Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulness of sin. The life…Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulnesse of sinne. The life…

The ground whereof is the Vast disproportion which is between the Creature and the soul of man, whereby it comes to pass, that it is absolutely impossible for one to fill up the other. The soul of man is a substance of unbounded desires: and that will easily appear if we consider him in any estate, either Created or Corrupted. In his Created estate he was made with a Soul capable of more glory, then the whole earth or all the frame of nature, though changed into one Paradise, could have afforded him: for he was fitted unto so much honour as an infinite and everlasting Communion with God could bring along with it. And now God never in the Creation gave unto any Creature a proper capacity of a thing, unto which he did not withal implant such motions and desires in that Creature as should be some what suitable to that capacity, and which might (if they had been preserved entire) have brought man to the fruition of that Good which he desired. For notwithstanding it be true, That the glory of God cannot be attained unto, by the virtue of any action which man either can, or ever could have performed: yet God was pleased out of Mercy, for the magnifying of his name, for the Communicating of his glory, for the advancement of his Creature, to enter into Covenant with man, and for his natural obedience to promise him a supernatural reward. And this, I say, was even then out of Mercy; in as much as Adams legal obedience of works could no more in any virtue of its own, but only in Gods merciful contract and acceptance, merit everlasting life, then our Evangelical Obedience of faith can now. Only the difference between the mercy of the first and second Covenant (and it is a great difference) is this. God did out of mercy propose Salvation unto Adam as […] ⟨p. 6⟩[…] ⟨p. 7⟩⟨p. 8⟩an Infinite Reward of such a finite Obedience, as Adam was able by his own created abilities to have performed. As if a man should give a Day-labourer a hundred pound for his days work, which perform indeed he did by his own strength, but yet did not merit the thousandth part of that wages which he receives: But Gods mercy unto us is this, That he is pleased to bestow upon us not only the reward, but the work and merit which procured the reward, that he is pleased in us to reward another mans work, even the work of Christ our head;