grace 3 Respective to the New Testament and so they are chiefly 3. which was very necessary done very sufficiently and very solemnly and why so from ReasoÌ„ and testimonies of Scripture 2. To Confirme it which also was necessary Effected Yet not by the Testator in his owne person But in the person of his owne Son Which assures my Right and argues the love of God and of Christ Hence is the Bloud of the New Testament opposed to that of Abel and to that of the Old Testament and is farre more holy 3. To Execute it for this is the Life of a Testament and a Bond upon the Executor who of the New Testament was Christ whereof the Reasons and the Testimonies from Scripture Christ a vested Executor for his Inheritance Power Honour and Office But upon the Condition of his Death a Condition strange Yet Possible and Necessary for 2 reasoÌ„s 1. For his owne Inheritance which otherwise he could not enter 2. For discharge of Legacies Hence he is the Captain of Salvation and Author of Salvation Hence at his Ascention he fulfilled Gods Will in giving gifts to men Hence our Expiation our Consolation our Resurrection and Glorification Hence Christs doctrine for the Necessity of his death whereof the causes remote were many yet all subordinate to the three forementioned But the Remission of sins is most mentioned and the Reason The force of Pauls argument The effect of a Testament Gods two Testaments are different and therefore are Repugnant The Old not in force because it was faulty or else Pauls argument is so and Christ dyed without cause Arguments of Gods grace for the Effect of it and the Meanes which was Rich Requiring my Faith and Hope and Love It comes not by the Law but is opposed to it I Doe not frustrate the grace of God The Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. I doe not despise reject disanul or bring to nothing the the grace of God for these foure ways the word is Englished elswhere and in this place only is rendred frustrate As Luke 10.16 Hee that heareth you heareth mee and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee that despiseth you despiseth mee And Marc. 7.9 And hee sayd unto them full well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yee reject the commandement of God And Gal. 3.15 Though it bee but a mans Testament yet if it bee confirmed no man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 disanulleth or addeth thereto And 1. Cor. 1.19 I will destroy the wisdome of the wise and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will bring to nothing the understanding of the Prudent And all these foure wayes the word signifieth heere Because these severall senses are not really different but are either in a maner the same or else one consequent to the other For what I despise that also I reject and what I reject that I disanull or bring to nothing in effect by making it frustrate or void in respect of any use or benefit to my selfe If therefore I frustrate or make voyd the grace of God from having that effect upon mee which God purposed towards mee I disanul his grace or bring it to nothing which argues my refusall of it to reject it and my rejection argues my contempt of it that I disesteeme or despise it Concerning the nature of Gods grace what it is wee have spoken somewhat before cap. 1. vers 6. where the Reader may peruse it Heere therefore wee shall consider that effect of it from which the Apostle argueth and reasoneth in this place for heere the word is put by way of metonymy or transnomination for all those effects both mediall and finall whereof Gods grace is the originary and primary cause The Right whereto I am justified is a divine state of alliance and inheritance to bee the sonne and heire of God for this is the Matter of my right The Title whereby I acquire or have this Right is only my Faith to accept it for my Faith is a meane procreant cause on my part whereby I receive this Right The Tenure whereby I continue or hold it are the Duties and Services of holinesse or the good workes of love for these are a meane cause conservant on my part that my right may not escheat or bee forfeited The principall person who imputeth deriveth or conveyeth this right unto mee is God the Father for who but God as the principall Agent can make mee the sonne and heire of God The Motive inducing God to impute or convey this Right unto mee is his meere Grace I meane that inward affection residing in God which is his goodwill love favour mercy and kindnesse for all these are really the same but rationally different in respects So that my title on Gods part is Gods meere grace which is the supreame or prime cause having no other cause above or beyond it The cause why every Believer is the sonne and heire of God is because God in his last Will and Testament hath so devised or promised it And the cause why God in his Will made this devise or promise is his meere Grace i. e. his love or goodwill to dignifie a person who deserves it not For Gods love is his good-will to benefie or doe good and when the benefit done is a dignity or honour to the receiver and the receiver a person who deserves it not then such Love of God is his Grace My alliance with God to bee his sonne and heire hath it not in it there â—o qualities The one that it is an high dignity and honour unto me the other that it is far beyond my desert For no man can deserve to bee borne of his Father or after hee is borne to bee made the sonne of another But the onely cause of a sonne is love and the onely cause to bee made the sonne of God is the grace of God Because to bee made the sonne of God is the greatest dignity and honour in the Wold for thereby mans dignity approacheth to the Majesty of the most high God who though by reason of his power hee bee the Father of all yet by way of grace he is not so My Justifying therefore unto this alliance with God is by the Scriptures attributed to the grace of God Rom. 3.24 Being satisfied freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ And Rom. 4.16 Therefore it is of faith that it might bee by grace to the end the promise might bee sure to all the seed what is the thing that is of faith The divine inheritance to bee made the heires of God as it appeares in the words preceding vers 13. and 14. And Ephes 1.6 To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein or whereby hee hath made us accepted in the beloved i. e. Whereby hee hath justified us or made us co-heires with his beloved sonne And Ephes 2.4.5 But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith hee loved us even when wee were dead in sinnes hath
quickned us together with Christ by grace yee are saved i. e. The cause of your present right to future salvation is the grace of God And Tit. 3.7 That being justified by his grace wee should bee made heires according to the hope of eternall life i. e. The cause of our Justifying is Gods grace and the effect of it is that thereby wee are made heires of eternall life and because wee are heires wee have good reason to hope for it for who can have better hope of any thing then an heire hath of his inheritance These are the chiefe authorities from the Scriptures to testifie this truth that our inheritance is by grace Causes to prove it there are none for wee sayd that Gods grace was the highest cause which had none above it and therefore this verity must needes bee a principle and consequently cannot bee proved for hee abuseth a principle who attempteth to prove it Yet there are reasons that may argue and perswade it and they being grounded on Scripture are chiefely these five following 1. Because this Right comes from Gods gift John 4.10 If thou knewest the gift of God i. e. everlasting life which comes from Gods gift for so the Well of water is interpreted at the last words of the 14. verse following And Acts 11.18 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life i. e. then hath God given them the benefit or fruit of repentance which is eternall life for the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. given yet it is Englished well enough because every grant is a gift And Rom. 5.15 But not as the offence so also is the free gift for if through the offence of one many bee dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many here unto eternall death the cause whereof was the offence or sin is opposed eternall life the cause whereof is grace for it is a gift by grace And Rom. 6.23 But the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Jesus Christ our Lord. i. e. The cause of our present guiltinesse unto eternall death is sin whereof death is the wages but the cause of our present right unto eternall life is not our holinesse but Gods grace whereof life is the gift and that gift is conveyed unto us by the meanes of Jesus Christ And Heb. 6.4 It is impossible for those who were once inlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift i. e. who have had the knowledge and have felt the joy of their inheritance to blessednes which is no earthly purchase but a heavenly gift proceeding from God Now the fountaine or cause from which gifts and grants proceed is not Law and justice but grace and favour for what else is a gift or grant but an act of grace 2. Because it commeth from Gods good pleasure Luk. 2.14 Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. good pleasure towards men q. d. Let the God of Heaven be glorified for that blessednesse on earth descended from his favour or good pleasure towards men which he hath abundantly testified by sending his son to be their Saviour And Luke 12.32 Feare not little flock for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdome i. e. feare not the want of food and raiment for God is your Father and therefore will give it you and more then so for he will also give you the Kingdome of Heaven for the blessing thereof comes from his gift and that gift proceeds from his good pleasure And Ephes 1.9 having made knowne unto us the mystery of his Will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himselfe i. e. That Will and Testament of God wherein we are made heirs to the inheritance of Heaven was a long time a mystery and concealed in secret but is now published and made knowne unto us and this is according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himselfe first for the making of that Will and after for the publishing of it Now that which proceeds from the good pleasure of any person is not an act of Law and justice but of Grace and favour for matters of Law and justice leave not a man to his good pleasure but oblige him to that which Law and justice require to be done 3. Because it comes from Gods goodnes or kindnes Rom. 11.22 Behold therefore the goodnesse and severity of God on them which fell severity but towards thee goodnes if thou continue in his goodnes otherwise thou also shalt be cut off i. e. The Jews were once in the state of alliance with God to be his children and people but because they fell from their obedience God cut them off and their excision proceeded from Gods severity but Gods election of thee in their room proceeds from his goodnes or kindnes towards thee if thou cōtinue in that state wherinto his goodnes hath grafted thee otherwise thou also shalt be cut off with the like severity And Eph. 2.7 And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come hee might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse towards us through Christ Jesus i. e. God hath raised Christ from the dead and hath seated him in Heaven and in him he hath given us a precedent of our future possession there to be raised as he was and to be seated as he is for he was raised and seated there to him and his co-heirs i. e. to all believers in him that in the world to come after the Resurrection God might shew and impart unto us the exceeding riches or abundance of that blessednes which proceeds from the abundance of his grace and kindnes towards us through the means of Jesus Christ And Tit. 3.4 But after that the kindenesse and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared i. e. Those benefits whereby God is the Saviour of man proceeds from Gods kindnesse and love toward man Now Gods goodnesse or kindnesse is really the very same thing with his grace for his grace is that inward affection from whence his outward kindnesse floweth as the effect thereof 4. Because it comes from Gods Mercy or Pity Rom. 11.30 For as yee in times past have not believed God yet have now obtained mercy through their unbeliefe Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtaine mercy i. e. As heeretofore yee Gentiles were Infidells or Unbelievers yet now have believed upon the Jewes unbeliefe So now the Jewes are become unbelievers that upon your beliefe they may bee provoked to believe Hee calls beliefe mercy because the thing believed and the act of believing proceed from Gods mercy And Tit. 3.5 Not by workes of righteousnesse which wee have done but according to his
the will of his grace was the prime cause or first mover For according to the good pleasure purpose and counsell of his owne Will hee predestinated or devised this Legacy unto mee Ephes 1.11 In whom wee have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsell of his owne Will For in all Testaments what other cause is there of the Legacies therein devised but only the will and purpose of the Testator whose Testament is in that respect called his Will But if the Legacies proceed from the Will of the Legataries then to speake properly the Testament is their Will and not the Will of the Testator And although among men it may fall out that the Testator may bee moved to some Legacy by the Petition of the Legatary or by the intercession of some friend Yet with God it cannot bee thus because his Will was made from the foundation of the World before the existence of any person interessed who could sollicite or move him thereupon Now that Grace which hath no cause moving it but moves of its owne free accord is farre more rich and gracious then that grace which hath a cause which is sollicited and moved by the importunities and petitions of the Receiver For as an Injury done without cause is the more malicious so a kindnesse without cause is the more gracious whereas grace begged is but beggerly grace 2. Because the Effect of Gods grace is rich That effect is my divine Alliance and inheritance to bee the son and heyre of God and certaynely such a state must needes bee a rich condition For when David was sollicited to an alliance with King Saul his Answer was 1. Sam. 18.23 Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a Kings sonne in law seeing that I am a poore man and lightly esteemed And can it seeme a light thing to mee to bee made the sonne and heyre of God seeing that I am a sinfull man who stand condemned to death Is not the grace infinitely greater for man to bee made the sonne of God then for David to bee made the sonne of Saul And the future Inheritance which God hath prepared for mee is so glorious that the plenty or richnesse therof is both ineffable which no tongue can expresse and incomprehensible which no heart can imagine for it cannot enter the eye or the care which are the senses that should convey it to the heart 1. Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seene nor eare heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him Yet of the City wherein I shall bee seated John had a vision wherein hee saw the richnesse of it Revel 21.10 That the walls were made of pretious stones the gates of pearle the streets of pure gold transparant as glasse the light of the City was the glory of God and of the Lambe and they two were also the Temple of it Certainly the Inhabitants of such a City must needs be not only rich but very glorious and therefore Gods grace in translating mee from the grave which is the den of death and rottennesse to seat mee in heaven which is the mansion of joy and blessednes must needs be very gracious 3. Because the Meanes was rich whereby the former effect is wrought That meanes was the Death of Christ upon the Crosse for the Meanes of his death my alliance and inheritance with God is conveyed unto me a Meanes certaynly very gracious arguing the admirable and singular love of God towards me For it cost God that person who was most deare unto him even his owne and only begotten sonne whose bloud was spilt and spent out to convey the effect of this grace unto mee and that bloud was expended not by an ordinary death but by the bitter painfull and shamefull death of the Crosse whereon he suffered in the condition of a malefactour and of a cursed person Hence we are sayd to be Gods Purchase which he bought at a price 1. Cor. 6.20 Ye are not your owne for ye are bought with a price And for the purchase of us hee payd very deare for the price wherewith wee were bought was the price of bloud Ephes 1.7 In whom we have redemption through his bloud And the bloud of our redemption was precious bloud 1. Pet. 18.19 Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vaine conversation received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious bloud of Christ. For the bloud of Christ must needs bee precious because it was the bloud of God Act. 20.28 Take heed therefore unto your selves to feede the Church of God which he hath purchased with his owne bloud And the cause why God expended that bloud was his meere grace according to the richesse and abundance of it Ephes 1.7 In whom wee have redemption through his bloud the forgivenesse of sinnes according to the riches of his grace wherein hee hath abounded towards us Now that grace which is so chargeable to the donour that it costeth bloud must needs be rich and costly My workes then are not the cause of Gods grace because his grace is heerein the supreame and prime cause that hath no cause but is without cause and because grace is not grace if it be of workes though it bee grace when it is granted upon request and because the poorenesse of my workes can never cause the richnesse of his grace But contrarily Gods grace is the cause of my workes if I have any that are good for his grace is the cause of my alliance with him and my alliance with him is or should be the cause of my good workes Neyther is my will the cause of Gods grace because God had first a will to give it me before I had any will to have it and he first called me to take it before I ever called upon him to aske it For in order both of nature and time Gods grace is first and is first given me for this purpose namely to prepare and produce in me those workes of holinesse which is my gratefulnesse or thankefulnesse for his grace for hence John 1.16 Gods grace is called grace for grace i. e. grace for thankes for the word grace doth signifie an antecedent kindnesse done and the subsequent thankefulnesse due for that kindnesse and it is a frequent elegancy in Scripture to repeat sometime in one sentence the same word in another sense when it commonly beareth two senses Which thankfulnesse to God for his grace I can no otherwise really expresse but by my workes of holinesse for that holinesse which in respect of his Law that commands it is my obedience the very same in respect of his grace which requires it is my thankfulnesse Likewise Gods love was first and first shewed to prepare and produce my love for God loves mee not therefore because I first loved him But contrarily because God
Cor. 5.15 And that hee dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose againe And 1. Thess 4.14 For if wee believe that Jesus dyed and rose againe even so them also which sleepe in Jesus will God bring with him Yet heere and sometimes elsewhere the Apostle doth mention onely the death of Christ Because above all his other actions his Death was the hardest worke and the greatest argument of his love and therefore his death should most strongly move us to the workes of love and waies of holinesse The Effects and Benefits of Christs death were specified before upon these words of the former verse Who gave himselfe for mee Heere therefore wee shall mention the Causes or Reasons of his death Partly because there is much difference betweene the causes and the effects of the same thing though sometime these to them may bee subordinate Partly because it much conduceth to our understanding and beliefe of a thing to know the causes and reasons of it especially a thing of such moment as is the death of Christ But chiefely because the force of the Apostles argument lyeth in these words that then Christ dyed without a cause Yet heere wee intend not to meddle with the Naturall cause of his death for manifest it is that naturally his Crucifying caused it Nor yet with the voluntary causes of it on the Jewes part For so the causes of it were partly the sentence of Pilate whose will it was to condemne him partly the Malice of the Jewes whose will it was to importune that sentence and partly the Treachery of Judas whose will it was to betray him But our meaning is to declare the voluntary causes of it on Gods part why God had a will to decree the death of Christ and actually to subject him thereunto And the Causes thereof on Gods part if they bee rightly alleadged according to the Scriptures must needes have in them these three qualities 1. They must bee repugnant unto Justifying by the Law for otherwise wee lose the force of the Apostles argument which runnes thus For if righteousnesse or the right whereto a man is justified come by the Law then Christ dyed without a cause i. e. If the Law have this effect to justifie then there is no just cause why Christ dyed and therefore there must bee such a repugnancy betweene that effect of the Law and the cause of Christs death that hee who supposeth the former doth thereby overthrow the latter and contrarily if there bee a cause of Christs death the Law must needes bee without that effect 2. They must bee Consequent to the love and grace of God for otherwise againe wee lose another force of the Apostles reasoning whereby hee inferreth that if Christ dyed without cause then I frustrate the grace of God But I doe not frustrate the grace of God who by the death of Christ conveyeth that grace unto mee For indeede the supreame inward impulsive cause or prime motive of Christs death was the love and grace of God towards us and not his hatred or wrath but of this remote cause wee spake before upon the former verse and therefore shall not insist upon it any further 3. They must bee Respective unto the New Testament Partly because the New Testament is both repugnant to Gods Law and also consequent to Gods grace Partly because the New Testament is that solemne Will and Act of God wherein his love and grace is conveyed and whereon all the actions of Christ reflected Repugnantly therefore to the effect of the Law and consequently to the love and grace of God and respectively to the New Testament the immediate proper finall causes or reasons of Christs death are chiefely three 1. To testifie or prove the truth of the New Testament Every Testament ought to bee sufficiently and solemnly testified for hence by way of eminency it is called a Testament Partly because actively it doth testifie the minde or will of the Testator as the Civill Law delivers it which thereupon saith Testamentum ex eo appellatur quod sit testatio mentis But chiefely under correction because passively it is solemnly testified by the Testimony of severall testable persons who are to attest the truth of it and in case it bee a written Testament actually doe attest it under their hands and seales For the ancient solemnity whereof there are extant severall rules in the Civill Law But unto the New Testament a solemne Testimony was especially requisite Because it was to encounter with strong opposition which Gods people would and did raise against it in defence of the Law which was Gods Testament also and had a solemne Testimony on Mount Sinai wherewith lightning and thunder and the shrill sound of a Trumpet it was testified by an Angel in the audience of all the Nation And besides this solemne testimony the Law had the prescription of being in force for the space of fifteene hundred yeares The New Testament therefore which was to infringe the Old wherein a whole Nation had beene so long interessed had neede of good testimony because men will struggle hard for their Lawes Customes and Religion wherein the graver sort will hardly endure any change And the New Testament though it were not written as was the Old but was nuncupative declared by God onely to Christ Yet it had very sufficient testimony as good and better then the Old For the certainty and truth therof was testified by the Son of God a greater person then any Angel and hee testified it by greater meanes not with lightning and thunder but with workes of wonder such as never were done in the World before such as had they been in Sodome it would have remained untill this day as the strangenesse of his Miracles the holinesse of his life and the solemnity of his death Which solemnity was performed upon Mount Calvary in the view of all the Nation then assembled to eate the passover in a greater Congregation then was at Mount Sinai And that solemnity was attended with greater wonders then were at Mount Sinai for there onely the Ayre was rent with lightnings thunders and the sound of a Trumpet But at the death of Christ there were farre greater and stranger rents for Mat. 27.51 The vaile of the Temple was rent in twaine from the toppe to the bottome and the Earth did quake and the Rocks rent and the Graves were opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose For because Christ could not gaine beliefe for Gods New Testament neither by the constancy of his Doctrine nor by the strangenesse of his Miracles nor by the holinesse of his life therefore hee testified it by the solemnity of his death and afterward further attested it by the glory of his Resurrection for thereby his Disciples who stood doubtfull before gave full faith to his testimony and have since co-attested it over all the World Hence Christ
have so often and so much offended should ever restore me to life and translate me unto the Joyes of blessednesse The Scripture therefore is very frequent in pressing the point for the Remission of my sins because my gracious heavenly Father would have me to conceive and embrace a firme sure and stedfast hope of their future forgivenes that by virtue of that hope I might utterly forsake them and seriously devoting my life to holinesse I might cherefully walke on in the way to blessednesse Unto the Remission of my sins I have in this life a present right but the possession and benefit of this right is so future that I shall not enjoy it till the Resurrection and then all my sins past unto this day shall be actually forgiven upon my present forsaking of my sins For this futurity must exercise my hope and my hope of their future forgivenesse must engage me to a present forsaking of them Thus it is evident that Christ dyed not without cause seeing of his death there were three immediate causes and divers other remote causes Now let us consider the Apostles Argument and we shall perceive the force of it from these two points following 1. In that these causes are repugnant to Justifying by the Law For betweene these causes of Christs death and that effect of the Law the repugnancy ariseth thus It is the proper effect of every testament to Iustifie for therein the testator doth give a present right to the future possession of gifts Legacies and Inheritances which he predestinateth ordaineth and deviseth unto those persons whom he loveth and favoureth Hence it was an ancient Law of the twelve tables Vti quisque legassit suae rei ita jus esto i. e. as any man deviseth his estate by his Will so let the right passe and hereto agree both the Law of Nations and of nature That Testament therefore wherein no person is justified is more inofficious then that wherein persons to be necessarily justified are wholly preterited It is therefore the effect of both Gods testaments of the Old and the New of the Law and the Gospel to justifie in their kind But these two Testaments are apparently different Because they Justife differently for they justifie different persons the Old justifying workers onely but the New onely Believers they justifie from different sinnes the Old onely from ignorances and infirmities but the New from all sinnes whatsoever And they justifie unto different inheritances the Old onely to terrene and temporal but the New unto caelestiall and eternall as was largely declared before upon vers 16. Hence of the New Testament it is sayd expresly Heb. 8.6 That it is a better Testament which was established upon better Promises But if betweene the Old and the New there be no difference it cannot be truly sayd of the New that it is a better Testament because of two things that have no difference neither can be better then the other This difference then betweene these two Testaments breeds such a repugnancy between them that they cannot both subsist For when one and the same testator maketh different testaments then the subsistence of either is repugnant to the subsistence and force of the other Because one and the same person especially God who here is the testator cannot at one and the same time have two different Wills or testaments in force But the last and newest testament is alwayes the best and of such force that it wholly infringeth the former though the former at the first making of it were valid and good for when a latter testament is made it necessarily argueth that then at that time there is some defect or fault in the former which is amended in the latter If therefore the Old Testament be still in force or if it be an effect of the Old to justifie unto those better promises or if the right thereto come by the Law then there had beene no cause of making the New Testament and therefore no cause why Christ should dye to testifie confirme and execute it For if a mans first testament bee faultlesse there can bee no cause why hee should make a second because the true cause of making a second is to amend something amisse in the first but in a thing faultlesse there can be nothing amisse and therefore such a thing needs no amending Hence sayth the Apostle Hebr. 8.7 If that first Testament had beene faultlesse then should no place have beene sought for the second But if the two testaments of God be in effect all one as some teach they are then is the Apostles argument apparantly fallacious For then they can have no different effects but whatsoever is the effect of either must be also the effect of the other then the first Testament and the last must equally justifie unto the same blessednes then the Right thereto must come by the Law and consequently Christ dyed without cause For what cause could there be why he should dye for the last Testament if the first stood still in force and could effect as much as the last But if no discreet man will make two testaments that shall be both wholly to one and the same effect for there can be no cause of his so doing much lesse may we imagine this to be done of the most wise God 2. In that these causes were consequent and suitable to the love and grace of God When I was a poore miserable creature in the state of a grievous transgressor who had offended against the Law of God in the state of an improbous sinner who was peccant against the rules of naturall equity in the state of a calamitous sinner who was blemished as an alien and stranger to the Kingdome of God distressed and abandoned to all the miseries of this life tainted in the attainder of Adams sin and borne condemned to eternall death was it not an argument of Gods love and grace that he would so far please to cast his eye upon me as to Justifie me by releasing and freeing me from my state of sinne and death and by giving me besides a present right of alliance and inheritance with him to be his Son and Heire to eternall blessednes Was it not an argument of his love and grace to me that he would justifie me upon the condition of holinesse For seeing he justified me to be his Son and Heire was it not reason I should carry my selfe as his Son and Heire in the wayes of holinesse answerable to the holinesse of my heavenly Father For could it stand with the wisedome and holinesse of God to require any lesse condition of me then to walk worthy of his love and grace towards me And was it not an argument of his further love and grace that he would make my Justification to be Testamentary to convey this Right unto me by his last Will and Testament wherein by way of Legacy he predestinated and devised it unto me For can any conveyance of any estate be
more firme and sure then that which is setled by the meanes of a Testament an instrument which naturally requireth all favourable construction that things may take effect according to the best meaning of the Testator And was it not the richnesse of Gods grace that hee would settle this Testament by the death of Christ who was his owne and onely son whom he made his substitute to dye in his stead for the testifying confirming and executing of his Testament that it might be in force and take effect whereby I might finally enjoy the benefit of it For could not God have setled his Testament by meanes lesse chargeable and costly to him then the precious bloud of his owne Son And lastly this richnes and abundance of grace was it not grace onely for grace onely for my thankes i. e. onely for my fayth to accept the present right to it for my hope to expect the future possession of it and for my love to performe the condition of it For is not the richnesse of this grace abundant enough to draw these thankes from mee Is it not rich enough to perswade my faith to accept the present right to my Legacy and to embrace it with all my heart and all my soule Seeing Christ hath dyed to testifie confirme and execute that Testament wherein it is devised unto mee For is faith to bee given to any thing which I have not seene if this bee not credible and to bee believed Is not this grace rich enough to assure my hope to receive the future possession of my Legacy for when the Executor of the Testament so loved mee that hee dyed for my sake that the Will might bee in force for which hee dyed can I imagine that hee will deny mee my Legacy For what will not hee give me who gave himselfe for mee When the Executor sitteth at the right hand of the Testator upon his Throne in Heaven where he hath all honour and power to doe all things can I imagine that hee can bee either unwilling or unable to performe the whole Will of the Testator For will such an Executor in such a condition wrong the Testator or defraud any Legatary who is co-heire with him Is not this grace rich enough to procure my love to performe the condition of my Legacy For seeing the Executor so loved mee that hee dyed for my sake to performe the condition of his Executorship Is it not reason that I should love him againe and chearefully addresse my selfe to the workes of love in all the waies of holynesse which is the condition of my Legacy If therefore I conceive that this grace of God comes to mee by the Law and claime my right to it by the Law Doe I not heereby wave the death of Christ and suppose that hee dyed without a cause that there was no neede of his death to testifie confirme and execute the New Testament And consequently doe I not heereby frustrate the grace of God and disanul the gratious meanes whereby it was conveyed and finally debarre my selfe from the benefit of it For what right have I to this grace of God if that Testament wherein it is devised unto mee bee of no force and have no effect For what force or effect can any Testament have which is not testified confirmed and executed But contrarily if I meane that Gods grace shall bee effectuall and will hope to enjoy the blessing of it I must acknowledge the gracious meanes whereby it was conveyed unto mee namely through the death of Christ who shed his pretious blood to testifie confirme and execute that Testament wherein it was conveyed For this grace was not given by meanes of the Law but it came by the meanes of Jesus Christ John 1.17 For the Law was given by Moses But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ Hence the New Testament is called the Gospel of the grace of God Act. 20.24 So that I might finish my course with joy and the Ministery which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the grace of God And afterward it is called the word of his grace in the same Chapter vers 32. And now brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace But unto the Law grace is contrary for they are things in themselves opposite Rom. 6.14 Yee are not under the Law but under grace Thus the causes of Christs death were repugnant to the effect of the Law and were consequent to the effects of Gods Love and Grace The Contents of this Second Chapter are 1. History Paul went not to Jerusalem to learne the Gospel vers 1. 1. Because fourteene yeares after his Preaching of it he went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and tooke Titus with him also vers eod 2. Because he went up by revelation and communicated unto them that Gospel which hee Peached among the Gentiles vers 2. 3. Because Titus who was with him was not compelled to bee circumcised although and because it was urged of false brethren to whom he gave place by subjection no not for an houre vers 3 4 5. 2. History Paul was no way inferiour to the chiefest Apostles vers 6. 1. Because from those who seemed to be somewhat whatsoever they were he differed nothing vers eod 2. Because they who semed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to him vers eod 3. Because they saw that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto him as the Gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter vers 7. 4. Because hee that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the circumcision the same was mighty in Paul towards the Gentiles vers 8. 5. Because when James Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto Paul they gave to him and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship onely desiring them to remember the poore vers 9.10 3. History At Antioch Paul withstood Peter to his face vers 11. 1. Because Peter was to be blamed vers eod 2. Because before that certain came from James Peter did eate with the Gentiles But when they were come he withdrew fearing them of the circumcision vers 12. 3. Because the other Jewes dissembled likewise with him insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation vers 13. 4. Because when Paul saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel hee sayd unto Peter before them all if thou being a Jew livest as the Gentiles and not as the Jewes why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as the Jewes vers 14. 4. Doctrine A man is not justified by the workes of the Law but by the faith of Jesus Christ vers 16. 1. Because by the workes of the Law shall no flesh bee declared righteous v. eod 2. Because through the death of the Law I am dead to the Law that I might live unto God for I am crucified with Christ Neverthelesse I live yet no more I the man that I was but Christ liveth in mee And though I now live in a body of flesh yet I live in the Faith or Religion not of Moses but of the Sonne of God who loved mee and gave himselfe for me vers 19.20 3. Because I doe not frustrate the grace of God for if the right whereto I am justified come by the Law then Christ dyed without cause vers 21. 5. Duty While wee seeke to bee justified by Christ we must not bee found sinners to continue in sinne vers 17. 1. Because God forbid that Christ should bee or be thought to bee the Minister of sinne vers eod 2. Because if I build againe the things or sinnes which I destroyed I make my selfe a transgressour vers 18. FINIS O My Heavenly loving Father that hast justified mee to bee thy sonne and hast given mee faith to accept the grace of it Circumcise my heart of flesh and cut away from it all carnall love operate and polish it with thy spirit and engrave therein thy Law of love that with all reverence and obedience I may worship and serve thee in all the offices and duties of a sonne lest I prove an ungracious wretch unworthy of so gracious a Father And thou my deare Lord and Saviour that hast dyed to buy mee with thy bloud to make me thy Brother and Co-heire make mee thy Disciple in love that from thee I may learne the wayes of love and for thy sake love them that are thine doing to all men as I would they should doe unto mee
Authority of his Commission the largenesse of his circuit and the efficacy of his ministery among the Gentiles That for Circumcision hee allowed the liberty of it as a thing indifferent to be used or omitted as occasions and circumstances should require for the advance of the Gospel But he opposed the Necessity of it that it should be imposed and forced as a yoke upon all the faithfull without any distinction of persons times or places for such a necessity was inconsistent with the liberty of the Gospel which by the necessity of Circumcision must necessarily be overthrowne 2. The Doctrine of Justification cap. 2. ver 15. c. Wherein hee declares the power and vertue of faith in Christ That every Christian is justified i. e. hath a present right interest or claime unto the future Blessings promised in Gods Covenant and bequeathed in his Will and Testament for it is the nature of promises and covenants of Wills and Testaments to create assigne and convey rights interests and claimes That the right interest or claime which we have by vertue of Gods Will and Testament is a Right of amity alliance and inheritance whereunto wee are instituted and adopted for the Sons and Heires of God as co-heires with Christ for Wills and Testaments doe produce amities and alliances by devising Legacies and setling Inheritances That the cause procreant or title whereby wee acquire and have this Right of Inheritance is Fayth in Christ for by faith in him we covenant and contract with God to accept and receive this Right because Christ is the Publisher Probator and Executor of Gods Will and the Legatary or particular Heir can never possesse himselfe of the gift assigned him but by meanes of the Executor or heire generall because the performance of the Testators Will as to matter of gifts and Legacies is charged onely upon the Executor That the cause conservant or Tenure whereby we preserve and hold this Right of inheritance is our workes of love for the greatnesse of this Blessing ought so to animate and quicken our faith as to make it lively and working by love without which our faith is an act imperfect frustrate voyd and dead and the workes of love are the conditions and services which we must performe in acknowledgement and thankfulnesse unto God for his infinite grace and savour in giving us this right of Inheritance for without such workes we become ingratefull and disinheritable to forfeit our future possession of that inheritance whereto our faith procures us a present right interest or clayme seeing it is in vaine for us to have a right unlesse we performe the services whereby to hold it for what Inheritance is there in the world which requires not a tenure whereby to hold it as well as a title whereby to have it Vnto Blessednesse therefore these two onely are necessary and sufficient on our part namely Faith in Christ whereby we are Justified or made the Sons of God jurally to have the Rights of Sons and workes of love whereby we are sanctified or made the sons of God morally to performe the duties of Sons As for works of the old Law whether Morall which are rather not-works then workes as not to have many Gods not to worship images not to forsweare our selves not to worke on the Sabbath c. or whether Ceremoniall such as Circumcision and the rest thereon depending these especially the latter are no way effectuall or causall either procreant or conservant to our right interest or claime of Blessednesse they are neither a title whereby we acquire and have that Right nor a tenure whereby we preserve and bold it but are rather destructive and extinctive to defeat frustrate and voyd it for seeing the Gospel is Gods last Will and Testament and every last Will doth infringe all former therefore he that will adhere to Gods former Will debars himselfe from the benefit of the latter This Doctrine the Apostle proveth and presseth by reasons authorityes examples and types from the old Testament and withall hee solidly refutes the arguments alleadged by the false teachers for their false Doctrine 3. An Exhortation to holinesse cap. 5. vers 1. c. Wherein hee seriously moves them to all holy dutyes as To persist in their Christian liberty and to use it without any abuse of it To live in love and walke after the spirit whereby they should be enabled against the lusts of the flesh the fulfilling whereof would exclude them from possessing that inheritance whereto by faith they had a present right To practice Christian toleration in bearing with one anothers infirmities To allow a liberall maintenance to their Teachers whom although they might mock and defraud of their meanes yet God would not bee mocked To persevere in doing good universally toward all men especially faithfully to the faithfull To suffer persecution joyfully even to glory in the Crosse of Christ. So that if wee respect these two last parts of Doctrine and Exhortation this Epistle to the Galatians seemes to bee an Epitome or breviat of that to the Romans 4. The Composure THe stile or frame of this Epistle is different and various for the Apostle earnestly laboring to reduce the Galatians from their Jewish errour summons up all the sorces of reason and Scripture omitting no kind of assertion nor no kind of argument but winding and turning himself every way assumes all forms of perswasion whereby to open the truth and presse it home upon them Sometime hee is grave and sterne neglecting all manner of respect in saluting them not affording them any honourable appellation of Christianity as to call them Elect Faithfull or Saints as his maner is in other of his Epistles to other Churches Sometime time hee is severe and sharpe reproving and chasticing them with bitter rebukes wondring at their suddain revolt from Christ and tearming them a foolish and bewitched people Sometime againe hee is gentle and kind cherishing and winning them with words of deare affection stiling them his brethren and his little children of whom hee travelled in birth againe commemorating withall their former affection toward him that at first they received him as an Angel of God yea as Christ Jesus and would have plucked out their owne eyes to have given them to him To this variety and freedome of argumentation in a way so familiar the Apostle might bee therefore induced because the Galatians were his next neighbours bordering upon Cilicia whereof he was a Native 5. The Date FOR the time when it was written some thinke it was the first of all Pauls Epistles Others conceive it written about the same time that hee wrot his Epistle to the Romans which they collect from the affinity of the argument betweene these two Epistles But if wee suppose it written at Rome then it seemes probable that it was the last of all his Epistles written while hee was there a Prisoner at large after Luke had finished the Acts of the Apostles and was departed from
the World and a Country of obscure and base condition wherein hee might bee latitant in his preaching and live somewhat secure from the fury of that persecution which himselfe had partly raised and at that time flamed in all places round about Jerusalem from whence the Saints were then all scattered abroad except the Apostles who there lay hid for it was the manner of Paul who himselfe had beene a persecutor to bee alwayes subject to persecution and yet alwayes to shunne it by all the shifts hee could make as farre as hee obtained licence and warrant from God This journey of Paul from Damascus into Arabia is not mentioned by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles yet it is not therefore not a truth but therefore it is a truth because Paul mentions it heere for whatsoever is any where mentioned in Scripture is a truth and many a truth is no where mentioned especially in poynt of History And returned againe unto Damascus I returned The Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. I was forced or made to returne secretly and privately i. e. in one word I retired For the Verbe affected with that Preposition doth consignifie both compulsion and warinesse or secresie imitating those Conjugations of the Hebrewes which consignifie passively and causally in being made to suffer the doing of something which the Latines expresse by compounding the Verbe with fio And the word though frequently used in Scripture in a vulgar sense is originally a military word borrowed from a Retreate in Warre where a Party or an Army that hath marched into some danger or disadvantage is forced to retire or necessarily and warily to returne for feare they should bee enclosed or bee beaten by the enemy The returne then of Paul from Arabia was not voluntary free and open but necessary wary and secret by way of retire But the cause that necessitated him to retire from thence is not expressed in Scripture either heere or elsewhere yet the reason might bee because that persecution which lately began at Jerusalem and was by him extended to Damascus might now bee spread into Arabia and threatned to him who had before threatned it to others and who now for feare of it retired from thence for persecution when once raised against the Gospel of Christ though it spare no Professor of the Truth yet it aymeth most at the Preachers of it But why hee retyred back againe to Damascus the reason is manifest from the Scripture because hee was to preach the Gospel there for after hee had rested at Damascus a few dayes with the Disciples there hee straitway preached Christ in the Synagogues that hee was the Sonne of God Act. 9 19.20 Hence it appeares that in the middle of that 19. verse 〈◊〉 the place where Luke hath omitted Pauls journey into Arabia which omission may easily bee harmonied and supplyed by inserting that journey into that Verse thus And when hee received meat hee was strengthned and immediately hee went into Arabia and retyred againe unto Damascus Then was Saul certaine dayes with the Disciples which were at Damascus and straightway hee preached Christ c. And there hee preached Christ to all their amazement that heard him because hee now preached that Truth which before hee persecuted and preached it there where hee most persecuted it or most intended to persecute it for God to shew his power upon Paul and to comfort those Saints whom Paul had terrified would make Paul there build againe the things which there hee had destroyed And there hee preached Christ till hee was persecuted thence for Damascus was a Garison-City whose gates were watched day and night where the Governour minded to apprehend Paul and the Jewes layd wait to kill him but by night hee was let downe by the wall in a basket by meanes whereof hee escaped thence See Act. 9.24.25 and 2. Cor. 11.32 Heere was another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in departing from Damascus by way of a forced and secret retyre for although in the whole course of his Apostleship hee travelled more then the rest of the Apostles yet in the beginning of it he never travelled otherwise then as the storme of persecution blew him and as the spirit of God steered him VERSE 18. Text. Then after three yeares I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteene dayes Sense After three yeares viz. From my conversion or calling to my Apostleship Went up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. I returned To see Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. To visit or be acquainted with Peter Reason A Narrative of his first returne to Jerusalem and the time of his stay after his going from thence with authority from the high Priest to persecute the Saints at Damascus Comment Pauls return to Jerusalem the cause of it his short stay there THen after three yeares I went up to Jerusalem Then The Grek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. After that or afterwards for so the word taken as an adverb of Order is rendred elsewhere in our last Translation See afterward in this cap. ver 21. and 1. Cor. 12.28 and 1. Cor. 15.6.7.23.46 and Heb. 7.2 When he was persecuted from Damascus the next City whereto hee came afterwards was Jerusalem from whence hee had now beene absent for the space of three years For the three yeares must not be computed from his retire out of Arabia unto Damascus as if he had preached three yeares at Damascus for how could he possibly preach so long in a City so populous and so neer to Jerusalem with such astonishment to all that heard him in then Preaching Christ whom before he persecuted and yet all this while no report of his Conversion should come to Jerusalem Now that no certainty thereof came thither is from hence evident because when at the end of three yeares Paul himselfe returned to Jerusalem his present condition of being an Apostle was so unknowne to the Disciples there that they beleeved him not a Disciple and when hee assayed to joyne himselfe with them they were all afrayd of him as if he had yet persisted a persecutor untill he was necessitated to procure the curtesie of Barnabas to introduce him to the Apostles and to make the report as well of his conversion to the fayth as of his Preaching Christ at Damascus See Act. 9.26.27 Hence it appeares 1. That although his Preaching at Damascus were many dayes as Luke expresseth the time of it Act. 9.23 yet it lasted not for the space of three yeares and therefore the three yeares must be computed from the time of his conversion or calling to his Apostleship or which comes all to one from the time of his journey from Jerusalem toward Damascus because his conversion fell out in that journey 2. That the greatest part of the three years was spent in Preaching in Arabia from whence the news of his conversion came not to Jerusalem eyther because the Countrey of Arabia was
by all the Heathen Oh what a foule staine is this to the profession of Christ that they for whose salvation Christ was crucified should dayly practise one anothers destruction Amongst many other causes whereby Christians fall into these Unchristian courses it seemes this is one by mistaking the course and order of love in beginning the practice of it upon God in whom the practice should determine This is not the way of true zeale but the errour of that which is blind 2. My first selfe-love is to mortifie my sinnes For my mortification is a worke of true love to my selfe Because this worke is a killing or deading of that ferity or wildnesse which naturally is bred in my flesh i. e. in my sensuall appetite by subduing mastering and taming her motions and desires regulating and ordering them in such manner that about carnall pleasure they runne not into the sinnes of uncleannesse to pollute defile and surfeit my soule with gluttony drunkenesse and whoredome that about worldly profit tney fall not into the sinne of Covetousnesse to fill my heart with the thornes of worldly cares and with the hookes of filthy lucre that about worldly credit they rise not into the sinne of Pride to swell my minde with the tumors and botches of humane praises and commendations Is not this worke of mortification a doing of my selfe great good and therefore a worke of true love to my selfe for if I beare not from my selfe so much love to my selfe as to fortifie watch and ward my soule against the invasions and assaults of these sinnes I am a traitour to mine owne soule for is not hee is treacherous villaine that will suffer his City to be entred by that enemy whom hee hath power to repell If I have any love to my life and health I am carefull to keepe my selfe from the Pox and the Plague are the Pox and the Plague more dangerous to my body then are drunkenesse and whoredome both to my body and soule Or is a soule defiled with these sinnes lesse filthy then a Leper or lesse ugly then a face all crusted with the Pox. And my mortification is the first worke of my love Because untill this worke bee done I can doe no workes of love at all None to my selfe for when I am a Drunkard a Leacher covetous and proud how can I performe such love to my selfe as to furnish and adorne my soule with the virtues of Sobriety Chastity Liberality and Humility For by what meanes can these virtues enter while their contrary vices keepe the possession of of mee None to my Brother for when I am covetous and greedy after worldly gaine to get what I can out of my brother how can I performe the duties of Justice and Equity to give my brother his right and his due in all things that are his either by Law or Reason Or when my Covetousnesse makes mee so nigardly that to thrive in the world by sparing and saving I scarce allow my Family meat and drinke fitting for it according to my condition how then can I doe the offices of Mercy and Kindnesse to my brother in giving meat to the hungry and drinke to the thirsty in entertaining the stranger cloathing the naked and visiting the sick Yet these are the workes of brotherly love whereby I must bee tryed at the day of Judgement and whereby the finall sentence must passe upon me Lastly untill this worke be done I can doe no workes of love to God my acts of piety and devotion in prayers prayses and thanksgivings for the worship and service of God cannot passe for workes of love For when I am a Drinker or a Leacher can I love God and will God accept love from a loathsome soul that stinketh of Drunkennesse and Leachery When I am covetous can I love God and will God accept love from an idolatrous soule for is not covetousnesse idolatry and can I worship two such contrary deities as God and an idol or can I serve two such contrary masters as God and Mammon When I am proud can I love God and will God accept love from a lofty soule that is puffed up with vaine glory preferring her owne prayse before Gods glory But some man may say that God loved us then when we were sinners and so loved us that he gave his Sonne to die for us To him I answer that indeed God did so yet he loved us not to this end that we should continue in sin but to this that wee should not continue in it but mortifie and put it to death that being purged and cleansed from it we might thereby be prepared and fitted to love him againe with love beseeming his acceptance Hence againe there appeares another hypocrisie when I am carefull to mortifie the sin of my brother before I have killed mine owne And the exercise of this hypocrisie in mistaking the due order and practise of mortification hath beene one cause of the greatest troubles in the Church of Christ For as my practise of love must not begin at God but end in him so my practise of mortification must not begin upon my brother but must commence at my selfe and determine in him That having first cast out the beame out of mine owne eye I may see cleerely to cast out the mote out of my brothers eye that having first beaten down the beames of pride and covetousnesse which are inward malignities in my selfe and the rootes of all evill unto others I may mortifie the moates of swearing and drunkennesse which are the outward infirmities of my brother For if mine owne beame move me to mortifie my brothers moate I quicken a greater sinne in my selfe to kill a lesse in him Very fitting it is for the advance of Gods glory that my brothers idolatry should be mortified but when my covetousnesse moves me to mortifie it that I may devoure his estate I kill an idolatry in him to quicken a greater in my selfe For of all idolatry covetousnesse is the greatest because it is an idolatry altogether prophane without any colour or shew of piety Hence sayth the Apostle Rom. 2.22 Thou that abhorrest idols doest thou commit sacrilege i. e. Art thou so covetous as to rob God For all sacriledge is a worke of covetousnesse and all robbing of God is a foul impiety An objecti ∣ on Neverthelesse I live 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. but I live Heerein he prevents a tacit objection which some man might seeme to make against him thus You say you are dead to the Law and yet alive to God and yet againe that you are crucified with Christ how can these contrarieties stand together that you should bee thus both dead and alive the Answer The answer Although I am dead to the Law not living by her rule and am dead to sin not serving sin nor suffering sin to rule over me but have crucified or mortified it Neverthelesse I live unto God according to his rule unto his service for I
death then it must needes follow that hee had dyed for the Gentiles And 2. Tim. 2.10 That hee endured all things for the Elects sake that they may also obtaine the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternall glory And this was not the singular charity of Paul alone But it is also the duty of every Believer to lay downe his life for his brethren especially when the matter concernes their salvation for heereof the death of Christ is both the reason and the example 1. John 3.16 Heereby perceive wee the love of God because hee layd downe his life for us and wee ought to lay downe our lives for the brethren Likewise of every true Martyr by whose constancy I finde my selfe confirmed in the truth it may bee truely sayd that hee dyed for the good of my salvation Yet notwithstanding all other persons besides Christ are in this kinde onely subservient unto Christ and the benefit which I have by their death doth onely second my blessing by his Who loved mee The Motive that induced Christ to give himselfe for mee was his Love to mee For as the fruit of his death was my good So the roote of it was his love for because hee loved mee therefore hee dyed for mee Certainely a reall love not in word or in tongue but in deede and in truth testified and certified by his death for by the outward passion of his death hee declared the inward affection of his love And certainely a liberall love for seeing love delights to give what could hee give mee more then to give himselfe for mee For the greatnesse of his love unto mee is heere signified by two circumstances that inclose and stand about his Love One before it by the greatnesse of his person in that hee was the sonne of God for what greater person was there in the world who was mortall and able to dye for mee The other after it by the greatnesse of his passion in that hee gave himselfe to death for mee for what could hee possibly doe more for my sake then to lay downe his life for mee Seeing beyond this there can bee no greater love and hence hee himselfe commends the greatnesse of love John 15.13 Greater love hath no man then this that a man lay downe his life for his friends His love therefore was the Cause of his death and his death was the Effect of his love For hence in severall passages of Scripture his Love and his Death go hand in hand as the Cause with the effect As Ephes 5.2 Walke in love as Christ also hath loved us and given himselfe for us And Ephes 5.25 Husbands love your Wives even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himselfe for it And 1. John 3.16 Heereby perceive wee the love of God because hee layd downe his life for us Yet the love of Christ unto mee was not the sole and onely cause of his death for mee so as to exclude the love of the Father from being concurrent with the love of Christ For God the Father also loved mee and loved mee so eminently and so principally that his love was the cause why Christ loved mee and therefore consequently Gods love unto mee must needes bee the cause why Christ dyed for mee and must needes bee also the supreame cause that hath no higher cause above it For Christ therefore dyed for mee because hee loved mee and hee therefore loved mee because God loved mee But why God loved mee I know no cause beside his love Yet that Gods love to mee is the cause why Christ dyed for mee is manifest from severall passages of Scripture as John 3.16 For God so loved the World that hee gave his onely begotten Sonne i. e. Gave him to dye for his love to the World was the cause why hee exposed his sonne to death And Rom. 3.25 God hath set forth Christ to bee a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse i. e. His kindnes which is the effect of his love And Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us And 1. John 4.10 Heerein is love not that wee loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins And the greatnesse of Gods love heerein is manifest also by two circumstances One of the Person dying a person of that Majesty and of so neare alliance unto God that hee was the sonne of God and his onely begotten sonne Which must needs argue in God an excesse and high degree of love For hee that is so free as to give up his owne sonne for mee doth thereby further give mee to understand that hee would willingly give mee all that ever hee hath And beyond this can there bee any greater love or can any love bee more free Yet such was Gods love to mee in the death of Christ Rom. 8.32 Hee that spared not his owne sonne but delivered him up for us all how shall hee not with him also freely give us all things The other Circumstance is of the persons for whom Christ dyed for they were sinners and ungodly wretches persons deserving death themselves and altogether unworthy that any one should dye for them and therefore much lesse the sonne of God Peradventure for good and godly men some man would dye but would any man dye for sinners and ungodly wretches But Christ dyed for us while wee were yet sinners and ungodly and therein God commended the greatnesse of his love to us Rom. 5.7 Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to dye but God commendeth his love towards us in that while wee were yet sinners Christ dyed for us Hence there will follow these three verities 1. Gods wrath was not the cause of Christs death For wee cannot finde any such Doctrine delivered in the Scriptures But from severall expresse Scriptures wee have clearely shewed that the cause of Christs death was Gods love unto us and that love was not ordinary and vulgar but singularly and intirely the greatest that ever was in the world Wee were indeede the children of wrath i. e. lyable to Gods wrath and worthy of it Yet it doth not thence follow that God was then actually wrath with us for God who is rich in grace and mercy may in a divers respect actually love them who actually deserve his wrath And when Christ dyed for us wee were then dead in sinnes i. e. guilty of death by reason of our sinnes Yet it thence followeth not that our sinnes were punished in the death of Christ for God may actually pardon their life who actually are guilty of death This God may doe de jure and hath already done it de facto and hee hath done it for this end that thereby hee might shew the exceeding riches of his love and grace in his mercy and kindnesse towards us through Christ Ephes 2.3 Wee all had our conversation in times past
and gave gifts unto men and partly by the words immediately following vers 11. And hee gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministery for the edifying of the body of Christ Now to doe these things was to execute and fulfill the last Will of God Hence the Apostle teacheth the conveniency of Christs death through the meanes whereof hee was fitted and perfected for the executing and doing of those things which according to the last Will of God conduce to our finall salvation For hence is our Expiation whereby wee are absolved and acquitted from our sinnes for Christ through his death was made a mercifull and faithfull high Priest to performe this gracious Office unto us Heb. 2.17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to bee made like unto his brethren that hee might bee a mercifull and faithfull high Priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sinnes of the people for in that hee himselfe hath suffered being tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted And whereas at the Legall Expiation the Priest entred the Tabernacle after hee had shed the blood of Goates and Calves But Christ first shed his owne blood and thereupon entred the Sanctuary of Heaven once for all to make an eternall Expiation Heb. 9.12 Neither by the blood of Goates and Calves but by his owne blood hee entred in once into the holy place having obtained eternall redemption Hence is our Consolation whereby wee are succoured in all our sufferings and distresses for seeing Christ suffered and was tryed in all poynts as wee are therefore hee hath a sense of our infirmities and thereupon wee may confidently come to him for helpe in time of neede Heb. 4.15 For wee have not an high Priest which cannot bee touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted as wee are yet without sinne let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that wee may obtaine mercy and finde grace to helpe in time of neede Hence is our Resurrection whereby wee are raised from death for Christ through his death destroyes the Divell who had the power of death and delivers us from our death whereof though wee feele the pressure yet wee need not feare the bondage that it will bee eternall Heb. 2.14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood hee also himselfe likewise tooke part of the same that through death hee might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Divell and deliver them who through feare of death were all their life time subject to bondage And hence is our Glorification whereby the possession of our eternall inheritance is delivered unto us for Christ was the Executor of the New Testament for this very cause that through the meanes of his death wee might receive the possession of that eternall inheritance to the present right whereof wee are called and justified Heb. 9.15 And for this cause hee is the Mediatour of the New Testament that by meanes of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise the promised possession of eternall inheritance Hence also Christ himselfe before his death taught his Disciples the Expediency of his death that it was expedient for them hee should dye for otherwise the Comforter which was the holy Ghost would not come unto them John 16.7 Neverthelesse I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away the Comforter will not come unto you But if I depart I will send him unto you By his going away and departing hee meanes his dying for wee commonly expresse dying by the words of going away and departing And after his death hee taught them the Necessity of his death that it behoved him to die and rise again from the dead that thereupon the Gospel might be preached in his name Luk. 24.46 And hee sayd unto them thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sinnes should bee preached in his name among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem Thus the immediate proper finall causes or reasons why Christ dyed are chiefely three namely to Testifie the truth of the New Testament to Confirme the force of it and to Execute the decrees of it for unto a Testament once constituted what acts more do necessarily belong then the Testification the Confirmation and the Execution of it But the remote causes of his death might bee many and various For all the actions done by Christ as Mediatour of the New Testament were causes of his death whether wee respect his Prophetick Office in publishing Gods Will preaching his Doctrine and working Miracles or his Priestly Office in sanctifying Believers and expiating their sinnes or his Kingly Office in governing his people and subduing their enemies And all benefits redounding to Believers as the Legacies and Promises of the New Testament were causes of his death as their Justification the Remission of their sinnes their Resurrection and Glorification And all Duties to bee done by Believers as the conditions without which they are not to enjoy their Legacies are the causes of his death as their sanctity or holynesse their dying to sinne and newnesse of life in all the good workes of love But all these and the like are not opposite or repugnant to the three causes by us assigned but are comprehended and included in them are subordinate and consequent to them are collected and inferred from them For because Christ dyed to testifie confirm and execute the New Testament and my sanctity or holinesse is a Precept thereof and a duty by me to be done therefore Christ dyed for my Sanctification that I might dye unto sin and live unto holinesse and consequently he dyed for my patience temperance mercifulnesse c. because these and the like are branches of holinesse And because Christ dyed to testifie confirme and execute the New Testament wherein Remission of sins the Resurrection from the dead and Glorification were devised and promised as Legacies unto Believers therfore Christ also dyed for the Remission of my sins for my Resurrection and Glorification Yet among the remote Causes of Christs death the Scripture doth most frequently mention the Remission of sins Because my sins have the greatest force upon me to bereave or at least to hinder me from the hope of their forgivenes For according to the evidence of reason if I looke upon my sins to consider the custome and foulenesse of them how can I chuse but feare that I have deserved a fearfull punishment and that God in his Justice will inflict it on me Or if I looke upon my death to consider my dissolution and rottennesse in the Grave how can I hope that God whom I