Edward Fisher > Quotes

“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

“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

“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

“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 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

“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

“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

“The nature of the covenant of works is most expressly in the New Testament brought in, propounded, and explained from the Mosaical dispensation”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the covenant of grace was, both in itself, and in God’s intention, the principal part of the Sinai transaction: nevertheless, the covenant of works was the most conspicuous part of it, and lay most open to the view of the people.”
― 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

“Thus there is no confounding of the two covenants of grace and works; but the latter was added to the former as subservient unto it, to turn their eyes towards the promise, or covenant of grace:”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“Let me confess ingenuously, I was a professor of religion at least a dozen of years before I knew any other way to eternal life, than to be sorry for my sins, and ask forgiveness, and strive and endeavour to fulfil the law, and keep the commandments, according as Mr Dod and other godly men had expounded them; and truly, I remember I was in hope I should at last attain to the perfect fulfilling of them; and, in the mean time, I conceived that God would accept the will for the deed; or what I could not do, Christ had done for me.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the law of the Ten Commandments, or moral law may be either said to be the matter of the law of works, or the matter of the law of Christ:”
― 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

“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

“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

“The covenant of works could by no means be renewed by fallen Adam, so as thereby to help himself and his posterity out of his misery, the which is the only thing in question here; otherwise, indeed, it might have been renewed, which is evident by this sad token, that many do actually renew it in their covenanting with God, being prompted thereto by their ignorance of the high demands of the law, their own utter inability, and the way of salvation by Jesus Christ.”
― 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

“the natural bent is to the way of the covenant of works. This is evident in the case of the vast multitudes throughout the world, embracing Judaism, Paganism, Mahometanism, and Popery. All these agree in this one principle, that it is by doing men must live,”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the truth is, the law of the Ten Commandments, as it is the matter of the law of Christ, ought to be a rule of life to a believer;”
― 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

“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

“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

“that the covenant of works was also, for special ends, repeated and delivered to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, I cannot refuse”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“Adam heard as much (of the law) in the garden, as Israel did at Sinai; but only in fewer words, and without thunder.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“all the natural seed of Abraham were externally, and by profession, under the covenant of grace made with their father Abraham; though, it is to be feared, many of them were still under the covenant of works made with their father Adam.”
― 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

“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.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“were the Ten Commandments, as they were delivered to them on Mount Sinai, the covenant of works or no? evangelista They were delivered to them as the covenant of works.”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty

“the Lord was pleased to convince me that I was yet but a proud Pharisee, and to show me the way of faith and salvation by Christ alone, and to give me, I hope, a heart in some measure to embrace it; yet, alas! through the weakness of my faith, I have been, and am still apt to turn aside to the covenant of works;”
― Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinty