Verf. 15. the fixth Chapter to the ROMANS. 103 6n you commit , the further off you are from Salvation > every finis a ftep further, Pfgl. 1.19. 15 5. Salvation it far from the wicked, for they fee/¿ not thy f atutes.; h pari, Sal vation is near to the righteous. Rom. 13.1 r. Now is your falvation nearer , than when ye frf believed. Every man every day is a ()cep nearer to Heaven or Hell. The fecond Do &tine abufed is Exemption from the Rigour and Curfe of the Law, re are not under the Law , but under Grace. Therefore men take a liberty to fin, They arenot under the Law: But we muff diffinguiib how we are, and how we are not un- der the Law. 1 We are I1í11 under the Law as a Rule of Obedience, fo the Apoftle faith, t Cor. 9. 21. Not being without Law to God, but under the Law to Chrif. The Apofile (till ruled his A &ions by Law , both the Law of God and the Law of Chrituian Charity: To be in this fenfe without Law, is either to matee us Gods or Devils ; if you plead it de Yin; of Right , it is to make the Creature a God: for it is impofftble. any created thing can be without Law , that were to make it fupreme and independent; as if its own Will were its Rule, without liablenefs to be called to an account by another. Saul proclainf- ed, 1 Sam. 17.25. That whofoever would encounter the Philif ine, hu haul fhould be free in *al: but it is as impoffible to free the Creature from fubje&ion to God , as it is from dependance upon him. If you plead it de Fa£lo , this were to make us Devils, to live in dire& oppofition to God , and rebellion againff him , or exempt us from his Autho- rity , Pfal. 12. 4. Who have faid , With our tongues will we prevail; our lips are our own, who is Lord over us? Thus every Creature mutt be under a Law. 2. There is a good fenfe, in which we are faid not to be under the Law , as here in the Text, and Gal. 5. 18. If ye be led by the spirit , ye are not under the Law; that is, not under the condemning power of it, fpoken of Rom. 8. r. There is therefore no con- demnation to them that are in Chrif : or the irritating power of it , fpoken of Rom. 7.5. While we were in the flefh i the motion of fn , which were by the Law , did work in our Members to bring forth fruit unto death ; namely , as it did rigidly exa& duty from us, and gave no ftrength to perform it. Well then , we may from hence fee what liberty we have by Grace, there is a twofold Liberty, an holy and bleffed Liberty, and a wick- ed and carnal Liberty: Fir fl, The holy Liberty is to be freed from the power of Sin , and the Curfe of the Law, that our inthralled. Spirits may be fet free , to love, ferve, pleafe, and delight in God, and fo , Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty , 2 Cor. 3. 17. And for this end we are freed from the Law as a Covenant of Works; which required what to us is become impof£tble, Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Chrift 7rrxr hash made us free from the law of fin and death; and freed us alto from the burdenfom task of Ceremonies, which God thought fit to impofe in the Churches Non-age, Gal. 5. r. Stand faß therefore in the liberty wherewith Chrif hath made IN free , and be not intangled again with a yoke of bondage. Thefe Ceremonies did revive the fenfe of Tranfgreffions, and the Curfe due to them. Secondly, The finful Liberty is a freedom from Righteoufnefs, as the Apoftle calleth it, Rom. 6. 20. When ye were the fervantr of fn, ye Were free from righteoufnefa, from a voluntary fubje&ion to God and his holy Laws, a delve to be tree from that (tri& and holy manner of living, which God commandeth, or to be at liberty to fin againft God, or pleafe the Flefh , and follow our own wills , to be merry, wanton, luftful; worldly, to eat and drink what we have a mind to, to game, and roar, and riot, and revel, and in the general to live as we lift, without being curbed by fo precife a Law as God bath given us. Now I will thew, r: That this is not Liberty. 2. That Chrift never came to eftablifh it 3. That the contrary is the true Liberty. 1.. That this is not Liberty. For Libertas non ell potefas volendi & faciendi quodve- lis, fed volendi faciendi ea qua lex divina jubet ; It is not a liberty to live as we lift, but to live as we ought, Pfd. 119.45. And I willwalk at liberty, for I keep thy preéepts. Man affe &s the falfe Liberty , and is impatient of any refl,raints, Pfal. 2. 3. Let is calf away his bandi and cords from us: they would do What they pleafe Without check and controul. But all this is but delufion and millake , in reality they live the freeft life that lye under the bonds of Duty, that make confcíence of praying to and praifing God, and walking with him in the (tri&er courfc of Holinefs. Carnal Liberty is but a Thraldom or Slavery ; for thefe we are difabled from purfuing our great end, which is to be everlaflingly happy in the enjoyment oPGod ; they that indulge this Liberty, dare 00000 á not
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=