The covenant of life opened, or, A treatise of the covenant of grace

We speak now of the right that a Believer hath by Evangelic works to justification and life, as contradistinguished from the merits of Christ, this opinion saith that a man is justified by Evangelic doing, because God hath made the like promise, and the like jus and right by promise, to doing Evangelic, that he made to Law-doing, if Christs merits be added to qualify Evangelic works, to add to them the worth that they have, then Christs merits must give life eternal by way of merit, or a virtue of meriting condignly to our Evangelic doing, as Papists say, and so Christ hath made us saviours and redeemers of our selves, and this is a right to life ex condigno more then Adams most perfect Law-obedience had. 2. The Covenant of Grace commanding faith, doeth by this opinion command all that the Law of Works doeth, but in an Evangelic way, that they be done sincerely: Ergo, it must forbid all sin which the Law forbids; But the Law forbids not only unbelief, final unbelief, but all the works of the flesh: Also Christ must come [Greek or Hebrew] to louse and dissolve the Law, which he denies, Math. 5. for if the Covenant of Grace condemn nothing but final unbelief,¹ Christ in this Covenant must dissolve the Law; but Christ sayeth, he that breaks or teacheth men to break these is the least of the Kingdom of God.

We speak now of the right that a Believer hath by Evangelick works to justification and life, as contradistinguished from the merits of Christ, this opinion saith that a man is justified by Evangelick doing, because God hath made the like promise, and the like jus and right by promise, to doing Evangelick, that he made to Law-doing, if Christs merits be added to qualifie Evangelick works, to adde to them the worth that they have, then Christs merits must give life eternall by way of merit, or a vertue of meriting condignly to our Evangelick doing, as Papists say, and so Christ hath made us saviours and redeemers of our selves, and this is a right to life ex condigno more then Adams most perfite Law-obedience had. 2. The Covenant of Grace commanding faith, doeth by this opinion command all that the Law of Works doeth, but in an Evangelick way, that they be done sincerely: Ergo, it must forbid all sin which the Law forbids; But the Law forbids not only unbelief, finall unbelief, but all the works of the flesh: Also Christ must come 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 to louse and dissolve the Law, which he denyes,