The doctrine of the covenant of redemption. Wherein is laid the foundation of all…

But to the latter, the trouble is, a believer finds Satan filling him with fears whether he shall ever be able to perform them: his faith is so weak, and the Temptations which Assault him are so strong, that he shall fail, and his faith give in: his Obedience is so poor and uneven, that it will never find acceptance with God: and this Perseverance is a Terrible thing; how shall he ever be able to hold out against all the Furious Shocks which he is to encounter, and be faithful to the Death, and if he do ⟨p. 146⟩not, he must expect to lose the Crown: It is an hard thing to maintain his Integrity, in the midst of all the Allurements and affrightments that are in his way, and if he fail or fall short he is lost after all: Now if you find your selves to be at any time thus shaken, your business is, presently to repair to the Everlasting Covenant, and there you shall find satisfaction and good security against these fears. For,

1 You shall here find all these conditions which are thus required of you in the Covenant of Grace to be firmly and faithfully undertaken for by the Lord Jesus Christ. For, we observed before, that in the Covenant of Redemption, one Condition that was laid upon and required of the Son of God, was that he should bring many Sons to Glory; and for that end he undertook to do all that for them and in them, that was requisite for the accomplishment of it: so that he stands obliged not only to answer the Law for them, but the Gospel too. The fulfilment of every condition that is necessary in order to their Participation in Life Eternal, is incumbent on him to see to; If there be any thing, which is a necessary medium to Glory, required of us, ⟨p. 147⟩he is engaged to […] it done in us and for us, else it would not be a Complete work of Redemption. If He should deliver us from the Law, so far as to make it a possibility for us to be saved by Grace, and yet leave us to Perish for want of the Evangelical Obedience, without which there is no Salvation, we were in a miserable state; for we can no more do this of our selves than we could the other: but it is far otherwise. That would be an Arminian mock Redemption; and it would be but to save us from one Hell, to throw us into a Worse. But, as the Son of God was to answer the Law for us, so was he to give us the Grace and Strength to answer the Gospel in all the Demands of it: and therefore the security is in him, whose Strength will Manifest and Magnify it self in our Weakness