by Christ is imputed to us also But the former is true And therefore the latter Seventhly from another place in the same Epistle p Rom. 10.4 before we passe away from it in which the Apostle telleth us that Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth From whence the argument may be thus framed If Christ be the end of the Law and the complement thereof for righteousness unto all that believe in him we ought assuredly to perswade our selves that the fulfilling of the Law performed by Christ is our righteousness by which we are justified before God But the Antecedent is true And therefore the consequent Eightly from the words of St. Paul q 1 Cor. 1.30 who saith he meaning as is before expressed Christ Jesus of God is made to us wisdome righteousness c. Whence we argue If Christ be made of God righteousness to us then is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us because he was so made righteousness as that we might be made in him the righteousness which is by faith through him as the Prophet Jeremiah r Ier. 23.6 the Lord our Righteousness But the former is true Therefore so must be the latter Ninethly from another place in the other Epistle to the Corinthians Å¿ 2 Cor. 5.21 He that is God made him namely Christ to be sin for us who himself knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him who otherwise of our selves knew not what righteousness was Here then as Christ was made sin for us whâ—ch knew no sin So are we made the righteousness of God who knew not what righteousness meant in respect of any thing in us But Christ was made sin for us our sins by Divine Justice and his own submission thereunto being imputed to him and he suffering death for the sâ—me Therefore vve are also made yet without any work of ours â—n Chrâ—st the righteousness of God Christs righteousness being imputed to us Tenthly and lastly from another place of St. Paul to the Galatians t Gal. 4.4 when the fulness of time was come God sent his Son made of a Woman made under the Law c. Whence we conclude that if Christ were subject to the Law that he might redeem us from the Law verily the fulfilling of the Lawby Christ performed for us is truly imputed to us for our justification and salvation But Christ was subject to the Law for no other cause * Finis enim ostenditur ab Apostolo quod videlicet non sibi ipsi sed nobis talis est factus Tossanus in Gal. 4. pag. 212. but that he might redeem us from under the power and curse thereof Therefore the fulfilling of the Law performed by Christ for us is truly and really imputed to us for our justification and eternal salvation Thus we have proved the common Doctrine of imputation as the Dialogue scoffingly terms it that we mâ—ght if God see good to give a blessing to these poor yet well intended endeavours make it more common And herein we appeable to the judicious and understanding Reader whether he find the least shadow or appearance of that absurdâ—ty in it which he imputeth to it I hope then none will believe that lies are true We have now done with the Efficient Material and Formal cause of a sinners justification before God We come now to the last namely the Fâ—nal cause which we conceive to be two-fold Supreme ex parte justificantis in respect of the person justifying Subordinate ex parte justificati in respect of the person justified The Supreme is the maniâ—estation of the glory both of the mercy of God and also of his justice which as they do concurre in all the works of God if we will gâ—ve any credit to the Pâ—almist u Psal 145.17 as well we may who there saith The Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works and especâ—ally in the work of redemption and justification For therein God doth so exceedingly maniâ—est yea magnifie the glorious attribute of his mercy that rather thâ—n he would suffer such wretches as we had made our selves utterly to perish in our sins he sent his own only begotten Son out of hâ—s bosome that we might as the blessed Apostle St. Paul excellently sets â—t forth w Rom. 3.24 be freely justified by his grace though the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and mark the end to the praise of the glory of his grace Wherein as the same Apostle in another place expresseth it x Eph. 1.6 He hath made us accepted in his beloved His Justice also is made manâ—fest to the wonder and amazement of all the World For rather then he would suffer the sins and transgressions of his own Elect Children to go unpunished and so his Justice be unsatisfied he punished them in the person of his own Son exacting from him a full entire and perfect satisfaction for them having set him forth as St. Paul testifies y Rom. 3.25 26. for this very purpose to be a Propitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus The Subordinate end of justâ—fication is our eternal salvation this is indeed the end both of our justification and sanctification For being made free from sin z Rom. 6.22 and become servants of God we have saith the Apostle in the person of the Elect our fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life So St. Peter a 1 Pet. 1.9 the very end of our faith by which instrumentally we are justified is the salvation of our souls These are the causes We come now according to our promise to the fruits or effects of this excellent Doctrine of a sinners justification before God which we take to be these Remission of sins * Remissio peccatorum fit per justitiam imputatam perfectam Pareus castique Bell. de justif Reconciliation with God An effectual vocation An actual adoption Peace of conscience Joy in the Holy Ghost and other such like gifts of the Spirit which it worketh in the hearts of those that are justâ—fied We shal not have to do with al these they are somewhat too many and too far off from our purpose in hand the two first only fall within the compasse of our present intendment and first of Remission of sins Remission of sins we conceive to be the free absolution of the person offending both from the guilt and punishment which by an irregular conversation he hath contracted and deserved If it were not in some measure free it could not properly be called remission or condonation If it were from the guilt of sin only and not from the punishment also it were foolish and ridiculous for we may as well and truly affirm that a man is discharged of a debt without beâ—ng freed or acquitted from the payment of the same
as to say a mâ—n â—s freâ—d from the one and yet not discharged oâ— the other Some of the Socinian tribe do plead hard to have remission of sins the formal cause of a sinners justification but non benè convenit it fadges ill in their hands For dissolution of sins guilt by Chrâ—sts bloud before imputation is an uncouth dissolution it is a dissolution before application that which putteth the effect before the cause * Causalitate imputatio praecedit remissionem necessario prae-requiritur Polan in Daniel pa. 324. But hear their arguments and our answers compare them together and then judge indifferently First say they Remission of sins giveth denomination of justification therefore it must be the form Grant this say we though the illustration be not by whiteness and whitening whereby they make whiteness the form which among unbiassed men is the effect the form being whitning or application yet they must prove that it giveth denomination which they do thus and that worthily to If a sinner say they may therefore and thereby be justified because he hath his sins remitted unto hâ—m then remission of sins giveth denomination of being justified to that person whose sins are remitted This is a meer beggâ—ng of the question which is to be proved and we deny a sinner therefore justified till it shall be better proved which will not be while this man is Major I see by the manner of their working For say they it is a vindication or an exemption from punishment We joyn issue here say it is so indeed but after another manner then they take it it is so in effect that is that followeth something necessarily preceding which is just making or being just or else we run our selves upon a rock it will be justification of a wicked person which God himself telleth us is ah Abomination to him Secondly remission of sins say they is the formal cause of a sinners justification because it is that alteration and change which is wrought in the person justified by that act of God To which we answer 1. By denying the consequence every change or alteration in the person cnanged or altered is not the form if that act of God were the form then peace of conscience should be so for it is an alteration which supposeth pardon grounded upon imputation of righteousness whence justification and then pardon c. 2. By affirming that justification it self is so in that change which made and yet it is not the form of it self yea it is an effect of the form Thirdly their thâ—rd reason is vvound up thus That which makes a justified person compleatly righteous before God is the formal cause of justification But remission of sins maketh a justified person compleatly righteous before God because say they he is as cleer from sin and the guilt thereof as if he had fulfilled the whole Law and never transgressed any part or particle of the same We reply 1. That making is an ambiguous term and cannot vvithout more light then they afford us be fully discerned or discovered For every cause maketh the Efficient the Material the Formal c. 2. Remission of sins maketh not a person formally righteous and therefore vve deny the reason For though he be free from the guilt of sin yea so righteous as here they speak of yet the cause is the righteousness of Christ imputed by whose obedience he is constituted just Again they argue for the proof of this thus That righteousness which needs not fear the presence of a most strict judge is a compleat and perfect righteousness But remission of sins is such And now they think themselves cock sure for this say they will hold weight and measure But let them take our answer with them for all their hast which will we suppose take them off their confidence and it is this That which these socinians are to prove they often shift their hands of and would have us take for granted which we cannot do without prejudice to the truth They are here to prove that remission of sins is a compleat righteousness but that which they endeavour to prove it by as the ingenuous Reader may plainly perceive beggeth the question namely that it is righteousness For every thing that will abide the presence of God is not by and by righteousness much lesse compleat righteousness as they would have us believe upon their bare word As for example to the contrary in love there is no fear for perfect love casteth out fear b 1 Joh. 4.17 18. yet it is not righteousness not that righteousness by which we are justified Lastly say they remission of sins reacheth home and is given to men by God for their justification Therefore it is the formal cause thereof This they tell us is evident because by the formal cause they mean nothing else but passâ—ve justification To which we return this answer 1. That many things may be and are given by God for justification in some way or other which are not the formal cause thereof for instance the Word of God and Faith are given by God for justification yet will any man therefore in his right wits conclude that they are the formal cause of a sinners justification 2. We do absolutely deny remission of sins to be given for justification we assert the contrary justification given for pardon and remission as being the effect and consequent thereof So the Apostle c Rom. 5.16 where mention is made of remission a gift as also of the gift of righteousness Whence we see ordine quidque suo first justification and then remission made good in the 18. and 19. vers of the same Chapter Moreover to put all out of doubt if remission of sins be justification passive as they said but now that is the effect of Gods justifying it cannot possibly be the formal cause thereof also For one and the same cannot be both the cause and the effect before and after it self the whole and yet but a part how ever they seem to jumble them together I have bin somewhat longer about this then at first I intended there being not wanting and that even among us that take upon them to maintain that remission of sins is the formal cause of a sinners justification before God that seeing how poorly it is defended by those that are champions for it the honest and well minded Reader may not be gulled by any Socinian 〈◊〉 bettor whatsoever The Dialogue is very much concern'd herein he doth not lag behind the rest setting remission of sins in its wrong place and then ascribing too much unto it For he makes it even our justification it self which cannot be for they are distinct in themselves and in order of time and manner of conferring to be distinguished by us which being well and wisely considered will plainly appear to be neither the whole nor a part as he nor the cause as others would have it of our justification but
only the contingent effect thereof Reconciliation with God arising from true justification without which man must necessarily even unto all eternity have remained under and at all times bin lyable to the wrath of God is that whereby God for the Satisfaction of Christ pardoning all his sins doth freely admit and receive him into favour Or else more plainly d Emphasis vocis reconciliationem dissidentium per emptâ mutuâ dissentione importat It is a setting at one those who by reason of some discord between or hatred toward one another were exceedingly divided and separated one from the other This and the word Atonement which the Dialogue doth so often make use of are meer Synonima's no more but two several expressions of one and the same thing yet admitting of not different but divers denominations For being referred to wrath it is called a pacification or an appeasing either with a gift prepared as Jacob did his brother Esau e Gen. 32.20 or by compensation made for some wrong or injury done as David did the Gibeonites f 2 Sam. 21.3 and having reference to sin it signifies to expiate or purge with Sacrifice whence the day of Atonement is called g Lev. 16.30 a day of expiation and sometimes it is used for pardon and remission of sins as h Psal 78.38 he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity in which sense the Dialogue takes it and spends it self in the most part of that which remains to make his Reader believe it namely that this very atonement or reconciliation is our very righteousness and justification But this cannot be for this likewise were to confound the effect with the cause as before in remission of sins Atonement or Reconciliation being but the necessary effect or consequent of a sinners justification before God Thus you see being driven to their shifts they fly from one thing to another and are at no certainty among themselves into what a labyrinth then would they bring their perplexed Readers In this work of reconciliation or atonement Christ is to be considered after a two-fold manner or under a double notion either in respect of his essential Deity and Divinity or in respect of his Mediatorial office and Priestly performance in respect of his essential Deity common to himself with the Father and the Holy Ghost he by the same right whereby the Father and the Holy Ghost was exceedingly offended with and highly provoked to indignation against us by reason of our sins in respect of his Mediatorial officâ— by the common consent and councel of the whole Trinity receding from his most just right took upon him our flesh that he might fully perform the part of a mercifull Mediatour between God and man In the transaction of this great husiness of mediation reconciliation or atonement for they are one in effect though they differ in terms there are six distinct things to be performed by Christ The first is Discretion oâ— Dijudication of the cause he takes notice of the state and condition of his Church and chosen Secondly he doth report the will of his Father the covenant and agreement with God unto them Thirdly he makes intercession to God for them Fourthly he fully satisfies the wrath and Justice of God provoked against them and freely delivers them from the eternal punishment which they had justly deserved should be inflicted on them Fiftly he mercifully applies that satisfaction to them And finally he everlastingly conserves them in this state of reconciliation into which he hath brought them And thus we dispose of these things thus wonderfully and mercifully performed by him Discretion and Relation pertain properly to the Prophetical office of Christ Intercession and Satisfaction to his Priest-hood Application and Conservation to his Regal office and that Kingly power which he exerciseth in and over his beloved ones So that whole Christ God-man in both natures in all his offices is employed in and for the effecting this high and glorious work of the Fathers mercifull atonement and reconciliation which is no small comfort being brought home and seasonably applied to the heart of a Christian Thus have we set down the true nature of Atonement or Reconciliation with God But as for the Dialogues Atonement it is nothing else but a vain idle imaginary and illusory thing a meer fiction which he having fancied and framed out to himself would fain obtrude upon others without the least colour of testimony from the Word of God For that which the Scripture presents unto us under the name and notioâ— of the word Atonement is an effect of our righteousness and not a part much lesse the whole as he would have it concerning which ne speaks much as being perhaps delighted in and affected with his own expressions but proves nothing of what is expected from him many times crossing and confounding himself much more his unwary and over-confident Reader To conclude then for I hope by this time the good and intelligent Reader doth plainly discover what the drift and purpose of the Dialogue is together with the rest of the Socinian faction namely to raze if they could the very foundation of our Religion which we have built upon the Rock that so we might erect a new structure on the sand but they shall not prevail yet let every one of us take heed that we build not thereon For other foundation can no man lay and expect comfort in or continuance of the building then that is laid the Prophets and Apostles Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone These under specious pretences and new coyned phrases endeavour to betray us that they may have whereby as they think to glory over us We know that offences to and oppositions against the Truth especially in these latter times must needs come that those which are firm and constant may be made manifest But wo unto them by whom such offences and oppositions do come From henc it comes to passe that such thâ—ngs as were never handled by the Scriptures are now hand over head urged and maintained from the Scriptures and such questions as were never dreamed of among the Apostles are stoutly yet strangely defended by the Apostles By these means our Pulpits ring our Presses groane and our eares are filled with the confused noise thereof such loud lies such lawlesse arguments such naked collections such backward conclusions such an Ocean of tempestuous sequels such a legend of unsound and unseasoned Non-sequitur's such upstart heresyes and such high strain'd blasphemies that the common Adversary scorneth at our follies and all the Devils in Hell as it were keeping holy-day do rejoyce at our forwardness to run and destroy not only the bodies but even the souls too one of another bringing hereby our selves into derision abroad an the Scriptures themselves into suspition at home Thus are many too many God knows poor single hearted men misled although by a contrary course yet to the same gulf running their
he brings home and applyes unto our Souls the righteousness of Christ for our justification both as he is the Spirit of regeneration working in us the grace of faith by which we receive Christ for our justification in foro Caelesti before God and also as he is the Spirit of adoption confirming this faith in us together with the assurance of our justification by which we are freed and acquitted in foro conscientiae within our selves that is by the testimony of an upright sincere and rectified conscience The instrumental causes of justification are either external or internal external such is the Word of God the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ and is therefore called o Rom. 1.16 the very power of God to salvation in which respect Ministers are said to justifie because as Daniel tells us p Dan. 12.3 they convert many to righteousness being instruments though poor and weak in themselves q Media perfecta ad quae ordinantur that God is pleased to make use of for this purpose and by whom those that are ordained unto life are brought to believe r 1 Cor. 3.5 For by the preaching of the Gospel seconded and made powerful by the operation of the Holy Ghost the sentence of justification and remission of sins and so consequently of eternal life and salvation is pronounced and concluded in the conscience of the faithfull such the Sacraments also Å¿ Tit. 3.5 not by works of righteousness which we have done saith St. Paul but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost For first in them the benefit of the Messias is presented before us and by those outward signs discerned by us in which respect the Sacrament is called Verbum visibile a word which is visible Secondly such is the Sacramental Union between the sign and the thing signified which is Christ together with all the train and quire of his graces as also all his merits offered to us Thirdly this transcendent benefit of the Messias is not only offer'd in the Lawfull and commendable use of the Sacraments but is also given to and conferr'd upon every faithfull partaker thereof In this sense the Sacrament of Baptisme is said to be the seal of that righteousness which is by faith as the Apostle calleth circumcision t Rom. 4.11 The internal cause of justification is not hope though hope maketh not ashamed not charity though it be faiths almoner and shall be rewarded of God u Prov. 19.17 not fear though it restrain us from sin not repentance though it be the gift of God by which we wipe out the old score of our sins past and resolve to glorifie God for the time to come but faith and faith only by which we overcome the World and that not in respect of its existency as Socinus would fain have it and doth earnestly plead for it w Imputatur nobis fides à Deo pro Justitia c. in Dialog de Iustif but in respect of apprehension and the faculty of application as that which is alone though it never be found alone without the company and attendance of other graces a convenient instrument fitted for the laying hold upon the righteousness of Christ And yet for all this faith is not to be considered in the Act of justification either dispositively or habitually or formally or meritoriously or in the kind and nature of a work but in part organically in regard of its Act and in part correlatively in regard of its object Whence the Apostle wisely disposing his words as being directed by the Spirit of Wisdome it self which cannot miscarry saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 x Rom. 5.1 we are justified through faith and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by faith but never 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for faith Hitherto the Dialogue and we walk together passilus aequis as it were hand in hand neither of us stepping aside with Socinus in the place fore-quoted and some other of his followers y Non innocentiam aut justiam Christi credentibus imputat Deus sed fidem illorum imputat illis pro justitia Smalcius in disputat contr Fran. to take up this ball which they have cast in our way that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faith it self or the very Act of believing doth properly justifie yet if he be acquainted with Socinian John as I believe he is aâ—mighty stickler in this case he may soon be drawn away and easily perverted to comply with him and his party even in this matter also But now partes locus est ubi se via findit in ambas we come to the pinch indeed in which we shall discover where and upon what terms we are constrained to part company The matter or meritorious cause of our justification is the next thing that is to be considered by us which is neither the habit of charity or the exercise thereof but only the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Mediator And here here it is that we must part and not so fairly as may be expected For though the distance be small at the Center yet 't is many times found to be wide enough by that time it come to the circumference So the difference at first may seem small that is between us but being duly considered is so great that we can by no means give our consent of compliance For the Dialogue using that faculty here which in many other places he shews his dexterity in namely disputandi de non concessis chargeth us with that which we never held and which is more never mean to do if it please God to keep us in our right mind that so he may take occasion without occasion to quarrel wâ—th us thinking thereby to shew his valour in the eyes of his great admirers fighting though it be but with his own shadow and yet now and then giving a slanting blow even at the Justice of God himself Who ever heard any of us whom God hath established in his truth and made and constituted faithfull dispensers of the same so much as whisper among our selves much lesse publish it abroad that the active righteousness of Christ alone * Justitia Jesu Christi per quam justificamur coram Deo est perfectissimato tius Legis Divinae obedientia Polani Syntag. that is that obedience which he performed to the Law doth justifie a sinner before God We never said it we never thought it and therefore all the pains he hath herein taken to confute us or rather to blast us and the truth in us under the pretence of confutation might very well have bin spared and the time better spent but some will be doing though it be to no purpose and how can we keep company with those that charge us with such assertions which we utterly disclaim and cast such aspersions on us which we did never deserve Again God cannot do this God cannot in Justice do that
Adam and so could not be a sufficient sacrifice one for another Add to this moreover that among men there was never any yet found which out of an absolute purpose of mind and immutable constancy could be contented to offer up himself a sacrifice unto death unto such a death for the sins of those which were his Enemies with the like reason and resolution as our Saviour Christ did Though Moses and Paul wished that they might dye for the Israelites their Country-men yet it was not so simply and absolutely for them as Christ did for his Elect but conditionally that is to say upon such terms as stood not with the liking nor were agreeable to the good will and pleasure of God Whereas Christ not conditionally but simply and absolutely according to the decree of his Father laid down his life as willing to suffer what men or Devils could do against him and was accepted of him We might multiply reasons for this why God should free us who deserved to be punished unto all eternity and should lay that punishment which was due to us though in respect of time not unto eternity upon his own most innocent harmlesse and beloved Son without any the least suspition of wrong or injustice in God * Iustus est Deus omni a justè disponit eum tamen qui non debet puniri condemnat Mediator enim noster quia nullum culpae contâ—gium perpetravit puniri pro se ipso non debuit Sed si ipse indebitam mortem non susciperet nunquam non à debitâ morte liberaret Gregorius Mag. lib 3. Mor. as being our Pledge Surety and Undertaker for us willingly and of his own accord laying down the full prise of our redemption But I suppose we have already done sufficient to this purpose Let God be just and true and not only all Socinians but even the whole World be false and liars For though man be so dimsighted that he cannot see or so weak in his intellects that he cannot understand how it is or which way it should be so u Scio quod ita sed non cur ita Bern. Epist 190. for there is defatigatio in intellectualibus says one of the saddest and the soundest of the Hebrew Rabbies w Rabbi Solomon in Eccl. the understanding may be dazled as well as the eye even in the best and they which think themselves wisest and would make the World believe they know most yet though we cannot alwayes discern it God is alwayes just in all his wayes and holy in all his works Where we understand not let us admire crying out with St. Chrisostome in an holy extasie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh the hight and the depth of the love of God c. This this is the Lords own doing and it is marvellous in our eyes and in the eyes of all that see it But least the Dialogue should think we had quite forgotten him we return again unto him finding him in the very same place where we left him who tells us that if Christ had stood a guilty person before God by his imputing our sins unto him he could not have bin a fit person in Gods esteem to perform the office of a Mediatour for our redemption We answer Qui benè distinguit c. and so distinguish between the guilt of commission and the guilt of obligation If he had in the least measure bin guilty in respect of commission he had not bin a fit person in relation to God if he had not bin guilty * Oblatus est pro peccatis non immerito peccatum factus dicitur c. Ambrosius in 2 Cor. 5. in respect of obligation he had not bin fit in relation to us God best knew what condition might render him most meet and most fitly qualifie him for the undertaking and performing of his Mediatorial office and therefore puts him into that capacity and condition by imputing the guilt of our sins unto him Before we passe any further who can forbid us that we may not marry these two together and make one entire proposition of them namely this That God did impute the guilt of our sins unto our innocent Saviour as unto our Pledge and Surety which indeed was the impulsive cause of all his sufferings being then thus joyned together by us and that without the help of a Justice of Peace We will by Gods assistance descend to a more particular confirmation hereof First from the passion and suffering of Christ being considered in himself as a most innocent and unblamable person without any the least tincture of sin or pollution from whence we argue thus whosoever is free from sin and yet neverthelesse is punished as one obnoxious to sin must needs have the guilt of others sins imputed to him * Christus peccatum quidem non fecit peccatum tamen pro nobis factus est Ipse etiâ—m qui in similitudinem hominum factus est habitu repertus est homo sine dubio pro peccato quod ex nobis susceperat quia peccata nostra portavit viculum immaculatum hoc est carnem in contaminatum obtulit hostiam Deo Origen homil 3. in Leviticum whereas saving Divine Justice no man can be molested afflicted or punished unlesse it be for his own proper sin or for the sin of some other imputed to him But the first is true of Christ our Saviour as we have plentifully proved already out of these several place Is 53. vers 4.5 also 2 Cor. 5.21 Therefore the latter The iniquities of us all did God make to meet upon him and by the reason thereof laid upon him also the punishment of those iniquities What other consequence can proceed from hence but that Christ seeing he could not be lyable to punishment for his own sin being free from all sin and every appearance of evil neither was there guile found in his lips for our sins being made subject to the same had the sins of others truly and indeed imputed to him The cause also of this imputation is just because Christ having taken the Mediatorital office upon himself by the joynt concurrence of his Father being willing freely and of his own accord to be deputed in our place and steed hence our sins were by right imputed to him after he became a Surety for us x Naemo quâ innocens puniri potest sed innocens quatenus reorum vas factus est omnino puniri potest docentum nomine pro quiby se sistit Essenius lib. 2. sect 3. cap. 1. de Satisfactione Christi In an obligation the debter and the bonds-man or Surety are reckoned and considered but as one person neither is it any injustice at all to require the debt of the one as well as the other seeing the one would freely and voluntarily engage for the other Yea more especially of the Surety when it manifestly appears as in our case it doth that the debter himself is no way
able to make satisfaction Christ therefore paid that which we did we as David himself speaking in the person of our Saviour y Psal 69.4 saith I restored that which I took not away or I payed that which I did not owe. Secondly from the manner of Gods dealing with Christ He which knew no sin saith St. Paul z 2 Cor. 5.21 did God make sin yea a curse a Gal. 3.13 for us So then the argument will lye thus He which was made sin and a curse for others must needs have the sins and guilt of others imputed to him But Christ was made sin and a curse for others Therefore must he of necessity have the sin and guilt of others imputed to him For the first namely that of the Apostle to the Corinthians we shall a little more fully expresse our selves concerning it For the latter we have no more at this time to say to it though much more might be spoken of it He was made sin saith the Apostle by sin whether we understand a sinner as some or a sacrifice for sin as others do earnestly contend to have it it is all to one purpose and come both to one passe For from both the Doctrine of imputation is inferred If a sacrifice for sin it is to free us If a sinner it was by reason of our guilt imputed to him and by God his Father laid upon him And therefore Chrysostome Theophilact and Oecumenius affirm that Christ was made sin not only in respect of those afflictions and that punishment which he suffered for our sins but also and especially in regard of imputation the guilt of our sins being charged on him Likewise St. Augustine b Enchiridion ad Laurentium Ipse peccatum nos justitia non nostra sed Dei non in nobis sed in ipso sicut ipse peccatum c. saith as we are made righteousness not ours but of God not in us but in him So he was made sin not his but ours not in him but in us and yet laid upon him by just imputation Hence it is that Christ is pleased to charge himself with our sins even after such a manner and upon such terms as if they were his own for so he calls them c Psal 69.5 my sins are not hid from thee So that Christ is made sin for us * Et si peccatum victima ex Hebraeorum idiotismo c. Tamen ratio Antithesis possit ut potius Christus dicatur factus esse peccatum pro nobis i. e. peccator non in se sed ex omnium peccatorum nostrorum reatu ipsi imputato Bez. in 2 Cor. 5. ult not only ratione nocumenti in regard of punishment undergoing those things which we should have suffered but principally and especially ratione culpae reatus in regard both of sin and guilt devolving them upon himself bearing them for us and in our steed Thirdly from the designation of the meritorious cause of Christ our Saviours passion for if our sins were the meritorious cause of his sufferings and he dyed by the merit thereof it must necessarily follow that our sins were imputed to him But the first is true because he dyed for sins and for iniquities Therefore the latter For the further confirmation whereof besides those places of Scripture formerly quoted by us the Reader may please to peruse those following Rom. 4.25 also cap. 8.3 with 1 Cor. 15.3 Heb. 10.25 all which necessarily conclude the same The Socinians do attempt to blow up this truth by laying their mine and making their assault against the Proposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for telling us our sins may be an occasion but not a cause not the impulsive cause of our Saviours sufferings But it is so apparent that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 joyned with an Accusative case as they who have not out-lived the memory of their rudiments know is by all Greek Authours both sacred and prophane a most usual note of the impulsive cause that the chiefest of them are ashamed to be seen in it or to appear against it onely some few underlings Novices in this Socinian heresie that they may seem to be some body among the ignorant have raised this dust on purpose which I am the rather induced to believe because the Dialogue doth passe it over in silence without taking the least notice at all of it Fourthly from the attribution of sin for whereas our sins and foolishnesses are ascribed to Christ that is those sins which proceed from folly and blindness of mind in us it cannot otherwise be but that all our other iniquities should be imputed to him also For these d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 really 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ by himself considered are no way suitable unto nor agreeable with him he being exempted from all sin Therefore our sins all our sins must needs be imputative ascribed to him * Despectus erat ignobilis quando pendebat in cruce factus pronobis maledictum peccata nostra portabat Chrysost in Isa cap. 53. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our Pledge and Surety take them upon himself For so in the Psalm before cited Christ thus expresseth himself to his Father Lord thou knowst my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee That the Messias our Mediatour doth speak in this Psalm the boldest and most daring Socinian hath not the front to deny if any of them should the greatness of the punishments vers 2. c. as also the cause and description of his reproach vers 8. c. would easily convince them which can truly be spoken of or safely applyed to none other but him together with drinking of Gall and Vinegar not a dose of Oximel sweet and sour but things sharp and bitter vers 22. the ensuing judgments upon the hard and obdurate Jews vers 23. Lastly the explication hereof in distinct parts in the New Testament do all stand forth and give a cleer evidence of the same and is with one consent allowed by Hilarius Athanasius Augustinus Cossiodorus Euthymius and all the Orthodox Fathers of the Church Hence therefore we conclude whosoever paying for or restoring that which another violently took away doth subject himself to most grievous pains complaining of his sins and foolishness being himself free from all manner of iniquity and transgression must needs have the sins foolishness and violence of others imputed to him which as his own he ascribeth and appropriateth to himself But Christ paying for that which others had violently taken away that is the honour due to the Majesty of God in disobeying his holy and just commands subjected himself to most grievous pains and doth miserably complain of his sins and offences being himself free from all sin and iniquity Therefore the sins of others that is of the Elect and their violence is imputed to him c. Lastly from the prefiguration of types cleerly manifested in the Levitical services
especially the 9th Chapter setteth forth most cleerly So then though the Socinians cannot find this word Satisfaction in their Bibles yet they may find that which is equivalent to it and is put for it as when the hurt or damage done to any one either by sin or other trespasse is truly and fully recompenced this is satisfaction h See Grotius de Satisfact Christi cap. 7.8 9 10. That this was performed by Christ and the Justice of God hereby appeased which we had provoked by our transgressions is manifest by those Testimonies formerly recited and by such expressions as are in Scripture frequently used Yet lest any should go away unsatisfied in this point of satisfaction as it is impossible to satisfie all God in his just judgment having sent abroad a Spirit of delusion there being multitudes that will sooner comply with an upstart and erroneous opinion upon the appearance of one single and single sole argument then embrace and cleave to a truth though confirmed by many strong and sinewy demonstrations evident and apparent probations out of the holy Scriptures even as one stroke will carry a man farther with the tide then five against it And therefore I have the lesse hope to prevail with many yet to satisfy the ingenuous and leave the rest without excuse I shall propose these ensuing arguments to the serious consideration of the unbiassed Reader The first of which we take from the meritorious cause of Christ his death Christ suffered and dyed for our sins whence we argue thus He that taking upon him our nature hath therein undergone all the sufferings which were due to the offenders and such as were guilty whose persons he represents So that his chastisements have ceased in the pacification of the Imponent his Sacrifice bin the expiation of all the offences his stripes have brought health and deliverance to the delinquent He hath truly and fully made satisfaction for them But Christ Jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-Man haâ—h suffered and undergone all these things as hath bin sufficiently proved already by many texts of holy Scripture Therefore he hath made full and perfect satisfaction Secondly from the expiation of our sins and that reconciliation he hath wrought between God and us who were as the Prophet speaketh i Isa 59.2 separated the one from the other so that from hence we thus argue If Christ hath pacifyed the wrath of God towards us which was exceedingly incensed against us by reason of those sins and transgressions which were committed by us so that now though before we stood condemned there is no condemnation at all to us He must needs satisfy Divine Justice which otherwise could not be appeased towards us But the former is true as we have already proved Therefore the latter Thirdly and lastly from that redemption which we have by Christ Christ hath redeemed us by his death So that we thus conclude wheresoever there is true redemption k Heb. 9.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which a certain price is paid l Matt. 10.28 and Mar. 10.45 1 Tim. 2.6 so that they for whom the price is paid by reason and in consideration thereof be freed and discharged from deserved bonds or punishment there also is true satisfaction But such is our redemption by Christ the true prise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 interveniente being laid down and accepted Therefore there is true and real satisfaction Besides he that was made sin for us m 2 Cor. 5.21 that we might be made the righteousness of God yea was made a curse for us n Gal. 3.13 thereby freeing us from the same hath truly fully satisfied for us But this was performed by Christ our Surety in our steed Therefore he hath fully satisfied the Justice of his Father for us Otherwise the Law was published to no purpose sentence denounced in vain against the violaters o Gen. 2.17 morte morieris thereof contrary to the immutability and unchangableness of God yea and sin would also remain unpunished contrary to his essential Justice Thus thou seest good Reader whether these blind guides would lead thee and to what a miserable estate they endeavour to bring thee robbing thee of the means and hopes of thy Salvation and leaving thee burdened with the heavy weight of thy sins which thou canst not bear and lyable to the full measure of Gods wrath which thou art not able to undergo If this be so we are of all men most miserable and farewell all happiness after this life Men may sing if they have any heart to it in this sad and desperate condition that old Epicurean ditty ede bibe lude c. Oh what madness doth possesse the souls of these men were they not as good deny the very death of Christ as deny the vertue power and efficacy of his death May they not as well say he dyed not as say he dyed thus thus to no purpose leaving us in our sins and the Justice of God altogether unsatisfied for us These men men said I Yea monsters rather sub specie veritatis veritatem vulnerant wound Truth in her own coat under pretence of defending the Mercy of God they deny his Justice But let these stand or fall to their own Master and seing that we have proved that Christ hath done and suffered these things for us let not the good and benefit thereof fall beside us Let us look at that with thankfull admiration which these heretical Blasphemers do load with scorn and derision Christ suffered for us not only nostra causa for our sake or nostro bono for our good but also nostra vice in our steed and nostro loco in our place He representing our persons in the similitude of sinfull flesh stood in our room taking those stripes upon him which would have dashed us to pieces by the vertue whereof we have our healing The curse of St. Paul will surely light upon such as preach to the people any other Doctrine nor can they expect a blessing that are reduced by it when as in these dayes they shall attempt it Thirdly concerning the nature of the Mediatorial obedience of Christ or the meritorious price of our redemption THE Dialogue having hitherto denied Christs suffering the wrath of God due to the Elect for their sins by way of satisfaction to Divine Justice as also the imputation of their sin unto Christ as their Surety though very immethodically and out of place preferring the effect before the cause lest he should fall into another foul absurdity in his reasoning that is to deny the subject of the question doth present us with a new thing of nothing in the steed thereof And because he hath prevailed with some and they perhaps such as vvill not give their heads for the vvashing it may be Masters in Israel to comply vvith him he expects the lâ—ke of all and therefore vvould have us follovv all that he proposes to us making no
Readers That opinion which taketh away the means by which God is revealed to be infinitely just merciful and wise making also the satisfaction of Christ and his perfect fulfilling of the Law a vain and needlesse thing is most heretical impious and blasphemons But this opinion takes away the means by which Gods Justice mercy and wisdome are revealed to be infinite makes Christs full and perfect satisfaction a vain superfluous and needlesse thing Therefore it is a most heretical impious and blasphemous opinion You will say this is a hard and a heavy charge but if I make it not plain and evident let me bear the blame among all judicious and understanding men for ever for which purpose and the better accomplishing hereof we will discend unto particulars First that which reveals God to be infinitely just is that he cannot be reconciled to men that have sinned against him and provoked his displeasure towards them without execution of his Justice * Ita offensi Patris sempiternam justiâ— am absolutissimae perfectionis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 miseris hominibus reconciliavit ut Deus Justitiae laudem in media misericordia non amitteret and a full satisfaction made according to the justness of his Law which he imposed on them If not by men in their own persons which is altogether impossible yet by their Mediator and Surety for them and in their behalf and so by him communicated to them and made theirs as truly and really as if they in their own persons had done fulfilled and satisfyed the same This is that means by which God is known to be infinitely just Secondly when Gods infinite Iustice was so strict that nothing could satisfy it or redeem man from the power of it but a price of infinite value laid down for him and when all the World was not able to find out such an unvaluable price or consideration Gods infinite wisdome having in her hand from all eternity for this very purpose this transcendent treasure this great and inestimable price did in due time shadowing it in the similitude of fraile and sinfull flesh deposite it for us making hereby full and real satisfaction for every one that shall by the hand of faith lay hold upon it and make a right application of it and this is that which reveals Gods infinite wisdome Thirdly in that God the Father would in this case and for this purpose give his own only begotten Son out of his bosome to be humbled in our nature to obey suffer and make full satisfaction for poor miserable men and in that the Son would willingly and of his own accord take this all this upon him to do and suffer whatsoever strict Iustice should require to condigne satisfaction and that when all this could not otherwise bring any profit or commodity to men that the holy Spirit of God should not disdain to take up his constant and continued habitation with men yea reside and dwell in them working in their hearts all grace needfull and necessary for them this is a plain and evident demonstration of Gods mercy infinite mercy manifested to those that were in the greatest misery yet all these means cleerly manifested and maintained by the Scriptures doth this wicked opinion of our Socinian Dialogue utterly overthrow if it were possible and take away leaving poor souls quite destitute of the principal means of their Salvation and therefore must needs be most heretical impious blasphemous Having thus briefly yet faithfully and fully I hope performed my undertaking I admonish all men in the fear of God as they tender his glory and the dear Salvation of their precious souls to take heed of this dangerous opinion least they be unawares deceived by it and the rather because Satan hath this advantage of us that he can transform himself into an Angel of light that thereby he may bring many into his Kingdome of darkness and many Emissaries of his are now abroad factoring in all places to enlarge that his hellish dominion clothing and triming strang Doctrines with strang words and expression an unusual dialect whereby those who are affected with novelties may be the easier allured and ensnared And therefore let every one take heed praemonitus praemunitus thou hast bin often told of these things so that I say unto thee again take heed least through thâ—â—r subtility and thine own weakness or willfulness thou be deceived to thy shame and sorrow here and thine eternal torment hereafter Fourthly concerning a sinners justification before God WE are now to have do with the great and weighty business of a sinners justification before God then which nothing is more necessary to be known or more comfortable to be believed and therefore the blessed Spirit by the Word and Ordinances doth teach every faithfull soul to believe and know that he being a sinner in himself and by sin obnoxious to eternal damnation is by the mercies of God in the merits of Christ by faith apprehended and applyed to his own soul not only freed from the guilt of his sins and the punishment due unto the same but also accepted as righteous before God in Christ and made heir of everlasting salvation This Doctrine so necessary and so full of comfort is strangly and strongly opposed by the Papists on the one side with whom our controversy is not at present by the Socinians on the other * Justificationem salutem per observantiam Legis praeceptorum Dei somniant Calovius de Socinianis Extra Christum ejusque mortem nos Salvari potuisse ideoque absolute necessariam non esse mortem Christi ad nostram justificationem affirmat Smalcius libro de satisfactione c. 10. p. 28. from whose calumnies and foul aspersions we shall endeavour to cleer it with the best abilities God hath afforded us Being then a controversy of such importance that it concerneth our very title to Heaven and everlasting happiness it is to be handled with all diligence and not without a more then ordinary invocation of the Spirit of Truth that he would lead us into all truth and guide us in setting down the same that God may have glory and poor souls may find comfort as also assist and strengthen us against all the Enemies hereof confirming and establishing us in the profession of the same For our more orderly proceeding herein we intend God willing to passe by these several steps or particulars First we shall shew what Justification is Secondly we shall declare the cause of it Thirdly we shall descend to the fruits and effects of it in some if not in the most of which we shall ever and anon have some skirmishing with the Enemy And lastly we shall conclude the whole and yet all with as much brevity as possibly we may We come to the first namely to shew the nature of Justification for the right understanding of the Word will very much help and further us that we may the better know what it is of
which we are to speak for which purpose neither Cicero Terence Caesar nor any of those who were the first and purest Authours of the Latine tongue were ever acquainted with this word Justificare which is now in use among us and with which at this time we have to do We must therefore seek farther and look higher if we mean to be truly certified hereof and fully satisfied herein Omitting then all others we will only pitch upon two places the one in the Old the other in the New-Testament as the aptest in my judgment of all other for this purpose The one that of the Wiseman e Prov. 17.15 He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are an abomination to the Lord Here is the Word it self and its opposite the Word it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying * Absolvere to absolve or free the opposite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 importing * Improbificare si ita liceret loqui i. e. condemnare ad supplicum tradere to condemne or to deliver over to just and condigne punishment They are both Judicial terms exercised or used in judgment holden on such weighty matters as touch the life or death of the person concerned or engaged The other answerable hereunto is that of St. Paul Rom. 8.33 where he propounds the question Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect and rather then we shall go away without an answer he himself as best able for to do it will furnish us Surely none None indeed can justly do it to which he adds a reason to the purpose For it is God that justifieth The Apostle in this place makes a bold challenge in the behalf of all the Elect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who can accuse them or call them into question or is there any thing that can be laid against them And yet we see they do not want accusers the Devil is ready at hand to do it the Law of Moses will do it yea rather then fail their own consciences will do it But what says the Apostle al this is to no purpose For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is God that justifies that is frees them from all these accusers and their accusations too yea absolves them from the guilt of sin not imputing it to them but imputing the righteousness which is by faith For the Apostle opposeth justification to condemnation here as Solomon also did before Even here also are two actions of judgment set before us The one charging a man with guilt or crime of which being justly convicted doth pronounce the sentence of the Law against him The other opposite to both these absolving and acquitting him from guilt and punishment doth declare and publish him to be just and righteous This is a matter of high concernment and to speak the very truth there cannot but be a great deal of difficulty in defining things of this nature We will not therefore trust to our selves or any abilities in us as thinking it sufficient to trade with our own stock in a business of so much consequence but will rather as the man of Macedonia call for help and see where or how we may best supply our selves And behold here is one at hand that is both able and willing to furnish us of whom we will make use at present for I suppose we cannot mend our selves look where we will with such a definition of Justification as may be justified in all the parts thereof which is this it is saith he an act of God whereby he acquitteth every penitent and believing sinner not imputing to him his sins but imputing to him the perfect satisfaction and righteousness of Christ There is not any part of this definition but is Scripture proof as we shall see God willing by degrees hereafter In the mean time having seen what is meant by the word Justification as also the nature and definition thereof we passe on to the next thing proposed by us namely the causes which as in all other things so in this are four to wit the Efficient Material Formal and Final The Efficient causes of a sinners Justification are of two sorts either principal or instrumental the principall is God both essentially the whole Trinity g Isa 43.25 Rom. 3.26 I even I am he that blot out thy transgressions and also personally The Father h Rom. 8.33 That He namely God the Father might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus The Son also testifieth this of himself i Matt. 9.6 saying the Son of man hath power to forgive sins and so to justifie these that were ungodly The Holy Ghost performeth this too k 1 Cor. 6.11 And such wretches by reason of iniquity were some of you even guilty of the same impieties but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of our â—ord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God For seeing this work is of that kind which by the Schools is termed ad extra an outward action of God it is common to all the three Persons And yet it is distinct too in regard of the order and manner of working as also the terms and limits of operation whence the Act of justifying is antonomastically ascribed to the Father the merit thereof to the Son and the application of this merit to the Holy Ghost So that God the Father justifieth as the primary cause and as being the Authour thereof God the Son as the meritorious cause and God the Holy Ghost as the cause applicatory and brought home to the justified persons conscience in the comfortable assurance thereof So that the whole amounts to thus much God the Father through the Son doth justifie us by the Holy Ghost The Father I say as the principal cause and that in two respects 1. In that he gave his only begotten Son for us and set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his bloud that all that believe in him should be justified as the Apostle witnesseth m Rom. 3.25 2. In that he absolveth those that so believe and pronounceth them just in Christ The Son as the Mediator and meritorious cause and that also in two respects 1. As he his our Surety who paid our debt our Redeemer who laid down the price of our redemption for us n Isa 53.11 affording unto us both the matter and the merit of our justification 2. As he is our Intercessor and Advocate to plead for us that his merits may be imputed to us For though the sufferings of Chrâ—st be a precious salve to cure our Souls yet we cannot look for healing by them unlesse they be applyed and though his righteousness be a wedding garment sufficient in it self to cover all our Spiritual nakedness yet will it not clothe us unlesse it be put on Therefore in the third place the Holy Ghost is said to justifie us because
silly shift is to no purpose Would the Dialogue bu undresse his brames take off and lay a side these and such like phanatick toyes that gingle about his understanding God might receive more glory the Church more peace himself more comfort others more benefit by or from the study and practise of those Truths which lend directly and necessarily to edification and salvation For fear this will not be we will leave wishing and woulding and return to the prosecution of the matter we have in hand We are justified by the perfect and compleat righteousness of Christ by which the Law is fulfilled the justice of God satisfied and we delivered from that wrath which we had deserved * Communis omnium nostrorum sententia neque quòd ad rem attinet quisquam è nostris aliter scripsit aut sensit all which we will wind up upon this one bottome and comprehend in this one argument By that righteousness we are justified by which the Law is fully satisfied By the righteousness of Christ the Law is fully satisfied Therefore by the righteousness of Christ are we justified For the proof of the Proposition three things are to be granted First that whosoever is justified is made just by some righteousness For to think that a man should be justified without any Justice is as absurd as to imagine a man to be clothed without rayment Secondly that all true righteousness is a conformity to the Law of God which is the perfect Rule of righteousness insomuch that what is not conformable to that Law is called and that justly to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sin Thirdly that there can be no justification without the Law be fulfilled * Christus induens nostram carnem nostro nomine perfectè praestitit legem either by our selves or some other for us For our Saviour Christ protested when he came to justifie and redeem us that he came not to break but to fulfill the Law * Tum demum redderetur inanis si illi non satisficeret vel per nos vel nostro nominae per alium atqui id per Christum est satisfactum qui non venit solvere sed implere Tossa pag. 26. and that not one jot or title of the Law should passe away without its due and true accomplishment These things thus premised being taken for granted the proposition is firm and undeniable The assumption is that by the righteousness of Christ the Law is fully satisfied For the cleering whereof we are to understand that to the full satisfying of the Law since the fall of Adam two things are necessarily required the one hath respect to the penalty to the suffering vvhereof sin hath made us lyable the other to the precept it self to the performing and compleating whereof the Law it self doth oblige us The former to free us from Hell and damnation the other to intitle us to Heaven and eternall salvation according to the Sanction of the Law if thou doest not that which is commanded thou art thereby accursed but if thou do then thou shall be saved In respect of the former the Law cannot be satisfied in the behalf of him who hath once transgressed it but by eternal punishment or that at least which is equivalent thereunto in respect of the latter it is not satisfied but by a total perfect and perpetual obedience Now our Saviour Christ hath fully satisfied the Law for all them that truly believe in him in both respects For he hath super-abundantly satisfied the penalty of the Law for us by his sufferings and death he hath likewise perfectly fulfilled the Law for us by performing all r ghteousness â—hat it even to the uttermost either did or could require So that by them both we are freely and fully justified being freed from Hell that place of torment by the one and entitled to Heaven that place of happiness by the other God in Christ esteeming and accounting a sinner as just d Deus in Christo peccatorem estimat acsi ipse omnia singula peregisset perpessus esset quae Christus utraque illâ obedientiâ suâ peregit perpessus est Bradshaw de Justific as if he had performed and endured all and every thing which Christ himself both by his active and passive obedience performed and endured The form of a sinners justification is the imputation of the righteousness of Christ because by imputing it the Lord doth justifie which was also expressed in the definition And this doth necessarily follow upon that which hath bin already said of the matter For it cannot be imagined that we should be justified by that righteousness of Christ which is out of us and in him otherwise then by imputation For as we were made sinners by Adams personal disobedience e Rom. 5.19 So are we made righteous by the obedience of Christ But how could we either be made sinners by Adams disobedience or justified by the obedience of Christ either active or passive unlesse they were communicated to us And how could that be but by imputation Downame f De Justific lib. 1. cap. 3. makes it cleer by another action not unlike unto it As when Rebeccah clothed her Son Jacob in the raiment of Esau her elder Son the matter of this action was that which did cloth him that is Esau's garment the form of that action was the applying of it unto him and the putting of it upon him So the Lord justifieth us by putting upon us the precious raiment of our elder brother Christ his righteousness in which we obtain the blessing Thus doth St. Ambrose g De Jacob vita beata also use this action for illustration of the form of our justification with divers others It is not unknown how stifly Socinus and his followers oppose this namely that imputation is the formal cause of a sinners justification and how directly they conclude against it that no imputation whatsoever Object 1 can be the form of justification and they give this for a reason because it is no righteousness whereas a form of justification must of necessity be a righteousness Righteousness imputed say they and our Dialogue is not much behind them is a righteousness but the imputation of righteousness cannot be righteousness To which we answer 1. It is true Answ righteousness must be to make one righteous but that is the matter imputation of it or it imputed is the form the introduction of this which is imputation hath the place of a form And 2. this introduction giveth denomination it is the constitution of a man righteous by applying to him that which he hath not in or of himself that is the righteousness of another Again say they if the righteousness of Christ be Object 2 the matter as we have declared and imputation thereof the form as we do affirm then one righteousness must be the form of another because the form must needs be a righteousness if the matter and
of an old Master who in his youth did wantonize in the rules of Logick and now is mad in the interpretation of the Scriptures who bearing himself up upon the wings of his supposed great ability and trusting too much to his own sufficiency doth earnestly content to have all yea the most deep mysteries of Faith and Religion to be measured and squared out by the rule of his reason and when as he seems to be ready to render a reason of all he himself saith Bernard presumes above reasons contrary to reason yea contrary to faith it self For what is more contrary to reason they by reason to endeavour to transced reason and what more contrary to faith then to be unwilling to believe what ever cannot be comprehended within the narrow bounds strait limits of humane reason So that the Court must have the attribute of the Queen that dwells in it the Queen the name of her Court Reason hath got the attribute of Religion and Religion in exchange the attribute and property of Reason But who can tell when this exchange was made What a lamentable weakness is this in man that he should build his eternal welfare on so sandy a foundation as the approbation of weak and pur-blind reason Likewise expounding that saying of the Wiseman * Pro. He that believeth maketh not hast saith thus lightly to believe is to make use of faith before or without reason Whereas Solomon in that place intends no such thing for he speaks not of faith in God but of that mutual-credulity and trust which we have in our dealings among our selves and one with another Thus we see they erre not knowing the Scriptures He wrote a book of the blessed Trinity in which he manifestly discovers that itch of wit with which he was so much troubled and with the very conceit of which he was many times so far transported out of or beyond himself and the limits of all true Christianity that he knew not either what he did or said Hear St. Bernard what he says concerning that work so highly commended by his Disciples and followers he maketh degrees in the Trinity measures in Majesty numbers in eternity He allowes God the Father all power the Son a certain kind of power limited and circumscribed according to his fancy but as for the Holy Ghost there 's none to spare for him he hath no power at all This is to be a Son to a Father as one power is subordinate to another as the Species to the Genus as homo to animal herein he scarce shews himself to be animal rationale to be able to judge oâ— hereticks that went before him but even following such blind guides must needs fall into the dirty ditch with them for is there not more then Arius here That book of hâ—s was found to be so sound and entire that it was condemned by the Belgick councell and according to order committed to the fire by the hands of the Authour himself afterwards he was forced not for his goodnes to retire himself into some solitary place where he lived solitary enough in respect of it self and yet sufficiently freguented by the continual concourse of Students and wise ones I warrant you who flocked thirther from all parts being drawn or rather seduced by the fame of his great learning Parturiunt montes c. but being come found no such great matter of admiration in hâ—m as Fame reported This place of his abode he first called the Trinity but for what reason I could never learne then changing the name he called it the Comforter for which he giveth this reason because saith he after all my trouble and molestation I have found quiet and comfort here which name continues unto this very day the place being called the Abby of the Comforter and indeed there cannot but be a great deal of comfort found in the place there was so much in the Master of it and in the Doctrine which he professed for what true comfort can be expected but by or from the Comforter himself which he could not have being under-valued and un-Goded by him He enveighed bitterly in many of his writings against the Doctrine of our redemption by Christ and that Satisfaction which was made and performed by him in our place and steed openly denying it and often protesting against it declaring the death of Christ to be to no other purpose then an example of constancy and an argument to move us to lone and honour Christ so much the more who was pleased to go before us in so uncouth a way leaving us the print of his foot-steps that we by the same way might follow after to the same glory where he sits ready to receive us This opinion of his concerning the end of Christs comming into the World together with his death and passion he expresseth in his own words thus that the Lord of glory should wholly empty himself that he should become lesse then the Angels that he should vouchsafe to be borne of a Woman that be should be conversant in the World that he should become weak in himself should suffer many indinities and reproaches from others and lastly by that base and ignominious death of the crosse should passe from this vale of misery to his ancient seat of glory is for no other end but to deliver unto men by so living and teaching such a form of life as may be acceptable unto God by suffering and dying to bequeath unto them an example of love and charity which we ought to practise if need so require one towards another Sure he never attained to so much charity from this great example as to practise it in himself towards any other whatsoever he thought it better as most in the World do to sleep quietly if it were possible in a whole skin But if this be all the cause for which Christ dyed then are we yet in our sins and the Lord have mercy upon us there is lesse comfort in this then if he had given us a thump on the back with a stone Bernard in his cxc 11. Epistle giveth us this description of him when he speaketh of the Trinity saith he you would judge him to be an Arian when of grace a Pelagian when a the person of Christ a Nestorian to which we add when he speaketh of the redemption which Christ wrought and satisfaction he made for us we may well take him to be a Socinian though this kind of denomination had not then a being So that we see he was a meer composition of heresies a man made up of dangerous and Devilish opinions which he endeavoured with all the art he had to publish with all the dexterity he could to set forth for his greatest advantage namely to court others to a liking and embracing of them He set forth many books by which he sowed abroad many heresies and got many followers among which was Arnold of Brixia as chief whom Bernard calls Abailardus
where having spent some time in observing the several sorts of Orders which were there he chose as being most and best affected with their manner and Discipline the order of the Fryer Dominickes according to whose rule he lived and conformed himself Yet did he not carry the matter so close nor live so regularly therein but that he gave to some it seems that had an eye over him a shrewd suspicion and jealousy of his wavering and incertainty in the faith In so much that he is delivered over to the Inquisitors and by them as who ever escaped their talons being once suspected and taken by them committed to prison out of which escaping he fled away secretly first into Germany to the Protestants with whom he lived for a time but likeâ—ng not the way of truth as children of darkness love not the light he forsook them and went into Poland to the Arians as they were then called to whose heresy he was so closely rivetted that he was never loosed from them to his dying day He that hath strayed into these thickets is so amazed with intricate circumnolutions that he can very hardly unwind himself ever after Now he passeth from thence to Moravia where he manifests his affection to these desperate opinions which he formerly entertained and digested Here he makes all ring again so that neither Scriptures Patriarchs Prophets Evangelists Apostles no nor Christ himself can be heard for him and his Socinians Pope Pius V. did his utmost endeavour to catch him in his traps which he had laid in several places and by several persons for him but while he lived he kept out of his clutches But Gregory the 13. by the means of Maximilian the 2. brought it to passe that being at dinner with some other company he was suddainly apprehended clapt up into a coach which stood ready provided for him was brought first to Vienna from thence to Rome where he was made sure enough for ever escaping again He was often examined by the Jesuites Magius and Bellarmine and being conuicted of Arianisme which it seems stuck closer to him then any other profession he was for the present doomed to the deep dungeon of the tower of Nonnana into which his hands feet and neck being laden with gyves and fetters he was miserably thrust down there to remain til farther order should be taken with him Where in the mean time he had divers exhortations and admonitions to forsake those damnable heresies into which he was fallen But continuing or rather encreasing in his former obstinacy being brought forth to the Chappel of St. John de Lateran according to the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome was first degraded then delivered over to the Secular Power and so condemned to the fire When he came to the place of execution and beheld the fire prepared for him with certain Sorcerers standing ready bound to their stakes which were to be burned with him he was so exceedingly terrified and wholly agast that he gave publick testimony of his willâ—ngness to retract and recant his errours if he might have liberty so to do Which being signified to the Pope he is repreived from the fire and brought back again In a place appointed for that purpose he makes his recantation renounces and forswears his errours and damnable heresies confessing that Jesus Christ is the very true and eternal Son of God We see that fire could extract from him a confession of that truth which before he denied The fear of death striketh us into such a dump that we are contented to do any thing rather then dye By the way what is it should make us so unwilling to dye seeing it is a debt we owe to nature and the payment thereof cannot be avoyded Is it the horrour of the pain that doth affright us Is if the fear and doubt of what shall become of us hereafter that doth terrify us Or is it the guilt of our misguided souls already condemning us by the pre-apprehension of a future punishment which waits upon us If death were alike terrible to all we might think there were something more in it then we can imagine But some men can look upon it when it comes wâ—thout any terrour at all though â—t set out in all it's pomp for to destroy them yea they long for it before it comes and sing St. Pauls cupio dissolvi desire to passe hence though it be in Elias fiery Charriot whereas others are stroke into such a tripidation with the very sight of it that they are at their wits end know not which way to turn themselves The cause of this difference is not in death but in our selves for death comes alike to all but finds not all alike when it comes Guilt of sin and fear of punishment here and hereafter may be cause why many labour to avoid it which might for the present as not being fully hardened in impiety move Palaeologus to desire mercy But now he comes to act his last part upon the Stage of this world and 't is a deadly one for remaining as yet in prison till he had given a further confirmation of his former recantation he most wretchedly hardens his heart insomuch as that God hardens it also and the Devil driving him on to a relapse into his former herisie which being openly manifested he is ipso facto condemned and by the fury of the flames wholly consumed This saith Raemundus is briefly the History of the unhappy life the heretical Religion and the deserved death of miserable Palaeologus Iâ— any man shall think the better of him or his Doctrine because he was condemned by the Church of Rome for an Heretick by whom all true Religion â—s accounted Heresie let him know 't is the cause and not the sufferings that make the Martyr though some are unjustly condemned by them yet this man for Heresie and that justly Iacobus Arminius Leydensis Professor Sampsonis vulpes Arminius atque Socinus Juncti per caudas ora diversa sua HEresie creeps in at a little hole but infects infests the whole house l ke a plague that comes in at the windows and then propagates it self beyond all measure And for that purpose the Divel raiseth up instruments in all places such who are so over-wise that the very curdle of their wit procures a breaking out into faction then grows to error and at last to some notorious and blasphemous Heresie Cum discipuli veritatis non erunt magistri erroris sunt Refusing to be schollars of Truth they become Masters of errors They must be Masters though it be of the black Art And such an one was this James Arminius once Divinity Reader in the University of Leyden who having had some familiarity either with the men of whom we have already spoken or their works did very much favour this Socinian heresie He did first secretly teach and subtilly instil it into the ears and hearts of many of his Discâ—ples and afterwards did opâ—nly pâ—ofess it as we