200 An Expojt'tion of the cpijlle -~ And then, in the bl:t place, as 'it rcfpetl:s no Perfons, fo no Conditions S~. , which he gives Salvation to us, Pardon ofSin, Jul:tification, and Heaven at';;~~ "'- I Ety, that he cloth 1t freely without condnwn~. There ts mdced a Freedom tha~ Cod bath g1ven away, and that ts, by havmg made Prom1fes to his People ; but tt 1s free Grace that tilade h1mprom1fc. There 1s alfo a declaratwn of his W'll that without fuch a.thmg he w1ll not bel:tow another thing, which yet he bel10\~; both the one and rf1c other, out of Grace:..Without Holinefs no Man fhall g~ to Heaven, CN. But yet they arc not Cond1ttons, they are indeed the Effetl:s of this Grace, as the .(\po!lle terms them :. The Grace. of God wa<. exceeding abundant in Faith and Love, I T1m. I. 14. that 1s, m workmg Faith and Love. And in– deed, that I may f[leak more plainly, what is Faith,. and Love, and Repentance, and all thefe, to Snlvat1on? T hey are Salvation tt felf, they are part of it. When God requ1res of you, that _you fhould beheve, and repent, ~nd mo~;~:ify Sm, and walk hohly, .cloth be reqmre. thefe as Conditions? No, he requires them as parts of Salvation 1t !elf, as the Ellenual\; to Salvation. My Brethren, they are rhe EfTent1als unto Salvmon lt felf: For what 1s I.Oa1th and Holinefs, unto Glory andS:1lvation to come? It ts as R.eafon IS to Learnmg. All the World mul:t needs C 1 y, that Reafon is a part of that Knowledg a learned Man bath, or he would never be learned ; 1t 1s not a condmon fo much of his being learned, as it is a part of it : So when God bids us believe, what is it? It is to bid us be faved it is to bid us have eternal L1fe, and the Comforts ofeternal Life in our Hearts; it is to tell us, I will give you my Son freely, I would have you marry him, I would have you believe in him, I would have you be one with him. As ifa Man !hould [ 1 y, I will give you Meat upon condition you eat it; why, he hath no Cweetne!. in it,. unltG be eat it,_ it will do him no good elfe: So litith God, I will give you my Son, bel1eve m lum. Is Fa1th fuch a great condition, thtok you? It is that without which Chril:t cannot be yours, you cannot pofTefs him clfe, you can have 110 (weernels by him, he will do you no good elle. They are, I C1y, EfTentials to Salvation, ellential R.equifitcs. But perhaps I fi1all !peak a little more to this when I come to the 8th Verfe. My Brethren, this is certain, that look whateve; Contrivements free GraCe in God could have, that might not imply a contraditl:i– on, that might (\and with Holinels, that might l:tand with the Wifdom of God, that mi!\ht efietl: the thing, viz. to fi1ve Men; all that Advancement of his free Grace, he bath ordered, and deligned, and plotted, in all the Works of our Sal– vation. In Rom. 5· 2 I. it is fa~d, that Grace reigned through the Rightemifiuft of Chrifl, uuto etemal Life. It re1gneth, mark 11, of all thmg.s elfe God bath let up his free Grace as a Monarch, and bath lo fer it up, as that it !hall reign; and ther~ is no Work of ~1bn, or any thing in Man, that fi1all jn the leal:t impair the Sove– rcienty of it. If a Sovereign have the making of his own Laws, he will be fi1re to ~1ake himfelf Sovereign enough ; why li'ee Grace is a Sovereign. We are therefore laid to be under Grace, in Rom. 6. and that the'l:cfore Sin fball have no 1i101'e dominirm over 111, becaufc we ~re under the dominion of Grace, implying, that Grace is a mighty King and Sovereign. If Grace therefore have the making ofhisown Laws, if he have the contriving ofall the things in our Salvation,doubt– lcfs he bath contrived it fo, as that him'felfwill be the immediate Bel:tower ofall,and that all that comcth fi1all come immediatly from free Grace, "and fi1all be (o ac– knowlcdo-ed, and thereby be magnified. It is the propeny of Kings, if they do any greai'good, they will do it themfelves; [o free Grace being this greatLord and Sovereign, lt Will, rho lt may ufe Inflrnments, yet ure them fo, as lt Celf will have the glory; it is like Majel:ty, it cannot endure any thing elfe to come np into the T hrone. Saith the Apol:tle, in Ro111. 4· 16. Therefore it is of Faith, thaf it miglt be by G>'dCe. He !peaks as 1f Grace had a defign l11ll to keep dole to that end, that he will have it by Grace. He hath taken in Faith indeed, why ? BecJufe Faith will magnify and apprehend that Grace, it is a pure receiving thing as afterwards I fi1all open. I quote the place only for this, that free Grac~ hath defign~d the way [o, as that frill it felf might be magnified in ~11. And therefore, whether Fa1th, and Repentance, and Hohnefs, &c. be condm– ons, or not cond)tions, we need not difpute it much ; they are parrs ofSalvation, (I would falv.eit ro) they are that indeed, without which no Man fhall be litved: Witl'olit Hotfnefi 110 Man f/u/1 fee God; and without f.1ith no Man is a~u,ny * juftified
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