distinguished from the profane, whose unholy lives declare them to have neither part nor lot in this righteousness: Psalm xxiv. 3, 4, "Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands." And the law is not only in their minds by its light, to drive them to obedience; as in the case of legalists, who work like slaves; but it is in their hearts and affections, discovering to their souls the beauty of holiness; and so drawing them to all obedience, and causing them to work like sons to a father. Their hearts are reconciled to the purity of the holy law, and they delight in it after the inward man, Rom. vii. 22, and would fain reach a full conformity unto it, saying from the heart, "O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!" Psalm cxix. 5.

Secondly, To unfold that righteousness, the fulfilling of which was made the condition of the covenant of grace, we shall view it in the several parts thereof. That righteousness, forasmuch as it was to be fulfilled in the room and stead of sinners, was and must be stated from the law, or broken covenant of works, which they were lying under; for the law, or broken covenant of works, was so far from being neglected in the new bargain, that whatsoever it had to charge upon, or demand of the parties contracted for in the new covenant, was summed up, and set down therein, to be fully cleared by Christ their surety contracting for them. Now, stating that righteousness from thence, it will be found to consist of three parts making so many conditionary articles of the covenant of grace: to wit, holiness of nature, righteousness of life, and satisfaction for sin. Of the which in order.

ARTICLE I.

HOLINESS OF NATURE.

THE law required holiness of nature as a condition of life, inasmuch as condemning original sin, saying "Thou shalt not covet," it concluded all men to be by nature children of wrath. For God being essentially holy, holy by necessity of nature, nothing can be so contrary to God as an unholy nature; because, how beit persons or things of a like nature may be contrary in some points, yet they can never be so contrary one to another, as those of quite opposite natures. But the parties contracted for in the covenant of grace, having their nature wholly corrupted, and being incapable to purify it, or make their heart clean, Prov. xx. 9; it is evident, they could by no means answer this demand of the law by themselves. Wherefore, for the VOL. VIII. 2 E

satisfaction of the law in this point, it was settled as a conditionary article of the covenant of grace, "That Christ the second Adam, representing them, should be a man of a perfectly holy, pure and untainted nature, fully answering for them the holiness and perfection of nature required by the law." "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," Heb. vii. 16. And this article contains two clauses.

I. "That he, as the second Adam, should be conceived and born holy, for and instead of them corrupt in their nature, conceived and born in sin." There was a holy nature given to Adam as the root of mankind, to be by him kept and transmitted to his posterity, in the way of natural generation. And upon this ground, the law requires all men to be born holy, pronouncing them unclean and children of wrath, in the contrary event, Job xiv. 4; Eph. ii. 3. But how could this demand be answered by sinners? They are born in sin: they cannot enter again into their mother's womb, and be born a second time, without sin. No, they cannot yet the law will not bate of that demand for life. Wherefore it is provided, that Christ, as a public person, representing his spiritual seed, should be born perfectly holy; that, whereas they brought a sinful corrupt nature into the world with them, he should bring a holy human nature into the world with him. And so he was the last Adam, 1 Cor. xv. 45, holy and undefiled, Heb. viii. 26, "that holy thing born," Luke i. 35. And the effect thereof with respect to that law-demand for life is, that all believers are, in law-reckoning, born holy in the second Adam, even as they were created holy in the first Adam. Hence they are expressly said to be crucified in him, Col. ii. 11, which plainly presupposeth their being born in him. And it is in virtue of their being legally born holy in Christ, when he was born, that, being united to him in the time of loves, they are really born again, and at length perfected; even as in virtue of their being legally defiled in Adam, when he sinned, they are actually and really defiled in their own persons, coming into the world: the holy nature being actually communicated to them from Christ their spiritual head, in whom they were legally born boly; even as the corruption of nature is actually conveyed to them from Adam their natural head, in whom they sinned in law-rec koning.

2. The other clause is, "That Christ, as the second Adam, should retain the holiness of nature inviolate unto the end, for them and in their name." The law, or covenant of works, required, as a condition of life, that the holiness of nature, given to mankind in Adam, should be preserved pure and incorrupt. But it was lost and put the case, that it had been restored, they could not have retained it,

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in their own persons, unstained amidst so many snares. Wherefore, to satisfy the law-demand in this point, it was provided, that in the man Christ, as a public person representative of his seed, their nature should be kept perfectly holy unto the end, without the least stain or defilement: Isa. xlii. 4, "He shall not fail;" or, "he shall not wax dim," or wrinkle, as the skin doth when the moisture is exhausted. Therein the first Adam failed. He shone in purity of nature, as he came from the Creator's hand: but he failed, he waxed dim; the holiness of his nature being exhausted by sin, all mankind in him lost their spiritual beauty, and wrinkled. But now that the second Adam failed not, but preserved the holiness of human nature in him unstained, not in the least darkened, even to the end of his life; the remains of the corruption of nature in believers are not imputed to them, Rom. iv. 8; but as defiled as they are in themselves, through those remains cleaving to them, yet in Christ their beauty is fresh, and not marred in the least, according to that, Cant. iv. 7, "Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee."

ARTICLE II.

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF LIFE.

THIS also the law insisted upon as a condition of life; and justly: for God gave to Adam, and all mankind in him, a law to be obeyed in all points; not only in virtue of the tie of natural duty, but in virtue of the bond of a covenant for life: but it was never fulfilled by them. The first Adam began indeed the course of obedience; but he quickly fell off from it, with all his natural seed in him. Now, it being inconsistent with the honour of the law, that the prize, to wit, eternal life, should be obtained without the race was run; it still insisted, saying, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments," Matth. xix. 17. Howbeit, we were weak, moveless, without strength for running that race. Wherefore it was settled as another conditionary article of the covenant, "That Christ, as a public person, represented those whom he contracted for, should begin and perfect the course of obedience to the law in righteousness of life." And accordingly, he became obedient unto death, Phil. ii. 8. The law, which was the rule of this obedience, exacted of him, was the same law of the ten commands, that was given to Adam, and binding on us as under it: for he was made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, Gal. iv. 4, 5. It extended to all divine institutions which the second Adam found in being, whe

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ther obliging men as men, or as members of the church of God on earth even as the rule of the first Adam's obedience, extended to the positive law touching the forbidden fruit, which was in being when he was set to fulfil his covenant-obedience.

That we may the more distinctly comprehend this article, it may be observed to bear these three things following.

But the ans

Man, by the

1. "That he, as the second Adam, should obey the whole law, in the name of those he represented." This was a debt owing by them all; and was required of them by the law, as a condition of life: Gal. iii. 10. "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." wering of this demand was quite beyond their reach. fall, having lost much of his knowledge of the law, had lost sight of many of the duties required therein: howbeit, ignorance of the law excuseth no man. His heart was averse to and enmity against the law, Rom. viii. 7. And he was without strength to perform the duties therein required of him, chap. v. 6. So that by reason of ignorance, aversion, and impotency in that matter, the obedience of the whole law was not to be had from them. Wherefore it was provided, that Christ, as their representative, should give obedience to the whole law for them; that both tables of the law, and each command of each table, should have the due obedience from him; that the law being laid before him in its spirituality and full extent, he should fully answer it, in internal and external obedience, in his mind, will, and affections, in thought, word, and deed; that he should conform himself to the whole natural law, and to all divine institutions, ceremonial or political, so as to be circumcised, keep the passover, to be baptized, to be a servant of or subject to rulers, pay tribute to whom it was due, and the like: in one word, that he should perform the whole will of God, signified in his law; so that with the safety of the law's honour, his people might have life. What the first Adam failed in, the second Adam was to do. And this I take to be represented unto us, in the case of the first and second king of Israel, to wit, Saul and David, Acts xiii. 22. "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will;" Gr. "all my wills." In which there is a plain view to Saul, who was partial in his obedience to the will of God, (1 Sam. xv.) and upon that score lost the kingdom for him and his.

2. "That every part of that obedience should be carried to the highest pitch and degree." This the law required of them, as a condition of life; as our Lord himself shewed unto the lawyer, Luke x. 27, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and

with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Ver. 28, "This do, and thou shalt live." But it was a demand they could never have answered, since Adam had squandered away their stock of ability, and left them without strength. They might as soon have reached up their hands to the sun in the firmament, so far above, as have attained to the perfection of obedience demanded of them by the law. Wherefore it was agreed, that Christ should in their name obey the law in that perfection, being made under the law, as they were under it, Gal. iv. 4, 5; that every action of his should bear, not only a goodness of the matter, but of the manner too, and that in perfection; that love to God and man should flame in his holy human soul, to the utmost pitch required by the law; and so that debt owing by his seed, might be cleared by him, acting as a public man in their

name.

3. Lastly, "That all this should be continued to the end, without the least failure in one jot of parts or degrees of obedience." This also was a condition of life stated in the first covenant; Gal. iii. 10, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." But it was a demand they could by no means answer; man's nature being so vitiated by the fall, that if a thousand hells were lying upon it, the best on earth could not keep perfectly right one hour. Wherefore it was agreed, that the second Adam should, in the name of those he represented, continue in all things written in the law to do them, even to the end; that he should not fail in his begun course of obedience, but run to the end of the race set before him; that from the womb to the grave, his heart and life should shine in perfection of holiAll which he did accordingly fulfil, being obedient unto death, Philip. ii. 8.

ness.

ARTICLE III.

SATISFACTION FOR SIN.

THE former two were in the condition of Adam's covenant but this was not in it; for while there was no sin, there was no place for satisfaction for sin. But the new covenant behoved to be settled on the condition of a satisfaction for sin; because the broken law or covenant of works, insisted for it as a condition of life to sinners, in virtue of its penalty by them incurred. Howbeit, it was quite beyond their power to answer this demand of the law. If then the