Christ is likewise called the Surety of the covenant (Heb. vii. 22); and the promises of the covenant were primarily made to him. Gal. iii. 16; Tit. i. 2. 3. That this covenant originated in the free grace and sovereign will of God. The Scriptures uniformly ascribe this transaction to the good pleasure of Him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will, and represent it as conducing to the praise of the glory of his grace. Eph. i. 3–6. On this account this covenant is, with great propriety, called the covenant of grace, because it origiuated in the free grace of God, and conveys the blessings of salvation to sinners in a manner the most gratuitous. 4. That this covenant was established from eternity. The covenant of grace is called the second covenant, as distinguished from the covenant of works made with Adam; but though the second in respect of manifestation and execution, yet, with respect either to the period or the order in which it was made, it is the first covenant. The Head of this covenant is introduced (Prov. viii. 23), saying, "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, ere ever the earth was;" i. e., he was set apart to his mediatory office and work, in other words, to be the head of his spiritual seed in the covenant of grace, from ́everlasting. The promise of eternal life is said to have been given us in Christ "before the world began" (Tit. i. 2); and the covenant is frequently styled an everlasting covenant. Heb. xiii. 20. 5. In the administration of this covenant, God "freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved." Though Christ, in this covenant, represented only a definite number of mankind, who were "chosen in him before the foundation of the world," yet, in the administration of the covenant, a free offer of salvation by Jesus Christ is addressed to sinners of mankind indefinitely and universally. John vi. 32; Isa. lv. 1; Rev. xxii. 17. This offer is not restricted, as Baxterians allege, to sensible sinners, or those who are convinced of their sin, and their need of the Saviour; for it is addressed to persons sunk in total insensibility as to their own miseries and wants. Rev. iii. 17, 18. This offer is made as really to those who eventually reject it, as it is to those who eventually receive it; for, if this were not the case, the former class of gospel-hearers could not be condemned for their unbelief. John iii. 18, 19. That God "requires of sinners faith in Christ that they may be saved," admits of no dispute. The part assigned to faith, however, has been much controverted. Many excellent divines, in consequence of the distinction which they made between the covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace, were led to speak of faith as the condition of the latter covenant. But the term, as used by them, signifies not a meritorious or procuring cause, but simply something which goes before, and without which the other cannot be obtained. They consider faith merely as a condition of order or connexion, as it has been styled, and as an instrument or means of obtaining an interest in the salvation offered in the gospel. This is very different from the meaning attached to the term by Arminians and Neonomians, who represent faith as a condition on the fulfilment of which the promise is suspended.* The Westminster Assembly elsewhere affirms, that God requires of sinners faith in Christ, "as the condition to interest them in him." But this is very different from affirming that faith is the condition of the covenant of grace. That faith is indispensably necessary as the instrument by which we are savingly interested in Christ, and personally instated in the covenant, is a most important truth, and this is all that is intended by the Westminster divines. They seem to have used the term condition as synonymous with instrument; for, while in one place they speak of faith as the condition to interest sinners in the Mediator, in other places they affirm, that "faith is the alone instrument of justification," and teach, that "faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, only as it is an instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness."§ As the word condition is ambiguous, apt to be misunderstood, and is frequently employed in an unsound and dangerous sense, it is now disused by evangelical divines. 6. That God promises his Holy Spirit to work in his elect that faith by which they come to have a special interest in the blessings of this covenant. This implies, that a certain * The sentiments of different writers on this important point are stated by Dr. Fraser, in his excellent notes on Witsius' Dissertations on the Apostles' Creed, vol. i., note 44. To the writers mentioned by him may be added, Boston (View of the Covenant of Grace, head iii., sect. 1); Wilson of London (Sermons, p. 71); and Dr. Dick (Lectures, vol. ii. p. 434.) + The Larger Catechism, Quest. 32. + Confession, ch. xi. 2. § The Larger Catechism, Quest. 73. definite number were ordained to eternal life, and that all these shall in due time be brought to believe in Christ. Acts xiii. 48. It also implies, that they are in themselves unwilling and unable to believe (John vi. 44); but God promises to give them the Holy Spirit to make them willing and able. Ezek. xxxvi. 26. Faith, therefore, instead of being the condition of the covenant of grace, belongs to the promissory part of the covenant. Rom. xv. 12. It is the gift of God, who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Eph. ii. 8; Phil. ii. 13. SECTION IV. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in the Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to it, therein bequeathed." Heb. ix. 15-17; vii. 22. Luke xxii. 20. 1 Cor. xi. 25. EXPOSITION. In the authorized English version of the New Testament, the covenant of grace is frequently designated a testament; and it is generally admitted, that the original word signifies both a covenant and a testament. There is, at least, one passage in which it is most properly rendered testament, namely, Heb. ix. 16, 17. Some learned critics, indeed, have strenuously contended against the use of that term even in this passage; but the great majority allow that the common translation is unexceptionable.* SECTION V. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel:9 under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to 92. Cor. iii. 6-9. * The reader will find a summary of the views of critics on this subject in a long and able article by Dr. Fraser, appended to his Translation of Witsius' Dissertations on the Apostles' Creed, vol. i., note 42. The learned Professor Stuart of Andover (in his Commen. tary on the Hebrews) also mentions the commentators who prefer the word covenant in the passage referred to, and declares that "his difficulties in admitting it are insuperable." the people of the Jews, all fore-signifying Christ to come,10 which were for that time sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah," by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the Old Testament.12 SECTION VI.-Under the gospel, when Christ the substance,13 was exhibited, the ordinances in which. this covenant is dispensed are, the preaching of the word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper;14 which though fewer in number, and administered with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them it is held forth in more fulness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy,15 to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles;16 and is called the New Testament.17 There are not, therefore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations.1 10 Heb. viii. ix. x. Rom. iv. 11. Col. ii. 11, 12. 11 Cor. v. 7. 11 1 Cor. x. 1-4. Heb xi. 13. John viii. 56. 12 Gal. iii. 7-9, 14. 13 Col. ii. 17. 14 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. 1 Cor. xi. 23-25. 15 Heb. xii. 22-27. 18 Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. Acts xv. 11. Rom. iii. 21-23, 30 Ps. xxxii. 1. Rom. iv. 3, 6, 16, 17, 23, 24. Heb. xiii. 8. EXPOSITION. The doctrines laid down in these sections are the following: 1. That there are not two covenants of grace differing in substance, but that the Old and New Testament economies are only two dispensations of the same covenant. The Jewish and the Christian dispensation are meant by the first and second, the old and new covenant. Heb. viii. 7, 13. 2. That believers who lived under the old dispensation, as well as those who live under the gospel, were saved by faith in Christ, and lived and died in the hope of a blessed immortality. 3. That the New Testament dispensation of the covenant of grace is, in many respects, superior to that which preceded the coming of Christ in the flesh. The present dispensation exceeds the past, in the superior clearness of its manifestations, in its substantial ratification by the death of Christ, in the more abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in the introduction of a more spiritual form of worship, and in its extension to all nations.* In concluding this chapter, let us reflect how admirably adapted the covenant of grace is to the situation of those who are ruined by the violation of the first covenant. Its condition being fulfilled by the glorious Surety, a full salvation is freely offered to the chief of sinners. But what will it avail us that this gracious covenant has been revealed, unless we obtain a personal interest in it, and are made partakers of its invaluable blessings? Let us, therefore, "take hold of God's covenant,” and let us labour after the fullest evidence of our interest in this blessed covenant. Then, amid all the troubles of life, we may "encourage ourselves in the Lord our God;" and, even when all other things fail us, we may experience that strong consolation which David enjoyed under his complicated trials, and in the immediate prospect of dissolution; and to which he gave utterance in these his last words: "Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; this is all my salvation, and all my desire." CHAPTER VIII. OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. SECTION I.-It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man;1 the Prophet, Priest,3 and King; the Head and Sa Isa. xlii. 1 Pet. i. 19, 20. John iii. 16. 1 Tim. ii. 5. 2 Acts iii. 22. 3 feb. v. 5, 6. Ps. ii. 6. Luke i. 33. * The sameness of the covenant of grace under both dispensations, the blessings and defects of the Old Testament, and the superior ad. vantages of the New, are fully discussed by Calvin (Institutes, book ii., ch. 9-11,) and by Witsius (Economy of the Covenants, book iv., ch. 11, 12, 13, 15.) |