Christ for Salvation These two Faiths are of as different kinds as can well be imagined and therefore we cannot reason from one to the other and St. Paul certainly understood himself better than to argue at this weak rate And therefore to bring this discourse to an Head the difference between the Faith of Abraham and the Faith of Christians is this that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness and we believe in Christ and this is counted unto us for Righteousness Abraham believed those Revelations God made to him either immediately by himself or by the Ministry of Angels we believe all those Revelations God hath made to us by his own Son for God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son Hebr. 1. 1. So that the first notion of Faith in Christ is a firm belief of his Divine Authority which necessarily draws after it a belief of the whole Doctrine of the Gospel thus in Iohn 20. 31. The Christian Faith is described by believing that Iesus is the Christ the Son of God and 1 Iohn 5. 5. Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Iesus is the Son of God That is that he came from God with full power and Authority to declare his will and confirm and ratifie the new Covenant So that the difference between the Faith of Abraham and Faith in Christ is that Abrahams Faith was founded on the immediate inspirations of God or the Revelations of Angels but a Faith in Christ is founded on the Authority of Christ which is the first object of the Christian Faith and the reason and foundation of all other Acts of Faith Abraham had only some particular Revelations as the object of his Faith but now Christ hath made a perfect Revelation of the whole will of God which is the object of our Faith and thus the Christian Faith excells all other kinds of Faith as much as the Revelations of the Gospel excel all other Revelations made to Abraham and other good men but still the end of all Faith is the same to govern our lives and make us obedient in all things to God as Abraham was without which no Faith can justifie And the same difference there is between the Righteousness of Faith in a general notion as it is applyed to Noah and Abraham and those worthies of old and the Righteousness of God by the Faith of Iesus Christ Rom. 3. 22. and that Righteousness which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith Phil. 3. 9. The first signifies that Righteousness which is owing to an hearty belief of the Being and Providence of God and those particular Revelations which they received from God the latter is the effect of a sincere belief and obedience to the Gospel which is the most perfect Revelation which God ever made of his will to mankind This is so plain and easie an account of the rise and use of these phrases and of the force of the Apostles reasoning from the Faith of Abraham to the Faith of Christ which is unintelligible in any other way that could men be reconciled to plain sense it would need no other confirmation but the natural evidence of naked and simple truth But not to be wanting to a good cause let us now examine those Texts of Scripture which are abused by these men to set up the Personal Righteousness of Christ as the only formal cause of our justification as that alone which can make us righteous before God I shall begin and end with that famous place Phil. 3. 8 9. for the explication of this will give us occasion to consider all the material passages of Scripture which are applyed to this purpose yea doubtless and I account all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I have suffer'd the loss of all things and I do account them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith by my own righteousness these men understand inherent righteousness whatever good St. Paul had done either while he was a Jew or after his Conversion to Christianity this he rejects and therefore the righteousness which is through the Faith of Christ must needs be an imputed Righteousness the Personal Righteousness of Christ apprehended by Faith and imputed to us This is fairly offer'd but what proof have they for it That I confess I cannot learn only it is taken for granted that my Righteousness signifies inherent Righteousness and the Righteousness of Faith imputed Righteousness and it is a sufficient answer to this to say they need not signifie so My own Righteousness can signifie no more than that in which he placed his Righteousness whatever it was and what necessity is there to understand this of Inherent Holiness an external Righteousness serves most mens turn very well and this is the righteousness by which the Pharisees and amongst the rest St. Paul while he was a Pharisee expected to be justified for what his Righteousness was he tells us in Ver. 6 7. Circumcised the eight day of the stock of Israel of the Tribe of Benjamin an Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the Law a Pharisee who were mighty strict and punctual in observing all external Ceremonies and he exprest his zeal for the law of Moses by persecuting the Christian Church and touching the Righteousness which is in the Law he was blameless which last phrase touching the Righteousness of the law blameless signifies only an external blamelessness of Conversation as Mr. Calvin himself acknowledges for this was the Pharisees notion even of the moral law that the obligation of it did reach no farther than the outward man and Trypho the Iew in Iustin Martyr quarrels with the Gospel of our Saviour for this very reason that it requires the government of our thoughts and passions which he says is impossible for a man to do and thus we must understand this blamelessness here unless we will say that St. Paul while he was a Pharisee did perfectly observe the moral law was blameless before God as well as before men which I suppose those who talk so much of the impossibility of keeping Gods laws will be loath to owne So that my own Righteousness which is of the law is so far from signifying an inherent Righteousness an inward and vital principle of holiness that it signifies only an external Righteousness which consisted in some external Rites as Circumcision and Sacrifices c. or external priviledges as being of the Seed of Abraham and stock of Israel or an external Civility and blamelessness of Conversation and this Righteousness he had reason to reject because God will reject it This
bestows the rewards of Righteousness on those who according to the strictness and rigour of the Law are not Righteous that for Christ's sake he hath made a new Covenant of Grace which pardons our past sins and follies and rewards a sincere though imperfect obedience for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be made righteous is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be justified that is treated like righteous persons so that the Righteousness of Christ is not the formal cause of our justification that very Righteousness whereby we are righteous but the Righteousness of his Life and Death is the meritorious cause of that Covenant whereby we are declared righteous and rewarded as righteous persons for the Apostle tells us in Ver. 17. who those are who are thus justified by Christ and shall Reign with him in Life not those who are righteous by the imputation of Christs Righteousness to them but those who have received the abundance of Grace and the gift of Righteousness that is who by the Gospel of Christ which is the Grace and the abundant Grace of God are made Holy and Righteous as God is which Righteousness is called a gift because it is not owing solely to humane endeavours but is wrought in us by supernatural means by those powerful arguments and motives and divine assistances which God in infinite love and goodness has afforded the World by Jesus Christ. This gives a fair account how we may be said to be made righteous by the Righteousness of Christ not that his actual obedience is reckoned as done by us which is impossible but because we are made righteous both in a proper and forensick sense by the Gospel-Covenant which is wholly owing to the Grace of God and to the merits and Righteousness of Christ the great arguments and motives and powerful assistances of the Gospel form our minds to the love and practice of Holiness and so make us inherently righteous and the Grace of the Gospel accepts and rewards that sincere and Evangelical obedience which according to the rigour and severity of the Law could deserve no reward so that our Righteousness is wholly owing to the Righteousness of Christ which may in this sense be said to be imputed to us though that phrase never occurs in Scripture because without this Covenant of Grace which is founded on the Righteousness of Christ the best man living could lay no claim to Righteousness or future glory So that the Righteousness of Christ is our Righteousness when we speak of the foundation of the Covenant by which we are accepted but if we speak of the terms of the Covenant then we must have a righteousness of our own for the Righteousness of Christ will not serve the turn Christs Righteousness and our own are both necessary to our Salvation the first as the foundation of the Covenant the other as the condition of it The sum of this Section is this that there is no foundation in reason or Scripture to imagine any such Union betwixt Christ and Believers as should intitle them to all the personal Righteousness of Christ as much as if it had been performed by themselves but the vertue of Christs Obedience and Sufferings so far as it concerns our justification is contained in the Gospel-Covenant he is the Mediator of the Covenant and his blood is the blood of the Covenant and we must expect no other advantage from what Christ hath done and suffer'd but to be saved according to the gracious terms and conditions of the Gospel SECT IV. That these men place our Union to Christ before holiness of life I Have now explained to you the nature of our Union to the Person of Christ as these men represent it whereby they say we are entitled to all his Excellencies Graces Righteousness Preciousness c. and made it appear that there is no foundation for such a notion either in Scripture or reason but before I dismiss this it will be convenient to take notice of the great evil and mischief of this opinion which may satisfie any considering man though there were no other evidence of it how false it is and I shall observe two things to this purpose First That according to this notion men may nay must be united to Christ while they continue in their sins which according to my understanding overthrows all Religion and destroys the necessary obligations to an holy life Secondly That according to these mens discourses no man can certainly tell how to get into Christ or know whether he be in Christ or not As for the first that men may nay must be united to Christ while they continue in their sins it is easie to produce abundant evidence for the proof of it Mr. Shephard tells us expresly that obedience does not make us Gods people or God our God but he is first our God which is only by the Covenant of Grace and hence it is that he being ours and we his we of all others are most bound to obey as for the obligation to obedience we will consider that anon at present it suffices that we are Gods people and that by vertue of the Covenant of Grace before we obey him the same Author tells us that we are not united to Christ our life by obedience as Adam was to God by it but by Faith that is by such a Faith of which Obedience is no part otherwise he opposes a part to the whole and so the same thing to it self and therefore as all actions in living things comes from Union so all our acts of obedience are to come by Faith from the Spirit on Christs part and from Faith on our part which make the Union the meaning of which is this that we must first be united to Christ by this Faith of which more anon before we can do any thing that is good before this Union the best actions we can do are sins which is a plain demonstration of the truth of this charge because according to this principle we can do nothing but sin before we are united to Christ hence these men constantly place our justification before our sanctification that we are first accounted holy by God before we are made holy now our justification follows our Union to Christ and our fanctification follows our justification and therefore we must first be united to Christ so as to have a title to all the Promises of the Gospel to Justification and Eternal Life before we are sanctified that is before we are made Holy hence we are told that Holiness is a remote end of vocation but the next end is to come to Christ and the same Author makes a speech for Christ to a Sinner so gracious a speech that among all the invitations of Christ in the Gospel we find nothing like it though thou hast resisted my Spirit refused my Grace wearied me with thy iniquities yet come unto me and this will make me amends I require nothing of thee
renounce the authority of our Head and Husband now as it is in an Army should any Captain revolt from his Prince the Souldiers under his Command are not bound to turn Rebels because their Leader is so or should a whole Troop or Regiment conspire in the Treason no particular Souldier is obliged to continue in the Company or submit to the Government of Rebels no more than he is obliged to be a Rebel the same reason holds good as to Christian Societies if any particular Church apostatize from the Faith of Christ we are then under the same necessity of deserting their Communion as we are of obeying the Laws and submitting to the Authority of our Lord and Master but nothing less than this can justifie a separation while the Church is subject to Christ we must be subject to the Church while the fundamental Laws of his spiritual Kingdom are observed and his Institutions reverenced and the great ends of his Religion advanced to separate from such a Church is to separate from the Body of Christ for our Union to Christ consists in a subjection to his Authority and it is plain that we disowne his Authority when we reject those who act by his Authority Now this Political Union betwixt Christ and his Church may be either only external and visible and so hypocrital Professors may be said to be united to Christ or true and real which imports the truth and sincerity of our obedience and subjection to our Lord and Master For since Christianity is become the Religion of Nations and is entailed on us by our Ancestors as part of our inheritance is received into the Laws and Constitutions of Kingdoms and made a great Instrument of Civil Government it is too often seen that many men undertake this Profession only as the Mode and Fashion of their Country to avoid singularity and to serve a worldly interest And thus the Christian Church is filled with Hypocrites and visible Professors who are great Strangers to the life and spirit of the Holy Iesus while some under the name of Christians practise all the villanies of the Heathen World and live in a publick defiance to the Laws of that Religion they pretend to owne others make a fair show of external conformity to the Laws and Constitutions of this spiritual Kingdom and conceal their impurities under some glorious and pompous form of Religion and pass for very good Christians when they are no better than disguised Hypocrites and this makes it necessary to distinguish between a meer external and real Union between those who do no more than make a visible profession of Christianity and those who are true and sincere Christians Earthly Princes can exact only an external conformity to their Laws because they can take no cognizance of the secret workings of mens minds and the end of their Government is attained in the preservation of publick peace and order But the spiritual Kingdom of our Lord is of another nature which requires not only an external and visible subjection to Christ our Head and Husband and a visible Union to the Christian Church but the homage and obedience of the Soul the government of our thoughts and passions the renovation of our minds and spirits We must be born again of Water and of the Spirit if we would enter into the Kingdom of God Ioh. 3. 5. That is before we can be the Disciples of Christ the Subjects of his spiritual Kingdom which is in Scripture called the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven we must be born of water must make a publick profession of our Faith in Christ and obedience to Him in our Baptism but this is not sufficient unless we be born of the Spirit too that is unless our minds and spirits become subject to Christ unless our Faith in Christ and subjection to Him be sincere and hearty do govern all the motions and desires of our Souls and make us really such as we pretend to be which is called Being born of the Spirit because all Christian Graces and Vertues are in Scripture attributed to the Spirit of God as the Author of them Hence the Apostle tells us that In Christ Iesus nothing availeth but a new Creature that is that none are true Subjects of Christ such as shall be rewarded by Him but those whose minds and spirits are transformed into the love of vertue and goodness Now as a visible Profession of Christianity is the Foundation of this external-political Union betwixt Christ and his Church so this new Nature is the Foundation of a real and spiritual Union and this the Scripture represents to us under several notions First by the subjection of our minds and spirits to Christ as our spiritual King when we put our Souls as well as Bodies under his Government and Conduct hence Christ is said to dwell in our hearts by faith Eph. 3. 17. that is to have the sole Command and Empire of our wills and affections to govern our hearts as a man does the house in which he dwells And thus all those Metaphors which signifie our subjection to Christ must be expounded of the subjection of our Souls and Spirits to Him as well as the outward conformity of our actions because Christ is a spiritual King who rules and governs hearts as earthly Princes govern the bodies of their Subjects our subjection to him ought to begin in the Soul in a sincere acknowledgment of his Power and Authority in a stedfast belief of his Doctrines and Revelations and in a chearful and willing obedience to his Laws such a subjection as a Wife ought to yield to her Husband and Members to their Head the effect of a free choice not a feigned or forced compliance Secondly By a participation of the same nature which is the necessary effect of the subjection of our minds to him for the Gospel of our Saviour is the truest image of his mind he transcribed his own nature into his Laws and therefore a sincere obedience to his Laws is a conformity to his Nature Hence is that exhortation That the same mind be in us which was in Christ Iesus Phil. 2. 5. and to be his Disciples is to learn of him who was meek and lowly in mind Matth. 11. 29. Hence also our Union to Christ is described by having the Spirit of Christ. Rom. 8. 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his that is unless he have the same temper and disposition of mind which Christ had which is called having the Spirit of Christ by an ordinary figure of the cause for the effect for all those vertues and graces wherein our conformity to Christ consists are called the fruits of the Spirit the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness righteousness and truth Eph. 5. 9. and therefore what the Apostle in that place calls having the Spirit of Christ in the next verse he expresses by if Christ be in you i. e. if you
neither of them could relish that plain simple Doctrine of a crucified Christ but whatever these men thought of it the Apostle tells us that this Doctrine of a crucified Saviour is the Power of God and Wisdom of God That is the most powerful Method which was ever used by God for the reforming the World and the contrivance and effect of excellent Wisdom and thus the Gospel of Christ is called the Power of God to Salvation to them that believe Rom. 1. 16. and by this foolishness of Preaching that is by preaching this foolish Doctrine as it was accounted by the Wise-men of the World of a crucified Christ it pleased God to save them that believe Christ indeed being now exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on High may in a proper sense be called the Power of God because all power is given to him both in Heaven and Earth and he hath the supreme government of all the affairs of this spiritual Kingdom and this is a Personal Power inherent in him which all good men shall find the blessed effects of but then the exercise of this Power is confined to the Rules of the Gospel he hath power to save those who believe and obey him and he hath power to destroy his enemies to accomplish all the promises and to execute all the threatnings of his Gospel So that this Personal Power in Christ can give us no greater encouragement than the Gospel doth It cannot save any man whom the Gospel condemns we have no reason to trust to his Personal Power unless we first obey his Gospel for how omnipotent soever he be his Gospel is the measure of his Actings if that condemns us his omnipotent Power will not save us But the chief Personal Grace which these men most vehemently contend for is still behind viz. the Righteousness of Christ Now no Christian will deny that Christ was very righteous a great Example of universal Holiness and Purity and it must be confessed that his Righteousness was not an imaginary imputed Righteousness but Inherent and Personal but what comfort is this to us that Christ was Righteous if we continue wilful and incorrigible Sinners Yes says the Doctor Hast thou the sense of guilt upon thee Christ is compleat Righteousness the Lord our Righteousness This makes Christ suitable to the wants of a Sinner indeed that he hath a righteousness for him which God infinitely prefers before any home-spun Righteousness of his own This is a very comfortable notion for bad men and such as I would not part with for all the World did I resolve to live wickedly and yet intend to get to Heaven But it is good to be sure in a matter of such importance and therefore let us consider in what sense Christ is called our Righteousness and what the Scripture intends by these Phrases of the Righteousness of God or the Righteousness of Faith or the Righteousness of God by Faith To begin then with that famous place in the Old Testament Ierem. 23. 6. where Christ is expresly called the Lord our Righteousness In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called The Lord our Righteousness a very express place to prove that Christ is our Righteousness that is as these men expound it that the only righteousness wherewith we must appear before God is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us but is there no other possible sense to be made of this Phrase Righteousness in Scripture is a word of a very large use and sometimes signifies no more than Mercy kindness and beneficence and so the Lord our righteousness is the Lord who does good to us who is our Saviour and deliverer which is very agreeable to the Reason of this name that in his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely And righteousness signifies that part of Justice which consists in relieving the injured and opprest thus David speaks in Psalm 4. 1. Hear me when I call O God of my righteousness i. e. Thou O God who maintainest my right and my cause Psalm 9. 4. Thus in Isaiah 54. 17. No weapon that is formed against Thee shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise up against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn this is the heritage of the Servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me saith the Lord. Which is a parallel expression to the Lord our righteousness and signifies no more than that God will avenge their cause and deliver them from all their Enemies The like we have in Isaiah 45. 24. Surely shall one say in the Lord have I Righteousness and strength even to him shall men come and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed in the Lord shall all the Seed of Israel be justified and shall glory that is the Lord is that just and righteous judg who will justifie good men i. e. deliver them from the violence and injuries of their Enemies He is their righteousness and strength their righteous strong and powerful deliverer which agrees with that promise in Verse 14. In Righteousness thou shalt be established thou shalt be far from oppression thou shalt not fear and from terrour for it shall not come near thee And to name but one place more Isaiah 61. 10 11. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my Soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath cloathed me with the garments of Salvation he hath cover'd me with the Robe of Righteousness as a Bridegroom decketh himself with Ornaments and as a Bride adorneth her self with Iewels for as the Earth bringeth forth her bud as the Garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth so the Lord will cause Righteousness and Praise to spring forth before all Nations This sounds very like an Imputed Righteousness for what can be meant by the Robe of Righteousness but that pure and spotless Robe of Christs Righteousness which covers all our sins and deformities and makes us appear as beautiful and lovely in the eyes of God as a Bride does who adorns her self with Jewels This is the effect of our espousal with Christ that we are cover'd and adorn'd with his Righteousness but if we will attend to the circumstances of the place and not to the bare sound of words we need seek no farther for the confutation of this fancy for the Garment of Salvation and the Robe of Righteousness signifie those great deliverances God promised to Israel in the former Verses which should make them as glorious in the eyes of men as a splendid garment would that Righteousness and praise which God would cause to spring forth before all Nations even as the Earth bringeth forth her bud and as the Garden causeth those things which are sown in it to spring forth That is that God would work such great deliverances for them by such improbable means and in such plenty and abundance as if they sprang
unless we become one person with him and therefore though the Doctor be so careful to tell us that our Union to Christ is an Union of Persons but no Personal Union that we are not transformed into the Essence and Being of Christ so as to be Christed with Christ yet indeed there is no other way to make the Personal Righteousness of Christ our personal righteousness which is the righteousness required of us but by a Personal Union to Christ by being Christed with Christ as some speak how boldly soever yet very agreeably to these Principles But Thirdly Let us consider what truth there is in what he asserts That in the Law the debtor and the surety are but one person the Law looks upon them but as one and therefore both are equally liable to the debt and if the one pay it it is as much in the eye of the Law as if the other had paid it which he makes the Foundation of the Imputation of Christs Righteousness and Satisfaction to us because he being our surety we are but one person with him that is legally not personally one person as he warily distinguishes Now there needs no great skill in the Law to discover the weakness and Sophistry of this Discourse for no considering man can think it indifferent who pays the debt the surety or the debtor or that they are both equally obliged to it the debtor is the immediate debtor still and the surety only is obliged in case the other refuse or be unable to pay the debt and that is some little difference but then though the creditor be satisfied whether the debt be paid by the debtor or his surety and the Law will allow him no farther Action against either of them yet the Law doth not account it indifferent which of them pay it for though it permit the payment to be exacted from the surety in case the debtor refuse yet it will look back again and allow the surety an Action against the debtor for such a refusal which is an Argument that the Law doth not judge them one Person nor think it indifferent which of them pays the debt Thus it is in other cases if a man be surety for the appearance of another which is called giving Bail and is sometimes admitted in Criminal Causes the Law doth not judge them one Person for if the Prisoner escape the Bail or Surety shall be punisht according to the nature of the Fact and yet the Prisoner is not quitted by this means but liable either to the Arrest of the Surety or in Criminal Causes to the Sentence of the Law if ever he be re-taken Thus in Sureties for good Behaviour which sounds as if it were nearest of kin to the Imputation of Christs Righteousness as our surety though the surety be never so innocent and vertuous a person himself this will not serve him for whom he is surety but if he prove a Villain they shall be both punisht So that humane Laws are strangers to this Mystery of imputing the Righteousness of a Surety to a bad man Suretiship doth not so unite their persons that whatever one doth is always and to all purposes imputed to the other and if this will not hold good among mâ—n it is a very sorry foundation for this bargain and exchange betwixt Christ and Believers That he should take their sins upon himself and impute his Righteousness to them Let us now try whether the notion of a Mediator can do any better service than the notion of a Surety which is the second way of explaining this legal Union betwixt Christ and Believers which entitles them to all that Christ hath done or suffered and what this means we may learn from Dr. Owen who gives us this account of it That Christ fulfilled all Righteousness as he was Mediator and that whatever he did as Mediator he did it for them whose Mediator he was or in whose stead and for whose good he executed the office of a Mediator before God and hence it is that his compleat and perfect obedience to the Law is reckoned to us This is well said if it were as well proved and because this is a matter of great consequence I shall first examine those reasons the Dr. alledges to prove That Christ fulfilled all Righteousness as he was Mediator in their stead whose Mediator he was Secondly to avoid calumnies and objections I shall shew you briefly what influence the Righteoeusness of Christs life and the Sacrifice of his death have upon our acceptance with God As for the first we have some reason to require good proof of this since the notion of a Mediator includes no such thing A Mediator is one who interposes between two differing parties to accommodate the difference but it was never heard of yet that it was the office of a Mediator to perform the terms and conditions himself Moses was the Mediator of the first Covenant Gal. 3. 9. and his office was to receive the Law from God and to deliver it to the people and to command them to observe those Rites and Sacrifices and Expiations which God had ordained but he was not to fulfil the Righteousness of the Law for the whole Congregation thus Christ is now the Mediator of a better Covenant and his Office required that he should preach the Gospel which contains the terms of peace and reconciliation between God and men and since God would not enter into Covenant with sinners without the intervention of a Sacrifice he dyes too as a Sacrifice and Propitiation for the sins of the world and confirms and seals this new Covenant with his own blood and being risen again from the dead he executes this Office of Mediator with power and glory that is he intercedes for us according to the terms and conditions of this new Covenant to obtain the pardon of our sins and the assistance of the divine Grace to do the will of God and all those other blessings which are promised but the Office of Mediator doth not oblige him to fulfil the Righteousness of the Covenant for us this I am sure doth not so exactly fall in with the case and notion of Mediatorship among men But before we examine their proofs it is necessary to consider what it is they would prove that is what that Righteousness is which they say Christ as our Mediator fulfilled for us and Dr. Owen is very exact and curious in stating this matter and distinguishes between the several sorts of Righteousness in Christ that we may know what belongs to us and what is peculiar to himself First he tells us of an habitual Righteousness of Christ as Mediator in his humane Nature which was the absolute compleat exact conformity of the Soul of Christ to the mind will or law of God or his perfect habitual Inherent Righteousness now he tells us that this Righteousness was the necessary effect of the Grace of Union that is of the Union of the Divine and