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perfection consists in always doing that "which is right, and fit, and beautiful to be done, all things considered;" still it comes to the same thing. To love God with all our heart, and obey him in every thing; and to love our neighbours as ourselves, and do as we would by done by, is the sum of what is to be done by us, "as right, and fit, and beautiful." Or, if sinless perfection consists in a perfect conformity of heart and life to the will and law of God," this was plainly required. For it is essential to every law, to require an exact, and entire conformity to itself. And it is a plain contradiction to suppose that God did not require them to do all that he did require them to do. They were always to obey God, and never to disobey him. And the law respected their hearts and lives, their thoughts, words, and actions; all their inward tempers, and all their outward behaviour. And it was never lawful for them to commit the least sin, or to omit the least duty; but as to all things written in the book of the law, they were to do them. And,

2. "This perfect obedience was the condition upon which the law promised life." "Ye shall keep my statutes, and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them." Lev. xviii. 5. This is repeated four times more in the Old Testament; once in Neh. ix. 29. thrice in Ezek. xx. 11. 13. 21, And twice in the New Testament; once in Rom. x. 5. and once in Gal. iii. 12.

And that this life, thus promised in Moses' law upon condition of perfect obedience, implied in it ETERNAL LIFE and happiness, is evident from the testimony of our blessed Saviour, in Luke x. 25. 28. "What shall I do to inherit ETERNAL LIFE?" said a certain Jew to Christ. To whom our Saviour replied, turning him back to the law of Moses, with these questions, "what is written in the law? How readest. thou?" To which the man answered and said, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." This he gives as the sum of Moses' law. To which our Saviour replied, "Thou hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt live;" i. e. inherit ETERNAL LIFE. The same reply our Saviour made to an

other man, who also came to him, to know what he should do that he might have ETERNAL LIFE. "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments," said our blessed Saviour. Matt. xix. 16, 17. It is plain, that in both these passages, our Saviour means to declare how eternal life was to be obtained by the law. And he gives the same answer that Moses had done before. Which, if a man do he shall live in them. So that, according to our Saviour's interpretation of the law of Moses, ETERNAL LIFE was implied in the life therein promised.

This also is plain from the testimony of St. Paul, in Rom. x.; where, opposing the way to justification and eternal life by the law, to that which is by the Gospel, and showing the difference, he says, ver. 5. "Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doth those things shall live by them." And then adds, ver. 6. " that the righteousness which is by faith speaketh on this wise, &c. &c. He that believeth shall be saved." Ver. 9, 10. compared with Gal. iii. 12. where he intimates that the law does not promise justification to faith, but to perfect obedience; plainly taking it for granted, that the life promised in the law implied ETERNAL LIFE. I have insisted the longer on this, because, if the life promised in Moses' law implied eternal life, no doubt, the death threatened, implied eternal death: which seems to be the meaning of Rom. vi. 23. "the wages,' (i. e. according to law,)" of sin is death." i. e. Eternal death and misery. Even as "the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ." Therefore I may venture to affirm,

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3. "That the CURSE threatened in Moses' law against the man that broke it in any one point, implied in it ETERNAL DAMNATION, and that without any abatements made on account of their inability."

How great their impotency was, whether from their native corruption, or from their contracted bad habits, I shall not pretend now to determine. But, as they were descendants of Adam, and had been educated in Egypt; so, I suppose, they were, at least, as bad as the generality of mankind. But be it so, they were ever so bad, ever so disinclined to yield this perfect obedience in heart and life, yet the law is not

brought down to their vitiated taste, and corrupt hearts; but they are still required to love God with all their hearts, and obey him in every thing, under the penalty of the curse.

Now that the law did curse every one, who continued not in all things written in the book of the law to do them, is plain, from Deut. xxvii. ; and that this curse comprised the sum total of the punishment due to sin, according to the law, there по doubt. And that ETERNAL DAMNATION was implied in the punishment threatened in the law, and comprised in the curse in Deut. xxvii. I think is evident.

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For otherwise the wicked Jews, who died in their sins, were not exposed to hell. But we see they were exposed to hell, from the representation Christ gives in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus. "The rich man died and was buried, and in HELL he lift up his eyes being in torments." Luke xvi. 22, 23. This parable was spoken to the Jews then under Moses' law. But they could not have been exposed to hell, unless it were by their own law; for St. Paul expressly affirms, that they should be judged by that, and by no other. "As many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law." And therefore, if their law had not threatened hell, they would not have been exposed unto it.

Besides if the Jews, who enjoyed the benefit of divine revelation, were not exposed to hell for their sins, it is not to be supposed that the benighted Gentiles were. And if neither Jew nor Gentile were in danger of hell, previous to the coming of Christ, why did Christ come, and die, to save both Jew and Gentile from the wrath to come f.

Indeed it is plain from the three first chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, that St. Paul takes it for granted, as an indisputable point, that the Jews by their law, as well as the Gentiles by the law of nature, were exposed to the wrath of God for the least sin : and that this wrath should be revealed and executed at the day of judgment; when, as we know, the wicked of all nations are to go away into everlasting punishment. So that if the New Testament may be allowed to explain the Old, there can be no doubt but eternal damnation

e Rom. ii. 12.
h Chap. ii. 5, 6.

f 1 Thes. i. 10.

g Rom. i. 18.
i Matt. xxv. 46.

was implied in the curse of Moses' law. And every unbiassed reader will naturally view that passage in Gal. iii. 10. 13. in this light." As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them. But Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us." For as the blessing of Abraham implied eternal life and happiness; so the curse of the law from which Christ redeemed us, implied eternal death and misery; as St. Paul viewed the case. So that, as the law required sinless perfection of the whole congregation of Israel, and promised eternal life upon

k OBJ. "Grant it, when St. Paul says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, that by the curse he means eternal damnation, and by the law, he means the law of Moses: yet how could St. Paul justly give this sense to the curse of Moses' law, which seems to intend nothing more than temporal judgments? As it is written, Deut. xxviii. 16, 17. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket, and thy store And so on for above fifty verses together, without one word of eternal damnation." ANS. God designed the whole Jewish dispensation as a SHADOW of spiritual things. Their bondage in Egypt was a shadow of our spiritual bondage i their redemption out of Egypt, a shadow of our redemption by Christ. The land of Canaan, with all the milk and honey, a shadow of heaven and its eternal delights and joys. Their being turned out of the land of Canaan for their sins, and cursed in all their temporal interests, a shadow of an eternal banishment from heaven, and of the everlasting miseries of hell: so that the curse of Moses' law was, in its spiritual meaning, of the same import with the curse that shall be executed at the last day; when the judge shall say, "Depart from me, ye CURSED, into everlasting fire." Mat. xxv. 41. And accordingly, St. Paul understood it so. This is the true solution of the difficulty. And it must be quite satisfactory to those who believe, that the Jewish dispensation was by God designed to be a shadow of spiritual things. For this being supposed, and taken for granted, as indeed it is every where in the New Testament, St. Paul might be full as certain what was the spiritual, as what was the literal sense. Nor was this spiritual sense designed to be wholly hid from the whole congregation of Israel, as the learned Dr. Warburton seems to imagine; (vid. Div. Leg. Mos.) but rather, we ought to think, God designed to give them some general idea of the substance by all those shadows which were held forth before their eyes, (and in which the Gospel was preached to them. Heb. iv. 2.) because otherwise these shadows would have been of no service to lead them to look to the promised Messiah, who was to come: and so the end for which they were appointed, would have been frustrated. They were, therefore, not designed to secrete, but to reveal spiritual things: not indeed clearly, but yet to give a shadow of them: and such a shadow, as was well suited to lead their minds to the substance; as might be largely shown. Particularly,

that condition; so it threatened eternal death and misery for the least failing: and that, all their inability notwithstanding. Therefore,

4. "By the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified in the sight of God." But every Jew, whose conscience was thoroughly awakened, would by experience find, that the law which was ordained to life, which promised life upon perfect obedience, did sentence him to death. Indeed if the law could have given life, then men might have been justified this way". And so the death of Christ had been needless; for if righteousness might have come by the law, then Christ had died in vain °. But the law was weak through the flesh, unable to give life by reason of human depravity P. It could convince of sin if conscience was before ever so stupid, and men's false hopes ever so high and strong; yet if the commandment was set home, it could cause sin to revive, and all their false hopes to die". And it could work wrath, and fill the guilty creature with terror; for it shut him up under sin*, and bound him over to eternal condemnation, and so was to him a ministration of death *. But it was impossible he

all the curses written in their law against the sinner, were designed and suited, not to hide and secrete the wrath of God, but to reveal and realize it to the heart. And while the guilty Jew died sensibly under the wrath of God, and curse of the law, he could have a prospect of nothing but a miserable eternity, nor expect any thing short of eternal damnation; i. e. to continue for ever under the wrath of God, an accursed creature. But whether every reader shall think this the true solution of the difficulty mentioned in the objection or not, yet this is plain, that by the curse, the apostle means that eternal misery from which Christ redeems sinners: and by the law, he means the law of Moses, of which he had been speaking, and out of which he had quoted the passage he refers unto, when he says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Read Gal. iii. 10. and compare it with Deut. xxvii. 26. and you may see, it is as evident as it can be, that he is speaking of the curse of Moses' law. Wherefore Dr. Doddridge's Note on Gal. iii. 13. is not satisfactory. But to conclude, if the life promised in the law of Moses, implied eternal life, as it is certain, from our Saviour, that it did; then, according to the same rule of interpretation, the death threatened must imply eternal misery; as we see it did according to St. Paul. And no doubt that interpretation of the law of Moses must be right, which is thus confirmed by two such divine ex positors.

/ Rom. iii. 20. p Rom. viii. 3. t Gal. iii. 22.

m Rom. vii. 10.
9 Rom. iii. 20.

u Gal. iii. 10.

n Gal. iii. 21. Rom. vii. 9. x 2 Cor. iii. 7.

o Gal. ii. 21. s Rom. iv. 15.

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