Milton

¶1Fuit renovationis ratio quoad in hac vita progreditur. Reliqua est ejus in fœdere gratiæ MANIFESTATIO sive EXHIBITIO.

¶2FŒDUS ipsum GRATIÆ ex parte Dei promulgatur primum Gen. iii. 15. præterea inimicitiam pono inter te et mulierem hanc; similiterque inter semen tuum et semen ejus: hoc conteret tibi caput, tu autem conteres huic calcaneum: cum Rom. xvi. 20. Deus pacis conteret Satanam sub pedes vestros cito. et 1 Joan. iii. 8. ad hoc manifestus factus est Filius Dei, ut dissolvat opera diaboli. Ex parte hominum significatur, ex quo homines Deum coluisse narrantur.

¶3MANIFESTATIO FŒDERIS GRATIÆ est ejus exhibitio et obsignatio: utraque et sub lege fuit, et est sub evangelio.

¶4Sub lege quidem, obscurius licet, et redemptor et redemptionis necessitas percipitur. Heb. ix. 8, &c. nondum factam fuisse manifestam ad sacrarium viam, priore tabernaculo adhuc consistente: quod erat exemplar pro tempore illo tunc præsente, quo dona sacrificiaque offeruntur, quæ non possunt in conscientia consummare cultorem; in cibis duntaxat et potionibus et diversis ablutionibus ac justificationibus sive judiciis carnis usque ad præstitutum tempus directionis imposita. Sub evangelio apertius et rep. 295demptor et redemptionis veritas cognoscitur. Joan. i. 17. lex per Mosen data est; gratia et veritas per Jesum Christum præstita est.

¶5LEX DEI est non scripta vel scripta.

¶6Non scripta est naturalis illa primo homini data, cujus reliquiæ et quoddam lumen omnium mortalium cordibus permansit; in regeneratis vero Spiritus Sancti opera indies ad perfectionem primævam renovatur. Rom. i. 19. ostendit enim illis—. v. 32. qui Dei jure agnito (nempe eos qui talia faciunt dignos esse morte) tamen non solum ea faciunt, sed etiam facientibus consentiunt ultro. Et ii. 14, 15. gentes quæ legem non habent, natura quæ legis sunt faciunt: isti enim sibi ipsis sunt lex; ut qui ostendant opus legis scriptum in cordibus suis.

¶7Unde lex pro doctrina sacra seu voluntate Dei sive sub lege sive sub evangelio sæpe accipitur. Jer. xxxi. 33. indam legem meam menti eorum. Joan. x. 34. nonne scriptum est in lege vestra, Ego dixi, dii estis? quod scriptum in Psalmis, non in lege, reperitur.

¶8Fœderis gratuiti manifestatio sub lege, vel ante Mosen fuit vel sub Mose.

¶9Ante Mosen aliqua ex parte tradita jam lex erat, etsi non scripta. Gen. iv. 3, 4. obtulit Cain de fructu terræ munus Jehovæ. Et v. 26. tunc cœptum est invocari nomen Jehovæ. Et cap. vii. 1, 2. te perspexi justum coram me: ex omnibus pecudibus mundis—. Et viii. 20, 21, &c. extruxit Noa altare Jehovæ—. 2 Pet. ii. 5. Noe justitiæ præconem. Eadem de cæteris patriarchis ante Mosen leguntur Gen. xii. 4, 5. et xiii. 18. et xxv. 22. et xxviii. 18. et purificatio cap. xxxv. 2. mundate vos ac mutate vestimenta vestra. et v. 14. sic Exod. xvii. 5.

¶10Fœderis manifestatio quædam et veluti umbra sub Mose fuit primum redemptio per liberationem ex Ægypto, ductu Mosis: deinde serpens æneus, Joan. iii. 14, 15, 16.

¶11Expiationis et redemptionis symbola et ante Mosen et sub Mose erant sacrificia et sacerdotes, Melchesedecus et Aharon cum posteris suis. Heb. viii. 5. ut qui exemplari et umbræ cultum præstent rerum cœlestium.

¶12LEX MOSAICA ERAT MULTORUM PRÆCEPTORUM, ISRAELITIS DUNTAXAT, SCRIPTA INSTITUTIO, CUM PROMISSIONE VITÆ IIS QUI EA PRÆSTITISSENT, MALEDICTIONE AUTEM QUI NON PRÆSTITISSENT, UT HUMANI GENERIS PRAVITATEM, ADEOQUE SUAM, INDE AGNOSCENTES, AD JUSTITIAM PROMISSI CHRISTI CONFUGERENT, UTQUE AB ILLA QUASI PUERILI ATQUE SERVILI RUDIMENTORUM DISCIPLINA AD ÆTATEM ADULTAM NOVÆ CREATURÆ ET LIBERTATEM SUB EVANGELIO VIRILEM FILIISQUE DIGNAM OMNES POSTEA GENTES ERUDIREMUR. Heb. ix. 8, &c. ut supra.

¶13ISRAELITIS DUNTAXAT. Exod. xix. 5, 6. si sedulo attendetis voci meæ, et observabitis fœdus meum, utique eritis mihi peculium præ omnibus aliis populis: nam mea est tota terra: vosque eritis mihi regnum sacerdotale et gens sancta. Deut. v. 2. hæ testificationes illæ, statutaque et judicia quæ locutus est Moses apud filios Israelis, quum exivissent ex Ægypto. 1 Reg. viii. 21. disposui locum pro arca, in qua est fœdus Jehovæ, quod pepigit cum patribus nostris, quum educeret eos e terra Ægypti. Psal. cxlvii. 19, 20. verba sua Jacobo &c. statuta et judicia sua Israeli: non sic ulli genti &c. Hic paries intergerinus ille inter gentes nempe et Israelitas morte Christi tandem dirutus et solutus: Eph. ii. 14. Ante hunc solutum gentes alienatæ ab omni fœdere fuere: v. 12. alienatæ a republica Israelis. Act. xiv. 16, 17. qui præteritis sæculis sivit omnes gentes incedere viis ipsarum, nec tamen se sine testimonio &c. et xvii. 27, 28, 30. ut quærerent Dominum, si forte palparent, invenirentque: quamquam non procul &c. tempora igitur ignorantiæ præteriens Deus &c.

¶14CUM PROMISSIONE VITÆ: hujus nimirum non æternæ, ut Lev. xxvi. toto capite apparet. Lev. xviii. 5. homo qui fecerit ea, vivet in iis. p. 297Deut. vi. 24, 25. et justitia erit nobis, si observantes fecerimus totam præceptionem hanc coram Deo nostro quemadmodum præcepit nobis. Gal. iii. 12. lex non est ex fide; sed qui fecerit ea, vivet per eam. Vitam autem æternam etsi lex non promittit, prophetæ tamen sic innuere videntur. Zech. iii. 7. disponam tibi qui ambulent inter adstantes istos. Luc. x. 25, 28. et infra de resurrectione.

¶15ET MALEDICTIONE IIS &c. Deut. xxvii. 26. maledictus qui non præstiterit verba legis hujus, faciendo ea. Gal. iii. 10. quotquot ex operibus legis sunt, sub execratione sunt: scriptum est enim, Execrabilis est quisquis—.

¶16UT PRAVITATEM—. Rom. iii. 20. per legem agnitio peccati. et iv. 25. lex operatur iram. et v. 20. lex præterea introiit, ut redundaret delictum; sed ubi redundavit delictum, ibi superabundavit gratia illa. et vii. 5. cum essemus in carne, affectus peccatorum per legem existentes agebant in membris nostris ad fructum ferendum morti. et v. 7, 8, 9. peccatum non cognovi, nisi per legem—: sed peccatum, occasione per illud præceptum sumpta, effecit in me—. et v. 12, 13. lex ipsa quidem sancta, et præceptum illud sanctum ac justum et bonum est: ergo quod bonum, mihi factum est mors? absit; sed peccatum, ut appareret esse peccatum mihi per id quod bonum est efficiens mortem; ut peccatum fieret admodum peccans per illud præceptum. Gal. iii. 19. quid igitur lex? transgressionum gratia adjecta est, usque quo venisset semen illud cui facta est promissio. Hinc omnibus nondum regenitis lex naturæ data est, in eundem finem atque data est Israelitis lex Mosaica. Rom. iii. 19. scimus autem quæcunque lex dicit, iis qui in lege sunt dicere; ut omne os obstruatur, et obnoxius fiat totus mundus condemnationi Dei: cum i. 19. ostendit enim eis Deus.

¶17AD JUSTITIAM CHRISTI. Hinc illa Christi invitatio, Matt. xi. 28. venite ad me omnes qui fatigati estis et onerati, et ego faciam ut requiescatis; a maledictione scilicet legis. Hinc illa Pauli sub legis maledictione æstuatio, gratiæque Deo actæ propter Christum, Rom. vii. p. 29824, 25. ærumnosus ego homo, quis me eripiet—? x. 4. finis legis est Christus ad justitiam cuivis credenti. Gal. iii. 11. nullum per legem justificari apud Deum manifestum est, quoniam justus ex fide vivet. et v. 13. Christus nos redemit ab execratione legis—. et v. 21: si data fuisset lex quæ posset vivificare, vere ex lege esset justitia. et v. 22. sed conclusit illa scriptura sub peccatum omnia; ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus: conclusit, id est, reos peccati omnes declaravit. et v. 24. itaque lex pædagogus noster fuit in Christum respiciens, ut ex fide justificaremur. 2 Cor. iii. 6. littera occidit, id est, littera legis sive elementum, ut alias dicitur; occidit, id est, vitam æternam non promisit. Col. ii. 14. ac deleto quod adversum nos erat chirographo decretis, quod erat nobis contrarium. Itaque in ipsa Mosis persona imperfectio legis manifesta fuit: Moses enim, qui legis typus erat, non potuit in terram Canaan, id est, in æternam requiem perducere Israelis filios; sed ductu Josuæ, id est, Jesu, ingressus iis est datus. Unde et salutem æternam per solum Christum, licet nondum revelatum, sub lege quoque unam et eandem fuisse testatur Petrus, Act. xv. 10, 11. quid tentatis Deum ad imponendum jugum cervici discipulorum, quod neque patres nostri neque nos portare valuimus? immo per gratiam Domini Jesu Christi credimus nos servatum iri, quemadmodum et illos. Heb. xiii. 8. Jesus Christus heri et hodie idem est, et in sæcula. Justificabantur quidem sub lege quotquot mandata ejus omnia observare poterant, sed ad hanc solum vitam beate agendam, Deut. vi. 24, 25. præcepit nobis Jehova exercere omnia statuta ista &c. ut bene sit nobis omnibus diebus &c. et justitia erit nobis, si observantes &c. Fides autem in Deum per Christum assecuta est et quod lex ipsa et quod legis observatores præstare nequiverunt, idque ad vitam sempiternam.

¶1The nature and process of renovation, so far as it is developed in this life, have been considered. We are now to trace its manifestation and exhibition in the covenant of grace.

¶2THE COVENANT OF GRACE itself, on the part of God, is first declared Gen. iii. 15. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel; compared with Rom. xvi. 20. the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. 1 John iii. 8. for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. On the part of man its existence may be considered as implied from the earliest period at which it is recorded that mankind worshipped God.

¶3THE MANIFESTATION OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE consists in its exhibition and its ratification. Both existed under the law, and both continue under the gospel.

¶4Even under the law the existence of a Redeemer and the necessity of redemption are perceptible, though obscurely and indistinctly. Heb. ix. 8, &c. the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing; which was a figure for the p. 401time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances (or righteousness of the flesh), imposed on them until the time of reformation. Under the gospel both the Redeemer and the truth of his redemption are more explicitly understood. John i. 17. the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

¶5THE LAW OF GOD is either written or unwritten.

¶6The unwritten law is no other than that law of nature given originally to Adam,² and of which a certain remnant, or imperfect illumination, still dwells in the hearts of all mankind; which, in the regenerate, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, is daily tending towards a renewal of its primitive brightness. Rom. i. 19. God hath showed it unto them. v. 32. who knowing the judgement of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. ii. 14, 15. the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts.

¶7Hence the law is often used for heavenly doctrine in the abstract, or the will of God, as declared under both covenants. Jer. xxxi. 33. I will put my law in their inward parts. John x. 34. is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? though the passage alluded to is found in the Psalms, not in the law properly so called.

¶8The manifestation of this gratuitous covenant under the law was partly anterior to, and partly coincident with, Moses.

¶9Even before Moses the law was already in part delivered, although not in a written form. Gen. iv. 3, 4. Cain brought of the fruit of the p. 402ground an offering unto Jehovah. v. 26. then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah. vii. 1, 2. thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation: of every clean beast, &c. viii. 20, 21, &c. Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah. 2 Pet. ii. 5. Noah, a preacher of righteousness. The same is said of the other patriarchs before Moses. Gen. xii. 4, 5. xiii. 18. xxv. 22. xxviii. 18. Ceremonial purification is likewise mentioned, xxxv. 2. be clean and change your garments. Compare v. 14. Exod. xvii. 5.

¶10A certain manifestation or shadowing forth of the covenant was exhibited under Moses, first, in the redemption from bondage by the liberation from Egypt under the guidance of Moses; secondly, in the brazen serpent, John iii. 14—16.

¶11The symbols of expiation and redemption, both before and under Moses, were the sacrifices and the priests, Melchizedec and Aaron with his posterity.³ Heb. viii. 5. who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.

¶12THE MOSAIC LAW WAS A WRITTEN CODE CONSISTING OF MANY PRECEPTS, INTENDED FOR THE ISRAELITES ALONE, WITH A PROMISE OF LIFE TO SUCH AS SHOULD KEEP THEM, AND A CURSE ON SUCH AS SHOULD BE DISOBEDIENT; TO THE END THAT THEY, BEING LED THEREBY TO AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE DEPRAVITY OF MANKIND, AND CONSEQUENTLY OF THEIR OWN, MIGHT HAVE RECOURSE TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE PROMISED SAVIOUR; AND THAT THEY, AND IN PROCESS OF TIME ALL OTHER NATIONS, MIGHT BE LED UNDER THE GOSPEL FROM THE WEAK AND SERVILE RUDIMENTS OF THIS ELEMENTARY INSTITUTION⁴ TO THE FULL STRENGTH p. 403OF THE NEW CREATURE, AND A MANLY LIBERTY WORTHY THE SONS OF GOD. Heb. ix. 8, &c. as above.

¶13INTENDED FOR THE ISRAELITES ALONE. Exod. xix. 5, 6. if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. Deut. iv. 45. these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgements, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt. 1 Kings viii. 21. I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Jehovah, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Psal. cxlvii. 19, 20. he showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgements unto Israel: he hath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his judgements, they have not known them. This wall of partition between the Gentiles and Israelites was at length broken down by the death of Christ, Eph. ii. 14. until which time the Gentiles were aliens from the whole of the covenant, v. 12. being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Acts xiv. 16, 17. who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways: nevertheless he left not himself without witness, &c. xvii. 27, 28, 30. that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us ...... the times of this ignorance God winked at.

¶14WITH A PROMISE OF LIFE; namely, temporal life, as is obvious from the whole of the twenty-sixth chapter of Leviticus. Lev. xviii. 5. ye shall keep my statutes, which if a man do, he shall live in them. Deut. vi. 25. it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before Jehovah our God, as he hath commanded us. Gal. iii. 12. the law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Though the law, however, does not promise eternal life, p. 404this latter seems to be implied in the language of the prophets. Zech. iii. 7. I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Luke x. 25—28. See also below, on the resurrection.

¶15A CURSE ON SUCH AS SHOULD BE DISOBEDIENT. Deut. xxvii. 26. cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. Gal. iii. 10. as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the law to do them.

¶16ACKNOWLEDGING THE DEPRAVITY. Rom. iii. 20. by the law is the knowledge of sin. iv. 15. the law worketh wrath. v. 20. moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. vii. 5. when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. v. 7—9. I had not known sin, but by the law—: but sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. v. 12, 13. wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good: was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid: but sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. Gal. iii. 19. wherefore then serveth the law? it was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. Hence to those who are not yet regenerate, the law of nature has the same obligatory force, and is intended to serve the same purposes, as the law of Moses to the Israelites. Rom. iii. 19. we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that were under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God, compared with i. 19. that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it them.

¶17THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE PROMISED SAVIOUR. Hence Christ's invitation, Matt. xi. 28. come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; that is, from the curse of the law. p. 405Hence also the conflict in the mind of Paul while under the curse of the law, and the thanks which he renders to God for the atonement of Christ; Rom. vii. 24, 25. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? x. 4. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Gal. iii. 11. that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. v. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. v. 21. if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. v. 22. but the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe; concluded, that is, declared all guilty of sin. v. 24. wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 2 Cor. iii. 6. the letter killeth, that is, the letter of the law (elsewhere called the elements) killeth, in other words, does not promise eternal life. Col. ii. 14. blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us. Thus the imperfection of the law was manifested in the person of Moses himself; for Moses, who was a type of the law, could not bring the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, that is, into eternal rest; but an entrance was given to them under Joshua, or Jesus.⁵ Hence Peter testifies that eternal salvation was through Christ alone under the law, equally as under the gospel, although he was not then revealed: Acts xv. 10, 11. why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Heb. xiii. 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and p. 406to-day, and for ever. For although, under the law, as many as were able to keep all the commandments were justified, the promise extended only to happiness in this life: Deut. vi. 24, 25. Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, &c. ... and it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments. But what neither the law itself nor the observers of the law could attain, faith in God through Christ has attained, and that even to eternal life.