A30249:547
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…
Vindiciae legis, or, A vindication of the moral law and the covenants, from the errors of Papists, Arminians, Socinians, and more especially, Antinomians in XXX lectures, preached at Laurence-Jury, London / by Anthony Burgess ...Vindiciae legis, or, A vindication of the morall law and the covenants, from the errours of Papists, Arminians, Socinians, and more especially, Antinomians in XXX lectures, preached at Laurence-Jury, London / by Anthony Burgess ...
London: printed by James Young for Thomas Underhill, 1647
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Therefore in the next place consider this, Whatsoever good effects, 1or benefit is conveyed to the soul by the preaching of the Law, or the Gospel, it's efficiently from Gods Spirit: so that we must not take the Law without the Spirit of God; and then compare it with the Gospel, having the Spirit of God, for that is unequal. And by the same reason, I may prefer the Law sometimes before the Gospel; for I may suppose a Minister, opening the duties of the Law, as Christ doth here in this Chapter, and the Spirit of God accompanying this, to change the heart of a man: and on the other side, one preaching the Gospel, in the greatest glory of it, yet not accompanied with Gods Spirit, there may not be the least degree of grace wrought in any hearer: Therefore I cannot well understand that, the Law indeed that showeth us our duty, but the Gospel, that giveth us grace to do it; for, if you take the Gospel for the Promises preached, how many are there that hear these, that yet receive no benefit by them? and on the other side, if the Law, setting forth our duty, be accompanied with Gods Spirit, that may instrumentally ⟨p. 199⟩work in us an ability to our duty; and without the Spirit the Gospel cannot do it. It is true, if this were the meaning, that had there been only Law, there could never have been any grace vouchsafed, but it is by reason of Christ, and so the Promises of the Gospel, that any good is brought to the souls; and so the Law worketh as a medium to our Conversion by Christ. If, I say, this be the meaning, then it's true; but the obscure, and unclear expressing of this, giveth an occasion to the Antinomian error.
Therefore in the next place consider this, Whatsoever good effects, 1or benefit is conveyed to the soul by the preaching of the Law, or the Gospel, it's efficiently from Gods Spirit: so that we must not take the Law without the Spirit of God; and then compare it with the Gospel, having the Spirit of God, for that is unequall. And by the same reason, I may preferre the Law sometimes before the Gospel; for I may suppose a Minister, opening the duties of the Law, as Christ doth here in this Chapter, and the Spirit of God accompanying this, to change the heart of a man: and on the otherside, one preaching the Gospel, in the greatest glory of it, yet not accompanyed with Gods Spirit, there may not be the least degree of grace wrought in any hearer: Therefore I cannot well understand that, the Law indeed that sheweth us our duty, but the Gospel, that giveth us grace to do it; for, if you take the Gospel for the Promises preached, how many are there that heare these, that yet receive no benefit by them? and on the other side, if the Law, setting forth our duty, be accompanyed with Gods Spirit, that may instrumentally