acted and done by the strength and affiftance of the Spirit of God. This is the Popish Scheme. 2. The Baxterian fcheme is alfo oppofite to this gofpeldoctrine they tell us, that God hath made a new law with mankind; and obedience to that new law and to its commands, is our righteoufnefs; and this obedience gives us a title to heaven, and gives us a title to Chrift's blood, and to pardon: And the act of faith is our righteoufnefs, not as it accepts of Chrift's righteousness, but as it is an obedience to that new law; the very act and work of faith is, according to them, the righteoufnefs itfelf And this faith takes in all kind of works, namely, repentance, love, obedience, and ten or twelve duties of that fort; and all thefe together are our righteousness for juftification. Really (as one fays upon this very head) if the apostle Paul were alive, he would excommunicate fuch minifters.

2. As to practical legalifts, this generation is full of these. I know not a more reigning fin among profeffors; a gofpel-ftrain is almost loft, and a gofpel-method is almoft forgotten. If we would go back to our reformers, we fhould fee a gofpel-fpirit among them; but now the gospelScheme is come under reproach, as if it were a new fcheme; and fome preach against it, write against it, reafon against it, as if it were Antinomianifm, and a going off from the law; as the Papifts accufe the Proteftants of old: Why? What is the matter? A hellish, unholy, legal fpirit reigns in the world: Now, in profecuting of this ufe, and that we may fee how much ground there is to lament over, and bewail a legal temper, that takes place, I would here, 1. Shew fome eviden

ces

ces of a legal fpirit in the ungodly and unconverted. 2. Some evidences of a legal temper in believers themselves. 3. Shew the cause of this legal temper that is in the world. 4. Shew the evil and danger of it.

ift, Some evidences of a legal temper, that is natural to the ungodly, who having no new nature, have no gofpel-fpirit at all. This may be evidenced in these four degrees of felf, and legal pride, 1. While the man is just in the dead fleep of natural fecurity, having no fight, nor sense of his fin, no conviction of, nor contrition for fin; even then, which is ftrange, he may imagine many times that he is perfect, that he never breaks any of the commandments of God, but keeps the whole law: The young pharifee in the gofpel is an eminent inftance hereof; our Lord gives him an account of the commands of the law, and he had the infolent boldness to say to Chrift, All these things have I kept from my youth up: And Paul, before his converfion, was ftuff'd with the fame legal pride, I was touching the law blameless. What means he by that? Why it is as if he had faid, I was such a ftanch pharifee, and religious zealot, that, as I never thought I broke any of the ten commandments, fo I thought I had kept the whole law. Wonderful arrogance and ignorance, to imagine that a man in his fallen ftate can have a perfection, and keep the whole law! And yet the elect of God, before their converfion, have found that they have been filled with fuch pride and infolent thoughts, as you fee in Paul: Yea, and many think little lefs, tho' they say they are finners, yet they fee not fin, and fancy they are conformable to the law: They have a good heart, they wrong no body, they are

juft

juft in their dealings, none can fay, black is their eye; and here is their righteousness being alive to the law. 2. Degree is, when men come to be convinced of fin and rebellion and of their loft state by reafon of their having trampled the divine authority under foot, offended his Majefty, violated his law, provoked his anger; then as if Chrift were the most needlefs and useless thing in heaven or earth, they run to their repentance for an atonement, as Papifts to their penances, and Pagans to their facrifices to atone their offended deities; as if there were no day's-man, no mediator betwixt God and man, to make atonement; Chrift the propitiation is altogether flighted; they hope to make atonement, and pacify God, by repenting seriously, and lamenting bitterly; and fo they fall to work, praying, fafting, mourning, confeffing, with an abfolute neglect of Chrift; and, upon the back of all their legal fears, confeffions and bitter lamentations, their wakened confciences are pleafed and pacified: The ftorm that was raised there, is turned to a calm; a falfe peace takes place, not founded upon Chrift or his atoning blood, but upon their confeffions, tears, prayers, whereby they think to disgorge and vomit up all the fins of their life, and to fave themfelves from them, and from the wrath that follows them. To this purpose was that faying of Augustine (it looks like a harfh faying, but had a good meaning) namely, that repentance damns more than fins do. When people are under any fearful apprehenfion of the wrath to come upon them for their fins, they flee to their repentance instead of flying to Chrift, and that effectually deftroys and ruins them. 3. Degree is, when a man not only repents, but amends:

He

He not only takes up refolutions of amendment of life, but actually ftudies obedience, reforms his way; he is at pains to get his life changed, but not to get his ftate changed. He is not taken up to get a new heart, but would have the old heart made a little better he thinks a little amending will do the bufinefs; and what is all this, but, as one fays, like the gilding of a rottten poft, the poft is rotten within, but is finely gilded over without? It is but like the whitening of a fepulchre, that, however white it may be without, yet it is full of dead men's bones within: It is like the painting of a chimney without, that is all black and footy within: It is like the adorning of a dead corpfe with fweet flowers: The man is dead in fins and trefpaffes, notwithstanding all this. 4. Degree is beyond all this, gospel-light hath fhined objectively upon them, and they are more illuminated than to be pleased with this. Why? they hear of Chrift, and that there is no falvation, no juftification without him ; and therefore, they act faith upon him in a legal way; they believe in him, not by a faving faith, but a temporary faith. As believers do perform gofpel-obedience to the law, fo unbelievers may have a legal faith of the gofpel, a legal faith upon Chrift, believing in their own ftrength, believing even before he see his inability to believe, before ever he fees his unwillingness to believe, before he be humbled under a fenfe of his abfolute need of Chrift, and before he fee what right and warrant he hath from the word. However, he fancies he hath clofed with Chrift, laid hold on his covenant, and this is the moft fubtle part of felfrighteoufnefs; yet, after all, he is the old man, ftill wedded to the law: And hence he hath no fancti

fication,

fication, no new nature, no new principle of fpi- . ritual life, no living unto God.

;

2dly, Some evidences of a legal temper that remains in believers themselves. 1. When their comfort is ftill up and down with their frame; if their frame be up, their comfort is up; if their frame be down, their comfort is down; if their frame be gone, their comfort is gone, their joy is withered: Herein the legal fpirit difcovers itself; whereas a gospel-temper of foul would lead the man to rejoice, even when the changeable frame is gone, that the unchangeable covenant ftill remains; and to fay, Tho' the fig-tree should not bloffom, yet will I rejoice in the Lord: Tho' grace be at a low ebb with me, yet the ocean of grace is in Christ; and herein I rejoice: Tho' I be in darknefs, yet will I rejoice, that there is light in him though I find nothing but deadness in me, yet will I rejoice that there is life in him; tho' I be empty, yet will I rejoice that there is fulness in him; and this to be communicated in his time and way. 2. It is a legal temper in the believer, when his affurance is loft by his challenges. It may be, the man attained fome sweet measure of affurance, but behold fin prevails, confcience challenges him, and hereupon he razes all; this is an evidence of a legal temper, contrary to that gofpel-fpirit which we may fee acting in David, Pfal. lxv. 3. Iniquity prevails against me; it is against my heart, against my will, against my prayers, against my fecret groans and wrestlings, against my resolutions, against my inclination they prevail. Shall I raze the foundation of my faith upon this account? No, I flee to the blood of the lamb of God, for cleanfing and purging both from the guilt and power of fin; and therefore