A Christian Directory

And just as Law and Promises or Gifts are conjoined in the New Covenant, just so should Obedience and Thankfulness be conjoined in our hearts and lives; one to God as our Ruler, and the other to him as our Benefactor: And th•se two must animate every act of heart and life. We must Repent of sin: but it must be a Thankful Repenting, as becometh those that have a free pardon of all their sins procured by the blood of Christ, and offered them in the Gospel: Leave out this Gratitude, and it is no Evangelical Repentance. And what is our saving faith in Christ, but the Assent to the truth of the Gospel, with a Thankful Acceptance of the good which it offereth us, even Christ as our Saviour with the Benefits of his Redemption. The Love to God that is there required, is the Thankful Love of his Redeemed ones: And the Love to our very enemies, and the forgiving of wrongs, and all the Love to one another, and all the works of Charity there required, are the exercises of Gratitude, and are all to be done, on this account, because Christ hath loved us, and forgiven us, and that we may show our thankful Love to him. Preaching, and Praying, and Sacraments, and public praises, and communion of Saints, and obedience, are all to be animated with Gratitude, and they are no further Evangelically performed, than Thankfulness is the very life and complexion of them all. The dark and defective opening of this by Preachers, gave occasion to the Antinomians to run into the contrary extreme, and to derogate too much from Gods Law and our Obedience: But if we obscure the doctrine of Evangelical Gratitude, we do as bad or worse than they. Obedience to our Ruler, and Thankfulness to our Benefactor, conjoined and co-operating as the Head and Heart in the Natural body, do make a Christian indeed. Understand this well, and it will much incline your hearts to Thankfulness.

And just as Law and Promises or Gifts are conjoyned in the New Covenant, just so should Obedience and Thankfulness be conjoyned in our hearts and lives; one to God as our Ruler, and the other to him as our Benefactor: And th•se two must animate every act of heart and life. We must Repent of sin: but it must be a Thankful Repenting, as becometh those that have a free pardon of all their sins procured by the blood of Christ, and offered them in the Gospel: Leave out this Gratitude, and it is no Evangelical Repentance. And what is our saving faith in Christ, but the Assent to the truth of the Gospel, with a Thankful Acceptance of the good which it offereth us, even Christ as our Saviour with the Benefits of his Redemption. The Love to God that is there required, is the Thankful Love of his Redeemed ones: And the Love to our very enemies, and the forgiving of wrongs, and all the Love to one another, and all the works of Charity there required, are the exercises of Gratitude, and are all to be done, on this account, because Christ hath loved us, and forgiven us, and that we may shew our thankful Love to him. Preaching, and Praying, and Sacraments, and publick praises, and communion of Saints, and obedience, are all to be animated with Gratitude, and they are no further Evangelically performed, than Thankfulness is the very life and complexion of them all. The dark and defective opening of this by Preachers, gave occasion to the Antinomians to run into the contrary extream, and to derogate too much from Gods Law and our Obedience: But if we obscure the doctrine of Evangelical Gratitude, we do as bad or worse than they. Obedience to our Ruler, and Thankfulness to our Benefactor, conjoyned and co-operating as the Head and Heart in the Natural body, do make a Christian indeed. Understand this well, and it will much incline your hearts to Thankfulness.