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310

FAITH

THE WAY

TO

SALVATION.

[SERNI. X%ftT.

mouth

is

stopped, and the

whole

world

is

become guilty

before God,

Rom.

iii.

19.

Though

the

nations

of

the

Jews and

christians, and

perhaps the greatest

part of

the heathen

world, have

had

some

revelations

of

the

gospel

or covenant

of

grace,

and

have been

under

the

outward

offers

of

it

;

yet Jews,

heathens, and

national

christians, are

all under the sentence

of

the covenant

-of the

law

of

works, till

they

enter

into.

the.

covenant

of

grace

by

repentance

and faith

in

the

mercy

of

God.

But the covenant

of

grace,

or the

gospel,

is

a

new

constitution,. which

God

bath

ordained

for

the relief

of

poor

fallen miserable man, condemned and perishing

under

the curse

of

the

law

of

works.

It

is

a constitu-

tion

of

grace, whereby alone fallen

sinners

can obtain

salvation.

The

law

of

works demands universal obedience to all

the

commands

of

God, obedience perfect

and persever-

ing;

for

this

is

the language

of

it;

the

man

that

Both

them

shall

live

in

them,

Rom.

x.

5.

and

it

curses every

sinner without hope or remedy; cursed

is

every

one

that

continueth not

in

all

things

that

are written

in the

book

of

the

law to

do

them,

Gal.

iii.

10, 12.

But

the voice

of

the gospel, the righteousness

of

faith,

or the

way

of

justification

by

Christ,

speaketh

on this

wise

With

the

heart

man believeth

unto righteousness,

and

with the

mouth

confession

is made

unto

salvation;

for

the

just

,shall live

by

faith,

Rom.

x.

10.

Gal.

iii.

11.

The

one

proclaims

eternal

life

to all

that

perfectly

obey,

the

other

publishes

salvation to

all

that

believe,

though

their

obe-

dience

be very

imperfect.

I

grant

indeed,

that

the apostle cites these descriptions

of

the

law

of

works

out of

the books

of

Moses,

and

there-

fore

some

persons would suppose

him only

to

mean the

particular

law given to

the Jews

at

mount

Sinai,

and

not

the

general covenant

of

works made with Adam, and

with

all

mankind

in him.

But

to this

I

give

these two answers

:

1.

Answer.

The

law

of

works, which

the apostle speaks

of

in

the epistle to the Romans, particularly

in

the second

and third

chapters,

cannot

signify

merely

the Jewish

law

;

for it

is

such a

law as

includes

all the

heathen

world, as

appears

plain, Rom,

ii.

14, 15.

and

by

which

the hea-

thens

as

well as

the Jews

were

condemned, and could