1. That it is a declaration of the will of God to mankind, that so we
may not be destitute of a rule to guide and regulate our behaviour, both
towards God and man. This is the first idea contained in a law; and
there is another, which respects the obligation which we are laid under
hereby, arising from our being creatures, and consequently subject to
God, who, as the supreme governor, has an undoubted right to demand
obedience from us to every thing that he prescribes and reveals to us,
as a rule for our direction therein. Moreover, that which God requires
of us in this law, is, personal, perfect, and perpetual conformity and
obedience thereunto.
(1.) It must be personal, as denoting that it is not to be performed by
proxy; so that whatever services we may expect from men, we must not
conclude that they can perform obedience for us to God, and thereby
fulfil the obligation we are personally laid under. Yea, we may proceed
farther, and assert, that what Christ has performed for us, does not
exempt us from an obligation to yield perfect obedience; though it is
not to be performed by us with the same view with which he performed it,
as will be farther considered under a following head, where we shall
shew, that though it is not to be obeyed by us as a covenant of works;
nevertheless we are obliged to obey it as a rule of life.
(2.) Our obedience to the law of God must be perfect. The same
obligation that man was under at first, to yield perfect obedience,
remains still in force, though we are not able to perform it. The
insolvency of man by the fall, did not cancel or disannul this
debt[198]. And how much soever God may own and approve of the sincerity
of his people, which is all the perfection which fallen man can arrive
to in this world; yet we must not suppose, that hereby we fulfil the
obligation which God, as a law-giver, has laid us under. This I the
rather take notice of, that there may not be the least ground to suppose
that we make void the law, but rather establish it, and thereby assert
the right which God has to that perfection of obedience, which is due
from us, though unable to perform it.
(3.) It must be perpetual, without backsliding from God, or the least
remissness in our duty to him; and therefore there is no abatement or
dispensation allowed of, that may give countenance to the least defect
of this obedience. Thus the Psalmist says, _I will never forget thy
precepts_, Psal. cxix. 93. and, _Every day will I bless thee, and I will
praise thy name for ever and ever_, Psal. cxlv. 2. Moreover, we may
observe, that this obedience is to be performed with the whole man, and
in particular, by the soul, with the utmost intenseness, in all the
powers and faculties thereof. Accordingly our understandings are to be
rightly instructed, as to what respects the matter and manner of
performing it; our wills to be entirely subjected to the will of God,
and our affections engaged therein, as being sanctified and excited by
the Spirit, to the end, that duty may be performed with delight, arising
from the love which we bear to him, whose servants we are.
It is also to be performed with our bodies. The former, includes in it
that obedience more especially which is internal; this, that which is
external. This is what is styled a lower sort of obedience; and if we
rest here, it is so far from being acceptable, as the apostle says, that
_Bodily exercise profiteth little_, 1 Tim. iv. 8. Nevertheless, as the
body is an instrument of the soul in acting, that service which is
performed therein, is absolutely necessary; and therefore all religious
worship is to be engaged in with a becoming reverence that is external,
as well as that which is internal; without which the soul cannot be said
to engage in any religious duties, in a becoming manner.
It is farther observed, that this obedience includes in it holiness and
righteousness. The former of these respects more especially our duty to
God, which, being a branch of religious worship, ought to be performed
with a reverential fear of his divine Majesty, and that due regard to
his infinite purity, and entire dedication and consecration of ourselves
to him, as becomes those who are sanctified by his Spirit, and enabled
to exercise all those graces whereby we may approve ourselves his
faithful servants and subjects. The latter more especially respects
those duties which we owe to men, in the various relations we stand in
to them, which is incumbent on us as what is enjoined by God.
2. The moral law is farther considered as having a promise of life
annexed to it, and a threatning of death upon the breach thereof. This
is what is generally called the sanction annexed to the law. A law
without a sanction would not be much regarded, especially by those who
have not a due sense of their obligation to obedience. Persons are very
much disposed to enquire, when a command is given, what the consequences
of their obeying or disregarding it will be? and this being made known
before hand, is a strong motive to obedience. If God is pleased, out of
his abundant grace, to encourage his people, by giving them to expect
some blessings that he will bestow on those that obey him, it is, in
some respect, necessary that this should be known. But especially since
punishment, in proportion to the nature of the crime, will be the
consequence of disobedience, it is becoming the divine perfections to
let it be known, that the wages of sin is death. And this was not only
annexed to the moral law, but equally impressed on the nature of man,
who could not but know, that rebellion against God would be punished
with a separation from him, and that all those miseries would attend it,
in proportion to the respective aggravation thereof, that it deserves.
II. We have an account of the use of the moral law since the fall; and
that either with respect to mankind in general, or the unregenerate and
regenerate. And here it is observed, that no man since the fall, can
attain righteousness and life by it; therefore it is not to be used with
that view. From whence we may infer, that this might have been attained
by man before the fall, according to the tenor of the covenant which he
was under, the sum and substance whereof was that _the man that doth
these things shall live by them_, Rom. x. 5. as the apostle says.
Eternal life was promised to man in innocency; and he was then able to
yield sinless obedience, which was the condition thereof. But it is
impossible for fallen man thus to obey; for how perfect soever his
obedience may be for the future, it is supposed, from the nature of the
thing, that it cannot be sinless, after sin has been committed; and it
would be a reflection on the justice and holiness of God, for us to
conclude that he will accept of imperfect obedience, instead of perfect.
Therefore it follows, that a right to life is not to be expected from
our imperfect obedience to the law, as the apostle says, _By the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified_, chap. iii. 20. in God’s
sight; in this respect our own righteousness is represented not only as
faulty and defective, but as altogether insufficient to procure an
interest in the divine favour, or to exempt us from the punishment which
is due to us for sin. It is one thing to say, that eternal life is
connected with obedience, so that no one can have the least ground to
expect it without it; and another thing to say, that it is founded upon
it, or, that it gives us a right and title to it. Nevertheless, we are
not to conclude that the law is of no use; for,