A discourse of the true nature of the Gospel demonstrating that it is no…

'Tis true indeed, that an Unbeliever's Guilt is aggravated by his Contempt of the Gospel; and by rejecting Mercy, and despising the Riches of God's Grace, he lays himself open to a severer Sentence, brings an heavier Ruin on his Head, and sharpens his own Punishment. For as the Fire of Hell is the Wrath of God, and the avenging Furies of Conscience, those Flames will burn with more fierceness in a Soul, which makes terrible Reflections how while it lived in this World, it slighted that Grace and that Redeemer, by which others were saved. Thus a Pardon offered to Rebels, doth not condemn them for not accepting it; the Refusal only leaves them exposed to the Severity of the Law, by which the unpardoned Offender is judged and condemned: Tho indeed the Criminal recalling to mind the Pardon once offered him, and his own obstinate Contempt of Mercy, will, with greater Horrors of Soul, at the ⟨p. 56⟩Place of Execution, curse his own Folly and Madness, as the Cause of his infamous Death.

'Tis true indeed, that an Unbeliever's Guilt is aggravated by his Contempt of the Gospel; and by rejecting Mercy, and despising the Riches of God's Grace, he lays himself open to a severer Sentence, brings an heavier Ruin on his Head, and sharpens his own Punishment. For as the Fire of Hell is the Wrath of God, and the avenging Furies of Conscience, those Flames will burn with more fierceness in a Soul, which makes terrible Reflections how while it lived in this World, it slighted that Grace and that Redeemer, by which others were saved. Thus a Pardon offer'd to Rebels, doth not condemn them for not accepting it; the Refusal only leaves them expos'd to the Severity of the Law, by which the unpardon'd Offender is judg'd and condemn'd: Tho indeed the Criminal recalling to mind the Pardon once offer'd him, and his own obstinate Contempt of Mercy, will, with greater Horrors of Soul, at the ⟨p. 56⟩Place of Execution, curse his own Folly and Madness, as the Cause of his infamous Death.

There now remains nothing more than to show, that the Promises of Eternal Life made to the Believer, and the Ruin denounced against every Unbeliever, do not prove the Gospel to be a new Law; and that such Expressions as these, which we so often meet, He who believes shall be saved; and except you repent, you shall all likewise perish, do not speak Faith and Repentance to be properly commanded by the Gospel, nor promises Pardon and Justification, on condition these Precepts are obeyed, nor threatens Death if they are neglected. That it is not the Gospel, but the Law which threatens Death, I have already proved; that the Promises of the Gospel are not made unto Men, on condition of Obedience performed to it, is evident from this, that if they were so, they would not differ in their Nature from the Promises of the Law, and so the Covenant of Grace would be a Covenant of Works: which if the Apostle Paul says true, (as I really believe he doth) is a flat Contradiction,