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

¹2. CHRIST may be said to die for us, as if we had substituted him in our place, in so rigid a sense, as if he had been made our surety to fulfil both the preceptive and active, and also the satisfying and suffering part of the Law in our room. This may please Antinomians, but a doubt it is, if it stand with the truth: For then what ever we, yea all mortal men be (for Christ died for them all, as many teach) most wicked, yet Christs active and surety and cautionary righteousness should be ours, and though we should never believe, yet Christ who fulfilled the Law and preceptive as well as the threatening part, must have believed for all that he died for, and what need we then in our persons either believe or repent? Its true, we need not perform any active obedience, as a part of active fulfilling of that Covenant of Works, which either must have all, or no obedience. If it be said that alio titulo, upon another account of thankfulness to our ransom-payer we owe active obedience: Yet all that CHRIST died for, ⟨p. 247⟩both actively and passively must be perfectly righteous and justified, having payed the most perfect active and passive obedience that the Law required, though we never believe, and Christ must have payed the active part of justifying faith for us. And why, but we should be formally justified in him without faith also? As also, God, not we, laid our sins upon Christ, Isai. 53.6. 2 Cor. 5.21. and therefore we did commissionate and substitute Christ to die in our room.²

¹2. CHRIST may be said to die for us, as if we had substituted him in our place, in so rigid a sense, as if he had been made our surety to fulfill both the preceptive and active, and also the satisfying and suffering part of the Law in our room. This may please Antinomians, but a doubt it is, if it stand with the truth: For then what ever we, yea all mortall men be (for Christ died for them all, as many teach) most wicked, yet Christs active and surety and cautionary righteousnesse should be ours, and though we should never beleeve, yet Christ who fulfilled the Law and preceptive as well as the threatning part, must have beleeved for all that he died for, and what need we then in our persons either beleeve or repent? Its true, we need not perform any active obedience, as a part of active fulfilling of that Covenant of Works, which either must have all, or no obedience. If it be said that alio titulo, upon another account of thankfulnesse to our ransom-payer we owe active obedience: Yet all that CHRIST died for,