181 / 652
DISC.
III.]
LAW
AHD
THE GOSPEL.
171
giving
life,
and righteousness,
in short,
that
we
may
more
easily
apply
the
words
in
reading
what
follows,
and
.
so
proceed to the
next
observation.
Observ.
II.
God
would
have
appointed
the
justifica-
tion
of
fallen
man
to
have
been
by
some law
of
his
giving,
if
any law could have given such
a
poor
sinful
perishing
creature
justification, or a title
to
eternal
life.
And the reasons
for
it
may be these
:
1.
Because God
is
not wont
to
change
his
methods
of
government, where
he sees
them effectual
to
attain
the
.
ends of
that
government.
He
is
an
unchangeable God,
and
doth
not
need second
thoughts
to mend
his
own.
first contrivances
or
to
change
his
conduct
towards
man, unless the
case
of
his
creatures
and
the
nature of
things
require
it.
The
law
which
was given
at
first to
.
man
in
Paradise, and
in
innocency, had
continued
the
same
instrument of the government
of
God,
if
the
case.
of
fallen man had
not required
an
alteration. But
God
was
not
willing all
mankind,
who
were
condemned
by
the
law,
should
be
utterly ruined, and perish
in
their
folly; and therefore
he
changed
his
dispensation.
The
law
could not
give life,
because
it required
more
than
fallen
man
could
perform
;
and therefore, through the
weakness
of
man's fallen and
corrupted nature,
the
law became
incapable
of
justifying
man
;
i. e.
it
was
weak to
justify
man
by.
reason
_of
the
flesh,
and
to
pro
-,
nounce a sentence
of.
righteousness or
justification
on
him,
because
he
was
a feeble, guilty,
disobedient
creature.
He
had sinned
already, and
his
passions and
fleshly
ap-
petites
were
too strong for
his
reason,
and are
rising
up
continually against the commands
of
the
law,
and
therefore God
brought
in
the
gospel,
and
gave
a promise
to
our
first
parents
as
"soon
as
they
fell,
and
made
his
gospel
as
well as his law,
the instrument
of
governing
his
fallen
creature
man.
There
is
forgiveness uuth
thee,
that
thou mayest
be
feared;
Ps. cxxx.
4.
i.
e.
that
there may
be
piety
and
religion
maintained
in
the world.
2.
If
the
law
could
have given life
to fallen man,
righte-
ousness
or
justification
should have been
by
the
law,
that
God
might magnify this original
law,
and make
it'
ho-
nourable. This
would have
shewn
it
was
not
only
alaw
fit
to
govern innocent man,
but
to
recover
fallen man
too:
The
law
bath a
great
glory in
it, in
that
it
is
the
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