so plainly that the force of them is not to be avoided without the most shameful wresting and perverting of them This is my commandment says our Saviour that ye love one another as I have loved you How is that he declares in the next words Greater love than this hath no man that a man lay down his life for his friend that is that he be contented to die in his stead And to the same purpose St. Paul For when ye were yet Sinners in due time Christ dyed for the ungodly Now the question is whether by this expression of Christ's dying for the ungodly be meant only his dying for the benefit and advantage of Sinners but not his dying in their stead This let the words which immediately follow determine For scarcely for a righteous man will one dye yet peradventure for a good man one would even dare to dye But God commendeth his love to us in that whilst we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us And now I appeal to any man of good sense whether it be not plain that the Apostle here speaks of Christ's dying for Sinners in the same sense as one man is said to dye for another that is to save another from death which what is it else but to dye in his stead He that can deny this is perverse to the highest degree and I fear almost beyond the possibility of being convinced And the Argument from these two Texts is so much the stronger because we do not here reason merely from the phrase and expression but from the main Scope of our Saviour's discourse in the one and of St. Paul's in the other For the design of both is to recommend the superlative love of Christ to us above the greatest love that ever any man express'd to another The highest pitch that human affection did ever rise to was for a man to lay down his life for his Friend but the Son of God laid down his life for his Enemies Scarcely says St. Paul would one lay down his life for a righteous man that is for one who is but strictly just and honest and does no body wrong but for a good man that is for-one that is kind and beneficial to all and hath obliged Mankind by great Benefits some one may be found that would lay down his life to save the life of such a Person But the love of Christ hath gone far beyond this He dyed for Sinners for those who were neither good men nor righteous But God commendeth his love to us in that whilst we were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us Now where doth the force of this Argument lye if not in this that Christ hath done that for us who were Enemies and Sinners which some very few persons in the World have done for their Friend or for some very eminently good man And what is that Why they have laid down their lives in their stead And so Christ hath done for us This seems to be so very plain that I do not see how the force of this Argument is possible to be avoided It is evident then from Scripture that Christ dyed not only for our advantage but in our stead as truly and really as any man ever did or can dye for another who lays down his own life to save another from death For if Christ had not dyed we had perished everlastingly and because he dyed we are saved from eternal Death and misery And though this be no where in Scripture spoken of by the name or term of Satisfaction yet it is said to be the price of our Redemption which surely is the same thing in effect with Satisfaction For as we are Sinners we are liable and as I may say indebted to the Justice of God And the Son of God by his Death and Sufferings in our Nature hath discharged this obligation and paid this debt for us Which discharge since it was obtained for us by the shedding of Christ's Blood and the Scripture tells us that without shedding of blood there is no remission of Sins And since God is graciously pleased to accept of it for the Debt which we owed to his Justice and to declare himself fully pleased and contented with it why it may not properly enough be called payment or satisfaction I confess I am not able to understand Men may eternally wrangle about any thing but what a frivolous contention what a trifling in serious matters what barretrie in Divinity is this Not that God was angry with his Son when he thus laid on him the iniquities of us all No he was always well pleased with him and never better than when he became obedient to the Death even the Death of the Cross and bore our Sins in his own body on the Tree Nor yet that our Saviour suffered the very same that the Sinner should have suffered namely the proper Pains and Torment of the Damned But that his Obedience and Sufferings were of that value and esteem with God and his voluntary Sacrifice of himself so well-pleasing to him that he thereupon entred into a Covenant of Grace and Mercy with Mankind wherein he hath engaged himself to forgive the Sins of those who believe and repent and to make them partakers of eternal life And hence the Blood of Christ which was shed for us upon the Cross is called the Blood of the Covenant as being the Sanction of that New Covenant into which God is entred with Mankind And not only the Sanction and confirmation of that Covenant but the very Foundation of it For which reason the Cup in the Lord's Supper is called the New Testament or as the word should rather be rendred the New Covenant in his Blood which was shed for many for the remission of Sins I proceed now to the II d. Thing propounded which was to shew that the Expiation of our Sins was made by the Sufferings of Christ from the nature and intention of Expiatory Sacrifices both among the Jews and Heathen to which the Death of Christ is in the New Testament so frequently compared and in point of vertue and efficacy to take away Sin infinitely preferr'd to it Now the nature and design of Expiatory Sacrifices was plainly this To substitute one Living Creature to suffer and die instead of another so that what the Sinner deserved to have suffered was supposed to be done to the Sacrifice that is it was slain to make an atonement for the Sinner And though there was no reason to hope for any such effect from the Blood of Bulls or of Goats or of any other Living Creatures that were wont to be offered up in Sacrifice yet that both Jews and Heathen did expect and hope for it is so very evident that it cannot without extreme Ignorance or Obstinacy be deny'd But this expectation how unreasonable soever plainly shews it to have been the common Apprehension of Mankind in all Ages that God would not be appeased nor should Sin be pardoned
without Suffering But yet so that men generally conceived good hopes that upon the Repentance of Sinners God would accept of a vicarious punishment that is of the Suffering of some other in their stead And very probably as I said before in complyance with this Apprehension of Mankind and in condescension to it as well as for other weighty Reasons best known to the Divine Wisdom God was pleased to find out such a Sacrifice as should really and effectually procure for them that great Blessing of the Forgiveness of Sins which they had so long hoped for from the multitude of their own Sacrifices And the Apostle to the Hebrews doth in a large Discourse shew the great vertue and efficacy of the Sacrifice of Christ to the purpose of Remission of Sins above that of the Sacrifices under the Law And that the Death of Christ is really and effectually to our advantage all that which the Sacrifices under the Law were supposed to be to the Sinner But now once saith the Apostle here in the Text in the end of the World hath he appeared to take away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself This is the great vertue and efficacy of the Sacrifice of Christ that what ever was expected from any other Sacrifices either by Jews or Heathens was really effected by this This was plainly signified by the Jewish Passover wherein the Lamb was slain and the Sinner did escape and was pass'd by In allusion whereto St. Paul makes no scruple to call Christ our Passover or Paschal Lamb who was slain that we might escape Christ our Passover says he is slain or offer'd for us that is He by the gracious appointment of God was substituted to suffer all that in our stead which the Paschal Lamb was supposed to suffer for the Sinner And this was likewise signified by the Sinners laying his hand upon the Sacrifice that was to be slain thereby as it were transferring the punishment which was due to himself upon the Sacrifice that was to be slain and offered up For so God tells Moses that the Sinner who came to offer an Expiatory Sacrifice should do He shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering and it shall be accepted for him to make an Atonement for him And the Apostle tells us that it was an established Principle in the Jewish Religion that without shedding of blood there was no remission of Sins Which plainly shews that they expected this Benefit of the Remission of Sins from the Blood of their Sacrifices And then he tells us that we are really made partakers of this Benefit by the Blood of Christ and by the vertue of his Sacrifice And again Christ says he was once offer'd to bear the Sins of many plainly alluding to the Sacrifices under the Law which did as it were bear the faults of the Sinner And that this expression of Christ's being offer'd to bear our Sins cannot be meant of his taking away our Sins by his holy Doctrine which was confirmed by his Death but of his bearing our Sins by way of imputation and by his suffering for them in our stead as the Sacrifice was supposed to do for the Sinner This I say is evident beyond all denial from the opposition which follows after the Text between his first Appearance and his second Christ says our Apostle was once offered to bear our Sins but unto them that look for him he shall appear a second time without Sin unto Salvation Why Did he not appear the first time without Sin Yes certainly as to any inherent guilt for the Scripture tells us he had no Sin What then is the meaning of the opposition That at his first Coming he bore our Sins but at his second Coming he shall appear without Sin unto Salvation These words can have no other imaginable sense but this that at his first Coming he sustained the Person of a Sinner and suffered instead of us but his second Coming shall be upon another account and he shall appear without Sin unto Salvation that is not as a Sacrifice but as a Judge to conferr the Reward of Eternal Life upon those who are partakers of the benefit of that Sacrifice which he offered to God for us in the dayes of his Flesh I proceed to the III. III d. Thing I proposed and which yet remains to be spoken to namely to vindicate this Method and Dispensation of the Divine Wisdom from the Objections which are brought against it and to shew that there is nothing in it that is unreasonable or any wise unworthy of God I shall mention four Objections which are commonly urged in this matter and I think they are all that are considerable First That this Method of the Expiation of Sin by the Sufferings of Christ seems to argue some defect and want of Goodness in God as if he needed some external Motive and were not of himself disposed to forgive Sinners To which I think the Answer is not difficult namely that God did not want Goodness to have forgiven Sin freely and without any Satisfaction but his Wisdom did not think it meet to give encouragement to Sin by too easy a forgiveness and without some remarkable testimony of his severe displeasure against it And therefore his greater Goodness and Compassion to Mankind devised this way to save the Sinner without giving the least countenance and encouragement to Sin For God to think of saving us any way was excessive Goodness and Mercy but to think of doing it in this way by substituting his dearly beloved Son to suffer in our stead is a Condescension so very amazing that if God had not been pleased of his own Goodness to stoop to it it had almost been Blasphemy in Man to have thought of it or desired it Secondly How can our Sins be said to have been forgiven freely if the Pardon of them was purchased at so dear a rate and so mighty a Price was paid for it In Answer to this I desire these two things may be considered 1 st That it is a wonderfull grace and favour of God to admit of this translation of the Punishment which was due to us and to accept of the Sufferings of another in our stead and for our benefit when he might justly have exacted it of us in our own Persons So that even in this respect we are as St. Paul says justified freely by his grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ And freely too in respect of any necessity that lay upon God to forgive us in this or any other way It was a free act of his Goodness to save us even by the Satisfaction and Sufferings of his own Son 2 ly It was in effect freely too notwithstanding the mighty Price which was paid for our Redemption Because this Price was not of our own procuring but of God's providing He found out this Ransom for us And will any man say that a Prince who prevails with his
Apostle to the Hebrews doth very particularly insist upon this condescension of God to them in the Dispensation of the Gospel and whereas they apprehended so great a necessity of an High-Priest and of Sacrifices to make expiation for the sins of the People that it was an established Principle among them that without shedding of blood there was no remission of Sins God was pleased to comply so far with these Notions and Apprehensions of theirs as to make his own Son both a Priest and a Sacrifice to do that once for all which their own High-Priest pretended to do year by year And from hence the same Apostle takes occasion to recommend to them the new Covenant and Dispensation of the Gospel as having a greater and more perfect High-Priest and a more excellent Sacrifice than were the High-Priests and the Sacrifices under the Law the Son of God having by one Sacrifice of himself obtained eternal Redemption for us and perfected for ever them that are sanctified And this Apprehension prevailed no less in the Heathen World and proceeded to the Sacrifices of Men even of their first-born And with this Apprehension not to countenance but to abolish it God was pleased to comply so far as to make a general Atonement for the Sins of Mankind by the Death of his Son appearing in our Nature to become a voluntary Sacrifice for us God permitting him to be unjustly put to death and his blood to be shed by the malice of men in appearance as a Malefactor but in truth as a Martyr and accepting of his Death as a meritorious Sacrifice and propitiation for the Sins of the whole World That by this wise counsel and permission of his Providence he might for ever put an end to that barbarous and inhuman way of serving God which had been so long in use and practice among them The Son of God by the voluntary Sacrifice of himself having effected all that at once and for ever which Mankind from the beginning of the World had in vain been endeavouring to accomplish by innumerable and continual Sacrifices namely the pardon of their Sins and perfect peace and reconciliation with God For these Ends and Reasons and perhaps for many more as great and considerable as these which our shallow understandings are not able to fathom the Wisdom of God hath pitched upon this way and method of delivering Mankind from the guilt and dominion of Sin by the Sacrifice of his Son And to this end it was requisite that he should appear in our Nature and dwell amongst us for some considerable time that by a long course of the greatest Innocency and of the greatest Sufferings in our Nature he might be capable of making a perfect expiation of Sin So that two things were requisite to qualify him for this purpose perfect Innocency and Obedience and great Sufferings in our Nature even to the suffering of Death Both these the Scripture declares to be necessary qualifications of a Person capable to make expiation of Sin and both these were found in the Person of our B. Saviour First unspotted Innocency and perfect Obedience This the Scripture testifies concerning Him and the whole course of his Life and actions He was in all points tempted like as we are yet without Sin saith the Apostle to the Hebrews He always did the things which pleased God as He testifies concerning himself and we are sure that his witness is true He did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth as St. Peter tells us of Him And this was necessary to qualify him for the perfect expiation of Sin whether we consider Him as a Priest or as a Sacrifice As a Priest he could not have been fit to make expiation for the Sins of others had he not been without sin himself And this the Apostle tells us is one great Advantage of our High-Priest under the Gospel above the High-Priest under the Law who being a Sinner himself as well as those for whom he offer'd had need to offer for himself before he could make so much as a Legal expiation for the Sins of others But a perfect and effectual expiation of Sin so as to purge the conscience from the guilt of it cannot be made but by an High Priest who is holy and innocent himself For such an High-Priest saith the Apostle became us that is now under the Dispensation of the Gospel when a perfect expiation of Sins is to be made such an High-Priest is necessary as is holy harmless undefiled separate from Sinners who needs not as those High-Priests that is as the High-Priests under the Law to offer up sacrifice first for his own Sins and then for the People The plain force of which Argument is this that he who will be qualified to make atonement for the Sins of others must be without Sin himself And then if we consider Christ as a Sacrifice for Sin perfect holiness is necessary to make a Sacrifice acceptable and available for the expiation of Sin The necessity of this was typified by the quality of the expiatory Sacrifices under the Law the Beasts that were to be offered were to be without spot and blemish To which the Apostle alludes speaking of the quality and efficacy of the Sacrifice of Christ How much more says he shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God And to the same purpose St. Peter Forasmuch as ye know ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot hereby intimating that nothing less than the perfect innocency and holiness of him who was to be a Sacrifice for us could have expiated the guilt of our sins and purchased eternal Redemption for us Secondly great Sufferings likewise in our Nature even to the suffering of Death were requisite to the perfect expiation of Sin I say even to the suffering of Death For the Sacrifices which were to make expiation were to be slain And it was a constant Maxime and Principle among the Jews and the Apostle more than once in this Epistle seems to allow and confirm it that without shedding of blood there was no remission of Sins Not that God could not have pardoned Sin without satisfaction made to his Justice either by the suffering of the Sinner himself or of a Sacrifice in his stead But according to the method and Dispensation which the Wisdom of God had pitched upon he was resolved not to dispense Forgiveness in any other way For which reason he seems either to have possess'd Mankind with this Principle or to have permitted them to be so perswaded that Sin was not to be expiated but by Blood that is either by Death of the Sinner or of the Sacrifice Now the Life of our B. Saviour as well as his Death was made up
of Sufferings of one kind or other Continual Sufferings from his Cradle to his Cross from the time he drew his first breath to his giving up of the ghost And not only continual Sufferings but the greatest that ever were considering the Dignity of the Person that suffered and the nature of the Sufferings Considering likewise that these Sufferings were not only wholly undeserved on his part but unmerited also on ours for whose sake he submitted himself to them Nay on the contrary he had obliged to the utmost those for whom and by whom he suffered and continued still to oblige them by the greatest Blessings and Benefits purchased and procured for them by those very Sufferings which with so much Malice and Cruelty they inflicted on him Had our B. Saviour been a mere Man the perfect Innocency and unspotted Purity of his whole Life his Zeal to do the Will of God and his delight in doing it his infinite pains and unwearied diligence in going about doing good His constant Obedience to God in the most difficult Instances and his perseverance in well doing notwithstanding the ill usage and hard measure the bitter Reproaches and Persecutions he met withal for it from a wicked and ill natured World His perfect submission to the Will of God his invincible Patience under the greatest and bitterest Sufferings and his infinite Charity to his Enemies and Persecutors These must needs be highly acceptable to God and if Man could merit of God likely enough to be available for the Sins of others But our Saviour and our Sacrifice being the Son of God in our Nature and He voluntarily assuming it and submitting to the condition of Humanity in its lowest and most miserable state Sin only excepted and his being contented to live a Life of doing good and suffering evil and at last to be put to Death and slain a Sacrifice for us The Dignity of the Person who did and suffered all this for us and his dearness to God must needs add a mighty value to so perfect an Obedience and such patient Sufferings so as to render them a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice oblation and satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World And all this being willingly performed in our Nature and accepted by God as done upon our account may reasonably be presumed to redound to our benefit and advantage as much as if we our selves had performed it in our own persons Nothing being so proper and so available to make an honourable amends and satisfaction to the Justice of God for the Sins of all Mankind as the voluntary Obedience and Sufferings of Human Nature in a Person of so great Dignity and dearness to God as his eternal and entirely beloved Son Now that Expiation of Sin was made by the Sufferings of Christ in our stead I shall endeavour to make good these three ways First from plain Testimonies of H. Scripture declaring this matter to us as clearly and fully as it is possible for words to do it Secondly from the nature and intention of Expiatory Sacrifices both among the Jews and Heathen to which the Death of Christ is in the New Testament so frequently compared and in point of vertue and efficacy to take away Sin infinitely preferred to it Thirdly by vindicating this Method and Dispensation of the Divine Wisdom from the Objections which are brought against it and by shewing that there is nothing in it that is unreasonable or any wise unworthy of God I. I. I shall produce some plain Testimonies of H. Scripture which declare this matter as clearly and fully as it is possible for words to do it namely that the Son of God in order to the effectual Expiation of Sin suffered in our stead and bore the wrath of God for us and made a perfect Atonement for Sin and obtained eternal Redemption for us This the Scripture declares to us in great variety of expressions as that Christ dyed for us and for our Sins that he was a Sacrifice for us and a propitiation for the Sins of the whole World that is of all Mankind that he bare our Sins in his own body on the Tree and appeared to take away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself that we are justified in his blood and redeemed by the price of it and in very many other expressions to the same purpose And this is so evidently the scope and meaning of these Expressions that it cannot be denied without offering the greatest violence imaginable to the H. Scriptures For can any man think that God would have used so many expressions in Scripture the plain and most obvious sense of all which is that the Son of God suffered for our Sins and in our stead if this had not been his design and meaning Would not this be in effect to say that God hath written a great Book to puzzle and confound but not to instruct and teach Mankind I will at present single out some few of those many Texts of Scripture which might be produced to this purpose He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that is he hath made him who had no sin himself a Sacrifice for our sins Again and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God St. Peter to the same purpose tells us that Christ also hath once suffered for Sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh Here Christ is said to have suffered for Sin and to declare that the Apostle did not only mean that Christ suffered upon the occasion of our Sins but that he suffered in the place and stead of the Sinner he adds the just for the unjust that is the Son of God who was innocent and had no Sin suffered for us who were Sinners or as it is elsewhere express'd he bare our sins in his own body on the Tree It is true indeed that Christ suffered for our benefit and advantage which the Socinians would have to be all that is meant in the Texts which I have cited But then it ought to be considered that Christ's suffering for our benefit and advantage does by no means exclude nor is any wise inconsistent with his suffering in our stead For whoever suffers in another man's stead and to save him from suffering does undoubtedly suffer for his benefit and advantage and gives the best demonstration of it that can be But the manner of the expression if compared with other parallel Texts of Scripture and especially with what is so often said of our Saviour's being a Sacrifice which I shall have occasion further to urge by and by I say the manner of the expression if well considered will appear to any man that is not contentious to signify our Saviour's suffering instead of the Sinner But not to argue from words and phrases I will produce two Texts which declare this matter
of God being made a Sacrifice for us and exposed to such bitter Sufferings and so cruel a Death for the Expiation of our Sins should create in us the greatest dread and detestation of Sin and for ever deterr us from all wilfull transgression and disobedience For if the guilt of our Sins was done away upon such hard terms and cost the dearly beloved Son of God so much sweat and blood then surely we ought to take great heed how by our renewed Provocations we renew his Passion and do what in us lies to crucifie to our selves the Son of God afresh and to put him to an open shame If God did so terribly afflict the dearly beloved of his Soul for our sakes if the Son of God was so grievously wounded for our transgressions and so sorely bruised for our iniquities If so fearfull a Storm of Vengeance fell upon the most innocent Person that ever was for our Sins then we have reason to take that kind and mercifull admonition of the Son of God to Sinners to sin no more lest a worse thing if it be possible come upon our selves In this Dispensation of God's Grace and Mercy to Mankind by the Death of his Son God seems to have gone to the very extremity of things and almost further than Goodness and Justice will well admit to afflict Innocency it self to save the Guilty And if herein God hath expressed his hatred of Sin in such a wonderfull way of love and kindness to the Sons of Men as looks almost like hatred of Innocency and his own Son This ought in all ingenuity and gratitude to our gracious Redeemer who was made a curse for us and loved us to that degree as to wash us from our Sins in his own Blood I say This ought to beget in us a greater displeasure against Sin and a more perfect detestation of it than if we had suffered the punishment due to it in our own Persons For in this Case we could only have been displeased at our Selves and our Sins as the just Cause of our Sufferings but in the other we ought to hate Sin as the unhappy Occasion of the saddest Misfortune and sorest Calamities to the best Man that ever was and to our best Friend for our Sins and for our Sakes Since then the Son of God hath so graciously condescended to be made in all things like unto us Sin only excepted let us aspire as much as is possible to become like to Him Above all let us hate and avoid Sin as the only thing in which the Son of God would have no part with us though he was contented to suffer such bitter things to save us from the Defilement and Dominion of it from the Punishment and all the dismal consequences of it He had no Sin but God was pleased to lay upon him the iniquities of us all and to make his Soul an offering for Sin and to permit all that to be done to Him which was due to us He was contented to be sacrificed once for all Mankind that men might for ever cease from that inhuman and ineffectual way of sacrificing one another whereby instead of expiating their guilt they did inflame it and by thinking to make Atonement for their Sins they did in truth add to the number and heinousness of them And let us likewise learn from this admirable Pattern to pity those that are in misery as Christ also hath pitied us and to save them that are ready to perish for His sake who came to seek and to save us that were lost Let us upon all occasions be ready to open our bowels of Compassion towards the Poor in a thankfull imitation of his Grace and Goodness who for our sakes chose to be a Beggar that we for his sake might not despise the Poor but might have a tender regard and compassion to those whose Condition in this World does so nearly resemble that in which the Son of God thought it fittest for him to appear when he was pleased to become Man In a word Let us in the whole course and in all the actions of our lives shew forth the Vertues of Him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light and hath raised up a mighty Salvation for us that being delivered from all our spiritual Enemies from Sin and all the Powers of darkness we might serve him who hath saved us walking in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our lives Now To him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb that was slain To God even our Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ the first-begotten from the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth Unto Him who hath loved us and washed from our Sins in his own Blood and whilst we were Enemies to Him loved us at such a rate as never any man did his Friend To Him who became Man that he might bring us to God and assumed our frail and mortal Nature that he might cloath us with Immortality and Life To Him who was pleased to dwell and live amongst us that He might teach us how to live To Him who dyed for our Sins and rose again for our Justification and lives for ever to make Intercession for us To Him be Glory and Dominion Thanksgiving and Praise to eternal Ages Amen FINIS Joh. 3. 16. Heb. 4. 15. Joh. 8. 29. 1 Pet. 2. 22. Heb. 7. 26 27. Heb. 9. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. 2 Cor. 5. 21. Eph. 5. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 18. Joh. 15. 12. V. 13. Rom. 6. 6 7 8 1 Cor. 5. 7. Lev. 1. 4. Heb. 9. 28. v. 28. Obj. 1st Obj. 2d Obj. 3d. Obj. 4th