Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	death_n	sin_n	suffer_v	2,561	5	6.6311	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47098	A plain and familiar discourse on justification being the substance of four sermons, preach'd at the morning-lecture, at Pinners-Hall, in Broad street, the third, tenth, seventeenth, and twenty fourth days of September, 1693 / by Elias Keach.	Keach, Elias.	1694 (1694)	Wing K110; ESTC R13909	34,472	38

viz. That Christ was not a proper Head Representative and Surety but did all as a Mediator only i. e. as one endeavouring to compose the Difference betwixt God and us but the contrary I shall now prove namely that Christ suffered as our Head Representative and Surety First We must prove that he became our Surety Secondly That he died in our stead place and room and these two will magnifie the Grace of God in our Justification And 1. Consider God he is Just so well as Gracious and his Justice required Satisfaction Now some Men amongst us would be Pardoned but not Justified They would have Life in a way of Mercy but not in a way of Righteousness They would have their Debts pardoned and forgiven but they would not have their Debts paid In a word They would come to Heaven but not by the Merits of Christ's Blood tho' they may pretend they believe no coming there but by his Merits yet they understand it in a remote S●●ce they would I say attain eternal Glory and a deliverance from every thing that is hurtful to them but this they would not have to run in the Channel of Christ's Obedience and Righteousness but in the Channel of their own Obedience But 2. Consider that as God is Just so well as Gracious therefore our Debts must must be paid so well as pardoned or we cannot be Justified and consider Christ is called a Surety in the word of God Vide Heb. 7.22 There our Saviour is called the Surety of a better Covenant By so much was Jesus made a Surety of a better Testament i. e. Covenant Beloved a Surety is one that undertakes or engages to satisfie for another It signifies to strike Hand in the behalf of another And 1. For one whose Credit is gone or whose Credit is suspected as being not good therefore a Surety stands in his place and strikes Hands with the Creditor Thus did the Lord Jesus Christ strike Hands with the Father and become our Surety that he might stand Pay-master for us and in our room and stead God the Father foresaw that the Creature that he would make would fall and fore-designed to leave him to the liberty of his own Will at first and fore-seeing the misery that he would plung himself into and yet remembering Mercy and Pity which was a glo●ious Attribute in God so well as Justice That he might magnifie his Mercy and not wrong his Justice and that his Justice might be satisfied and his Mercy not impeach'd did enter into a Covenant with his own Son his Eternal Son And his Son strook Hands with him on the Behalf of the Sinner whose credit God fore-saw as lost c. 2. A Surety is to give Stability and Security in Case of Bond and Covenant Not only because Man had plunged himself under God's Wrath therefore Christ shook Hands in the Behalf of the Sinner whose Credit was gone to deliver him from Wrath But Christ strook Hands with the Father and set his Hand to the Sinner's Bond and became obl●ged to keep the Covenant in the behalf of the Sinner Christ set his Hand to the Covenant to keep it for the Sinner God fore-saw the Breach of this Covenant on our side and did therefore enter into a Covenant with his Son and the Son strook Hands with the Father that he would keep the Covenant for Man 3. A Surety d●th not only undertake for Debts but sometimes for Criminals sometimes Persons are bound as Surety Body for Body and Life for Life and this is a common thing in some Count●eys Now Jesus Christ did not only become Surety to pay our Debts as we were Debters but he became our Surety as we were Criminals and Traytors also and so was bound Body for Body Soul for Soul Life for Life in the Behalf of the Sinner 4. If the Party which the Surety engages for fail the Surety is then to make a full Compensation and pay the Debt and die for the Criminal Thus it was here we did fail and were not able to pay our own Debts and because we had heinously broken the holy Law of God and despised the Law-Giver and Contemned and trampled under our Feet his Royal Authority we became Traytors to the Divine Majesty and Jesus Christ he did not only become Paymaster of our Debts but did die in our room and his Life was taken for ours 5. A Surety imports the Obligation to be voluntary for the Law compels none to be bound for another unless they are willing the Law will only force the Man that is concerned if any Man engages for him it is not because the Law compels him but he doth it of his own Will so the Lord Jesus Christ did For what he did was of his own Will he did freely lay down his Life John 10.15 18. I lay down my Life for the Sheep No Man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self Which is to signifie to us his willingness his readiness and freeness to yield up himself to the Justice of God to be made a Sacrifice for us But 6. For a Man to become a Surety manifests great Love and great Pity To become a Surety for one that is greatly in Debt there is great Love and Pity but to become a Surety for a Criminal to die in his room this is Love indeed so it is with Christ see Rev. 1.5 Unto him that loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood He loved us and let out all that he had for us and parted with his Life for us Who loved me saith St. Paul and gave himself for me But my Beloved here is a difference our great Surety is separate from all other Sureties for amongst Men the Debter commonly finds the Surety but here there is a great Disparity for our Surety is of God's procuring the Creditor himself procures the Surety but the next thing I am to prove is this viz. That Christ died as our Surety in our very stead and room And. 1. He underwent Death which was the punishment of Sin And because there was no reason nor cause why the Lord Jesus Christ should suffer the Penalty for himself it therefore unavoidably follows he suffered as he stood in our stead charged with our Sins Vide Dan. 9.26 And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself c. Not for his own Sin for he was sinless in himself he was pure and unspotted in himself He was cut off but not for himself but for his People This appears to be so because our Sins was laid upon him our Sins did all meet in his Person Isa 53.6 7 8. The Lord hath laid on him the Iniquity of us all and again in another place He hath born our Grief that which we should have bore our selves He hath carried our Sorrows that which we should have carried our selves He was bruised for our Iniquity for which we should

one from the other i.e. the Active Obedience of Christ and his Passive Obedience Now I say it is not safe for any to say we are Justified by the Passive Obedience of Christ only i. e. By his Death and Sufferings alone I say 't is very dangerous for any to believe thus For thus I argue Argument That alone by which the Law is fulfilled and God's Justice satisfied by that alone we are Justified But by the Righteousness of Christ that is to say the Righteousness of his Life which is his Active Obedience And by the Righteousness of his Death which is his Passive Obedience the Law is fulfilled and God's Justice fully satisfied Therefore by the whole Righteousness of Christ namely his holy Life and Meritorious Death we are Justified not by his Death excluding his holy Life but his holy Life and bitter Death justifies us and is the Meritorious Cause of our Justification And my Beloved consider 1. That the first part is proved thus There is no Justification before God without a perfect and compleat Righteousness as that which is agreeable to God's holy nature and which is agreeable to his holy Law and this I have already proved that a Man must be perfectly Just or declared so upon just Grounds or he cannot be Justified 2. Consider that there is no perfect Righteousness but that which exactly and fully fulfilleth the Law that is accepted of God and this is done I mean the Law fulfilled two ways 1. By a perfect and perpetual Conformity to the Law not only a perfect Conformity to it for the present but by a perpetual Conformity to it in doing all that the Laws injoyns according to the Tenure of it do this and live or do this and thou shalt be Justified I will defend you from all and every thing that can do you hurt 2. By a full Satisfaction and Compensation to the Sentence of the Law i. e. to bear and undergo the Penalty and punishment thereof which was Death and the Curse and Wrath of God this was our due and this Christ did in our stead as our Surety he did perfectly and perpetually keep the Law while he was on Earth in our Nature for us and he did fully satisfie and make Compensation to the Sentence of the Law he did undergo the penalty and punishment therein denounced which was our due 3. And that it must be thus evident because the Doctrine of Justification doth not make void the Law but establish it See Rom. 3. ult Faith or Justification by Faith doth not make void the Law but establish it The Law is Confirmed i. e. Established by our being Justified by the compleat Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ by the perfect and compleat Conformity of the Lord Jesus to the Law the Law is Established as Holy Just and Good But Christ did fully and perfectly keep the Law and make a full satisfaction to the Justice of God for the Breach of it He in every Precept Type Promise and Prophesie compleatly fulfilled it to justifie us thereby as our Surety Therefore 4. Consider that by the Passive Righteousness or Meritorious Death and Suffering of Christ we are not Justified this doth not justifie us alone that is singly considered and the reasons follow Reason 1. Because it is by his Suffering for us and in our nature as our head Surety and Representative bearing the penalty of the Law he frees us from Hell 2. Because by his Righteousness both Habitual and Actual he intitles us to Heaven neither of which we were capable to perform therefore his Passive Obedience alone doth not justifie for by his Passive Obedience bearing our Punishment he only frees us from Hell and by his Active Obedience in keeping perfectly and perpetually the Law he gives us a Title to the promise of Glory Now it is one thing to be freed from punishment and another to be raised again into the King's Favour and Presence Wherefore 3. As without the Imputation or Satisfaction of his Sufferings we could not be freed from Hell So without his perfect Obedience and Conformity to the holy Law imputed to us we could not be Justified and Saved By the former viz. the Sufferings of our Saviour He hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law and from the Wrath of God being made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 And by the latter he makes us Partakers of the promised Blessedness or gives us a Title to or Interest in the promises of Eternal Life by performing for us in our nature that Righteousness which was the condition of the Promise Do this i. e. perform this there 's the Precept and thou shalt live that 's the Promise Now this Life is not only Temporal but Spiritual It is a Life of Peace in the Favour and Love of God a Life of great Consolation in God's Love and Favour Do this and thou shalt live This Christ did therefore the promise is ours he did it for us And God the Father to speak with Reverence is obliged to make good the promise We shall live Therefore 4. Consider as we are Justified from our Sins by the Blood of Christ that we might not be damned So we are just by the actual Righteousness of Christ that we might be Saved or Glorified The first defends us from the Curse and Wrath of God the seconds intitles us to the Mercies and Blessings of God or as we were Reconciled to God by the Death of Christ so we are as well Justified and Saved by the Life of Christ i. e. by that Life that he lived for us while on Earth the Benefits and Blessings of which he pleads now for us in Heaven for it is to this end he lives now for us in Heaven There not only doth he plead his bitter Death and Passion but also his holy Life which was a perfect Conformity to God's Law Vide Rom. 5.10 For if while we were Enemies we were Reconciled to God by the Death of his Son much more being Reconciled we shall be saved by his Life So it is by his Life that we are saved because he now lives to plead the virtue of his Death and of his Undertakings for us By this you may see the Doctrin of St. Paul is Confirmed Rom. 5.19 For as by the Disobedience of one Man even Adam against the Law many were made Sinners by Imputation so by the obedience of one Man even Christ the second Adam shall many be made Righteous Having thus opened the point that which I am to prove is this viz. That Christ's Death is the Meritorious or procuring Cause of our Justification That Christ's Sufferings did merit this Favour at the Hand of God nor us and defends us from the Curse and Wrath of God Now that which we affirm is this That what Christ did and suffered he did it as a common Head Representative and Surety for all the Elect which are his Mystical Body But there is an unsound Notion spread abroad