mand thee this day *." The truth is, God took them for his peculiar people, that he might enable and excite them to obey by his distinguishing grace; inftead of their purchafing his favour by it. Thus God himself explains it: "The Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promifed thee; and THAT thou shalt keep all his commandments." The condition of the promife belongs unto the law. Now, this method of difpenfation taught them to improve the promife of the gofpel, as ever they would yield obedience to the law; and to yield obedience to the precepts of the law, as ever they would evidence their intereft in the promises of the gofpel. * Deut. xxx. 6, 8. + Mr Ball expreffeth himfelf, on this fubject, in the following terms: "True it is, the promifes run upou this condition, If ye obey my voice, and do my com mandments: But conditions are of two forts; antecedent, or confequent. Antecedent, when the condition. is the cause of the thing promifed, or given; as in all civil contracts of juftice, where one thing is given for another: Confequent, when the condition is annexed to the promife, as a qualification in the subject; or an adjunct that muft attend the thing promifed. And, in this latter fenfe, obedience to the commandment was a condition of the promife, not a caufe why the thing promifed was vouchfafed; but a qualification in the perfon, or a confequence of such a great mercy freely conferred," P. 133. See his Treatife on the Covenant. Deut. xxvi. 18. 2. THERE 2. THERE were various promifes made in this tranfaction altogether unconditional; fuch as, "I am the Lord thy God."-" Behold, I fend mine angel before thee;" and "A Prophet fhall the Lord raise up unto thee of thy brethren." And thefe abfolute promifes are given out as motives to obedience. Hence, it appears, that the allegation above fpecified is not univerfally true. 3. THE congregation of Ifrael typified our Lord Jefus Chrift in the fenfe above mentioned: And their obedience alfo, in fome meafure, prefigured his mediatorial righteousness. As the ceremonial law was a typical glass bringing near to view that divine righteousness, it taught them to confider his obedience and fufferings as the condition of thofe conditional grants which were made to them: That being afcribed to the type which could only be done by the antitype. But this brings us to confider the other part of this Covenant, which is, A SYSTEM OF PRECEPTS, enjoined on thefe covenanters,-1. I fhall make a few obfervations on thefe precepts.-2. Exprefs a connected view of both promifes and precepts in this tranfaction, together with Ifrael's acceptance of God's propofals.-3. Enquire how far the fubftance of this covenant is of perpetual obligation on the Gospel Church; and how far it was peculiar to the typical oeconomy. I. I SHALL offer a few Obfervations on this fyftem of precepts. 1. THE Moral Law was the primary rule of that obedience which God required in this Covenant. The judicial and ceremonial laws were mere appendages to it, and reducible unto one or other of the precepts contained in it. That the moral law was the original standard of obedienee in this covenant, is evident from God's exprefs declaration; oftener than once does he ftyle it the Covenant: "And he declared to you his COVENANT, which he commanded you to perform, even the TEN COMMANDMENTS: and he wrote them on two tables of ftone *." Said Mofes, "When I was gone up into the mount, to receive the tables of ftone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with yout." The moral precepts were fpoken firft by God himself unto the people, and he added no more when he spoke them: but took Ifracl immediately engaged unto them, and unto his will. "All that the Lord hath faid we will do, and be obedient." They put a blank into his hand, to be filled up by his fovereignty; and he filled it up by adding the ceremonial and judicial laws, which he delivered to Mofes, to be, by him, communicated to the people. The ceremonial inflitutions were, for the most part, appendages unto the Deut. iv. 13. + Deut. ix. 9, 11. various various precepts of the firft table of the moral law; and the judicial law, for the most part, appendages unto fecond-table precepts. To fee this truth exemplified, the reader may confult Calvin on the five books of Mofes.. It must be remembered, however, that fome of the judicial precepts are alfo appendages of the commandments of the firft table *. 2. As the congregation of Ifrael food in various capacities, fo this fyftem admits of as many diftinct confiderations, and is perfectly adapted to each of them: Firft, As Ifrael ftood in the capacity of the Meffiah's type, this law was defigned to exhibit the meafure and extent of his obedience and righteouficfs. In former foederal tranfactions, God had given ample difcoveries of the promiffory part of the Covenant of Grace, fo that Ifrael might have fome view of their privileges; but their legal hearts were ready to fuggeft, that these benefits were of eafy purchase. This law was neceffary, then, to difcover the vaft extent of the conditionary part of the Covenant, and the utter impoffibility of their accomplishing it in their own perfons. The law was exhibited, at this time, as armed with the curfe, that they might know the law-penalty as well as the lawprecept. Nor was the exhibition of the law in the form of the Covenant of Works, at all * Leidekker de Repub. Hebraor. Lib. V. cap. ix. improper, improper, if we confider Ifrael as a type of our Lord Jefus Chrift. As he undertook to magnify the law and make it honourable, even from eternity, in his own perfon; fo he likeways engaged, in the perfon of his ancestor, and by the mouth of the whole congregation, as his type, to implement the law in its fullest extent. Accordingly, he fubmitted to the law, in the Sinai edition of it, when he fulfilled the condition of the New Covenant. quently taught us by the Apostle. This is fre As he was, at this time, conftituted under the law, in the perfon of his ancestor, and by the engagement of his type; fo he came forth actually, in the fulness of time, under that very fame law: "God fent forth his Son, made of a woman, made (or CONSTITUTED) under the law, to redeem them who were under the law." The law of the Covenant of Works was, indeed, a law common to both Jews and Gentiles; but the latter had a far more imperfect edition of it than the former: Therefore, the Apostle takes his meafures from the moft perfect copy. That the Apollle confiders this edition of the law as the ftandard of the furety righteoufnefs, is evident from the date of it: It was a LAW given FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS after the promife made unto Abraham. Now, this date can agree to no other than the Sinai Tranfaction †.` The Mofaic Law was Gal. iv. 4, 5. + Gal. iii. 17. the |