Moreover, as there are engagements on Christ’s part, relating hereunto, and in pursuance thereof, they are said to be in his hand; so the Father has given them an additional security, that they shall be preserved from apostasy; and therefore they are also said to be in his hand; from whence none can pluck them out; and from thence it is argued, that they shall never perish, John x. 28, 29. And we may observe, that the life which Christ is said to give them respects not only the beginning thereof, in the first grace which they are made partakers of in conversion; but it is called eternal life, which certainly denotes the completing of this work in their everlasting salvation.
(3.) The subject-matter of the promises contained in the covenant of grace, relates not only to their sanctification here, but salvation hereafter; in which respect it is called an everlasting covenant, and the mercies thereof, the sure mercies of David, Isa. lv. 3, 4. that is, either those mercies which David, who had an interest in this covenant, was given to expect; or mercies which Christ had engaged to purchase and bestow, who is here called David, as elsewhere, Hos. iii. 5. inasmuch as David was an eminent type of him, as well as because he was his seed according to the flesh; and that this is the more probable sense of the two, appears from the following words, in which he is said to be given for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people: and if these mercies are in Christ’s hand to apply, it is no wonder that they are styled sure mercies.
We might here consider the covenant of grace as containing in it all the promises that respect the beginning, carrying on, or completing the salvation of his people; and these relate not only to what God will do for them; but what he will enable them to be, and do, in those things that concern their faithfulness to him, whereby they have the highest security that they shall behave themselves as becomes a covenant-people. Thus he assures them, that he will be to them a God, that is, that he will glorify his divine perfections in bestowing on them the special and distinguishing blessings of the covenant; and that they shall be to him a people, that is, shall behave themselves so as that they shall not, by apostacy from him, oblige him to disown his relation to them, or exclude them from his covenant. He has not only encouraged them to expect those great things that he would do for them, provided they yielded obedience to his law; but that he would put his law into their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, whereby they might be disposed to obey him: and when he says, that they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, he gives them to understand that they should not only teach or instruct one other in the knowledge of God, which respects their being favoured with the external means of grace; but that they should all know him, from the least of them unto the greatest. This not only denotes that they should have a speculative knowledge of divine truth, but a saving knowledge thereof; which is inseparably connected with life eternal, John xvii. 3. as appears from its being accompanied with, or flowing from forgiveness of sin, as it immediately follows; for I will forgive their iniquity; and this is expressed with a peculiar emphasis, which is certainly inconsistent with their falling from a justified state, when it is said, I will remember their sin no more, Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. And elsewhere, when God speaks of his making an everlasting covenant with his people, chap. xxxii. 40. he promises that he will not turn away from them to do them good; and, inasmuch as they are prone, by reason of the deceitfulness of their hearts, to turn aside from him, he adds, I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me; it is not only said that he will not turn from them, if they fear him; but he gives them security in this covenant, that they shall fear him: can we therefore conclude that they, in whom this covenant is so far made good, that God has put his fear in their hearts, which is supposed in their being believers, shall not attain the other blessing promised, to wit, that of their not departing from him?
Moreover, the stability of this covenant, as a foundation of the saints’ perseverance, is set forth by a metaphor, taken from the most fixed and stable parts of nature; and it is said to exceed them herein; The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee; neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee, Isa. liv. 10.
Object. The principal objection that is brought to enervate the force of this argument taken from those promises of the covenant, which respect the saints’ perseverance, is, that they are to be considered either as conditional, and the conditions thereof not fulfilled, in which case they are not obliging, and therefore God is not bound to give salvation to those to whom he has promised it, upon these conditions; or else they are to be considered as made to a political body, viz. the Jewish nation, in which case it is not to be supposed that they respect their eternal salvation, but only some temporal deliverance which they were to be made partakers of, that belonged to that church in general; for everlasting salvation is never considered as a blessing that shall be applied to whole nations, how much soever an whole nation may partake of the common gifts of divine bounty which are bestowed in this world.
Answ. In answer to this objection, in both its branches, I need only refer to what has been said elsewhere. As to the former branch thereof, we have endeavoured to shew how those scriptures are to be understood which are laid down in a conditional form, without supposing that they militate against the absoluteness of God’s purpose, or its unchangeableness, and independency on the conduct of men.[[85]] And as to the latter branch thereof; what has been said in answer to an objection of the like nature, brought against the doctrine of election by Dr. Whitby, and others, who suppose that the blessings, which the elect are said to be made partakers of in scripture, respect the nation of the Jews, or the church in general, and not a particular number chosen out of them to salvation; and that the promises which are directed to them, are only such as they were given to expect, as a church or political body of men, may well be applied to our present purpose, and serve as an answer to this objection;[[86]] therefore all that I shall add by way of reply to it, in this place, is,
[1.] If any thing be annexed to these promises of the covenant, that gives occasion for some to conclude, that it is conditional, we must take heed that we do not understand such expressions as denoting the dependance of God’s determinations on the arbitrary will of man; as though his purpose relating to the salvation of his people were indeterminate, and it were a matter of doubt with him, as well as with us, whether he should fulfil it or no; because it is uncertain whether the conditions thereof shall be performed; for this supposition is inconsistent with the divine perfections: but, if, on the other hand, we suppose that the grace or duty annexed to the promise, must have some idea of a condition contained in it; this may be understood according to the tenor of God’s revealed will, as denoting nothing else but a condition of our expectation, or of our claim to the blessing promised; and then nothing can be inferred from hence, but that some who lay claim to, or expect salvation, without performing the condition thereof, may apostatize, and so miss of it; which does not in the least militate against the doctrine we are defending.
And to this we may farther add, that when such a condition is annexed to a promise (for I will not decline to call it so, in the sense but now laid down) and there is another promise added, in which God engages that he will enable them to perform this condition, that is equivalent to an absolute promise; and of this kind are those conditions that are mentioned in the scriptures before referred to, as has been already observed. When God promises that he will be a God to them, that he will forgive their iniquities, and never reverse the sentence of forgiveness, or remember their sins no more, and that he will never turn away from them to do them good; he, at the same time promises, that he will put his law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and put his fear in their hearts, and so enable them to behave themselves as his people, or to be to him a people; and when God sets forth the stability of his covenant, and intimates that it should not be removed, he adds, that his kindness shall not depart from them, which kindness does not barely respect some temporal blessings which he would bestow upon them, but his extending that grace to them that should keep them faithful to him; and therefore he says, that in righteousness they should be established; which contains a promise to maintain grace in them, without which they could hardly be said to be established in righteousness, as well as that he would perform the other things promised to them in this covenant.
[2.] As to the other branch of the objection, in which the promises are considered as given to the church in general, or to the Jews, as a political body of men; and that this cannot be supposed to respect their everlasting salvation, but only some temporal blessings which they should enjoy, it may be replied, That this is to be determined by the express words contained in the promise: if God tells them that he will do that for them which includes more in it than the blessings which they are supposed to enjoy, that are of a temporal nature, we are not to conclude that there is nothing of salvation contained in them, when the words seem to imply that there is. And though these promises are said to be given to the Jews, as a political body of men, and there are some circumstances therein, which have an immediate and particular relation to them: yet the promises of special grace and salvation were to be applied only by those who believed amongst them; and the same promises are to be applied by believers in all ages; or else we must understand those scriptures only as an historical relation of things that do not belong to us; which would tend very much to detract from the spirituality and usefulness of many parts of scripture.
To make this appear, we might consider some promises which, when first made, had a particular relation to God’s dealings with his people in those circumstances in which they were at that time; which, notwithstanding, are applied in a more extensive manner, to New Testament believers in all ages. Thus when God tells his people, in the scripture before referred to, that all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, Isa. liv. 13. whatever respect this may have to the church of the Jews, our Saviour applies it in a more extensive way, as belonging to believers in all ages, when he says, Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me, John vi. 45. And when God promises Joshua that he would not fail nor forsake him, and encourages him thereby, not to fear nor be dismayed, Josh. i. 5, 9. when he was to pass over Jordan, into the land of Canaan; and after that, to engage in a work which was attended with many difficulties: this promise is applied, by the apostle, as an inducement to believers, in his day, to be content with such things as they have; accordingly he adds, that what God told Joshua of old, the same was written for their encouragement, viz. that he would never leave them, nor forsake them, Heb. xiii. 5. We cannot therefore but conclude from hence, that this objection is of no force in either of its branches, to overthrow the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance, as founded on the stability of the promises of the covenant of grace.