitely distant from him, and infinitely mean in comparison of him.—When therefore he stooped so low, as to require by paction, that obedience which, as sovereign Lord of the being, and operations of his creature, he could have demanded simply, by his supreme authority;—and so low, as to make himself a debtor to the man, upon his obedience, which, without a covenant, he could not have been; nay, so low, as to take a greater obligation on himself, than he laid upon man;—he discovered the most astonishing condescension. When the glorious Majesty of heaven, was pleased to require such obedience, and to promise such a reward, to such a creature; it behoved him, as it were, to rise from his lofty throne, and to stoop infinitely low.

2. In proposing such a covenant to man, he disclosed treasures of unbounded goodness. After he had manifested great goodness, in creating man after his own image, he afforded a farther, and a still brighter display of it, in promising such a reward for his perfect obedience, as it could never, by any intrinsic value of its own, have merited for him. So kindly did JEHOVAH prevent him, with the blessings of his goodness, as to pledge his faithfulness, in a sealed promise of eternal life, to him and his posterity. So bountifully did he deal with him, as not only to make him holy, and to make ample provision for his happiness, in the present world; but, to make a covenant with him, in which, upon the easiest terms, he promised to him and his offspring, infinitely greater blessedness in the world to come. Nay, so abundant were the overflowing’s of his goodness to him, that he proposed to him a method, which of all others, appears to have been the shortest, and the easiest, of securing for himself and his offspring, the everlasting enjoyment of Himself, as their God and their portion. His kindness to man appeared as much, in the matter, as in the manner, of the law which he prescribed to him. In the moral precepts which he gave him, he commanded him to do, or to forbear nothing, but what was most conducive to his own interest; and in the positive precept, respecting the forbidden fruit, nothing, but what was most easy. Thus, by God’s entering into such a covenant with him, did streams of uncreated goodness, of unbounded liberality, flow forth upon the man.

3. In this covenant, JEHOVAH at the same time, manifested his supreme dominion over the man. He gave him not only a natural law, the transcript of his own infinitely holy nature, but a positive law, depending entirely on his own sovereign will, as the supreme Lawgiver; and he commanded him to obey each of them, upon the highest, and most dreadful penalty. “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” While his goodness disposed of life to mankind, it was upon what terms soever he pleased. In this constitution, then, he afforded an illustrious display of that supreme and absolute dominion, which is founded in his glorious supereminence over man, and in man’s natural dependence upon him.

4. In proposing this covenant to the first man, he likewise discovered the most exacts and inflexible justice. When he threatened the man with death, in all its dreadful extent and duration, if he should but for once, dare to commit transgression; he threatened no more, than what the least instance of sin, committed against such infinite holiness, and such transcendant majesty, justly deserves.

5. Lastly, in this federal transaction, JEHOVAH afforded too, a glorious display of the most consummate wisdom, and prudence. He created man, a reasonable, as well as a holy creature; and in making this covenant with him, he dealt with him in such a manner, as was most suited to his rational nature.—The dread of the punishment which the Lord had threatened, and the hope of the reward which he had promised, tended in a high degree, to render his obedience reasonable, voluntary, and free.

Thus he wisely hedged in the will of man, on the one hand, with a denunciation of the sorest punishment, and on the other, with a promise of the greatest reward; that he might continually be disposed to obey; and that, whenever he should be tempted to turn to the right hand, or to the left, danger might be kept out, and he might be kept in, by the fear of the one, and the hope of the other. Besides, there could not be another way of obtaining, and securing, everlasting blessedness for mankind, in a state of innocence, so short, and so simple as this. According to this method, the perfect obedience of one man, and that for a time, probably a very short time, would have infallibly secured eternal happiness, for all the children of men; whereas, had every man been left to procure his own title to life, to many of them, that title might, for a long time, have continued to be very precarious.—These are some only, of the instances, in God’s establishment with the first man, in which the most consummate wisdom shines.

On the one hand, then, the Party who projected and proposed the first covenant, is the blessed Three in One, the eternal JEHOVAH: and in doing so, he manifested infinite condescension immense goodness; —supreme dominion; —inflexible justice; —and consummate wisdom.

The Party on the other hand, who consented to that covenant, was Adam; and in consenting to it, he is to be considered in a three-fold capacity.

1. He is to be viewed as a man, a holy and righteous man. In making that covenant, “The LORD God commanded the man.” Adam is here to be considered, not merely as a man, a reasonable creature, subject to God, and capable of being governed by a moral law; but as a man, who had the moral law inscribed on his heart, and who was thereby “made upright;” as a man, made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; endued with sufficient ability to believe whatever God should reveal, and to do whatever he should command; as a man, furnished with sufficient power, to enable him, not only to perform perfect obedience to the law, but to retain and preserve, the rectitude of his nature inviolate, during the continuance of his state of trial; without standing in need, for that purpose, of any further supplies of habitual grace. Created in the image of God, his understanding was adorned with perfect knowledge, and profound wisdom. When he came out of the creating hand of JEHOVAH, his understanding was to such a degree, enlightened with rays of Divine light, and to such a degree, filled with stores of consummate wisdom, that he knew perfectly, the good which he ought to pursue, and the evil which he ought to avoid. “And the LORD God said, behold the man; Heb.—he was as one of us, to know good and evil.” As if the blessed Three in One had said,— “He was as one of us, to know good and evil, but is not so now; created in our image, he once resembled us, in his knowledge of good and evil, but is now destitute of that resemblance.” As long as he knew good and evil, he had a perfect knowledge of God, the chief Good of his soul, not only as possessed of all Divine perfections, but as subsisting in three adorable persons. God was the same then, that he is now; and we know, that he who does not now know and worship Him, as residing in three Divine Persons, does not know nor worship Him at all, as the true God. Elihu regarded it as sinful, when “none said, where is God, Heb.—my makers, who giveth songs in the night?” Adam, therefore, so long as he continued without sin, knew God as his maker, who had said, “Let us make man, in our image, after our likeness.”

Whilst Adam was created after the image of God, in knowledge, he was no less so, in righteousness, and true holiness. While his understanding was endued with the light of perfect knowledge, his will was adorned with righteousness, or rectitude of inclination. It was inclined perfectly to be, and to do, what the holy law required; and to follow the will of the high and holy ONE, expressed in his law, as closely as the shadow follows the body. No contrary bias or propensity was found in it. It was righteous; it lay closely, or as it were, in a straight line, with the will of God, expressed in the righteous precept. Thus was the moral law, not merely put into his mind, in respect of his knowledge of it, but into his heart; so that, his will was perfectly bent upon performing what it required of him. The affections of his soul were perfectly holy. They were completely free from the least defilement, distemper, or disorder. In all their motions, they were under due subjection, and regular subordination, to the dictates of his enlightened mind, and to the inclinations of his righteous will. Thus, the man was “made upright;” or was created after the image of his maker, in knowledge, respecting his mind; in righteousness or rectitude, in relation to his will; and in holiness or purity, in respect of his affections. His mind was formed for knowing, understanding, and dictating; his will, for choosing, and consenting; his affections, for loving, and delighting in; and his conscience, for enforcing his duty. God gave him also, an executive power; a power of performing all the duty, which the law required; which his mind dictated, his will inclined him to perform, his affections delighted in, and his conscience enforced. And doubtless, if God had not thus made the man, fully capable of yielding perfect obedience to his law, the man could not have been obliged to perform such obedience: God infinitely just, would not have required it; far less would he have proposed, and entered into, a covenant with the man, threatening him and his posterity with death eternal, if he should fail in performing it.

2. In this constitution, Adam is to be considered not merely as a man, made in the image of God, made capable of yielding perfect obedience to the law inscribed on his heart, but as the first man, the natural root, of all his natural offspring. When God covenanted with Adam, he entered into a covenant with all mankind in his loins, or in him as their first parent, or natural root. All the children of men are of one blood, of one stock or parentage. God — “hath made of one blood, all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Adam then was the natural root, from which, all the generations of men on the face of the earth, spring, the first parent, from whom they all descend. The history which we have of him, in the first three chapters of Genesis, sufficiently shows, that what the LORD said, either to him, or of him, he did not say to him, or concerning him, as a single individual, but as the compend, as it were, of human nature, the head of the human race. When JEHOVAH said, “Let us make man in our image, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,” &c. the words refer to his posterity, as well as to himself. When he said to Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, — Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat,” and, “Unto dust thou shalt return;” the expressions relate as manifestly to his descendants, as when God said to him, “Dying, thou shalt die.” Nor did the following words, relate to Adam as a mere individual, exclusive of his posterity:— “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” “Therefore, shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” Indeed, there is scarcely one word, that the Lord ever spake to Adam or Eve, recorded in Genesis, but what includes in the design of it, their descendants: which evidently shows, that he regarded Adam, not as a private person, but as the progenitor, principle, or root, of all mankind. Adam, then, in his consenting to the terms of the first covenant, is to be considered as the first parent, the natural root, and head of all his natural posterity.

Lastly, He is likewise to be regarded as the moral head, or public representative, of all who by ordinary generation were to descend from him. He was constituted by JEHOVAH, a public person, a covenant-head; representing, or sustaining the persons, of all who were by ordinary generation, to spring from him, as their natural root. I said, by ordinary generation; for the Lord Jesus Christ, as to his human nature, descended from Adam, but not by ordinary generation, and so, was not represented by him. Indeed, it was impossible that He, could have been represented by the first Adam, in the covenant of works; for—he was the eternal, and only-begotten Son of God.—He was “from everlasting,” set up as the Head of another covenant, and the Representative of another seed; and is, in Scripture, opposed to the first man, as the second Man, the last Adam, or as one public representative, to another. His human nature, never had any human personality, or personality of its own, as every other individual of Adam’s descendants has.

If the covenant made with Adam, had not been broken, Christ could not have come into our world, to repair the breach; and so, to establish the earth, by fulfilling the conditions of another covenant.— As the Lord Jesus was, from eternity, constituted the Representative, and the Surety of his elect seed, and, therefore, was to be considered as one in law with them, and as bound to take unto him, the same human nature with them; so, he legally derived his human nature from Adam, after Adam had ceased to be a public person. He descended from Adam, not by ordinary or natural generation, but by the supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit, as the fulfilment of a promise made after the fall, and consequently, after Adam had ceased, to be a public representative of his natural posterity. Though therefore Adam, in covenanting with God, could not represent the man Christ Jesus, yet it is evident, that as their covenant-head, he represented or stood bound, for all his natural descendants; and, that in dealing with him, God dealt with human nature in general, or, with all the human race.

This is manifest, not only from the most of the arguments, advanced in the preceding chapter, which prove no less, that Adam was the public representative of his posterity, than that a covenant of works was, in that capacity, made with him; but also, from the following considerations:

First, As the spiritual seed of the second Adam, are called after his name, to show that they were all included in him, as their glorious Representative; so, the natural posterity of the first Adam, are, in the original language of the Old Testament, more than four hundred times, called Adam. On the other hand, as Christ the second Man, to show that, in the covenant of grace, he represented his spiritual offspring, is, in the Old Testament, denominated Jacob and Israel, which are names belonging to them; so, in the same sacred record, Adam, to show that in the first covenant, he represented and included his natural descendants, is called by a name which is most common to them. Oftener than twenty times, is he styled the Adam, or the Man, as the word signifies; that is, the Man, by way of eminence, who comprehended or sustained, the persons of all other mere men;—that Adam, that Man, who was not only the first man, but who included, as their natural root and moral representative, all other men. As Christ therefore and his spiritual seed, are called by the same name, to indicate that, in the covenant of grace, he was their covenant-Head and Representative; so, Adam and his natural posterity have, by the Spirit of inspiration, the same appellation given them, to show that, while he was their great progenitor, he was at the same time, their federal representative.

In the second place, That Adam considered himself, as the head and representative of his posterity, appears from the reason, which the sacred historian assigns, for his calling his wife’s name Eve “Adam called his wife’s name Eve,” says he, “because she was the mother of all living.” When JEHOVAH first presented her to him, in their state of innocence, he called her name Woman, But now, after they had both fallen under the sentence of death, and after the promise of life, by Messiah the seed of the woman, had been intimated to them, he called her by the new name of Eve, which signifies life; because that now, in virtue of that promise, she was to be the mother of all living.—The meaning cannot be, that he gave her this name, because she was to be the mother of all the human race; for, if that had been the reason of the name, he doubtless, would have given it at the first, when “God blessed them, and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth;” and when he had the prospect of her being the mother of mankind, in a state of immortal life. But that now, when they were fallen under the sentence of deaths instead of giving her a name, expressive of her being the mother of a dying race, he should, on the contrary, have given her one, expressive of her being the mother of all living; cannot be accounted for, but by admitting, that by all living) Adam understood, all those whom the great Redeemer, the promised seed of the woman, was to deliver from that death, which had been, as it were, already brought upon them, by the instrumentality of the serpent. Adam then knew, from the promise of an almighty Redeemer, that many of his posterity should be delivered from that sentence of death, under which he, and they in him, had already fallen. But they could not be supposed, to have already fallen in and with him, under that sentence of death, if they had not, in the threatening of death, which preceded the sentence, been comprehended with him, as their covenant-representative.

Again, In all the peculiar and typical covenants, which JEHOVAH anciently made with men, the parents or heads of the race, represented their descendants. Thus Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Phineas, and David, represented each of them his posterity. In what the Lord said of Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan, he had their posterity in view, as well as themselves. When Isaac blessed Jacob, and Esau, and when Jacob blessed Ephraim, Manasseh, and his own twelve sons, they chiefly meant their posterity. This manner of speaking, which seems to have been very well understood, in those early times, was used, as far as we are informed, in almost everything, that God said to our first parents; and they appear to have so understood his words.

Further, This is also evident, from these words of the apostle Paul: “For since by man came death, by man came also, the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam, all die, even so in. Christ, shall all be made alive.” By the one man here, is evidently meant Christ the second man, and by the other, is understood Adam the first man. By the one, comes the resurrection of the dead, for in him, shall all his spiritual seed be made alive; by the other, came death, for in him, all, that is, all his natural descendants die. But, how could all his posterity die in Adam, if they had not all sinned in him, as their natural head, and federal representative? And, how could they have sinned in him, as their covenant-representative, when he sinned, by eating the forbidden fruit, if when the Covenant of Works was made with him, he had not been their representative? He could not, surely, have been a head of death to them, if he had not previously been a head of unrighteousness or sin, by breaking as their representative the law, the rule of that righteousness, which was the condition of life; and he could not possibly, have been a head of unrighteousness to them, if he had not been their covenant-head.

In the next place, It is as the execution of this original sentence, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return,” that all the unregenerate children of Adam, in their successive generations, die and return to their dust. Now, if they all die, as the execution of that sentence, it is obvious, that they were all under, and were all transgressors of that law, to which, the threatening of death was annexed. But they could, in no other sense, have been under it as a covenant, when that sentence was pronounced, then as in Adam, their first parent and federal representative.

Again, The wrath of God which, Adam, by breaking the covenant of innocence, deserved and incurred, falls on all the human race. The elect of God are naturally under it, even as others. The believers in Ephesus “were by nature children of wrath, even as others.” They were naturally chargeable with original sin, and from their very conception, were infected with it. On that account, they were condemned, and exposed to the eternal wrath of JEHOVAH as really, as those are, who are chargeable with actual transgressions. The first sin of Adam, is imputed to the persons of his posterity, and the corruption of nature, under which he thereby fell, begins, as soon as they are conceived or formed in the womb, to be interwoven with their nature. They, therefore, as soon as they are conceived and born, before they can be capable of committing any actual sin, deserve, and are justly exposed to, the wrath of God. The obvious consequence is, that all the offspring of Adam, were comprehended or comprised in him, as their covenant-head and representative, when he sinned, and so became liable, to the sin-avenging wrath of the most HIGH.

In the last place, The great Apostle of the Gentiles writes thus: “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second Man, is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also, that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” The second Man, is the second or last Adam; the first man, is the first Adam. The Lord Jesus Christ, is the second Man, in respect that, in the covenant of grace, he is a public Person, the Representative of his elect-seed. Adam therefore is the first man, because in the covenant of works, he was not only the natural, but the moral root, the public representative of his posterity. Since then there is a second Man, representing all his spiritual children, the opposition in the passage requires, that there be also a first man, a public person, representing all his natural offspring. When the covenant of works then was made, it was made with Adam, as—a holy and upright man; as the natural root;—and as the moral head or representative, of all his natural descendants.

Here the attentive reader will, perhaps, be ready to ask, Did Adam who, in the first covenant, represented all who were to descend from him, represent Eve? I answer: As he was the natural root of Eve, from whom she was taken, it would seem that, in that federal establishment, he was also her moral root or representative. He was not only the original, from whom she proceeded, but was her head: “The husband is the head of the wife.” The covenant was proposed to one person: “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” In the series of the history, in the second chapter of Genesis, the covenant is represented as having been made with Adam, before Eve was formed out of him; previous to which formation, she was both naturally and federally in him, as much as any of his posterity, can be supposed to be. Though she as an individual, fell, for her part, by her own transgression; yet the fall of mankind was not effected, till Adam had transgressed the covenant, by eating of the forbidden fruit. For it is very remarkable, that though it was she, who first sinned, it was he, who was first charged and convicted. We do not read of any terrors of conscience, that she felt for what she had done, till after he had sinned. It would seem, then, since his being her natural root, qualified him for being her moral root or head, that he was her federal head or representative as well as that of their descendants.

It is evident from what hath now been advanced, that it is not enough that we assent, simply to the truth concerning the Covenant of Works, but that we believe and consider it well, with application to ourselves. We cannot consistently, take hold of God’s covenant of grace, or apply to ourselves any of the promises of it, unless we previously believe with particular application, his covenant of works. Be persuaded, reader, that this covenant was made with the first Adam, in thy name, or for thee in particular. Consider it attentively, and with application to the state of thy own soul. Lay to heart, O, lay to heart, without a moment’s delay, thy own case in relation to it. If thou be still under the dominion of sin, thou art as really, as completely, under that covenant, as if thou hadst in thy own person, consented to all the articles of it. O, do not any longer doubt of the reality of it. Thou and I, reader, have sufficient evidence even within ourselves, that a covenant of life, was made with our common parent. Nothing is more natural for us than to do, that we may live; than to think, that our performances will entitle us to the favor and enjoyment of God; and that if we do our part, God will do his. O do not flatter thyself, that, by thy own righteousness or strength, thou wilt be able to discharge, and dissolve the obligations of this covenant. Thy violation of it in Adam, instead of setting thee free from it, lays thee effectually and completely, under the dreadful penalty of it. Thou canst not otherwise be delivered from it, then by a discharge obtained from JEHOVAH himself, the other contracting Party: and such a discharge cannot be granted, but upon full satisfaction given to all its demands. Thou canst not have thy discharge, from the hand of Divine justice, till the very last farthing, of thy debt of obedience and suffering to the law, be paid.— “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” It is impossible for thee, O sinner, ever to satisfy the demands of the law as a covenant, otherwise than by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, as JEHOVAH thy righteousness, and counting to the law, all that he did and suffered, as done and suffered for thee. Assure thyself, that if ever thou “become dead to the law” in its covenant-form, it must be “by the body of Christ.” Accept Him, then, as the end of the law for righteousness to thee in particular; and having received abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, thou shalt reign in life by one, Jesus Christ, the glorious Head of a new, and a better covenant.

What are thy views of JEHOVAH, as a Party in the first covenant? Though he hath an absolute, an infinite right, to the perfect obedience of man, his own creature; yet so low did he stoop, as to enter into a covenant with him, and to become a debtor to him, for that obedience; while man, at the same time, had no power to perform the least obedience, but what he himself had given to him, Now does his condescension, in thus treating with dust and ashes, appear inexpressibly amiable and admirable, in thy view? Art thou ready to say, what ineffable, what stupendous condescension is this, that the infinitely high and holy ONE, should have so bound himself to man, who is so mean, and so infinitely beneath him, as to promise to him eternal life, as the reward of that obedience, which by right of creation he already owed him?— Does the goodness of the LORD, as manifested in this constitution, appear excellent and amiable, in thine eyes? Does it here appear to thee, so to overflow upon the creature, as to encourage his unbounded confidence in his bountiful Creator? Is it not, thinkest thou, reasonable to suppose, considering the perfection of the first man’s nature, and the advantageous circumstances, in which he was placed, that, if all his posterity had been present upon the occasion, they would have thankfully accepted it, gladly ratified it, and unanimously acknowledged that he and they had an advantageous bargain of it?—Doth divine justice, that glorious attribute, which is so dreadful and so hateful, to every impenitent and unpardoned sinner, appear in this covenant, to be altogether lovely in thy estimation? Dost thou love the LORD, because of the justice, as well as because of the goodness, which shines so illustriously in it? Dost thou see that, having made man upright, JEHOVAH set him up, as his confederate, with a stock abundantly sufficient, to enable him to discharge all his debt of covenant-obedience? And art thou satisfied that, falling off from his obedience, he is left completely without excuse, and that, his sin and misery are wholly owing to himself?

Was the first man, made in the image of God? It was, that he might be fully qualified, to become the contracting party for mankind, in the first covenant.—Did JEHOVAH, who was to be the one contracting Party, create him after his natural image? Did he make his soul, spiritual and immortal; that it might resemble himself as nearly, as it was possible for a finite creature to do? It was, that he might be fitted to be the natural root, of all who were to descend from him. Did he create him after his moral image, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness? The design was, that he might be qualified to be their moral root. The former, fitted him to be their father, or natural head; the latter, to be their representative, or moral head; and so to be the contracting party for them, as well as for himself, in the covenant. How conspicuously then does the grace, as well as the wisdom, of JEHOVAH shine, in his dealings with the first Adam! Instead of murmuring or disputing, let every child of Adam, as it well becomes him, contemplate and adore the glory of the LORD, as it shines in the first covenant.

Finally, was man such a holy and happy creature, when JEHOVAH entered into covenant with him? How unlike is he to what he then was I How low is he now brought I how unholy! How unhappy! Ah! He is now fallen as a star from heaven. He is no longer that spotless, that upright creature, who was fitted to contract, and to maintain communion, with the holy LORD God. No longer, is bis understanding a lamp of light. No longer, is his will conformed to the will of God; nor are his affections, regular or pure, harmonious or heavenly. No longer, do his members yield to his affections, his affections, to his will, his will, to his reason, and his reason, to the law of God. This, O sinner, is the state, the depraved, the deplorable, state of thy soul. And if ever the Holy Spirit come, to convince thee savingly of sin, He will make thee see and feel it to be so; and will enable thee, to betake thyself, as an undone sinner, to the second Adam, the glorious Head of the new covenant.

CHAP. III. Of the Condition of the First Covenant.

The two essential parts of a proper covenant, are the condition and the promise. The condition is that, which the one contracting party engages to perform, in order to acquire a meritorious, or at least a pactional, title to the reward promised by the other. When a condition is proposed, and a promise thereupon made by the one party; and when that is agreed to, and this accepted, by the other, a covenant is made between them. The condition of the covenant of works, or in other words, the condition of life in that covenant, was that obedience to his holy law, which the LORD required Adam to perform, in order to acquire for himself and his posterity, a right to the reward of life, which he had upon that ground promised to him. The rule,— matter,—and manner, of that obedience, require our most attentive consideration.

The rule of it, was the law of the covenant. This law was two-fold; namely,—the natural, and —the positive law. Concerning the natural law, let it be observed,

1. That it is founded, both in the nature of God, and of the man whom he had created. The infinitely glorious majesty, supereminence, and amiableness, of the Triune JEHOVAH above man; and his being the sole Creator, constant Preserver, and supreme Benefactor of man, necessarily require, that he prescribe such a law to him, as should regulate the moral qualities of his nature, and at the same time, the matter and manner of his thoughts, words, and actions.—His right to command his reasonable, and dependent creature, is primarily or radically founded, in his infinite supereminence, amiableness, or moral excellence. Hence are these words of the prophet Jeremiah; “Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD: thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? For to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.” Since JEHOVAH, then, is so transcendently great and high, his creatures, in their being and operations, cannot but be entirely dependent on him. And since his amiableness or moral excellence, is so inexpressible, so infinite, as to deserve the highest possible degree of love; he cannot but require his reasonable creatures, to love him with a superlative esteem; and it cannot but be unjust in them, to withhold such love. That right is, in a secondary degree, founded upon the relation in which he stands to man, as his Creator, Preserver, and bountiful Benefactor; and also on that, in which man stands to him, as his dependent creature.

2. It is also to be observed, that this natural law is the law of the ten commandments, or the moral law, which was long afterward, promulgated from mount Sinai. The ten commandments are, as Moses expresses it, those statutes and judgments, “which if a man do, he shall live in them;” and which the apostle Paul styles, “The commandment which was ordained to life,” and the law which “was weak through the flesh.” It is also the moral law, which the same Apostle mentions in Gal. 3:10,12, when he says, “It is written, cursed is every one, that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”— “And the law is not of faith; but, the man that doeth them, shall live in them.” The tenor of the covenant was, Do, and thou shalt live. Hence our blessed Lord, thus replied to the young Pharisee: “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” The sum of these commandments, is comprehended in what he says, (Matth. 22:37—40.) “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets.”

3. I would further observe, that no sooner was the first man formed, than this moral law was written in his heart, as a perpetual rule of righteousness to him. As it behoved him to know it, in order to his yielding of perfect obedience to it; so it was made known to him, by being inscribed on his heart, or inlaid in the image of God, after which he was created, before it was proposed to him, in its covenant-form. “God created man in his own image,” or as Solomon expresses it, “made man upright.” The moral image of God, which consisted of knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, was concreated with, and in his nature. The knowledge of the law, therefore, which is an essential part of this image, was so concreated with him, that he knew it naturally. His glorious Creator breathed it into his soul, when he “breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life, and made him a living soul.” He no sooner made him a man, than he made him an intelligent, a righteous, and a holy man. Hence this law, considered as written in his mind and heart, is frequently styled, the law of nature, or the natural law.

4. This law was afterward incorporated into the covenant of works, and under that form, was proposed to Adam, as the head and representative of his posterity. The natural law existed, before the covenant of works was made: that, was engraven on the heart of Adam, in the very moment of his creation; this, was made with him, after he had been placed in Paradise. The law as written in his heart, had no promise of life. It does not appear, that the infinite Majesty of heaven was under any previous obligation, to reward the obedience of a creature so mean, in comparison of Him, with the eternal enjoyment of himself.—But, when he annexed to that law, a promise of life, upon condition of obedience to it, and an express threatening of death, as the wages of disobedience; he thereby, turned it into a covenant of works, and under that form proposed it to him.

As to the positive, or symbolical law, of not eating the forbidden fruit, which was also, the rule of man’s covenant-obedience, I would observe,

1. That it depended not upon the nature, but upon the will of God.—Adam’s eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, was not forbidden because it was evil; but was evil because it was forbidden. This prohibition was not given, because of any evil in the fruit of that tree; for “God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good” The forbidden fruit had nothing malignant, or hurtful in its nature, more than that of any other of the trees of the garden. This positive law, therefore, was founded in the sovereign will, or mere good pleasure of JEHOVAH. Whilst the natural or moral law, was founded in the Divine nature; this positive precept, was founded in the Divine will. While that, was founded in the moral perfections of God; this, was the result solely of his good pleasure. Though the natural law has a reason, both in the nature of God, and in the nature of the things themselves which it enjoins; yet it is the will of God, expressed in the commandment, and not the intrinsic reasonableness of the thing commanded, that is the formal and immediate reason, of obedience to him. As the supreme Lawgiver, he is entitled to an implicit obedience; or such, as has no reason for it, but his sovereign will. His will, therefore, which is the formal reason of all obedience to him, was, in this positive law, made the sole reason of obedience.

2. This law, as well as the former, was revealed to the man, under a covenant-form. “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” That the positive law was given to Adam, under the form of a constitution or covenant, appears with no inconsiderable evidence, from the term in the original language, in the passage now cited, which is rendered commanded. The original word so translated, signifies not only, to enjoin the performance of a duty, but to constitute, ordain, or establish a person or thing. Thus it is used, to express God’s constituting or ordaining David, king over Israel, and his constituting, or establishing his covenant of grace. “He hath commanded his covenant forever;” that is, He hath constituted, ordained, or established his covenant forever. In the passage before us, the first clause of the 16th verse, according to the original, runs thus: The LORD God commanded upon the man.—He constituted, or established upon the man; or in other words, He made a constitution upon the man. Here, as it appears to me, we are taught that, the LORD made or established a constitution upon the man; “saying, of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” He established a constitution or covenant, upon him, or with him, as the Adam, the man, the first man, the representative of all mankind, who by ordinary generation, were to descend from him; and in that covenant, a right to all the trees of the garden, under the restriction of a certain tree, called “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” As, therefore, this restriction or prohibition had a threatening of death, which implied a promise of life, annexed to it, it was not only a positive, but a covenant-restriction. This positive law, then, which was divinely revealed to Adam, probably by an audible voice, was revealed to him, under the form of a covenant of works.

3. The whole of the natural or moral law in its covenant-form, was virtually comprehended in the positive law. The positive law was, as it were, a compend or summary of the law of nature, inscribed in the man’s heart. All the precepts, summed up in the two commandments, of love to God, and to our neighbor, were therein comprehended. In his not eating of the forbidden fruit, Adam would have discovered, supreme love to God, and due love to his posterity. Now “love is the fulfilling of the law.” By obeying this, he would have obeyed the whole law; and by breaking this, he broke the whole. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” Adam’s love to God, and to his own descendants, as manifested in his keeping of the positive law, was to be accounted, a fulfilling of the whole moral law, under which he then stood. The positive law, therefore, is to be considered as extending to every article of that duty, which the man owed to JEHOVAH, according to the moral law; and a trampling upon his authority in the former, to be regarded, as a trampling upon it in the latter.

4. Lastly, let it be observed, that the natural or moral law, obliged Adam to obey the positive law.— It enjoined him to obey the will of JEHOVAH, in all things; to believe whatever God should reveal, and to do whatever he should command; and so extended his duty, to his not eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, since God had forbidden him to eat of it. Hence it follows that, in proportion as this positive law was obeyed, the natural or moral law as a covenant, was obeyed; and that, the least act of disobedience to the one, was a violation of the other. The natural law, then, which was written in the heart of Adam, obliged him to obey the positive law, as soon as it should be revealed to him, as well as to obey the natural law itself, revealed to him in its covenant-form.

The commandment given to the first man, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was, in a very eminent degree, calculated, 1st, To manifest the LORD’S sovereignty over him.—It served to show him, that the sovereignty of JEHOVAH over him, was so absolute, so supreme, so transcendently high, that whenever he pleased, he could enact his mere will, into a law; and try man’s obedience, in a matter which should serve effectually, to manifest his absolute subjection to his will. The man’s obedience to this positive law, was to hinge or turn, on the precise point of the will of God. His glorious Creator, who had so lately invested him, with dominion over the other creatures, would hereby intimate, that He still had dominion over him, and could prescribe a law to him, of which no other reason should be given, than his own sovereign will. That he might recollect his subjection to God, whenever he reflected upon his own dominion over the inferior creatures; the LORD put an act of restraint upon him, and abridged his liberty, in a thing which might prove his obedience, and at the same time, not diminish his happiness. 2nd, It served to teach him, that he held all his enjoyments of, and under the LORD, as the sovereign Proprietor, both of him and them; and that even in paradise itself, he must not so much as touch an apple, without His express allowance.—As JEHOVAH his infinitely exalted Superior, placed the man in paradise; a place richly furnished with everything proper for necessity, convenience, and delight, it became his consummate wisdom, and his supreme Majesty, to forbid him the use of one of the trees in the garden, as a testimony of his holding everything of Him, as the great Possessor of heaven and earth. 3rd, It was also, in an eminent degree suited, to render the man’s obedience, or disobedience, the more conspicuous, and the righteousness of the infinite Majesty of heaven, in rewarding, or punishing him and his posterity, the more manifest.—This law, respected an external object, a thing obvious to sense; and therefore, that God might be clear in judging, was eminently calculated to render his obedience, or disobedience, the more evident and undeniable, both to himself, and to every other intelligent creature. No obedience is so illustrious, nor appears to such advantage, as that which respects an object which is evil, only because the Lord hath forbidden it. 4th, It served at the same time, to intimate to the man and his posterity, That they must be content, to be without the most desirable of earthly objects, if it should be the will of God; and that there is more real happiness, in obedience to one, even of the least of his commandments, than in the fruition of the greatest, and most delicious, of worldly comforts. 5th, It was calculated to teach him, That the LORD had endowed him with freedom of will. If he had not formed him a free agent, able and willing, perfectly to obey the whole law, he would not have added the positive precept. 6th, It tended also to remind him, That his true happiness, consisted not in the enjoyment of earthly delights, but in the favor, and fruition of God himself, the chief Good of the immortal soul. His infinitely bountiful Creator, would not have prescribed to the man, abstinence from the fruit of that tree, if the eating of it could have, in the smallest degree, contributed to render him more happy. He would not have abridged his liberty, but in a matter which, while it served to try his obedience, could not in the least, impair or lessen his real enjoyment. 7th, It served to be a continual monitor to him, that he was fallible; that though he was a happy, yet he was a changeable creature.—The tree of knowledge, as standing under such a peremptory prohibition, was an incessant monitor to him, to remind him, that he was still but in favor on his good behavior; and, therefore, that since his state was mutable, he had need to take good heed to his ways, and to watch against every possible attempt of his spiritual enemies. 8th, Finally, It afforded an eminent display of the condescending goodness of God to him. As long as his state of trial continued, his natural fallibility extended to all the precepts of the natural or moral law; so that, he was naturally liable to be seduced, and to fall into a transgression of any one, or of all its precepts. But by the positive law, his fallibility was favorably abridged, and confined to the single point of his eating, or not eating, of the forbidden fruit. All his hazard of sinning was restricted, solely to the article of his eating of that fruit. When the Loan threatened that in eating, he should surely die, the threatening could import nothing less, than that in not eating, he should surely not die. His danger then either of sinning, or of dying, was kindly restricted, to his eating of the fruit of a certain tree, of which he could have no manner of need.—Respecting the natural or moral law, he was hereby already introduced, into a conditional state of confirmation.—So long as he continued to obey the positive law, he was so confirmed, as to be in no danger of being left to fall, into a transgression of any one of the commandments of the moral law. Add to this, that nothing could have been so easy to him, as to have abstained from eating of the fruit of a single tree; which had no peculiar excellency in it, and of which, as I already observed, he had not, circumstanced as he was, the smallest need. The giving, then, of this positive law to him, was an instance of special kindness, to the first man and his posterity.

The next thing in this chapter, that claims our consideration, is the matter of that obedience, which, in the first covenant, was the condition of life.— The matter of the obedience, which Adam was commanded to perform, as the ground of his own, and of his posterity’s title to life, was the conformity of his hearty and of his life, to the whole law of God, moral and positive; or, his being and acting in all respects, according to it, from a principle of reverential, and supreme regard, to its Divine authority. In the first place, It implies his being conformed in his nature, to the whole law, or the conformity of his nature to it. God had made man upright; perfectly conformed in his nature, to the Divine nature and will, expressed in his law, without which, none of his actions could have been performed acceptably. The law accordingly commanded him, to be conformed to it in his nature, and to retain his conformity of nature to it, untainted and undiminished. When the LORD God commanded the man, he enjoined him to retain that original righteousness, or rectitude of nature which he had given him, in all its immaculate purity.— “The end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart.” The first and great commandment of the moral law, is, “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” This moral law is sometimes styled, The law of nature, not merely, because it was originally inscribed in the nature of man, but also because it was the rule of his nature, and required it to be perfectly holy. Lastly, The matter of Adam’s obedience, included the conformity of his life, or of his thoughts, words, and actions, to the law.—The law requires conformity of life, as well as of nature; and such conformity or righteousness of life, as proceeds from holiness of nature. It required of Adam, the highest exercise of all the powers of his upright nature, in conformity to it; and that, in all his thoughts, words, and deeds. His original righteousness, then, or the matter of his obedience, to the natural and positive law of the covenant of works, as the stated condition of life, to himself and his descendants, was his conformity, both of nature, and of life, to that law. Upon the ground of his continuing for a certain time, to yield such obedience, life, in all its latitude, extent, and duration, was promised to him and his posterity.

The kind or manner of that obedience, in the last place, requires our attentive consideration.

First, It was requisite that it should be perfect, Adam was required to yield perfect obedience to the law, as the condition of life, in the first covenant. It was necessary that his obedience should be perfect,

1. In principle.—It was to be performed with the whole heart, from a principle of love to God, and to his own posterity; for the law saith, “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.” It was necessary, that it should flow from a principle of delight, in the law of the LORD, and from an inclination of heart toward God, in which, there was not to be the smallest shadow of imperfection. While it was to have proceeded from the most pure, and ardent love, it was requisite, that it should be internal, and at the same time external; that it should be altogether voluntary and cheerful, without the least reluctance, or indisposition of soul; and that it should be performed, with a supreme regard to the glory of JEHOVAH, as its ultimate end: for the law says, “Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Hence it follows that, that obedience was not to have been performed simply, or merely, for the purpose of procuring a title to life. This would have rendered it a selfish, and mercenary obedience. As the obligation of the law, did not depend upon the promise of the covenant, it could not admit of the man’s having any regard at all, to his own benefit, but in subordination and subservience, to the glory of God.

2. It was no less requisite, that it should be perfect in its parts; so perfect as to be entire, wanting nothing in respect of integrity. It was requisite that it should be perfect, in respect of the parts of the law. It was necessary that it should be as extensive, as the whole law, moral and positive, reaching to every precept of it; that the man should omit nothing which the law required, and do nothing which it forbade him to do. Every precept was to be obeyed, in all its spirituality, and vast extent; and every failure in obedience, was not only to be considered as a breach, but as a universal breach, of the law of the covenant. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” It was necessary too, that it should be perfect, in respect of the parts of the man. As it was to extend to the whole law; so it was to be the obedience of the whole man. His whole spirit, soul, and body; or, his soul and body, with all the faculties of the one, and all the members of the other, were to be employed in yielding that obedience. It was to be the obedience, both of the inward, and of the outward man, and that in thought, word, and deed. It behoved it also to be perfect, as to the parts of the action.—Not only was it requisite, that everything that is good should be done, but that whatsoever was to be done, should be well done; that the work should not only be perfectly good, as to the matter of the action or actions, but perfectly well done.

3. It was likewise necessary, that it should be perfect in degree.—The obedience of Adam, was not merely to be as broad, but in every article to be as high, as the law. It was to rise to the very highest degree of perfection, required by the law; whatever at any time, fell short of perfection in degree, was to be considered as imperfection or sin.

Secondly, It was necessary that it should be personal. Not that it was to be incumbent on every individual, of the sons of men to obey, in order to procure for himself, a particular title to life: for, if death was adjudged to the descendants, of Adam, and entailed upon them, on account of his disobedience, before any of them could have committed actual sin; it follows, that life, in all its extent and duration, was to have been conferred upon them, on the ground of his personal obedience to the law in its covenant-form. And, as to that obedience, which they were to have performed, upon his and their confirmation; it would have been presented to the moral law, as an eternal rule of duty, divested of its covenant-form, and performed from confirmation in life, as its principle, and as a continued expression of the purest gratitude, to their covenant-God. If Adam had stood in his integrity, until he had fulfilled the condition of the covenant, he should have entered upon a state of confirmation, in perfect holiness and happiness; and all his descendants should, in their successive generations, not only have had original righteousness from him, transmitted to them; but, should have been born in a state of confirmation, in which, they would have been secured, in a course of perfect, and perpetual, obedience to the law as an immutable rule of life. It was necessary then that, that obedience which was the condition of life, should be personal. It was to have been performed by one person, and not by a number, associated for the purpose; or, to have been begun, and finished by the same individual person. Hence Adam is, in Scripture, styled the first man, the one man, and that .one man; who, as the public representative of his posterity, was to have obeyed the law as a covenant, in order to entitle himself and them, to eternal life. It was requisite, that the righteousness to be fulfilled, as the ground of a title to life, in that covenant, should not be a patched garment, made up, one piece of it, by one person, and another, by another; but that it should be all one piece, one obedience, or the righteousness of one. For the same reason, it could not have been fulfilled by a sponsor or surety, substituted in his room. If a surety could have been admitted to obey for him; whenever that surety should have begun to fail in obedience, his disobedience could not have broken the covenant, nor have subjected him, to the begun execution of the threatening; nor could the obedience of a surety, have been accepted as a fulfilment of the condition of it.

Thirdly, It was as requisite, that it should be performed in a covenant-form, or presented to the law, under the form of that covenant made with the first man.—Although the man was previously bound to obey the law, in virtue of a natural obligation, as a reasonable creature, who cannot but be under law to God; yet, he was still more strictly bound to obey, by the superadded tie of a covenant, made with him for the purpose. It was, therefore, incumbent upon him, to fulfil the law, not merely as imposed upon him, by the infinitely high authority of the adorable THREE in ONE, but also as submitted to, by his own voluntary consent and engagement; and to fulfil it for life, to himself and his posterity. Thus his obedience was to be performed in a covenant-form; performed to the law, not only as a rule of righteousness, but as a covenant of life. He was, in all his obedience, to have a strict and invariable regard to the covenant.

Lastly, It was necessary that it should be perpetual. It behoved Adam to continue in all things, which were afterward “written in the book of the law, to do them,” till the Lord should release him, from under that law in its covenant-form. He was to continue under it as a covenant, during all the time in which, he was to remain in his state of trial. This state could not have been eternal; for in that event, it would have excluded all possibility of a reward, at the end of his service, and have rendered the promise, of no avail. If he was to have remained in a perpetual state of probation, he never could have attained the promised reward: for when a reward is promised for obedience, a time is always understood to be fixed, when the party is to enter upon the enjoyment of that reward. Though the period of Adam’s probation is not mentioned in the sacred records, yet it would appear, that it was to have been but very short; probably no longer, than till he had begotten his first child,—or, till the fruit had all dropped off the forbidden tree,—or, till his eldest child had been capable of acting for itself. The angelic tribes, were at first, in a state of trial. This did not however continue, but for a few days at most. They seem to have been created, on the second day of the creation, and many of them had fallen, before the end of the sixth; when all the rest of them, it would appear, were forthwith, introduced into a state of confirmation. Now, it is not at all probable, that God should have dealt more severely with man, so far inferior to angels, in dignity and capacity, by obliging him to continue for a long space, in a mutable state. Indeed it would seem, that according to the tenor of the covenant under which he stood, the time fixed for the duration of his trial, must have elapsed, before he could have had any offspring; or at least, before any of them could have been capable of acting for himself: for, the entering of sin into the world, by the breach of that covenant, could not, in the first instance, have been by any of his descendants, but only by himself, with whom, as their representative, the covenant was made. As none of them, continuing in a state of personal innocence, could have died by his sinning; nor been in a state of confirmation, while he continued in a state of trial; it would appear that his state of trial, was to have continued but a very short space. During the continuance of it, however, it was requisite, that his obedience should be perpetual, without the smallest intermission or defect. Till that time, spent in a course of unintermitted obedience, had elapsed, he could have had no legal claim to the promised reward, nor have entered on a state of confirmation.

Thus I have endeavored, briefly to illustrate the rule,—matter,—and manner, of that obedience, which in the first covenant, was the condition of life.

Was the happiness of mankind, then, suspended on the obedience of one man? We may learn, how eminently the sovereignty of JEHOVAH, is herein displayed. This federal transaction bears a striking impress, and affords an illustrious display, of Divine sovereignty. It flowed from the nature of JEHOVAH, that he should prescribe a law, to the reasonable creature whom he had formed; but, that he should make a covenant with him, was the result of his sovereign will. He might have made a covenant with Adam, as a private person. He might have so framed it, that the performance of the condition, should have depended, on every one of his offspring in an individual capacity. He doth not ask the consent of all, who are concerned in that covenant; nor doth he so much as require the formal consent, even of their public representative. He proposeth the covenant, in the form of a command: “The LORD God commanded the man,” &c. As a Sovereign, he refuseth liberty to his creature, so much as in the least to desire to dispute his high authority. The time limited for Adam’s probation, depended entirely on his sovereign will. His sovereignty no less appears, in suspending the happiness of mankind, on the first man’s obedience to a positive command. Why make his regard to a positive precept, the hinge, on which his whole obedience was to turn? Why not rest it rather, on a moral precept, the reasonableness of which, could have been more easily perceived by the man; while thoughts of disobedience, might probably have affected his mind with deeper horror? Here JEHOVAH displayeth his absolute, sovereign authority. He teacheth the creature, that his sovereign will, is the formal reason of obedience to his law; and that man is as much obliged to obey, when he does not, as when he does, see the reasonableness of the duty required of him. There was nothing in the appearance of the forbidden fruit, that could indicate the fatal tendency, which was ascribed to it. On the contrary, “It was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes.” Yet the man is bound to believe, that the taste of it is mortal, because God hath said so; and to discredit rather, the testimony of his own senses, than that of God. Nothing can be more reasonable, than that the high and holy ONE, should manifest to angels and to men, his transcendent sovereignty: and here, that display of the glory of it which he affords, is in an eminent degree, illustrious.

We may also infer, from the preceding account of the conditionary articles of the first covenant, That justification or salvation, by the works of the law, is absolutely impossible. The garment of self-righteousness was stained, and worn to pieces, on the back of the first Adam. “All our righteousness’s,” said the ancient Church, “are as filthy-rags” It cannot, therefore, be a garment of salvation for a sinner. Consider, O sinner, that perfect obedience, is what the law originally required, and still requires of thee, as the condition of eternal life: And though thou wert able, in thy own strength, to yield sincere obedience for such a purpose, Divine justice neither could, nor would, accept of it, in place of that which is perfect. Infinite justice can be satisfied with no degrees of obedience, but what are commensurate to the high demands of the righteous law. Thy obedience, must be altogether perfect, wanting nothing of that perfection which the law requires; otherwise, it can give thee no manner of right, to justification in the sight of God. Though it were in thy power, to give complete satisfaction to sin-avenging justice, for thy innumerable offences; still thou couldst not, under the Covenant of Works, be exalted to eternal life, unless thou wert able at the same time, to yield, and actually did yield, perfect obedience to the precepts of the law. As no sufferings but such as are infinite, can give satisfaction for the breach; so, no obedience but such as is perfect, can amount to a fulfilment of the condition of that covenant. Boast no longer then of thy repentance, thy sincere endeavors, thy good intentions, thy ardent desires, as thy grounds of title, to the favor of God and eternal life. The covenant under which thou art, admits of no repentance, no will for the deed, nothing short of perfect obedience, and complete satisfaction for sin. There is no latitude left in that covenant, for sincere endeavors, instead of perfect performances. Consider, O secure sinner, the tenor of that covenant. Is thy obedience, perfect, personal, and perpetual f If not; why dost thou presume, to expect eternal life on the ground of it? Dost thou not know, that JEHOVAH denounceth the most tremendous curse against “every one, who continueth not in all things, written in the book of the law, to do them?” Dost thou not know, that He is infinitely just, and will by no means, clear the guilty? Infinitely holy, and will not admit a sinner, as such, to stand in his sight? Dost thou not know, O self-righteous man, that his goodness, as well as his justice, and holiness, determines him to vindicate the honor of his righteous law; and that, therefore, “heaven and earth shall sooner pass, than one jot, or one tittle pass from the law, till all be fulfilled?” And dost thou not perceive, that by rejecting the glorious Surety of a better testament, thou keepest thyself, under an obligation to do the whole law, and that, on pain of the most dreadful penalty? Ah! What folly, what madness is it, in a sinner, to expect salvation by a covenant, that suspends it upon perfect obedience! That covenant proposes the very same condition of life, to everyone who continues under it, that it did to the first man; to be performed in his own person, and by his own strength, if he will have life by it. Adam is now, no longer his representative, to act for him. He must therefore act and answer for himself. If the pilot, carefully conduct the ship into the port, the passengers have no such office to perform for themselves; but, if he run the ship on a rock, and then desert her, each of the passengers must be pilot for himself, or else perish by ship-wreck.

Can nothing, amount to a fulfilling of the condition of that covenant, but perfect obedience? Hence learn the folly of a sinner’s attempting, to add his own performances, to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, as the ground of his justification before God. If the obedience of Christ is perfect, infinitely perfect, why does the sinner offer to add any more to it, for such a purpose; and if not perfect, why pretend to add that to it, which he himself, acknowledges to be imperfect? One imperfect righteousness, annexed to another, which is also imperfect, cannot surely between them, constitute a perfect one. The condition of eternal life, infatuated legalist, must be the perfect obedience not of two, but—of ONE. “By the obedience of ONE, shall many be made righteous.” “The law is not of faith; but, the man that doeth them, shall live in them.” Thou must, therefore, either betake thyself wholly by faith, to the perfect righteousness of the second Adam, or trust wholly to thy own. His and thine cannot be blended together. The robe of righteousness for justification, must not be a patched garment. If ever, therefore, JEHOVAH the Spirit begin to make thee wise unto salvation, thou wilt begin, with the great Apostle of the Gentiles, to desire above all things— “to win Christ, and be found in him, not having thy own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” O, that this may be thy case, before the shadows of the long evening, be stretched forth upon thee!

Was Adam's consenting to the covenant of works, a thing different from the condition of that covenant? The proud legalist, may hence learn that, consenting by faith, to the covenant of grace, is a different thing, from the proper condition of that everlasting covenant. To consent to a proper covenant, is to consent to the conditions, as well as to all the other articles of it. The consenting, therefore, is one thing, and the condition is another. —Nay, the second Adam's consenting, as the glorious Representative of his spiritual seed, to the covenant of grace made with him, was not the condition of that covenant; for he consented to fulfil the condition of it, in the fulness of time: and if his consenting to do this, is not the proper condition, much less, is our consenting to receive it by faith.

How necessary is it to the salvation of a sinner, that he have a sufficient Surety, to answer for him! The condition of the first covenant was so high, and the penalty so dreadful, that, in the event of a man's breach of it, he could not possibly, from any resources of his own, ever be able to recover himself. The awful penalty must be endured; and that is what the finite creature cannot, in any limited length of time, endure: the unalterable condition of life, must after all be fulfilled; and that is what the sinful creature cannot perform. How necessary, then, O how. necessary is it, to the salvation of a sinner, that a sufficient surety, answer and suffer for him! Hence says our blessed Lord, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?” And again, “The son of man must suffer many things.” He only, who was God as well as man, was qualified to become Surety for sinful men; and to answer the demands of that covenant, after it was broken, which JEHOVAH had made with man. How necessary is it, reader, to our salvation, that you and I be united by faith, to that transcendently glorious Surety! Have you ever had such a deep, and impressive sense, of your need of his surety-righteousness, as impelled you, without delay, to betake yourself to it, for the justification of life?

Was the will of God, the precise reason of that obedience, which Adam was commanded to perform to his law? We hence learn, that there is no acceptable obedience to God, but what is performed in a direct regard to his will, as the formal reason, and rule of it.—To learn this, is of the utmost importance, both to the saint, and to the sinner. It was upon the precise point of the will of JEHOVAH, that all the obedience of the first Adam, was to turn. And says the blessed second Adam, “I delight to do thy willy O my God.” As it is not the nature of God, or the reason of duty in his nature, but the willy or authority of God, as expressed in his law, that should be the immediate reason and rule of our obedience; so, no obedience is acceptable to him, but what proceeds from a supreme regard to his revealed will, as the immediate, the precise reason of it. Suppose the duty required, to be ever so reasonable in itself, it is not so much the reasonableness of it, as JEHOVAH’S requiring of it, that we are to have an immediate respect to, in our acts of obedience. We are to do that which is commanded, not so much because we think it right, as because He requires it.

CHAP. IV. Of the Promise of the Covenant of Works.

In that covenant, God promised life to Adam and all his posterity represented by him, as the reward due to his fulfilling of the condition of it. It was by the promise of God, that the reward of life to him and them, was annexed to his performing of perfect obedience. The promise was a conditional promise, which rendered the reward or benefit promised, a debt, upon the fulfilling of the condition; and therefore was to be performed to him, for himself and them, as soon as he had fulfilled it. Thus the commandment, which JEHOVAH gave to the man, “was ordained to life,” and “could have given life.”

That a promise of life, to himself and his descendants, upon condition of his perfect obedience, was made to Adam, in the first covenant, appears evident from the nature of the penalty.—When the Lord threatened. That “in the day he eat of the forbidden fruit, he should surely die this, by the rule of contraries, necessarily implied, that if he did not eat of it, he should surely live.” The threatening of death, in the event of disobedience, plainly implied, that the man had no ground to fear the loss of his life, so long as he continued obedient; and that if he persevered in his obedience, till he completed it, he might reasonably hope for such a reward, as should be sufficient to counterbalance that death, which had been annexed to a breach, even of a positive precept.—The promise, is not merely supposed or implied in the threatening; but is as it were expressed, in these words: “Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat;”—of every tree, and therefore, of the tree of life in the midst of the garden, as the symbol of life, upon perfect obedience. Thus it seems to have been understood by Moses; “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them;” and is expounded by the apostle Paul, “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things, shall live by them.” This appears evident likewise, from the following passages, which express, in clear and direct terms, the nature and sanction of the law; and contain a repetition, and as it were, an exhibition, of the covenant of works to mankind: “The Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door.” They hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, “which if a man do, he shall live in them.” “And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.” “The law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them, shall live in them.” “Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.” “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” These, and many other passages that might be quoted, clearly show, that the covenant of works was a covenant of life; that it contained a promise of life, to Adam’s finished obedience. The same truth is not obscurely hinted, by God’s annexing rewards of grace, to that obedience of his people, to the moral law as a rule, which is far from being perfect. In a word, that the Lord gave, in that covenant, a promise of life to Adam, is set beyond all doubt, by the tree in the midst of the garden, called “the tree of life.” That tree, could not be styled “the tree of life,” from any inherent virtue that it had, above the other trees of the garden, to preserve or prolong life: for if it had been possessed of any such virtue, Adam, instead of having been allowed the free use of the other trees, would have been restricted to eat, for the most part; of that particular tree, so long as it should have produced enough of fruit for him. The name, therefore, which was given to that tree, could only have been the result of a Divine appointment, setting it apart for a peculiar purpose. It was presented to the man, as a sacred emblem and pledge, as a sacramental sign and seal, of that life, in all its latitude and extent, which, according to the promise, he was, on finishing his covenant-obedience, to begin fully to enjoy. Whilst he continued to obey, it served in a high degree, to confirm his faith and hope in the promise.

The life, which was promised in that covenant, to the man and his posterity, as the reward of his obedience, was the continuance of his natural life, consisting in the union of his soul with his body; — the continuance likewise, of his spiritual life, consisting in the favor, and the resemblance of God, or in the union of his soul with God;—and, his entering, in due time, upon the full fruition of eternal life, in the celestial Paradise.

1. This promise, was a promise of the continuance of his natural life. His natural or animal life, consisting in the union of his soul with his body, was, according to the promise, upon his continuing in obedience, to have been continued to him. It was a promise of the prolonging of his natural life, as long as he continued to obey. As his body was created, without any principles of corruption, or seeds of mortality, his continuing in obedience would have kept off death from it. In his keeping of the commandments, Adam was to have had a great reward. The promise was to have kept pace with his obedience, and to have secured to him a concomitant reward. When the LORD God said to him, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, or,—to die, thou shalt die;” it was as if he had said,— “While thou eatest not, to live, thou shalt live; in order to live an eternal, thou shalt continue to live a natural, and a spiritual life. Thou shalt live, during the course of thy fulfilling the condition of life, in order to live, after it is fulfilled. Whilst thou eatest not of the forbidden fruit, thou shalt live in thy state of trial, in order to live in a state of confirmation.”—The LORD then promised to the man, that, so long as he himself continued not to dissolve the bond of the covenant, the union between his soul and his body, should continue indissoluble; that, while he continued in the vigor of his obedience, his natural life should continue in all its vigor, without the smallest tendency to decay or dissolution; and that, while he chose to retain the comfort of his innocence, he should continue to enjoy the comfort of life, and be a stranger to sorrow or pain. When God said to him, “Of every tree of the garden,” and consequently of the tree of life, as a symbol of life, “thou mayest freely eat,” he hinted, or rather expressed, the same promise that was implied in the threatening; namely, the promise of natural life, with all the conveniences and comforts of it; with all the unmixed delights, and refined pleasures, which it implied.

By those words he signified to him, That while he refrained from eating the fruit, of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he should continue to enjoy a prosperous life; and, that nothing should ever separate between his life, and the unnumbered comforts of it.—Moreover, that was a promise, not only of the continuance of his natural life, upon his persevering in obedience, during the time of his trial; but also of the continuance of it, in a state of confirmation, upon his having finished that obedience. It was a promise, that when he had finished the fulfilment of the condition imposed on him, he should be introduced into, and forever fixed in, an unchangeable state of holiness and happiness, in which he should be set far beyond the reach of natural death. Whether his abode in the earthly paradise, or in the world at large, before his admission into the heavenly Paradise, had been intended to be longer or shorter, he should still have been removed beyond the remotest danger, or possibility of dying. His body should have been absolutely and forever secured, against the least hazard of dying, or even of hurt from accidents of any kind.— Thus, according to the promise, his natural life should have begun to lose itself, in life eternal.

2. It was also a promise to the man, of the continuance of that spiritual life which he already possessed.—The spiritual life, with which his benign Creator had endowed him, was, the union and communion of his soul with Himself, and its perfect conformity to him. The conformity of his soul to him, was, its being completely adorned with his moral image, which consisted of knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. Now God promised, that this spiritual life should continue with him, during the course of his performing the condition of the covenant; or, as long as he continued to refrain from eating of the forbidden fruit. His soul, which in its own nature was immortal, should, in his so doing, have still continued, in union and intercourse with JEHOVAH, the glorious fountain of life. He should have lived to God, and should have enjoyed the continuance of his favor, and of spiritual prosperity, in perfect union and communion with him. As a holy God cannot but favor a holy creature, the life which is in his favor, should, as long as the man refrained from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, be secured to him. The Lord promised to him, on that condition, not merely a continuance of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, as his image on his soul; but, of his favor, friendship, and familiar intercourse, in every exercise and duty suited to that state; together with the continuance, of the comfort of a good conscience, and of the sure hope of his approaching nearer and nearer, to the full enjoyment of eternal life. He promised to him, that while he continued to observe the covenant, which was a covenant of friendship, nothing should diminish this favor, dissolve this friendship, or mar this intercourse. As JEHOVAH cannot hide his face from, or frown upon, a creature beautified with his own image, Adam’s communion with him, should have been immediate, and his access to him at all times, ready and easy.—Thus, by virtue of the promise, he had a present reward of his obedience, as the earnest of what he was afterward to enjoy. But while this was to Adam, a promise of the continuance of his spiritual life, upon his continuing to perform the condition, during his state of trial; it was, at the same time, a promise of the further continuance of it, in a state of confirmation, after he had finished the performance of the condition. It was a promise to him, that, as soon as he had completely fulfilled the condition of life, he should be confirmed in a state of holiness and happiness, and have his spiritual life continued to him, in that state; that, if he stood firm in his perfect conformity to the law as a covenant of works, he and his posterity should, in consequence of that, be confirmed in perfect conformity to it as a rule of life, or be secured against the remotest possibility, of ever after falling into sin. Thus, the stream of his spiritual life, was to have discharged itself into the boundless, the unfathomable, ocean of life eternal.

3. Finally, It was at the same time, a promise to the Man, that, on accomplishing his covenant-obedience, he should immediately enter upon the enjoyment of eternal life;—that, as soon as he entered into a state of confirmation, he should enter upon the begun fruition of eternal life, in the earthly paradise, and in due time, upon the full enjoyment of it, in the heavenly. According to that promise, his natural and his spiritual life, were to begin to lose themselves in his eternal, as soon as the condition of the covenant was fulfilled; and were to be swallowed up in it completely, as soon as he should be translated up to heaven. As is now the case of true believers, in their state of justification, his eternal life, was to have begun with his confirmation, in a state of perfect holiness and happiness. He and his descendants, were to have been so justified, on the ground of his finished obedience to the law, in its covenant form, as never to have come into condemnation; and, to have been so infallibly secured in life, as never to have been in the remotest danger, of passing from life to death. Upon his fulfilling of the condition of life, as their representative, he and they, were to have had their bodies unalterably secured against natural death, and whatever accidents might pave the way to it. No combined force, either of this, or of the infernal world, could ever have inflicted, so much as the smallest hurt, on the body of any one of them; much less, have compassed the death of any one. Besides, in performing that promise, their covenant-God should have confirmed Adam and his posterity, in perfect conformity to his law, as the immutable and eternal rule of their duty. Adam indeed was created mutable, and so, was naturally subject to change; but upon his finishing of his covenant-obedience, he should have been so confirmed in perfect holiness, as never to be any more liable to the least shadow of change. It should have been as impossible, for him and his descendants, to have fallen into sin or misery, as it would have been for the confirmed angels. As a necessary consequence of this, their persons would have been unalterably fixed in a state of favor with God, and there should have been no danger, of their ever falling out of it any more. His favor should have continued, to compass them about as a shield; and the light of his countenance, should never for a moment, have been intercepted from them. And at length, without the least dissolution of the union between the soul and the body, both should at the time appointed, have been translated to heaven, that paradise of God; to be there blessed with the most immediate, perfect, and everlasting, enjoyment of the ever-blessed and adorable THREE in ONE.—They should not always have remained on the earth, where it would be necessary, for the support of their bodies, to eat and drink and sleep; but should at the fittest time, have been removed to the celestial paradise, to live throughout eternity, as do the angels of God.

That eternal life in heaven, was promised to mankind, in the first covenant, may be evinced by the following arguments:

1. The life, which the second Adam, by his surety-righteousness, merited for his spiritual seed, is the same that the first Adam had forfeited, by his disobedience. Now that was life eternal. If “he who believeth, hath eternal life,” and, if “the just shall live” an eternal life “by faith,” “The man which doeth those things, shall live by them,” that is, shall also live the same eternal life. Hence too, are these words of the apostle Paul: “That no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them, shall live in them.” That eternal life then, which is received by faith, is here represented, as in substance the same with this, which, by the law, is connected with the perfect fulfilment of all its demands.

2. Our blessed Lord, when proposing the covenant of works, to a young man who was a legalist, told him, that he should have eternal life, as the performance of the promise of it, upon his fulfilling of the condition. “Behold one came and said unto him, good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him,— If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” On another occasion, he returned a similar answer to a lawyer, who put a similar question to him: “He said unto him, thou hast answered right; this do and thou shalt live,” that is,—shalt live an eternal life. It was eternal life, then, which, in that covenant, was promised to Adam, upon condition of his perfect obedience to the law.

3. If for the breach of that covenant, Adam and all his natural posterity in him, were condemned to eternal death; it is requisite, according to the rules of remunerative justice, and the infinite equity of the Divine procedure, that if the condition of life had been fulfilled, they should have been adjudged to eternal life. Was the penalty of death eternal in the infernal world, annexed to the transgression even of a positive precept? We may warrantably conclude, that life everlasting in the heavenly world, was included in the promise.

4. Reason also suggests, that, his all-bountiful Lord would promise to the man, as the reward of his obedience, a better life, than that which he already possessed;—that, as the earthly paradise, was adapted principally to promote the happiness of his body, there would be another, and a future state and place, fitted to afford such spiritual felicity, as should chiefly correspond to the spiritual, and heavenly, nature of his soul;—and that, after his present state of service and of trial, there would very likely be a future one, of reward and of enjoyment.

5. The divine appointment of the tree of life, as a symbol and seal of that covenant, plainly hinted that the promise of it, was a promise of a better, and even of an eternal life.—The tree of life signified and sealed to Adam, that upon the ground of his finished obedience, he should be confirmed in life, and should live forever. It appears from the following words, that he so understood the design of it: “And now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and—live forever; therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden. And he planted at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

6. Christ the second Adam, by his unsinning obedience, merited for his spiritual offspring, that very life, which the law could not, because of the sinfulness of their nature, afford to them.— “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,” &c. The law or commandment, under the form of a covenant of works “was,” we are told, “ordained to life;” ordained, to confer on them who should keep it, eternal life in heaven. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” The inability of the law, therefore, to afford eternal life now, arises merely from the sinner’s inability, to afford that perfect obedience, which it originally required, and still requires as the ground of a title to life. If sin had not been committed, the law as a covenant of works, could have still conducted men to that everlasting life, which Christ the last Adam, confers upon his children.

7. In the last place, Though justification, in which men are confessedly declared righteous, and entitled to eternal life, is, in the sacred records, affirmed to be altogether impossible now, by the works of the law; yet, it is nowhere suggested, that this proceeds from any other cause, than the sinner’s own inability to answer the just demands of the violated law. It is nowhere hinted, that the reason why a man cannot be justified, or procure a title to eternal life, by the deeds of the law, is, that the law never had a promise of eternal life; but, that— “by the law, is the knowledge of sin and, that—all the world have become guilty before God.” Thus it is manifest, that eternal life, was promised in the covenant of works.

It ought here, however, to be observed, that though the eternal life in heaven, which was promised in the covenant of works, was the same in its nature, with that which is promised in the covenant of grace; yet, in several respects, it would have been inferior to it.—I shall mention a few of them.

1. The title of Adam in innocence, to eternal life, could not have been confirmed, in the adorable person, and stupendous death, of the Son of God incarnate; nor could the charter of his right to it, have been what it now is, to every true believer in Jesus,—a new testament, or new covenant in his blood, Adam was to have had good security for life, namely, the covenant of works fulfilled; but the true Christian, has a far more glorious charter;—the everlasting covenant of Grace, written with blood, the infinitely precious blood, of Jesus the only begotten of the Father.

2. Upright Adam, could not have seen in heaven, what the glorified saint will now behold, the incarnate Lamb, the Lamb, as if it had been slain. He was to have enjoyed bright discoveries of God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: but he could not have been blessed with the beatifical vision of the eternal Son, in human nature;—that immaculate Lamb, who is ten thousand times brighter than our meridian sun, and will to all eternity, continue to be the light of the heavenly temple. He could have beheld JEHOVAH sitting upon the throne; but not, the Lamb in the midst of the throne. He could have contemplated the only-begotten Son, in heaven, and in the bosom of the Father, but not, in the human nature; not, as his near kinsman, his brother, who for him and for his salvation, was dead, but is now alive, and liveth forevermore. He could have had none of those astonishing, and transporting, manifestations of the glory of JEVOVAH, in the face of Jesus Christ; none of those delightful discoveries of his perfections, and purposes, in the glorious work of redemption, which, in heaven, are and shall be enjoyed by the ransomed of the Lord.

3. Again, Innocent Adam, could indeed have praised Him who sitteth on the throne, as the Creator and Preserver of all things; but he could not have joined, in this transporting anthem: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father: to him be glory, and dominion for ever and ever, Amen.”

4. Adam could have dwelt in heaven, as the creature, the servant, and the friend, of God the Son; but the redeemed present themselves there, as his brethren and sisters, his spouse, his members S and his spiritual seed, the fruit of the travail of his soul. He could not have been so nearly allied, nor so intimately related, to the only-begotten Son, as they are honored to be.

5. Upright Adam, could have sat down before the celestial throne, arrayed in the garment of his own righteousness; but not, as invested with that spotless, that best robe, the immaculate righteousness of the incarnate Redeemer, with which, as their garment of salvation, his ransomed are adorned.

6. In a word, Adam’s enjoyment of eternal life, could not have been sweetened, by his remembrance of any sad experience, that he formerly had had of sin, or of misery, or of sorrow; as will be that of the redeemed from among men. The relish, which the saints shall have, of the pleasures that are at the right hand of God, will, after their bitter experience of sin, sorrow, sickness, and pain, be higher than Adam’s could have been, who is supposed never to have known, what it was to experience any of those evils.

It will be proper now, to take notice of the connection of that reward of life, with Adam’s finished obedience. As Adam was not only created and preserved by JEHOVAH, but was infinitely beneath Him, his perfect obedience was originally, and justly due to him; and, therefore, as it would have been no more, than the payment of a just debt to him, it could not in itself, have merited any reward from him. There could not, surely, have been the smallest proportion, between the perfect obedience of a finite creature, and the perfect enjoyment of an infinite God; nor, between the temporary obedience of such a creature, and the everlasting fruition of such a God.—The whole connection, therefore, of such an infinitely great reward, with the perfect obedience of the first man, necessarily depended, on the sovereign grace and good pleasure of JEHOVAH, in condescending to make a promise of it to him, and, on his faithfulness, pledged for making the promise good. Upon his fulfilling of the condition of life, in that covenant, eternal life was to have been due to him and his posterity, as a debt by paction, but not by merit. The infinitely high and holy ONE, should in such a case, have become a debtor, not properly to Adam and his descendants; but,—to his own free favor, to his sovereign good pleasure, and to his faithfulness in the promise.—While the man’s perfect obedience, could possess no intrinsic value, to merit or naturally deserve any good thing, at the hand of his sovereign Lord; because it was what he naturally and justly owed to him; the promise of life, could not be the effect of the justice of God, but of his unmerited favor, and mere good pleasure. Whilst the man was naturally bound to God, by the precept, God became graciously engaged to him, by the promise. The continuance of life therefore to him, upon his persevering in obedience, as well as his right to eternal life, after his obedience was finished, was founded solely on the promise of the covenant, which the Lord was pleased to make with him. As this promise did not naturally, nor necessarily, belong to the law, JEHOVAH, in condescending to reveal it to the man, and to pledge his faithfulness for the performance of it, manifested inexpressible kindness and grace, toward him and his posterity.

Goodness, as an essential perfection of his nature, is necessary to God. But though it is necessary in him, the egression of it upon the creatures, is not necessary, but absolutely and divinely free, Adam, therefore, was to look for that life, which was the good of the covenant made with him, not immediately, on the ground of the essential goodness of the divine nature, but on the ground of the promise of the covenant. All his hope of eternal life from God, upon bis fulfilling of the condition of it, was to rest immediately upon the revealed will of God, expressed in a free and positive promise. Indeed, though no covenant at all, had been made with Adam, he might, from the natural goodness of God, have expected, in a course of perfect obedience to the natural law, a prosperous and happy life, as i long as he continued to exist. But still, it would have been consistent with the nature of God, to have so withdrawn his supporting hand from him, as at length, to have left him to drop into his original non-existence: for, as his perfect obedience could not have, properly speaking, merited the continuance of his life, JEHOVAH should not have been under any obligation, to continue it to eternity. His suffering it to come to an end, would be nothing more, than his taking freely away, what he freely bestowed, God’s making, then, a covenant with Adam, in which, he promised to him and his natural posterity, eternal life, upon condition of his perfect obedience, was an instance, not only of infinite condescension and goodness, but likewise of sovereignly rich grace, of absolutely free favor.

Thus far, of the promise of life, in the first covenant.

Reader, behold here, the goodness and grace of God to man. Though the first covenant, was a covenant of works, there was, notwithstanding, much grace displayed in it. Though man had nothing to work with, but what he had received from God; yet God graciously promised him life,—eternal life, as the reward of his work. He made himself, as it were, debtor to his own creature, for eternal life upon his perfect obedience; while in the meantime, his ability to obey, was all from God, and while there was an infinite disproportion, between the work, and the reward. Here, infinite goodness overflows upon man. Here, Divine grace, sovereign free favor, gloriously shines. And if such grace appears in a covenant, which notwithstanding is a covenant of works, O what riches, what transcendent riches of grace, are manifested in the covenant of redeeming grace! O what a good, what a gracious God must He be, who could covenant with a creature infinitely beneath him, infinitely dependent on him; and, while he owed him nothing, could make himself an infinite debtor to him, for that perfect obedience, which he already owed him! Who could condescend to make heaven so sure to him, that heaven and earth should sooner pass away, than that, one jot or tittle of the promise should fail! Who could promise, and by promise secure, eternal life to all the children of men, for the temporary obedience of one man!

Was so much grace, conspicuous in a covenant of works? Was Adam bound to acknowledge so much grace, in God’s giving him a promise of eternal life; while, in the meantime, he was to expect eternal life, mainly on the ground of his own perfect obedience to the law? Hence, we are not to wonder, that so many of the children of Adam, profess an attachment to free grace, and at the same time, trust to their own righteousness, for a title to the favor of God, and to eternal life. The ancient Pharisees, and the most of modern legalists, do in their profession own free grace, and will not admit that they are enemies of it. They own, that they are much indebted to grace, and yet go about to establish their own righteousness, in order to furnish themselves with a title to life. Legalists cannot see any right purpose, that good works can serve, except it be, to procure for them a title to life. This is quite natural; and shows them, to be still under the covenant of works, as well as to bear, in a striking degree, the image of their father Adam. Adam in innocence, whilst he acknowledged himself a debtor to free grace, for the promise of life, could at the same time, innocently depend on his own obedience, for a title to eternal life. Not so, his guilty offspring. When they presume, to thrust in their repentance and their faith, their professions and their performances, between themselves and the grace revealed in the gospel, and to expect eternal life, on the ground of these, their dependance on them is most criminal. Hereby, they make themselves debtors for life, to their own performances, at first hand; but to free grace, only at second hand. Such persons are the enemies of that grace, which is revealed to sinners in the gospel. It is not the grace of that covenant, which is styled the covenant of grace; not the grace, which reigns through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, unto eternal life; but, the grace of the covenant of works, to which they are content, and that only in a secondary sense, to become debtors. Had it been said in the gospel, “By grace ye are saved,” through works; the proud self-justiciary could have endured the thought: for this would have been, to be saved in the way of the covenant of works, and to have been a debtor to the grace, only of that covenant, and that too, in a secondary point of view.—But that is nowhere said. It is true, their obedience is far from being perfect as was that of Adam; but, when a man purchases a commodity, far below the standard-price, he as really buys it, as another does, who buys it at the full value. The grace, then, to which legalists profess attachment, is not the free, the absolutely free grace revealed in the gospel, that grace, by which believers are saved through faith; but such grace, as is consistent with their own works, in the article of justification. Against the grace of the new covenant, or of God in Christ, as a God of grace, the carnal mind, in every son and daughter of Adam, is enmity, enmity in the abstract. Hast thou then, reader, been, by the Spirit of the last Adam, convinced of the sin of thy nature, and especially of the enmity of thy heart, against the grace of the new covenant? If not; thou hast reason to tremble. Thou art at this moment, under the dominion of the carnal mind; and this is an evidence, that thou art under the dominion, and the curse, of the broken covenant of works. O betake thyself without delay, by faith, to the second Adam; and plead that, for his righteousness sake, this great promise of his covenant, may be fulfilled to thee; “I will put my Spirit within you, and ye shall live,” &c.

Could that obedience of the first Adam which was perfect, have, strictly speaking, merited nothing for him, at the hand of God? What ignorance, then, what folly, what pride, does it argue in a sinner, to pretend that his performances, notwithstanding their acknowledged imperfections, merit for him not something merely, but eternal happiness! If Adam could have presented more obedience to God, than that perfect obedience, which God already required from him, whatever he presented more than he was obliged to do, should indeed have merited for him a proportional reward; but he neither did, nor could, present more: and therefore his perfect obedience, as it was already due to God, could merit nothing from him. How infatuated, then, O secure sinner, must thou be, who imaginest that thy imperfect, thy polluted performances, are meritorious of eternal life! “Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin,” and sin merits eternal death. Now if thy performances, are defiled with sin, which deserves death, how can they at the same time, merit life from God, or even the smallest favor? Perfect obedience does not merit life, because it is already due to God. Sin merits death, because it is not due to him. How then can that which is already due to him, merit life from him? And how can that which is not due, and which deserves eternal death, merit at the same time, eternal life? That a reasonable creature, could once imagine such a thing, would have been altogether unaccountable, if an Apostle had not told us, that sinners, in their natural state, are darkness itself, darkness in the abstract. “Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord,” &c. Man as a creature, owes himself to the LORD, and as a redeemed creature, owes more than himself. A holy man long ago, thus expressed himself: “As a redeemed one, I owe myself, and more than myself to thee; because thou gavest thyself, who art so far more than myself, for me, and thou promisest thyself to me.”

Was Adam’s whole hope of receiving good from God, in his state of innocence, to proceed upon the positive promise of God? It plainly follows, that those do miserably deceive themselves, who satisfy themselves with general conclusions, and expectations, from the goodness, or mercy, of God’s nature; such conclusions, as man even in innocence, was not warranted immediately to proceed upon. If Adam in innocence, was not to depend for happiness, immediately on the goodness of God’s nature, but on the promise of his covenant; how evidently, does that sinner expose himself to woeful disappointment, who trusts to general, to uncovenanted mercy! Consider, O secure sinner, that though goodness is essential, and necessary in JEHOVAH, yet the egress of it upon creatures, is not necessary, but on the contrary, infinitely free. Consider too, that since the fall, no benefit from the promise of the first covenant, is to be expected by any of the sons of Adam. No good thing, as issuing from the favor of God, is now to be expected, but in the way of disclaiming all confidence, both in the general mercy of God’s nature, and in the promise of the covenant of works; and, of taking hold of the covenant of grace, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the ground of the promises of this everlasting covenant. O that this, reader, may now and may often, be thy exercise— “He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life,” &c.

Finally, was the first Adam’s state of innocence, his state of trial? Then a state of trial or probation, is not, properly speaking, the state of man since his fall. Man is no longer innocent, no longer able, to perform perfect obedience to the law. Before the covenant of works was broken, man was in a state of probation for eternal life. If he had stood, during the period of that state, and so fulfilled the condition of life; his state of probation, would forthwith have issued in a state of confirmation. But now, since he has failed in his obedience, and broken the covenant, his state of trial, has issued in a state of condemnation. This is the deplorable condition of all Adam’s posterity, while they remain under the first covenant. Were we then to say, that fallen, that condemned sinners, are notwithstanding in a state of probation, as Adam was, it would be to insinuate, that they are still under a covenant, that can justify the doer, or that they are under a law, that can give life: but says the apostle Paul, “If there had been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” Every individual of mankind now, is either in a state of condemnation, in the first, or in a state of justification, in the second Adam. The LORD still, however, deals with men as rational creatures, capable of rewards, whether of debt or of grace, of justice or of mercy, according to their state, and to their works. How deeply concerned, then, should the sinner be, to pass, in the use of the means of grace, and by the exercise of faith, from condemnation in the first, to justification and sanctification in the second Adam!

CHAP. V. Of the Penal Sanction of the Covenant of Works.

The penalty of the covenant of works, was death, in all its latitude, extent, and duration. The awful threatening is thus expressed:— “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die;” or, as on the margin,—“Dying, thou shalt die,” or rather,—To die, thou shalt die. This form of the threatening, in the original language, is exceedingly expressive and emphatical. It imports not merely, as in our translation, the infallible certainty; not merely the dreadful nature, the awful extent and latitude; but,—the perpetual or eternal duration, of that death. “To die, thou shalt die,” is, as if JEHOVAH had said, “On eating the forbidden fruit, thou shalt die presently, in thy own person, in order to die perpetually, in thy posterity: thou shalt die spiritually, in thy soul, and naturally, in thy body, in order to die eternally, in both soul and body: thou shalt die judicially, in order to die actually; and shalt begin to die actually, in order to continue so to die. The execution of the sentence shall begin, in order to proceed and to continue, throughout all eternity.”

This most tremendous threatening, or penalty threatened, for breaking the first covenant, is, in respect of God's eternal purpose, styled in Scripture, the wrath of JEHOVAH; in respect of the condemning sentence of his law, the curse; and, in respect of the execution of that sentence, death. If death was thus annexed to a breach of the positive precept, or to a doing of that which was evil, only because it was forbidden; Adam could not but perceive it, to be annexed to a breach of the moral law, or to his doing of anything, which was forbidden, merely because it was evil.

Death, in the general acceptation, may be considered as legal, and as actual. First, It may be viewed as legal, or judicial.—No sooner had Adam sinned, than he died legally. He was legally condemned, or laid under the condemning sentence of the law, which instantly fixed upon him; which girded him with cords of death, and bound him over to the vindictive wrath of the Almighty JEHOVAH. As is the case of every criminal, legally condemned to die, he fell under a legal sentence of condemnation, and so became dead in law. Thus Adam died, that very moment he brake the covenant: for the satisfaction of divine justice, he then became liable to death, with all its dismal train of miseries. Secondly, It may likewise be considered as actual, or real.—Actual death, was the actual execution, of the curse or condemning sentence, upon the man, as soon as he had finished his first sin. From the moment he transgressed, the curse of the law began to be executed upon him. Death, comprehending all the evils denounced in the awful threatening, began to seize on him. This, when viewed more particularly, may be distinguished into death natural,—spiritual, and— eternal.

SECT. I. The Penalty of the Covenant of Works includes Natural Death.

First, It was comprehensive of natural death, the death of the body; which consists in the separation of the soul from the body. JEHOVAH, who bad lately formed man’s body of the dust of the ground, pronounced upon him, a sentence containing this dreadful article:— “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return;” as if he had said to him, “Thy body, which was formed of the dust of the ground, to which it is always capable of being resolved, shall, as a part of thy punishment, again return to the earth, and be reduced to its first principles.” This then was a sentence of natural death, passed upon the man, after he had been found guilty. And we may be sure, that the high and holy ONE, would not have pronounced such a sentence upon him after, if the death of the body, had not been included in the threatening denounced before, he sinned.

Natural death, which, it is evident, is a part of the penalty of the covenant of works, is not death unstinged, which separates the soul from the body of a believer, united to the second Adam, according to the promise of the covenant of grace; but, death armed with its envenomed sting, which separates the soul from the body of an unregenerate sinner, according to the curse. Now, this natural death is twofold; it is inward or real, and outward or relative.

1. It is inward or real. It is inward, seated in the sinner’s body. No sooner had the first man sinned, than death spread itself from his soul, where it had begun, to his body, and rendered it mortal. Whilst he retained his innocence, his body was immortal; not, that it had like his soul, a natural immortality. On the contrary, it was naturally as dissolvable into parts before, as after he sinned. But the immortality of it, or the perpetuity of its union with his soul, in the event of his not sinning, was unalterably secured to him, by the will and the power of God, according to the tenor of the covenant under which he stood. But in the day in which he transgressed the covenant, his body fell from that state of immortality. It became mortal, or subject to the dominion of death, and had the seeds or principles of death, implanted in it. It then received its mortal wound; of which it afterwards died. The shame, perturbation, and dread, which the man then began to feel, could not but occasion a new, and a distempered, motion of the blood and spirits; which would naturally issue, in various diseases, and at length, in the entire dissolution of the corporeal frame.

Thus death worketh in the body of every son and daughter of Adam, and either more speedily, or more slowly, conducts it forward to the grave, that gloomy mansion of the dead. Every instance of pain, or sickness, or even of weariness; while it is sent before, to give warning of the approach of death, serves at the same time, as a token of the body’s returning again to the dust. After marking its approach to the body, or rather its progress in it, by a train of distempers, it is at length consummated, in the separation of the soul from the body. After the pins of this tabernacle of clay, are gradually loosened, it falls to pieces, and the soul its inhabitant, is forced to make its escape. The soul and the body joined together, in breaking the covenant; and therefore they are most justly punished, with so painful a separation from each other. Thus, natural death is inward or real. But,

2. It is also outward or relative. It extends to all the creatures, the beasts and the fruits of the earth, on which the continuance of man’s natural life in this world depends.

JEHOVAH said to Adam, after he had sinned, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake: in sorrow shalt thou eat of it, all the days of thy life.” As this sentence condemned the man to nothing, but what was previously threatened; so the penalty threatened for violating the covenant, comprehended all that vanity, and death, to which, those creatures which are the support of his natural life, are now subjected. As the life which, in the covenant, was promised to man, included the continuance of them, in their primitive constitution, and fitness for the support, and comfort of his bodily life; so the death which was threatened, could not but extend to them, and deeply affect them.

When man, therefore, had by his transgression, become vain, or empty of original righteousness, and so, had fallen under the awful punishment of a corrupted nature; the creatures, on account of his sin, became subject to vanity, and fell under the bondage of corruption. The weight of the curse is so great, and the pressure of it so heavy, upon them, that the whole creation, as it were, groans, and struggles for deliverance. “We know,” says the apostle Paul, “that the whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain together, until now.” Hence it is, that the beasts of the earth, and the fishes of the sea, are armed against man, and even against one another; that the sun in the firmament, oppressing men with scorching heat, causes them to languish, and withdrawing to a greater distance, leaves them benumbed with cold; that the air is often infected with noxious vapors, which prove fatal to multitudes of them; that the unfruitfulness of the earth, terminating in all the horrors of famine, makes death ride in triumph among them; that the sea rages with tempests, and swallows them up; that the devouring fire, torments or consumes them; and, that the very stones of the field, on some occasions, become the instruments of executing the awful sentence upon them.

The curse has now penetrated so deeply in the earth, and, as one expresses it, “hath so impaired her vigor, that having waxen old and feeble, her breasts do not afford such nourishment, as in her youth.” The shortening of man’s life is the consequence. He is of less stature, and strength, than once he was; and the continuance of his life, is but about a thirteenth part of what it was, at the first. The day too is coming, when, under the influence of that tremendous threatening, the visible heavens and the earth shall, like an old garment, be rent and cast into the fire. The death, denounced for breaking the covenant, shall extend to and demolish, the magnificent, and beautiful fabric of heaven and earth. The frame of this lower world shall be dissolved. “The elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.”

SECT. II. The Penalty of the first Covenant includes also Spiritual Death.

Secondly, The penalty of the first covenant, comprehended likewise, spiritual death, the death of the soul. In the day, in which man eat of the forbidden fruit, he not only became liable to death, but according to the threatening, actually died. The moment he began to eat, sin, and the curse procured by it, separated his soul from God, the sole fountain of life; which was infinitely more dreadful, than the separation of it afterward from his body. During his state of innocency, his soul was, by the bond of the covenant of works, united to God. But no sooner was that sacred bond broken, than this union was dissolved, and they parted from one another. Thus, man was separated from the blessed God, the only source of life, or as the apostle Paul expresses it,— “was alienated from the life of God;” upon which, spiritual death, which is the death of the soul, necessarily ensued. This spiritual death, imports—the relative, and the moral, death of the soul.

1. It implies the relative death of the soul. As soon as the soul is separated from God, it is separated from his favor, friendship, and fellowship. Its relation to him is dissolved. The moment Adam transgressed the covenant, his soul forfeited and lost, all friendly communion with his Maker, and all favorable communications from him. “In his favor is—life,” the life especially of the soul. The separation therefore of the soul, from the favor, and fellowship, of the ever-blessed JEHOVAH, cannot but be death to it. When man sinned, and fell under the curse, God left him; and when God left him, that communion with God, on which, those divine principles, which were the life, happiness, and glory of his nature, depended, entirely ceased; as the light ceases in the natural world, when the sun is gone down. Hence man in his natural state, is, in Scripture, said to be “without God in the world.” Upon this breach of friendship, and loss of fellowship, the Lord, as the righteous governor and judge of the world, became the enemy of man: and, as an object of his infinite displeasure, abhorrence, and indignation, he set him up as the mark at which, all the arrows of his almighty vengeance should be aimed. That Adam thus lost the favor, and fell under the awful displeasure, of the Most HIGH, is evident, from his attempting to shun, and to hide himself from his presence.— “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God, amongst the trees of the garden.”

2. Spiritual death likewise, implies the moral death of the soul; or, as the apostle of the Gentiles styles it, a being “dead in trespasses and sins.” This consists, in the loss of the moral image of God, or of conformity to him, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; or, in other words, in the loss of that original righteousness, in which, Adam as the root or parent of his posterity shone, before he violated the covenant. No sooner had he eaten of the forbidden fruit, than he became destitute of that vital principle of holy obedience, and could no more will, or do, anything spiritually good, than a dead body, can perform the actions of one that is alive. Now, as the soul cannot but be either holy or unholy, righteous or unrighteous; universal corruption of nature, succeeded to original righteousness, and followed, on the absence of it in the soul, as naturally, and as necessarily, as darkness follows, on the setting of the sun.— “They are corrupt; they are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy.” Knowledge in the understanding was succeeded by ignorance, darkness, vanity, pride, and proneness to deceit. Light and impartiality in the conscience, gave place to blindness, partiality, and stupidity. Rectitude or conformity to the law and will of God, in the will, was succeeded by a perverse opposition to what is good, a fixed inclination to what is evil, and a willful aversion from the nature, the word, and the image of God. Regularity, purity, and supreme love of God, in the affections, gave place to disorder, distemper, earthliness, and enmity against him. And a readiness in the memory, to receive impressions of spiritual objects, and faithfulness to retain them, were succeeded by a readiness to forget or let slip, everything that is good, and to retain everything that is vain, sinful, and that ought to be forgotten; to retain the remembrance of injuries, and of naughty objects, and to forget favors bestowed, and objects that are spiritual. Thus the soul of man, did sink into the abyss of universal corruption, of entire disconformity, to the holy nature and law of JEHOVAH.

Spiritual death, importing, as was now mentioned, both the relative and moral death of the soul, continues, as long as the sinner is under the dominion of it, to work and prey upon his soul. It preys upon his soul, on the one hand, in the increase or growth of corruption in it. After a dead body is laid in the grave, putrefaction spreads through it, and gains ground upon it, till it be completely dissolved. In like manner, when sin lays, as it were, the soul in the grave, spiritual death continues to work in it, to increase the corruption of it, and so to render it, in the sight of God, more and more loathsome. The swarms of lusts which breed, and are in continual motion in it, deface the beauty, destroy the form of it, and render it in the highest degree abominable. Hence, actual transgressions, which are the workings of that death, or are the motions of those lusts, that continually prey upon the soul, are in Scripture styled, “dead works,” and “abominable works.” And says the apostle Paul, “She that liveth in pleasure, is dead while she liveth;” is—dead spiritually, while she liveth a natural life. And again, “Evil men and seducers, shall wax worse and worse.” On the one hand, then, spiritual death preys upon the dead soul, in and by the increase of corruption in it: on the other, it preys upon it, by the infliction upon it, of many spiritual plagues. The dead soul is the receptacle in which, a multitude of spiritual plagues meet, as the worms do, in a dead body lying in the grave. Of some of them, the soul is in a certain degree sensible; such as, disappointments, anxieties, sorrows, vexations, terrors, and despair: Of others of them, it is for the most part, insensible; such as, judicial blindness of mind, searedness of conscience, hardness of heart, a reprobate sense, vile affections, strong delusions, and the like. Thus, the relative and moral death above-mentioned, which are included in spiritual death, continue to prey upon the soul, as long as it remains under the curse of the law.

Before I dismiss this article, it will be proper to remark, that while the moral death of the soul, as well as the relative, is a part of man’s punishment for his first sin, it is at the same time, sinful. While in one view, it is his punishment for sin, in another, it is to be considered as his sin; the sin, the depravity, the corruption, of his nature. In the 7th and 8th chapters of the epistle to the Romans, as well as in many other places of sacred writ, the names, properties, and effects of sin, are attributed to that corruption. Whilst the moral death of the soul, then, is a part of the punishment of Adam’s first sin, which is—original sin imputed; it is, at the same time, to be considered, as truly and properly sin,—original sin inherent.

SECT. III. That Penalty comprehends likewise Eternal Death.

Thirdly, That awful penalty, in the last place, comprehended death eternal. This is the death of the whole man; and issues from the everlasting separation of both soul and body, from the ever-blessed God. Here, natural and spiritual death are, as it were, conjoined, and carried to their highest possible degree. This, which the Scripture styles, “the second death,” and which is the full execution of the curse of the broken law, consists in general, in the everlasting destruction of both soul and body in hell; to take effect on the soul, immediately on its separation from the body, and on both soul and body reunited, at the resurrection of the body. That this, was included in the penalty of the covenant of works, is manifest from these awful words of the apostle Paul: “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God,” such as heathens, who rebel against the light of nature, and glorify Him not as God, “and, that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as unbelievers, or rejecters of Christ, whether they be Jews or Gentiles; “who shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” This “everlasting destruction,” or, as it is elsewhere styled, “everlasting punishment,” to be inflicted for the satisfaction of Divine justice, offended, and for the reparation of the Divine honor, impaired, by the sin of man, more particularly consists,

1. In the irretrievable loss of all that is good, or that has so much as even the appearance of good.— “Depart from me, ye cursed.” The everlasting separation of condemned sinners, from JEHOVAH, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; their local separation from the man Christ Jesus, and their exclusion throughout eternity, from that blessed place, where He shines, in all the ineffable splendors of his mediatorial glory, must not only be a loss, but a loss infinitely great; a loss, which nothing in the boundless creation can compensate. God is the chief good of the immortal soul. In this respect, “There is none good but One, that is, God.” To be separated from Him, therefore, must of all natural evils, be the greatest. No other loss can be so great, as the loss of Him. To be fully, and for ever, separated from Him, must be the deepest, and most dreadful degree of misery, to which, it is possible for sinners to be reduced.—To perceive, that his heart is infinitely, and immutably, alienated from them, and that they shall never be permitted to taste of his bounty, nor of the rivers of pleasures which are at his right hand; to see, that cast out into outer darkness, they are to be eternally secluded from his presence, never to have part any more, in the beatifical vision and enjoyment of Him; to know, that they are totally and finally separated from him, never to meet more; and that they are shut up in the infernal prison, with the devil and his angels, under chains of everlasting darkness, and horrible despair; to perceive, that all comfortable intercourse between the blessed God and them, is irrecoverably cut off; that everything in, or about them, which was formerly comfortable, has now returned to its fountain, and that not so much as the smallest drop of consolation, is mingled in their cup; to see and to feel, that in their separation from God, all peace, and rest, and comfort, and joy, and hope, and restraining influence, are absolutely and irrecoverably withdrawn from them,— and that their increasing desire of happiness, will never in the least degree be satisfied;—to feel, that no sleep is afforded, to refresh the weary, no food, to strengthen the faint, not a drop of water, to cool the tormented tongue, no good company, to comfort the desponding, or to soothe the sorrowful, and that every door in heaven and on earth, at once is shut against them; and to recollect, that the time was, when they might have been saved, nay, when they assured themselves of salvation, but now see, that their loss is utterly irrecoverable, and that they are the party against whom, the Lord will have indignation for ever;—to see, to feel, to reflect on such objects, I say, cannot but fill them, with the most inexpressible anguish, the most exquisite sorrow, and the most tormenting despair.

2. This everlasting punishment consists also, in the most tormenting sense of the infinite wrath of JEHOVAH. “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,” is the dreadful sentence, which is to be pronounced upon them. The floods of his overwhelming wrath, go quite over them; and throughout eternity, without ever being capable of reaching to the bottom, they sink as lead, in the mighty waters. The empoisoned arrows of his almighty vengeance, incessantly fly, and penetrate their hearts. The fire of Tophet, which is fire prepared for the devil and his angels; and which, the breath of JEHOVAH like a stream of brimstone doth kindle, fastens on their souls and bodies, and causes torments inconceivably more exquisite and excruciating, than any that can in this world be endured. Burning, as it occasions the most tormenting and terrible pain, is considered as the most dreadful punishment, that men can inflict. When therefore we read of the fire of hell, which must be inconceivably more vehement, and tormenting, than any fire that we ever saw or heard of, in this world, and of—being cast into it; we are to consider such phrases, as expressive of a punishment, the most tormenting and horrible, that souls and bodies, though strengthened to an inconceivably great degree for the purpose, can possibly endure.

The punishment and pains of hell, are in Scripture, set forth under other images besides that of fire; that what is wanting in one notion of them, may be supplied by another. We read of— “the great wine-press of the wrath of God, wherein he treads sinners in his anger, and tramples them in his fury;” of— “the worm that dieth not,” which shall continually gnaw them; of— “a lake of fire, burning with brimstone,” into which they are cast, than which, it is impossible to conceive anything more horrible; of— “utter darkness,” without the comfort of the smallest ray of light, “where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth;” and, of— “the second death,” which follows upon the death of the body, and under the dominion of which, both the soul and the body reunited, shall throughout all eternity continue.

As the fire of hell was prepared, for the devil and his angels who are spirits, it will torment, not only the bodies, but the souls of the damned. It will enter into the inmost recesses of their souls, and occasion the most vehement burning in their spirits, where torment is the most intolerable. This is the fire, which JEHOVAH Himself hath prepared; which his infinite wisdom has contrived, and his omnipotent power has kindled: and since, to demonstrate the awful severity of his offended justice, he hath prepared it for his enemies who hate him, it must be terrible, and the anguish occasioned by it, exquisite, infinitely beyond, what men or angels can ever say or think of them.—The eternal JEHOVAH, will himself be a consuming fire to his adversaries. The fire of the fierceness of his anger, will continue to devour them, as long as the endless ages of eternity, shall continue to revolve. “The smoke of their torment,” we are told by the Spirit of inspiration, “ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day nor night.” Their punishment is styled, “everlasting punishment;” “everlasting contempt;” “eternal judgment;” “everlasting fire;” “everlasting burnings;” “a suffering of the vengeance of eternal fire;” “a furnace of fire, where shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth;” and “the fire that shall never be quenched.” Thus, the penalty of the first covenant, comprehended death eternal.

Before I quit this part of my subject, it will be proper to remark, that the penalty of the covenant of works, flows, not from a mere act of the will of God, as the making of the covenant did, but from the essential perfections of his nature; particularly, from—his supreme majesty,—his immaculate holiness, and—his vindicative, or vindictive justice.

1. It proceeds from his supreme, and transcendent majesty, as JEHOVAH, and as the moral Governor of his reasonable creatures. The majesty of the LORD is infinitely high; and therefore every act of disobedience to his law, is high treason,—infinite in demerit. It is a practical contempt of infinite dignity, of unbounded liberality; an act of rebellion, against the supreme authority, and an attempt even upon the infinitely precious life, of “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords;” and therefore it must, with respect to its object, be an infinite moral evil; which in strict justice, cannot deserve less than an infinite punishment. But since a finite creature, cannot endure an infinite punishment, otherwise than in an infinite duration; the torments of the damned, must be of an infinite, or which is the same, of an eternal duration. Adequate satisfaction for such a crime, can never be completed by a finite sufferer. Sin includes all moral evil, against the infinitely glorious Majesty of heaven, and therefore justly deserves all natural evil, at his hand. Our God is a jealous God, ready to revenge every affront that is offered to him; and cannot, therefore, conceal his majesty, when rebellious dust and ashes, presume to attempt to rob him of it, and to enthrone themselves in his room. In Ezek. 39:25, He thus speaketh; “I will be jealous for my holy name;” in which glorious name, this is included, that “he will by no means clear the guilty,” or hold them guiltless. “He cannot deny himself;” or, on any occasion, act contrary to his settled declarations, respecting the punishment to be inflicted, on impenitent transgressors of his holy law. He cannot conceal the zeal which he hath for the honor of his glorious name, or do what would make him appear to be, what he is not; by suffering base worms of the dust, to act with impunity, when they dare to act, as if there was no God to whom they owed obedience, or to whom they were to give account. His moral dominion over his reasonable creatures, cannot be maintained, but in one of these two ways; either by the creature’s active obedience, to his preceptive will, or by his passive subjection, to his punishing will. If the creature were exempted from subjection, either to the one, or in the event of sinning, to the other, he would instantly cease, to be any longer in a state of moral dependence on God. The supreme Majesty of heaven, then, could not suffer sin to pass unpunished, without renouncing his sovereign dominion over the sinner.

2. It is derived from, or founded on, the infinitely immaculate holiness of his nature. His holiness, which is an essential property of his nature, necessarily requires such a punishment of sin. He cannot but hate sin, which is infinitely opposite to his spotless holiness, with infinite detestation. He cannot, without infinite abhorrence, look on that, which is so unspeakably abominable to him. “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.” “Thou art not a God who hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with Thee.” He cannot, therefore, but abhor them who love, and who practice that abominable thing which he hates. “Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity.” And what is the necessary consequence? “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight.” “Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing.” “Every One that is proud in heart, is an abomination to the LORD.” And what is the effect? “Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” As, therefore, the high and holy ONE necessarily hateth sin, and sinners as such, and cannot endure sinners in his sight, or bless them with the tokens of his favor, or the light of his countenance, in which, the life of the soul consists; his secluding of them from his favor, must in effect, be an excluding of them from life, and so, be a most dreadful punishment of their sin. As, then, his abhorrence of sinners as such, is founded in his holiness, and his casting of them out of his sight, a necessary consequence of his hatred of them, the penalty of the covenant of works, flows from his spotless holiness, as well as from his supreme majesty.—Besides, as infinite holiness, is natural and necessary to JEHOVAH, he cannot admit persons enslaved, and wholly polluted by sin, to communion with him; nor can he otherwise sanctify them, so as to make them meet for such communion, than by delivering them from the curse of the broken law, in consequence of their having a perfect righteousness, including a complete satisfaction for sin, imputed to them. “What fellowship,” says the apostle Paul, “hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion, hath light with darkness?” Indeed it is absolutely impossible, that a man can be admitted to fellowship with the high and holy ONE, while he continues with delight, to touch the unclean thing. Now if God cannot admit sinners, continuing impenitent, to communion with himself, he cannot but punish them; for the want of union and communion with him, is in itself a most dreadful punishment.—In a word, his holiness renders it necessary for him, never to resemble, nor so much as to appear, in the smallest degree, to resemble the sinner. But if he declined, or were unwilling, to punish sin, he would appear to the sinner, to be such a one as himself. His moral image, which consists in holiness, would in that case appear, as if it consisted in sin. He cannot, then, without appearing unholy; or in other words, he cannot, consistently with the honor of his holiness, forbear to inflict a just punishment for sin, either on the sinner himself, or on a sufficient surety, substituted in his room. Hence are these words, dictated by the Holy Spirit;— “God that is holy, shall be sanctified in righteousness:” that is, He shall be acknowledged to be holy, after he hath executed the judgments, or inflicted on impenitent sinners, the punishments, threatened in the immediately preceding verses; and after he hath sufficiently shown, that he cannot, and will not, pardon even his own people, but upon the ground of a consummate righteousness, placed to their account. Hence also, are these words of Joshua to the tribes of Israel:— “Ye cannot serve the Lord; for he is a holy God, be is a jealous God, he will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins.”

3. Lastly, The inflexible justice of JEHOVAH likewise, renders his punishing of sin, necessary. Sin, as has been already shown, richly deserves, all the punishment which is threatened in the covenant of works. Divine justice therefore requires, that sinners should have what is due to them, or what they justly deserve to have. The righteous JEHOVAH cannot be just, without rendering to every man his due, either in his own person, or in that of a sufficient surety. “It is the judgment, or, the right of God,” says an Apostle, “that they who commit such things, are worthy of death.” The right of God, is that to which he has a right, which he demands as his due, and which cannot justly be withheld from him. Since his justice, then, is an essential property of his nature; since the exercise of it, consists in giving, on the one hand, to himself, and on the other, to the sinner, what is due to each; he cannot, in justice either to himself, or to the sinner, but inflict punishment on him, unless full satisfaction be afforded, by a sponsor in his stead. To forgive sin, without a propitiatory sacrifice to satisfy his justice, would be unjust, and what JEHOVAH could no more do, than he could cease to be God. Hence are these forcible words, of the great Apostle of the Gentiles “Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God: to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” It is true, he “hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner,” considered as in itself, or, as the death of his creature; but, considered as a vindication of the honor, of his injured perfections in general, and, as a satisfaction to his glorious justice in particular, for the infinite offence given to it by sin, he is, in one place, said—to have it in his desire; in another,—to comfort himself from it; nay, in another, as the original word signifies,—to rejoice greatly in it. He loves his creatures, but in a far higher degree, himself. And though he takes no pleasure in the death of an impenitent sinner, on its own account; still, however, he chooses rather the death of his sinful creature, than the loss of the glory of his essential attributes.

Should my reader now be disposed to ask, In what capacity, doth JEHOVAH execute the penalty of the first covenant, on the transgressor? Is it, in the capacity of supreme and absolute Lord of all; or,—in that of Governor, Ruler, and Judge? I would answer, the infliction of the punishment threatened for sin, belongs to him as the Governor, Ruler, and Judge of men, rather than as the supreme Lord of all. Considered as the supreme or sovereign Lord, sin is indeed an injury offered to him, for which, he hath a right to demand restitution, or reparation; but, as the Ruler and Judge of the world, it is a transgression of the law of his kingdom; a violation of the public right, for which, his justice can, and must, demand public satisfaction. The LORD, as an injured sovereign, hath an undoubted right to demand a reparation of the injury, but here, a reparation is impossible; for where there is nothing to give, the proprietor loses his own. The execution of the sentence, then, is to be considered as a public punishment, inflicted by God, as the ruler and judge of all, rather than as a simple reparation of a private injury, required by him as the sovereign Lord of all. It is, therefore, the avenging of a transgression of the law, by God as a judge or public person; rather than the reparation of an injury, demanded by him in a private capacity. The execution or infliction of punishment properly so called, can be ascribed to God under no relation, but that of a ruler and a judge.

Now, from what has been advanced in this chapter, it is manifest that man, even in his best estate, was a changeable creature. The penalty of that covenant which JEHOVAH had made with him, proclaimed him to have been, even in his state of innocence, a mutable creature; a creature capable of failing in his duty, and of forgetting his best interests. If God had not seen, that he was liable to change, and capable of becoming unfaithful in that covenant, he would not have proposed a penal sanction, to deter him from failing in his covenant-obedience. The most faithful mere man that ever lived, was capable of being unfaithful to the trust reposed in him, and actually was so. Is not he, then, who trusts in his own heart, a fool? Is it not as foolish, as it is sinful, to trust in man, and to make flesh our arm? If Adam, when he was upright, was not to be trusted, dost not thou, reader, adopt the readiest method of securing for thyself, disappointment, when thou presumest to place thy happiness, or thy hope, in man who is a sinner? Let no Christian lean to his own understanding. Let him not trust to his endowments of nature, or even to his habits of grace received.

The subject treated of, in this chapter, serves also to instruct us, in the doctrine of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. How tremendous, is the punishment threatened for breaking the first covenant! Death in its utmost latitude, extent, and duration! The righteous JEHOVAH, would not have fixed such an infinitely dreadful penalty, for one act of sin, and that against a positive precept, if one sin,—if the least sin, did not deserve such a punishment. Nothing is contained, within the compass of that terrible threatening, but what the sin of eating of the forbidden fruit, justly deserves. And O, if the transgression even of a precept, the whole goodness of which, consisted in the sovereign will of God, was to be so punished, what punishment, does the transgression of those precepts, which are a bright transcript of his infinitely holy nature, deserve! Augustine observes, That he who thinks, that the punishment threatened to Adam, was too much, or was unjust, certainly does not consider, how great the evil of sinning must be, when it was so easy not to sin. The less difficult it was, to obey the precept, the disobeying of it was so much the greater. Sin could not deserve, as we here see it does, all the compass of natural evil from God, if it did not contain all moral evil against him. You, who will not have God to be for you, must have him to be against you. When you do not choose, that he should be wholly for you, it is just, that he should be wholly against you. He cannot be unjust to himself; and therefore it is just, perfectly just, that you who have sinned, should die. You see here, as well as in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, what you have to expect, if you continue under that broken covenant. The terms of it, you see, are perfect obedience, or, perpetual punishment. O, the malignity, the infinite malignity of sin! How inexpressibly evil must that be, which justly deserves so great a death! How exceedingly sinful must that be, which was sufficient to ruin a world of creatures, and to dissolve the fabric of heaven and of earth! How infinitely doth JEHOVAH abhor, even the least sin! It is that abominable thing which He hateth; which He infinitely, unchangeably, and eternally hateth. When we survey the penalty of the first covenant, we may well exclaim,— “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

Is it necessary, when we consider the infinite majesty, holiness, and justice of JEHOVAH, that he thus punish sin? Let the believer, however, rejoice and be thankful, that it is not necessary, that he punish the—sinner. The guilt can be transferred, and the awful punishment due for it, can be inflicted, on an all-sufficient Surety, in the sinner’s room.

Does the punishment of sin, necessarily result from the nature of God? How necessary was it, that the Surety and Redeemer of elect sinners, should be God, as well as man; and both God and man, in one adorable Person! His being man was necessary, that he might be capable of obeying, and of suffering, in the same nature that sinned; his being God was requisite, that his obedience and sufferings, might be of such infinite value, as to satisfy the high demands of law and justice, for sinners; and, his being both God and man in one person, was necessary, “that the proper works of each nature, might be accepted of God for us, and relied on by us, as the works of the whole Person.” None could obey and suffer, so as to satisfy, but God in our nature. If our Redeemer had not been God, he could not have endured, in a limited time, the full execution of the penalty of the first covenant. The task was by far too arduous, for the highest angel, or mere man.

Here also, as in a glass, we may contemplate the transcendent love of God, to sinners of mankind. He so loved us, as to give his only-begotten Son, to endure as our Surety, that tremendous penalty. O what infinite obligations are we under, to admire, to adore, to serve JEHOVAH who sent him, and Him who came, in the name of the LORD, to save us I Behold, reader, what manner of love this is. Contemplate “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of it, that you may “know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God.” Oh, where is that supreme, that strong, that glowing, that vehement love, that such unparalleled loving-kindness deserves! Alas! How few are suitably affected with such matchless love; or, constrained by it to love, and live to Him, who died for them, and rose again! O bless the Lord, that the penalty of the first covenant, left room for the substitution of such a glorious Surety, to endure the execution of it. O the kindness and love of God our Savior! It is He who died, and who, by dying and rising again, has converted natural death, from being an old enemy to believers, to be their new friend.

We may likewise learn from what has been stated above, That natural death is not a debt to nature, as some choose to speak; but on the contrary, is, in the case of all, who live and die under the covenant of works, “the wages of sin” a debt due to the sinner. “The wages of sin, is death.” The sin of human nature, and the death due for sin, are not so ancient, as human nature itself.

Finally, How unable is man now, to attain eternal life, by the works of the law! Adam, was able to work for life, having a sufficiency of strength afforded to him, and yet he failed in his work. How then can it prosper in the hand of the sinner, who is without strength! Adam had much less to do, than the sinner now has. Only perfect obedience, was at first required of him; but, of the sinner now, is demanded, not merely perfect obedience, but full satisfaction for sin. Not only, is he obliged to perform that perfect obedience, which was the original condition of life; but to endure the whole penalty of the violated agreement. Art thou, then, self-righteous professor, able to do all this? Thou hast far more work, and far less strength, than Adam had. O be persuaded, that it is altogether impossible for thee, to attain justification and life, on the footing of thy own righteousness. Thy passive obedience, is as insufficient to secure thee against eternal death, as thy active obedience is, to entitle thee to eternal life. Betake thyself then without delay, to the second Adam, who “is the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth.”

CHAP. VI. Of the Seals of the Covenant of Works.

As the existence and properties of objects, which we see before our eyes, are better known, more firmly believed, and make a deeper impression on the mind, than those of objects at a distance, of which we only hear; God has wisely and graciously condescended, to appoint certain visible symbols or signs, for sealing his covenants with men. He appointed the rainbow, to be the seal of his covenant of safety with Noah; the sign of circumcision, to be a seal of the righteousness of faith, and consequently of the covenant, in which, Canaan was promised to Abraham and his seed; circumcision and the passover, to be the seals of the covenant of grace, in its old dispensation to the Israelites; and baptism and the Lord’s supper, to be the seals of it, in its new dispensation to us. In like manner, when he made the covenant of works with the first Adam, as the head and representative of his posterity, he appended seals to that covenant. These were,— “the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” These sealed the covenant with the first man. While they served continually to remind him, of his high obligations to perform the condition, and to warn him of the danger of his failing in it, they were appointed to seal the promise and the threatening of it to him, and at the same, time, his faith of them; or in other words, to confirm the truth of these, to his faith, and his faith, in that truth. Though Adam in innocence, was not called to exercise faith in a REDEEMER; yet, in the first commandment of the moral law, he was required to exercise it in the THREE-ONE-GOD, the other Party in the covenant. He was enjoined to act faith, agreeably to the nature of the covenant, under which he then was. He was to be fully-persuaded, that the promise of life, would be performed to him and his descendants, upon condition of his perfect obedience; and, that the threatening of death, would be executed upon them, if, in the smallest instance, he disobeyed. The necessity of the fullest assurance of such a faith in Adam, to his persevering in perfect obedience, was admitted on all hands. It was admitted by the tempter himself; who therefore determined, that his faith should be the first object, he would attack, and try if possible to shake. “The serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die.” In order then to confirm this faith, JEHOVAH appointed,

In the first place, “the tree of life,” to be a seal of his covenant with man. “Out of the ground, made the LORD God to grow, every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.” It was styled “the tree of life,” not because the fruit of it, had any virtue to render man immortal; for that it ever possessed such a power, we cannot for a moment believe, because finite power cannot exert that infinite efficacy, which is necessary to support the life of the body, during an infinite length of time; but, because it was appointed to be a sign and seal of the life, which Adam as the root of mankind, already had, and of that which, according to the promise, he was to have, upon his fulfilling the condition of the covenant. It was a token or sign to him, of that natural, and that spiritual life, which he already had; and a seal to confirm him in the belief, that he should continue to enjoy them, as long as he continued to yield perfect obedience, to the law of the covenant. As often as Adam was to eat of the fruit of that tree, he was to consider it as a sacramental sign and seal, of God’s continuing to support his natural, and his spiritual life, as long as he continued to obey. It was likewise, a pledge and a seal of that eternal life, upon the enjoyment of which, he was to enter, as soon as he fulfilled the condition of the covenant.

Whilst he had the promise of life eternal, to be performed to him, upon his finishing his course of perfect obedience; he had at the same time the tree of life, to seal that promise to him, and so to confirm his faith in it. While the fruit of this tree, like that of other trees of the garden, was a mean of supporting the vigor of his natural life, it was at the same time intended, to be a mean of preserving the vigor of his faith, in the promise of eternal life to him and his posterity, upon his performing of perfect obedience. Thus, then, it was a sacramental sign and seal of eternal life, according to the tenor of the first covenant. This is evident, from the 22d and 23d verses of the third chapter of Genesis. “And now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever; therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,” &c. It is also plain from this, that the Lord Jesus Christ, as enjoyed by the saints in heaven, is called by the same name. “To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” And again, “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree, were for the healing of the nations.” From these passages we learn, that the last Adam, who was made a quickening Spirit, is, as Mediator, the Life, as well as the Light, of the saints in heaven. He is that in reality, of which, the tree of life in the earthly paradise, was only the sign and seal. It is from the merit of his spotless righteousness, and the efficacy of his glorious grace, that his spiritual seed live.

When this adorable ONE, is as the Mediator of the new covenant, here styled “the tree of life,” methinks it would appear, that to Adam in paradise, He was represented by that tree, not indeed as the Mediator; for the covenant of works could not admit of a mediator, but as the Second Person in the ever blessed TRINITY. While the tree of life, in the terrestrial paradise, signified and sealed life to innocent Adam, it would appear, that it also foreshowed that glorious second Person, who, as the Creator and Preserver of all, and he by whom all things consist, is the uncreated Fountain of all that life, which, in the first covenant, was promised to Adam and his posterity. It seems to have signified to Adam, that, that infinitely glorious Person was even under this covenant, to be acknowledged as the Fountain of all the life which he had, either in possession, or in promise; so that, when he was afterward to be revealed to him, and his guilty race, as a Savior to eternal life, he and they might recollect, that from the beginning, he was represented to them by that significant symbol. And, indeed, he could not have been the Life of man, as a sinful creature, if he had not been the source of life to him, as an innocent creature.

Thus the tree of life, was a sacramental sign and seal of that life, which God had promised to the first Adam, and to his posterity in him. He had access to eat of the fruit of it, as long as he continued to obey. But after he had by sin, forfeited his right to the life promised, and thereby sealed, he no longer had any right to eat of the fruit of it, as the sign and seal. Hence we read, that upon his breach of the covenant, the Lord thrust him out of the garden. “He drove out the man,” &c. As none have, in the sight of God, a right to partake of the seals of the covenant of grace, but they to whom, that spotless righteousness which is the meritorious condition of life in it, is imputed; so Adam had no right to eat of that tree of life, after he had failed in fulfilling the condition of the covenant, of which it was a seal. God therefore would not suffer him, to make any use of the seal of life, after he had sinfully forfeited the life itself. He would not allow him to profane the sacrament of that life, to which, according to the covenant, he had no longer a right.

There seem to be at least two other reasons, why the LORD excluded him from the tree of life, 1st, Adam, it would appear, now began to imagine, that by eating of the fruit of that tree, he would recover the life which he had lost, and so live forever. And 2ndly, since he had already eaten of the forbidden fruit, God excluded him from the tree of life; that, after having had the covenant of grace revealed to him, he might not have the smallest encouragement, according to the legal temper of men since the fall, to return to the covenant of works, by partaking of a sacrament of that covenant, and so to reject the covenant of grace. God hereby declared, that all hope of salvation to man, by the first covenant, was now forever cut off.

In the last place, the LORD appointed “the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” to be a seal of his covenant with man. After, as the sacred Historian informs us, he had made this tree to grow out of the ground, “the LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat.” Though this tree was not to be touched, yet like the rainbow, the seal of the covenant with Noah, it might be looked at. It was not styled the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because of any virtue in it to make one wise. The tempter told a lie, when he pretended this. But it was so called, because it was a sacrament of the covenant which was made with Adam, and as such, a sign and seal to him, both of good and evil. It sealed, on the one hand, all good, all the good included in natural, spiritual, and eternal life, to him, as long as he refrained from eating of it; and on the other, all evil, every ingredient in the death threatened, the moment he should begin to eat of it. It sealed life to him, as long as he continued only to look upon it, and death, as soon as he began to eat of it. “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” Thus it served to confirm with our first parents, the covenant, both in its promise of life, and in its threatening of death, according as they should either eat, or not eat of it; and so, to confirm their faith in both these parts of the covenant. It served as a sign and a seal to them, both of the promise of good, and of the threatening of evil; that their faith of each, might possess every advantage for continuing firm. It was called the tree of the knowledge of these, on another account.—If Adam was to presume to eat of it, he was to know good, by falling from it, and evil, by falling into it; good, by the loss of it, and evil, by the sad experience of it, and the difference between the good of obedience, and the evil of disobedience; that what he did not know either of good or of evil, by the precept, enjoining the one and forbidding the other, he should know by experience. As he had an experimental knowledge of good, by not eating, so he was to have an experimental knowledge of evil, by eating of that tree. As he already knew much of his Creator’s goodness, by what he had done for him; so he was to know much of his displeasure, if he dared to eat of the fruit of that tree. While thus it was a sign of good and evil, it represented the man, as upon a trial of obedience and disobedience; of obedience, for good, and of disobedience, for evil; and that, according as he behaved himself, while upon trial, he was, either to continue to experience the one, or to begin to experience the other.

Besides, as it was placed in the midst of the garden, “was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes;” it was of special use to admonish Adam, not to fail of performing the perfect obedience, which God required of him. It served to remind him, of the necessity of his contemplating frequently, the good of the covenant made with him, and of his desiring it, for himself and his offspring; and at the same time, to admonish him never to try to obtain it, by any other means, than those which were already appointed, and agreed upon, in the covenant. It served also to represent to him, that his happiness did not lie in the enjoyment of things, which were suited only to gratify his bodily senses; but, that it consisted in the fruition of that, which was suited to please and satisfy his soul; namely, in JEHOVAH himself, as his God, his infinite Portion, and the chief Good of his immortal soul.

Had the first man, as the root of his posterity, natural and spiritual life, given and sealed to him, as wages in hand? We may hence infer, the baseness of his ingratitude, to his gracious and condescending Lord. He had a present reward of obedience, sealed, and thereby secured to him, by the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and yet, he would attempt to make his condition better, before the set time. His real felicity did not lie, in being as a god, but, in enjoying God as his covenant-God. His all-bountiful Creator, had favored him with spiritual and natural life, and with all the comforts of each, and had given him seals, to confirm his faith in the promise, that he should continue to enjoy them, as long as he continued to obey; and, that upon finishing his course of covenant-obedience, he should enter upon the everlasting enjoyment of life eternal. But, instead of continuing to admire that grace, and to rejoice in the hope of this eternal life, of which he had the promise and the pledge, he made the most ungrateful return. He returned evil for good. He was no less unkind to his God, than he was to himself and his posterity. He disbelieved, and so despised, the Divine promises which were sealed to him.

Did the seals of the covenant of works, serve to confirm the faith of the first man, in the truth of the promise, that upon his performing of perfect obedience, he should have life; and, in the truth of the threatening, that upon his disobedience, he should die the death? Let the sinner, hence take occasion to assure himself, That unless he come to Christ, who redeems his people from the curse of the law, that dreadful curse must be executed upon him. Had Adam performed the condition of the covenant, the seals of it would have confirmed our faith, as well as his own, in the promise of eternal life, on that ground. But, since as our representative, he brake that covenant, they serve to confirm our belief of the threatening; or to assure us, that it shall be executed in all its dreadful extent, upon us, if we continue under it. Be persuaded then, secure sinner, that as thou hast sinned in Adam, and in thy own person, thou must, without the smallest possibility of evading it, die the death. Having read the account here given, of the seals of that covenant, assure thyself, that unless sovereign grace interpose for thy rescue, thou art forever undone. Do not doubt of it. The tremendous threatening is directed against thee. It is sealed; and the everlasting execution of it upon thee, is in due time to begin, if thou live and die under the first covenant. “The soul that sinneth shall die.” “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.” O say not, thou who continuest in sin, I hope the threatening will never be executed on me. The seals of the covenant, are seals of the truth of it; and of the absolute certainty, of its being about to be executed on every son and daughter of Adam, who is not vitally united to the second Adam. O that, without a moment’s delay, thou wouldst accept the Father’s offer of Him, and by faith, become united to him.

Is the Lord Jesus Christ, that in reality, which the tree of life signified, and of which, it was the pledge? Is He the life of all, who by a true faith, betake themselves to him? Is he the uncreated Fountain of all that life, which, in the first covenant, was promised to Adam and his descendants? We may hence learn, that He who, as the second Person of the ever-blessed Trinity, was the fountain of life to innocent man, is, as the Mediator of the new covenant, infinitely well qualified to be the life of sinful man. Come to him, then; trust in him for eternal life, upon the warrant of the Father’s offer of him to you; and you shall have experience of the truth of these inexpressibly endearing words “I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die.” Man was to have, upon his breach of the covenant of works, an experimental knowledge of the evil of disobedience, and of the evil of punishment due for it. Come to Christ, and you shall have an experimental knowledge of good; of all the good, promised in the covenant of grace. “Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

CHAP. VII. Of the Reasonableness of God’s Entering into a Covenant of Works with Man.

Since it is evident, that JEHOVAH actually entered into such a covenant with man, we must at once conclude, that his doing so, was most equitable and reasonable, whether we can trace out the reasons of it, or not; since he who is the immutable Fountain of reason and of equity, can do nothing but what is most reasonable. “He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he.” And says the prophet Isaiah, He “is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.” Whatever has a native tendency to promote the manifested glory of God, and in subordination to it, the good of mankind, appears, as far as it has such a tendency, to be altogether reasonable. But, that covenant which he made with man, evidently tended to subserve these two great purposes.

In the first place, It served clearly to manifest his own glory.

1st, The glory of his infinite, his astonishing condescension, was hereby displayed. Though his dominion and authority over mankind, are absolute and sovereign, so that he can lay upon them, any injunctions he pleases; yet by this constitution, he tempered his supreme authority, with the greatest mildness and condescension. He would not exercise dominion over man, but with man’s own consent. He would require nothing of man, how just soever it might be, but what man himself, by consenting to the terms proposed, should judge and acknowledge to be, both equitable and easy.

2ndly, The honor of his boundless goodness, was also hereby displayed. As he did not create man, because he had any need of him, but, that he might be an object suited to receive the overflowing’s of bis goodness; so, neither did he enter into covenant with him, from any necessity of nature, but, that he might afford him clearer discoveries, and fuller communications, of his goodness and grace. Though JEHOVAH could have required all that obedience from man, which it was possible for him to have performed, as a just debt which man already owed him, and that, without promising to him, any reward for it; yet, so great was his goodness, so boundless his benignity, that he would bind himself by a covenant-engagement, not merely to reward man’s obedience, but, to honor it with a reward so exceedingly great, as that of life eternal. If the LORD, instead of making such a covenant with Adam, had proceeded on the footing of mere justice, and gone no further than justice required him to go; he might have demanded, that he and his posterity, should yield perfect, and perpetual obedience to his law, upon pain of death, without condescending to promise them, the smallest reward for that obedience.—None is obliged to reward his debtor, for paying him a just debt. Man's perfect obedience, therefore, being previously due to God, could not possibly merit any thing at his hand; and, even on the supposition, that it were not previously due to him, there could surely be no proportion, between the perfect obedience of a finite creature, and this infinitely great reward.

3rdly, The glory of divine justice also, was hereby illustriously displayed. The more condescension and goodness, God shows to man, the more ungrateful is man, and the more aggravated is his sin, if he despises the riches of such overflowing goodness; and consequently, the more does the glory of JEHOVAH'S vindictive justice shine forth, in his infliction of punishment upon him.

4thly, In that covenant too, the honor of Divine faithfulness, was gloriously manifested. The glory of the unchanging faithfulness of JEHOVAH, had not been so brightly displayed, if he had not made a covenant with his own creature; a creature so mean, so infinitely beneath him, and a creature, to whom he could have been under no original obligation, either to make, or to fulfil a promise.

5thly, In few words, By means of that covenant, the glory of his unsearchable wisdom, shines forth with the brightest luster. The manifold wisdom of JEHOVAH, shines gloriously, in suiting the method of his dispensations, to the nature of the rational creature, and in governing him with his own consent. His making of a covenant with man, was the most sure, the most effectual, method of securing his voluntary obedience. For though the precept alone, issuing from the supreme authority of the adorable THREE in ONE, was necessarily binding; yet, the man’s own consent to obey, strengthened and increased the obligation. And, as the covenant was mutually binding, it was the firmest and the sweetest bond of man’s fidelity, and presented him with the strongest encouragements to his duty. By establishing an indissolvable connection, between his duty and his privilege, it furnished him with every reasonable, nay, with every possible advantage, for voluntary, cheerful, and unceasing obedience. The man was previously obedient, and, from the condition of his nature as a dependent creature, was bound to obey; but now, that the covenant was made with him, he became obedient from choice, and with his own formal consent. God’s entering, then, into that covenant with man, was most proper, most reasonable;—for it served to afford, to the intelligent creation, a glorious display of the infinite condescension, the unbounded goodness, the inflexible justice, the immutable faithfulness, and the unsearchable wisdom, which are essential to him.

Lastly, That covenant served no less clearly, to promote the good of man. For,

1st, Hereby the high and holy ONE, admitted the man, into still more intimate, familiar, and endearing intercourse with himself. In a covenant-transaction, parties can approach to each other, with the greatest freedom and familiarity. The first man, was admitted to much more nearness to JEHOVAH, by this, than he could have been, by any other of the ways known to us, in which, he hath condescended to reveal his will. By this method, man’s intercourse with heaven, became more free, and more easy, than it could have been, by precepts, or even by promises. Precepts would, indeed, have discovered the supreme authority of JEHOVAH; absolute promises, the riches of his grace; but, his entering into a covenant with man, a creature, and a creature so infinitely mean, in comparison with Him, manifested that most marvelous familiarity with himself, to which, he thereby admitted him. Now, as “it is good for man to draw near to God,” the overflowing fountain of eternal blessedness; the nearer, he is allowed to approach, the better it is for him.

2ndly, By that covenant, with man, God established him in obedience to his law, as far as it could consist with his leaving him, to the freedom of his own will. Perceiving how inconstant, the heart, and how changeable, the condition of man naturally is, the LORD, to bind him the faster, laid him under covenant-obligations to obedience. His consenting, to the covenant made with him, and his engaging, to perform all the obedience required of him, were an additional tie, to bind him the firmer to his duty. Whilst the greatness of the punishment threatened, served to render him the more solicitous to guard against, even the remotest appearance of evil; the greatness of the reward promised, served to encourage him to constancy, in his obedience. By this covenant, then, Adam was favored with every advantage, for persevering in perfect obedience.

3rdly, By this agreement also, man’s obedience was rendered more free and voluntary. A law enjoining obedience, constitutes it duty; but it is a covenant in which consent is mutual, that affords it an opportunity of being free, spontaneous, and cheerful. According to this covenant, man’s obedience was to be the result of his own will, as well as of the Divine will, and of his own choice, as well as of the Divine appointment.

4thly, In few words, By this constitution, JEHOVAH put the highest respect upon the man. Hereby he showed him, that though He had supreme dominion over him, yet he would not rule him, but with his own leave, would not command him, but by his own consent. If it is a distinguished honor for one of low degree, to be united, in a bond of intercourse and amity, with one of royal dignity; how much greater is the honor, which was conferred on man, by exalting him to be the friend, the confederate of JEHOVAH, the only Potentate, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords! Thus we see, that the first covenant, was highly conducive to the good of man, as well as to the glory of the ever-blessed God.

Should my reader now be disposed to ask,—Was it reasonable, that a covenant of works, should have been made with Adam, as the natural root, and moral representative, of his descendants, rather than with each of them, in his own person? I would answer, Nothing could be more reasonable, nothing more equitable, nothing more conducive to their respective advantage.

Besides what has been already advanced on this article, under a different head, I would,

In the first place, observe, that Adam, considered as the first parent, or natural root, of his posterity, and his natural posterity, springing as so many branches from him, constituted but one moral person. As the root and branches of a tree are, by a Divine constitution, one; whatever change takes place in the root, one answerable to it, will co-exist in the branches. In like manner, no sooner do any of the offspring of Adam, begin to exist, than a depraved disposition begins to exist in their hearts, answerable to that which was in his heart, when he had eaten of the forbidden fruit. When he, as their natural root, sinned, they all sinned in him; they were all constituted sinners by his act of disobedience, as much as he himself was; and they come into existence, with the same corruption of nature.—Indeed Adam’s first sin, was the sin of human nature, as residing not only in his own person, but in the persons of all his natural posterity. As Adam, by his first sin, became exposed to all the calamities of this life, and to all the horrors of natural, spiritual, and eternal death; so do his posterity, and that too, as soon as they come into the world. JEHOVAH, the Judge of all the earth, treateth him and them as one. And no just reason can be assigned, why the only Potentate, the only wise God, who, according to his own good pleasure, constitutes every other kind of unity, that is to be found among his creatures; might not establish a constitution according to which, the natural offspring of Adam, springing from him, as so many branches from the stem of a tree, should be treated, in the event either of his standing or falling, as one with him. There is, doubtless, a beautiful analogy between such a constitution, and other Divine constitutions, established throughout the whole system of nature in this world; every part of which, springs from the first of the species, as from its root, and derives from it, all the good and bad qualities, inherent in that particular species. No class of creatures, with which we are acquainted, is endowed with any property or perfection of nature, but what was in the first of that class. That the offspring of Adam, then, should be without that original righteousness, which he had lost; or, in other words, that they should have no property or perfection of nature, more than he had, when the first of them began to be propagated from him, is strictly analogous to other laws or constitutions, which obtain amidst the works of God, in this lower world.

Besides, since the Divine appointment, respecting the manner of mankind’s coming into the world, in their successive generations, was such, as should make them in many respects, one; as should naturally conduct them to a mutual dependence on each other, and in society, to an intimate connection with one another; it was wisely ordered, that they should be in one moral state. Were the difference in their condition, as moral agents, to be so great, that some of them should be holy, and others depraved; some perfectly righteous, and others completely wicked; some confirmed in holiness and happiness, and others sentenced to endless misery and wo; some by their perfect obedience, exalted above the sufferings of this present time, and others by their sins, exposed to manifold, to continued tribulations; such a great difference in their condition, would not be compatible with the necessary connections, the unavoidable intercourses, and the natural circumstances of mankind; who, as united together in society, were to participate together, both in the good things, and evil things, of this world. It was most reasonable and equitable, therefore, that the first covenant should have been made with Adam, as the natural root of mankind, and that he and they should have been regarded, and dealt with, as one moral person.

In the last place, I would remark, that as Adam was the natural head, so nothing could be more reasonable, than that he should be pitched upon, to be the moral head, or federal representative, of his natural posterity; and that the covenant should be made with him, in that public capacity. It was most reasonable, that he who was their natural, should at the same time, be their moral root; or, which is the same, their moral head or representative. The infinitely wise God, the Fountain of reason, made this choice for them; and since whatever he does, is, and cannot but be, done with the greatest reason, the choice was not only reasonable, but infinitely reasonable. If earthly judges, as one well observes, “may choose tutors for minors,” might not the righteous Judge of all the earth, choose the first man, to be the public representative of his descendants? This choice was altogether reasonable; for—Adam himself who was perfectly upright, and whose reason, in his state of primeval innocence, was perfectly right, approved of it, and consented to it. And, in every age of the Church, it is found, that the more any man’s reason is rectified, by the sanctification of the Spirit, the more cordially, does he approve of it.

Indeed, Adam was evidently the fittest, that could have been selected for such a purpose. He was the common parent, the natural head; and therefore the fittest to be the moral, or covenant-head, of his posterity. It is reasonable to suppose, that Adam was at least as much qualified, and therefore as likely, to persevere in obedience, as any of his natural descendants, had each of them been put upon trial for himself. Nay, there was manifestly a greater tendency to a happy issue, in such an appointment, than if every one, had been appointed to stand for himself.—Adam was in full vigor, in a state of complete manhood, when he began to enter upon his state of trial; whereas his descendants, coming into existence in a state of Infancy, and continuing for a long time in childhood, and in comparative imperfection, before they arrive at maturity, would be much more exposed, to the danger of seduction to sin; and consequently much less qualified, to stand for themselves, than he, to stand for them. Besides, Adam had more powerful motives, to incessant watchfulness and circumspection, than any of his natural posterity could have had; in that, not merely did his own everlasting happiness, but that of all the numberless individuals of his offspring, depend on his persisting in perfect obedience. —Add to this, that he was made upright; and therefore was perfectly able, as well as willing, to perceive all the import, to feel all the force, and to yield to all the influence of that, as well as of every other motive.

Did Adam, by consenting to the condition of the covenant of works, acknowledge that, perfect obedience was equitable in itself and easy to him? We may hence warrantably infer, that it was much easier to him, to yield perfect, than to us who are sinners, to perform sincere obedience, as the condition of life. It was easy to him, to perform the perfect obedience, which the law in its covenant-form required from him, for God had made him upright and perfect; but, it is difficult, nay, simply impossible for a sinner, to perform in his own strength, sincere obedience; for having fallen from his uprightness, he possesses no sincerity of heart, as a principle of such obedience, till it be given to him. He is “without strength,” and, “in his flesh, dwelleth no good thing.” When Adam was required to work for life, he was able so to work; but the sinner is not sufficient of himself, so much as to think one good thought. His strength for acceptable obedience, is entirely gone. Besides, if sincere obedience, including faith and repentance as parts of it, be the condition of life, in the covenant of grace, this covenant, is as really a covenant of works to the sinner, as ever the first covenant was to Adam; and it will be as impossible for him, to attain eternal life by it, as by the covenant made with Adam. Consider, self-righteous sinner, that to attempt sincere obedience, as the ground of thy title to life, is not merely to attempt a thing that is impossible, but to reflect dishonor on the glorious second Adam, who, by his fulfilling of all righteousness, has answered for them who believe in him, all the demands of the law as a covenant.

Was the covenant of works proposed, and made with Adam, by the only wise God, the infinite and immutable Fountain of reason, who can at no time devise, or do, anything but what is infinitely reasonable? How unreasonable then is it, to find fault with anything in that covenant! How presumptuous is it, in worms of the dust, in creatures who are but of yesterday, whose views are so limited, so contracted, so darkened, and who are so apt to mistake., to quarrel with it and to say, “The ways of the LORD are not equal!” This is what no earthly master would endure from a servant, no parent, from a child, no king, from a subject. Nothing can be more absurd, than for men to pretend, that they discover superior reason, or even, that in any degree they act rationally, when they condemn or disapprove it. How can such men, perform any “reasonable service” to God!

Though the first covenant, is agreeable to sanctified reason, and in nothing, contrary to it; yet, it is for the most part, far above finite reason, however much sanctified it may be. Be not, therefore, stumbled nor discouraged, believer, because thy reason cannot comprehend everything in it so fully, as to be able to account for everything, or to answer every cavil that may be raised against it. If thou wert able, fully to comprehend everything respecting it, this would be an evidence, that it was not a divine constitution, the result of infinite reason. The more thou spiritually apprehendest it, the more will the reasonableness of it, appear to thy understanding. Thou wilt not only perceive, that it is equitable and reasonable; but that it is more reasonable, than any other constitution that, in the same circumstances, thou couldst devise. God did not see it proper, to bring into being all mankind at once, as he did, the angels: but, to produce them rather, through a course of successive generations. As the first man, therefore, was their natural root, it was most proper, that God’s settlement with him, respecting his eternal interests, should include all his natural posterity, as being in his loins. That God should have made a new or distinct covenant of works, with each individual of them in their generations, could not consist with any ideas that we can have, of Divine wisdom; as it would be totally inconsistent, with their state of propagation from the first man. It was most reasonable, then, that their natural root, should at the same time, be their federal representative.

Was the first sin, a breach of a covenant which was planned, and proposed by him, who is the unchangeable Fountain of reason? Let the proud sinner hence learn, how unreasonable it is, either to love, or to approve, or to commit iniquity. The covenant of works, was a most reasonable constitution. The breach of it therefore was most unreasonable. Ah! How vain are their pretensions to right reason, who allow themselves to love, and live in the practice of any sin! There was all the reason in the world, that Adam should perform perfect obedience, to the law of the covenant made with him; and no good reason can be assigned, why he chose to withhold such obedience. To disobey commands which proceed from infinite reason, must be infinitely unreasonable.—We are not to wonder, if the wisdom of God manifested in the first covenant, is foolishness, in the estimation of those men, who see nothing unreasonable, in choosing to commit sin.

Finally, Is it that which has a native tendency, to promote the manifested glory of God, and the chief good of mankind, that is reasonable, or consonant to right reason? It follows of course that it is unreasonable, not to make the glory of God, our chief aim or design in all our actions, and not to seek after the enjoyment of Him, as our chief happiness. No man, begins to act reasonably in religion, till he begin, in all his thoughts, words, and actions, to aim at the glory of God in Christ, as the ultimate end of them; and to place his chief happiness, in the everlasting enjoyment of Him. Then, and not till then, does he begin to think, speak, and act, like a reasonable creature. The man who acts only from, and for himself, has reason, but cannot have right reason.

CHAP. VIII. Of the Breach of the First Covenant.

That this covenant was broken, is in the highest degree evident. “Sin early entered into the world,” and still “reigns unto death.” It reigns everywhere, and in all its innumerable forms, is, either in thought, word, or deed, committed by the children of Adam. All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery, destitute of original righteousness, and of the favor of God, and so exceeding poor, as to be in want of everything; nay, are born in debt to Divine justice, the vast amount of which, by their actual transgressions, they daily and hourly increase. For this enormous debt, they are shut up in prison; and they are imprisoned for their Father’s debt, as well as for their own.—The awful tokens of the wrath of JEHOVAH, due for sin, are everywhere to be seen. This wrath “is revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.”—The sin of covenant-breaking, is a sin to the commission of which, mankind, in every generation, are exceedingly prone.

That that covenant was broken by one man, is no less evident. The apostle Paul, in the most express terms, informs us, That— “through the offence of one, many are dead;” that— “by one man’s offence, death reigned by one;” that— “by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners;” and that— “as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” That this one man was Adam, is also manifest. It is manifest, from the express narrative of this fatal event, given by the Spirit of truth, in the third chapter of Genesis. It is clear likewise from these words of our Apostle “Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him who was to come.” The truth of it, is also established from these words, in the 7th verse of the sixth chapter of Hosea;— “But they, like men,— like Adam” as many translators, and our own, on the margin, render the original word, “have transgressed the covenant.” In a former chapter I observed, that the word occurs only in two other places; namely, in Job 31:33., and in Psalm 82:7., and that in each of them, it is so understood. The meaning of the passage in Hosea, therefore, appears plainly to be this:—They, like Adam, their first ancestor, have transgressed the covenant. He transgressed the covenant of works, which had been made with him, and they, the covenant of grace, which, in respect of the external dispensation of it, had been made with them.

Now the sin by which, Adam, as the root, and ‘the representative, of all his natural posterity, transgressed the covenant of works, was,

In the first place, his eating of the forbidden fruit. His eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which JEHOVAH had forbidden him to eat, was his first act of disobedience, and the sin by which he violated the covenant. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” He was expressly forbidden, on pain of death, to touch this fruit. To the high prohibition he freely consented. And yet, in contempt of this solemn contract; a covenant, in which JEHOVAH himself, was the other contracting Party, he presumed to take and eat of it.

He, and his wife, who in that contract, and in this violation of it, was included in him, began to commit this great transgression, by doubting and disbelief. Yielding to the enticement of Satan, they first doubted, and then disbelieved, the truth of God in the threatening. Satan made his first, and his main attack, on their faith. And no sooner did it begin to fail, than their heart began to yield. A desire after the forbidden fruit, ensued, which issued in their taking and eating of that fatal morsel. By a mist arising out of the bottomless pit, their understanding was darkened, which issued in their disbelief of the threatening. Straightway their will, swerving from the precept, the rule of their covenant-obedience, consented to eat; and then, their affections coveted or lusted after it; upon which, they took and eat of it, and thereby completed their first transgression. This transgression, then, began in ignorance and unbelief, and ended in Adam’s actual eating of the forbidden fruit. The reason why his actual eating of it, is called his first sin, is not because he was not previously guilty, but because it was his first sin finished; an express, a complete, transgression of the Divine commandment.

Secondly, This transgression of Adam was a sin, that had many sins included in it. It particularly included,

1st, Unbelief as the radical, the main ingredient in it. Adam did not merely, give more credit to the devil, than to God, but chose to believe him, in opposition to God; to believe words, uttered in direct contradiction, to those of the God of truth. He believed a liar, in preference, and in opposition, to JEHOVAH, “who cannot lie.” He first questioned, then disbelieved, and then denied, the truth of God in the threatening. He believed the promises of the devil, that liar and murderer from the beginning, rather than, the threatening’s and promises of JEHOVAH, whose “truth endureth forever.” What was this, but to impute iniquity to the holy ONE; and, as far as it was in his power, to make God a liar?— “He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar.”

2ndly, It contained the vilest ingratitude to his munificent Lord, and the basest discontentment with his own condition. His all-bountiful Creator had loaded him with benefits. He was the confederate of the most HIGH; was adorned with his image; was the companion of angels; the envy of devils; lord of the inferior creatures; of everything in the world but one tree; and yet, he dared to grudge his sovereign Benefactor, the use of that small reserve. As if all this had been too little,—a most spacious garden, a garden which, as some say, might be equal to a third part of the terraqueous globe, was afforded to him; that it might minister to his necessity, convenience, and delight. His choosing, then, to eat of no fruit so much as of that which was forbidden; his despising of all that rich profusion, that boundless variety of good things, which he had at full command; and his coveting of that, of which he had not the smallest need, was the most monstrous ingratitude.

3rdly, This first transgression implied, likewise, the most intolerable pride, and ambition. God had set the man in paradise, and made him lord of this lower world. Nothing, however, could satisfy his ambition, but to be as God himself.— “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,” said the serpent, “And when the woman saw, that the tree was good for food,—and a tree to be desired to make one —wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” So enormous was his ambition, that he aspired to an equality with the most HIGH, in his incommunicable perfections; and more especially, in his infinite knowledge. He knew much, but he would know all, he enjoyed much, but he would enjoy every thing; and would eat that, which God had forbidden him to touch; as if he was resolved, that nothing should be withheld from him. Was he not happy enough, and high enough, already, in the Divine favor? Nay; nothing would please him, but to mount up, to the throne of the supreme Majesty of heaven, and to sit down in his stead. He himself would be—God! Alas, it was this wretched attempt, “to exalt his throne above the stars of God; to ascend above the heights of the clouds, and to be like the most HIGH,” that brought him and his posterity “down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

4thly, The strangest inadvertency, was also included in that sin. Our first parents discovered the most unaccountable inattention, in entering into conversation with any creature, how much soever disguised, about transgressing an express, and peremptory command of JEHOVAH. They ought to have pondered well, the invaluable benefits, which they had received from God, and to have set a thankful sense of them, against every temptation to displease Him. Besides, they should have looked to God, that glorious Giver of every good thing; and should, in humble confidence, have called on him, for ability to resist and stand in the evil day.

5thly, It included, moreover, the most cruel and atrocious murder. Adam, by this transgression, was at once guilty of his own death, and of the death of all his descendants; and was guilty, not merely of their natural, but of their spiritual, and eternal death. He could not but know, that death in all its awful extent, was threatened to himself, and all his posterity, if he should at any time, transgress the Divine commandment; and yet, regardless of such awful consequences, he willingly ventured to transgress.

6thly, In a word, the most unnatural rebellion and revolt, were contained in it. By this sin, Adam openly rebelled against the LORD, and ungratefully apostatized from him. Renouncing his covenant, he threw off all dependance on him, all subjection to him, and revolted from him to the devil. Contemning, and rebelling against, his infinite authority in the command, he entered into a confederacy with Satan, against the LORD, and thereby chose him for his god, instead of the true God who had created, and preserved him. By such a conduct, he practically declared, that the holy ONE had enticed him, into a foolish and hurtful contract, and had thereby ensnared him. Forgetting the greatness, and the goodness of JEHOVAH; and presuming that he himself, could consult his own interest to better purpose, than God had done, he brake his bands, and cast his cords from him. He dared, to cast off the supreme dominion of the most HIGH, than which, nothing can be more atrocious. And therefore his first sin is, by way of eminence, styled DISOBEDIENCE; as having in the nature of it, nothing but downright disobedience to the highest authority; no difficulty to excuse it; no necessity to extenuate it; no pleasure to plead in behalf of it.

In Adam’s first transgression, then, there was unbelief, contradicting the truth of God; ingratitude and discontent, denying his goodness; pride, opposing itself to his sovereign prerogatives, and indeed to all that is essential to him; inadvertence, forgetting his boundless beneficence; murder, hating and opposing his image; and rebellion, setting aside his supreme authority.

In the third place, that first sin was, moreover, a complication of all moral evil, a transgression of all the precepts of the moral law. The whole law of God, was violated by that one act of disobedience. The Divine authority which enforces it, was thereby trampled upon. The love, which is the sum of all acceptable obedience to it, was disregarded, and hatred substituted in its place. By that sin, every particular commandment of the moral law, was broken. 1. Adam thereby, chose for himself and his posterity, other gods. He chose self for his god, his belly for his god,—nay, the devil for his god.—These were the trinity, that Adam, as the representative of the human race, chose to worship. 2. He did not continue to observe, but on the contrary, he despised and set aside, that great ordinance, respecting the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which JEHOVAH had expressly appointed, and chose rather, to serve him in some other way. 3. He took the name of the LORD his God in vain. He contemned his attributes. He abused his ordinance; that sacred and sacramental tree. He profaned his word, by putting a harsh construction upon it, and even venturing to disbelieve it; and his works, by eating of that fruit, which he should not have presumed to touch. The LORD therefore did not hold him guiltless. 4. He kept not that state of holy rest, in which, God had graciously placed him; and so far was he, from keeping the Sabbath-day holy, that by that sin, he rendered himself and his offspring utterly unable, either on that or on any other day, to worship God acceptably. 5. He honored not his Father, his infinitely high Superior, who is in heaven. He performed not that relative duty, which he owed to his spouse. Instead of reproving her for her sin, or exhorting and urging her to repent of it, he, by yielding to the temptation, countenanced and encouraged her, in her criminal conduct. Neither did he discharge the duty, which he owed to his offspring. His days, therefore, were not long in the pleasant land, which the LORD his God had given him. 6. By that sin, as I observed above, he was in the greatest degree guilty of murder. He was guilty of self-murder, and at the same time, of the murder of those innumerable multitudes, who were to descend from him. 7. By his sensuality and luxury, discovered by eating forbidden fruit, he made himself naked to his shame, and then sewed fig-leaves together, to cover his nakedness. Thereby also he committed spiritual whoredom. 8. In that transgression, he committed theft and robbery. He presumed to put forth his hand, and, against the revealed will of the great Proprietor, to take and use that, which did not belong to him. 9. When he thus sinned, he bore false witness against the God of truth. By his presuming to eat of that fruit, in defiance of the most express prohibition, and threatening, he on the matter, said, not merely that the word of God did not deserve credit, but that God himself, grudged his felicity, and did not sufficiently provide for his comfort. 10. Finally, Not contented with that happy condition, in which God had placed him, he coveted the fruit which his Lord had reserved, to be his own peculiar property: and so, like that king, of whom we read in the second chapter of Habakkuk, “he coveted an evil covetousness to his house, that he might set his nest on high;” which issued in the misery, and shame, of him and his descendants. That sin, then, while it was a direct violation of the positive precept, about the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which was, as it were, a summary of the moral precepts; was at the same time, a transgression of all the commandments of the moral law.

Fourthly, That transgression was exceedingly aggravated. It was aggravated,

1. From the condition of the person, who committed it. It was committed by one, who had been newly formed after the image of God; who had had not only a covenant of friendship made with him, and express warning of the great danger of eating that fruit, given to him; but, who had had a fair copy of the law in his heart, and a sufficient stock of grace in his hand, with which, he might easily have resisted the strongest temptation. It was committed by one, who had been perfectly righteous and holy, and able to continue such; who had been adorned with the perfect image of his Maker, and, therefore, with the power of being perfectly able not to sin. It was not a sinner who did this iniquity, but an innocent person; whom God had created free from all sinful ignorance, from all inclination to evil, and fully able to stand, if he pleased. It was one, who was endued with original righteousness, without the smallest stain of original depravity, in whom Satan had nothing on which, to fasten the least temptation, that fell before the slightest temptation.

2. It was greatly aggravated, from the number and circumstances of the persons, who are deeply injured by it. Adam committed that sin, not only against himself, against his soul and his body, upon which, he brought death and the curse, with all that dismal train of woes, which are the consequences of sin; but, against all the individuals of his natural posterity, who were represented by him, and were to descend from him. Instead of preserving, and transmitting to them, the inestimable inheritance of original righteousness, and eternal life, he thereby entailed upon them, the wrath of God, and all the direful effects of it; under which, “the whole creation groaneth, even until now.” While that sin, spread its destructive influence over the creation of God, and subjected the earth to the curse, it rendered all mankind inconceivable miserable. It was the wide door, by which sin entered into the world, and death by sin. But as if this had been all too little, Adam sinned against JEHOVAH Himself, to whom he owed supreme love, and perfect obedience; against his most express precept, his most tremendous threatening, and his most gracious promise.

3. That sin was also aggravated in a high degree, from the small value of the thing, for which it was committed. It was occasioned by fruit of small importance, and of which, Adam and his wife had not the smallest need. Judas had the prospect of thirty pieces of silver, to allure his covetous heart; but Adam had only a morsel of the fruit of a tree, a thing of very small value, and of which, he could have had no manner of need; having the richest abundance, of the most delicious fruit besides. But the smaller the thing was, and the less his need of it was; the more inexcusable was the sinner, and the more heinous the sin. Besides, that fruit was not only a small, but—a sacred thing. JEHOVAH had set it apart, as a holy thing for a holy use; and therefore as his special property, reserved for himself, it was not to be touched, not to be alienated to any other purpose. He had set it apart, to be a seal of the covenant, which he had condescended to make with man; and therefore to presume to touch, or take of it, was a sacrilegious usurpation of his peculiar property, and at the same time, a profane abuse of a sacrament, which He had appointed.

4. It received likewise a great aggravation, from the circumstance of the time, in which it was committed. It was committed, it would appear, on the very day, in which Adam had been created in the image of God, and on which, the covenant of friendship had been made with him. The holy Psalmist thus expresses himself: “Man being in honor abideth not,—stayeth not a night” as the original word most frequently signifies. Our blessed Lord likewise informs us, that “the devil was a murderer from the beginning.” It is highly probable, that this envious and malicious enemy, not knowing how soon, man might be confirmed in holiness and happiness, seized upon the earliest opportunity possible, of attempting to seduce him to sin. Adam then on the very day, in which he was created, it would appear, chose to rebel against his bountiful Creator; on the very day, in which he was adorned with his image, he sinned it away from him; and on the same day, in which the covenant was made with him, he transgressed it. His apostatizing so very early, was doubtless, a very great aggravation of his transgression.

Lastly, It was no less aggravated, from the place where it was committed. It was perpetrated in Eden, the pleasantest part of the earth, and in paradise, the most delightful spot in Eden. It was committed, where JEHOVAH was residing as in his temple; where every surrounding object, was loudly proclaiming his infinite glory in himself, and his immense goodness to man; and where man had every thing in the richest profusion, that could be either necessary, or delightful, or that could in any degree, contribute to engage him to obedience. As the sin of the fallen angels, was exceedingly aggravated, by its having been committed in the midst of heaven; so was the first sin of Adam, by its having been committed in the midst of paradise.

In the fifth place, That great transgression was committed in the following manner:

1. The infinitely wise God, had left Adam to the liberty, or freedom of his own will. Though he was a perfect, yet still he was a mutable creature, a creature naturally subject to change. The freedom of will, to which JEHOVAH had left him, did not consist in an unchangeable inclination, however voluntary, to moral good, like that which God himself, elect angels, and glorified souls have; nor, in in an equal bias to good, and to evil, for God had created him after his own image; nor, in his having one principle in his will, inclined to good, and another inclined to evil, as is the case of the saints while in this world; far less, in a voluntary and settled, inclination only to evil, after the manner of infernal spirits: but, it consisted in a perfect liberty and “power, to will and to do that which is good and well-pleasing to God, but yet mutably, so that he might fall from it.” “Man was created upright,” and received from God a power, constantly to persevere in innocence;—yet so, that his act of perseverance, was left to the liberty and choice of his own free will. God gave him a heart, wholly, and only, inclined to good, but liable to change, and that only, by himself, or by his own will. The freedom of will, then, or the liberty to act according to pleasure, to which, God left Adam, consisted in his being inclined only to good, though seducible to evil. The natural bent of his heart, was only to that which is good, but was at the same time, subject to change. Being therefore thus liable to change, God did not incline him, nor tempt him, nor force him, to any change; but so left him to himself, that himself, and himself alone, could produce a change, in the inclination of his own will, from good to evil. JEHOVAH had set him, beyond the remotest hazard of change, by any other than himself. He could only have been made a sinner, by himself, or by—his own voluntary choice. In this sense, he was created immutable in holiness; for none, either in heaven, or on earth, or in hell, could have made him a sinful man, if he had not chosen to do it himself.

If his Maker had set him, beyond all hazard of change by himself, or by his own free choice; such an exemption from change, must either have been interwoven with his very nature, or have arisen from confirming grace.

If it had been interwoven with his nature, he must, in that case, have been naturally immutable. Now natural immutability, in moral goodness, is the incommunicable property of JEHOVAH alone. It cannot be conferred on any creature, how exalted soever, that creature may be. Natural immutability, is the distinguishing prerogative of JEHOVAH himself, and cannot be made the natural property of a creature. Mutability belongs so to the nature of a creature, that it would cease to be a creature, a dependent being, the moment it ceased to be mutable. Adam as a creature, then, was totally incapable of it. Besides, if he could have been created with such an immutability, or, without so much as a remote power in his nature, to change himself, he could not have been—a free agent; he could not have obeyed, but by a fatal necessity.

If such immutability had, on the other hand, arisen from confirming grace, then, no wrong was done to Adam, by withholding from him, that which was not due to him. JEHOVAH did not owe him, any supernatural, or extraordinary assistance, to secure his persevering in a state of innocence. That natural power with which, in his creation, God had endowed him, was sufficient to have kept him standing, as long as he chose to stand. And if he chose not to stand, but to fall, his falling could not have proceeded from weakness, but from willfulness. Besides, God’s rendering him immutable by an act of grace, would have confounded his state of service and trial, with that of his reward; and could not have consisted, with the tenor of the covenant, which he had made with him. Add to this, that as his sovereign Lord, was no debtor to the man for confirming influence; so, in the depth of his adorable sovereignty, he saw meet to set up, in this case, a striking monument of the infinite difference, between himself, and the holiest creature; and between his own essential immutability, and that mutability, which necessarily belongs to the nature of a creature. In few words, he was pleased, in the depth of his unsearchable wisdom, to permit this dismal event of the fall of man; and to take occasion from it, to afford the brightest displays, of the glory of his redeeming grace and mercy. “How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

2. Satan by subtlety tempted Adam, to commit that sin. The angels, it would appear from the 1st verse of the first chapter of Genesis, and from the 6th and 7th verses of the thirty-eighth chapter of Job, were created on the first day of the creation. The angels who were not elected, had not fallen earlier than the sixth day; for we are told, that “on the sixth day, God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Full of hatred against God, and of envy against man, who shone in the image of God, one of them seized, it would seem, without a moment’s delay, the earliest opportunity, of assaulting him with a temptation. He laid his train, for enticing him to eat of the forbidden fruit, in the following order:

1st, He chose a serpent, to be his instrument in the temptation. He chose, entered into, and possessed for this purpose, a real or material serpent; because “the serpent was more subtile, than any beast of the field,” and therefore was not only the fittest of any other, to serve his infernal design, but the most agreeable to him. He preferred this instrument, not so much from any expectation of assistance, from the subtlety of it, as because he liked best a creature, the craftiness of which, bore a near resemblance to his own. And it is remarkable, that the devil ever after, retained a great regard, to this instrument of his first temptation: for long after this, he instigated various heathen nations, to worship him under the form of a serpent, which some continue to do to this day. We read that, in the ancient Greek-mysteries, they used to carry about a serpent, and to cry, Evah. What sort of a serpent it was, which Satan on this occasion possessed, is not known. Some learned writers think, that it was one of the most shining and beautiful of them. In the 15th verse of the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, we read of serpents, that in the original are called seraphim; which, in Scripture, is a name given to angels, who used to appear in fiery or splendid forms. And so Eve, who seems not to have known as yet, anything of the apostacy of angels, might probably have thought, that this serpent was, either one of the holy angels or seraphim, or that it was inspired by one of them. There is nothing improbable, in her supposing that one of those holy angels, who after this, used to appear in a human form, might now appear and converse with her, in the form of a shining serpent; and, that conscious of no sin, and, therefore, dreading no injury from any of the good creatures of God, she might safely and freely converse with this one. But, whatever she took it to be, we are certain, from Moses’ comparing of it, with other beasts of the field, that it was a real serpent; and we are no less certain, as serpents have not the faculty of speech, nor of reason, that Satan entered into, and actuated the body of that serpent, in order, the more easily and effectually, to accomplish his hellish design: for we read that, “the dragon, that old serpent, is the devil and Satan.”

2nd, He assaulted the woman in the absence of her husband. That he might succeed the easier, he attacked the woman, the weaker vessel, the one who appeared most liable to be seduced; and who, perhaps, had heard the terms of the covenant, only from Adam. He assaulted her first, concluding that, if he once prevailed over her, he could by her instrumentality, the more easily overcome the man. He knew that, if he once gained her consent, she could easily entice her husband. He persuaded himself, that a temptation offered to Adam, by Eve, so very soon after they had been joined together, in the bands of matrimony, and when they were so dear to one another, would the more readily prevail over him. He addressed himself to her, at a time when she was alone, in the absence of her husband, that he might succeed the sooner, and with greater ease. Had Adam been present with her, they might together, without difficulty, have resisted the temptation.

3rd, He started a doubt, concerning the Divine prohibition, of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. To weaken the authority of the prohibition, and so to shake her belief of it, he thus addressed the woman: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” The manner in which these words were introduced, shows, that some conversation had previously passed between Eve, and the serpent. It is highly probable, as some learned writers have supposed, that more discourse passed between them, than is recorded by the sacred Historian. The serpent, seizing the opportunity of her being absent from her husband, “makes,” according to some, his address to her, in a short speech, saluting her as empress of the world, and giving her many encomiums, and dignifying titles. She wonders, and inquires what this meant? Whether he was not a brute creature? And how he came to be endowed, with understanding and speech? The serpent replies, That he was nobler than a brute, and did indeed once, want both these gifts; but, that by eating a certain fruit in this garden, he had attained to both. She immediately asks, What fruit that was, which had such a surprising influence and virtue. When he had shown it to her, she replied, This, no doubt, is an excellent fruit, but God hath strictly forbidden us the use of it. To which the serpent replies, as in the close of the 1st verse, of the third chapter of Genesis, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” The question which he here proposes to her, is expressed in terms, the most ambiguous and crafty. He does not at the first, discover his destructive design; but, as one who did not know, or was in doubt, he artfully pretends, that he would wish to be informed by her. It is difficult to understand, what he here meant to ask. Whether it were, that God had forbidden them, to eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden, or of any tree, or of some particular tree, or of the tree of knowledge; or, whether he meant to insinuate, that God, who had forbidden the use of such excellent fruit, was an austere Master; or, that he who forbade it, could not be the true God, who had so lately created them, and created them for this very purpose, that they might participate, in the highest degree, of the blessings of his goodness. Here, the subtlety of the old serpent clearly appears. To this ambiguous, and ensnaring question, the woman returns a plain and resolute answer. “The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

4th, Failing, in his attempt to overturn her faith of the prohibition, he makes his next assault, upon her belief of the penalty. He endeavors, to make her doubt the truth of the threatening, and, through unbelief, to contemn the faithfulness and power of JEHOVAH, manifested in his execution of the threatening, upon her transgression of the precept; and thus, proudly to aspire after a state of independence, on the most HIGH. He labors to make the truth of the threatening, appear, not merely to be doubtful, but improbable, or rather impossible. To accomplish this diabolical design, he conducted his attack, in the following manner He first, directly contradicts the Divine threatening. “The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” He informs her, that God’s punishing of them to that degree, was not quite so certain as she imagined, and so, flatters and allures her with the hope of impunity. “Ye shall not surely die;” as if he had said,— “God did say so, for your terror, to keep you in awe; but, do not you entertain such hard and unworthy thoughts of that God, who is infinitely good and gracious. Do not suspect, that for such a trifle, as the eating of a little fruit, he will undo you and your posterity forever; and so soon destroy, the most excellent piece of his own workmanship, in which, his image shines in the most resplendent manner.”—He next, presents the object, the fruit of that forbidden tree. And there were three things, on account of which, he represented that fruit to be exceedingly desirable. He told her that “it was good for food,” and of the most delicious taste; that “it was pleasant to the eye,” fruit, that had the most beautiful appearance; and that it was “to be desired to make one wise;” a fruit, not merely desirable to the sensual, but to the rational appetite. He then, pretending a great desire to promote their knowledge, and their happiness; nay, a higher regard for their happiness, than even God himself had, labors to persuade her, that on their eating of that fruit, she and her husband should, in the great extent of their knowledge, be like God; and he improves the name, as well as the sight, of the tree, to enforce the temptation. Pretending to show, how they might speedily attain a very high degree of felicity, and especially of knowledge, he appeals, for the truth of what he affirms, not merely to God himself, but to the very name of the tree. For, says he, “God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Here, that crafty, that murderous foe, insinuated to the woman, That God envied the happiness of her and her husband; and well knew, that on their eating, the eyes of their understandings, which were now in a great measure shut, should be so widely opened, that they would see far more clearly, than now they did; and, that so far should they be from dying, as he had threatened, that they would be like himself, and in some sense be omniscient. And perhaps he either now, or as I hinted above, earlier, pretended, that he had attained his own vast superiority, in knowledge and understanding, above all others of the brute creation, by eating of that fruit. Thus “the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty.”

In his managing of this temptation, he adds one lie to another. He first, contradicts the Divine threatening, and says,— “Ye shall not surely die.” He next, represents himself, as one who was exceedingly desirous of their happiness, and who was now informing her, how they might advance to higher degrees of it; and,—the high and holy ONE, as one who envied them that dignity, knowledge, and felicity, at which, by complying with his proposal, they might immediately arrive. He pretends, that it was because God had envied them this happiness, that he forbade them the use of that fruit; and boldly asserts, with an appeal to God himself, and to the name of the tree, for the truth of his assertion, That if they would but eat of it, they should be as gods, knowing good and evil. Thus he uttered a series of lies. And it was by his being a liar, that he became “a murderer from the beginning.”

5th, Having thus enticed Eve to eat of that fruit, he abused her as his instrument, to seduce her husband; No sooner did he shake her faith, or prevail upon her to discredit, and to despise, the Divine threatening, than overcome, she instantly— stretched forth her hand, to pluck the fruit of that forbidden tree.— “And when the woman saw, that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and—he did eat.” Thus having swallowed down the fatal morsel, and begun to taste death, herself, she straightway, persuaded her husband to partake with her; who doubtless was the more easily enticed, when he saw that she had eaten of it, and yet had not died.

3. Adam, left by God to the freedom of his own will, abused his liberty, by his thus choosing to comply with the temptation. His righteous and benign Creator, instead of tempting, or inclining him to sin, had given him as much strength, as might have sufficed to enable him, to resist the temptation, if it had been suitably improved. As God therefore did not, and could not, force his will to comply; so neither did Eve, nor even Satan force it. The man freely and voluntarily, apostatized from JEHOVAH. He sinned from free choice, without the least degree of compulsion. It was himself, and himself alone, that was the real cause of his first transgression. “God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”

In the sixth and last place, It was by this first transgression of Adam, that he brake the covenant. For,

In the 1. place, He hereby failed of performing the condition of that covenant. The law of the covenant, required perfect obedience, as the stated condition of life; but this Adam, as the natural root, and federal representative, of his posterity, failed to perform. It enjoined likewise unceasing obedience, but this he ceased to yield. He “continued not in all things, written” in his heart, and required “in the law, to do them.” The law commanded him, not to eat of the forbidden fruit; but the high authority of JEHOVAH, in that positive injunction, he trampled underfoot. He took, he swallowed down, the fruit, and with it, the poison of the old serpent. In this, he disobeyed the express command of the Most HIGH, and by so doing, sinned against Him. Putting forth his hand to take, what the LORD had forbidden him to touch, he shook off the yoke of that perfect obedience, which he owed him, and thereby violated the whole law of the covenant. While his eating of that fruit, was a formal breach of the positive law, it was at the same time, a material breach of the moral law. It was a transgression and violation of it, in all its precepts, as enforced by the same Divine authority. It was a sin, which he committed in enmity against God, and at the same time, against his own offspring; and was the very reverse of that love, which is the fulfilling of the law. Thus, then, by the sinfulness of that most atrocious act of disobedience, Adam completely transgressed the law of the covenant, in all its articles, and so failed of fulfilling the condition of it.

2. By that transgression, he forfeited his title <and that of his descendants, to the life which was promised in the covenant. Having by that sin, failed of performing the condition, he completely forfeited all claim, to God’s performing of the promise. Thus losing all title to the benefit promised, he rendered the promise of life, to himself and his posterity, completely void and of no avail.

Having failed of that perfect obedience, on condition of which, the performing of the promise was suspended, he lost all pretension to the promised reward, and could no more plead a covenant-title to it. Nor had he any more, on the footing of that promise, a capacity of procuring a right to it, by any obedience of his own. The life which was promised, was now lost, and, by the works of the law, could not possibly be recovered. Adam in his own name, and in the name of his posterity, set at nought that great and precious promise of JEHOVAH, and chose to prefer a promise of the devil before it; and, therefore, he most justly forfeited the life which was promised.

3. Lastly, As by his first transgression, he fell off from the promise, so by the same, he fell under the begun execution of the penalty. According to the import of the awful threatening, he became liable to death, in all its latitude and duration. Having thereby forfeited the life promised, as well as the favor of God, he fell under, or became actually subject to, the curse or condemning sentence. No sooner had he transgressed the covenant, than it seized on him, began to be in actual force against him, and to bind him over to endure, for the satisfaction of Divine justice, all the punishment denounced for sin. The blessing, by his disobedience, having been lost, the curse of the broken covenant, fastened on him, and bound him over to the death threatened for transgression. The death, accordingly, which was threatened, began to seize, and to take effect on Adam and Eve, as soon as they had sinned; and lay ready in the awful threatening, to take effect on every one of their natural descendants, as soon as he or she, should begin to exist, or the soul, begin to be united to the body in the womb.

If Adam, as the head and representative of all mankind, descending by ordinary generation from him, had not, by that sin, transgressed and broken the covenant, the penalty threatened in it, could not, under the government of the infinitely righteous JEHOVAH, have fastened either on him or them. But, that it has actually fastened on him and them, is, as we have already seen, too evident to be denied.—It has fastened on the body of man, and made it mortal;—on his soul, for it died spiritually, losing at once, the image and the favor of JEHOVAH;—and on his soul and body together, which were thereby subjected and bound over, to the punishment of death eternal in hell-fire. Thus was the covenant of works, transgressed and broken, by Adam’s eating of the forbidden fruit.

Did Satan, as we have now seen, seduce our first parents into such a great transgression? How necessary is it, that the true Christian be ever on his guard! Be sober and vigilant, believer, lest thy adversary the devil, obtain advantage over thee, and through his subtlety beguile thee. He continually watches for opportunities, of making successful assaults on thee. Watch always therefore and pray, that thou enter not into temptation. Never so much as once encounter him, apart from Jesus, the Captain of thy salvation. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Resist him steadfastly in the faith, and he will flee from thee. Guard against dallying with his temptations. Listening to him, will issue in doubting, doubting, in disbelieving, and disbelieving, in compliance. If thou even for a moment, give place to him, he will, ere ever thou art aware, instill into thy mind, the old heresy, That “there are sins, which do not deserve eternal death.” Be always content with such things as thou hast. It is not in becoming a god, but in the enjoyment of God in Christ, as thy covenant-God, thy sure portion, that thy happiness consists.

Was man, even in his best estate, liable to change? Hence learn not to trust in man. The holiest mere man, that ever was in the world, was capable of being forgetful of his duty, and unfaithful to the trust reposed in him. The best of creatures, when left to themselves, cannot be safe one moment. The LORD left some of the angels to themselves, and they soon became devils. He left our first parents to themselves, and they quickly became sinners. How necessary is it then, O Christian, that thou trust only, trust always, in thy faithful Redeemer, for strength to persevere; and that thou thereby, receive continual supplies of grace from his fulness, to keep thee from falling!

Was the sin of Adam, by which he brake the first covenant, so heinous in itself, and so greatly aggravated? How deeply humbled for it, should every one of us be! How frequently, how deeply, how bitterly, should we lament it! If all the children of Adam, in their successive generations, were, while the world continued, to do nothing else, then bitterly to bewail that first transgression, it would not be sufficiently lamented. Ah how great a sin was it! How wide is the breach, that it has made between God and man! How justly does it deserve, the wrath and curse of the infinite JEHOVAH! How infinitely, are we indebted to the blessed second Adam, for repairing that breach; for “restoring that which he took not away!”— “Oh Adam, what hast thou done! O Christ, what hast thou not done!” Blessed, ever blessed be thou, who earnest in the name, of the Lord, to save us; who, in the astonishing greatness of thy love, consentedst to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in thee.

Had man, on the footing of the promise of the first covenant, no more the capacity of procuring a right to eternal life, by any obedience of his own? How impossible, then, must it be for a sinner, to be justified in the sight of God, by the deeds of the law! The life promised in that covenant, only for perfect obedience, is now lost, and cannot, by any obedience or sufferings of the sinner, ever be regained. The first covenant, was a covenant of friendship; and man, after he had once broken it, could not again make up the breach. If Adam though upright, could not of himself, stand} how shall the sinner who is fallen, and who lies in wickedness, raise himself up! If an innocent man, could not be his own keeper, how shall a sinful man, how shall a self-destroyer, be his own savior! —These are the settled terms of the covenant of works, and it knows no other; either personal and perfect obedience, in all things, or personal punishment, to all eternity. Oh, that poor sinners would be persuaded of this, and would cease from going about to establish their own righteousness, as the ground of their title to eternal life! “Moses,” as one expresses it, “describes the first covenant with a running pen; for, as it was the way of life then proposed, it passed away as a flying shadow.” Sinners cannot now be entitled to life, by the perfect obedience of the first Adam; for Adam soon ceased to yield perfect obedience. They cannot be entitled to it, by their own perfect obedience; for since the fall, they never could perform such obedience.

From what has been stated in this chapter, we likewise learn the true origin of moral evil. Here, we have a description of the first sin, that the first man committed. By one man, that sin entered into the world, and with it, all other sin. The corruption of nature, under which he thereby fell, was from him propagated to all his natural posterity.

Was man left to the freedom of his own will, and was no confirming clause, annexed to the first covenant, to secure his continuing in the state of innocency, in which he was created? Hence we may learn, That through occasion of man’s breach of that covenant, infinite wisdom had a most glorious scene to open;—a scene of redeeming love, of sovereign grace, to be gloriously manifested, in the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ. The covenant of works, then, was, as it were, a scaffold erected, for the building up of a far more glorious fabric.

Did our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, perfect that work, in which the first Adam had failed, and repair that breach, which the first Adam had made? It follows, as a native, a necessary, and a delightful consequence, That all who are vitally united to Him, and covered with the robe of his righteousness, are so confirmed in a state of holiness and happiness, that they can never totally or finally fall away. Adam and his posterity were, by his perfect obedience, to have been entitled to a life, which should have endured for ever. But the spiritual seed of the second Adam, “the just by faith,” are said in Scripture to be entitled to the same endless life. “The just by faith, shall live.” This passage, the apostle Paul cites, in his epistle to the Hebrews, to prove the perseverance of the saints. Be it known, therefore, to you, who believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye have eternal life. O, inestimably precious, O, unspeakably glorious privilege! You shall never perish, nor shall any pluck you out of the Almighty Savior’s hand.

Learn hence, how necessary it is to our happiness, that we believe in the second Adam, and be vitally united to Him. He performed the conditions of the covenant of grace, and thereby fulfilled the demands, and repaired the breach, of the covenant of works. Nothing could repair that breach of covenant, of which the first was guilty, but the broken body of the second Adam; or, his “bearing our sins, in his own body on the tree.” Hence are these words of the apostle Paul, to the believers at Borne; “wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law, by the body of Christ.”—Was it in a garden, that the first Adam sinned? It was in a garden, that the second Adam was buried. Was it by eating of the fruit of a forbidden tree, that the first Adam brake the covenant? It was by hanging on a tree, that the second Adam bare the curse, satisfied justice, and so repaired the breach. By eating of forbidden fruit, all the natural posterity of Adam die: by eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood, those commanded fruits, all the spiritual seed of Christ live. Come then, reader, to the second Adam, and thou shalt not only be saved from all sin, and in particular from the first sin, by which the first covenant was broken; but thou shalt be instated in the second covenant, which, because the conditions of life in it are already performed, can never be broken. Thy life was originally in the first Adam, but he lost both himself and thee: the last Adam, by losing as it were himself, saves thee. O believe in Him. Believe with application to thyself, the record concerning him, and eternal life in him. Let thy heart trust in him; and the loss which thou sustainedst in the first Adam, shall be repaired with inexpressibly great advantage.

Lastly, Is the covenant of works broken; and is it therefore, utterly in vain for the children of the first Adam, dead as they are, in trespasses and sins, to pretend to work, in order to procure for themselves a right to eternal life? We may hence learn, That the spiritual seed of the last Adam, ought at no time, to attempt to work for life. The children of the first Adam, ought not to try to work Tor it; because they have already lost it in him, and, at the same time, have lost all ability so to work for it, as to recover it by their own performances. The children of the second Adam, should not presume to work for it; because they have it already in Him, on the ground of his having fulfilled all righteousness in their stead, which is legally imputed to them; and because their doing so, would reflect dishonor, on his consummate righteousness. The unregenerate should receive the second Adam, offered in the gospel to them, that they may begin, to work from life; the regenerate should frequently, should daily receive him, that they may go on, to work from life; that their work, may more and more, be the work of faith, and their labor, the labor of love.

CHAP. IX. Of the Imputation of Adam’s First Sin to his Natural Posterity.

After having considered Adam’s first transgression, as that by which he brake the covenant, it will be proper, in this chapter, to take a view of the concern, that we his posterity have, in that violation of it. We are never truly convinced of our breaches of the law, in our own persons, nor humbled for them, till we begin spiritually to discern, and truly to be humbled for, our breach of covenant, in the first Adam. It is of the highest importance, then, to everyone who would desire, evangelically to repent of his sins, clearly to understand, and cordially to believe, this fundamental doctrine of holy Scripture; That Adam’s breach of that covenant, by his sin of eating of the forbidden fruit, is our breach of it as well as his, and is accordingly imputed to us as ours.

That this momentous subject, may be the more distinctly illustrated, it will be proper,

First, To show the nature and extent, of the imputation of Adam’s first sin, to his posterity.

Secondly, To consider the grounds. And,

Thirdly, To prove the reality, of that imputation.

First then, It is proposed to show the nature and extent, of the Divine imputation of Adam’s first sin, to his natural posterity. In doing this, I would, in the 1st. place, observe that this transgression, in all its infinite malignity and demerit, is the sin of his posterity. It is ours, who are the descendants of Adam, in all its extent, and in all the aggravating circumstances, which attended the commission of it. There were, it is true, some things in that sin, which were peculiar to Adam himself, and could not belong to us; such as,—his committing of it, in his own person, while we on the contrary, committed it, not in our own persons, but in him his transgressing, as our federal representative, while we sinned only as represented by him; and his destroying, not merely himself, but the whole human race, while we thereby destroyed only ourselves. Still however, these circumstances excepted, that sin, in all the exceeding sinfulness, and infinite demerit of it, and in all the ingredients and extent of it, belongs to us. In all the ingredients which compose it; the unbelief, the ingratitude, the pride, the ambition, the inadvertence, the rebellion, the murder, and such like, it is our sin, as much as it is the sin of Adam our common parent. It is ours also, in all its aggravating circumstances. Every thing in it, every thing connected with it, that rendered it inexpressibly heinous, in the sight of JEHOVAH, belongs as really to us, as it did to Adam. It is as really, and as much, our sin, as is any sin, that ever we committed in our own persons. “By one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners.” As it is imputed to us, for what it is, and not, for what it is not, it is wholly imputed. The fault,—the stain,—and the guilt of it, are ours.

1st, The fault of it is our fault, as well as the fault of Adam. It is not ours merely in its effects, as a father’s crime of rebelling against his Prince, reaches his family, and reduces them to indigence; but is ours also in itself. The fault of it, as committed against the infinite Majesty of heaven; that in it, which rendered it a very faulty, or criminal, or sinful deed, is our fault. In the first Adam, we transgressed, and so violated the covenant. “By one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” We are all punished for that sin. “Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” And again, “Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them, that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression.” Now God the Judge of all the earth, doeth right; and would on no account whatever, punish the children of Adam for a fault, that was not their fault. We, then, are to be charged with the fault of that sin, or blamed for it, as well as Adam. And therefore,

2ndly, The stain or taint of it, is likewise ours. It is the hereditary taint, infection, and reproach, of our fallen and condemned nature, propagated to it from Adam, that first sinner. Human nature, in every individual of Adam’s natural offspring, is blemished and vitiated by it; and thereby rendered so polluted, and so loathsome, in the sight of the holy ONE, as to be altogether unfit for performing the least acceptable obedience to him. From Adam the source of it, that disobedience like leaven, issues, spreads through, and pollutes, the whole mass of human nature. It was the sin of human nature, not merely as that nature resided, in the person of Adam, but as it resides, in every individual of his natural posterity.

To illustrate a little this article, which is little understood, by many who profess to know the truth, it will be proper to observe, That God, in all his dealings with Adam, according to the tenor of the covenant which he made with him, regarded his posterity who were then in his loins, as one with him. In every step of his procedure with Adam, he dealt with him, as the root of the whole tree, or as the head of the whole body; and with every one of his natural offspring, as a branch existing on that root, or as a member belonging to that body.

Hence it follows, that depravity of nature begins to exist in the heart of every child of Adam, just as it began to exist in the heart of Adam himself. Adam was not, and could not, be punished with the loss of original righteousness, and with the corruption of his whole nature, as parts of spiritual death, till after he had finished his sin of eating the forbidden fruit. But a corrupt inclination, a desire after that fruit, had begun in his heart, before he began to stretch forth his hand to take and eat. This first beginning, then, or rising of depravity in his heart, is not to be considered as a punishment of his first sin, but rather as a part, a leading part of that sin. In like manner, the first beginning, or rising of corruption, in the heart of a newly-formed infant, is not, I humbly apprehend, to be viewed as a punishment of Adam’s first transgression, but as a part of it, diffusing itself throughout the heart of every one, that naturally descends from him. The continuance indeed of that corruption, as a confirmed principle; or, in other words, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of the whole nature, are to be considered as a punishment of this sin; but not so, I apprehend, the very first beginning of depravity in the heart. This was in the heart of Adam, as a main part of his first transgression, before he began to be punished for that sin, by spiritual death; and is, in like manner, in the heart of every son of Adam, as a part, or as the extended pollution, of the same first sin, previous, in the order of nature at least, to his beginning to be punished with spiritual death, or, with the continuance of it, as a confirmed principle.

To render my meaning here, still more obvious, let me suppose a tree with many branches; some of which, are already formed and growing on it, and others, are to sprout forth at some future period: and suppose the root of this tree, to begin to be infected with some poisonous, or malignant quality. No sooner is the root thus infected, than it communicates the infection to every one of the branches. The change in the root, extends to the branches, and becomes a change likewise in them. And if any sprout, however small, shall in future begin to shoot from it, this, as soon as it exists, or becomes visible on the tree, begins to partake of the infection of the root. Now, Adam was as it were the root of mankind. Everyone who, by natural generation, descends from him, is a branch springing from that root. Adam still continues to be the root, the malignant root, from which, all the branches of his posterity, do one after another spring. No sooner, then, does God create and unite the soul, to the tainted body in the womb, so that the infant thereby becomes a child of fallen Adam, then the heart of the infant, begins to be tainted with the same depravity, or desire to eat of forbidden fruit, that began to exist in the heart of Adam, before he finished the first sin. The soul of the infant forthwith begins, as the soul of Adam did, to be disposed to consent to that first sin; or in other words, to be corrupted: so that, nothing now prevents, the child’s repeating the act of eating of forbidden fruit, but the want of ability and of opportunity. Thus, as far as the depraved disposition of the heart is concerned in it, that sin is the sin of the child, and is accordingly imputed to it, as its sin. That very corruption or consent to it, which stained the heart of Adam, seizes and stains the heart of the infant'; upon which, it is punished with the continuance, and the dominion, of that depravity of heart.

Hence are these words of the holy Psalmist, “Behold I was shapen, or, brought forth in iniquity, and in sin, did my mother conceive me .” Thus the stain, or spot, of Adam’s first transgression, is ours. We participate with him in it, as the common sin of human nature.

3rdly, It follows of course, that the guilt of that sin is ours. The guilt of that first transgression, or the obligation or liableness to punishment, on account of it, has extended to us, and is our guilt. The charging of it by law, in order to punishment, seizes and lies on all the race of Adam, as their guilt; and it is accordingly charged on them. They are, on account of it, laid under a sentence of condemnation, and so are bound over to the wrath of a sin-avenging God. Infants, we have seen, are guilty of it; and, therefore, are condemned to suffer punishment for it, before they be capable, of committing the least actual transgression. They are not innocent, but guilty creatures, and are born in iniquity. Thus the first transgression of Adam, in all its malignity, and demerit,—in all the fault,— all the stain,—and all the guilt of it, is the sin of his natural posterity.

2. It is the sin of all the posterity of Adam. It extends to all mankind, descending from him, by ordinary generation. I say, by ordinary generation: for though the Lord Jesus Christ as man, was a descendant of Adam, as it is evident from his genealogy traced up to Adam; yet he descended from him not by ordinary, but by extraordinary generation. It was necessary, to his being our near Kinsman, in order that the right of redeeming us, might devolve upon him, and to his satisfying of Divine justice, by the sufferings and death of the same nature that sinned, that he should become man, and be—a son of Adam. But it was not necessary, that He should be represented by Adam, or comprehended with Adam, in the covenant of works; nor, that he should descend from him, in consequence of the blessing of fruitfulness, conferred on the man and woman, in their state of innocence. He was the seed of the woman only;—born of a virgin, and born in fulfilment of a special promise, made after Adam had broken the covenant, and after he had fallen, from his station of being the federal representative of his offspring. The breach of that covenant, therefore, could not extend, nor be counted to him, who was neither represented by Adam, nor properly a descendant of his; but, who derived his human nature legally, after Adam had ceased, to be any longer a public person.

But though that transgression, could not extend to the human nature of Christ, it extended to all the natural descendants of fallen Adam. It is the sin of every son and daughter of Adam, by ordinary generation, that ever was, or that ever shall be, born into the world. It is the sad, the direful inheritance, which he left to all his offspring, from the least to the greatest. Each of them may, and must say of it, “This sin is my sin, and deserves condemnation and death, for me.” Hence these words of an inspired Apostle, already cited,— “By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men, to condemnation;” and—“In Adam all die.” The guilt of that offence, lies upon all the seed of Adam, to condemnation; and is removed from none of them, but such as believe in the second Adam, and are by faith, spiritually united to him, as their Head of righteousness and eternal life.

3. Lastly, It is not only the sin of all mankind, but of all mankind, in the estimation of law and Justice. As it is our sin, in all its extent, and is extended to all of us without exception; so it is ours, in law-reckoning, or legal estimation. It is in truth ours, and accordingly is in law, accounted or imputed to us. JEHOVAH, who is essentially just, and whose judgment is always according to truth, imputeth it to us, and to all the natural posterity of Adam;—because it is ours already. Let it be carefully attended to, that it is not ours merely, because it is imputed to us; but, it is imputed to us, because it is already ours. The Divine imputation of it, indeed, confirms our interest in it; but our interest in it was real, previous in the order of nature, to that imputation. It is really, or to all intents and purposes, our transgression; and, therefore, is legally charged upon us, or imputed to us, by the most HIGH, the righteous Governor and Judge of all. His imputing of it to us in law, presupposes it to be already ours. It is because we are indeed sinners in Adam, that God accounts us in law, to have transgressed in him. The first sin of Adam, then, by which he violated the first covenant, is, in the estimation of Divine law and justice, our sin. It is imputed to us, or placed on our account, attributed, or ascribed, or reckoned, or accounted to us.—The fault, as well as the stain and guilt of it, is counted to us, is charged on us. “By one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners.”

Secondly, It will be proper now, as was proposed, to consider the grounds of this Divine imputation of Adam’s first sin, to his posterity. The grounds or reasons, why the first transgression of Adam, by which he violated the covenant, which God had made with him, is our sin, and is imputed to us as such, are the two following:

1. He was one with us, by a natural union. The union of a father with his offspring, is a natural union. Adam was our common parent, our seminal or natural head. He and we, as it were, constituted but one natural, and therefore but one moral person. All mankind spring out of him, as their natural root. When he committed his first sin, they were all in his loins, as Levi was in the loins of Abraham, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. On the ground, therefore, of the natural union of him and them, that transgression, was the sin of their common nature; and on account of his having been originally, as well as naturally, one with them, it was their primitive, their firsts their original sin. It is in consequence of this natural and moral union, between them, that the depraved disposition, implied and exerted, in Adam’s first transgression, mentioned above, derives itself to the countless myriads of his descendants, and is legally accounted theirs.

2. Lastly, He was one with us, by a federal or legal union. He was our covenant-head, our public, our common representative; and therefore, he and we were one in covenant, one in law. We were federally and legally one. When the covenant was made with Adam, it was made with him, not as a private person, but as the public representative of all his natural descendants, acting for them, as well as for himself. When, therefore, by his first transgression, he brake that contract, he brake it, not as a private individual, but as their public representative. In committing that sin, he represented them; and his representing of them in it, renders it their sin in law, and is the main ground, of the legal imputation of it to them. While they were naturally, and originally, one in Adam, as their natural root, they were, by the covenant of works, made legally and federally one with him, as their legal, and federal representative. In addition to that natural tie, subsisting between him and them, which made them one in nature, they were, by the bond of the covenant, made one in law. The foundation, then, of the imputation of his first sin to them, is not merely their union with Adam, as their natural, but their union with him as their federal head. Whence it evidently follows, that as he represented the persons of his posterity, in the making of the covenant with him; he represented them no less, in his 'breaking of it, or in his committing of the sin, by which it was violated. That act of disobedience, therefore, which he committed, as their head and representative, before he sunk into the state of a private individual, was their sin, as well as his; their sin in him; and so, was legally counted to them as theirs. It was theirs—naturally, and theirs—legally; and therefore was justly and legally imputed to them.

Thirdly, and lastly, It now remains that I exhibit some proofs of this very important doctrine.

That the first transgression of Adam, is legally imputed to all his natural posterity, is clear,

In the 1st. place, From the express testimony of Scripture. It is evident from this forecited passage; “Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The Apostle, when speaking of sin in general) in the 13th verse of the chapter, calls it simply sin. But in this 12th verse, we read in the original, twice over, of the sin, or that sin; that particular, that first sin, that sin by way of eminence, that first actual transgression. He speaks of it, as the sin of one man; and as the sin, by which death entered into the world. “By one man,” says he, or, as it is in the original, “By the one man, that sin entered into the world, and by that sin, death.” Here it is obvious, that it was by that first actual transgression of the one man, that death entered into the world of mankind. Our Apostle adds, “and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

By that sin, which all have sinned, previous to death’s beginning to pass upon all, and on account of which, it began to pass, we must, according to the terms of the passage, understand that sin which entered into the world, by the one man. Whilst it entered into the world by the one man, all men sinned it. They could not possibly, previous to the entrance of death, have sinned it in their own persons. They sinned it, therefore, in the person of that one man. God the righteous Judge, accounted that they did so. Death could not, according to the rules of distributive justice, have entered, and passed upon all men, for that sin, if all men had not previously sinned it, and sinned it in him.

The imputation of that first transgression, to all the posterity of Adam, is also evident, from the following words of the Apostle in the same chapter: “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one, to condemnation; but the free gift, is of many offences unto justification. For, if by one mads offence, death reigned by one; much more, they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so, by the righteousness of One, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Here we read of “the offence” or fall, and of “the offence of the one,” namely, of “the one man” Adam. Here also we read, that “through the offence of the one, many are dead;” that “the judgment,” or judicial sentence, which supposes a legal charge of guilt, was “by one to condemnation;” that “by the offence of the one man, death reigned by one;” and that “by the offence of one,” for, as some render the words, “by one offence, judgment,” or a judicial sentence, “came upon all men to condemnation.” Now, if “through the offence of the one, many be dead,” (ver. 15th.) it follows, that it is also the offence of the many. Many could not be punished with death, for the sin of one man, if it were not counted, at the same time, their offence as well as his. If judgment, or a judicial sentence, which always supposes a legal charge of guilt, was by one man, or by one sin, to condemnation, (v. 16th.) doubtless that one sin of the one man, is placed on the account of all, who are under condemnation for it. As there can be no just, no legal condemnation, where there is no crime; so none, by an infinitely righteous God, could be condemned for that one offence of the one man, if it had not been accounted to them, as their transgression in him. Again, If by the offence of the one man, death reigned over mankind, by that one, that one man, and his one offence, or first sin; (v. 17.) surely, under the government of an infinitely good, and righteous God, death could not invade, nor exercise dominion over them, for that one sin, if it had not been imputed, and justly imputed to them, as their sin.— It is only “the soul that sinneth,” that “shall die.” In few words, If, as we are told in the 18th verse, by the offence of one, or by one offence, a judicial sentence came upon all men to condemnation, it necessarily follows, that all men are charged with the guilt of that offence of one man: for none can be justly condemned to death for a sin, of which, they are not in legal estimation guilty.

This is abundantly clear likewise, from these words already cited, in the 19th verse of the same chapter:— “For as by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One, shall many be made righteous” The Apostle’s introducing of this verse, with the causal particle for, shows, that he is here proving what he had asserted, in the preceding context, from the 12th verse. The disobedience of the one man, therefore, which is here mentioned, must be that sin, that offence, of the one man, or that one offence, of which we read in the immediately preceding verses. Our Apostle does not here inform us, That many were made sinners, by their own inherent depravity, or by their own personal transgressions; but, that they were made sinners, by the disobedience of one man. Neither does he say that they are, but that they were, made sinners. No sooner was Adam guilty of that act of disobedience, than it was accounted the sin of all his natural posterity, then in his loins. Nor does the Apostle say, That by one man’s disobedience, many were made miserable, or made mortal, or made merely guilty; but, that they were made, or constituted—sinners.

Now, we cannot be legally constituted sinners, by the disobedience of another, but in one or other of these three ways: either by the imitation, or—the approbation, or—the imputation of it. It cannot be by the imitation of Adam’s first disobedience, that his descendants are constituted sinners: for multitudes of heathens, never so much as heard of the example, which he hereby, left to his posterity; and therefore could with no propriety, be said to imitate him, or copy after his pattern. A very great proportion of the human race, are punished with pain, sickness, and death, in their infancy. But infants are incapable of imitation. The Apostle tells us in a forecited passage, That “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them, that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression.” It reigned even over infants, who were incapable of imitating Adam, in committing so much as one actual sin.—Neither is it by the approbation of his disobedience, that his posterity are made sinners. For infants, and countless multitudes of mankind in the heathen world, who never so much as heard of Adam, or of his disobedience, and who, therefore, could not render it their sin, by any direct or formal approbation of it, were, notwithstanding,—constituted sinners by it. It remains, then, that they are constituted sinners, by— the imputation of Adam’s first disobedience to them.

As many, even all the spiritual seed of the second Adam, are by his obedience, made righteous, and as such, are justified and live; so many, even all the natural seed of the first Adam, are by his disobedience, made sinners, and as such, are condemned and die. Now, as it is not by the imitation, nor by the approbation, but by the imputation, of the obedience of Christ, that many are constituted righteous; so neither is it by the imitation, nor by the direct approbation, but by the imputation, of the disobedience of Adam, that many were legally constituted sinners. When he, as their common parent and covenant-representative, disobeyed, they were, by that disobedience, made sinners. In consequence of their natural and legal union with him, that first act of disobedience, was their sin; and therefore was legally accounted theirs.

To show us the force of his reasoning on this important subject, the Apostle, in the 14th verse of the same chapter, informs us, That Adam “was the type, or figure, of Him that was to come.” In the parallel, therefore, which here, and in the fifteenth chapter, of his first epistle to the Corinthians, he states between them, he styles the one, the first man, and the other, the second Man; the former, the first Adam, and the latter, the last Adam. Hence it necessarily follows, according to the parallel, That, as the second Man obeyed the law, not as a private Person, but as the public Representative of his spiritual seed; so, the first man disobeyed it, not as a private individual, but as the public representative of his natural seed, whose act of disobedience, was to be imputed to them, as theirs; that, as the obedience unto death, of the last Adam, is legally imputed to, or accounted the obedience of, all his spiritual offspring, not in its effects only, but in itself, so the disobedience of the first Adam, is legally accounted the disobedience of all his natural posterity, not in its effects merely, but in itself; that, as the obedience of the One, merits for all who were represented by him, the life promised in the covenant of grace, so the disobedience of the other, deserves for all who were represented by him, the death threatened in the covenant of works; that, as in the last Adam their Representative, his spiritual seed, are accounted to have fulfilled the law in its covenant-form, as is clear from many passages of sacred writ, so in the first Adam, their representative, his natural seed, are accounted to have violated the law in its covenant-form; and therefore that, as the blessed second Adam, was to be a Head of righteousness, and consequently of life, to all his spiritual offspring, so the first Adam was a head of sin, and consequently of death to all his natural progeny. Hence are these words of our Apostle:—“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive.” It is for the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to them, and received by faith, that the souls of all who are united to him, and who are partakers of a new, and spiritual nature from him, live, and that their bodies shall at the last day, be quickened to an immortal life. In like manner, it is for the disobedience of Adam, with whom, as their covenant-head, all his natural posterity were legally united and comprehended, that they are all condemned and subjected to death. It is not here said, that in, or by themselves, all die, but, that “in Adam, all die.”

But how could all, according to the rules of impartial justice, die in Adam, if they had not in him, deserved to die? And how could they, otherwise have deserved to die in him, then by having sinned in him? It is, therefore, as the Apostle informs us, “by the offence of one that many are dead,” and “by one man, that sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and that death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” It follows, then, That “by the disobedience of one man” imputed to them, “many,” even all his posterity, “were constituted sinners.”

2. That Adam’s first sin, is imputed to all his natural posterity, is also evident, from the death of such a great proportion of them, in their infancy. Vast multitudes, in their early infancy, long before they be capable, of committing the least actual sin in their own persons, are subject to pain, to sickness, to a great variety of other miseries, and even to death itself. Myriads who had never sinned actually, perished in the deluge, in the plague of the first born of the Egyptians, in the extermination of the Amalekites, and of other devoted nations. But, since God “will not destroy the righteous with the wicked,” we may rest assured, that the infants, over whom death was permitted to reign, were not viewed by Him as righteous. If infants are innocents, as some choose to style them, is it possible to conceive, that JEHOVAH, to whom infinite holiness, and justice are unchangeably necessary, could treat them in that manner? “Who ever perished, being innocent?” Can it be consistent with the immaculate holiness of his nature, or with the infinite rectitude of his administration, to punish the souls of those with spiritual, and the bodies of those with natural, death, who had never previously, done anything to deserve, such a severe and continued punishment? Is it equitable, that death should have been suffered to reign, from Adam to Moses, and from Moses to this day, over them who had not sinned, after the similitude of Adam’s transgression; who had not, and could not have, like him, committed in their own persons, actual transgression, if they had not sinned in that common parent, “who,” as a covenant-representative, “is the figure of Him, that was to come?” Was it not as the punishment of sin, that death was threatened to mankind? Is it not expressly styled, “the wages of sin?” Doth not distributive justice require, that none receive the wages, but they who have done the work of sin? That none be punished for it, but such as are guilty of it? Infants, then, in the eye of Divine law and justice, have done this work:—but as they could not possibly have done it, in their own persons, they must have done it, in Adam.— “All have sinned;” which, respecting infants, can only be true, of their having sinned in Adam, and by his sin. An infinitely good and merciful God, could not so very early afflict, and even destroy, the noblest work of his own hands, in this lower world, if they had not in his sight, been chargeable with some great transgression.

3. Finally, The universal corruption of human nature, clearly evinces the truth of this doctrine. The nature of man not merely after, but in its formation, is stained by Adam’s first sin; is destitute of original righteousness, and become wholly corrupted. No sooner is the soul created, and united to the body in the womb, than the individual becomes a child of fallen Adam, tainted by his first transgression, legally and spiritually dead, under the curse of the broken law; or, in other words, destitute of that rectitude of nature in which, Adam in his state of innocence shone; upon which, the corruption of the whole nature, as necessarily succeeds, as darkness succeeds, upon the setting of the sun. His nature, instead of being adorned with the image of God, in which man was originally created, is now, wholly corrupted with a reigning propensity to evil. Hence are these words of the Holy Spirit. “There is none righteous, no not one.” “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” All the children of Adam, Christ alone excepted, are born into the world, in this condition. “That which is born of the flesh, is flesh.” “Behold,” said the holy Psalmist, “I was shapen, or, born in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Depravity is so interwoven with their nature, that in every place, and in every age, they have, as soon and as fast, as their opportunities and abilities permitted, run to evil, and proceeded from one degree of evil to another. So bent are they, upon the committing of sin, that, contrary to their strongest resolutions, to their most solemn promises and vows, and to the frequent remonstrances of their consciences; contrary to the plainest warnings and checks of Providence, and to the strictest laws of men, and even of God himself, they have spoken and done evil things, as they could. Universal experience, as well as sacred writ, loudly attests this melancholy fact. Every son of Adam, may experience in his nature, an inclination to hearken to evil counsel, rather than to that which is good; a solicitude for the concerns of the body, more than for those of the soul; a discontentment with some one thing or other, in his lot; a disposition to rely upon something in himself, as the foundation of his right to eternal life; and, an aversion from being an everlasting debtor to sovereign grace, for salvation.

Now, while such universal corruption of nature, is in itself sin, and a source of sin, it is at the same time, misery, and the greatest of miseries. It is, therefore, to be considered as a punishment of some sin; and of a sin, which, every descendant of Adam, by ordinary generation, committed, before he began to be punished with it. That can be no other, than the sin that he committed in Adam, or Adam’s first transgression, counted to him as his sin. It is not possible, to account otherwise, under the government of the infinitely righteous JEHOVAH, for the equity of this dispensation. The want of original righteousness, and that dominion of depravity in the heart, which necessarily ensues, are the leading ingredients, in that spiritual death, which was threatened to Adam and his offspring, if he should presume to break the covenant; and which began to be executed upon him, the moment he brake it, as a part of the punishment, due for that sin. All his posterity, have the very same punishment inflicted on them. They are born, as we have already seen, destitute of original righteousness, and under the dominion of depravity; which cannot possibly be, for any personal transgression of their own. Unless we suppose, then, that from their very conception, they are stained, and charged, with a sin previously committed; or, that their souls are united with their bodies, under a charge of guilt, and a sentence of condemnation on account of it, we are entirely at a loss to conceive, how the infinitely holy and righteous God, can permit them, the moment they are formed and united, to fall under the dominion of spiritual death, a leading part of the execution of that sentence.

The first transgression of Adam, then, by which he violated the covenant of works, is imputed to all his natural posterity, as their transgression; since it is, in such an awful manner, punished on every individual of them.

Having now, attended to the nature, the grounds, and the proofs, of the imputation of Adam’s first sin to his posterity, which have been in this chapter, presented to thy view, permit me, reader, to ask thee, in the presence of the omniscient Judge of quick and dead, How dost thou stand affected to that doctrine? Dost thou, in any good measure, perceive the consistency of it, with the wisdom, the holiness, the justice, and the goodness of JEHOVAH? Is the justness of it, in any degree, demonstrated by the Holy Spirit, to thy conscience, so that, though thou canst not comprehend it to such a degree, as to be able to answer every cavil raised against it; yet thou seest that it is right, and that there is nothing in it, contrary to the rectitude of the Divine administration? Dost thou, then, believe this doctrine, as a part of revealed truth? Dost thou with the heart believe it? It is with the heart, that man believeth unto righteousness. If thou dost, thou approvest it, relishest it, restest persuaded of it, and lamentest, that thou canst not consent to it so cordially, as thou wouldst. Come, reader, dost thou indeed see and believe, That the first sin of Adam, is justly, and legally, imputed to thee; and that thou in particular, justly deservest, the full execution of the awful sentence of the broken covenant? Thou art never savingly convinced of any sin, till thou begin spiritually to see, that thy original, as well as thy actual sin, deserves, in time and to all eternity, the wrath and curse of God. It is only when thou beginnest to see, that thy condemnation is just, that thou seest it necessary, that Divine grace should be absolutely free.— Had Adam fulfilled the condition of the covenant, and had his posterity on that ground, entered on the begun possession of life eternal; none of them, I am persuaded, would have complained, that it was in the smallest degree, unjust, either to impute his perfect obedience to them, or to perform to them, the promise of eternal life, on the ground of that obedience.—But if the imputation of his obedience to them, in that event, would have been deemed just, how can the imputation of his disobedience, in the contrary event, be unjust?

We may hence also learn, how exceedingly infectious sin is. One sinner, and that by one sin, infected all his natural posterity. The first sin of Adam, like the most contagious plague, has been communicated from him, without a single exception, to every individual of his natural descendants, in every successive generation. It spreads from him, to all the human race, defiling and destroying, whithersoever it comes. The purity, and peace, of the whole world of mankind, were thereby marred. It has communicated its virulent nature, to all the powers of the soul, and to all the members of the body, turning all into corruption, and loathsomeness. “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there is no soundness in it, &c.” It is long since Adam died; but his sin is still living, still working, still destroying, wherever its influence extends. “One sinner destroyeth much good.” Oh, what a plague, what a scourge to mankind, is that first transgression! Ah, the deep malignity, the contagious influence, the destructive tendency of sin! The stain that it leaves on the heart, on the life, of the sinner! So deep, so malignant, so inveterate, is that stain, that no blood, but the blood of—God, can wash it out.

Let the true believer, from what has been advanced, see the adorable sovereignty of JEHOVAH. He, in the height of his awful, his glorious sovereignty, created angels independent of one another, so that each was to stand or to fall, for himself; but he comprehended mankind under one covenant-head, and then permitted him to fall, and by his fall, to subject them, as well as himself, to guilt and misery. While there is not, and cannot be, any unrighteousness in this awful dispensation, there is at the same time, everything that is suited, to afford a most illustrious display of Divine sovereignty. Draw nigh then, O believer, and while, with the deepest humility, thou contemplatest the infinite sovereignty of thy Lord, cry out, with the great Apostle of the Gentiles, “O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” O learn to love this dispensation, because it exhibits such a glorious display, of the unsearchable wisdom, and awful sovereignty, of thy God and Father. How infinitely reasonable is it, that the glory of these attributes should be displayed, in all his dealings with his creatures!

Is Adam’s first sin imputed to us, on the ground of our union with him, as our natural root, and especially as our federal representative? The believer, united to the second Adam, need not hesitate a moment to conclude, that his spotless righteousness is imputed to him, for his justification. Did that JEHOVAH to whom, immense goodness, as well as inflexible justice, is always essential, impute the sin of the first Adam, to all his natural offspring, for their condemnation; and will he not much more, impute the righteousness of the last Adam, to his spiritual seed, for their justification? Was the one, O Christian, thine, on the ground of thy union with Adam, thy public representative, in the covenant of works? The other is no less thine, in consequence of thy union and communion with Christ, thy glorious Representative, in the covenant of grace. “For as by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners; so by the obedience of One, shall many be made righteous.” Let thy faith, then, in the gift, and imputation, of the righteousness of thy dear Redeemer, to thee, be firm and unsuspecting. Draw near to thy covenant-God in him, “with a true heart, and in full assurance of faith;” and then, adopt the resolution of the ancient church, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels.”

Is that first transgression, charged on all the natural posterity of Adam, and charged by God the Judge of all the earth; who is so infinite in understanding, that he cannot charge it from mistake, and so infinitely righteous, that he cannot charge it unjustly? Then, every sinner of mankind, ought to charge it on himself, and say, This is my sin, for which I am justly condemned;— my sin, as much as any actual transgression, that ever I committed. O sinner, be convinced that this sin is thine; that by one man’s disobedience, thou in particular, hast been made a sinner. Indeed, if ever the Holy Spirit has begun, savingly to convince thee of sin, he has convinced thee of original, as well as of actual; of original sin imputed, as well as of original sin inherent. Consider, I beseech thee, that, as a breaker of the first covenant in Adam, thou hast fallen under the dreadful penalty of that covenant. Be deeply humbled for this, as the first of all thy innumerable transgressions. Confess it as such, to the high and holy ONE; and let the stream of godly sorrow for it, flow forth before Him. Is it not thy sin, thy debt, under which, Adam thy first father has left thee? Is it prudent, is it safe, to continue unconcerned about it, while thon hast to do with the infinitely inflexible justice, of the Almighty JEHOVAH? O believe it;—this great transgression, shall sooner, or later, press heavy on thy soul. This is the dreadful source of all thy other iniquity. Whence do all thy actual transgressions proceed, but from the corrupt heart? And from what source, does the depravity of the heart flow, but from the guilt of that sin? Be persuaded, then, that thou canst not be truly humbled for sin in the streams, if thou be not sensible of it, and humbled for it, in the fountain; and, that the only sure way, to dry up the deadly streams, whether in the heart, or in the life, is to stop, or cut off, the poisonous fountain.

Once more, Is the first sin of Adam, imputed to all his natural descendants? We may hence learn, That he is a head of sin, of condemnation, and of death, to all his posterity; and, that all who are still connected with him, under the first covenant, are under the guilt, and dominion of sin; are under a sentence of condemnation, and are not only dead in law, but dead in sin. This, O secure sinner, is thy state before God. Attend to it. It is a state of—sin, of—condemnation, of—death. Thou art an enemy of God, and art under his wrath and curse. The awful sentence of the broken law, is in part, already executed upon thee. O believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, for righteousness and life; and He will be a Head of righteousness, of justification, and of life eternal to thee. O be persuaded, without a moment’s delay, to “receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness” presented to thee, in the offers of the Gospel; and thou shalt “reign in life, by One, Jesus Christ.” Believe cordially, and with application, the Divine record; and instead of the boundless debt of sin, which is now charged to thy account, the spotless righteousness of Jesus Christ, will be imputed to thee, for thy justification of life. Quit now thy hold of the first Adam, and of the first covenant: and receiving the second Adam, take hold of that second covenant, of which he is the blessed Head. The eternal Father, maketh an indefinite grant of Him in the Gospel, to sinners of mankind, and to thee in particular. Come, O come then, as an undone sinner in Adam and in thyself, and cordially accept of the inestimable, the unspeakable Gift: so shalt thou enter into the bond, of that well-ordered, that sure covenant, of which He is the glorious Head.

CHAP. X. Of the Subjection of Mankind, to the Broken Covenant of Works.

To elucidate this momentous truth, let the following articles be distinctly considered:

In the first place, No sooner did Adam violate that covenant, than his representation of his posterity in it, ceased. He was displaced, from his honorary station of supporting a vicarious character, and of being a covenant-head. He fell from his public character, of being the federal representative of his natural posterity; and fell back into that character, of a private individual, which he had sustained before the covenant was made with him. Having by his disobedience, fallen under the dominion of spiritual death, he was no longer qualified to act for others, in a covenant which was ordained to life, and whose promise was a promise of life. The removal of him from his covenant-headship, was also necessary on another account; namely, that the covenant of grace might without delay, be intimated to him, and that he might for himself, enter into it, and have his standing under the second Adam, as his glorious Representative, in that better covenant. Adam, then, instead of continuing to be a public party in the first covenant, fell into a state of subjection to that broken covenant.

Secondly, The covenant of works though broken, is still binding on all who continue under it. It was indeed violated by man, but was so far from being repealed or annulled by God, that by his appointment, it continues to retain, all its original force and obligation. The moral law in its covenant-form, is far from being abrogated. It continues unalterably binding in that form, on all the children of Adam, who are in their unregenerate state. The consequence, of Adam’s having fallen from his being the representative of his descendants, was, that he himself and every individual of them, stood under the broken covenant, bound each for himself. The demand of infinite satisfaction for sin, according to the penalty threatened, was now added to the original one, of perfect conformity of heart and life, to the law, as the indispensable, the immutable, condition of eternal life. The natural law of the covenant, founded in the nature of JEHOVAH, and on that relation, which necessarily subsists between Him and mankind, as his reasonable creatures, cannot but continue binding, as long as his nature, and their relation to him, remain the same. The penal sanction too, originating from the very nature of God, and adapted to the relation in which he stands to mankind, as their supreme and righteous Governor, must be as unchangeable as the law itself. 'Man now, therefore, became at once, obliged to perform perfect obedience, and to endure to the uttermost, the whole penalty of the violated contract. Such is his natural subjection to it; and such is the demand of perfect obedience, on pain of eternal death, which it still makes upon him. Nothing of its original force is diminished. It is as capable as ever it was, of giving eternal life to man, upon his completely enduring the penalty, and his perfect obedience to the precept. As all the race of Adam, were included with him, in that original contract; so none of them, can be freed from the obligation of it, but they only who are discharged by JEHOVAH, the other contracting Party: and he dischargeth none, but on their completely answering all its demands. — “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”— “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Fully to answer those high demands, is what no man, in his lapsed state, can do, otherwise than by applying, and presenting in the hand of faith to them, the surety-righteousness of the second Adam.

The Scriptures nowhere insinuate, that the moral law in its covenant-form, was ever abrogated; but on the contrary represent it, as immutably binding on all who are under it.— “Moses described the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things, shall live by them.” Paul informs us, That “as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one, that continued not in all things written in the book of the law, to do them.” In sacred writ we are also told, That the inability of those who are under the law, to fulfil it as a covenant, is the sole reason, why they cannot be justified by the works of it. Hence are these words of the apostle of the Gentiles; “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law, might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”— “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”— “Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law, is the knowledge of sin.” We are also informed, That the deliverance of true believers, from the obligation of the law in its covenant-form, is entirely owing, to their having fully answered all its demands, in Christ their Divine Surety. “For,” says our Apostle, “he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” “Wherefore, my brethren, ye are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ, &c.”

The obedience and sufferings of the second Adam, did not annul the obligation of this covenant, on such as are still under it. On the contrary, he thereby fulfilled, both the precept and the penalty of it. He “is the end of the law for righteousness, only to every one that believeth.” Nor does the law of faith, abrogate this law of works. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea we establish the law.” Far less, does the sin of Adam, or the sin of any of his posterity, make it void. Instead of doing so, their sin binds them up, under the awful curse of it. It were indeed most absurd to imagine, that disobedience to a divine law, could nullify the obligation of it, and render the sinner so independent of the supreme Lawgiver, as no longer to be under any obligation to obey him. “Ought the supreme Majesty of heaven,” as one expresses it, “to be punished with the loss of his high Authority, if men choose to rebel against it?” Man’s rendering of himself unable, perfectly to obey, cannot deprive JEHOVAH, of his unalienable right, to require perfect obedience from him. Sinners, therefore, who by their unbelief, reject the righteousness of Jesus Christ, offered to them in the gospel, do thereby keep themselves under the broken covenant of works, and under an obligation “to do the whole law.” The covenant of works, then, though it be a broken covenant, is still binding, on every individual of Adam’s race who is under it; and none of his guilty offspring, can ever be released from the obligation of it, otherwise than by union, and communion with the second Adam.

In the third place, All the posterity of Adam, while in their natural state, are under the covenant of works.—They are under the moral law in its covenant-form; to be justified by it, if they answer all its demands, or condemned by it, if they do not. All who are in their natural state, are under the natural or moral law, as it is a covenant of works. They are all under the twofold obligation, of performing perfect obedience to the precept, and of enduring the full execution of the penalty. This is the inexpressibly dreadful, condition of every son of fallen Adam, while in his natural state. Every one is bound for himself. And that which he is bound to do, is, to present perfect obedience, and infinite satisfaction for sin already committed, to the law, as the stated condition of eternal life, in his own person, and in his own strength; or, if that is now impossible,—in the person of an all-sufficient surety.

That all mankind who continue, and while continuing, in their natural state, are under the covenant of works, is abundantly evident, from the following words of the apostle Paul:— “Ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Here we are taught, that every man is either under the law, or under grace. There is no such thing as a middle state, between these two. To be under grace, is to be under the covenant of grace, and in a state of grace. To be under the law, cannot mean one’s being under it, as an eternal and unchangeable rule of duty, for in that sense, all who are under grace, are, and—cannot but be under it; but only,— one’s being under it as a covenant of works. Here we are told, then, That they who are not under grace;—who are not under the covenant of grace, nor in a state of grace, are—in a state of nature, and under the law or covenant of works. This truth is no less manifest, from the words that follow:— “As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.” To be of the works of the law, or to look for eternal happiness, by our own works of obedience to the law, is to be of the law of works; that is, to be under the law or covenant of works. But says our Apostle, “As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.” Now, it is they only, who are in their unregenerate state, and so not in Christ, that are under the curse or condemnation of the law. Since those, then, who are unregenerate, or are not in Christ, are under the curse of the covenant of works, they must all of necessity, be under that covenant itself. Moreover, the same Apostle informs us, That “what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” What things soever the law, under the form of the covenant of works, says, either for the conviction, or for the condemnation of sinners, it says to them who are under it; that every plea of righteousness, on the footing of their own performances, may be silenced; and, that they may have nothing to say in their own excuse, but own themselves, to be under a most just sentence of condemnation. Now it is the unregenerate, and they only, who are under that condemning sentence, and who at the same time, plead their own performances, as a ground of title to the Divine favor. It is to them only, and to them all, that it speaks words of condemnation and wrath. All of that description, then, are, according to the Spirit of inspiration, under the law in its covenant-form.

Some have alleged, That if unregenerate persons who hear the gospel, be under the command of the covenant of works, they must be required by it, to seek justification by the works of the law, while, at the same time, they are required to seek it, by faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But let it be observed in reply, that the covenant of works, cannot oblige sinners to seek justification, by their own performances, when even perfect obedience itself, cannot satisfy the demands of it, without full satisfaction at the same time to Divine justice, for the sins that are past. The obedience, even of the last Adam himself, which was so perfect, as to be strictly meritorious of eternal life for his elect, would, notwithstanding, have been insufficient for such a purpose, if he had not besides, given infinite satisfaction for their sins. Adam himself, even while he stood, was not required to seek justification by his perfect obedience; but to perform perfect obedience, in hope of that gracious reward, which God had promised to such obedience. All that, the law of the covenant required him to do, was, to persevere in perfect obedience, leaving it to him who is faithful and true, to perform his promise, when, and in what manner soever, he pleased. In few words, Since the law in its federal form, commanded man to believe, whatever God might afterward reveal, and to accept, whatever he might at any time offer; it cannot but require every sinner who hears the Gospel, to credit the Divine record with application, and so to receive the surety-righteousness of the second Adam, which is therein offered. It requires perfect obedience to all its precepts, and among other things, faith in Jesus Christ the second Adam, as JEHOVAH our Righteousness; and that, on pain of the most tremendous punishment. But nowhere, does it command sinners to seek justification, on the ground, either of their own works, or of their faith.

Fourthly, Persons may know by the following marks, that they are still under the covenant of works.

1. If they be under the dominion, or reigning power of sin, it is an infallible mark, of their being under the dominion of that law, which, an Apostle informs us, “is the strength of sin.” All who are under the dominion of the law in its covenant-form, are at the same time, under the dominion of that corruption of nature, which is spiritual death, and which as such, is the execution of a part of the curse of the law. The apostle Paul, in a forecited passage, thus expresses himself:— “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law.” The reason which he here assigns, why sin should not have dominion over them, is,— their being not under the law, the moral law in its covenant-form; intimating, that if they had been under the law in that form, sin should have had dominion over them and, that if sin had had dominion over them, it would have been an evident token of their being under the law. They who are under the dominion of sin, or the power of spiritual death, threatened in the first covenant, continue still where Adam left them, “Dead in trespasses and sins.” The same Apostle likewise informs us, that “he through the law, was dead to the law, that he might live to God.” If, then, a man be not spiritually alive to God, in conformity to the law as a rule, he is not yet dead to it as a covenant; and if he be not dead to it, or delivered from it, as a covenant of works, he is still under it in its covenant-form. But how may a man know, if, instead of being spiritually alive to God, he be still spiritually dead, or under the reigning power of sin? I answer:—If there be any depraved temper, or sinful inclination in his heart, from which, he is unwilling to be presently, and entirely delivered; or, if he trust in Christ, rather for salvation in some sin, or to sin, than for deliverance from, all sin, he may assuredly conclude, that he is yet under the dominion of the body of sin, and also of the law.

2. If men have not believed in the second Adam, as JEHOVAH their Righteousness, they are still under subjection to the broken covenant of works. The apostle Paul tells us, That persons are united to Christ, or as he expresses it, are married to another, only upon their being dead to the law, or delivered from it as a covenant. Now it is by faith, that sinners are, in a marriage-covenant, spiritually united to Jesus Christ, that other Husband. As all then who are true believers, are married to Christ, and have their Maker for their Husband; so, all who are unbelievers, are wedded to the law as a covenant of works, and have the law in its federal form, for their husband. Though the law is weak through the flesh, and not able either to justify, or to sanctify, or to protect or provide for them, or so much as to do anything, be what it may, for their comfort; and though it is so rigorous in its demands, as to exact perfect obedience from them, on pain of everlasting punishment, and to be pleased with nothing that they do; yet, they practically prefer union with it, and subjection to it, before union with Christ, and subjection to the dominion of grace. As it is by faith, that one is united to Christ, and stands under him in the covenant of grace; so all who are destitute of true faith, or are under the power of unbelief, do still continue under the dominion of the covenant of works. Hence are these awful declarations:— “He that believeth not, is condemned already.”— “He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Unbelievers are persons, who do not cordially credit, nor confide in the second Adam, for the whole of his salvation, according to the tenor of the new covenant. All such do still remain, where the first Adam left them,—under the old, and violated covenant of works.

3. If persons be not led by the Spirit of Christ, they may assure themselves, that they are still under the dominion of the broken law. Our Apostle, in his epistle to the Galatians, thus expresses himself: “If ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” If men be led by the Spirit, they are under the government, guidance, and influence of the Spirit, according to his word, and also to the bent of that holy nature, which he has given them. In the habitual frame of their hearts, and tenor of their lives, they are led off from the ways of sin, into the paths of evangelical holiness. Having received the begun performance, of this great promise of the new covenant:— “A new Spirit will I put within you,” they have the Spirit of the last Adam, dwelling in them. He accordingly dwells in them, as a Spirit of faith, enabling them cordially to cleave to Jesus, and confide in him, as their Head of righteousness and of life; as a Spirit of love, enabling them supremely to love all of God, all of Christ, and all of that covenant, of which he is the blessed Head, and to delight in the spirituality and perfection of his law, as a rule of duty; and as a Spirit of holiness, rendering them conformable to his image, in holy tempers, exercises, and performances. Evangelical holiness, therefore, in their heart and life, is a sure evidence, that they are delivered from the law of works. He likewise dwells in them, as a Spirit of conviction, convincing them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; as a Spirit of grace, enabling them to admire the doctrines, and cleave to the covenant of grace, and to desire to be everlasting debtors for their salvation, to sovereign redeeming grace; and as a Spirit of supplication, conducting them daily to the throne of grace, and enabling them, sensible of their extreme unworthiness of the least favor, at the hand of the LORD, to plead the promises of that grace, which “reigns through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Such happy persons, instated in the new covenant, which is the ministration of the Spirit, and serving in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter,—are not under the law of works, that ministration of condemnation. They “received the Spirit, not by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith.” And “there is now, no condemnation to them, who” show that they “are in Christ Jesus,” by walking “not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” It follows, then, that all who are not led by the Spirit, are under the law as a covenant of works.

4. If men be of a slavish spirit, it is an evidence, that they are still under the first covenant. When a man is under the law as a covenant, the terror, torment, and wrath, which it worketh, when the dreadful penalty of it is discerned, weaken his hands, and dispose him to be of a mean, a base, a slavish turn of mind. While they press, like an insupportable load, on his soul, and bow it down, he is thereby in a manner, imprisoned and fettered. Hence the law is represented as a strong hold, in which he is held. He is held or shut up, in the prison of the broken law; and therefore cannot serve the Lord freely, or in newness of spirit. The free and ingenuous spirit of the gospel, is what he cannot receive, while he is thus held under the dominion of the law. Under the broken covenant, he is held in bondage; severe bondage, to the peremptory command of perfect obedience, on pain of eternal death, and to the dread of everlasting vengeance, as the execution of the tremendous curse. In this condition he is bound up, and can do nothing, but in the manner of a slave. It is the slavish fear of hell, that urges him to his performances: He has neither heart, nor hand, to “serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him.” He is not free for cheerful, and spiritual service; nor can he walk at liberty, like those “whom the Son maketh free.” Is this, reader, the habitual frame of thy spirit? The reigning principle of thy performances? If it be, it is a sure token, that thou art one of “the children of the bond-woman,” and art under the dominion of that broken covenant, “which gendereth to bondage.”

5. Finally, If men be legalists, it is a sign that they are under the law as a covenant. A legalist is one, who is of a legal spirit; a self-justiciary, a self-righteous formalist; one who “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish his own righteousness, hath not submitted himself to the righteousness of God.” He is one who works for eternal life; who pretends to serve God, merely that God may save him. “I delight to do thy will,” said the blessed Surety of the “better covenant:” nay, says the legalist, I rather choose to do it myself. He is one, who attempts to perform his duties, in his own strength, acting from self as his principle, and to self as his end; one who overvalues his own performances, and thinks more of what he himself has done, than of what Christ has done; more of his own penitential tears, than of Christ’s precious blood. He is one who is so proud, as to disdain to live upon the righteousness of another; and who boasts of his own good heart, and good intentions, and good works; saying, I intend well; I do what I can, and what, I hope, will pacify and please God. Boasting is not excluded by the law of works. He is one who, if at any time, he be alarmed with fears of Divine wrath, retires to the law for safety and comfort, and seeks rest to his conscience, in his duties. As a husband comforts his distressed spouse, so it is the law that quiets and comforts him. He resorts to duties, and they afford him ease. It is the law, that casts him down, and the law, that lifts him up; the law that wounds, and the law that heals him. When he is convinced of sin, instead of fleeing to the blood of the Lamb, he betakes himself to his repentance; and he hopes that he will pacify God, by lamenting bitterly, and repenting seriously of his sins. Hence, was that paradoxical saying of Augustine;— “Repentance damns more, than sins do.” He never spiritually sees nor feels, his legal temper; and it is never matter of exercise to him, how to be delivered, either from sin, or from self-righteousness. In few words, The legalist is one who is either a mere moralist, or a formal hypocrite. For rest to his conscience, he betakes himself, either to shreds of moral honesty, or to empty forms of godliness. He indeed professes, to be joined to the Lord Jesus Christ, but was never yet divorced from that first husband,—the law as a covenant. He is brought to duties, but is never brought over them and out of them, to Christ, “the end of the law for righteousness, to everyone that believeth.” Such a one is a legalist; and his persisting thus to cleave to the law, for protection, or provision, or comfort, is an infallible token, that he is still under it in its covenant-form.

In the fifth place, The power of the broken covenant of works, over those who are under it, is— five-fold.

1. It has a commanding power over them. In every covenant, if the one party fail of his duty, the other party is freed, from the obligation of performing his part; but the party failing, is not freed, till the other choose to release him. Though therefore, in consequence of man’s breach of the covenant of works, the LORD is under no obligation, to perform his promise to him; yet man’s obligation to fulfil the condition of that covenant, still remains firm. The law as a covenant, still retains its federal commanding power, over all that are under it; binding them to perfect obedience, as the condition of eternal life. It continues to have its original, its full, commanding power over them. The commands of the law are bound on them, by the tie of the covenant. The moral law, indeed, as a natural law, and also as a ride of duty, in the hand of the blessed Mediator, commands all who are under it, simply to do, to perform perfect and perpetual obedience; but in its covenant-form, it requires all who are under it as a covenant of works, to do, and live; to do, in order to live; to yield perfect obedience to it, as the condition of life, in their own persons, or if that is now impracticable, in the person of a sufficient Surety. “This do, and thou shalt live.”

The law commands all, who are under it as a covenant, to yield in their own strength, perfect obedience, as the ground of their title to life. That obedience it requires, without the promise of any ability to perform it. The condition of persons under that covenant, is represented by that of the Israelites in Egypt, when Pharaoh gave them this command: “Go therefore now and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.” Thus the law as a covenant shows sinners under it, what to do, and with unpitying severity, demands the arduous task; but instead of furnishing them with resources of strength, it commands them to do all in that strength, which was already given them in the first Adam. Man was at first, entrusted with a stock of ability sufficiently large; and therefore the law justly requires him, to trade for heaven with that stock, with which, he was at the beginning set up. That stock, alas! Has been long since, lavished and lost; but the righteous law, can neither furnish it anew, nor yet forbear to make its original demand.

It at the same time requires that obedience, on pain of death, in all its awful extent and duration. The law as a rule, in the hand of our glorious Mediator, requires his spiritual seed, to obey in his strength, on pain of fatherly chastisement, which is always salutary; but as a covenant, it enjoins all who are under it, perfectly to obey in their own strength, under the tremendous penalty of vindictive wrath. It cannot command them in a softer strain.

2. The power which it has over them, is also a condemning power. While they are bound to perfect obedience, according to the command, they are also bound to give full satisfaction for the sins that are past, according to the threatening. Every son and daughter of Adam, while under that broken covenant, is under condemnation. They are in a state of condemnation. The dreadful sentence of the broken law, dooming them to die; binding them over to suffer the eternal wrath of JEHOVAH, for their sin, is passed upon them. This is the terrific language of the broken law, respecting every one who continues under it; “Cursed is every one, that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”— “He that believeth not, is condemned already.” Every one, then, who is under the law, is a cursed creature, a condemned criminal. A sinner, whether he believe it or not, cannot continue under the jurisdiction, without continuing at the same time, under the condemnation of the broken law.

The law in its federal form, had no such power as this over man, till once he became a sinner. It was only, on his violation of the precept, that he fell under the penalty. Since it was a clause in the contract, that in the day man sinned, he “should surely die,” no sooner is he born a sinful, than he is born a condemned creature. Every actual transgression, that he afterward commits, exposes him to have this most galling yoke, faster and faster wreathed around his neck. The time was, when the law had power to justify man. But when man had by his sin, lost his power to obey, the law lost its power to justify him, and in place of that, began to be able to condemn him.—This power it retains, and exercises over him, as long as he remains under it.

3. It has a retaining power over them. The condemning sentence of it girds, and holds them fast, under the dominion and influence of spiritual death. Since, according to their apprehensions of it, it connects personal righteousness with eternal life; this gratifies the pride of their hearts, so that they choose to remain under it, and not to go out free. Accordingly the unregenerate are, by the Apostle of the Gentiles, said, as was formerly observed, to be held in the law. As a woman is bound by the law, to her husband, or as a criminal is kept, who is detained a prisoner; so are they “kept under the law, shut up” as in a prison-house. They are so shut up and held, in the prison of the broken law, that they are not at liberty, spiritually to serve the LORD. And so great is its power to retain them under its dominion, that no strength is sufficient to rescue them, but the strength of that Almighty Redeemer, who was able completely to answer, all the high demands that it had on them.

4. The power which it has over them, is at the same time, an excluding power. It has power to exclude them from all happiness, both in time, and in eternity, and from all well-grounded hope of it; unless its arduous condition be completely performed, and its tremendous penalty be fully endured. Since they can neither perform perfect obedience to its precept, nor present infinite satisfaction to its penalty, it cannot justify them, or pronounce them entitled to eternal life. When our blessed Redeemer himself was, in the character of our Representative and Surety, under it, it could not, on any lower terms, justify—Him. While man kept that covenant, it secured happiness to him; but the moment he presumed to break it, it shut him out from it, and set it far, infinitely far beyond his reach.— “By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law, is the knowledge of sin.”

None of the sons of Adam can enter into heaven, while he remains under this broken covenant; for, according to the terms of the contract, there is no access to life, for the sinner, till he 1st, pay the penalty of the bond. He must give infinite satisfaction, for the wrong which he has done to the infinite JEHOVAH, and to his most righteous law.— “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” He has violated the covenant, and therefore must die. Dying he must die, till infinite justice be completely satisfied. Since he is but a finite creature, no sufferings, no death to be endured by him, can amount to a full compensation, for the infinite wrong done, and the infinite offence given, by his sin, to the high and holy ONE, but such as is to be endured eternally, or for an infinite duration. According to the import of the awful threatening, he must die in an infinite degree, or which is the same, must die an eternal death. But is it possible for the sinner, to give such a satisfaction as this; and after all,—to come back again from the eternal world? Absolutely impossible! But suppose this to be accomplished,—there is still more to be done, before the sinner under the broken covenant, can recover a legal title to life. He must 2ndly, in addition to this, present to the holy law, that perfect, that personal obedience, which originally, was the stipulated condition of life. The condition must, in terms of the agreement, and according to the true spirit and meaning of it, be performed, before he can have a right to plead the promise. He must, for the time to come, present to the law, that perfect holiness of nature, and that perfect obedience of life, which it originally required from man; otherwise it will continue to fix an impassible gulf, between him and eternal life.

Now this is a bar, in the sinner’s way to everlasting happiness, which, while he remains under the law, it will be altogether impossible for him to get over. He is as unable, in his own strength, to perform perfect obedience, as he is, to present infinite satisfaction. He cannot answer the demand made by the law, of original righteousness or holiness of nature, and instead of being able to yield perfect obedience, he can do nothing that is spiritually good. Suppose heaven were to be procured by one good work, nay, by one good thought, he could not even on such terms, acquire it. He is “dead in trespasses and sins;” and can no more perform one good work, than a dead body in the grave, can perform one of the functions of one that is alive.—As nothing less than infinite satisfaction for past sin; so nothing short of perfect obedience for the time to come, can be regarded or accepted, as adequate to the just demands of the broken law. Let not the sinner imagine, that these conditions of life, can in the least degree be abated to him.—If neither justice nor mercy, could procure the least abatement of them, to the last Adam, the dearly Beloved of the Father, when He stood in the law-room of his chosen; how vain must it be for the rebellious sinner, who chooses to continue still under that broken covenant, to look for any. The violated law can admit of no such indulgence to them, who choose to keep themselves under the dominion of it. “Without shedding of blood, there is no remission” of sin.

5. Once more, The power, that the broken covenant of works has, over them who are under it, is an irritating power. When the precept, and the penalty, of the law as a covenant, are applied to the conscience of the sinner under the dominion of sin, his unmortified corruptions, which lay before as it were dormant, are irritated or provoked, and so become worse and worse. When the law is brought home to unregenerate sinners, and fixed in their consciences, the strictness of the precept, and the severity of the threatening, lay them under awful restraints. The reigning vitiosity of their hearts, impatient of restraint, hence takes occasion to stir, to swell, to rage in sinful desires, against the law. Every restraint on their lusts, from such a holy law, forbidding the least sin, and that, under the greatest penalty, awakens, as soon as it is felt, an inward rage against the immaculate holiness, both of the Lawgiver and of the law. No sooner, are they touched and restrained by the law, the holiness of which, is so opposite to the bent of their depraved nature, then their hearts swell, and rally all their forces, to oppose, and if possible to prevail against their enemy. As when the heat of the sun, strikes powerfully on a dunghill, it gives a more nauseous smell, than at other times; so, when the precept and penalty of the broken law, press hard on the conscience of the sinner, his corruptions, crossed and contradicted, awake, arise, and become outrageous in acts of sin. The restraints of the law, set an edge on them, and innocently occasion their becoming more keen. The desire of the sinner, after any desirable object, becomes the more vehement, if he but perceive it to be a forbidden object. Ever since Adam eat of the forbidden fruit, his children have been fond of forbidden things. They long more, after forbidden fruit, than after any other. “Stolen waters are sweet” to them. The natural man would never choose any thing that is materially good, were he left, freely to follow the bias of his own corrupt heart; but the law is a painful curb to him. It commands him on pain of the curse, to perform perfect and perpetual obedience. It threatens him with everlasting punishment, if he shall, in the smallest instance, presume to disobey. This is what his depraved heart cannot endure. It stirs, it struggles, and becomes the more outrageous, when it feels the holy law, checking and keeping it down. As the wild bull is the more outrageous, that he feels the net on him, the serpent the more mischievous, that it is warmed, and a torrent of water, rises and overflows the more, that methods of stopping its current, are used; so, the more the sinner’s conscience is plied by the law, the more ready is he, to break forth into every kind of enormity.

A striking instance of this, we have in ancient Israel. “As they called them, so they went from them.” The more pressing, and the more frequent, the Prophets were, in calling them to the performance of their duty; the more refractory were they, and the more resolute in pursuing their wicked courses. We have another instance of it in Saul of Tarsus, when he was in his natural state.— “For when,” says he, “we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death.”— “Sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.”— “For sin taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it, slew me.” It is very observable that, in the 5th verse, the Apostle does not say, That the motions (or passions) of sin, which worked in him, and in others of the carnal Jews, were from the law, as if the law had been the cause of them; but, that they were by the law; irritated, by the opposition made against them by the law. In the 8th verse, he does not say, That the commandment of the law, forbidding to covet, gave occasion; but, that the sin or corruption of his heart, took occasion by it, to work in him all manner of concupiscence. The reigning depravity of his heart, perversely took occasion, from the strictness and just severity of the law, to work in him all manner of sinful desire, after what was forbidden by it. The law, therefore, is to bear no part of the blame. The fault lay, not in the law, which is holy, and just, and good, but entirely in his own heart. In the 11th verse, he tells us, That the inveterate depravity of his nature, taking occasion from the strictness of the precept, proceeded even go far, as to deceive, and to slay him; that is, to represent to him, the holy commandment, as unreasonably severe, and so to beguile, and insensibly to draw him, into daring and dangerous acts of rebellion against JEHOVAH.

Now, there are three awful consequences, of corruption’s taking occasion by the violated law, to break forth into sinful actions. 1st, It becomes thereby stronger and stronger. It acquires strength, by occasion of the opposition, made to it by the law. As graces, in believers, are strengthened by exercise, so are corruptions, in the unregenerate; and the more eager and impetuous they are, in urging the sinner to acts of sin, they become the more powerful. 2ndly, When the sinner considers the immaculate purity and perfection, of the divine precept, and finds himself utterly unable to obey it; and when at the same time, he perceives the tremendous threatening, and how impossible it is for him, by any thing, his own righteousness or strength can do for him, to avoid the execution of it, his depraved heart often hardens itself in secret despair.— “Thou hast said there is no hope. No; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.” Foregoing his vain hope, of ever being able to answer the high demands of the violated law, he hardens his heart in rebellion, against the authority of the most HIGH; and, with unwearied diligence exerts himself, to stifle his conviction of sin, and to muzzle the mouth of conscience. 3rdly, Hence arises in a high degree, an inward abhorrence, both of the nature, and of the law of God. Such a sinner is not merely a hater of God, but is despiteful; he hates Him and his law, with an inexpressibly great degree of virulence. “The carnal mind is—enmity” enmity itself, enmity in the abstract, against God; “for it is not subject, to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Finding that he can neither bring his heart up to the holiness of the law, nor the law down to the impurity of his heart; instead of loathing, as he ought to do, his own impurity, he detests from his inmost soul, the immaculate purity of the holy commandment, and wishes, That the high and holy ONE, were not; or at least—were not what he is. The consequence often is, that he abandons himself, to work all wickedness with greediness. Ah! What a deplorable state, is the state of a sinner, under the dominion of the broken law, as a covenant of works! —It has a commanding, a condemning, a retaining, an excluding, and an irritating power over him.

In the sixth and last place, The posterity of fallen Adam, do notwithstanding naturally desire, to continue under the law in its covenant-form. “Tell me,” says the apostle Paul, “ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?” So powerful, so prevalent, and so universal is this desire, that even those of the children of Adam, who have the covenant of grace, that better, that sure covenant, opened and offered to them, do, notwithstanding, desire rather to remain under the broken covenant of works, and to obtain eternal life, on the ground of their own righteousness.—This would be altogether unaccountable, were it not that,

In the 1st. place, they are deplorably ignorant, of the high demands of the violated law, and of their own entire inability to answer them. Were they spiritually to understand, were they truly to be sensible, how firmly, the law of that covenant, binds them to give infinite satisfaction for their past sins, and to yield perfect obedience for the time to come;—how spiritual, and of what vast extent, the precepts are, and how rigorous and tremendous, the penalty;—and were they to perceive, how necessary it is for infinite Justice to see to it, that all the demands of this righteous law, be completely answered, it could not be so easy for them, to desire to continue under it. Were they attentively to “hear,” and were they to understand, the law, they could no longer, continue “alive without the law.” Were they at the same time, to be thoroughly convinced of their own utter inability, to do what the law requires, and to endure what it threatens, as the just punishment of sin, they would at once see, That their repentance, their reformation, their sincere endeavors, their prayers, and their tears, could nowise answer the law’s demand of perfect obedience; far less, satisfy Divine justice, for the least of the sins, that they have committed. They would see that imperfect, could not stand for perfect, obedience; and that, it is not by doing, but by dying, that the offended justice of JEHOVAH, is to be satisfied. In few words, they would clearly perceive, that a sinner cannot exercise repentance for sin, or perform any duty acceptably, except in union with the second Adam. But as one judiciously observes,— “There is a thick darkness about mount Sinai, throughout the whole dominion of the law; so that, they who live under the covenant of works, see little, but what they see, by the lightnings now and then flashing out.” This, in some degree, accounts for the desire, which the unregenerate sons of Adam, have, to abide under the broken law.

2. Another reason of that desire, is the pride of their hearts. Men’s doing and suffering, in order to merit eternal life at the hand of God, are exceedingly suited, to gratify the pride of the depraved heart. They afford a sinner the pleasure, of regarding even JEHOVAH Himself, as a—debtor to him. Indeed to disclaim all confidence, in his own wisdom and strength, professions and performances; and, in the article of justification, to cast away his own righteousness’s, as filthy rags, is what the proud heart of the sinner, cannot submit to. The heart of such a one, must be bruised, and deeply humbled, before he will stoop so low, as cordially to embrace the covenant of grace, and gladly to live upon the unmerited bounty of the second Adam. Rather than submit to be an entire, and an everlasting, debtor for salvation, to infinitely free and sovereign grace, the unmortified pride of his heart, will determine him, to hazard his eternal welfare, on his own polluted performances.

3. Their inveterate enmity against JEHOVAH, especially as a God of grace, may likewise in some degree, serve to account for that desire. The posterity of corrupt Adam, while in their natural state, have a peculiar enmity against the glorious purposed and plan of redemption, and the transcendent righteousness and grace of the incarnate Redeemer. This disposes and determines them, to take pleasure in opposing the honor of free grace, by pursuing opposite, or self-righteous, methods of attaining happiness.— “Israel which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness, Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law; for they stumbled at that stumbling stone.”

4. Lastly, their self-righteous or legal temper, serves in a great degree, to account for this. The law under the form of the covenant of works, was the first husband, to which human nature was wedded; and, therefore, the desire of all the race of Adam; is to that husband. It is natural to them to cleave to it; and while it often wounds, and terrifies, and treats them with inexpressible rigor, they still profess to do all that they can, to pacify and please it. As they are all, while unregenerate, under the dominion of the law in that form, they are also under the reigning power of a legal spirit; proceeding on this principle, That it is by doing, they are to live. Nothing is more natural to them, even after they have been convinced of sin, and after they have seen the insufficiency, of their own righteousness and strength, to answer the high demands of the broken law, than to offer to deal with God, in the way of giving so much obedience, for so much happiness, so much work, for so much wages. When the hearers of the apostle Peter, were by the law, pricked in their hearts, or pierced with arrows of conviction, and of sorrow for sin, they still said,—“What shall we do?” Indeed so natural is it to the children of Adam, to hang by the broken law, that quitting their hold of it, is in Scripture compared to the pangs, or agonies of death.

From what has now been discoursed, we may be able to discover a reason, why wickedness of every sort, abounds much in the world, and why true holiness is rare. The most of men are under the broken covenant of works, where sin reigns. All who are under the dominion of the broken law, are under the dominion of sin. The reason why sin has not, and shall not have, dominion over believers in the last Adam, is because they are not under the law as a broken covenant. The reason, therefore, why sin and death reign over unbelievers, is this:—they are under the covenant of works, where sin and death universally reign. All who are under the power of the broken law, are under the strength of sin. “The strength of sin is the law.” The strength of corruption, in the heart of every sinner under the law, is spiritual death, a part of the execution of the curse of the law. As long, then, as a man continues under the condemning, and irritating power of the law, he remains under the power of spiritual death. He continues in the love and practice of sin. Under the law as a covenant, no good works, no evangelical holiness, is to be found. In the barren region of the fiery law, no genuine fruits of righteousness, can ever grow. It is only by new creatures, created in Christ Jesus to good works, and acting on new covenant-ground, that new obedience is performed. The broken covenant, bars all who are under it, from communion with Christ, in his sanctifying influence.

Reader, is it under this broken covenant, that thou art? Examine and see. Art thou still under the reigning power, or dominion of sin, in thy heart? Is there any depraved inclination, or desire in thy soul, from which thou art unwilling, to be presently, and entirely delivered? Hast thou never yet with the heart, believed in the last Adam, as “JEHOVAH thy righteousness?” It is not till thou be united to Christ by faith, that thou art delivered, from a state of subjection to the law as a covenant. Hast thou never been “led by the Spirit?” Hast thou never been under the guidance, and influence, of the Spirit, according to the word; so as to be led off from the ways of sin, into the paths of evangelical holiness? Is it the fear of hell merely, that deters thee from sins, and that drives thee to duties? If it be, thou art of a slavish spirit, and art a child “of the bond-woman.” In few words, Art thou a legalist? Art thou one who works for eternal life; who serves God, that God may save him, and that he may thereby serve himself? Dost thou still continue to cleave to the law, for protection, provision, and comfort? Hast thou never yet parted with the law, upon a divorce obtained, and after counting to it, the perfect obedience, and infinite satisfaction, of the second Adam thy Surety, as the payment of thy boundless debt? If so, thou art yet, under the dominion of the broken covenant of works.

And ah! How inexpressibly dreadful, is thy condition! Thou hast seen, what power the broken law has, over them who are under it. Such, O sinner, is the power, the dominion, that it has over thee. It has power to command thee to yield perfect obedience to it, on pain of damnation; and power to condemn thee to death eternal, for the smallest act of disobedience. As a transgressor, thou art already under its condemning sentence, bound over to everlasting punishment. This condemning sentence, has power to hold thee fast, under the dominion of spiritual death; to shut thee up, to chain thee down, to retain thee, as in a strong, a dark prison-house. Besides, it has power to shut thee out from happiness, and from the well-grounded hope of ever attaining happiness. Thou canst not enter into Heaven, nor have the remotest access to life, so long as thou remainest under that covenant. Since thou canst not perform its arduous condition, it cannot admit of thy entering into eternal life. But this is not all:—it has power, so to irritate, to provoke, to enrage, the reigning corruption of thy nature, as to occasion a kind of hell in thy bosom; and a dreadful increase of the hardness, and enmity of thy heart, against the infinite holiness and justice of JEHOVAH. The law as a covenant continues, as to both precept and penalty, in its full force upon thee, till redeeming grace, reigning through the righteousness of the second Adam, set thee free. Nothing of its original force is abated; nothing of the original claim, which it made of perfect obedience, on pain of eternal death, is in the smallest degree diminished.— This, sinner, is thy dreadful, thy dismal condition, under the broken law. And yet so great is thy ignorance, thy pride, thy enmity against free grace, thy self-righteous spirit, that thou, alas! Desirest to be under the law. Hear, I beseech thee, what the law says to thee;— “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Come, O come then, without delay, to the Almighty Redeemer, whom the eternal Father offereth in the gospel, to thee. Come to Him, and by his spotless righteousness imputed, he will deliver thee, from thy direful subjection to the covenant of works; and “will put his law as a rule of life in thy mind, and write it in thy heart.”

Is the true believer, not under the law as a covenant, but under it, only as a rule 9 It follows, That the law which he is under, does not justify, nor condemn him;—does not adjudge him to life for his obedience, nor to death for his disobedience. The law to thee, O believer, is stripped of its promise of eternal life to obedience, and of its threatening of eternal death to sin; and, therefore, though thy sins richly deserve so great a death, it cannot, it shall not, be inflicted upon thee. Thou art “become dead to the law, by the body of Christ,” and art “married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that” thou shouldst “bring forth fruit unto God.” “There is therefore, no condemnation to thee who art in Christ Jesus,” and who evidencest thy union with him, by walking “not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” The promise of eternal life, is not now to thy obedience, but to thee in Christ, evidencing thy union with him, by thy obedience.—Thou art “become dead to the law” as a covenant. O live to God. “Serve him in newness of spirit.” Do not perform good works, that they may answer the demands of the law, in its covenant-form; but perform them, because those demands are already answered for thee, by thy blessed Surety. Perform them, because He commands thee, and because He loved thee to such an astonishing degree, as to answer all those demands in thy stead. Let nothing satisfy thy conscience, as a ground of title to eternal life, but that which satisfies law and justice. Count to the law, all that Christ has done and suffered, as done and suffered for thee. Thou art delivered from subjection to the covenant of works: O praise thy glorious Deliverer, and henceforth be subject to Him. Thou art become dead to the law, by the body of Christ; let the legal spirit that is in thee, gradually, and daily die. Thou art, in thy justification, delivered from the commanding power of the law as a covenant of works; keep, in the faith of the free promise, all the commandments of the law as a rule of life. Thou art delivered from the condemning power of it, and shalt never more enter into condemnation; “go and sin no more.” Thou art freed from its retaining power; “stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made thee free.”— “The Son hath made thee free, and thou art free indeed;” “serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of thy life.” Thou art saved from the excluding power of the law: O place all thy hope, and all thy happiness, in thy Savior and thy God. Improve the access, which thou now hast, to the increasing enjoyment of Him, and of the exceeding riches of his grace. Thou art at the same time, rescued from the irritating power of the law: be more and more pleased with Christ, as the end of the law for righteousness, and more and more displeased with thyself, as a transgressor of the law.

CHAP. XI. Of the Dreadful and Inevitable Misery of Mankind, Under the Curse of that Broken Covenant.

All who are under the covenant of works, as a violated covenant, are under the curse, or condemning sentence of it. “As many,” says the apostle Paul, “as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.” The curse, is the malediction, or condemning sentence of the law in its covenant-form, binding over all who are under it, to everlasting punishment, as “the wages of sin.” As it is the curse of the law, so it is “the curse of the LORD,” of that “one Lawgiver” and Judge, “who is able to save, and to destroy.” It is that sentence of death, that dreadful doom, which He pronounces on every transgressor of his holy covenant. It is called “the curse of the LORD,” for they who are under it, are said to be “cursed of Him,” and to be “the people of” His “curse.” As it is His curse, and the curse of His law, it is a sentence which is holy, and Just, and good; the execution of which, the holiness, justice, and goodness of JEHOVAH, cannot but ensure. It is a property even of his goodness, that He “will by no means clear the guilty.” This curse is a breathing forth of the fury, or fiery indignation, of a holy and just God, against the sinner. “The anger of the Lord and his jealousy, shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book, shall lie upon him.” It is a separating of the sinner to the evil of suffering, in time, and throughout eternity, as that which is due to him, for the evil of sinning. “The LORD shall separate him unto evil, — according to all the curses of the covenant, that are written in this book of the law.” Sinners under the curse, are set apart as vessels of wrath, to everlasting destruction. In a word, This curse of the LORD, is not merely a separating, but a binding of sinners over, to destruction; a binding of them over to death, in all its awful extent, till Divine justice be satisfied, and the honor of the Divine law and government, be repaired: or, in other words, it is his execrating of them, as objects infinitely abominable to him, and his devoting of them for their disobedience, to eternal punishment.

Now, to be under such a curse, must be inexpressibly dreadful. It implies no less, than to be under the insupportable wrath, of the Almighty JEHOVAH. The sinner who is under the broken covenant, is under a thick and dark cloud of Divine anger, ready every moment, to burst in showers of vengeance, on his devoted head. “God is angry with the wicked every day.” He cannot look upon him, but with infinite detestation. He cannot endure, that he should so much as stand in his sight. The sinner “is condemned already, and the wrath of God abideth on him.” He is separated to death, in all its tremendous extent, and set as a mark, for all the arrows of almighty vengeance. The faithfulness of JEHOVAH, securing the execution of the dreadful sentence, lays him under the arrest of vindictive justice; and justice seizing him, and saying, “Pay me what thou owest,” binds him over to punishment, until the uttermost farthing of his boundless debt, be paid. “It is a fearful thing,” thus “to fall into the hands of the living God.”

That all who are under the broken covenant of works, are under that tremendous curse, is abundantly evident,

1. From the consideration of the nature, both of the sin of man, and of the justice of God. On the one hand, sin, or the violating of the covenant, of which, all who are under it are guilty, deserves the full execution of the curse. The reason why sin deserves such a great punishment, is this: it is infinitely contrary, to the commandments of that holy law, which is a fair transcript of the moral perfections, and a clear expression of the will, of the infinitely high and holy ONE. On the other hand, since sin richly deserves the full execution of the curse, Divine justice, which cannot but do right, and, therefore, must give to every man, what he deserves to have; cannot but require, and ensure, the full execution of it, on the finally impenitent sinner. It is because He is “the righteous LORD, and loveth righteousness,” that he “shall rain upon the wicked, snares, fire and brimstone, as the portion of their cup.”

2. It is evident too, from the threatening, which in the making of that covenant, was annexed as a penal sanction to the precept. That threatening was a denunciation of death, in all its awful extent, as the due reward of sin. While the justice of God, therefore, requires, that the curse or condemning sentence, pronounced on mankind for breaking the covenant, be fully executed; his truth no less demands, that the sentence to be executed, be a sentence condemning to the same death, in all its extent, that was denounced in that threatening. Man consented to and came under, the first covenant, in which, death was threatened to him, as soon as he should fail of performing the condition of it. It was necessary, then, as soon as he brake that covenant, that a sentence should be pronounced on him, corresponding exactly to the threatening; or, binding him over to the very same punishment, that was previously threatened. It follows, therefore, that all the posterity of Adam, who are under the broken covenant of works, are at the same time, under the condemning sentence or curse of that covenant, and have it standing in full force against them.

3. We read that, when Christ the second Adam, was made under the law in its covenant-form, as the Representative of his spiritual seed, he was made a curse for them. “Christ,” says the Apostle of the Gentiles, “hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” When He was substituted under that broken covenant, in the room, and as the Surety of elect sinners, he was made a curse for them; that is, he came under the curse of that covenant, and under the execution of it, that by bearing it for them, he might redeem them from it. Those then whom he thus redeemed, were, in common with the rest of the posterity of fallen Adam, under that curse; and they could not otherwise, have been redeemed from it, then by his having borne it for them, and by their having his doing so, upon their union with him, imputed to them.

4. If Adam had performed the condition of the covenant, he and all his natural descendants, should, according to the promise of it, have been upon that ground justified, or adjudged to life eternal. Since, therefore, instead of performing the condition of life, he brake the covenant, it was indispensably requisite, according to the threatening, that he and they in him, should be condemned to death eternal, or in other words, that they should fall under the curse.

5. Lastly, This is no less evident, from express declarations of Scripture. Thus it is written, “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law, to do them.” This the apostle Paul cites, as has been already hinted, with very little variation, in his epistle to the Galatians. “For as many,” says he, “as are of the works of the law, are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Those, against whom that dreadful sentence is passed, he in another epistle informs us, are under the law. “We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, &c.” Nothing then can be more certain, than that sinners, who are under the broken covenant of works, are at the same time, under the dreadful curse of that covenant, and consequently, that their misery is inconceivably great.

In pointing out more particularly, the direful misery of such a situation, it will be proper to show, that the curse of the law, operates on them who live and die under it, first, In this life; secondly, At death; and thirdly, After death, and throughout eternity.

SECT. I. The Curse of the Law operates in THIS LIFE, on them who continue under it.

First, It operates on them in this life. The execution of the curse is not altogether delayed, till a future state. It is begun in this world. Accordingly in this life, the sinner who is under that dreadful sentence, is cursed,

1. In his soul. No sooner had man sinned, than his soul fell under the curse of the law. And since the soul is the principal part of the man, it has the heaviest part of the curse pressing upon it. While the curse presses upon it, it sinks down into it. It comes into the “bowels, or, inward man, like water, and like oil, into the bones.” It cuts it off from God the Fountain of life, and from all communication of saving or sanctifying influences from him. It separates the soul from Him, in whose favor is life, and from all gracious intercourse with him. Hence the natural man is, in sacred writ, said to be separated from God, to be “alienated from the life of God,” and to be “without God in the world.” Hence infants too, since as children of fallen Adam they are under the curse, due for the sin which is imputed to them, are destitute of original righteousness. The condemning sentence, under which they begin to lie, as soon as they are formed in the womb, obstructs all communication of holy influences to their souls. And, indeed, it would be altogether unaccountable, how that corruption of nature, which ensues upon the loss of original righteousness, could, upon their formation, so quickly enter and overspread their souls; were it not that it did so, under the influence of an incumbent curse, which withholds all sanctifying influence from them, and subjects them to the dominion of sin, as a part of the punishment of Adam’s first sin imputed to them. Hence it comes to pass, that though many of them when they become adults, hear the word, they do not hear the voice of Christ. Though they pray, “God heareth not sinners.” Though in profession, they watch daily at the gates, and wait at the posts of Wisdom's doors, they are notwithstanding —far, very far from God himself. No more real intercourse exists between God and their souls, than does, between a living body, and one lying in the grave. This is owing to their being under the curse of the law; which, like a great gulf fixed between God and them, obstructs all holy intercourse between them, so long as it is not, by the application of the blood of Christ, removed out of the way.

No sooner is the soul thus separated from God, than spiritual death seizes it, and deprives it of all the spiritual comeliness, which it should otherwise have had. Under the curse, the soul of the natural man with all its faculties, is “dead in trespasses and sins.” Though it inhabits a living body, it is dead,—twice dead; dead to God, dead to Christ, dead to righteousness, and dead to spiritual enjoyment. Every spiritual sense is locked up. The eyes of the understanding are shut; the speech of spiritual prayer and praise, is laid; the pulse of holy affections toward a Holy God, is stopped; and the soul lies—speechless, motionless, insensible, and cold as a stone. The beauty of the dead soul is gone. It is no more of a comely or lively, but of a ghastly countenance. The aspect of the body, after the soul is gone, is ghastly; but much more so, is the aspect of the soul, when God is gone. Ah! How hideous, how loathsome a spectacle, is a dead soul, under the curse of the great and terrible God!

Hence we are not to wonder, if the faculties of such a soul, are corrupted in a very high degree; if, under the influence of the incumbent curse, they are in a state of subjection to “the strength of sin;” and, if being destitute of original righteousness, they infect and corrupt each other. As the body, after the soul is gone, becomes corrupted and loathsome, so the soul, after the spiritual comeliness of it is departed, becomes altogether corrupt. “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy.” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?” As the earth and air, when laid under the curse, had their original constitution altered to the worse, so the soul under the curse, is quite altered from its original moral constitution. As there is no motion, in a dead body lying in the grave, but that of worms, and putrefaction; so there is no motion, no activity, in a dead soul lying under the curse, but that of sin.

The soul thus corrupt and loathsome, is, under the curse, shut up in unbelief, as in a prison-house or a grave. The curse shuts it up, from all ability and inclination to use spiritually, any appointed means of attaining deliverance. Accordingly, when the almighty Redeemer comes to such a soul, with his offers of salvation, he finds it imprisoned and bound. He finds it under the chains of the curse; those chains of darkness, which it can no more shake off, than a dead body, its grave-clothes. “He hath sent me,” saith Messiah,— “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Being thus shut up in unbelief, it is buried as it were, out of God’s sight, in corruption as in a grave. The curse lies upon it as a grave-stone, sealed, as well by the justice of JEHOVAH, as by his faithfulness pledged in the threatening. This secures, in the most effectual manner, its continuance in the grave of sin, and of a state of sin; and no possibility of escaping, remains to it, but in the way of the second Adam’s removing in justification, the awful curse. Were it to attempt escaping, in any other way, every such attempt would but fix it the more deeply, in its deplorable condition.

Hence it follows, that the corruption of the soul which, under the curse, is thus dead and buried in sin, is gradually increasing. “Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse.” As a dead body, the longer it lies in the grave, becomes more and more putrid, till death entirely dissolves it; so, the dead soul under the curse, becomes more and more corrupt, till it arrive, under the power of eternal death in hell, at the utmost degree of corruption.

This corruption, which is the sin, as well as the punishment, of the soul, is, in proportion as it increases, framed into a multitude of particular lusts; which the apostle Paul calls, The lusts or “desires of the flesh, and of the mind.” .Hence says our blessed Lord,— “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” These lusts are, as an Apostle expresses it, the “filthiness of the flesh and spirit;” and, the members of the old man, or body of sin, which continually exert themselves, in opposition to that which is good. They are also in Scripture styled, ungodly lusts, contrary to the nature, to the law, to the love, and to the service of God, and therefore infinitely abhorred by him; devilish, or the lusts of the devil, the image of the devil on the soul, delighted in and supported by him; worldly lusts, reigning in the hearts of worldly men, and disposing them to cleave to the world, as their portion; and warring lusts, lusts which war among themselves, against the grace and providence of God, and against the honor and happiness of the souls of men. They are, moreover, represented as diverse, because of the diversity of their forms and objects; as deceitful, rendering the heart deceitful above all things; as foolish, rendering the soul imprudent, inconsiderate, and contemptible; as hurtful, piercing men through with many sorrows; as drowning them in perdition; as burning them up, inflaming them with irregular, and inordinate desire; and as insatiable, so vehemently desirous of gratification, as never to be satisfied. In a soul which is under the curse, these lusts spring up, like thorns or thistles, in such abundance, as to cover the whole face of the soul. The more corrupt the soul grows, the more nourishment does it supply to them; and the more nourishment, they receive, the more vigorous and active, do they become, and by activity, do attain such a degree of power, as at length to become quite uncontrollable. Ah! How deplorable is the case of that soul, which is under the dominion of such lusts!

But this is far from being all the misery, to which, such a soul is in this world exposed.—Under the curse, it is liable to a variety of additional plagues. Some of these, though inexpressibly dreadful, are not felt by the soul as plagues; but on the contrary, are chosen and delighted in: such as, 1st, Judicial blindness of mind. To punish unregenerate sinners, for loving darkness rather than light, and for rebelling against the objective light of his blessed word, JEHOVAH, in righteous judgment, and, as a part of the execution of the curse of the law, often gives them up to moral blindness of mind. 2nd, Judicial hardness of heart. To punish their hardening of their hearts in sin, especially under the means of grace, which have a great tendency to melt the heart, the LORD often gives them up to judicial hardness of heart; and then, neither the terrors of his law, nor the grace of his gospel, nor the dispensations of his providence, do their souls any good.—“Whom he will he hardeneth.” He permits them to prosper in a course of wickedness; blasts the ordinances of his gospel to them; withholds his grace from them; leaves them to the temptations of the devil, and of the world; and, in his adorable Providence, exposes them to objects, from which they take occasion, to indulge themselves more and more in sin. 3rd, Strong delusion. To avenge his quarrel against them, because they receive not the truth in love, and because they detain the truth a prisoner as it were, in their head, and will not consent, that it should influence their heart or their life, the LORD, as a part of the execution of the curse, gives them up to a spirit of strong delusion.— “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,—for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 4th, Vile affections too, are plagues of that description. To punish their indulging of such vile affections, as often spring up in the depraved soul, against which, natural conscience itself, frequently remonstrates, JEHOVAH, in righteous judgment, so giveth them up to dishonorable affections, as to permit them to be, in a most deplorable degree, under the dominion and disposal of them. Hence, reason and conscience cease to rule the soul. A tumultuous crowd of vile affections, seize the government of it, and without control, hurry it before them whithersoever they incline.—This plague is, in a peculiar degree, dreadful. 5th, A spirit of slumber. As a punishment of their resolute unbelief, the LORD, in righteous judgment, gives them up to the stupidity and wickedness of their own hearts, and to the power of Satan. Then their eyes are so blinded, that as they would not see, they shall not see, the clear revelation which God has made of his will, respecting their duty and their best interests; and their ears are so deafened, that as they would not hear, they shall not hear, the loudest warnings, either of his word, or of his providence. “According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.” The prophet Isaiah thus addressed the Jews in his days: “The Lord hath poured out upon you, the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all, is become unto you, as the words of a book that is sealed,” &c. 6th, Lastly, A reprobate mind, is one of those awful plagues. To avenge on sinners under the curse, their sinning against rational conviction and common sense, the LORD, in awful judgment, giveth them up to a reprobate sense. As they who have lost the sense of taste, perceive no difference between sweet and bitter; so, men who cleave so fast to their lusts, as by no means to be induced to part with them, are often in righteous judgment, permitted to proceed so far, as to “call evil good, and good evil,” to “put darkness for light, and light for darkness,” “bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter,” and to see no evil, even in gross abominations. Ah dreadful plague!

There are other spiritual plagues, to which souls under the curse are exposed, which are of a tormenting nature; and, which so pierce and rend the soul, as to compel it to feel them. These are,

1st, Discontent. The soul would not rest content in God; and from that day, it could no more enjoy contentment within itself. The sinner must have his own will, else he is discontented, and that is what he cannot have, till his will be swallowed up in the will of God; which cannot take place, so long as he continues under the curse of the law, and the dominion of sin. Hence, as one well observes, “Wretched man is born weeping, lives complaining, and dies disappointed.” Discontent harrows up the soul. It disposes it to be impatient and fretful, to repine and murmur, and on many occasions, to quarrel with God himself, as well as with man. The discontented soul, to show that something is wanted, and that it is uneasy, is like that of Haman, ruffled and chagrined with the very slightest trial; and it renders the sinner a trouble to himself, and to every one about him.

2nd, Anxiety is another tormenting plague, to which the soul under the curse, is continually liable. By this, the soul is racked, tortured, and as it were pulled in pieces. In proportion to the number, and the strength of a sinner’s lusts, is his soul racked with anxiety, how to get each of them satisfied. By the contention of inward lusts, and the distraction occasioned especially by worldly cares, the miserable soul is, as it were torn asunder. Hence, as the holy Psalmist expresses it, “he travaileth with iniquity.” Like a woman in travail, the sinner is in pain to bring it forth.

3rd, Inward wrath is another. Prom the deep discontentment of the soul under the curse, following on its loss of God, and from its gnawing hunger, and tormenting thirst, after forfeited happiness, from which the curse excludes it, proceed peevishness, anger, and wrath. These are like a fire in the sinner’s bosom, and like a sword, or an arrow, which pierces him to his inmost soul. “Wrath,” said Eliphaz, “killeth the foolish man.” It makes his soul “like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waves” roll and toss themselves, casting “up mire and dirt.”

4th, Sorrow of heart is another plague, to which the soul under the curse, is often liable. An awful plague this! As an unsupportable load, laid on the sinful soul, it lies hard upon it, and presses it down; and as an overflowing flood rushing upon it, it swallows it up and overwhelms it. A flood of sorrow, arising from worldly disappointments, losses, and troubles, overflows the condemned soul. Not only do the evils which come on men themselves, but the good, which falls to the share of others around them, serve to cause those waters to swell. “Envy slayeth the, silly one.” This stream, therefore, to a soul under the curse, never runs dry. A flood of legal sorrow too, arising from a sense of the guilt of sin lying upon it, and from a slavish dread of death and hell, sometimes overflows the soul. Ah! How deplorable is the case of the condemned sinner, when these bitter waters swell up to the brim!

5th, Terror of heart, under apprehensions of impending misery, is another plague, to which such a soul is often exposed. Moses gives an awful description of this, in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, 65th, 66th, and 67th, verses,— “The Lord shall give thee there, a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even; and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning, for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.”—The poor sinner has made the omnipotent JEHOVAH, bis enemy. He is under a sentence, condemning him to endure, throughout all eternity, his avenging wrath. He knows not how soon, the endless execution of the dreadful sentence, is to begin. No wonder then if like Cain, he trembles at the slightest accident, and if the least indication of the approach of the king of terrors, fills his soul with tormenting dread. This terror of heart includes horror of conscience; which arises from a painful sense of guilt, and from a deep impression, or apprehension, of infinite wrath against the soul. This makes a deep, and inexpressibly painful wound, in the spirit of a man. “A wounded spirit, who can bear?” Cain could not bear it; Judas could not endure it; and it rendered Pashur, a terror to himself. “The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites; who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” This horror of conscience, which is a foretaste of hell, in the condemned soul, is either more confused and suspicious, as in Herod, or more sharp and transient, as in Felix, or more violent and abiding, as in Judas. When it is vehement and abiding, it is like the fire of Tophet, already kindled in the soul, and burning with an unquenchable flame. The conscience is like Sinai, all in fire and smoke. The soul is covered with blackness, and darkness, and tempest. The empoisoned arrows of JEHOVAH’S vengeance, shot by his almighty hand into the soul, so work in it, that the poison thereof drinketh up the spirits. Then the terrors of God are round about it, and are set in battle-array against it. Then, the sinner begins to feel hell within himself, as the dreadful earnest, of his being about soon to be cast into hell.

6th, Lastly, Despair is one of those plagues. A sinner may be under great terror and horror of conscience, and yet be supported by some secret, some faint, hope of deliverance. But who can conceive the anguish of that soul, on which, absolute despair hath fastened! Despair, is the greatest degree of torment and of misery, that the soul while in this world, is capable of enduring. It leaves to the wretched soul, no degree of ease or comfort; and renders life, with all its external comforts, an insupportable burden: and no wonder; for it is a special ingredient, in the endless torment of the damned.—Here let it be observed, That those tormenting plagues, which have now been mentioned, while they are parts of the execution, are at the same time executioners, of the curse of the law, upon the miserable souls which remain under it.

The unregenerate sinner is, in this world, cursed likewise in his body. Man eat of the forbidden fruit, and in virtue of this curse, swallowed down death with it. The first sin was finished by an action of the body. The body of the natural man, therefore, as well as his soul, is not only under the curse, but under the begun execution, of that dreadful sentence. The original blessing, which was pronounced on the bodies of our first parents, was, in consequence of the first transgression, succeeded by a tremendous curse. “Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body.” The cursing of the fruit of the body, evidently imports a curse on the body itself, from which that fruit proceeds. Hence it comes to pass,

1st, That the temperament of the body under the curse, is greatly altered, and is become such, as to dispose the soul, in a still greater degree, to the commission of iniquity? The animal frame of it, is changed into a suitableness, to the sinful inclinations and desires of the corrupt soul, with which it is united. Hence it is called sinful-flesh. This degenerate constitution of the body, which commenced with the first sin, is by the curse penally bound on; that the seeds of sin, being a part of that spiritual death, to which by the curse it is bound over, are never, so long as the curse continues to lie upon it, removed. Thus, sinful flesh and a sinful soul, so intimately united together, cannot but be mutual snares to one another. While the soul adapts the body? The body on the other hand, disposes the soul, to sin, and occasions a multitude of fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, and which serve, not only to sink it in a mire of corrupt flesh and blood, but to “drown it in destruction and perdition.”

2nd, Hence also the body is, in respect of deformity, liable to great variations from its original constitution. The body of man in his state of innocence, was entire, sound, and beautiful; but now, that it is under the influence of the curse, there is a variation, in the formation and frame of it, from the original pattern. Some are born, or afterwards become, deaf, dumb, or blind; others are born with a defect, in some necessary sense or organ, or even with a want of one, and others, with a superfluity. Some again, are afflicted with such a constitution of body in general, as renders them utterly unfit, to discharge the common functions of rational life. And indeed, it is owing to sovereign mercy in JEHOVAH, that such blemishes are not more frequent, or rather, that they are not universal.

3rd, It is at the same time, liable to have many mischiefs from without, heaped upon it. While man continued upright, the promise of the covenant, shielded him so, that no harm could at any time befall him. But now that he has sinned, and is under the curse, his covenant-defense is departed from him; and JEHOVAH hath armed all the creatures against him, and hath ordered them, to be in readiness to attack him, on the shortest notice. All the creatures of God, whether animate or inanimate; whether about him, or above him, or beneath him, are the enemies of man, because he is become the enemy of God; and the very least of them, the moment it receives a commission, is able easily to destroy him. Hence, some are consumed by fire, and others are swallowed up by water; some are bruised, wounded, torn, or stung by the beasts, and others are overwhelmed by the stones, of the field. Frequently are sinners themselves, the executioners of the curse on one another.

4th, It has the seeds of unnumbered diseases, in its constitution. Under the influence of the curse, it is become a weak body, subject to weariness, feebleness, and languor; and at the same time, has such seeds of distemper in it, as spring up into a great variety of diseases and pains, tending to its dissolution. No part of the body, is beyond the reach of diseases. No care can prevent their springing up in it. The curse has, as it were, turned this world into a hospital. Some are languishing under one malady, some under another; and some for the most part, never know what it is, to enjoy perfect freedom from sickness or pain. Thus death, in one form or another, continues to work in the body of the sinner under the curse, till at length it brings it to the dust of death.

5th, The body under the curse, becomes by consequence, a heavy encumbrance to the soul, when it would attempt to perform religious duties, or to be spiritually exercised. The depraved soul, while under the curse, is in itself and that in a most deplorable degree, indisposed for the spiritual performance of duty. The body however renders it still more indisposed. The weakness and weariness of the body, often occasion inattention and slumbering, in the worship of God. The care of the body, prevents due solicitude for the concerns of the soul. The health and vigor of the body, while they continue, are such snares to the corrupt soul, that it will not, and the sickness and infirmity of the body, are such entanglements to it, and do so engross its attention, that it cannot, to any good purpose, attend to the momentous concerns of eternity.

6th, Lastly, Under the influence of the curse, it becomes a vessel of dishonor. While contrary to nature, it appears to have attained the command of the soul, it is at the same time, itself the abject slave of imperious lusts and passions. In some, it is a slave to covetousness, in others, to vanity or ambition, and in others, to envy and wrath. In its original constitution, it was a vessel of honor, consecrated to honorable uses, every member having its own honorable office assigned to it; but now, Alas! Its honor is laid in the dust. The members of it, are yielded as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. By the depraved soul, as far as the soul can be supposed to have any influence over it, it is abused to the very basest of purposes. It is degraded to the dishonest employment of still taking and eating, forbidden fruit. The covetous man renders it, if I may so say,—a weary drudge; the drunkard,—a sewer or sink; the glutton,—a draught-house; the wrangler and slanderer,—a hissing serpent; and the revengeful or passionate,—a burning lake, a lake as it were, of fire and brimstone. Thus, under the curse of the broken covenant, the body of the sinner is degraded from its primitive honor, and cannot be again restored to it, otherwise than by the removal of the curse, and the inhabitation of the Spirit of the second Adam.

3. The unregenerate sinner is also, in this world, cursed in his person. His whole man, his soul and body, considered as united together in one person, are fallen under the curse. The malediction of the law fastens on him, and engages the wisdom, faithfulness, and power of JEHOVAH, not only to withhold all real good from him, and to bring all real evil upon him, in such a manner as will be most suited, to afford bright displays of the glory of vindictive justice; but to make all things, how good soever in themselves, work together for evil to him. Since he is a sinful man under the covenant of works, he is a condemned man; and since he is condemned to death, he has fallen under the power of the devil, who has the power of death. As a miserable captive taken in war, he is shut up in that dark, that horrible prison, of which Satan is the keeper, and therefore is under bondage to him. There, he is loaded with bands of strong corruptions, as a condemned malefactor in a dungeon, is loaded with chains. The devil, who keeps the keys of the prison-house, watches narrowly that he do not escape; and will on no account, be prevailed on to let him go, till the almighty Redeemer, in the day of his power, force open the prison-doors, and say to the prisoner, “Go forth.” And to add to his misery, the sinner under the curse, is every moment, in danger of being set for ever, beyond the most distant possibility of deliverance. Were the eyes of his understanding opened, he would see himself, every moment, in the most imminent danger of dropping into the bottomless abyss. As no particular day is intimated, for the execution of the dreadful sentence, under which he lies, he knows not but he may, the next moment, be led forth to execution. Besides, he is in the midst of an innumerable host of armed enemies, ready on the word of command, to rush forth and destroy him, while he is utterly incapable, of doing anything to defend himself. He is without strength, and though he had armor, he could not wield it. He is chained hand and foot, and though he were ever so willing, he could not escape; and if he could escape, whither could he flee for safety? The gates of heaven, are ever barred against him. The cloud of Divine wrath, in the curse of the law, hangs constantly over him, and the small rain of that overwhelming wrath, is still falling on him. How soon death, which is on the pursuit after him, may overtake him, he cannot tell; and then, the impending cloud bursts, and the great rain of JEHOVAH’S strength, descends on him, and sweeps him off into the overwhelming, the bottomless, gulf of everlasting destruction. Then, is “he suddenly hurled out of his place,” and “driven away in his wickedness.”

4. He is cursed also, in his use of the Ordinances of the gospel, those Divinely instituted means of salvation. “According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.” All his opportunities, of waiting on God in ordinances, are cursed to him, and so, they contribute to his hurt. He is as “the earth which drinketh in the rain, that cometh oft upon it, but “bringeth forth” no herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed.” Good grapes are expected, but behold, only wild grapes appear. He reads and hears the gospel, but it does him no good. The preaching of the gospel, which “is the savor of life unto life” to some, “is the savor of death unto death” to him. He is “hewen by the prophets, and slain by the words of God’s mouth.”

5. His outward lot in the world, whether it be afflictive, or prosperous, is cursed to him. Providential dispensations come to him, in the channel of the curse. Affliction is cursed to the man who is under the curse. His heart is not humbled, nor mortified to the world by it, as that of others is, but rather is hardened; and instead of taking occasion from it, to come and cleave to the all-compassionate Savior, he takes occasion rather, to depart still further from him. He indeed groans under the burden of it; but turns not to the hand that smiteth him. He says not, “Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?” The LORD bindeth him with cords of affliction, but he crieth not. He remains impenitent and incorrigible.— “Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.” “Why” said the LORD to the people of Judah, “should ye be stricken anymore? Ye will revolt more and more.” His prosperity also, is a snare to him, and contributes to his destruction. If his ground bring forth plentifully, it affords him an occasion, of neglecting the concerns of his soul. If his family prosper, his riches increase, and his house be in safety, “pride compasseth” him “about as a chain, violence covereth” him “as a garment.” He “is corrupt” he “speaketh wickedly concerning oppression” he “speaketh loftily.” He “setteth his mouth against the heavens;” and his “tongue walketh through the earth.” “Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?” His prosperity, flowing upon him in the channel of the curse, thus carries him further and further from God.— “The prosperity of fools, shall destroy them.”

6. He is likewise cursed in his Relations, “Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body.” The curse has extended far and wide; and sinners may feel the weight of it, in every condition of life. In the church, ministers of religion, are often unwatchful, unactive, unfaithful, and unsuccessful. In the state, magistrates often oppress, entangle the conscience, and instead of being a terror to evil doers, are a terror to them who do well. Neighbors often are selfish, unjust, ensnaring, and mischievous. Many husbands, are such men of belial, that their wives cannot speak to them; and many wives, such a continual dropping, such a rottenness in the bones of their husbands, that they cannot live with them. Many parents, are unfaithful to, and careless of their children; and many children, are perverse and stubborn, a reproach and a grief to their parents; prodigals, to waste their substance, and arrows, to pierce their hearts: many daughters, like carved palaces in comeliness, and like corner-stones in cementing families, fall on the heads of their parents, and crush them with vexation. Many masters, are unjust and severe to their servants; and many servants, perverse, rebellious, and unfaithful to their masters. Thus the curse of the law, has pervaded every condition, and has made it in one form or other, a source of misery to the sinner.

7. He is cursed in his reputation among fellow-creatures. Every man is desirous of a name; and the desire which he had to exalt his name, was the snare, in which the first man was caught. Since that time, his honor has been laid low; his name has been covered with reproach. A good name, indeed, is better than precious ointment; and though the name of the condemned sinner, may for a little, shoot up and flourish; yet the curse is a worm at the root, which will soon blast it with ignominy, and cause it to wither and perish. The higher he rises in the world, the more remarkably does this appear. No eminence in worldly riches, rank, or splendor, can secure him for a moment against it. Sin has laid the sinner's honor in the grave; the curse has laid the grave-stone upon it; and it cannot rise again, till the curse be removed. Whatever of it appears, before that be done, is only as it were, a specter of honor, which quickly vanishes away. “The seed of evil doers shall never be renowned.”

8. He is cursed also in his worldly employments. —In the employment of his mind, the curse works against him. No class of persons for the most part, have more evident symptoms of the curse, on their employments, than those, whose usual labor is the labor of the mind. The toil is great, and often issues either in vanity, or in mischief. “I gave my heart,” says Solomon, “to seek and search out by wisdom, concerning all the things that are done under heaven: this sore travail, hath God given to the sons of man, to be exercised therewith.” The success at the most, is but small, and the impediments and disappointments, are innumerable. “For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.”—The employment of his hands also, is marred by the curse. The sinner is exposed to much toil and weariness, in his worldly employment; and after all, the fruit of his labor is uncertain, and at best, but scanty. He labors in the very fire, and wearies himself for very vanity. He works hard, but it is often with the greatest difficulty, that he can earn a comfortable subsistence; for the curse is secretly working against him. Hence are these words of the prophet Haggai; “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”

9. Finally, He is cursed in his worldly substance. Wherever he has it, whether in the city, or in the field, or in the house, he has the curse with it. “Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.” “The curse of the Lord, is in the house of the wicked.” Under the weight of the curse, which lies on it because it is his, his worldly substance as it were groaneth, longing to be delivered out of his hands. Sometimes Divine justice seizes it, and recovers it out of them in this life, as men do goods, out of the hands of unjust possessors. “Therefore, I will return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax, given to cover her nakedness. And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, &c.” Under the influence of the curse, “riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away as an eagle towards heaven,” to bear witness against the sinner, for his manifold abuse of them. Wanting the hedge of covenant-protection, around what he has, he frequently sustains damage, at the hands of them who deal with him. He heaps up, and diligently watches his wealth; but the curse like a moth so devours it, and the secret fire of Divine wrath, so consumes it, that it melts away, like snow before the sun. Or if it continue in his possession, it is sometimes so locked up from him, that he has not the power to use it, for any of the honorable purposes to which, the Lord hath commanded him to apply it. It may in truth be said of such a sinner, that what he loses by his possessions, is much greater, than all that he gains by them.

Thus the curse of the broken covenant, operates in this life,—on the soul,—on the body,—on the person of the sinner,—on his use of the means of grace,—on his outward lot,—on his relations,—on his reputation,—on his worldly employments,—and on his worldly substance.

SECT. II The Curse of the Law operates AT DEATH, on them who still remain under it.

Secondly, The curse operates on sinners who continue under it, in their death, and renders their condition, at that awful moment, inexpressibly dreadful. They die under the curse; and so their death is to be considered,

1. As a part of the execution of the curse on them. Then, the awful sentence begins to be fully executed, on the wretched sinner; and the execution of it, to be so immovably fixed on him, as henceforth to render deliverance from it, absolutely impossible. All that hitherto he endured, was but an earnest of this. Death is the king of terrors; and in every view that we take of it, has a very terrible aspect. It is the destruction of animal nature; and, therefore, can scarcely miss to make the creature shrink back from it. But to the sinner, who is under the curse, it is peculiarly dreadful.—He dies in virtue of the curse. His soul and body combined in committing sin, and by his sin, he separated himself from the holy Lord God. Divine justice therefore requires, that those companions in sin, should at length be separated from each other, as well as from God; and, that they should never any more, be united together, except for the purpose of being able, to endure throughout eternity, a still greater degree of torment. Accordingly, no sooner had man sinned, than the curse seized him; and continuing under the first covenant, it still continues to work in him, till at length it works his soul and body asunder.

2. The stroke of death is to them, a vindictive stroke; a stroke from the hand of JEHOVAH, as an infinite, an almighty enemy. It is a deep, a fatal wound, the wound of an avenging enemy; a wound inflicted by the sword of vindictive justice, for the destruction of the sinner. Because he chose to breaks and chose to continue under, the broken covenant of works, he is then crushed, under the weight of the tremendous curse of that covenant. To the true believer, the stroke of death, is a stroke from the hand of God in Christ, as a Friend and a Father, according to the promise of the covenant of grace, in order to render his happiness complete; but to the sinner under the curse, it is a stroke from the hand of JEHOVAH, as an absolute God, as an infinite enemy, according to the threatening of the covenant of works, in order to render his misery complete. “He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.” Having trusted his life to that broken covenant, the curse of it, tumbles him down headlong into the horrible abyss of infinite wrath. He falls “into the hands of the living God,” who to him, is and ever will be, “a consuming fire” and it is, and will especially then, be found to be, “a fearful thing to fall into” his “hands,” as a sin-avenging God.

Death, to them whom it finds under the curse, is armed with its envenomed sting. When its sting is plucked away, as it is, in the case of all who are united to the second Adam, death, whatever the circumstances which attend it may be, can do them no real harm. But when it is armed with its sting, and consequently, with all the strength, which it derives from sin, and from that holy and righteous law, of which sin is a transgression, it stings the sinner to the heart. “The sting of death,” with which it pierces, and torments the heart of the condemned sinner, “is sin, and the strength of sin, is the law.” When death approaches to the sinner, the guilt of all his sins lying on him, binds him over, as with cords of death, to everlasting punishment. Those cords cannot be broken; for their strength, is the law, which threatens eternal death, as the just punishment of transgression; and the faithfulness of JEHOVAH, pledged for the execution of the threatening, cannot fail.

4. It puts an everlasting period to all their case, and to all their comfort. While death puts an end to the earthly comforts of the saints, it lets them enter into the joy of their Lord; into the full, and the eternal, fruition of those heavenly, those unfading pleasures, which are at JEHOVAH’S right hand. But as for sinners under the curse of the law, whilst at death, they must leave all their worldly comforts behind them, they have no comforts of any kind before them, in that place of endless torment, to which they are hastening. The curse at that awful moment, draws an immovable bar between them, and everything that is pleasant or comfortable. It quenches their coal, and puts out all their light, that the spark of their fire may not shine, and that the light may be dark in their tabernacle.

5. Besides, death is to them, a most dreadful passage out of this world, into everlasting fire. It leads the condemned sinner, as an ox to the slaughter, or, as a malefactor to the place of execution. It opens as it were a trap-door under him, and, ere ever he is aware, lets him fall down into the bottomless pit, the lake of fire and brimstone; where in a moment he is swallowed up, in the unfathomable abyss of irretrievable misery.

6. It shuts for ever, the door of mercy against them. Now, the sinner under the curse, while living within the pale of the visible church, is by the gospel, privileged with free and frequent offers of salvation, and overtures of reconciliation; but when once death has done its office, there shall be no more, any good tidings of peace proclaimed to him. Death under the curse, is God’s setting of his seal, to his proclamation of perpetual war with him. It fixes an unpassable gulf between them, cutting off all comfortable communication with heaven; so that no message of peace can pass or repass, any more for ever. It is, therefore, a final breaking up of all treaty respecting salvation, between JEHOVAH, and the condemned sinner.— Thus, the curse operates on sinners who are under it, at, and in their death, and renders their condition, at that awful moment, inexpressibly dreadful.

SECT. III. The Curse of the Law operates on them who are under it, AFTER DEATH, and THROUGHOUT ETERNITY.

Thirdly, It operates on them likewise after death, throughout all eternity.

1. Immediately after death, their souls are, by the power of the curse, dragged before the tribunal of God, each of them to receive its own sentence of damnation.— “It is appointed unto men, once to die, but after this, the judgment.”— “The spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Before that awful tribunal, they are judged; and, a particular sentence is passed on each of them, according to its state, and “to the deeds, done in the body.” All their transgressions, are brought forth as out of a bag, in which the curse had bound up and sealed them, that they might be carefully preserved. Where the curse is, there is no remission, and where no remission is, “the LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob,” that he “will never forget any of their works.” Thus they stand before the judgment-seat of JEHOVAH, with all their sins upon them, without so much as one of them missed. Oh! Dreadful, deplorable condition!

As their iniquities are increased over their head, so also are the curses of the broken law, multiplied upon them. Every transgression appears in view, bringing its own curse along with it. It is, therefore, impossible that they can escape, whilst, in the presence of the omniscient and righteous Judge, unnumbered cords of death are on each of them, binding them over to deserved punishment. They chose to live under the law of works, in preference to the law of faith, and therefore by that law, they must now be judged.— “As many as have sinned in, or, under the law, shall be judged by the law.” The awful tribunal before which they stand, is a tribunal of strict justice, without the least mixture of that mercy, which 'they so often, and so insolently despised. There, there is no mediator, no surety, no advocate, for souls to have recourse to, which are brought thither under the curse.

As, therefore, the ungodly cannot stand in the judgment, they must inevitably fall a sacrifice to Divine justice, for their sins; and so fall, under the insupportable weight of the tremendous curse, for evermore. The affronted justice of JEHOVAH, requires that satisfaction be given; and such satisfaction, as shall be commensurate to the injury, which was done to the honor of his infinite Majesty. Since they not only deserved to perish, but refused to transfer by faith, their guilt, to the blessed Surety of a better covenant, choosing rather to live and die, under the violated covenant of works; their guilt must now and henceforth, lie on their own head, and they must be “driven away in their wickedness.”

2. Their condemned souls are, under the curse, lodged in hell, the state and place of the damned.— “In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, &c.” They are forthwith haled from the tribunal of judgment, to the place of torment. According to the sentence of the broken law, sinners are in death, cut asunder by the sword of vindictive justice; and their wretched souls “have their portion appointed them,” where “shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” They shall then find, to their inexpressible anguish, that they have begun to pay a debt, which can never, either be remitted to them, or discharged by them. Shut up in hell, as in a strong and dark prison, reserved to further judgment at the last day, they have the bars of that infernal pit, so fastened upon them, as to preclude the smallest ray of hope, that ever they will be delivered.—Who can conceive the horror, that must then seize the lost soul, when it finds itself fixed, in an unalterable state of the deepest misery! What a sudden, what a dreadful, change will it be, to souls which lived in ease and pleasure, and which, but a few moments ago, fondly indulged a hope of everlasting felicity, to be fixed among other damned spirits, devoted by the same curse, to eternal torment! Conscience, fully awakened, and fully sensible, will fasten in them, the most pungent convictions of past sin, and the most horrible apprehensions of future vengeance. It will gnaw them, like a worm that never dies, and scorch them, like a fire that never can be quenched. They shall then clearly see the evil of the sins, which they committed in the body; which will pierce them with the keenest anguish, like so many empoisoned arrows.

All the dregs of the wrath of Almighty God, wrung out under the influence of the curse, will then begin to be drunk by them. The separate souls of those who die under the curse of the law, are far from being, as some vainly suppose, in a state of insensibility.—Whilst they are laid under the punishment of loss, being not only deprived of all the blessedness of heaven, but also of all those objects in which they used, when on earth, to place their happiness, they feel and cannot but feel, the keenest anguish. It pierces them with the most tormenting anguish, to see that all their happiness is lost, irrecoverably, and eternally lost. Besides, they have now, a far more affecting view of what they used to hear when on earth, concerning the blessedness of them “who die in the Lord.” This occasions in them, the keenest remorse, and the bitterest rage against themselves, for having preferred the pleasures of sin, to joys so unspeakable, and so full of glory, as are those of “the spirits of just men made perfect.”—Whilst in like manner, they are punished with the punishment of sense; with a piercing sense of the wrath of a sin-revenging JEHOVAH, poured out on them, how exquisite, how inconceivable their torment! Now, the great rain of the fury of JEHOVAH, begins to fall on the men of his curse. Now, they begin to sink, in the bottomless gulf of his infinite wrath; and so cannot but sink, in an overwhelming flood of sorrow. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, their anguish is set forth, under the figure of one’s being tormented in a flame. This however is not all:—they likewise, lie under the unrestrained, influence of their sinful lusts; and the tormenting passions of pride, envy, anxiety, rage, and despair, keep them perpetually on the rack. In sacred writ, these and all the other unrestrained passions, with which they are tortured, are expressed by their “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” The depravity of their nature, continues in them in all its vigor; and all the former restraints which were laid on it, are now taken entirely off. They are, therefore, continually committing sin, as they did while they were in this world; but with this difference:—they had pleasure in their sinning here, but there, the utmost pain, without the smallest degree of pleasure. Shut out from such acts of wickedness, as afforded them pleasure while in the body, such a restraint, such a want of opportunity, contributes exceedingly to increase their torment.

In that state and place of torment, they must continue till the day of judgment, when they shall be reunited, each of them, with its own respective body, and the whole man, be sentenced to everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. After they depart out of their bodies, their wickedness may be still living in the world behind them. The stream of their corrupt example, like the sin of Jeroboam, may be still continuing to run upon earth, in the practice of every one, who by their means, may have either directly or indirectly, been drawn to sin. As therefore they must, at that dreadful day, give to the Omniscient Judge, a strict account of all such sins, as well as of the sins which they themselves have committed personally; it will be necessary that they then, be reunited with their respective bodies. Such a prospect, doubtless, cannot but be a horrible prospect to them.

3. In the meantime their bodies are, under the curse, committed to the grave. While sin made those bodies mortal, the curse due for sin, binds them over to death, and to corruption in the grave, that gloomy territory of death. “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and their beauty shall consume in the grave, from their dwelling.” As they are laid zip, in virtue of the curse, so they are shut up in the grave, as in a strong and dark prison-house, to be reserved till the day of execution. While the souls of sinners under the curse, are lodged in the prison of hell, their bodies are consigned to the prison of the grave, as malefactors to a dungeon, to be kept till the judgment of the great day. Hence, in the phraseology of the Holy Spirit, hell and the grave are expressed by one and the same term. To the bodies of the righteous, the grave is a hiding and a resting place, where they rest as in their beds, till the morning of the resurrection; but to the bodies of the wicked, it is not a hiding nor a resting place, but a prison, where they are confined from doing injury to those around them.— “There the wicked cease from troubling;” “There the prisoners rest together. ”

Sin and guilt still continuing on them, without any further possibility of ever being removed, take fast hold of them, never any more to let them go, and when they are laid down in the grave, lie down together with them.— “His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.” Like vile and loathsome things, which one cannot endure the sight of, and which cannot be cleansed, they are cast and covered up, with all their filthiness about them, in the grave.— “I will make thy grave, for thou art vile.” When the saint dies, one grave is, as it were, made for himself, and another for his vileness; because when he shall rise again, his vileness is not to rise with him. But when the condemned sinner dies, there is but one made, for himself and his vileness, where they both lie down together, in order that, in the day of final retribution, they may rise together.

It is likewise, in virtue of the curse, that the bodies of sinners who die under it, see corruption in the grave. Death separates, not merely their bodies from their souls, but the various parts of those bodies from each other, till it reduces the whole to dust. “Drought and heat consume the snow-waters; so doth the grave, those who have sinned.” The bodies of saints, in the grave, are consumed too. The difference however is very great. It is the curse, which produces those effects, on the bodies of them who are under it; but it is not the curse which produces them on the bodies of the saints. It is death with its sting, which causes them in the former; but it is death deprived of its sting, which occasions them in the latter. All those effects, are parts of the execution of the curse, for the satisfaction of Divine justice, on those; but, they are parts of the performance of the promise of the covenant of grace, on these; and as it were, are the melting down of the shattered vessel, in order to cast it in a new mold.

4. Since the bodies of those who live and die, under the covenant of works, go down to the grave, under the curse of it; and since, nothing that befalls them in the state of the dead, can amount to a full payment of the boundless debt, which they owe to the precept and the penalty of that broken covenant, they shall rise again at the last day, under the curse of it, “And shall come forth; they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” As it is, in virtue of the condemning sentence or malediction of the law, that they are shut up in the grave, till the last day, the day of execution; so it is, in virtue of the same awful sentence, that they are then to be brought forth, out of that prison-house. Whilst the bodies of them, who are united to the second Adam, shall at that day rise, in virtue of that union, and at the same time, of the promise of the covenant of grace; the bodies of the wicked, shall then rise, in virtue of their connection with the first Adam, and of the curse of the covenant of works.

Having, in their former state of union with them, been instruments of unrighteousness, to their sinful souls, they shall now, upon their reunion with them, be marked in a horrible manner, with their sin, as vessels of dishonor; perhaps, each with a mark, which will serve to denote the particular lust, which formerly used to prevail most over it. Those bodies which were laid in the grave, stained as unclean vessels, as foul instruments of their polluted souls, in the service of diverse lusts, shall rise again, with all their moral defilement cleaving to them. Their pollution, not washed away with the blood, and by the Spirit, of the second Adam, cleaves to every particle of their dust in the grave, and shall appear with it at the resurrection.— “They shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” The wicked shall then, have a dreadful discovery of the use, which they made of their bodies, and of every member of them, in the service of sin. Ah! What a shocking, what a hideous appearance, will their bodies, reunited with their souls, then have! Who knows what a frightful appearance, the deep impressions of the wrath of JEHOVAH, and the unutterable anguish of their souls, may give to their bodies, at that day! As the reunion of their souls with their bodies, will doubtless be attended with inconceivable anguish and horror; their aspect, when, under the curse, they shall come forth out of their graves, and stand again upon that earth, on which they committed innumerable sins, will be beyond all conception horrible. When, at the sound of the last trumpet, they shall awake and rise from their graves, what a terrible awakening out of their long sleep will it be to them! When they shall be cast forth, as abominable branches; and shall see the righteous Judge of quick and dead, sitting in terrible majesty, on his great white throne, and themselves dragged before his dreadful tribunal, what ghastly looks will they have! What a horrible appearance will they make! Through inexpressible anguish, horror, and consternation, their faces, how fair soever they may now be, shall then be black as a coal. How will they tremble; how will their hearts be pierced; how will their knees smite, one against another, when they begin to anticipate the tremendous prospect before them! What hideous clamor, what horrible yelling, will be heard among them, when reluctant, they shall be driven forward to the dreadful tribunal of the omniscient and inexorable Judge! How will “the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the mighty men, say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” But all to no purpose, for,

5. They must appear however reluctant, “before the judgment-seat of Christ.” As they shall appear under the curse, before the tribunal of Christ, so in virtue of the same, they shall be set on his left hand. Shame and everlasting contempt, are designed for them; and, therefore, there shall be no access for them, to his right hand, among the redeemed. They shall be ranged together as chained malefactors, on his left hand; and their station there, with all the ignominy attending it, will mark them accursed of God.

The curse, intervening between the Judge and them, will render his appearance “exceedingly terrible to them.” When they see him, they shall know him to be He, who, with the other glorious Persons of the ever-blessed TRINITY, gave that law and made that covenant, which they transgressed; whose sentence, the curse of that law against transgressors, was, and is, and whose full execution on them, his holiness, justice, and truth, render indispensably necessary. His countenance will, in a peculiar degree, appear terrible to those of them, who have had the gospel preached, and the offers of salvation frequently addressed to them; and the more terrible, the more plainly, powerfully, frequently, and affectionately, they have been intreated and urged, to accept salvation. Oh! What piercing anguish, what overwhelming horror, will seize them, when they shall see Him, who had so frequently and so freely, offered himself and eternal life to them, sitting in tremendous majesty, on his great white throne, about to pronounce, and also to execute upon them, in their everlasting destruction, the dreadful sentence of the broken law! How will they tremble, when they shall see the Lamb of God, whom they had despised and rejected, turned into a devouring Lion, ready to tear them in pieces, when there shall be none to deliver; and shall see that face, from which, the earth and the heaven will flee away, and no place be found for them, frowning with infinite displeasure on them!

To manifest the equity of the public proclamation, and of the everlasting execution, of the tremendous sentence, now to be pronounced on them, all their sinful inclinations, and thoughts, and words, and deeds, will be clearly and in all their vast extent, stated to their account. The sins of their heart, and of their life, shall be searched out, and laid to the straight rule of the righteous law; and the exceeding sinfulness of them, will be openly discovered. The mask will drop off, and all their pretenses to holiness, be declared to have been but vile hypocrisy. The corruption of their nature, in all its malignity, all its deformity, all its demerit, will be laid open, and set in the light of God’s countenance. Their secret abominations, which they concealed so artfully, and so successfully, as to elude every possibility of discovery by man, and in accomplishing the concealment of which, they often rejoiced; will then be proclaimed, as on the housetop, and exposed to view, in all their hideous deformity. They shall then see the truth of the declaration, and of the oath of JEHOVAH, that He would not forget any of their works. The sinful tempers, thoughts, words, and deeds of others, which they have either directly, or indirectly, approved or encouraged, will also at that day, followed out in all their extent, be clearly stated to their account, and fully proved against them. The horror of conscience, (for their consciences will, at that day, awake and witness against them, and for the equity of every article of the charge,) and the overwhelming shame, that shall then seize them will be unparalleled.

Nothing now remains, but that the righteous Judge solemnly pronounce, before an assembled universe, their horrible and irrevocable doom; “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” These will be the last words, that ever they shall hear from the mouth of Him, who sitteth upon the throne. The full execution of that unspeakably dreadful sentence, on the whole man soul and body, reunited for the purpose, is now without delay to take place.

6. Whilst in virtue of the curse, thus publicly pronounced, and now ready to be fully executed, the holy angels will drive, and the devils drag them, from the judgment-seat of Christ, into hell; that same curse, which, ever since the entrance of sin, had infected this lower world, will now kindle it into one universal blaze, to bid them a final farewell.— “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.” When, by the breach of the first covenant, sin was committed on the earth, the curse was laid upon it. By its relation to man, it came within the compass of the curse for his sin, and so was devoted to destruction by a general conflagration.—Nay, “the whole creation,” in so far as it has a relation to man, was for his sake “made subject to vanity.” The heavens which, because they are over the head of the sinner, are sometimes made brass, shall then on the same account, pass away with a great noise; and the earth which, because it is under his feet and supports him, is sometimes made iron, shall then be burned up. By this means, the sea, and air, and sky, as well as the earth, shall be set free from the curse; and all that corruption and vanity, which long infected them, shall be returned in fiery indignation, on the sinners who occasioned them. Then, all the sin, and all the misery, which are now scattered throughout the creation of God, shall be gathered up, and cast with the damned, into the lake of fire, and thenceforth be confined to it for evermore. Sin, and misery, and death, in almost every form, are everywhere to be found now; but they shall be found nowhere then, except in that one place. “There shall be no more curse,” and therefore no “more death” anywhere, but in the place of the damned.

7. Under the weight of the curse, they shall forever lie in hell, that state and place of torment. There, it will lie on their souls and bodies reunited, with all its weight, and prey upon them, with all its strength. While sinners under the malediction of the law, continue in this world, they contrive to live in some degree, at ease; and if their ease is at any time disturbed, they ordinarily though not always, devise some expedient or other, to recover it. And even while their souls are in the place of torment, during the time that elapses between their death, and the day of judgment, their bodies in the grave lie at ease; so that it is only, as it were, the half of the person, which is in torment. But when once the men of JEHOVAH’S curse shall have received their final sentence, and the eternal state of the creation be introduced, the execution of the curse, will begin to be full, and their misery, to be complete.

For that purpose, the infernal pit, having received them, will close its mouth upon them, and shut them up, as in a fiery oven. “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven, in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.” The awful curse will so draw, and fasten, the bars of that horrible pit about them, that sooner, shall they be able to remove the everlasting mountains, than to remove them. Like chains of adamant, it will bind them hand and foot, and render their escape forever impossible.

It will also be a final and everlasting obstruction, to all sanctifying, and sin-restraining influence, to them. Whilst they remain in this world, there is still a possibility, of their having the curse removed, and of having restraining, and even sanctifying, influence admitted into their souls. But in hell, where there is a total, and a final separation from God, no such influence can have access to them. The reigning depravity, which thy carry thither with them, must, therefore, in all its vigor and virulence, continue in their nature: and shocking to think!—they will forever hate, the infinitely amiable, the eternally excellent JEHOVAH. The iron-sinew of their inflexible will, will, by the raging flames of hell, grow harder and harder. And as they cannot but act there, since their being, and capacity for action, still remain, their corrupt nature, in so far as it acts, will always act corruptly. Removing all those restraints, which were formerly laid upon them, and withholding all that restraining influence, which formerly held them in, the LORD will abandon them, to the full fury of their impetuous lusts; while they shall have nothing afforded them, wherewith, in the smallest degree, to satisfy them. Should sensual appetites remain in hell, it will be impossible for them there, ever to be gratified. They “shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry;” and they “shall eat on the left, and shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man, the flesh of his own arm.”

The curse likewise, will be “the breath of the LORD,” which shall blow up the fire of his fiercest indignation, upon them, and keep it continually burning; so that “the smoke of their torment, shall ascend up for ever and ever.” “For Tophet is ordained of old, he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof, is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.” There the worm which shall gnaw them, can never die, for the curse will keep it alive; the fire which shall burn them, can never be quenched, for the curse will feed it, and cause it to flame forth, with unabating and unparalleled fury. The curse will then enter into their hearts, and cause them to melt within them, like wax before the fire. It will sink into their bowels, like boiling lead, and torment them in every part. The arrows of the Almighty, dipped in the poison of the curse, will be incessantly piercing, inflaming, and sticking fast in them. No pity, no sparing, will any more be shown to them. The torment both of soul and body, which, in the lake of fire and brimstone, they shall endure, will be far more exquisite, than the highest angelical understanding, shall ever be able to conceive.

8. Finally, This tremendous curse will prolong, and increase their misery, to all eternity. They “shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” “Depart from me ye cursed,” will the inexorable Judge say, “into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Sin, in respect of the infinitely glorious Object, against whom it is committed, is an infinite evil, and consequently deserves, an infinite punishment. The curse, therefore, binds over the sinner who is under it, to give infinite satisfaction to Divine justice, for the wrong done to the honor of the infinite JEHOVAH.—But as infinite satisfaction cannot be given, but by enduring infinite punishment, and as no finite creature can bear an infinite punishment, but in an infinite duration, or which is the same, in an eternity of duration; the torments of the damned must, therefore, continue throughout all eternity. “The smoke of their torment, ascendeth up for ever and ever.” There is no proportion, between that which is finite, and that which is infinite. The finite creature, therefore, can never by his sufferings, expiate his crimes against an infinite God. Hence, after the wretched sinner has suffered in hell, the most inconceivable torments, through millions of millions of ages, the tremendous curse will still bind him over, to endure more and more; because he is yet infinitely far, from having given enough of satisfaction; and since he never can sufficiently satisfy, it will continue to bind him over still to more and more, whilst eternal ages continue to revolve. Divine justice will be still renewing its demand of infinite satisfaction, and will never, never, throughout the innumerable, the endless ages of eternity, say, It is enough. While it will prolong their torture of soul and body, throughout all eternity, it will, in the most dreadful manner, uphold them in enduring it; and as they will be perpetually adding to their guilt, it will perhaps be increasing their exquisite torments, without intermission and without end. As it is very probable, that the happiness of the righteous, will eternally increase, so is it, that the misery of the wicked, will perpetually wax greater; and that, to render their dread and despair, the more tormenting, they will beforehand know, that it is to do so. Oh, how would it stamp a bow in their cloud, were they to think that their torments, after myriads of myriads of ages, were to come to an end; or even if they should never have an end, if they were to be in some degree lessened! But, alas! No hint is given, that they shall have the slightest foundation, for any such hope.

Thus I have endeavored, to give a general description, of the operation of the curse of the violated covenant, on them who finally continue under it; or, of their most dreadful condition,—in this life,—at death,—and after death, through eternity. But after all, no heart can conceive, no pen can describe, what they who live and die under it, do, and shall, throughout eternity, endure. “Who knoweth,” O Almighty JEHOVAH, “the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear so is thy wrath.”

From the preceding description we may learn, How great the difference is, between the death of the believer in Christ, and the death of the sinner under the curse of the law. The death of the true believer, is death without its sting: the death of the sinner, is death armed with its sting. Death without its sting, separates the soul from the body, in virtue of the promise of the covenant of grace; but with its sting, it separates the one from the other, in virtue of the curse of the covenant of works. Death without its sting, is an article in the promise of the new covenant; or a benefit of the new covenant, made over to the spiritual seed of Christ, as a part of the legacy which he left to them; but with it sting, it is a part of the execution of the threatening of the old covenant, on those whom it finds under that covenant. “The sting of death is sin,” and the curse due for sin. Now believers, being interested in the second Adam, who as their Surety, received the sting of death into his own soul and body, that they might be freed from it, have full security against it, so that though they must receive the stroke, they shall never receive the sting; whereas unregenerate sinners receive not only the stroke of death, separating the soul from the body, but the envenomed sting, which sticks fast, both in their souls and their bodies. That natural death, which is a part of the penalty of the first covenant, is not merely the death of the body, but the stinging death of the body, separating the soul from the body, in virtue of the curse. There is, therefore, a specifical difference between the death of believers, and the death threatened in the covenant of works. They are of a very different kind. Rejoice ye ransomed of the Lord: While death armed with its sting, is threatened to the unregenerate sinner, death disarmed of it, is promised to you. Death, that curse of sin, that common evil of nature, is neither a curse, nor an evil, to you. On the contrary, it is an important, an inestimable privilege. “Precious in the sight of the LORD, is the death of his saints.” Embrace, then, the glorious promise recorded in Hosea 13:14, and learn to adopt the triumphant language of the apostle Paul,— “O death! Where is thy sting? O grave! Where is thy victory?”

Is the misery of sinners under the curse of the law, so dreadful? How astonishing then, is the love of the eternal Father, in proposing to the eternal Son, and of his dear Son, in consenting to become the Surety for poor condemned sinners! “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, then said I, Lo I come, I delight to do thy will, O my God.” Consider, O believer, what, as thy Surety, he had to do and to suffer; and then with adoring wonder, admire the greatness of his love to thee, of that infinite love, which was “strong as death,” and which constrained him, in thy debased nature, to become “obedient even unto death.”—How glorious is the love of the Father, in not admitting merely, but in providing a Surety, and such a Surety for thee! In the infinite depths of his unsearchable wisdom, and in the exceeding riches of his glorious grace, He gave his only-begotten Son, to be, in the character of thy Sponsor, made sin and a curse for thee, to redeem thee from the curse of the law. It pleased the LORD to bruise Him, and to put Him to grief, that he might heal and comfort thee. He spared Him not, that he might spare thee.—And O how generous, how matchless, how marvelous, how ineffable, is the love of the adorable Son! With infinite readiness, He consented to endure the full execution of the curse, for thee; to bear thy griefs, to carry thy sorrows, to suffer thy hell; to satisfy in thy room, the righteous demands of the broken law. He answered to the law, for all thy boundless debt; and justice will never any more, require the payment of that debt from thee. Here the love of the incarnate Redeemer, shines forth, in all its transcendent luster, in all the exceeding riches of its glory. When thou wast an enemy to him, he reconciled thee to God by his death. He died for thee, that thou mightst live to him; was made a curse for thee, that thou mightst be blessed in him; and endured thy sorrows, that thou mightst enter into his joy. He descended from his glorious throne, to save, and to serve thee. He stooped to be a Servant of servants for thee, that he might exalt thee, to be a son and an heir of God. Constrained by such stupendous kindness, it becomes at once thy duty, thy interest, and thy privilege, to give up thyself, and thy supreme affection to him. O Christian, thou hast experience of the translation of the curse of the law, from thy person, to the Person of thy blessed Surety, and through him, to the body of sin in thee, for the crucifixion and destruction of it. Let thy soul, and all that is within thee, bless thy great Redeemer, and God in him, for this inestimable benefit. Let the warmest gratitude, for such a great salvation, glow in thy bosom, and say, “What shall I render unto the LORD, for all his benefits towards me?” Do not turn back again, either in principle or in practice, to the broken covenant of works. The more thy exercises and duties savor of it, the more unsavory will they be to thy Lord. The more the temper of thy spirit, is a legal temper, the more unholy will it be, and the more indisposed for spiritual exercise. Since the bands of death are now removed, and thy soul set at liberty, walk in newness of life? “Walk worthy of the LORD to all pleasing.” Be holy in all manner of conversation. Let the uniform tenor of thy life testify, that thou art redeemed from the curse of the law, and that thou art “blessed with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in Christ.”

We may also from the preceding sections, learn the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Doth sin deserve such complicated wo, such unparalleled anguish, such a great death? O, how infinite must the malignity, how inconceivable must the odiousness of it be, in the sight of the high and holy JEHOVAH! Behold sin, O believer, in the glass of the execution of the awful curse; that, seeing what an evil and bitter thing it is, thy abhorrence, thy horror of it, may be excited. Contemplate the dreadful curse, not merely as it was executed on thy Divine Surety, but as it is to be executed on the impenitent sinner; and let thy sense of the infinite evil, and demerit of sin, become more and more lively. O be ashamed, that thy thoughts of the evil of sin, are so slight, and that thy indignation against it, is so far from being high. Consider the effects of the curse, as represented above, and see what thy sins do in themselves, deserve; and what thou shouldst have undergone for them, if thy dear Redeemer had not suffered it for thee. O “abhor that which is evil.” “Ye who love the Lord, hate evil;” hate all evil; hate it with a perfect, an irreconcilable hatred. What ye cannot hinder, be sure to hate.

And O unbelieving, secure sinner, see and be convinced of thy dreadful, thy inevitable misery. Thou art under the dominion of some lust, some member of the body of sin, as an evidence, that thou art under the dominion of the whole body of sin; and this demonstrates, that thou art at this moment, under the dominion of the dreadful curse. Thy cleaving to the works of the law, for justification before God, shows that, thou art still under its awful sentence; for, “as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.” Thy name is on the black roll of the people of the curse. The condition of such as are under the curse of the law, is thy present condition. O, do not put the thoughts of thy being under it, far from thee. What will it avail thee, to bless thyself in thy own heart, when JEHOVAH hath already denounced against thee, his tremendous curse; and when it is by his irreversible sentence, that thou must either stand or fall? If, when thou hearest “the words of this curse,” thou continue to bless thyself in thy heart, “saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst, the LORD will not spare” thee, “but the anger of the LORD, and his jealousy shall smoke against” thee, “and all the curses that are written in the book of the law, shall lie upon” thee, “and the LORD shall blot out” thy “name from under heaven, — and separate thee unto evil, — according to all the curses of the covenant.” It may be thou art ready now to ask me, Would you have me to despair? Yes;—Thou canst not be delivered from the curse, but in the way of being brought to despair of ever attaining life, by the works of the law. Thou canst not begin to live to God, till thou be divorced from, and dead to the law. O sinner, be convinced that thou art under the awful curse. Hast thou not heard, that Christ himself, as Surety for elect sinners, was made a curse? How is it possible that, that could have come to pass, if they themselves, had not been under the curse, and exposed to the dreadful execution of it? Imagine not, that because the LORD hath vouchsafed to thee, many external deliverances and comforts, thou art not under the curse; for those blessings may be cursed to thee, as they are to all who are under it.— “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already.” Do not think that, because thou enjoyest gospel-ordinances, professest the true religion, and performest good works, thou art not under the curse; for David says of such,— “Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them.” Be convinced then, O sinner, whether thou be a professor, or be profane; whether thou be sober or dissolute, young or old, that thou art under that dreadful sentence, and that what things so ever, the law saith to them who are under it, it saith to thee.

Be convinced that, being under the dreadful curse, thy condition is inconceivably miserable. No finite understanding can comprehend, how wretched thou art and shalt be. The case of a malefactor, loaded with the curses of a country or kingdom, and so put to the most ignominious and tormenting death, is deplorable; but, it is nothing in comparison of thy case, who hast the curse of the omnipotent JEHOVAH, lying upon thee, and binding thee over to infinite vengeance, to everlasting destruction. The weight of this awful malediction, is so insupportable, that it will sink thee, in the lake of fire and brimstone, that horrible abyss, still lower and lower, whilst everlasting ages continue to revolve. In this world, the black cloud of JEHOVAH’S wrath is hanging over thee, and the small rain of his indignation is falling upon thee: in the world to come, the great rain, the floods of Almighty vengeance will, if thou die in thy present state, fall on thee and overwhelm thee. Thou art continually exposed, without the least shelter, to all the empoisoned arrows of infinite vengeance. It may be thou dost not feel thy misery, but on the contrary, flatterest thyself that thou art safe and happy. But, I beseech thee, consider, that the curse works by insensible, by silent strokes, as well as by those which are tormenting. Many are so far gone, under the curse, as to have their consciences seared, and to be past feeling. O consider, that so long as thou continuest under the Divine curse, thou remainest under the guilt of all thy sins, and under the dominion and strength of the body of sin. “The strength of sin, is the law.” While the strength of sin continues in thee, the fountain of misery remains, which will spring up, and send forth waters of bitterness. The holy law condemns every thing thou doest, because thou doest nothing, in that perfection which it requires; nothing, but what is defiled and debased with sin. The several instances of thy guilt are innumerable, are past reckoning, and thou art every moment, adding to the vast account; whilst in the meantime, it never is nor can be, in the least diminished. The curse permits more instances of guilt to be added to it, but will let none be taken away. That broken covenant, can admit of no pardon to them who continue under it. The pardon of one sinner, or even of one sin, under that covenant, would render the threatening vain; and so fix an indelible stain, both on the faithfulness, and the justice of God. Nay, to speak with reverence, it would occasion that Divine covenant, to be almost as little regarded, and as much injured, by—God, as it has been, by the sinner. Thy guilt, O sinner, may be forgotten by thee; but it is remembered by JEHOVAH, whom thou hast made thy infinite Enemy. It is written before Him, as with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. Nothing can suffice, to remove the guilt even of one sin, but what is at the same time sufficient, to remove the curse of the law.

Consider also, that it is simply impossible that thou canst be holy, while thou art under that condemning sentence. Man having once become a sinner, under the first covenant, could never again become a saint, under it. All who are under it, are under the strength of sin. Their heart is desperately wicked. Their condition is desperately sinful. They are “dead in trespasses and sins.” Thy performances then, secure sinner, may be multiplied, but they are all “dead works;” they are all selfish, all slavish: they may have something of the matter, but they have nothing of the manner, of works which are spiritually good and acceptable to God. The curse, standing as a high partition-wall between God and thee, hinders the course of sanctifying influence, from reaching thy soul; so that, thou canst have no communion with him, no communications from him, and therefore no conformity to him. It is not the love of God in Christ; but it is the fear of punishment for thy sins, and the hope of reward for thy services, that are the springs of every thing that thou doest in religion. Do not imagine, that thou canst be delivered from the curse, without being at the same time, delivered from the covenant. As long as thou continues! Under that violated covenant, and under the reigning power of a legal spirit, thou remainest under the curse. If thou die under the covenant, thou diest under the curse. Alas! While thou remainest under the broken covenant, the awful curse continues to be wreathed about thy neck, and to chain thee down, under the dreadful dominion of spiritual death.

Moreover, it is impossible, O self-righteous sinner, that ever thou canst, consistently with the honor of the justice, faithfulness, and law of God, be delivered from that dreadful sentence, but by either the one, or the other of these ways;—either by thy bearing of the execution of it, for thyself, to the full satisfaction of vindicative justice, or—by another’s bearing of it, in thy stead, and that legally imputed to thee. By the former method, it is absolutely impossible for thee, ever to be delivered from it. Whatever thou hast, either in thy soul or thy body, suffered, or mayest suffer, is still but the suffering of a finite creature; and can never satisfy justice, for the infinite wrong offered to the honor of JEHOVAH, or which is the same, for the wrong offered to his infinite honor, by thy disobedience.—By the latter, thou canst not be saved otherwise from it, than by vital union with the second Adam, and a saving interest in the covenant of grace; both which, are totally inconsistent with thy continuing, under the broken covenant of works. The imputation of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, and deliverance thereby from the curse, are fruits of the soul’s vital union with Him lay faith, which is a quitting hold of the first, and a taking hold of the second covenant. While, therefore, thou remainest under the first covenant, thou continuest under the curse. But, suppose the curse due to thee, for thy breach of covenant in the first Adam, were removed from thee, still thou canst not deny, but that thou hast, in thine own person, omitted some duties and committed some sins. Thou canst not refuse, but that, however diligently thou mayest have attempted to obey the law, thou hast, at least now and then, been guilty of some sinful thought, or word, or action. Now, since thou art under a covenant which curses the sinner, and says, “The soul that sinneth, shall die,” the least sin, inevitably lays thee under the curse of it. Nay, not only do thy sins, but—thy very duties as performed by thee, lay and leave thee, under the curse. Thou hast never in thy life, performed one duty as the law requires. Whatever good thou do, thou doest it not in perfection; and perfection of obedience is, under that covenant, required on pain of the curse. Though, therefore, thou shouldst perform every duty, and perform it with all the diligence and vigor, of which thou art capable; still the law would go on to condemn thee, for that thou doest not perform it in perfection. Know then, O sinner, that since thou doest nothing in perfection, nothing but what, in one respect or another, is amiss in the eye of the law; thou canst not, so long as thou continuest under the violated covenant, but be under that dreadful doom.—Nay, suppose it were possible for thee, under that covenant, to attain perfection, thou shouldst, notwithstanding, remain still under the curse; for the iniquity which thou hast already done, cannot be undone. The guilt of it, cannot be expiated by doing, but by dying. Perfect obedience for the present and for the future, is a debt which thou owest to the LORD, and thy paying of it, can never in justice, be reputed the payment of a former debt.

Be at length convinced then, O secure sinner, that there is no salvation, no happiness for thee, under that covenant. Whilst thou art under the covenant of works, thou art under the curse of that covenant. But to be saved, and yet to be under that condemning sentence, is absolutely impossible. Thou must, therefore, either forsake without delay, the dominion of the law, or perish under its awful sentence. O be persuaded, to quit old covenant-ground, and by faith, to betake thyself to the new covenant; where thou shalt, in union with the last Adam, be fixed under the dominion of rich, reigning, redeeming, grace. Be assured, that it is impossible for thee ever to be delivered from the covenant of works, otherwise than by taking hold of God’s covenant of grace; so as to enter personally into the bond of it, and be personally interested in Christ, the glorious Head of it. None of the sons of Adam, shall ever get up the bond of the first covenant, but upon advancing full payment, both of principal and of penalty, both of perfect obedience and of infinite satisfaction for sin. But this, is what neither thou, nor any other of the race of Adam, can ever do, otherwise than by attaining union with the second Adam, and communion with him in his surety-righteousness. Come then, as a lost sinner; come, without staying for any good qualifications, to recommend thee to the Divine favor, or to entitle thee to the Divine Redeemer, as thy righteousness and strength. Come, and under the regenerating influence of the blessed Spirit, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Receive the divine testimony concerning Him, and his great salvation. Believe with application to thyself, the record of God who cannot lie; and what is that record?— “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son.”— “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles; that thou mayest be my salvation to the end of the earth.”— “I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people.”— “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”— “My Father giveth you, the true bread from heaven.” Believe with the heart, then, believe with application, this glorious, this free, this present, this particular, this unspeakable gift. Believe, that the second Adam, with his righteousness and salvation, is freely, fully, presently, and particularly, offered to thee as a sinner of mankind; and, that by his Father’s authentic gift of him, and his own offer of himself, thou art fully warranted to receive, and trust in him, for all thy salvation. O accept of the inestimably precious gift. Trust in him for deliverance, from the curse of the covenant of works, and for the possession of the blessings of the covenant of grace. Reader, let thy heart trust confidently in Him. Let it trust in him, with an unsuspecting, an unshaken, an unbounded, an unintermitted confidence. Venture the whole of thy salvation, in his hands. The moment, thou beginnest so to confide in him, thou passest from the first to the second covenant, from death to life, from darkness to light, from condemnation to justification, and from sin to holiness. Nothing that thou doest, no humiliation for sin, no repentance, no performances of thine, can be acceptable to God, till after thou be delivered from the curse, through faith “in him, who justifieth the ungodly.”— “Without faith, it is impossible to please him.”— “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” The covenant of grace, is intimated and offered to thee. O receive Christ, the glorious Head of that covenant; receive his spotless righteousness, the proper condition of eternal life in it; and present that to the law in its covenant-form, as thy answer to all its righteous demands.

Before I take my leave of thee, self-righteous sinner, permit me, in bowels of compassion, solemnly to warn thee of thy extreme danger, while under the curse of the law. Thus saith the faithful and true Witness,— “He that believeth not, is condemned already.—He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God, abideth on him.” Say, Is it not just that, that sinner should eternally perish, who not only deserves to perish, but who refuses to accept eternal deliverance, when it is freely offered to him? If in a little, thou shouldst be surprised by a sudden death, and die under that curse, the day is coming, when the inexorable Judge of quick and dead, shall with an infinitely terrible frown, pronounce upon thee, and such as thee, this inexpressibly dreadful sentence:— “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” If JEHOVAH is just; if He is faithful and cannot lie; He “will render indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, to every soul of man that doth evil.” Indeed, thou art condemned already, condemned to everlasting fire. Thou art bound over already, to sink, throughout all eternity, in the horrible abyss, in the burning lake,—where thou shalt be “tormented with fire and brimstone;”— and, where “the smoke of” thy “torment,” shall “ascend up for ever and ever.” “Thy foot shall slide in due time; the day of thy calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon thee, make haste.” The time is perhaps just at hand, when, if Sovereign Mercy prevent it not, thou shalt begin to sink beneath the overwhelming weight of everlasting wrath. The believer has, in the free promise, “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” but thou, in the tremendous threatening, hast a far more inconceivable, and eternal weight of woe. If thou continue in thy present state, but a very little longer, the awful moment may be just at hand, when thou shalt “seek death, and” shalt “not find it and” shalt “desire to die, and death shall flee from” thee. As thy torment shall be without measure, so also without end. Now, thou mightest have life, but wouldst not; and then, thou wouldst have death, but canst not. Under the raging waves of Almighty vengeance, thou must continue to lie, as long as the unnumbered ages of eternity, continue to revolve. When as many millions of years, as there are of drops in the extended ocean, or of grains of sand on the sea-shore, and these, multiplied by as many millions more, have revolved; thy—increasing torment is but beginning. Thou art not only a sinner, and deservest thus to suffer; but thou presumest to despise, the everlasting righteousness, the eternal life, and even the eternal SON of God; and therefore, nothing can be more just, than that thou shouldst endure his eternal indignation. How shalt thou “escape” this, if thou continue to “neglect so great salvation,” or to slight the tenders of such redeeming grace?— The omniscient JEHOVAH Himself, knoweth not how.

But if thou wilt now come to Christ, and receive Him, as the gift, the divinely free gift of God, to sinners of mankind, thou shalt be saved, thou shalt be redeemed from the curse of the law; thou shalt not be hurt of the second death; but on the contrary, shalt inherit everlasting life. Come to Him, I beseech thee, come without delay, and he will exalt thee, to communion with himself in his righteousness, to conformity to him in his image, and to the enjoyment of him in perfect blessedness for evermore.

CHAP. XII. Objections Answered.

1. It is objected by some, That, “if unbelievers who hear the gospel, are under the commanding power of the covenant of works, they must be under two opposite commands, at one and the same time; namely, a command to fulfil a perfect righteousness in their own persons, and at the same time, a command to seek it by faith, in Christ the Surety of a better covenant.”

In answer to this, It will be sufficient only to observe, That though the law in its covenant-form, requires of them who are under it, a perfect active and passive righteousness, in their own persons; and at the same time, upon the revelation and offer of Christ in the gospel, as JEHOVAH our Righteousness, requires, that they 'believe in him as such; yet, as in various other cases, it requires both the one and the other of these, not, as they say, in senso composito, but in senso DIVISO. The law is content to receive and sustain as good, the payment which is presented to it, by a responsible Surety, and directs, or commands sinners, being of themselves utterly insolvent, thankfully, and without delay, .to receive that spotless righteousness which, in the gospel, is offered to them. But until convinced, of their total want of a righteousness of their own, they accept and plead that glorious righteousness, in their own behalf, the holy law does, and will go on, in its just demands upon them. Having no pleasure in the sinful creature, by reason of unfaithfulness, the law can easily admit of its marriage to another husband, upon a lawful divorce, after due reckoning, and full satisfaction for all the violations of its honor, which have been committed. But when sinners, not disposed to hear of any such motion, still continue to cleave to the law their first husband, it is not to be wondered at, if the holy law in that case, go on to treat them as they deserve.

The law, accordingly, says to all who are under the dominion of it in its covenant-form,—Make full payment yourselves, or else find me sufficient payment by a surety;—till you do so, I will continue to proceed against you, without mercy. Unbelievers, therefore, are justly condemned by the law; both, because they “continue not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them,” and, because they “believe not in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”

2. It is objected, That “man is not now in a friendly covenant with God; that God cannot justly require from man, that which he is unable to perform; and that it would not be becoming, in a sinful and condemned creature, to trust in God and love him, as his own God.”

In reply, it may suffice only to observe, That though man has forfeited, all friendly connection and intercourse with God, yet he is still his reasonable and dependent creature; and, that man’s sinning away his strength, and thereby disqualifying himself for obedience, cannot deprive God of his right to demand it. Ought the infinitely righteous JEHOVAH, to speak with reverence, to be punished with the loss of his authority, if man but chooses to rebel against it? Cannot God require obedience from man, though man has rendered himself unable to perform it; in order to convince him of his sinfulness, and to make his conscience, approve his punishment? If Christ is offered in the gospel, to sinners of mankind, as an all-sufficient Savior, and if they are kindly invited, and even commanded, to embrace him as such; can it be unbecoming in them, to confide in him and love him? If the justice, or holiness, or power of JEHOVAH, is terrible to them, they have not Him, but themselves to blame. Are not sinners on earth, nay, are not sinners even in hell, eternally bound. to love God, and to love even that justice, and holiness, and power in Him, the glory of which, he manifests in their everlasting destruction?

3. It is objected too, That “the Scriptures nowhere, make express mention of a promise of eternal life, made by God to Adam, for himself and his posterity, upon condition of his perfect obedience to the divine law.”

To this it may be replied, That though the Scriptures do not make express mention, of God’s having made a promise of eternal life, to Adam and his posterity, on the. ground of his perfect obedience, as their representative; yet, by just and natural deductions, from express passages compared together, it is sufficiently evident, as has been shown in the preceding pages, that he made such a promise to him. It is justly inferred—from the express threatening of death in all its extent, for sin from the tree of life, which, as Adam evidently knew, was a sign and seal of that promise of life and from the repeated declarations, “That the man which doeth those things, shall live by them.” Though Moses is sparing, and therefore in some degree obscure, in the account which he gives us of that promise, and of most of the other matters, respecting a covenant which was so very soon violated; yet, doubtless, they were all distinctly revealed to the first man.

4. It is often urged, That “since the promises of the new covenant, are in Scripture, said to be better than those of the old, the promise of eternal life in heaven, was not a promise of that old covenant.”

To this I would answer; The promises of the new covenant are said to be better than those of the old, not so much, in respect of the matter or subject of them, for the same eternal life was the subject of both, as in respect of the manner of their being procured, proposed, and applied. The promises of the covenant of grace, as the performance of them was procured, not by the obedience of a mere man, but by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, are more freely, more absolutely, more clearly, and more efficaciously exhibited; and by him, as the Mediator of this better covenant, are more closely applied, and their accomplishment more amply secured, than that of the promises of the covenant of works. According to the promises of the covenant of grace, not only is that assistance, which was afforded to Adam, granted to believers, without which, they cannot persevere in holiness; but, that assistance with which, they cannot but persevere. Besides, in the covenant of works, it was life only, which was promised; whereas, in the covenant of grace, not only is life promised, but also salvation from death. In the old covenant, life was promised to the man who was perfect and was deserving, upon the ground of his own perfect obedience; but in the new covenant, it is promised to the believer, who in himself is a sinner, and is altogether unworthy of it, upon the ground of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to him.

5. It is sometimes urged, against what is advanced in proof of the reality of the covenant of works, from the threatening of eternal death, annexed to the precept, That “a threatening of eternal death in hell, is inseparable from the moral law, considered as the law of creation, or the law of nature.”

To this I would reply, That though in respect of intrinsical demerit, sin justly deserves eternal death in hell, and that though, on the supposition that sin was to be committed, the penalty of the covenant of works, flowed from essential properties of the Divine nature; yet I humbly apprehend, it will be impossible to prove, that a threat of eternal death in hell, is inseparable from the law of nature, or the moral law, considered merely as the law of nature. The obligation to obey that law, because it results, both from the nature of God, and from the nature of the rational creature, is infinite, eternal, and immutable; and therefore glorified saints, and confirmed angels, are all naturally, necessarily, immutably, and eternally obliged, perfectly to love and obey JEHOVAH, and to make Him their ultimate end, in all that they do. But it will, I think, be impossible to prove, that they have a threatening of eternal death in hell, annexed to the law which they are thus obliged, perfectly and perpetually to obey. A true believer likewise, in the present world, is under the same moral law as his mile of duty; and is naturally, necessarily, unchangeably, and eternally obliged, to perform perfect obedience to it as such. While he transgresses it daily, every one of his transgressions, deserves eternal death in hell; and yet, no one of them, lays him, for the smallest moment, under the threatening of eternal death, or the condemning sentence of the law as a covenant of works, The threatening of eternal death, is actually, or in fact separated, from the precepts of the natural or moral law as a rule of life, under which, believers united to Christ are. It was not, then, the law as a necessary and eternal rule of duty, to the reasonable creature; but the law as having received the form of a covenant of works, that had a threatening of eternal death in hell, annexed to it.

6. It is also objected, That “the separation of the soul and body from each other, by death, was not the penalty of the law; otherwise, the souls of the wicked could not be again clothed with their bodies, at the last day.”

In reply to this, let it suffice briefly to say, That such a separation was not the whole, but only a part, of the penalty which was threatened; and, that there is no more inconsistency, in comprehending both the separation, and the reunion, of the sinner’s soul and body, in the penal sanction of the first covenant, than there is in comprehending, in a sentence of death from a human tribunal, the laying up of the malefactor in prison, for execution, and afterward the leading of him forth to it, on the day appointed. It was an article in the penalty of the first covenant, that the soul and body of the transgressor, should first be separated from one another, and afterward be reunited, in order that it might be fully executed upon them.

7. It is sometimes urged against the Divine imputation, of the first sin of Adam, to his natural posterity, That “though in sacred writ, action is. often said to be imputed or reckoned to one, yet it is no other, than his own action or deed.”

In replying to this objection, I have no concern with any kind of action, which in Scripture is said to be imputed, but sinful action only. Now it is so far from being true, that sinful action, is in Scripture often said to be imputed, or accounted to a man, when it is no other than his own action or deed, or his own personal sin; that as far as I have been able to observe, it is only once, that it is said to be imputed, or laid to his charge. The amount of the argument in the objection, then, is no more than this: The original term rendered to impute, is in Scripture used once, to express God’s imputing of sin to persons, where there is any evidence, that it is their own act or deed, but never so much as once, to express his imputing of Adam’s first sin; therefore Adam’s first sin, is not imputed to his natural posterity. Now, though in the passage above referred to, the original word, which is often rendered imputed, is used to express personal sin, the very act or deed done by the persons there spoken of; yet, this word’s being not so much as once, used to express the imputation of Adam’s first sin, does no more argue that, that sin of his is not imputed to his posterity, than it argues, that unbelief, pride, persecution, oppression, theft, lying, adultery, idolatry, perjury, and many other sins, are not imputed to the persons who committed them; because that word, though so often occurring in Scripture, is never once used, to express the imputation of any one of those kinds of sin.

If it shall here be said, That though those sins are not expressly said to be imputed, yet other words are used, which do as certainly imply, that they are imputed to them who committed them, as if it had been said in express terms; so say I, with regard to the imputation of Adam’s first sin. The thing expressed by the term imputed, may be as certainly expressed by using other terms, as if that term were used; nay, more certainly, because the words used instead of it, may serve to explain the meaning of that term. Though therefore the term imputed, is not, in Scripture, used with respect to Adam’s first sin, yet there it is recorded, that— “All have sinned;” that— “by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners;” that— “the judgment was by one, to condemnation;” that— “by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation;” that— “through the offence of one, many are dead;” and that by this means,— “death passed upon all men.” These phrases, amount to a proper and full explication, of the term imputed; and, therefore, do more clearly determine the point in question.

8. It is used as an argument, against the doctrine of the imputation of Adam’s first sin, to his posterity, That “the sacred Scriptures represent the righteous Judge, at the great day, as dealing with men singly, rendering to every man according to his works.”

The force of this objection will evanish, if we consider what the great design, of that public and general judgment, will be. The design of it will not be, to afford the omniscient Judge, an opportunity of finding out, what men are, or what punishment or reward, may be proper for them, or what judgment he should pass on them; which is the design of trials, before a human tribunal: but it will be, to manifest what men are, to their own consciences, and to assembled worlds. Hence the day or judgment, is styled the day of the “revelation, of the righteous judgment of God.” In order to make it manifest to themselves, and to the universe, what men are, the righteous Judge will, at that day, make use of proofs or evidences. Now the proper evidences of that depravity of heart, which ensued, and still continues to ensue, upon the first sin of Adam imputed, are the personal works of men. The special design, then, of that public and solemn judgment, will be, to make a complete, and distinction among men; to manifest the difference, both in point of state, and of disposition, which subsists among them; in order to that awful separation, and that inexpressibly great difference, in their everlasting retribution, which are to follow. The righteous Judge, in order to manifest their real state and disposition, will at that day, judge men according to their personal works. But to inquire, in that solemn day, whether men are to be considered as one with Adam, and so partakers with him, in his first sin, can have no manner of tendency, to manifest their distinction from one another, either in the one of those respects, or in the other.

9. It is objected, That “if the posterity of Adam come into the world, under the guilt of his first sin, and under the corruption of their whole nature, it must disparage the goodness of God, in giving them their being; which they ought to receive with thankfulness, as a special gift of his beneficence, and a fundamental fruit of his liberality.”

This objection, is founded on the supposed truth of a thing in dispute, and therefore is a begging of the question. It is built on this supposition; That the posterity of Adam, are not to be considered as one with him, or as included in him, in the state in which God at first created him, and in his having fallen, from that holy and happy state. If they are one with him, it becomes them, gratefully to acknowledge the great goodness of the LORD to them, in the happy state, in which they were at first, created and placed, and in the fair opportunity, with which they were then favored, of obtaining confirmation in endless felicity; and at the same time, humbly to confess it, as a deep aggravation of their apostasy, that they were so basely ungrateful, as to rebel against their all-bountiful Creator. If the meaning of the objection be, That it cannot consist with the goodness of God, to give their being to mankind, in a state of misery, whatever the conduct of Adam might have been, whether he chose to sin, or not to sin; I would reply:—If it is justly so ordered, that posterity should descend from Adam, and that these posterity of his, should be deemed one with him, as their natural root, and covenant-representative; then, it is no more contrary to the goodness of God, to give being to his posterity, in a state of punishment or misery, than it is, to continue the being of the same individual sinner, that by his personal wickedness, has rendered himself guilty, in a state of punishment or misery. If the objector still urge, That it cannot be justly so ordered, that Adam should have descendants, who should be regarded as one with him; it is a begging of the question.

10. It is urged, That “to suppose persons, to be born with depravity of nature, is to make him, who is the Author of their nature, the Author of their depravity.”

I answer: The Scripture doctrine of the universal corruption of human nature, since the fall, were it to imply, that the nature of man, is corrupted by positive influence, by evil dispositions, infused or implanted in it; it would, I admit, be liable to such an objection. But it neither implies, nor infers, any such thing. In order to account for the total depravity of the heart of man, there is not the smallest need of supposing, that any evil disposition, is infused or implanted in his nature; or, that such a disposition in it, is owing to any positive influence, either from the Creator or the creature. The want of original rectitude, or the absence of positive principles of goodness, and the withholding of Divine influence to impart and maintain them; leaving the common principles of self-love, and of natural appetite, which man in his state of innocence had, to themselves, without the government of superior Divine principles, will certainly be followed by the total corruption of the heart, without any positive influence at all. Thus it was, that a total corruption of nature seized Adam, as soon as he fell, and still seizes all his natural posterity, as having sinned in him, and fallen with him. But God’s withdrawing, of that spiritual and gracious influence, from fallen Adam, and withholding of it, from each of his descendants, as soon as he comes into existence, without which, his nature falls under corruption, do not, in the smallest degree, render that holy ONE, the Author of sin.

11. It has been objected, against the posterity of Adam’s being believed, to come into the world, under a forfeiture of the Divine blessing, and an obnoxiousness to the curse, through his first sin; That, “upon the restoration of the world after the flood, God pronounced equivalent, nay, greater blessings on Noah and his sons, than he did, on Adam at his creation, when he said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,” &c.

To this I would reply: It is no more an evidence, of the posterity of Adam’s being not included in the threatening, denounced for his eating of the forbidden fruit, that they still have the temporal blessings of fruitfulness, and of a kind of dominion over the creatures, continued to them; than it is an evidence, of Adam’s being not included himself, in that threatening: for he had those blessings continued to him; he was fruitful, and had in some sense, dominion over the creatures, after his fall, equally with his descendants. Besides, there is good ground to believe, that the benefits included in those benedictions, which JEHOVAH had pronounced on Noah and his descendants, were granted on a new foundation; on the foundation of a covenant of grace, made and established with Christ the second Adam; of a constitution, the design of which is, to deliver sinners from the curse, which came upon them, by the sin of the first Adam, and to bring them to the enjoyment of greater blessings, than ever he possessed in his state of innocence. Noah, had his name prophetically given to him, by Lamech his father; because, by his seed, deliverance was to be obtained from the curse, which came upon mankind by the sin of Adam. “And he called his name Noah,”—which signifies REST, “saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work, and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” According to the intent of this prophecy, were the blessings pronounced on Noah, after the deluge. That those blessings, were conveyed in the channel of the covenant of grace, and through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, is evident, from their having been obtained by means of sacrifice, or bestowed, as the effects of Divine favor to sinners of mankind; which was the consequence, of JEHOVAH’S smelling a sweet savor, in the sacrifice which Noah offered. Now it is evident, that the ancient sacrifices, and that one in particular, could not obtain the favor of God, otherwise than in virtue of the relation, which they bore to the sacrifice of Messiah. The LORD, on occasion of the redemption which is in Jesus Christ, deals with the generality of mankind, in their present state, in a manner very different, from what he otherwise would have done. He affords them, as subjects capable of redeeming mercy, free and full offers of salvation, a day of grace, and of forbearance, and a great variety of temporal good things.

But besides the sense in which, the descendants of Noah in general, may be said to partake of those blessings, Noah himself, and all the individuals of his posterity, who have obtained like precious faith with that, which he exercised, when he offered up his sacrifice, have, in union with Christ, dominion over the creatures, in a far nobler sense, than Adam in innocence had. By the covenant of grace, as they are made kings and priests unto God, and reign with Christ, all things are theirs. They partake with Christ, of that dominion over the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, mentioned in the eighth Psalm; which, by the apostle Paul, is interpreted of the dominion of Christ, over the world. The time accordingly is coming, when the most part of the posterity of Noah and his sons, shall partake of this more excellent dominion over the creatures, through Him in whom, “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” And we are under no necessity of supposing, That those blessings are to be completely bestowed, till many ages after they were granted by promise, any more than the blessing of Japhet, expressed in these words:— “God shall enlarge Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.” Now, that men have certain blessings through grace, is no evidence whatever, that they are not justly exposed to the curse, by nature; nay, it is an evidence of the contrary: for if they did not deserve the awful curse, they could not with any propriety, be said to depend on free grace, and on an Almighty Redeemer, for the removal of it, and for bringing them, into a state of reconciliation with God.

12. It is objected too, That “our having come into the world, under the power of moral depravity, or, of moral inability to obey the law of God, is at least very obscurely and sparingly hinted, in the sacred Oracles; and, that a doctrine so very important, had it been true, would, doubtless, have been plainly, and even frequently mentioned.”

In reply to this, it may suffice to say; It is indeed true, that the doctrine of the universal depravity of human nature, in all the natural descendants of Adam, is a very important one; but that it is either obscurely, or sparingly hinted, in the Oracles of truth, is altogether false. There is such a number of passages in the Old, and especially in the New Testament, expressive of it, as exhibits the fullest, and most undeniable, evidence of the truth of this fundamental article. There are, indeed, few doctrines of Scripture, which are taught more expressly, or more plainly. To cite all the passages, which might be brought in proof of it, would be, to transcribe a great part of the Sacred Volume. But supposing it were true, that this doctrine was sparingly taught in Scripture; yet, if we find that it is indeed taught, that there is good evidence of its being held forth to us, by any one passage, it becomes us cordially to receive a doctrine, which He thus teaches us; and not, instead of this, to prescribe to him, how often he shall express it, or to insist upon knowing his reasons, for expressing it no oftener, or no plainer, before we believe him. Were we to suppose this objection, to be a reasonable one, the ancient Sadducees, might have argued their cause successfully, against our Blessed Lord, when he blamed them, for not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God; and for not knowing from the Scriptures, that there would be a resurrection, to spiritual and eternal enjoyment. They might have urged, That those doctrines if true, were very important, and, therefore, ought to have been more frequently, more directly, and more plainly taught. And to Christ’s argument for a resurrection, from God’s calling himself, in the books of Moses, “the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,” they might have replied, That Moses was commissioned to teach the people, the will of God; and, therefore, that if that doctrine were true, he ought to have taught it, plainly and frequently; and not to have left the people, to find out such an important doctrine, from God’s saying, that he is “the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.”

13. It is also objected, That “such a doctrine, has a tendency to create and promote melancholy.”

My reply to this, shall be very short. Suppose a man, by what means, or in what manner soever, to have become a sinner, and to be thereby exposed to the wrath of God; if ever he begin to have the eyes of his mind opened, and to have arrows of conviction fastened in his heart, reflection on the state of his soul, cannot but tend to fill him with sorrow. In such a state, till he become sincerely willing to trust in Christ, for all his salvation, and to forsake all his sins, he may well be filled with dread and sadness of heart. There is nothing, in the doctrine of our having come into the world, under the dominion of moral depravity, which has the remotest tendency to promote gloominess of spirit, or to hinder cheerfulness, in a man who can find in his heart, a sincere willingness to confide in the Lord Jesus Christ, for all his salvation, and to depart from the love and practice of all iniquity. Nay, on the contrary, it is only he who believes, and who is suitably influenced, by a true belief of that doctrine, that in due time, attains to “joy unspeakable, and full of glory.”

14. It is by some urged as an objection, against the doctrine of our having come into the world, under the guilt and dominion of sin, That “it tends to beget in us, a bad opinion of each other, and to promote ill nature, and hatred of one another.”

To this I would answer, That our conviction, and hearty acknowledgement of our having come into the world, under the power of sin, tend rather to promote humility, and self-abhorrence; and on the contrary, that our disowning of the sin and guilt, which indeed belong to us, and our laboring to persuade ourselves and others, that we are greatly better than in truth we are, tend to produce pride and self-sufficiency. Now, it is evident from the experience of mankind in general, as well as from the Scriptures of truth, That it is pride, which is the great source of all the hatred, malice, and contention, which prevail so much in the world; and that nothing, so powerfully promotes the opposite tempers, as humility. Nothing has, in the hand of the Spirit of Christ, a greater tendency to promote mercy, gentleness, forbearance, forgiving of injuries, and every other amiable disposition, than a true sense of the infinite need we have, of the Divine forbearance and forgiveness, and a well-grounded hope of obtaining mercy, through the blood of the Lamb. Such a doctrine serves to teach us, that by nature, we are all companions in a most sinful, miserable, and helpless condition; which, under a revelation and belief of redeeming mercy, tends exceedingly to promote mutual compassion and good will.

15. Another objection which is urged against that doctrine, is, That “it pours contempt, upon the nature of man.”

Here I must be permitted to observe, That not the smallest contempt is, by this doctrine, poured upon the noble facilities of human nature, or, upon the exalted employment, or immortal happiness, of which it was made capable. As to the moral state of mankind, it cannot, I presume, be denied, that confusion of face belongs to them, who either by nature, or by practice, have sinned. If this is our natural character, if as we come into the world, we are really sinful, and consequently miserable, he acts only the part of a friend to us, who endeavors fully to discover to us, our disease; whereas on the other hand, he acts the part of an enemy, who strives to hide it from us, and so in effect does all that he can, to prevent our having recourse to a remedy from that, which if not remedied in time, must finally bring us to shame, and everlasting contempt.—It seems this doctrine is not complaisant enough. It is confessedly far, from being suited to the taste of those among us, who are so delicate, as to be able to bear nothing but flattery.

16. Finally, It is objected that “to teach persons, That sin belongs to their very nature, or in other words, that it is natural, and therefore in some sense necessary, tends to encourage them in all manner of iniquity.”

In answer to this, let it suffice to say, That if this doctrine, which teaches that sin is natural to us, does at the same time, inform us, that it is not the less sinful, nor the less hateful to an infinitely holy God, nor the less deserving of his eternal wrath, nor the less to be condemned that it is natural; then, it does not, it cannot in the least degree, encourage the commission of sin. Is it just or reasonable, to represent it as encouraging a man willfully to neglect, or continue under, a malignant disease, without seeking for a cure; to tell him, That his distemper is real, inveterate, in the highest degree fatal, and what he can never cure himself of, and then, to direct him to a skillful physician, who is able and willing to heal him? The application is obvious.

CHAP. XIII. Conclusion.

From what has, in the preceding pages, been advanced, we may learn in general the following things:

First, That Adam by his first sin, corrupted human nature, and human nature as such, being corrupted, corrupts every human creature, that by ordinary generation descends from him. Adam’s person first corrupted our nature; and our common nature, being corrupted, corrupts our persons. The depravity of every individual man, is the depravity of his nature. He is by nature a sinner, before he begins as a person, to commit actual sin.

Secondly, Was the first covenant but as it were a scaffold, erected for the building up of mercy, in the second covenant? How magnificent, then, how glorious, must that building of mercy be! And how transcendently glorious, must this covenant of redeeming grace be, according to which, it is, and “shall be, built up for ever!” This is that edifice, which redeeming grace is erecting for sinners of mankind; into which, they who believe are received, and where they shall dwell for evermore. While the plan of this building was drawn, and the foundation of it laid deep, in the eternal counsel of JEHOVAH; every stone, from the foundation to the cope-stone, is unmerited kindness, is free, unsolicited mercy. And the day is coming, when our Lord Jesus Christ, whose office it is, to “build the temple of the LORD,” will “bring forth the head-stone thereof,” the crowning mercy, “with shouting’s;” and then, all the redeemed will cry, “Grace, grace unto it.” Oh, what a splendid, what a glorious fabric will this be, which is to “be built up forever;” which is to continue to be built up, not only in time, but through all eternity!

Thirdly, Hence also we may learn, how we ought to use the moral law. We should, in the hand of faith, present the spotless righteousness of Jesus Christ, to it as a covenant of works, and our own sincere obedience, flowing from a principle of faith, to it as a rule of life. Since we cannot now, answer its high and righteous demands, we should attempt to present no righteousness to it, as it is a covenant of works, but the consummate righteousness of the second Adam, received by faith; and no obedience to it, as it is a rule of duty, but our own personal obedience. To offer to present our own performances, to it as a covenant, would be legalism; to attempt to present the righteousness of Christ, to it as a rule, would be antinomianism. To present our own obedience, along with that of Christ, to it as a covenant, and the obedience of Christ, along with our own, to it as a rule, would be, to be guilty at once, both of legal pride, and of antinomian licentiousness. “The law is good, if a man use it lawfully.” It is of use to the unregenerate, to convince them, in the hand of the Spirit, of their sin and misery, to plough up the fallow ground of their heart; and so to be their school-master to bring them to Christ, that they may be justified by faith. To the regenerate, it is of manifold use. It serves to discover to them, more and more of the strength, malignity, odiousness, and demerit of their sin; and so, to make them more highly esteem Christ, whose righteousness completely answers both the precept, and the penalty of it. It is likewise of use to impel them, to trust more in Christ, for pardoning mercy and sanctifying grace; and to excite them, to express their thankfulness to him, for his fulfilling of it as a covenant, by pressing after more conformity to it, as the rule of their obedience.

Fourthly, Hence likewise we may see, what it is to be a legalist, A legalist, is one who leans or cleaves to the law, in its covenant-form. He obeys it, in his own strength; obeys it, in order that his obedience may secure him, from the execution of its curse, and entitle him to the performance of its promise. He expects eternal life, only as it was promised in that covenant, and pretends to serve God, that God may save him. In every extremity, he looks for comfort, to the works of the law. In the prospect of trouble, it comforts him to think, that he has committed few sins, and performed many duties. In the prospect even of death and of judgment, it affords him no small consolation to think, that he has done something, which will contribute to make him die in peace, and stand in judgment, which others have not; that he has made many a prayer, and on many occasions, has prayed with much liveliness of frame, and ardor of affection. Thus, he “hatches cockatrice-eggs, and weaves the spider’s web;” he spins and weaves a garment, out of his own bowels. Here, he wraps himself up and shelters himself, whenever he apprehends danger. Here, he dwells, here, he feeds, here, he works. He is alive to the law; and since he is under the commanding and condemning power, of the law as a covenant, he is under the commanding and condemning power of sin. The law commands him, and he obeys it; sin commands him, and he obeys it also, and by his duties, pacifies his conscience, when at any time, it accuses him of having committed sins. He at the same time, persuades himself, that he has believed in Jesus Christ. While the true believer performs gospel-obedience to the law, the legalist, exercises a legal faith of the gospel. He believes, before he be convinced of his unwillingness, or inability to believe; before he see from the word, his warrant to do so; and before he have a humbling discovery, of his absolute need of a Savior, either from sin, or from wrath. A legalist, then, is one who cleaves to the law as a covenant of works. Not that he loves, or delights in the law of the Lord, either as it is a covenant, or as it is a rule. On the contrary, he disregards, he despises it. To such a degree, does he despise it in its covenant-form, as to present to it, his own poor and polluted performances, instead of the all-perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing but proud, but gross, ignorance both of the law and of the gospel, can account for the temper and conduct of the legalist.

Fifthly, Is the first covenant, an unalterable constitution? Are none saved from the curse of it, but upon condition of Christ’s answering all the high demands of it, in their stead? Hence we may learn, That to presume to substitute a new law, requiring faith, repentance, and sincere obedience, as the conditions of eternal life, in the place of the moral law, requiring perfect obedience, as the condition of it, is to set aside or make void, this pure and perfect law. To tell us, that God has now given us a new law, in place of the original law of the ten commandments; that sincere obedience to this new law, is our righteousness; and, that this sincere obedience gives a title, not merely to Christ and to pardon of sin, but even to eternal life itself,—is to undermine, the whole authority of the Divine law. Such persons, undermine at once, the commanding, and the condemning, power of the law; for as they themselves, can do nothing but what is imperfect, they show that they consider the law, as loss rigorous in its demands, then it really is or can be. Whatever their pretensions, to a superior concern for the interests of holiness, be, they are in fact, the greatest enemies of the holy law. Under the mask of being advocates for the honor of the law, they are among the worst of antinomians.

Sixthly, Hence also we may see, how much of conviction of sin and misery, is requisite to the exercise of saving faith in Jesus Christ. So much of it is necessary, as will render the sinner dead to the law. To live by faith, is to live to God. Now, the sinner must, “through the law, be dead to the law, that he may live to God.” As much of conviction, then, is necessary to the exercise of justifying and saving faith, as will serve to make the sinner entirely despair of life, by the works of the law; as will serve to destroy his legal hope, or to make him disclaim all confidence in his own righteousness, for eternal life; and so, to render him dead to the law, as it is a covenant of works. This conviction, is not necessary as a conditional article, to render it warrantable for him, to believe or trust in Jesus for salvation; but it is necessary, as a motive io urge him.

Finally, Is my reader, to the praise of the glory of redeeming grace, delivered from the broken covenant of works? Bless the LORD for delivering thee, and for that adorable Redeemer, who is the end of the law for righteousness to thee. He hath delivered thy soul from death, thine eyes from tears, and thy feet from falling; and, therefore, thou art under the strongest obligations, to live to Him, and to walk before Him, in the land of the living. Search frequently the Scriptures, that thou mayest more clearly see, from what, redeeming grace, reigning through his spotless, his law-magnifying righteousness, has delivered thee; and that thou mayest have deeper impressions of thy infinite obligations to Him, and to God in him. How exalted is thy privilege! Thou through the law, art dead to the law; art delivered from it as a covenant, that thou mayest live, and live to God, thy own reconciled, thy covenant-God, in obedience to it as a rule. Advance daily, therefore, in conformity of heart and of life to it, as thy unalterable rule of life, in the hand of the glorious Mediator. Be as careful, in the faith of the promise, to maintain good works, as if they were to entitle thee to heaven; and depend as little on them, for a title to eternal life, as if thou hadst never so much as performed one of them. Trust with unshaken confidence, in the last Adam, thy blessed covenant-Head, for increasing supplies of his Spirit; and, through the Spirit, mortify the remains of the legal temper, that dwell in thee. The more thou diest, in thy inclination, and thy exercise, to the law as a covenant; the more wilt thou live, and be lively, in spiritual and evangelical obedience to it as a rule. The death of thy legal hope, thou wilt find to be the life of thy evangelical obedience.

To the Lord Jesus, I commend thee, in whom thou believest, and upon whose righteousness and fulness, thou livest. May He strengthen thy faith, establish thy heart in his love and fear, and enable thee daily, on new covenant-ground, to walk with him in newness of life: To whom, with the Father, and the Eternal Spirit, three Persons in One JEHOVAH, be everlasting praise, honor, and glory. Amen.

THE END.

APPENDIX. – Scripture References.

In the original edition of this book, there were a considerable amount of scripture references in the margins. They have been listed here by Chapter in the order they appeared. Duplicate scripture references within a specific chapter have been omitted.

CHAP. I.

Gal. 4:24; Gal. 3:12,13; Luk. 3:38; Gen. 3:12; 1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 3:27; Rom. 7:10; Rom. 10:5; Eph. 2:12; Heb. 8:13; Heb. 9:15; Gal. 3:10,13; 1 Cor. 15:45,47; Gen. 2:16,17; Gen. 3:2,3; Gal. 4:4,5; Rom. 7:4,6; Rom. 8:2.

CHAP. II.

Gen. 2:16; Rom. 10:5; Luk. 10:28; Gen. 2:16,17; Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 3:22; Job 35:10; Gen. 1:26; Heb. 8:10; Gen. 1:31; Acts 17:26; Gen. 1:28,29; Gen. 3:19; Gen. 2:18,24; 1 Cor. 15:47,48; Heb. 2:11,14; Jer. 33:16; 1 Cor. 12:12; Gen. 3:20; Gen. 9:9; Gen. 12:3; Gen. 17:2,7,8; Num. 25:12,13; 2 Sam. 7:16; Gen. 9:25-27; 1 Cor. 15:21,22; Gen. 3:17; Eph. 2:3; 1 Cor. 15:47-49; Eph. 5:23; Gen. 3:9; Matth. 5:18; Rom. 7:4.

CHAP. III.

Jer. 10:6,7; Lev. 18:5; Rom. 7:10; Rom. 8:3; Eccl. 7:29; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24; Gen. 2:7,15-17; 1 Sam. 13:14; Psalm. 111:9; Jam. 2:10; Psalm. 51:4; 1 Tim. 1:5; Matth. 22:37; Luk. 10:27; 1 Cor. 10:31; Gal.3:10; Mar. 12:30; Matth. 22:37-39; Rom. 5:12-15; Ezek. 18:24; Gal. 3:12; Phil. 3:8,9.

CHAP. IV.

Lev. 18:5; Rom. 10:5; Gen. 4:6,7; Neh. 9:29; Ezek. 20:11; Gal. 3:12; Rom. 2:8,9; Matth. 19:17; Heb. 11:6,26; Psalm. 19:11; Gen. 2:9; Gen. 2:17; Gal. 3:11,12; Matth. 19:16,17; Luk. 10:28; Rom. 6:23; Matth. 25:46; Gen. 3:22-24; Rom. 8:3,4; Rom. 3:19,20; Rev. 1:5,6; Eph. 5:30; Joh. 14:19; Rom. 1:35; Luk. 18:11; Rom. 8:7; Eph. 5:8; Joh. 3:36; Gal. 3:21; Matth. 25:32-46.

CHAP. V.

Gen. 2:17; Gal. 3:10; Heb. 9:27; Gen. 3:19; Gen. 3:17; Rom. 8:22; Psalm. 102:23; Psalm. 90:10; 2 Pet. 3:10; Eph. 4:18; Psalm. 30:5; Eph. 2:12; Gen. 3:8; Eph. 2:1; Psalm. 14:1,3; Heb. 2:1; 1 Tim. 5:6; 2 Tim. 3:13; 2 Thess. 1:7-8; Matth. 25:41; Matth. 19:17; Rev. 14:19,20; Mar. 9:44; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:6; Rev. 14:11; Matth. 25:46; Dan. 12:2; Heb. 6:2; Isa. 33:14; Jude 5:7; Matth. 13:42; Mar. 9:43; Exod. 34:7; 2 Tim. 2:13; Hab. 1:13; Psalm. 5:4-6; Prov. 16:5; 2 Cor. 6:14; Isa. 5:16; Jos. 24:19; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 1:32; Rom. 3:25,26; Hos. 10:10; Isa. 1:24; Deut. 28:63; Exod. 15:11; Eph. 3:18,19; Rom. 10:4.

CHAP. VI.

Gen. 2:9; Gen. 3:4; Rev. 2:7; Rev. 22:2; Gen. 3:24; Gen. 2:16,17; Gen. 3:3,6; Joh. 11:25,26; Isa. 55:2.

CHAP. VII.

Deut. 32:4; Isa. 28:29; Rom. 12:1.

CHAP. VIII.

Psalm. 14:1-4; Rom. 3:10-23; Rom. 5:18; Isa. 42:7; Zech. 9:11,12; Rom. 1:18; Psalm. 78:10,37; Rom. 5:14; Gen. 3:4-6; Gen. 2:16,17; 1 Joh. 5:10; Isa. 14:13-15; Rom. 5:12; Psalm. 49:12; Eccl. 7:29; Jam. 3:13; Mal. 3:6; Jam. 1:17; Rom. 11:33; Gen. 1:31; Gen. 3:1-6; Rev. 20:2; 2 Cor. 11:3; 2 Cor. 3:5; Psalm. 89:2; Hab. 2:4; Heb. 10:38,39; 1 Joh. 5:13; Rom. 7:4.

CHAP. IX.

Rom. 5:13-19; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 5:14; Psalm. 51:5; Luk. 3:38; 1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 3:10; Job 14:4; Joh. 3:6; Jer. 3:5; Isa. 1:5,6; Eccl. 9:18; Rom. 11:33; Heb. 10:22; Isa. 61:10.

CHAP. X.

Gal. 3:10,12; Matth. 5:18; Matth. 19:17; Rom. 10:5; Rom. 8:3,4; Rom. 2:13; Rom. 3:20; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 7:4; Rom. 10:4; Rom. 3:31; Gal. 5:3; Rom. 11:14; Rom. 8:1; Rom. 3:19; 1 Joh. 3:23; Joh. 3:36; 1 Cor. 15:56; Rom. 6:14; Gal. 3:19; Joh. 3:18,36; Gal. 5:18; Gal. 3:2; Rom. 7:6; Rom. 10:3,4; Rom. 3:27; Luk. 10:28; Exod. 5:18; Joh. 3:18; Gal. 3:23; Luk. 24:26; Heb. 9:22; Hos. 11:2; Rom. 7:5,8,11; Jer. 2:25; Rom. 1:30; Rom. 8:7; Gal. 4:21; Rom. 10:3; Rom. 7:9; Eph. 1:6; Rom. 9:31,32; Luk. 10:25; Acts 2:37; Ezek. 18:20; Gal. 5:1; Luk. 1:74,75.

CHAP. XI.

Gal. 3:10-13; Jam. 4:12; Prov. 3:33; Psalm. 37:22; Isa. 34:5; Exod. 34:7; Deut. 29:20,21; Psalm. 5:5; Joh. 3:36; Psalm. 7:12,13; Psalm. 11:6,7; Joh. 3:18; Gal. 3:13; Lev. 18:5; Deut. 27:26; Rom. 3:19; Psalm. 109:18; Isa. 59:2; Eph. 4:18; Eph. 2:13,13; Joh. 9:31; Psalm. 5:4,5; 1 Cor. 15:56; Psalm. 14:3; Rom. 11:32; Gal. 3:22,23; Isa. 61:1; 2 Tim. 3:13; Eph. 2:3; Mar. 7:21-23; 2 Cor. 7:1; Rom. 7:21,23; Jude 18; Joh. 8:44; Tit. 2:12; 1 Pet. 2:11; Tit. 3:3; Eph. 4:22; Jer. 17:9; 1 Tim. 6:9; 1 Tim. 6:9,10; Rom. 1:27; Isa. 57:10; Jer. 13:23; Job 21:14; 2 Cor. 4:3,4; Rom. 9:18; Jer. 12:1; Rom. 11:9; Deut. 29:4; Deut. 2:30; Rom. 1:18; 2 Thes. 2:10-12; Rom. 1:26; Eph. 4:19; 2 Pet. 2:14; Rom. 11:8; Isa. 29:10,11; Rom. 1:28; Psalm. 7:14; Job. 5:2; Prov. 18:14; Gen. 4:13; Matth. 27:3,4; Jer. 20:4; Isa. 33:14; Matth. 14:1,2; Acts 24:25; Isa. 17:11; Deut. 28:18; Gen. 3:7; Rom. 8:3; Rom. 7:13; Rom. 3:13; Hos. 6:5; Job. 35:10; Jer. 5:3; Isa. 1:5; Psalm. 73:6,8,9; Job. 21:14,15; Prov. 1:32; Isa. 14:20; Eccl. 1:13; Eccl. 1:18; Gen. 3:19; Haggai 1:6; Deut. 28:16,17; Rom. 8:21,22; Hos. 2:9,12; Prov. 23:5; Eccl. 6:2; Job. 18:18; Heb. 10:31; Job. 18:5,6; Luk. 16:22,23; Luk. 16:26; Heb. 9:27; Eccl. 7:7; Job. 14:17; Hos. 13:12; Amos. 8:7; Rom. 2:12; Luk. 16:23; Mar. 9:44,46,48; Psalm. 75:8; Luk. 16:24, 26; Matth. 25:41; 2 Kings. 10:29; Psalm. 49:14; Psalm. 16:10; Job. 14:13; Isa. 57:2; Job. 3:17,18; Job. 20:11; Nah. 1:14; Job. 24:19; Joh. 5:29; Isa. 66:24; Rev. 6:15-17; Matth. 25:33; Dan. 12:2; Rev. 1:7; Rev. 7:16,17; Psalm. 1:22; Eccl. 12:14; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rom. 8:20; Rev. 20:14,15; Psalm. 21:9; Matth. 22:13; Matth. 7:17; Isa. 9:20; Isa. 30:33; 2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 14:11; Psalm. 90:11; 1 Cor. 3:22; Isa. 25:8; 1 Cor. 15:55-57; Psalm. 40:6-8; Mal. 2:2; Acts 13:39; Rom. 6:14; 1 Joh. 5:11; Isa. 49:6,8; Joh. 3:16; Joh. 6:32; Rev. 20:10.

CHAP. XII.

Heb. 8:6; Joh. 5:24; Rom. 8:1; 2 Tim. 4:16; Rom. 2:5; Gen. 5:29; 1 Cor. 15:27; Heb. 2:7,8.

CHAP. XIII.

Rom. 7:22; Rom. 12:2; Isa. 59:5; Rom. 10:3.

Table of Contents

PREFACE.

INTRODUCTION.

1. CHAP. I. Proofs of a Covenant of Works.

2. CHAP. II. Of the Contracting Parties in that Covenant.

3. CHAP. III. Of the Condition of the First Covenant.

4. CHAP. IV. Of the Promise of the Covenant of Works.

5. CHAP. V. Of the Penal Sanction of the Covenant of Works.

6. CHAP. VI. Of the Seals of the Covenant of Works.

7. CHAP. VII. Of the Reasonableness of God’s Entering into a Covenant of Works with Man.

8. CHAP. VIII. Of the Breach of the First Covenant.

9. CHAP. IX. Of the Imputation of Adam’s First Sin to his Natural Posterity.

10. CHAP. X. Of the Subjection of Mankind, to the Broken Covenant of Works.

11. CHAP. XI. Of the Dreadful and Inevitable Misery of Mankind, Under the Curse of that Broken Covenant.

12. CHAP. XII. Objections Answered.

13. CHAP. XIII. Conclusion.

14. APPENDIX. – Scripture References.