A57966:124
The covenant of life opened, or, A treatise of the covenant of grace
The covenant of life opened, or, A treatise of the covenant of grace containing something of the nature of the covenant of works, the sovereignty of God, the extent of the death of Christ ... the covenant of grace ... of surety or redemption between the by Samuel Rutherford ...The covenant of life opened, or, A treatise of the covenant of grace containing something of the nature of the covenant of works, the soveraignty of God, the extent of the death of Christ ... the covenant of grace ... of surety or redemption between the by Samuel Rutherford ...
Edinburgh: printed by Andro Anderson for Robert Brown, 1655
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.
For then sin and Idolatry should not be at all, nor have any existence, which is contrary to Scripture and experience; And surely, if God love his declarative Glory essentially as himself, he must essentially no less love to keep this glory, when Angels and men do obey him, and to hinder the taking away of this Glory by sin, then to revenge the taking away of this glory by punishment, for every sin against a positive Law, to eat of the tree of knowledge, or for the Jews to eat swines flesh, before Christ abolished such Laws, as well as sins against the Law of nature, are contrary to the Glory of God, 1and so contrary to that essential love that God hath to his Glory, and to the Glory of the Lord, the Law-giver himself, Ergo, by necessity of nature, because he cannot but love himself. he should preserve his legislative Glory, (it is as properly and essentially the Glory of God, which he requires of us, in doing his will, as the Glory of suffering punishment for sin committed, is his Glory) therefore, by necessity of nature, because God cannot but love himself, he should essentially hinder sin: And if God absolve the guilty, where is the Glory of his justice? True, it should be lost, so when God suffers the Angels to fall, and Adam to sin, where is the Glory of his legislative Majesty? it is lost so far. God is obliged to defend the Glory of his Justice: say and prove that he is obliged by necessity of nature to defend the Glory of his Justice, more then by the same necessity he must defend his legislative Glory. 3. God must defend all his Glory with the same necessity, except the Scripture make some exception of some Glory which he must preserve, as dearer to him then some other Glory, which is unwarrantable to say, and if God must, by necessity of nature, and as God, because naturally he loves himself and ⟨p. 31⟩his own Glory, defend his own Glory, then, by necessity of nature he must defend the Glory of all his Attributes, of Holiness, Graciousness, Greatness, Omnipotency, Eternity, Infinite knowledge, &c. that the Glory of not one of these be taken from him by sin: And because the Lord maketh, and worketh all, that he doth without himself, in the creature, for his own Glory. Prov. 16.4. Rev. 4.11.