58 The Vfe of Faith in yuf %f°cation; that of, a receptive Inflrument, I cannot underftand how it fhould be an Ordinance of God. For every thing that he bath appointed unto any end Moral or Spiritual, bath by vir- tue of that Appointment, either a fymbolical inftruecive effi- cacy, or an Zive efficiency, or a'rcwardable condecency with refpe& unto that End. Other things may be generally and remotely neceffary unto fuch an End, fo far as it partakes of the order of natural beings, which are not Ordinances of God with refpe& thereunto, and fo have no kind of caufality with refpe& unto it, as it is Moral or Spiritual. So the Air we breath is needful unto the preaching of the Word, and confequently a caufa fine qua non thereof; but an Ordinance of God with efpecial refpe& thereunto it is not. But every thing that he appoints unto an efpecial fpiritual End, hath an Efficacy or Operation in one or other of the ways mentioned. For they either concur with the principal caufe in its internal Efficiency, or they operate externally in the removal of Ob- ftacles and Hinderances that oppofe the principal caufe in its Efficiency. And this excludes all caufes fine quibus non ftri&- :ip fo taken from any place among Divine Ordinances. God appoints nothing for an End that (hall do nothing. His Sa- craments are not á4yt oH,utiia, but by virtue of his Inftitution do exhibit that Grace which they do not in themfelves con- tain. The preaching of the Word hath a real Efficiency unto all the Ends of it ; fo have all the Graces and Duties that he worketh in us, and requireth of us ; by them all are we made meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light ; And our whole Obedience through his gracious Appointment hath a rewardable condecency with refpe& unto Eternal Life. W here - fore as Faith may be allowed to be the condition of our jufli- fication, if no more be intended thereby, but that it is what God requires of us that we may be juftified ; fò to confine the declaration of its life in our Juftification unto its being the condition of it, when fo much as a determinate fignifica- tion
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