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…

Besides, the argument may be retorted upon him: What word teacheth to deny all ungodliness, that sanctifieth, instructeth, but the Law doth so, insomuch that the Psalmist saith, Psal. 119. A young man whose lusts are strongest, and temptations most violent, may be cleansed by attending thereunto: only you must always take notice of the preheminency of the Gospel, above the Law; for the Law could never have any such good effect upon the heart of man, were it not for the gracious Promise by Christ: Therefore all the godly men in the Old Testament, that received benefit by the Moral Law, in studying of it, and meditating upon it, did depend upon the Gospel, or the grace of God in Christ, as appeareth by David, praying so often, to be quickened by Gods Law. And here, by the way, let me take notice of a remarkable passage of Peter Martyr in his Comment on the 7. Chapter of the Epistle to the Rom. ver. 14. where, speaking of the great commendation the Psalmist gives the Law of God, that it converts the soul, (and we may add those places, of enlightening the mind, that they cleanse a mans way, &c.) he maketh this Question, Whether the Law doth ever obtain such effects or no? And he answereth affirmatively, that it doth, but then when it's written not in tables, but in the hearts and bowels of men: so that he conceiveth the Spirit of God doth use the Law instrumentally, so that he writeth it in our hearts. And this is all we so contend for.

Besides, the argument may be retorted upon him: What word teacheth to deny all ungodlinesse, that sanctifieth, instructeth, but the Law doth so, insomuch that the Psalmist saith, Psal. 119. A young man whose lusts are strongest, and temptations most violent, may be cleansed by attending thereunto: only you must alwayes take notice of the preheminency of the Gospel, above the Law; for the Law could never have any such good effect upon the heart of man, were it not for the gracious Promise by Christ: Therefore all the godly men in the Old Testament, that received benefit by the Morall Law, in studying of it, and meditating upon it, did depend upon the Gospel, or the grace of God in Christ, as appeareth by David, praying so often, to be quickned by Gods Law. And here, by the way, let me take notice of a remarkable passage of Peter Martyr in his Comment on the 7. Chapter of the Epistle to the Rom. ver. 14. where, speaking of the great commendation the Psalmist gives the Law of God, that it converts the soul, (and we may adde those places, of inlightning the minde, that they cleanse a mans way, &c.) he maketh this Question, Whether the Law doth ever obtain such effects or no? And he answereth affirmatively, that it doth, but then when it's written not in tables, but in the hearts and bowels of men: so that he conceiveth the Spirit of God doth use the Law instrumentally, so that he writeth it in our hearts. And this is all we so contend for.