SECTION III. 123 for all that is evil. It is evident that God governed the Jews with regard to temporal blessings and temporal curses, in the way of a covenant of works. As to the external and temporal state of their persons, their church, and their nation, they were under a covenant works; and God, Who was their king or poli- tical head, dealt with them from time to time in saving them, or in" punishing them, according to their works: And it is very observable, that it is this very promise of life, upon condition of doing the works of the law which the apostle takes to describe that covenant of works, by which the Jews could not be saved as to their eternal state, see Rom. x. 3 -5. and ix. 31. The man that loth thera shall live in, them. If it he objected, that God allowed of their repentance for sin in this his law or covenant as their king, and sometimes be saved the nation upon their repentance, and therefore it must in- clude the gospel or covenant of grace ; yet I answer, it may still be called a covenant of works, because a mere external visible humiliation and reformation, without a real penitence at heart, was accepted by God as their king, as sufficient to divert divine judgments from the nation, and sometimes from parti- cular persons, who had provoked God's -anger by external and visible iniquities. 1 Kings xxi. 29. Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself? I will not bring this evil in his days; whereas all his humiliation was his " rending his clothes, wearing of sackcloth and fasting," and a little outward appearance of re- formation, but it is evident that his heart was not changed. See 1 Kings xxii. 27. It may be granted, indeed; there was mulch grace and mercy mingled in this political law or covenant of life, between God as a civil king, and Israel as his subjects in this world; but still this was not the gospel or covenant of grace and salvation, whereby the pious Jews were saved from the wrath of God, as their spiritual Lord and Ruler in the other world, and whereby they had their sins pardoned, and were made partakers of eternal life ; for the rites of the law could not cleanse the conscience from sin in the sight of God. Heb. ix. 9. and this leads me to the next answer: II. Besides the frequent charges which are given to the Jews to keep the commandmentsof God, in order to obtain life, we find also frequent calls to inward and hearty repentance of sin, to make their hearts clean, to forsake their evil thoughts, to rend their hearts and not their garments, and so trust in thepar- doning mercy of God ; and there are many promises of pardon to the penitent, and the favour of God to those that fear him and hope in his mercy in order to lead them to obtain the happiness of the other world and eternal life. See Is. 1v. 7, 8. Let the wickedforsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ;
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