1? ER. i,;;¢. Epí¡llètá the HEDRÉw. fon of GodonMount Sinai ; and in the cónfirmatioh of his conjecture, After he path madeufe of the imaginationbefore rejected, headds, that if the Lawbad beengiven out byGod in his own perfon ( as he fpeaks ) then uponthat account, it would have been preferred above the Gofjtiel. But as theApofle grants in the firll wordsof his - Epittle, thatthe Lawno lefs than the Gofpel was primitively 'and Originally from God ; fo we faynot, that God gave the Law immediately without the Miniltry ofAngels; And the Comparifonwhich the Apollle is purfüing, refpee`ts not thefirif Author of Law or Gofpel, but the principal Minilterial Publifhers of them, whichof the one,wasAngels, of the other, the Son himfelf. And in there words lyes the fpring of the Apoftles Argument ; t is thanifeft in thofe Interrogatory Particles, úy5; for if, for if theLaw that was pnbliffied unto Our 'Et yj, Fathers by Angels was fo vindicated againit the difobedient s bow much more fhall theneglect of the Gofpel be revenged. Secondly, He affirms concerning this word thus publijhed, that it was ßíßa4, sißme`" firm, or ffedfaJi. That is, it became an afured Covenant between God and the people. That Peace which isfirm and well grounded, is called ïttgvn ßéßaw, a firmunalterable Peace. And -rd picarov, is PublickSecurity; The Law's becoming ßßar4, then,firms_ lure, f}edfaft confits in its beingratified to be the Covenant between God and that peo- ple as to theirTypical Inheritance, Deut. 5.2. The Lord our God made a Covenant with us in Horeb. And therefore in the greater traufgreffions of the Law, the people were faid toforfake, tobreak, to prophane, to tranfgrefs the Covenant of God, Levit. 26. g. Deut. 3. 20. Chap. 17. 2;, Hof, 6. 7. Jo.. 7. 1 t. 2 Kings 18. 12. I Kings 19. 14. Jerem. 22. 9. Mal. z. Io. And theLaw thus publifbed by Angels, became a JfedfaJf. Covenant between God and the people, by their mutual fipulation thereon. Elk'od. zo, 19.. MJb.24. 22, 24. Being thusjam and ratified, Obedience unto it became ne- celfaryand reafonable ; forhence, Thirdly,The Event ofDifabedieneeunto this word is expreffed ; everyTranfgrejon, andevery ffubborn difobedience received ameet retribution. Sundry things mutt be a lit- IIagáßaers= tie enquired into for the rightAnderflanáing of their words. As (r. ) The diffe- rence between aapdßx +t, and"nataxoñ. And the firft is properly anyTranfgrepon; tzatu%o,r, which the Hebrews call ptp9 ; the latter inoiudes a refufal fo to attend, as to obey. Contuìnacy,fubbornefs, rebellion ; t1t). And fo the latter word may beexegetical of the former; filch Tranfgrefons theApoftle fpeaks of, as were accompanied with Con= tumacy and flubbornefs ; or they may both intend the fame things under divers re- (pees. (2.)How may this be extended to every fin and TranJbr'e)Ton, feting it is certain that fme fins under the Law, were not puntlhed but expiated byAttone. menu. Anfw. 1. Every fin was contrary, a) rí24,, to the Dolirineof the Law, itscorn- "EAaße, mands and precepts. 2. Punifbment was affgned unto every fin , though not exe- cuted on every linier. And fo the word %Angst, denotesnot the "adtual Infliiionof Pu- nifhment, but the Conffitutian of it in the fanétion of the Law : (3.)Sacrifices for Attonement manifefted punifhments to havebeen due, though the finer was relieved againft them : But (4.) The finseJfecially intended by the Apofile were filch, aewere di- redly againft the Law as it was a Covenant between God and the people; for which there was no Provifionmadeof any Attonement or Compenfation : but the Covenant being broken by them, the finners were to dye without mercy ; and to be extermi- nated by the hand of God or man. And therefore the fins againft theGofpel, which areoppofedhnto thofe, are not anyTrangreffons that Profeffors may be guilty of, but final Ape)facy or 'Unbelief, which render the Doéirine of it altogether unprofi- table unto men. Thirdly, ':t.Pote µrsoaod'oafa, isaRecompense juff and equal, pro- 'E" a' (At' portionable unto the crime according to the Judgement of God. That Which an- 474014 Ewers Ssandmsas ii Oic7, that judgement ofGod, which is, that they which commitfin are worthy ofdeath, Rom. 1.3z. And there were two things in the fentence of the Law againft Tranfteffors. (1.) The Temporal punyhment of cutting off from theLand of the living, which refpeéfed that dfpenfation of the Law, which theIfraelites were fubjeúed unto. And the feveral forts of punifhment that were amongthe Jews un- derthe Lawhavebeen declared in our-Prolegomena ; to difcover the nature whereof let theReader confult the twenty firft Exorcitation. And(2.)Eternal Punifilment which was figured thereby,due untoall Tranfgreffors of the Law,as it is a Rule of Obedienceunto God,fromallmankind Jews and Gentiles. Nowit is the firft ofrhefe,whichthe Apolile dire hly and primarily intendeth : becaufe he iscomparing the Law in theDifpenfation of it onHoreb unto theJews with all its Sandions, unto the prefent Difpenfatión of R r r 2 rho IQ
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