Vindiciae legis, or, A vindication of the moral law and the covenants, from the…Vindiciae legis, or, A vindication of the morall law and the covenants, from the…

In the fourth place we come to lay down those things that may clear the meaning of the Apostle: and first know, that humane Authors, who yet have acknowledged the help of precepts, do speak thus much of a righteous man, only to show this, that he doth that which is righteous, for love of righteousness, not for fear of punishment: As Aquinas said of his love to God, Amo, quia amo; & amo, ut amem. Thus Seneca, Ad Legem esse bonum exiguum est: It's a poor small thing to be good only according to the law. And so Aristotle, lib. 3. Polit. cap. 9. showeth how a righteous man would be good, though there were no law; as they say of a Magistrate, he ought to be [Greek or Hebrew], a living law. Thus Socrates said of the Civill Law, [Greek or Hebrew] And Plato, Polit. 3. [Greek or Hebrew], It is not fit to command or make laws for those that are good. These Sayings are not altogether true, yet they have some kind of truth in them. Hence it was that Antisthenes said, A wise man was not bound by any laws: And Demonax told a Lawyer, that all their laws would come to nothing; for good men did not need them, and wicked men would not be the better for them. And as the Heathens have said thus, so the Fathers: Hierome, What needs the Law say to a righteous man, Thou shalt not kill, to whom it's not permitted to be angry? Yet we see David, though a righteous man, needed this precept. But especially Chrysostom, even from these words, doth wonderfully hyperbolize, A righteous man needs not the Law, no not teaching or admonishing; yea, he disdains to be warned by it, he doth not wait or stay to learn of it. As therefore a Musician or Grammarian, that hath these arts within him, scorns the Grammar, or to go to look to the rules; so doth a righteous man. Now these are but hyperbole's; for what godly man is there, that needs not the Word as a light, that needs it not as a goad? Indeed, in heaven the godly shall not need the Law; no more shall they the Gospel, or the whole Word of God.

In the fourth place we come to lay downe those things that may cleare the meaning of the Apostle: and first know, that humane Authors, who yet have acknowledged the help of precepts, doe speak thus much of a righteous man, onely to shew this, that he doth that which is righteous, for love of righteousnesse, not for feare of punishment: As Aquinas said of his love to God, Amo, quia amo; & amo, ut amem. Thus Seneca, Ad Legem esse bonum exiguum est: It's a poore small thing to be good onely according to the law. And so Aristotle, lib. 3. Polit. cap. 9. sheweth how a righteous man would be good, though there were no law; as they say of a Magistrate, he ought to be 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, a living law. Thus Socrates said of the Civill Law, And Plato, Polit. 3. , It is not fit to command or make lawes for those that are good. These Sayings are not altogether true, yet they have some kinde of truth in them. Hence it was that Antisthenes said, A wise man was not bound by any lawes: And Demonax told a Lawyer, that all their lawes would come to nothing; for good men did not need them, and wicked men would not be the better for them. And as the Heathens have said thus, so the Fathers: Hierome, What needs the Law say to a righteous man, Thou shalt not kill, to whom it's not permitted to be angry? Yet we see David, though a righteous man, needed this precept. But especially Chrysostome, even from these words, doth wonderfully hyperbolize, A righteous man needs not the Law, no not teaching or admonishing; yea, he disdaines to be warned by it, he doth not wait or stay to learn of it. As therefore a Musician or Grammarian, that hath these arts within him, scorns the Grammar, or to go to look to the rules; so doth a righteous man. Now these are but hyperbole's; for what godly man is there, that needs not the Word as a light, that needs it not as a goad? Indeed, in heaven the godly shall not need the Law; no more shall they the Gospel, or the whole Word of God.