a proper surety to reconcile God to man, and to reconcile man to God. May these things then sink deep into thy heart, that thy surety has undertaken the whole of thy salvation, to do all for thee, and all in thee, and all by thee. What canst thou desire more for the settling of thy faith?

3. Perhaps thou wilt say, his undertakings were great, but has he fulfilled them? Yes, and so perfectly, that he is able to save to the uttermost. He was called Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins; as their surety he was to fulfil the law for them by his obedience, and to suffer the pains and penalties of it by his death and passion. Accordingly in the fulness of time he was manifest in the flesh, and came to do the will of his Father: of his obedience to that will he thus speaks: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.' Of his suffering that will he said with his last breath, 'It is finished.' Observe, whatever he undertook to do in his life and death was finished, and it was demonstrated that as man's surety he had done and suffered every thing ordered in the covenant, by his resurrection from the dead: for then did the Father declare him to be the Son

of God with power. Will this not satisfy thee, O thou of little faith? Here is one more cause of thy doubting removed; thou canst not deny but Christ has finished every thing he undertook, and in consequence thereof he has all power in heaven and earth to bestow a full and finished salvation. What canst thou now object?

am,

4. Does a thought arise in thy heart-It is finished, but is it so freely given that such an unworthy creature, as may partake of it? Yes: it comes to thee in the way of a free gift. Great, inestimable, and eternal, as it is, yet it is all thine in receiving. Not he who worketh, but he who believeth, is justified from all things. It is by faith that believers are justified and sanctified, are strengthened and comforted in their walk; by faith they fight against all their enemies, and by faith they conquer, and lay hold of eternal life: and therefore, it is of faith, that it might be by grace. Salvation is wrought out and finished by thy Surety, given to thee freely, continued with all its blessings in time and through eternity, as a free gift, to the praise of the glory of free grace. Why therefore art thou discouraged? Hast thou nothing to buy with? Then obey the Lord's command, come and buy free salvation, without money and without price. How should this motive still add to the establishment of thy faith? For there thou seest whatever thou wantest is thine by believing. Thou mayest have it freely

by grace. It is treasured up for thee in the fulness of thy dear Saviour, and thou canst not honour him more, than to make free use of it. What dost thou say to this? hast thou any thing to object; canst thou find any fault with the covenant of grace, or with the undertakings of the God-man in it? no, certainly, the covenant was well ordered in all things and sure; and what the Surety of the covenant undertook he has perfectly fulfilled. Salvation is finished on his part. He has glorified the law by his infinitely-perfect obedience, he has made divine justice honourable by his sufferings and death, he has brought in everlasting righteousness for his people, and will bring them to everlasting glory: for he has already taken possession of it for them as the head of his body the church, and he has all power in heaven and earth to save them day by day, until he make them partakers of his eternal salvation. What can thy heart wish for more than such a Saviour, and such a salvation? O! be not faithless, then, but believing; and, if thou hast any doubts left, endeavour to have them cleared up by reading, and prayer, until thy faith be perfectly settled on the divinity of God thy Saviour, and the infinite sufficiency of his salvation. These two points lay at the very foundation of the Christian religion : they must be supposed in all its principles, and built upon in all its practice; therefore, being of universal influence, if they be thoroughly established, thy faith will be steadfast, and thy life well ordered and comfortable. Examine, then, and prove thyself here before thou readest any farther. Dost thou believe Christ to be true and very God, in every perfection and attribute equal with the Father? and is his a full and a free salvation? All the following directions depend upon, and can only profit thee, so far as thou believest these two points. Look well then to thy establishment in them. If it be strong, the life of faith will be steady and prosperous; but, if it be weak, will be liable to be tost about continually with errors, and overcome with temptations; especially with those, to which a legal spirit will expose thee, as I purposed to shew

under the

Third general head, in which is to be considered, how the little children in Christ, for want of being established in the belief of his godhead, and of his full and free salvation, labour under many doubts, a legal spirit working with their unbelief puts them upon reasoning continually against being saved freely by grace through faith.

He is of a legal spirit, who is under the law, and apprehends himself bound to keep it, as the condition of life, requiring of

him, do this and thou shalt live. In his understanding he sees this, and no other way to life, in his will he is continually inclined to it, and in his heart he loves it; because he fancies it is in his own power to attain life in this way, and he can merit it by his own works, which mightily gratifies his selflove, and indulges his pride. This legal spirit reigns over all men in their natural state, but does not discover its tyranny, until it be opposed; and then so soon as the soul is quickened from a death in trespasses and sins, it begins to fight, trying to keep the poor sinner in bondage by its legal workings and strivings, and putting him upon seeking for some good disposition or qualification in himself, on account of which God should love him. Thus the awakened soul, under the spirit of bondage, always seeks deliverance by the works of that law, which can do nothing more than bring him to the knowledge of sin, discover to him the exceeding sinfulness of it, and the exceeding great punishment which it deserves; by which means it is always nourishing the doubts and fears of unbelief. And after the Lord has in a measure removed them by a clear discovery of the salvation that is in Jesus, and by the gift of faith, yet still this legal spirit will be trying to bring the soul into bondage again to fear, and it too often prevails. Young believers find it the worst enemy they have to deal with it is a sly, subtle foe, that seems to intend them a kindness, while it is always on the side of their greatest enemy: it would appear to them to be actuated by a zeal for God, but it is to eclipse the glory of the Lord Christ, to take away the all-sufficiency of his salvation, and to rob them of their great joy and peace in believing.

If any one should ask, how this legal spirit comes to have such power over mankind? the Scripture informs us,

First, That all men, being God's creatures, are under the law to him, bound to keep it, or bound if they transgress to suffer the threatened pains and penalties: in this state man was created, and in it all men are by nature, and therefore there is in us all a continual leaning to the law, and a desire to attain righteousness by the works of it. We are all wedded to this way of gaining God's favour. The apostle says, there is a marriage union between us and the law, and it, like a husband, has dominion over us as long as it liveth; so that we cannot be married to Christ, until that be dead wherein we were held. You may see this in the Jews. How does Moses labour to bring them off from an opinion of their own righteousness! and a greater than Moses has

done the same in his discourses against the scribes and pharisees; yea, the apostles of our Lord were forced to write and preach against this leaning to the law, it gave such disturbance to the true disciples of Christ; and, notwithstanding the Scripture arguments against it, yet we have great numbers among us, who seek for a justifying righteousness by the works of the law: and they are put upon seeking this,

Secondly, From their ignorance of the law. They are not acquainted with its nature; for it demands what they cannot pay. It insists upon an obedience, spiritual, perfect, and uninterrupted for the least offence, if but in thought, it comes with its fearful sentence, 'Cursed is every one, who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.' On him who does not continue in all things, and not one man ever did, this sentence takes place, and, if he was to live a thousand years, he could not do any thing to repeal it. The law will always be to him the ministration of condemnation, and the ministration of death, and that is all it can do for him. It provides no remedy, and gives him no hope, but leaves him condemned to the first and to the second death; and yet, such is the blindness of the sinner, that he will be still leaning to the law, and afraid to trust wholly to the righteousness of Christ; and this arises,

Thirdly, From his ignorance of Christ's righteousness, which is infinitely perfect, and wants no works of the law to be joined with it in the justifying of a sinner, because it is the righteousness of God, wrought out by the God-man for his people, and it is the righteousness of faith-they receive it by faith without works; so that it is directly opposite to the righteousness of a legal spirit. Hence we have many among us, great professors too, who are ignorant of God's righteousness; they have not been entirely brought off from a legal bottom, and therefore they talk of being justified without a justifying righteousness, which if God was to do, he would be unrighteous, and which as he has declared he will not do, their fancied justification leaves them still in their sins. They dare not put their whole trust and confidence in the righteousness of Christ imputed unto sinners, and made theirs by faith: they have many fears about imputed righteousness, although the apostle has not scrupled to mention it eleven times in one chapter (Rom. iv.;) and these fears make them read the Scripture with such prejudice, that they say they cannot find the expression faith in the righteousness of Christ in all the Bible. They may find the sense of the expression in Moses,

and in all the prophets, and the very words in 2 Pet. i. 1. 'Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them who have obtained like precious faith with us (in the Greek is eis) in the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.' Here is faith in the righteousness of Christ, with several glorious titles to recommend it, namely, it is the righteousness of God, of God our Saviour, of Jesus Christ. From whence can men's opposition to this way of justification arise, but from their not being convinced by the Spirit of God of the necessity of Christ's righteousness? It is his peculiar office to convince of this truth: no teaching but his can do it. O that he may do it in the hearts of those, who, out of a zeal for God, though not according to knowledge, eclipse the glory of the Lord, and rob afflicted consciences of their comfort by opposing imputed righteousness! It is a righteousness of so high and heavenly a nature, wrought out by another, and so wonderful a person; is bestowed as a free gift upon the chief of sinners, whereby alone they obtain remission of their sins, and are made partakers of the kingdom of heaven; and they receive it by faith only, without works, which a legal spirit always wants to mix with it, that no one could ever believe in it, unless it were given him from above. May it be given to those professors, who cannot yet submit to the righteousness of Christ, to see their want of it, and with the heart to believe in it unto salvation!

Reader, hast thou not found what an enemy this legal spirit is to thy peace and joy, and how it is always inclining thee to some self-righteousness through thy ignorance of the righteousness of the law, and of the righteousness of faith? and wouldst thou gladly be delivered from it? Know, then, that nothing can subdue it, but the bringing into thy conscience a better hope from a better righteousness than that of the law, and, when thou art enabled to plead it there against all the charges of sin and Satan, then thou wilt stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made thee free. His is a better righteousness; it is infinitely perfect and everlasting, even the righteousness of God! By faith in this righteousness thou shalt be saved from the law, and shall receive remission of sins; through it the Father doth accept thee and give thee the Spirit of his Son, to lead and comfort and sanctify thee, he doth love thee and bless thee, as his dear child, making all things work together under him for thy good, and keeping thee by his mighty power through faith unto salvation: so that in and on account of this righteousness thou shalt be saved from all the evils of sin,