2 66 Caufes of the New Covenant. ted as our legal Righteoufnefs', as that Cod upon our Faith and Obedience with refpe& thereunto, doth releafe and par- don all our (ins of Omit f on and Commifon. Upon this par- don there is no need of any pofitive perfect Righteoufnefs unto our Juftification or Salvation, but our own perfonai Righteoufneßis accepted with God in the room of it, by vir- tue of the New Covenant which Chrift hath procured. So is the Do &rive hereof ftated by Curfell eus, and thofe that join with him, or follow him. Sundry things there are in thefe Opinions that deferve an Examination ; and they will moft, if not all of them, oc- cur unto us in our progrefs. That which alone we have oc- cafion to enquire into with refped unto what we have dif- courfed concerning the Lord Chrift as furety of the Covenant, and which is the Foundation of all that is afferted in them, is, That Chriil by his death procured the New Covenant for us ; which, as one fàys, is all that we have thereby ; which if it fhould prove otherwife, we are not beholding unto it for any thing at all. But thefe things muff be examined. And, x. The Terms of procuring the New Covenant are ambigu- bus. It is not as yet ( that I know of) by any declared how the Lord Chrift did procure it; whether he did fo by his. Satisfac` lion and Obedience, as the meritorious caufe of it, or by what other kind of caufality. Unlefs this be ftated we are altogether uncertain what Relation of the New Covenant un- to the Death of Chrift is intended. And to fay that there - unto we owe the New Covenant, doth not mend the matter, but rather render the Terms more ambiguous. Neither is it declared whether the Conflitution of the Covenant, or the Communication of the Benefits of it are intended. It is yet no le§ general, That God was fo well pleafed with what Chriii did, as that hereon he made and entered into. a New Covenant with. mankind. This they may grant who yet deny the whole f tisfaÇtion and'merit of Chrift. If they mean that the Chrirfdt
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