lievers may win to fuch a perfuafion of it, as may overcome many jealoufies and doubts therefore the word of promife, or the word of falvation, is faid to be near them, even in their hearts and mouths. IV. Whatever allegations and teftimonies of scripture we be making use of for the confirmation of truths, we should explain the fame, left we should be found to clear what is obfcure by that which is as obfcure, and fo ftill leave our hearers in the dark; as Paul explaineth that word which Mofes used, and calls it the word of the gofpel, or of faith; Zhat is, the word f faith which we preach. V. The gofpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift is nothing else but a map of free and gracious promifes, which the true God, who cannot lie, hath made; and they are fo linked together, as that they feem but one main promife, which faith is to lay hold upon: hence the gofpel is called, The word of faith. VI. True and faving faith is not a roving, groundless fancy, or a dream of man's brain; but it is a fure-bottomed act of the foul, and has the word and fure promife of the unchangeable Jehovah to rest upon, and it can find no other ground to fettle on: faith has ay the word for its ground, on which it ftandeth; The word of faith. VIL Not only has the Lord, in the depth of his wifdom and rich goodness, contrived the gofpel, and the way of falvation thro' his only Son Jefus Chrift; but alfo hath laid down a way how this his good-will and kindnefs fhould be made known unto the children of men; and hath therefore authorized men to come forth and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and to hold forth his mind; and becaufe he knew that we would be unwilling to accept of this kindness, therefure hath he cloathed his ambaffadors with authority to command all to accept of the kindaefs of this great King tendered to them The word of faith which we preach. Vill. Minifters, in all their fermons and carriage in their calling, fhould be careful to promote the main business, viz. poor people's accepting of the tender of free grace made to them in the gofpel; this fhould be their main work, and all other things fhould be done in fubferviency to this end: this fhould be the text and upfhot of all preachings; their preaching fhould be about the word of faith; The word of faith which we preach. IX. Ministers should stick close by their commiffion, and fhould not conceal any thing of it for neither feud nor favour; but fhould boldly, faithfully, and plainly, with majefty, conftancy, and freedom of fpirit, declare the whole counsel of God, and that to all perfons without exception; for they are heralds, and should behave themselves as heralds: fo the word here, fignifying to preach, fignifieth, to preach and publish as a herald and public meffenger, proclaiming the mind of king and ftates: The word of faith which we preach. See Matth. iii. 3. and x. 27. Luke xii. 2 Tim. iv. 2. 3. TH called in the last verfe, the word of faith, is here fet down, and fo that word of faith is explained: fo that the substance of the gospel is this, If we will accept of Jefus Chrift as our Lord and Saviour, firmly believing that he hath finished the work of our redemption, and hath died, and is rifen up again, (a truth which infidels and Heathens will not grant, nor Jews either;) and that not hiftorically, as devils and many graceless men may do, but heartily, feriously and fincerely; and if we avouch 3 F this, this, and openly declare the fame in our | fters often to be laying forth the fame, and lives and converfations; we fhall be faved. inculcating it upon people: as Paul teachSo then he fays, That if thou shalt confefs eth here, by fuming up the gospel unto with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, (he puts the people here, faying, That if thou shalt confeffion before faith, not following the confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, &c. order of nature; but because this is first 11. The fun of the gofpel being to notour to others, and becaufe Mofes, to bring folk in to Christ by faith, and to take whofe words he feems here to be alluding, him for their Lord and Saviour, and to puts it in firft;) that is, if thou, fhalt open-walk in him all their days, and profefs the ly acknowledge, profefs, and avouch, and by thy daily walk make it known, that thou lookeft upon Chrift as a Lord and King, and as thy Lord and Saviour: And fhalt, believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead; that is, if thou fhait reft upon him for life and falvation, who has laid down the price, and is come out of prisou, and raised from the dead by the power of God: Thou shalt be faved, thou halt be delivered from that flate and condition of death in which thou art now. Then, verfe 10. he explicates and confirms this further, and fheweth how faith and confeflion concur unto falvation, and therein he followeth the right order of nature, faying, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; that is, the heart is exercifed in refting on Christ, and thereby righteoufuefs and begun falvation is obtained, thro' the remiffion of our fins, by faith in Christ, as the condition of the new covenant; we are put into a fafe ftate, having our iniquities purged from us, and being cloathed with the righteoufnefs of Christ. And with the mouth confeffion is made unto falvation; that is, being once juftified by faith in Chrift, and being married to him, we avouch the fame, and declare, that Chrift is our Lord and Master, in whom we truft, and from whom we expect life and falvation, in our conftant after-carriage, till we at length obtain the crown. OBSERVATIONS. I. It being moft useful for people to have the fum and compend of the gofpel diftinctly known; it is neceffary for mini fame in their lives and converfations; minifters fhould be careful to drive at this butt, to have folks welcoming the gospel, and looking like it: and however people have a great prejudice against the ministers of the gospel, and look upon them as their enemies; yet the truth is, all that which they are fceking and driving at, is only to have folks confefs with their mouth, and believe with their heart, the Lord Jefus: The word of faith which we preach, That if thou shalt confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, &c. III. There is this difference betwixt the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, that the covenant of works was made with man ftanding in his integrity, but the covenant of grace was made with man fallen from that good condition, and plunged into fin and mifery; and therefore the thing promifed in the covenant of works was a perpetuity and continuance of that ftate of happinefs poffeffed, which was more than a bare animal life: therefore it is faid, verfe 5. The man that doth these things, fball live by them: and the thing which is promised in the covenant of grace, is, that they fhall be faved; which prefup pofeth present misery and death. IV. Before that justice could be fatisfied for the breach of the covenant of works, Jefus Chrift behoved to lay down his life a ranfom;, and by his death and facrifice fuch a complete fatisfaction was made for the fins of the elect, that juftice could detain him in prifon no longer, but God who was the party offended, raised him up, and took him out of the prifon of the grave: we must believe, that God raised him from the dead. V. Notwithstanding that Christ has fo fully paid the price, and fatisfied juftice to the leaft farthing, for his own chofen ones; yet thefe fame for whom it was laid down are not out of the hazard of justice and death, nor actually, in law, freed from the fentence of the law, until they lay hold on Chrift by faith unfeigned, and clasp about him as the only Mediator and ranfom-payer, who was dead and is alive for evermore, was crucified, dead and buried, and raised up at length, in and thro' whom alone pardon of fins is to be had: If thou believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be faved. VI. This faith, which is the condition of the new covenant, is not a bare affent unto the truth revealed in the gospel, which even devils may have, James ii. 19. but it is an act of the whole foul, or of the will and affections, prefuppofing the act of the understanding, contenting unto, and heartily accepting of the offered Mediator, and of remiffion, juftification, and falvation, thro' a crucified Lord, who is raifed up again: therefore it is faid, If thou believe with thine heart; and, with the heart man be lieveth. VII. Jefus Chrift is Lord and King in his church, being the head thereof, and having all power in heaven and in earth given to him, having only power to make laws in his church, and to commiffionate his ambaffadors with power and authority; he is the only ruler and commander of his faints, having rule over their confciences; and this all believers ought to profefs, declare, and avouch, and by their carriage make it known, that they live by the laws of Christ, and in obedience to him, as their king and governor: They must confefs with their mouths the Lord Jefus. VIII. Believers must not think it enough to close with Chrift heartily, and live in obfcurity, and never declare and make the fame appear to others; but they ought to stand to their profeffion upon all hazar is, and avouch the Lord to be their God and Mediator, and not to deny him bef we men, left he deny them before his Fati.er, Matth. x. 33. Mark viii. 38. Luke ix, 20. and fhine in the midst of a crooked and perverfe generation, Phil. ii. 15.; but withal, they should labour to do it prudently, and without affectation: If thou confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. See 1 Tim. vi. 12. Heb. iv. 14. and x. 23. IX. Where kindly, true, and faving faith is, it will not long ly buried under afhes; but will kyth in the outward man, and in his carriage, and will prompt a man to open and avowed profeffion of the truth upon all hazards: and profeffion grounded on true and lively faith, will endure most in a ftorm, and bear a man beft through; for these two go beft together, If thou confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, and believe in thy heart,---thou shalt be faved. X. Whoever will caft their burden on Chrift, and with their whole foul fhall accept of him as their only Lord and Saviour, able to do their turn abundantly, and to fave them from wrath and hell; and live in obedience to him all their days, profeffing themselves subjects to him and his laws, delighting in his commandments; thefe, and only thefe, and all thefe, fhall certainly be faved: for fo runeth the covenant and promife, If thou confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, and believe in thy heart, that God raised him from the dead, thou halt be favid. XI. Minifters fhould fo handle the general offers and promises of the gofpel, as every one may lay hold upon them on the conditions offered, and none may imagine themfelves not concerned in the bufinefs, or excluded, but who exclude themfelves: for the apoftle turneth over, the general offers of the covenant, which are made indefinitely to all, thus, He that believeth, shall be faved, unto every one in particu lar, faying, If thou confefs with thy mouth, and if thou believe with thy heart; fo that 3 F 2 none none need to ftumble, tho' they read not N their names in fuch and fuch promifes, but thefe verfes the apoftle confirmeth, out of fcripture, that which he fet down in the preceding verfe, and proveth the neceflity, both of faith unto righteouf nefs, verfe 1. and of confeflion unto falvation, verfe 13. and, withal, he confirm find them only conceived in general terms. XII. Before a foul can be faved, guilt must be taken off his confcience, juftice must be fatisfied, and a righteoufnefs had: For with the heart man believeth unto righ-eth the other particular which he had afteousness, and this before falvation be had. XIII. Faith clofing with Chrift, as ours in particular, and heartily accepting of him for our help and falvation, is the only way whereby we win to the enjoyment of the righteoufnefs of Jefus Chrift, and is the only condition of puting us into a juftified, ftate: With the heart man believeth unto righteoufnefs. XIV. Tho' this faith, with a purpose of new obedience, be the condition of inftating us into the ftate of the juftified: yet, befide faith whereby we are juftified, we must have a fincere, unfeigned profef fion, and avowing of our faith by a conftant chriftian walk in holinefs, ere we can reach the end of our faith, the falvation of our fouls: And with the mouth confeffion is made unto falvation; God has eternally knit thefe two together, as the mean and the end, and fo, tho' faith be the condition of juftification, yet faith and new obedience both, are the condition of the actual poffeffion of life.. XV. God's decree, purpofe, and promife, do not loofe our hands from obedience; for tho' life eternal be promifed to believers, and fuch as are juftified fhall certainly be glorified; yet they muft walk in the way thither: For, as they must believe unto righteousness, fo must they make confeffion unto falvation. VERSES 11. 12. 13. For the fcripture faith, Whojoever believeth on him, fhall not be afhanted. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greck: for the fume Lord over all, is rich unto all that call upon him. For whofoever hall call upon the name of the Lord, all be faved. firmed, verfe 4. viz. that there was no exception of perfons in this new covenant, now under the gospel, but that Chrift was the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, verfe 12. which alfo is confirmed by both the paffages cited, verfes 11. and 13. In the 11th verfe he cites that fame paffage which he cited in the laft verfe of the preceding chapter, out of Ifa. xxviii. 16. following the Seventy; and whereas it is fet down indefinitely in the Hebrew, thus, He that believeth, he rendereth it univer fally, whofoever believeth. Now that he had ground for taking it univerfally, he fheweth, verfe 12. and fo he confirmeth what he faid before, verse 4. that there is no reafon to exclude the Gentiles; For, 1. There is no difference betwixt the Few and the Greek; all' are alike welcome to Chrift, thro' faith. The Greeks are taken for all the reft of the world bride the Jews, as Rom. i. 16. Gal. iii. 28. 2. He fays, (and thereby confirmeth what was faid laft,) For the fame Lord is over all; he is the Lord Creator and Governor of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews, Rom. iii. 29. for of him are all things, Rom. xi. 36. 3. He is rich unto all that call upon him; he is rich in mercy, and free in feting it out to all that call upon him, be what they will; he is bountiful and beneficial to all without any diminishing of his fulness, or lofs to fuch as partake thereof. In the 13th verfe he both confirmeth what he faid laft, and also that which was faid, verfes 9. 10. by a paffage cited out of Joel ii. 32. where the prophet is prophefying of the Meffias, and of the good which would be had in him, as Peter makes us to understand, A&ts ii. 21. and among ftill out towards Chrift, without whom it could not be: therefore what in Ifaiah is believeth, is here believeth in him, that is, in Christ. among other things he fays, And it shall come to pass, that whofoever shall call upon the name of the Lord fhall be delivered: and Paul, following the Seventy, fays, hall be faved, all being one; the one being a neceffary confequent of the othered whence it is clear, that confeffion is neceffary to life; because calling upon God, which is nothing but our profeffing of the Lord to be ours, and of our dependance on him for life and falvation, and making ufe of him in all our ftraits and difficulties, is knit here with falvation. And alfo it is clear, that there is no exception of perfons, because it is univerfal; Whofoever, &c. OBSERVATIONS. I. As no man's faith fhould depend upon another's, be what he will, no man being mafter of another's foul and confcience; fo the word of God fhould be the only ground of our faith, and that only fhould fettle our belief of truths: therefore doth the apoftle fay, As the fcripture faith. See Acts xvii..11. II. It is very neceffary to have the grounds and fundamentals of religion well cleared out of fcripture, that we may ftand on a fure ground in the day of temptation; therefore doth the apoftle clear, out of fcripture, the two main grounds of Chritianity, which he mentioned before. II. Whatever. gracious promifes were made of old unto the people of the Jews, believers now under the gofpel, tho' Gentiles, may claim a right to them; the Lord alloweth us to thruft ourselves in under the wings of thefe indefinite promifes, and make them univerfal, for our own encou❘ ragement; for what was promifed by Ifaiah to the people of Ifrael in indefinite terms, is here by Paul turned over for the comfort of the Gentiles in univerfal terms, faying, Whofoever believeth in him. IV. True and faving faith hath always Chrift for its object to which it looks, and upon whom it refteth: and as there was faith under the law, fo this faith looked V. An unjustified ftate is always attendwith fhame and confufion of face; fo as one who is not juftified thro' faith has never his nakednefs covered with the mantle of Chrift's righteousness, and so can never with confidence look God in the face; it is only he who believeth on him, who shall not be ashamed. VI. Howbeit believers who are justified thro' faith, do often blufh and are afhamed when they confider their own abominations, and their daily miscarriages; yet they are freed from that curfed fhame and confufion of face that attends the wicked enemies of Chrift; they may come boldly forward to the throne of grace: Whofoever believeth on him, fhall not be ashamed. See Joel ii. 27. From verfe 12. OBSERVE, I. Tho' under the law the church was reciprocal with the commonwealth of Ifrael, it was only that nation unto which the means of falvation were unfolded, none elfe, except fome few profelites, were admited to thefe privileges; yet now under the gospel the partition wall is broken down, and all nations, without exception, have accefs to God thro' Chrift; and other nations befide the Jews are taken within the verge of the church; no difference now betwixt the Jew and the Greek. II. As the Lord is the Creator of the ends of the earth, and fo all flesh are obliged to him for their being; so hath he power and fovereignty over all nations, kindreds, and qualities, to dispose of them in his providence as feemeth good in his eyes; he is obliged to none, but difpofeth of them as pleafeth him beft; the rich and poor have both the fame God and Mailer: The fame God is over all. III. The confideration of God's exerdifing his power and fovereignty in his creation |