Pro'mifedofOld, Is is trueonv: 22. and thofe thatfollow, He affirms they may be expoúnded by that ofPbilo deColoniia. é 740 ó at$aa iepos iGf yiveen iamibm,v, xapdxe, órax®- ivxrá- taiv& óTl;P BMW xußepvárnt anéanroxñ Tá aú¡aaarle, njJm$ oa401(ACh'rr xpaaóttet& òpy y Túrv+ após rbv mvorralTrav viJ á:mr$Aupiávne er&atuv. But whether this Platonica!Declaration ofthe Nature,and Wotk ofthe Word of God, employed by him as an InArüment in the Making and Government of the World, would have been accepted in the Primitive Church,when thisPlace was vexed by the Arians,andftudioufly vindicated by theOrtho- dox Fathers,'I muchqueftion. But to return ; Ifthe Law and the olifervanceof it, bethé onlyRemedy provided of God agaitìft the finand mifery of man the only means df Reconciliationwith him, all that dyed before the giving of it, muff perifb, and that eternally. But thlrontrary appears from this very conlideration, and is undeniably proved byourApo fle in the Inftance of Abraham, Gal, 3. v. IT For he received the Promife, and was taken into Covenant with God four hundred and thirty years before the giving of the Law. And that Covenant conveyed unto him the Love and fa- your of God , with Deliverance from Sin and the Curie , as themfelves Will not deny. There was therefore a Remedy in this cafe provided long before the giving of the Lawon Mount Sinai ; and therefore the Law was not given unto that purpofe, but for otherEnds arlarge declared by our Apoffle. Either thenthey mull grant that all the Patriarchy, and hein efpeciallofwhom they boaft perifhed eternally, or elfe that there wasameans ofDeliverance provided before the, giving of the Law, and confe- quently that the Law was not given for that End. "The firJf they will not do, not can without an abfolute Renunciation of their own Sacred Writings, wherein none have obtained a larger Teftimony that they pleafed God than they: The latter therefore followeth undeniably. '.If they (hall fay they had a way of Deliverance, but God provided another afterwards, as this would be(poken' without Warrantor Au tboriry from the Scripture, fo I delire to know both what that way was, and why it was rejeéted. OfGods appointment it was, and effefhual it was unto them that embraced it, and why it fhould be laid aide who can declare ? Again, as was before obterved, there are two partsof the Law , The Marra Precepti of it, and the inftitutedWorfhip appointed in ir. Unto this latter part do the gacii- hersof it belong. But neitherof their are fufficient untothe End propofed, nor jointly can they attain it, Two things are evidently nece1Tary from what hath been difcourf ed, unto theDeliverance enquired after. Firft, That Man be reconciled untoGod, by the removal of the Curfe,'and theWrath due untohim for his Apoftacy. Secondly, That hisNature be freed from that Principle ofSin and enmity againft'God, ( the evil fig- ment) that it is tainted, yea, poffeffed withal!. Andneither of thefe can be effeéked by theLaw, or either part of it. For, Firff, The Moral Precepts of it are the famewith fhofe that Were written in the heart of man byNature, or the Law of bis Creation which he tranfgreffed in his frft Rebellion. And he mutt be delivered from that guilt before any newObedience can be accepted of him. Hisold debt mutt be fatisfied for, before he can treat for a new Reward, which infeparablyfollows all acceptable Obedience. But this the Precepts of the Law take no notice of, nor direft unto any way for its removal ; only fuppofing the doing of it by tome other means, it requires exaét Obedience in them that cinne toGod thereby. Henceour Apoftle concludes, thatit couldnot give7ife, but was weak and insufficient in its felfunto any filch purpofe. . Betides fecondly, it could not abfolutely prefer*men in its own Obfervation it required thatObedience which never anyftnner did or could in all things perform as theScriptures of the Old Tejfament abundantly manifeft. For they tell us, therein it no man that ftttneth not, r Kings 8. v.46. z Chron. 6. v. 36. That, if the Lord fhould mark iniquity no man could fland, Pfal. I30. v. 3. And that, if he enter into Judge- ment (according tothe Law) no man living can be juflified in his fight, Pjal. 143. v. zs To this Purpofe fee the excellentDilcourfe, and invincible Reafonings ofour Aponte, Rom. chap. 3. &4. This theHoly Men ofOld confefd; this the Scripture bearsteftimo. ny unto, and this Experience confirmes, feeing every fin, and tranfgreffonof thatLaw was put underaCurfe, Dent. 27. v. 26. Where then; there is no man that frnrieth not and every in is put under the curie, the Law in the Preceptivepart of it can be nd means of delivery from the one or other, but is rather a certain means of increafing and aggravating of them both. Neither is thereany Teftimony given concerningany one under the OldTeftament that hewas anyother way juftifiedbefore God; but by M a Faith
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