Secondly, The law lies against this discovery. The law is a beam of the holiness of God himself What it speaks unto us, it speaks in the name and authority of God ; and I shall briefly show concerning it these tAvo things: — 1. That this is the voice of the laiu, — namely, that there is no forgiveness for a sinner. 2. That a sinnei' hath great reason to give credit to the law in that assertion.
1. It is certain that the law knoius neither mercy nor forgiveness. The very sanction of it lies wholly against them : " The soul that sinneth, it shall die;" " Cursed is he that continueth not in all things in the book of the law to do them," Deut. xxvii. 26; [Gal. iii. 10.] Hence the apostle pronounceth universally, without exception, that they who " are under the law are under the curse," Gal. iii. 10; and saith he, verse 12, " The law is not of faith." There is an inconsis- tency between the law and believing; they cannot have their abode in power together. " ' Do this and live ;' fail and die," is the constant, immutable voice of the law. This it speaks in general to all, and this in particular to every one.
2. The sinner seems to have manifold and weighty reasons to at- tend to the voice of this law, and to acquiesce in its sentence; for, —
(1.) The law is connatural to him; his domestic, his old acquaint- ance. It came into the world with him, and hath gTOwn up with him from his infancy. It was implanted in his heart by nature, — is his own reason ; he can never shake it off or part with it. It is his familiar, his friend, that cleaves to him as the flesh to the bone; so that they who have not the law written cannot but show forth the
890 AN EXPOSITION UPON PSALM CXXX. [Ver.4.
work of the law, Eom. ii. 14, 15, and that because the law itself is inbred to them. And all the faculties of the soul are at peace with it, in subjection to it. It is the bond and ligament of then union, harmony, and correspondency among themselves, in all their moral actings. It gives life, order, motion to them all. Now, the gospel, that comes to control this sentence of the law, and to relieve the sinner from it, is foreign to his nature, a strange thing to him, a thing he hath no acquaintance or familiarity with; it hath not been bred up with him ; nor is there any thing in him to side with it, to make a party for it, or to plead in its behalf Now, shall not a man rather believe a domestic, a friend, indeed himself, than a foreigner, a stranger, that comes with uncouth principles, and such as suit not its reason at all? 1 Cor. i. 18.
(2.) The law speaks nothing to a sinner but Avhat his conscience assures him to be true. There is a constant concurrence in the tes- timony of the law and conscience. When the law says, '' This or that is a sin worthy of death," conscience says, " It is even so," Rom. L 32. And where the law of itself, as being a general rule, rests, conscience helps it on, and says, " This and that sin, so worthy of death, is the soul guilty of" " Then die," saith the law, " as thou hast deserved." Now, this must needs have a mighty efficacy to prevail with the soul to give credit to the report and testimony of the law; it speaks not one word but what he hath a witness within himself to the truth of it. These witnesses always agree ; and so it seems to be established for a truth that there is no forgiveness.
(3.) The law, though it speak against the soul's interest, yet it speaks nothing but what is so just, righteous, and equal, that it even forceth the soul's consent. So Paul tells us, that men know this voice of the law to be the "judgment of God," Rom. i. 32. They know it, and cannot but consent unto it, that it is the judgment of God, — that is, good, righteous, equal, not to be controlled. And, indeed, what can be more righteous than its sentence? It commands obe- dience to the God of life and death; promiseth a reward, and declares that for n on -performance of duty, death will be inflicted. On these terms the sinner cometh into the world. They are good, righteous, holy; the soul accepts of them, and knows not what it can desire better or more equal. This the apostle insists upon, chap. vii. 12, 13, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which was good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good ; that sin l)y the comniandment might become exceeding sinful." Wherever the blame falls, the soul can- not but acquit the law, and confess that what it says is right-^ous and uncontrollably equal. And it is meet things should be so. Now,
Ver. 4.] TESTIMONY OF THE LAV/. S91