CHAP. XXI. — Of the PBivn^EGES of Believers.
Q. 1. What are the privileges of those that thus believe and re- pent ?
A. First, union with Christ; secondly, adoption of children; thirdly. Christian liberty ; fourthly, a spiritual, holy right to the seals of the new covenant; fifthly, communion with all saints; sixthly, resurrection of the body unto life eternal.
Q. 2. What is our union with Christ ?
A. An *holy, spiritual^ ^ conjunction unto him, as our ''head, " husband, and ** foundation, ^ whereby we are made partakers of the same Spirit with him, ^and derive all good things from him. — * 1 Cor. xii. 12; John xv. 1, 2, 5-7, xvii. 23.— "Eph. iv. 15, v. 23; Col. i. 18. —"2 Cor. xi. 2; Eph. v. 25-27; Rev. xxi. 9.— 'Matt. xvi. 18; Eph. ii. 20-22; 1 Pet. ii. 4-7.— "Rom. viii. 9, 11; Gal. iv. 6; Phil. i. 19. — 'John i. 12, 16; Eph. i. 3.
Q. 3. What is our adoption?
A. Our gracious reception into the family of God, as his children, and co-heirs with Christ. — John i. 12; Rom. viii. 15, 17; Gal. iv. 5; Eph. i. 5.
Q. 4. How come we to know this?
A. By the especial working of the Holy* Spirit in our hearts, sealing unto us the promises of God, and raising up our souls to an assured expectation of the promised inheritance. — Rom. viii. 15, 17; Eph. iv. 30; 1 John iii. 1; Rom. viii. 19, 23; Tit. ii. 13.
Q. 5. What is our Christian liberty?
A. An^ holy and spiritual "freedom from the ''slavery of sin, the "bondage of death and hell, the ** curse of the law, "Jewish cere- monies, and ' thraldom of conscience, purchased for us by Jesus
^ The best duties of unbelievers are but white sins.
^ By virtue of this nuiou, Christ suffereth in our afflictions; and we fill up in our bodies what remaineth as his.
^ From Christ, as head of the church, we have spiritual life, sense, and motion, or growth in grace; secondly, as the husband of the church, love and redemption; thirdly, as the foundation thereof, stability and perseverance.
* Tliis is that great honour and dignity of believers, which exalts them to a despising all earthly thrones.
' Our liberty is our inheritance here below, which we ought to contend for, against all opposers.
490 THE PRINCIPLES OF
Christ, and * revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. — *Gal. v. 1. — ''John viii. 32, 84, 86; Rom. vi. 17, 18; Isa. Ixi. 1 ; 1 John i. 7; 2 Cor. v. 21. —"Rom. viii. 15; Heb. ii. 15; 1 Cor. xv. 55, 57.— "Gal. iii. 13; Eph. ii. 15, 16; Gal. iv. 5; Rom. viii. 1. — ^Actsxv. 10, 11; Gal. iii., iv., v. '2 Cor. i. 24; 1 Cor. vii. 23; 1 Pet. ii. 16.— ^ Cor. ii. 12.
Q. 6. A7^e we, then, tuholly freed from the moral law?
A. Yes, as " a covenant,^ or as it hath any thing in it bringing into bondage, — as the curse, power, dominion, and rigid exaction of obe- dience; ''but not as it is a rule of life and holiness.- — "Jer. xxxi. 81-38; Rom. vii. 1-8, vi. 14; Gal. iii. 19, 24; Rom. viii. 2; Gal. V. 18.— "Matt. V. 17; Rom. iii. 31, vii. 13, 22, 25.
Q. 7. Are we not freed by Christ from, the magistrate s power and human authority ?
A. No; being ordained of ^ God, and commanding for him, we owe them all lawful obedience. — Rom. xiii. 1-4; 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2; 1 Pet. ii. 13-15.
CHAP. XXII. — Of the Sacraments of the New Covenant tn particular,
— A HOLY RIGHT WHEREDNTO IS THE FoURTH PRIVILEGE OF BELIEVERS.
Q. 1. What are the seals of the New Testament?
A. Sacraments instituted of Christ to be visible seals and pledges, whereby God in him confirmeth the promises of the covenant to all believers, re-stipulating of them growth in faith and obedience. — Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 5; Acts ii. 88, xxii. 16; Rom. iv. 11 ; 1 Cor. X. 2-4, xi. 26-29.
Q. 2. Hoiu doth God hy these sacraments bestow grace upon us?
A. Not by any^ real essential conveying of spiritual grace by cor- poreal means, but by the way of promise, obsignation, and covenant, confirming the grace wrought in us by the Word and Spirit. — Heb. iv. 2; 1 Cor. x.; Rom. iv. 11, i. 17; Mark xvi. 16; Eph. v. 26.
Q. 3. How do our sacraments differ from the sacraments of the Jews?
A. Accidentally only, in things concerning the outward matter and form, as their number, quality, clearness of signification, and the like, — not essentially, in the things signified, or grace confirmed. — 1 Cor. X. 1, 2, 3, &c.; John vi. 35; 1 Cor. v. 7; Phil. iii. 8; Col. ii. 11.
1 Notliing makes men condemn the law as a rule, but hatred of that universal holiness which it doth require.
2 Rule and authority are as necessary for human society as fire and water for our lives.
^ This is one of the greatest mysteries of the Roman magic and juggling, that corporeal elements should have a power to forgive sins, and confer spiritual grace.