A65285:699
A Body of Practical Divinity
A body of practical divinity consisting of above one hundred seventy six sermons on the lesser catechism composed by the reverend assembly of divines at Westminster : with a supplement of some sermons on several texts of Scripture / by Thomas Watson ...
London: printed for Thomas Parkurst, 1692
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.
Quest. But why is Faith more the Condition of the New Covenant, then any other Grace?
Answ. To exclude all glorying in the Creature. Faith is an humble Grace. If Repentance or Works were the Condition of the Covenant, a Man would say, It is my Righteousness hath saved me: But if it be of Faith, where is boasting? Faith fetcheth all from Christ, and gives all the glory to Christ; 'tis most humble Grace. Hence it is God hath singled out this Grace to be the Condition of the Covenant.
And if Faith be the Condition of the Covenant of Grace, it excludes desperate presumptuous Sinners from the Covenant. They say there is a Covenant of Grace, and they shall be saved; but did you ever know a Bond without a Condition? The Condition of the Covenant is Faith, and if thou hast no Faith, thou hast no more to do with the Covenant than a Foreigner, or a Country Farmer with the City Charter.
Use 1. of Information. See the amazing Goodness of God to enter into Covenant with us. He never entered into Covenant with the Angels when they fell. It was much Condescension in God to enter into Covenant with us in a state of Innocency, but it was more to enter into Covenant with us in a state of Enmity. In this Covenant of Grace we may see the Cream of God's Love, and the working of his Bowels to sinners. This is a Marriage-Covenant,