Covenant of Grace

“ Have respect to the covenant.' In a word, Let your case be the worst out of hell, this covenant contains all salvation as a covenant of grace, of all grace, of all sorts of cures for all sorts of cases; and if you can get yourself wrapt within the bond of this covenant, by believing and pleading it; then you draw God upon your interest, so that your concern is his concern, your interest is his interest, your cause is his cause, as the Psalmist shews here, ver. 22. 'Arise, O God, plead thine own cause.' Stand ever upon his honour, and he will do his own work in his own time. ”

“ Glory to God for this fresh manifestation of his mercy and grace to sinners. Not unto us, O Lord God, but to thy name be the glory. Thou hast made a covenant with thy chosen, and with believers in him; and thou hast, by thy Holy Spirit, drawn them to take hold of this thy own covenant, and to give themselves to thee to be made the subjects of it. And now, O Lord, remember thy own covenant, and do as thou hast said: Put thy laws in their minds, and write them in their hearts, and be unto them a God, and they shall be unto thee a people ”

“ The Covenant of grace is revealed to some, no man being shut forth by name, but if he repent and beleeve he shall be saved: but many thousands never heard of, never had probable meanes to come to the knowledge of the Covenant. ”

“ Section III.—Man by his fall having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace: whereby he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe. ”

“ Neither can it be proved, that ever God made the Covenant of works with the creature fallen: but whensoever the Scripture speakes of Gods entring into Covenant with man fallen and plunged into sinne, and for sinne deserving wrath, it must be understood of the Covenant of Grace, as shall be shewed hereafter. ”

“ O Lord, I here desire to enter solemnly into covenant with thee, taking thee for my Lord and Master, accepting thee on thy own terms, taking thee for my King, Priest, and Prophet; and in my station, thro' thy grace, to stand by truth, and cheerfully to take on thy yoke and follow thee. Lord, thou knowest my weakness: I desire to believe that thou wilt be a present help, in the day of need, to me, according to thy promise ”

“ There is a Covenant of redemption betwixt God and the Mediatour Christ, preceiding the Covenant of Grace and Salvation made betwixt God and the faithfull Man through Christ, which is the ground of all this treating that God hes with Man in the preaching of the Gospell. ”

“ And seeing every one may impose a Law to the act depending upon his own free will and pleasure, he that prayeth for another, and he that admitteth the paiment of one thing for another, may covenant, that remission shall follow presently, or after a certaine time, purely or upon condition. And this was the will and pleasure of Christ making satisfaction, and of God admitting satisfaction, and this the Covenant, that God should pardon sin, not presently in the very time of Christs passion, but when man is turned unto God by true faith in Christ, humbly intreating pardon. ”

“ This Covenant was made in Christ, in and through whom we are reconciled unto God: for since God and man were separated by sinne, no Covenant can passe betwixt them, no reconciliation can be expected, no pardon obtained, but in and through a mediatour. Sinnes were never remitted unto any man, no man was ever adopted into the place and condition of a sonne, by grace and adoption, but in him alone, who is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever, Jesus Christ, true God and true man. ”

“ The subject of this Covenant is man intire and perfect, made after the Image of God in Righteousnesse and true holinesse, furnished not only with a reasonable soule and faculties beseeming, but with divine qualities breathed from the whole Trinity, infused into the whole man, lifting up every faculty and power above his first frame, and inabling and fitting him to obey the will of God intirely, willingly, exactly, for matter and measure. ”

“ The Law which is written in the heart of the spirituall seed is part of the Covenant of grace: for the righteousnesse of faith speaketh on this wise; This Commandement which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it farre off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall goe up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may heare it, and doe it. ”

“ The Covenant made presupposeth man called, and taking hold of the Covenant, it doth not promise that he shall be effectually wrought upon, and powerfully drawne to lay hould upon the promise. Faith is the gift of God, which he giveth as he pleaseth: but to the believer he assureth all other necessary good things, with continuance in faith, according to his free Covenant.
Of good things spirituall there be two sorts, as was said, some absolutely necessary, as faith, repentance, pardon of sinne, perseverance, eternall life, and these are all most certainly promised, and assuredly conferred. ”

“ Under this head of doctrine, he gave the following marks to evidence whether the present time of renewing our covenant with God was indeed to us a time of the Lord's privileging us with his gracious presence—1st, That a time of God's privileging his people with his gracious presence, and with a shower of gospel grace, is a very inviting and alluring time; wherein, as the Lord invites his people to their duty, by engaging their hearts and souls, through his Spirit's gracious influences, to fall in love with him and his commandments, so they mutually invite one another to covenant with God. ”

“ Remission of sinnes, gratious adoption in Christ, and the Inheritance of eternall life is promised to beleevers: and eternall condemnation peremptorily threatned against unbeleevers.
Christ, whom God hath exhibited in the Gospell, as he was promised to the Fathers in the Scriptures of the Prophets, is the object of this Covenant.
The end thereof is the praise of the glorious grace and mercy of God in Christ to come.
In this Covenant there is a mutuall compact betwixt God and man: God in mercy promising, and man in duty binding himself unto the Lord. ”

“ Man then doth promise to serve the Lord, and to cleave unto him alone, which is both a debt of duty, and speciall prerogative, and he doth restipulate or humbly intreat, that God would be mindfull of his holy Covenant or testimony, that he would be his God, his Portion, his Protectour, and rich reward. These things be so linked together in the Covenant, as that we must conceive the Promise of God in order of nature to goe before the Promise and obedience of man: and to be the ground of faith, whereby mercy promised is received. ”

“ Thus then I grant all men are bound to beleeve in Christ: but thence it will not follow, that Christ died for all men equally, to purchase for them actuall reconciliation on Gods part, and with full and compleate will and purpose quantum in se to save them: but only that Christ died for them as an all-sufficient and efficient Saviour, so that in the Covenant of grace salvation might be and is tendered unto them upon condition of true repentance and faith unfained. ”

“ By this grace you must keep up acquaintance with Christ, and have frequent recourse to him, both for cleansing you from your defilements, when you break the covenant, and for strength to perform what you are obliged to by covenant; both for recovering grace, to raise you up when fallen, and for preventing grace, to preserve you from falling or relapsing again.
8th, That you may be the more active and vigilant in keeping covenant, you must labor to maintain a constant fear of breaking it, and have a fixed impression of the tremendous threatening denounced against covenant-breakers ”