20á THE LAW AND THE (tomtit. Observ, H. God would have appointed the justification of fallen man to have been by some law of his giving, if any law could have givensuchapoor sinfulperishing 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 go- vernment, where hesees them effectual to attain the ends ofthat government. He is ap unchangeable God, and Both not need second thoughts to mend his own first contrivances, or to change his condnct'towards Man, unless thecase of hiscreatures and the nature of things require it. The law which was given at first to man inParadise, and in innocency, had continued the same instrument of the government of God, if the case of fallen man hadnot required in alteration. But God was not willing all mankind, who were condemned by the law, should be utterly ruined, and perish in their folly; aorl, therefore he changed his .dispensation. The law could not give life, because it re- quired more than fallen man could perform ; and therefore, through the weakness of a 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 pronounce a sen-. tence of righteousness or justification on him, because he was a feeble, guilty, disobedient creature. He had sinned already, and -his passions and fleshly appetites 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 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 ereature-man. There isforgiveness with 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, righteous- ness or justification should have been by the law, that God might magnify this original law, and make it honourable. This would have shewnit was not only a law fit to govern innocent man, but to recover fallen man too. The law hath a great glory in it; in that it is the transcript of the holy name of God ; it is-holy,just, and good; Rom. vii. 12. and it would have been agreat honour put on the law, if it could have recovered a sinful ruined creation. If fallen man could have performed this law, and an- swered the demands of it, here had been a glorious display of all the wisdom and majesty, goodness and holiness, which first made the law of God, exemplified in the recovery of a poor, fallen, perishing creature by this law of his. But this could not. be, The law was weak, and insufficient for this purpose, through the flesh, i. e. through the weakness of fallen man.
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