nature of the law, and of their being under it—that is, under the curse
and condemning power of it, by reason of their sin against it—so long
they will be careless, and negligent as to the inquiring after the true
knowledge of the Gospel. Before the commandment came—that is, in the
spirituality of it—Paul was alive—that is, thought himself safe; which
is clear, (Rom 7:9,10 compared with Phil 3:5-11, etc). But when that
came, and was indeed discovered unto him by the Spirit of the Lord,
then Paul dies (Rom 7) to all his former life (Phil 3) and that man
which before could content himself to live, though ignorant of the
Gospel, cries out now, “I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (verse 8). Therefore, I say,
so long they will be ignorant of the nature of the Gospel, and how
glorious a thing it is to be found within the bounds of it; for we use
to say, that man that knoweth not himself to be sick, that man will not
look out for himself a physician; and this Christ knew full well when
He saith, “The whole have no need of the physician, but the sick”;1
that is, none will in truth desire the physician unless they know they
be sick. That man also that hath got but a notion of the law—a notion,
that is, the knowledge of it in the head, so as to discourse and talk
of it—if he hath not felt the power of it, and that effectually too, it
is to be feared will at the best be but a notionist in the Gospel; he
will not have the experimental knowledge of the same in his heart; nay,
he will not seek nor heartily desire after it; and all because, as I
said before, he hath not experience of the wounding, cutting, killing
nature of the other.
I say, therefore, if thou wouldst know the authority and power of the
Gospel, labour first to know the power and authority of the law; for
I am verily persuaded that the want of this one thing—namely, the
knowledge of the law, is one cause why so many are ignorant of the
other. That man that doth not know the law doth not know in deed and
in truth that he is a sinner; and that man that doth not know he is a
sinner, doth not know savingly that there is a Saviour.
Again; that man that doth not know the nature of the law, that man doth
not know the nature of sin; and that man that knoweth not the nature of
sin, will not regard to know the nature of a Saviour; this is proved
(John 8:31-36). These people were professors, and yet did not know the
truth—the Gospel; and the reason was, because they did not know
themselves, and so not the law. I would not have thee mistake me,
Christian reader; I do not say that the law of itself will lead any
soul to Jesus Christ; but the soul being killed by the law, through the
operation of its severity seizing on the soul, then the man, if he be
enlightened by the Spirit of Christ to see where remedy is to be had,
will not, through grace, be contented without the real and saving
knowledge through faith of Him.
If thou wouldst, then, wash thy face clean, first take a glass and see
where it is dirty; that is, if thou wouldst indeed have thy sins washed
away by the blood of Christ, labour first to see them in the glass of
the law, and do not be afraid to see thy besmeared condition, but look
on every spot thou hast; for he that looks on the foulness of his face
by the halves, will wash by the halves; even so, he that looks on his
sins by the halves, he will seek for Christ by the halves. Reckon
thyself, therefore, I say, the biggest sinner in the world, and be
persuaded that there is none worse than thyself; then let the guilt of
it seize on thy heart, then also go in that case and condition to Jesus
Christ, and plunge thyself into His merits and the virtue of His blood;
and after that, thou shalt speak of the things of the law and of the
Gospel experimentally, and the very language of the children of God
shall feelingly drop from thy lips, and not till then (James 1).
Let this therefore learn thee thus much: he that hath not seen his lost
condition hath not seen a safe condition; he that did never see himself
in the devil’s snare, did never see himself in Christ’s bosom. “This my
Son was dead, and is alive again: he was lost, and is found.” “Among
whom we also had our conversation in time past.” 2 “But now are (so
many of us as believe) returned unto” Jesus Christ, “the” chief
“Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”
I say, therefore, if thou do find in this treatise, in the first place,
something touching the nature, end, and extent of the law, do not thou
cry out, therefore, all of a sudden, saying, “Here is nothing but the
terror, horror, and thundering sentences of the law.”
Again; if thou do find in the second part of this discourse something
of the freeness and fullness of the Gospel, do not thou say neither,
“Here is nothing but grace, therefore, surely, an undervaluing of the
law.” No; but read it quite through, and so consider of it; and I hope
thou shalt find the two covenants—which all men are under, either the
one or the other—discovered, and held forth in their natures, ends,
bounds, together with the state and condition of them that are under
the one, and of them that are under the other.
There be some that through ignorance do say how that such men as preach
terror and amazement to sinners are beside the book, and are ministers
of the letter—the law, and not of the Spirit—the Gospel; but I would
answer them, citing them to the Sixteenth of Luke, from the nineteenth
verse to the end; and (1 Cor 6:9,10; Gal 3:10; Rom 3:9-19) only this
caution I would give by the way, how that they which preach terror to
drive souls to the obtaining of salvation by the works of the law, that
preaching is not the right Gospel preaching; yet when saints speak of
the sad state that man are in by nature, to discover to souls their
need of the Gospel, this is honest preaching, and he that doth do so,
he doth the work of a Gospel minister (Rom 3:9-25).
Again, there are others that say, because we do preach the free, full,
and exceeding grace discovered in the Gospel, therefore we make void
the law; when indeed, unless the Gospel be held forth in the glory
thereof without confusion, by mingling the Covenant of Works therewith,
the law cannot be established. “Do we then make void the law through
faith,” or preaching of the Gospel; nay, stay, saith Paul, “God forbid:
yea, we establish the law” (Rom 3:31).
And verily, he that will indeed establish the law, or set it in its own
place, for so I understand the words, must be sure to hold forth the
Gospel in its right colour and nature; for if a man be ignorant of the
nature of the Gospel and the Covenant of Grace, they, or he, will be
very apt to remove the law out of its place, and that because they are
ignorant, not knowing “what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”
And let me tell you, if a man be ignorant of the Covenant of Grace, and
the bounds and boundlessness of the Gospel, though he speak and make
mention of the name of the Father, and of the Son, and also of the name
of the new covenant, and the blood of Christ, yet at this very time,
and in these very words, he will preach nothing but the law, and that
as a Covenant of Works.
Reader, I must confess it is a wonderfully mysterious thing, and he had
need have a wiser spirit than his own that can rightly set these two
covenants in their right places, that when he speaks of the one he doth
not jostle the other out of its place. O, to be so well enlightened as
to speak of the one—that is, the law—for to magnify the Gospel; and
also to speak of the Gospel so as to establish, and yet not to idolize,
the law, nor any particular thereof! It is rare, and to be heard and
found but in very few men’s breasts.
If thou shouldst say, What is it to speak to each of these two
covenants so as to set them in their right places, and also to use the
terror of the one so as to magnify and advance the glory of the other?
To this I shall answer also, read the ensuing discourse, but with an
understanding heart, and it is like thou wilt find a reply therein to
the same purpose, which may be to thy satisfaction.
Reader, if thou do find this book empty of fantastical expressions, and
without light, vain, whimsical, scholar-like terms, thou must
understand it is because I never went to school to Aristotle, or Plato,
but was brought up at my father’s house, in a very mean condition,
among a company of poor countrymen. But if thou do find a parcel of
plain, yet sound, true, and home sayings, attribute that to the Lord
Jesus His gifts and abilities, which He hath bestowed upon such a poor
creature as I am and have been. And if thou, being a seeing Christian,
dost find me coming short, though rightly touching at some things,
attribute that either to my brevity, or, if thou wilt, to my
weaknesses, for I am full of them. A word or two more, and so I shall
have done with this.
First. And the first is, Friend, if thou do not desire the salvation of
thy soul, yet I pray thee to read this book over with serious
consideration; it may be it will stir up in thee some desires to look
out after it, which at present thou mayest be without.
Secondly, If thou dost find any stirrings in thy heart by thy reading
such an unworthy man’s works as mine are, be sure that in the first
place thou give glory to God, and give way to thy convictions, and be
not too hasty in getting them off from thy conscience; but let them so
work till thou dost see thyself by nature void of all graces, as faith,
hope, knowledge of God, Christ, and the Covenant of Grace.
Thirdly, Then, in the next place, fly in all haste to Jesus Christ,
thou being sensible of thy lost condition without Him, secretly
persuading of thy soul that Jesus Christ standeth open-armed to receive
thee, to wash away thy sins, to clothe thee with His righteousness, and
is willing, yea, heartily willing, to present thee before the presence
of the glory of God and among the innumerable company of angels with
exceeding joy. This being thus, in the next place, do not satisfy
thyself with these secret and first persuasions, which do or may
encourage thee to come to Jesus Christ; but be restless till thou dost
find by blessed experience the glorious glory of this the second
covenant extended unto thee, and sealed upon thy soul with the very
Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that thou mayest not slight this
my counsel, I beseech thee, in the second place, consider these
following things—
First, If thou dost get off thy convictions, and not the right way
(which is by seeing thy sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ),
it is a question whether ever God will knock at thy heart again or no;
but rather say, such an one “is joined to idols, let him alone” (Hosea
4:17). Though he be in a natural state, “let him alone.” Though he be
in or under the curse of the law, “let him alone.” Though he be in the
very hand of the devil, “let him alone.” Though he be a-going
post-haste to Hell, “let him alone.” Though his damnation will not only
be damnation for sins against the law, but also for slighting the
Gospel, yet “let him alone.” My Spirit, My ministers, My Word, My
grace, My mercy, My love, My pity, My common providences, shall no more
strive with him; “let him alone.” O sad! O miserable! who would slight
convictions that are on their souls, which (if not slighted) tend so
much for their good?
Secondly, If thou shalt not regard how thou do put off convictions, but
put them off without the precious blood of Christ being savingly
applied to thy soul, thou art sure to have the mis-spending of that
conviction to prove the hardening of thy heart against the next time
thou art to hear the Word preached or read. This is commonly seen, that
those souls that have not regarded those convictions that are at first
set upon their spirits, do commonly, and that by the just judgments of
God upon them, grow more hard, more senseless, more seared and sottish
in their spirits; for some, who formerly would quake and weep, and
relent under the hearing of the Word, do now for the present sit so
senseless, so seared, and hardened in their consciences, that certainly
if they should have hell-fire thrown in their faces, as it sometimes
cried up in their ears, they would scarce be moved; and this comes upon
them as a just judgment of God (2 Thess 2:11,12).
Thirdly, If thou do slight these, or those convictions that may be set
upon thy heart by reading of this discourse, or hearing of any other
good man preach the Word of God sincerely, thou wilt have the stifling
of these or those convictions to account and answer for at the day of
judgment; not only thy sins, that are commonly committed by thee in thy
calling and common discourse, but thou shalt be called to a reckoning
for slighting convictions, disregarding of convictions, which God useth
as a special means to make poor sinners see their lost condition and
the need of a Saviour. Now here I might add many more considerations
besides these, to the end thou mayest be willing to tend and listen to
convictions; as,
First, Consider thou hast a precious soul, more worth than the whole
world; and this is commonly worked upon, if ever it be saved, by
convictions.
Secondly, This soul is for certain to go to Hell, if thou shalt be a
slighter of convictions.
Thirdly, If that go to Hell, thy body must go thither too, and then
never to come out again. “Now consider this, ye that” are apt to
“forget God,” and His convictions, “lest He tear you in pieces, and
there be none to deliver” (Psa 50:22).
But if thou shalt be such an one that shall, notwithstanding thy
reading of thy misery, and also of God’s mercy, shall persist to go on
in thy sins, know, in the first place, that here thou shalt be left, by
the things that thou readest, without excuse; and in the world to come
thy damnation will be exceedingly aggravated for thy not regarding of
them, and turning from thy sins, which were not only reproved by them,
but also for rejecting of that Word of Grace that did instruct thee how
and which way thou shouldst be saved from them. And so farewell; I
shall leave thee, and also this discourse, to God, who I know will pass
a righteous judgment both upon that and thee. I am yours, though not to
serve your lusts and filthy minds, yet to reprove, instruct, and,
according to that proportion of faith and knowledge which God hath
given me, to declare unto you the way of life and salvation. Your
judgings, railings, surmisings, and disdaining of me, that I shall
leave till the fiery judgment comes, in which the offender shall not go
unpunished, be he you or me; yet I shall pray for you, wish well to
you, and do you what good I can. And that I might not write or speak in
vain, Christian, pray for me to our God with much earnestness,
fervency, and frequently, in all your knockings at our Father’s door,
because I do very much stand in need thereof; for my work is great, my
heart is vile, the devil lieth at watch, the world would fain be
saying, “Aha, aha, thus we would have it”; and of myself, keep myself I
cannot; trust myself I dare not; if God do not help me, I am sure it
will not be long before my heart deceive me, and the world would have
their advantage of me, and so God be dishonoured by me, and thou also
ashamed to own me. O, therefore, be much in prayer for me, thy fellow!
I trust, in that glorious grace that is conveyed from Heaven to
sinners, by which they are not only sanctified here in this world, but
shall be glorified in that which is to come; unto which, the Lord of
His mercy bring us all.
John Bunyan. ___________________
These are several titles which are set over the several TRUTHS
contained in this book, for thy sooner finding of them—
THE FIRST PART
1. The words of the text opened, and the doctrines laid down. [This
doctrine, that there are some that are under the law, or under the
Covenant of Works.] 2. What the Covenant of Works is, and when it is
given. 3. What it is to be under the Covenant of Works. 4. Who they are
that are under the Covenant of Works. 5. What men may attain to that
are under this Covenant of Works.
THE SECOND PART
1. The doctrine proved. 2. The new covenant made with Christ. 3. The
conditions of the new covenant. 4. The suretiship of Christ. 5. Christ
the Messenger of the new covenant. 6. Christ the Sacrifice of the new
covenant. 7. Christ the High Priest of the new covenant. 8. Christ
completely fulfilled the conditions of the new covenant. 9. The
Covenant of Grace unchangeable; the opposers answered. 10. Who, and how
men are actually brought into the new covenant. 11. A word of
experience. 12. The privileges of the new covenant. 13. Two Hell-bred
objections answered. 14. A use of examination about the old covenant.
15. A legal spirit. 16. The use of the new covenant. 17. The
unpardonable sin. 18. Objections answered for their comfort who would
have their part in the new covenant. ___________________
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED; OR, A DISCOVERY OF THE LAW
AND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND THE NATURE OF THE OTHER, AS THEY
ARE THE TWO COVENANTS, ETC.
“FOR YE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE” (Rom 6:14).
[THE WORDS OF THE TEXT OPENED, AND THE DOCTRINES LAID DOWN.]
In the three former chapters, the Apostle is pleading for the salvation
of sinners by grace without the works of the law, to the end he might
confirm the saints, and also that he might win over all those that did
oppose the truth of this doctrine, or else leave them the more without
excuse; and that he might so do, he taketh in hand, first, to show the
state of all men naturally, or as they come into the world by
generation, saying, in the Third Chapter, “There is none righteous, no,
not one; there is none that understandeth; there is none that doeth
good,” etc. As if he had said, It seems there is a generation of men
that think to be saved by the righteousness of the law; but let me tell
them that they are much deceived, in that they have already sinned
against the law; for by the disobedience of one, many, yea all, were
brought into a state of condemnation (Rom 5:12-20). Now, in the Sixth
Chapter he doth, as if he had turned him round to the brethren, and
said, My brethren, you see now that it is clear and evident that it is
freely by the grace of Christ that we do inherit eternal life. And
again, for your comfort, my brethren, let me tell you that your
condition is wondrous safe, in that you are under grace; for, saith he,
“Sin shall not have dominion over you”; that is, neither the damning
power, neither the filthy power, so as to destroy your souls: “For ye
are not under the law”; that is, you are not under that that will damn
you for sin; “but” you are “under grace,” or stand thus in relation to
God, that though you have sinned, yet you shall be pardoned. “For ye
are not under the law, but under grace.” If any should ask what is the
meaning of the word “under,” I answer, it signifieth, you are not held,
kept, or shut up by it so as to appear before God under that
administration, and none but that; or thus, you are not now bound by
the authority of the law to fulfill it and obey it, so as to have no
salvation without you so do; or thus, if you transgress against any one
tittle of it, you by the power of it must be condemned. No, no, for you
are not so under it; that is, not thus under the law. Again, “For ye
are not under the law.” What is meant by this word “law”? The word
“law,” in Scripture, may be taken more ways than one, as might be
largely cleared. There is the law of faith, the law of sin, the law of
men, the law of works, otherwise called the Covenant of Works, or the
first or old covenant. “In that He saith a new covenant,” which is the
grace of God, or commonly called the Covenant of Grace, “He hath made
the first old,” that is, the Covenant of Works, or the law (Heb 8:13).
I say, therefore, the word “law” and the word “grace,” in this Sixth of
the Romans, do hold forth the two covenants which all men are under;
that is, either the one or the other. “For ye are not under the
law”—that is, you to whom I do now write these words, who are and have
been effectually brought into the faith of Jesus, you are not under the
law, or under the Covenant of Works. He doth not, therefore, apply
these words to all, but to some, when he saith, “But ye”; mark, ye, ye
believers, ye converted persons, ye saints, ye that have been born.
(YE) “for ye are not under the law,” implying others are that are in
their natural state, that have not been brought in to the Covenant of
Grace by faith in Jesus Christ.
The words, therefore, being thus understood, there is discovered these
two truths in them—DOCTRINE FIRST. That there are some in Gospel times
that are under the Covenant of Works. DOCTRINE SECOND. That there is
never a believer under the law, as it is the Covenant of Works, but
under grace through Christ. “For ye,” you believers, you converted
persons, ye “are not under the law but under grace”; or, for you are
delivered and brought into or under the Covenant of Grace.
DOCTRINE FIRST.
For the first, THAT THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE UNDER THE LAW, OR UNDER THE
COVENANT OF WORKS, see, I pray you, that Scripture in the Third of the
Romans, where the Apostle, speaking before of sins against the law, and
of the denunciations thereof against those that are in that condition,
he saith, “What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law”; mark, “it saith to them who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God”
(Rom 3:19). That is, all those that are under the law as a Covenant of
Works, that are yet in their sins, and unconverted, as I told you
before. Again he saith, “But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not
under the law” (Gal 5:18). Implying again, that those which are for
sinning against the law, or the works of the law, either as it is the
old covenant, these are under the law, and not under the Covenant of
Grace. Again he saith, “For as many as are of the works of the law are
under the curse” (Gal 3:10). That is, they that are under the law are
under the curse; for mark, they that are under the Covenant of Grace
are not under the curse. Now, there are but two covenants, therefore,
it must needs be that they that are under the curse are under the law,
seeing those that are under the other covenant are not under the curse,
but under the blessing. “So, then, they which be of faith are blessed
with faithful Abraham,” but the rest are under the law (Gal 3:9).
Now I shall proceed to what I do intend to speak unto. FIRST. I shall
show you what the Covenant of Works, or the law, is, and when it was
first given, together with the nature of it. SECOND. I shall show you
what it is to be under the law, or Covenant of Works, and the miserable
state of all those that are under it. THIRD. I shall show you who they
are that are under this covenant, or law. FOURTH. I shall show you how
far a man may go and yet be under this covenant, or law.
[WHAT THE COVENANT OF WORKS IS, AND WHEN IT WAS GIVEN.]
FIRST. What this Covenant of Works is, and when it was given. [What
this covenant is.] The Covenant of Works or the law, here spoken of, is
the law delivered upon Mount Sinai to Moses, in two tables of stone, in
ten particular branches or heads; for this see Galatians 4. The
Apostle, speaking there of the law, and of some also that through
delusions of false doctrine were brought again, as it were, under it,
or at least were leaning that way (verse 21) he saith, As for you that
desire to be under the law, I will show you the mystery of Abraham’s
two sons, which he had by Hagar and Sarah; these two do signify the two
covenants; the one named Hagar signifies Mount Sinai, where the law was
delivered to Moses on two tables of stone (Exo 24:12; 34:1; Deu 10:1).
Which is that, that whosoever is under, he is destitute of, and
altogether without the grace of Christ in his heart at the present.
“For I testify again to every man,” saith he, speaking to the same
people, that “Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you
are justified by the law,” namely, that given on Mount Sinai—“ye are
fallen from grace” (Gal 5:3,4). That is, not that any can be justified
by the law; but this meaning is, that all those that seek justification
by the works of the law, they are not such as seek to be under the
second covenant, the Covenant of Grace. Also the Apostle, speaking
again of these two covenants, saith, “But if the ministration of
death,” or the law, for it is all one, “written and engraven in
stones,” mark that, “was glorious, how shall not the ministration of
the Spirit,” or the Covenant of Grace, “be rather glorious?” (2 Cor
3:7,8). As if he had said, It is true, there was a glory in the
Covenant of Works, and a very great excellency did appear in it—namely,
in that given in the stones on Sinai—yet there is another covenant, the
Covenant of Grace, that doth exceed it for comfort and glory.