Chap.2 I. and the Covenant of Grace. if5t with corruptible things, asflver and gold, but with the precious blood of Ch; aft, i Pet. i.18. . Secondly, To make a man meet for heaven; a man fo vile as finne makes , is a man fit for nothing but hell and muff have a change wrought before he be meet for heaven. Upon this ground the Apoffle is fo large in returning praife for the Coloffians : Gi- ving thanks unto the Father,who hath made ue meet to be partakers of the inheritance of Saints in light, Col. i. i 2. As alone the blood of Chrift fets free from hell, fo alone the Spirit of Chrift makes fit for heaven. This is done by a double work. r. Of regeneration or firft implantation of grace, which is cal- ed the birth of the Spirit, john 3. 5, 6. 2. By aging, improving carrying on this work of grace,_. which is properly fan&ificatìon ; fo that when the Spirit is gone thus farre here is a certainty of the obje &. It is fure , nothing more fure then this; that a regenerate, fan&ified man fhall be faved : But here is more required for a certainty of the fubje&. Here is certitudo de re; but more is required to attaine certitudmem de fe. If Peter do beleeve and repent, he (hall be faved , is out of contrdverfie ; But that Peter d oth beleeve and repent, is not alwayes fo foon difcovered : And this is the Spirits work as the former. It is not my buiineffe now to hold out what is the Spi- rits whole office in concluding our Affurance, but to Phew that the conditions of the Covenant are the bottome ground not of falvation, but of our evidence of intereft in falvation. We muff know that we do beleeve and repent before we have AfTurance, and we mul} firft beleeve and repent, before we know that we be- leeve and repent. if before faith and repentance there can be no falvation , then before we know we beleeve and repent, we can- not be affured of falvation : But without faith and repentance there is no falvation, Mark. 16. 16 He that beleeveth and is baptized, fhall be faved; but he that beleeveth not, (hall be damned. Luke 13. 3, 5. I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye fhall all likezvifeperifb. And how Aífurance can be gained without a pra- &ical fyllogifine and how a fyllogifme can be framed with any other medium, then the conditions of the Covenant is above my underftanding. A man is fo farre from abilities to conclude fal- vation without faith and repentance that he muficonclude him - felf to be in the faith,that he doth repent, before he can conclude any
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