154 Gofpel &emf scora. is part : Mark this, That which muff be the ground of the par- don of thy fin, mull' be that that muff fatisfe for thyfan paft, andfor all thyfins to come ; and that was opened unto you in opening the myfteries of godliiiefs in the Pardon and Juftifica- tion of a fanner. 2. Know this, that God accepts of duties, not for the duties themfelves, but becaufe he accepts of the perfon that performs them ; God does not accept of the duties, and then of the per- fon, that is not Gods way : but he accepts firff of the perfon, and then of the a&ions : God never accepts of what we do, till he accepts of our perlons ; As Abel, God had regard to Abel's perfonfirft, andthen to his offerings ; fo God has firft regard to the perfon of any man , and then to his Offerings : thou thinkeft thou art a poor wretched creature, and then thou thinkeft it may be, if I had fuch and fuch parts, and could do thus and thus, then God would accept of me ; I tell thee, all thy parts and performances are cart away, till Gcd accept of thy perfon. St. Paul was blamelefs according to the Law, and yet he accounted all lofsfor Chrift ; for he knew, that when God revealed the Gofpel to him, that he could not be accepted for his righteoufnefs ; but his perfon muff firft be acceped, and then his righteoufnefs : So that the way of new Obedience, and the work of Sand ification , are the qualifications of the man that is juftified ; but not the conditions required for the Juftification of his perfon ; 'tis not that that juftifies the foul, the Juftification of the foul comes not through thefe, but thefe flow from Juftification ; and untill a foul underftands this, he never rightly per- forms duties. Therefore further, to conclude this, though good Works and new Obedience are good Nurfes unto faith ; yet ifyou make thefe the other of your faith , your faith is but aBaftard faith ; thefe are not the right Mother of Faith : if your faith be begotten out of your Duties and Per- formances, and your faith have no other Mother than thefe, then your faith is illegitimate, and not true born , it has not the right Mother.; The right t'llother of faith, is the mani- feftationofthe freenefs of Gods grace in the Covenant of the Gofpcl,,fhewed btnto the Soul through the mediation of the Son Bf
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