The Marrow of Modern Divinity Quotes

“you are now under another covenant, viz. the covenant of grace; and you cannot be under two covenants at once, neither wholly nor partly; and, therefore, as, before you believed, you were wholly under the covenant of works, as Adam left both you and all his posterity after his fall; so now, since you have believed, you are wholly under the covenant of grace.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the law was given, not to retain men in the confidence of their own works, but to drive them out of themselves, and to lead them to Christ the promised seed;”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“there is no question but every spiritual believing Jew, when he brought his sacrifice to be offered, and, according to the Lord’s command, laid his hands upon it whilst it was yet alive (Lev. 1:4), did, from his heart, acknowledge that he himself had deserved to die; but by the mercy of God he was saved,”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“The unbelieving Israelites were under the covenant of grace made with their father Abraham externally and by profession, in respect of their visible church state; but under the covenant of works made with their father Adam internally and really, in respect of the state of their souls before the Lord. Herein there is no absurdity; for to this day many in the visible church are thus, in these different respects, under both covenants.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“The antinomian principle, that it is needless for a man perfectly justified by faith to endeavor to keep the law and do good works, is a glaring evidence that legality is so ingrained in man's corrupt nature that until a man truly come to Christ by faith, the legal disposition will still be reigning in him. Let him turn himself into what shape or be of what principles he will in religion though he run into antinomianism; he will carry along with him his legal spirit which will always be a slavish and unholy spirit.”
― Thomas Boston, The Marrow of Modern Divinity

“And here is the true ground in the law of the infallible perseverance of the saints; their time of trial for life is over in their Head the second Adam - the prize is won!”
― Thomas Boston, The Marrow of Modern Divinity

“This we do when we rightly and seriously examine ourselves aforehand (1 Cor. 11); and rightly and seriously mind and consider of the sacramental union of the sign,”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the more perfect your obedience is, the fewer lashes you shall have;”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“To conclude, the greater any man’s faith is, the more fit he is to die, and the more willing he is to die.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“you are now under the covenant of grace, and freed from the law, as it is the covenant of works; for (as Mr Ball truly says) at one and the same time, a man cannot be under the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“I beseech you, do not you say, It may be I am not elected, and therefore I will not believe in Christ; but rather say, I do believe in Christ, and therefore I am sure I am elected.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the obedience of Christ being imputed unto believers by God for their righteousness, it puts them into the same estate and case, touching righteousness unto life before God,160 wherein they should have been, if they had perfectly performed the perfect obedience of the covenant of works, ‘Do this and thou shalt live.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“there are thousands in the world that make a Christ of their works; and here is their undoing, &c. They look for righteousness and acceptation more in the precept than in the promise, in the law than in the gospel, in working than in believing; and so miscarry.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“And for this cause, our Saviour, in his sermon upon the mount, took occasion to expound the moral law truly and spiritually, removing that false literal gloss which the Scribes and Pharisees had put upon it, that men might see how impossible it is for any mere man to fulfil it, and so consequently to have justification and salvation by it.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the Lord’s end or intent in giving them the law as a covenant of works, and as the apostle calls it, ‘the ministration of condemnation and death’ (2 Cor. 3:7, 9), was to drive them out of themselves to Christ, and that then133 it was to be abolished to them, as it was the covenant of works”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the moral law109 did teach and show them what they should do, and so what they did not; and this made them go to the ceremonial law;110 and by that they were taught that Christ had done it for them;111 the which they believing,112 were made righteous by faith in him.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“There be two sorts of unrighteous persons or unbelievers: the one to be justified, and the other not to be justified: even so was there among the Jews.’ Now, to them that were to be justified, as you have heard, the law was still of use to bring them to Christ:”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“It is very true, indeed: the law of the Ten Commandments was a rule for their obedience;103 yet not as it came from Mount Sinai;104 but rather as it came from Mount Zion; not as it was the law or covenant of works, but as it was the law of Christ.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the moral law did drive them to the ceremonial law, which was their gospel, and their Christ in a figure; for that the ceremonies did prefigure Christ, direct unto him, and require faith in him, is a thing acknowledged and confessed by all men.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“as Christ’s birth, obedience, and death, were in the Old Testament as effectual to save sinners, as they are now; so all the faithful forefathers, from the beginning, did partake of the same grace with us, by believing in the same Jesus Christ, and so were justified by his righteousness, and saved eternally by faith in him.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“we may assuredly conclude, with Luther, that all the fathers, prophets, and holy kings, were righteous, and saved by faith in Christ to come; and so, indeed, as Calvin says, ‘were partakers of all one salvation with us”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“And thus you see that the Lord, to the former promises made to the fathers, added a fiery law; which he gave from Mount Sinai, in thundering and lightning, and with a terrible voice, to the stubborn and stiff-necked Israel; whereby to break and tame them, and to make them sigh and long for the promised Redeemer.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“For how should a man see his need of life by Christ, if he do not first see that he is fallen from the way of life?”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“For this was it that God aimed at, in making the covenant of works with man in innocency, to have that which was his due from man:82 but God made it with the Israelites for no other end, than that man, being thereby convinced of his weakness, might flee to Christ. So that it was renewed only to help forward and introduce another and a better covenant; and so to be a manuduction unto Christ, viz: to discover sin, to waken the conscience, and to convince them of their own impotency, and so drive them out of themselves to Christ.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“as the covenant of grace made with Abraham had been needless, if the covenant of works made with Adam would have given him and his believing seed life; so, after the covenant of grace was once made, it was needless to renew the covenant of works, to the end that righteousness of life should be had by the observation of it.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“his purpose in renewing the covenant of works, was not, neither could be, to give life and salvation by working; for then there would have been contradictions in the covenants, and instability in him that made them. Wherefore let no man imagine that God published the covenant of works on Mount Sinai,”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“God never made the covenant of works with any man since the fall, either with expectation that he should fulfil it,79 or to give him life by it; for God never appoints any thing to an end, to the which it is utterly unsuitable and improper.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the Lord saw it needful, that there should be a new edition and publication of the covenant of works, the sooner to compel the elect unbelievers to come to Christ, the promised seed, and that the grace of God in Christ to the elect believers might appear the more exceeding glorious.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“God did not renew it with them now, and not before, because they were better able to keep it, but because they had more need to be made acquainted what the covenant of works is,”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“For the general substance of the duty, the law delivered on Mount Sinai, and formerly engraven on man’s heart, was one and the same; so that at Mount Sinai the Lord delivered no new thing, only it came more gently to Adam before his fall, but after his fall came thunder with it.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty