A47489:91
The everlasting covenant, a sweet cordial for a drooping soul, or, The excellent nature…
The everlasting covenant, a sweet cordial for a drooping soul, or, The excellent nature of the covenant of grace opened in a sermon preached January the 29th, at the funeral of Mr. Henry Forty, late pastor of a Church of Christ, at Abingdon, in the county of Berks, who departed this life Jan. 25th 1692/3 and was interred at Southwark ... : to which is added, An elegy on the death of the said minister / by Benjamin Keach ...The everlasting covenant, a sweet cordial for a drooping soul, or, The excellent nature of the covenant of grace opened in a sermon preached January the 29th, at the funeral of Mr. Henry Forty, late pastor of a Church of Christ, at Abingdon, in the county of Berks, who departed this life Jan. 25th 1692/3 and was interr'd at Southwark ... : to which is added, An elegy on the death of the said minister / by Benjamine Keach ...
London: printed for H. Barnard, 1693
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
Not that Christ in the Covenant of Grace hath undertaken to perform it for us, but hath left us to work out our Salvation our selves, though not without the Assistance of the Holy Spirit; and thus Christ is our legal Righteousness in his Mediatory Covenant, yet so too, that by his Merits we have all Gospel-Blessings— How is that? Why thus, i. e. he merited the New Law of Grace, by satisfying for the Law of Works, or as Mediator, gave God a satisfying Recompense for our breach of it: but our inherent Faith and Gospel-Holiness with Christ's Merits (as before) is our Evangelical Righteousness, by which we are justified.
Not that Christ in the Covenant of Grace hath undertaken to perform it for us, but hath left us to work out our Salvation our selves, though not without the Assistance of the Holy Spirit; and thus Christ is our legal Righteousness in his Mediatory Covenant, yet so too, that by his Merits we have all Gospel-Blessings— How is that? Why thus, i. e. he merited the New Law of Grace, by satisfying for the Law of Works, or as Mediator, gave God a satisfying Recompence for our breach of it: but our inherent Faith and Gospel-Holiness with Christ's Merits (as before) is our Evangelical Righteousness, by which we are justified.
And this is the dangerous Consequence (which I perceive) does attend the allowing of the distinction of two Covenants, which at once (in my Judgment) tends to overthrow the Nature of the Free-grace of God in the Covenant of Grace, which is ordered in all things and sure, as it was made with Christ for us.
Obj. 6. By the Covenant of Redemption, Christ could challenge his Reward upon his own Account; but in the Covenant of Grace, Believers have a Right to the Reward only upon the Account of Christ; there is an intrinsic Worth in the Obedience of Christ, whereby he merited; for there was a Proportion between it, in regard of the Dignity of his Person: but there is no intrinsic Worth in that Grace, which is the Condition of the Covenant of Grace, to merit any thing: there was a Condition of a valuable Consideration required of Christ: the Condition required of us hath no valuable Proportion to the Greatness of the Reward, the Reward was of Debt to him, &c.