A Body of Practical Divinity

Resp. Christ may be considered, 1. As the Son of God, and so he was not made a Curse. 2. As our Pledge and Surety, Heb. 7.22. And so he was made a Curse for us: This Curse was not upon his God-head, but upon his Manhood. This Curse was the Wrath of God lying upon him. And thus Christ hath taken away from Believers the Curse of the Law, by being made a Curse for them. But though the Moral Law is thus far abolished, yet it remains as a perpetual Rule to Believers: Though the Law Moral be not their Saviour, yet it is their Guide: Though it be not Foedus, a Covenant of Life, yet it is Norma, a Rule of Living: Every Christian is bound to conform to the Moral Law, and write as exactly as he can, after this Copy, Rom. 3.31. Do we then make void the Law through Faith? God forbid. Though a Christian is not under the condemning power of the Law, yet he is under the commanding power. To love God, to reverence and obey him, this is a Law always binds, and will bind in Heaven. This I urge against the Antinomians, who say the Moral Law is abrogated to Believers; which as it contradicts Scripture, so it is a Key to open the Door to all Licentiousness. They who will not have the Law to rule them, shall never have the Gospel to save them. Having answered these Questions, I shall in the next place, law down some general Rules for the right understanding of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments: These Rules may serve to give us some light into the Sense and Meaning of the Commandments.

Rule 1. The Commands and Prohibitions of the Moral Law reach the Heart.

1. The Commands of the Moral Law reach the Heart: The Commandments require not only outward Actions, but inward Affections: They require not only the outward Act of Obedience, but the inward Affection of Love,