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Obs. 179.-The moral law may be viewed in three forms:-as a law of nature, as a covenant of works, and as a rule of life.

First, It may be viewed as a law of nature, antecedent to, and disengaged from, any covenant transaction between God and man. And here the following things may be observed :— 1. God imposed it as a Creator and an absolute Sovereign. 2. It was written upon man's heart at his creation.-Gen. i. 26; Eccl. vii. 29. If man was made in the divine image, power to obey the law must have been created with him, otherwise he would not have been perfect when he came from the creating hand of God.

3. It contained no positive precept, but obliged all its subjects to believe every thing which God should reveal, and perform every thing which he should command. And hence,

4. Its subjects not being confirmed in holiness of heart and life, it implied a sanction of infinite punishment to every transgressor, as the due reward of his sin.

5. The most perfect obedience of innocent man having no proper desert before God, especially of eternal happiness, it implied no promise of any such reward, or that men should ever be confirmed under it as an easy and delightful rule of life. And hence,

6. It did not admit of God's accepting any thing less than perfect obedience. This is evident from Rom. vi. 23,

"Death is the wages of sin." See Ezek. xviii. 4.

7. All men, as rational creatures, were subject to this law; it having been written on man's heart at his creation.-Rom. ii. 14, 15.

Second, It may be viewed as a covenant of works; in which form we ought to be well acquainted with the law; for it is in this form that we see both the misery of those who are under it, and the happiness of those who have been delivered from it. And here the following things may be remarked :

1. An absolute God, condescending to friendship, made alliance and familiarity with holy and perfect man; and was the imposer of it.-See Gen. ii. 17.

2. It included not only all the commands of the law of nature, but also some positive institutions.-See Gen. ii. 16, &c.

3. It not only denounced infinite punishment against every transgressor of it, but also promised eternal happiness to the perfect fulfiller of it.

4. It binds mankind, not only as authoritatively imposed

by God their sovereign, but also as accepted by themselves, in their own self-engagement to fulfil it.-See Gen. iii. 2, 3; where we find that our first parents agreed to the condition, and acquiesced in the threatening.

5. The original scope and end of it was, that man might obtain eternal life by his own obedience as its condition.See Rom. vii. 10, and x. 5.

6. As it did not admit of God's accepting any obedience, but that which was absolutely perfect and answerable to all its demands; so the acceptance of the fulfiller's person depended on the acceptance of his obedience.

7. In consequence of God's making this law-covenant with Adam, all his natural descendants, while in their natural state, are under it before God.-See Eph. ii. 3; Rom. ix. 30, &c.

Third, It may be viewed as the law of Christ, or as a rule of life. And here the following things may be observed :—

1. It has the whole authority of God, as a Creator and Sovereign, as well as a Redeemer, giving it a binding force.--See Matt. v. 48; 1 Pet. i. 18.

2. It proceeds immediately from Jesus Christ, God-man, Mediator; and from God, as our Creator and Sovereign, as reconciled and dwelling in him.-See 1 Cor. ix. 21; Gal. vi. 2 Cor. v. 19, &c.

2;

3. Its precepts are the very same as those of the covenant of works, and demand the same perfection of obedience.See Matt. xxii. 36, &c.; Phil. iv. 8. For if the law of Christ did not demand the same perfection of obedience, it would be changeable in its demands; and, consequently, would cease to be an exact transcript of the divine nature.

4. The subjects of it being fully and irrevocably instated in the favour of God, and entitled to eternal life in Christ, it has no sanction of judicial rewards and punishments.-See John v. 24; Rom. v. 21, and viii. 1, 33, &c.

5. The end which God had in view in giving this law, is different from that which was proposed in giving the law as a covenant of works. The end which he had in view, in giving the law as a covenant of works, was, that life might be obtained by it, and that his favour might be procured as a judge, and also a title to happiness. But the end which he had in view in giving it as a rule of life, was to direct, and to bind, and to excite believers in Christ to improve their full and irrevocable justification, and begun possession of eternal

life, in cordial gratitude to him, and also in preparation for complete salvation; so that their obedience, in its highest view, is a part of their happiness here, as well as it will be hereafter. See Luke i. 74, &c.; Rom. vii. 4, &c.; Heb. xii. 28; 1 Pet. ii. 9; Gal. ii. 19.

6. It supposes all its subjects to have already full strength and sufficient motives and encouragement in Christ. And although it required perfect obedience from Christ, yet it admits of God's accepting the imperfect "obedience of faith;" but this is not to be viewed as the ground of the believer's acceptance, or what is called the condition of eternal life; but only as a fruit of his union with Christ, and an evidence of his being fully accepted in him.-See Eph. i. 6; Rom. xii. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 58.

7. All believers, and they alone, are the subjects of this law of Christ; for they who are not in Christ, are still in a natural state, and consequently under the law as a covenant of works. See 1 Cor. ix. 21; Gal. vi. 2.

Obs. 180.-The moral law is of use to all men in general, to unregenerate men, and to believers.

First, The moral law is of use to all men in the following respects :

1. To teach them their duty to God, to their neighbour, and to themselves; and to bind them to it by the infinite authority of God.-Micah vi. 8.

2. To discover to them the holiness, the equity, and the goodness of the nature and works of God.-Rom. vii. 12. 3. To restrain them from sin, and to encourage them to holiness.-Psal. xix. 11; Isa. i. 19; Ezek. xviii.; Deut. iv. and xxx.

4. To convince them of their sinfulness, and their misery on account of sin, and of their utter inability to recover themselves by keeping the commandments.-Rom. v. 20, iii. 19, &c., and vii. 8, &c.

5. To show them their need of Christ, and of his righteousness and grace; and to excite them to apply them to their souls. Gal. iii. 24.

Second, The moral law is of use to unregenerate men in the following respects :

1. To convince and awaken their consciences.

2. To denounce the wrath of God against their sins, and thus to affect them with a deep sense of it.-Rom. ii. 8, 9.

3. To bridle the rage of their lusts.-1 Tim. i. 9.

4. To drive them, when convinced of their sin and misery, and their inability to recover themselves, to Jesus Christ as their Almighty Saviour.-Gal. iii. 24; Rom. x. 4.

5. To fix in their consciences a deep sense of their having those very characters of sinfulness and misery, by which men are particularly invited to receive Jesus Christ and his salvation.-1 Tim. i. 15; Isa. xlvi. 12, lv. 2, &c., and lxv. 1, &c.; Matt. ix. 13, xi. 28, and xviii. 11; Prov. i. 22; Jer. iii. 1, &c. 6. To consign them to redoubled damnation if they reject Jesus Christ. For by the law all are condemned already; and if they still continue in unbelief, they are condemned in this way too; so that they are doubly condemned, and no remedy awaits them.—John iii. 18, 36; Heb. ii. 3, and x. 26, &c.; Matt. xi. 20, &c.

Third, The moral law is of use to believers in the following respects :

1. To show them what Christ, from love to their souls, did and suffered in their stead.--Gal. iii. 13, and iv. 4, 5; Rom. viii. 3, &c.

2. To show them their inexpressible deficiency in holiness. 3. To instruct them what grateful service they owe to Christ and his Father, and at what perfection of holiness they ought always to aim.--Phil. iii. 8, 9; 1 Tim. i. 5; 2 Cor. vii. 1; 1 Pet. i. 13, &c. ; 2 Pet. i. 5, &c.; Matt. v. 48.

4. To attest the truth of their begun sanctification, and to comfort them as Israelites indeed, who walk in the law of the Lord after the inward man of implanted grace.--1 John iii. 14; 2 Cor. i. 12.

Obs. 181.-Besides the moral law, there are other laws,—namely, the ceremonial and judicial, which God gave to his people of old as the rule of their obedience.

1. The ceremonial law was a system of positive precepts, concerning the external worship of God; chiefly designed to typify Christ as then to come, and to lead them to the knowledge of the way of salvation through him.-Heb. x. 1. This law is not obligatory under the New Testament dispensation; for although the divine truths represented by these ceremonies, which were instituted by God himself, are unchangeably the same; yet the observation of the ceremonies themselves was abrogated by the death and satisfaction of Christ, in which they were fully accomplished.—John i. 17. That

the ceremonial law was abolished by Christ, is evident from the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, in which alone it was lawful to offer sacrifices. God would have never permitted this to have taken place, if these ceremonial institutions had been to subsist after the death of Jesus Christ, of whom it was predicted, that he should “ cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."--Dan. ix. 27. See also Jer. iii. 16.

2. The judicial law was that body of laws given by God for the government of the Jews, partly founded in the law of nature, and partly respecting them as they were a nation distinct from all others.-See Lev. xxv. 13; Éxod. xxiii. 11; Numb. xxx. 15; Deut. xvi. 16. As far as this law respects the peculiar constitution of the Hebrew nation, it is entirely abrogated; but, as far as it contains any statute founded in the law of nature common to all nations, it is still obligatory.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,--1. That seeing God is man's Sovereign, man ought to obey him. 2. That no law can bind or ought to bind the conscience, but the moral law. 3. That man is inexcusable, if he obey not the moral law, which is revealed to him. 4. The danger of trusting in our own obedience for justification and life. 5. The necessity of an interest in him, who has obeyed the law in every part, and who alone can deliver from its curse. 6. That we have great reason to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God; seeing we have sinned times and ways without number. 7. That man is fallen from his first state. 8. That, considering circumstances, the way to life was easy under the first covenant. 9. The misery of sinners in a natural state; seeing they are still under the law as a covenant of works. 10. The happiness of believers in Christ; for they are now delivered from the law as a covenant. 11. That there is only one way to the Father; the way by working being for ever shut up. 12. The advantages and obligations of those who are in Christ. 13. That Christ is the only refuge for sinners. 14. The necessity of faith and repentance. 15. That salvation is wholly by grace; and that Christ is our salvation. 16. That the obedience of believers is an evidence of their election by God.

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