3 That as the making out of all spiritual blessings first purposed by the Father then purchased by the Son that they might be bestowed Condecently to divine Justice God hath reserved it to his own Sovereign disposal That it be done so that they for whom this whole Dispensation is appointed may really enjoy the Fruits of it is all that necessarily is included either in the Purpose or Purchase Hence it is that the discharge of the Debtor doth not immediately follow the Payment of the Debt by Christ not because that Payment is refusable but because in that very Covenant and Compact from whence it is that the Death of Christ is a Payment God reserveth to himself this Right and Liberty to discharge the Debtor when and how he pleaseth I mean as to Times and Seasons for otherwise the means of actual freedom is procured by that Payment though not considered meerly as a Payment which denotes only Satisfaction but as it had adjoyned Merit also Therefore that Principle much used and rested on by Mr Baxter in the Business of Satisfaction to obviate this very difficulty of a not immediate discharge if Christ paid the Debt viz. That the Satisfaction of Christ is a refusable Payment which he presseth Page 149 150. is neither true in it self nor accommodate to this difficulty 1 Not True For The Suffering of CHRIST may be Considered either 1 Absolutely as in it self abstracting from the Consideration of any Covenant or Compact thereabout and so it cannot be said to be a refusable Payment not because not refusable but because no Payment That any thing should have any such reference unto God as a Payment or Satisfaction whether refusable or otherwise is not from its self and its own nature but from the Constitution of God alone Between God and the Creature there is no Equality not so much as of Proportion Christ in Respect of his Humane Nature though United to the Deity is a Creature and so could not absolutly satisfie or merit any thing at the hand of God I mean with that kind of merit which ariseth from an absolute Proportion of things This Merit can be found only among Creatures and the Advancement of Christs Humanity takes it not out of that Number Neither in this sense can any Satisfaction be made to God for sin The Sinners own undergoing the Penalty neither is Satisfaction in the sense whereof we speak neither can it properly be said to be so at all no more then a thing to be done which is Endlessly in doing 2 It may be Considered with Reference unto Gods Constitution and Determinatiou Predestmating Christ unto that Work and appointing the Work by him to be accomplished to be satisfactory equaling by that Constitution the End and the Means And thus the Satisfaction of Christ in the Justice of God was not refusable the Wisdom Truth Justice and suitable Purpose of God being engaged to the Contrary 2 This distinction is not accommodate to this difficulty the sole Reason thereof being what was held out before of the Interest of Gods Sovereign Right to the bestowing of Purposed Purchased Promised Blessings as to Times and Seasons according to the free Councel of his own Will 3 Hence then it is That God in the Scripture upon the Death of Christ is said to be reconciled to be returned unto Peace with them for whom he so died the Enmity being slain and peace actually made Ephes. 2. 14 15 16. Collos. 1. 20. because he now will and may suitablely to his Justice Wisdome and Appointment make out unto them for whom the Atonement was made all fruits of Love Peace and Amity Heb. 2. 17. Rom. 5. 10 11. 2 Cor. 5. 19. The OBJECTION unto this How then can God deny us the present Possession of Heaven used by Mr Baxter Page 157. is not of any force the whole disposal of these Things being left to his own pleasure And this is the SCHEME which upon the Death of CHRIST we assigne unto God He is atoned appeased actually reconciled at peace with those for whom Christ died and in due time for his sake will bestow upon them all the Fruits and Issues of Love and renewed Friendship This possibly may give some light into the immediate Effect of the DEATH of CHRIST which though I shall not purposely now handle yet Mr Baxter with much diligence having employed himself in the Investigation thereof I shall turn aside a little to Consider his ASSERTIONS in this Particular CAP. IX A Degression concerning the Immediate Effect of the Death of Christ IT is one of the greatest and noblest Questions in our Controverted Divinity What are the immediate Effects of Christs Death He that can rightly Answer this is a Divine indeed and by help of this may expedite most other Controversies about Redemption and Justification In a word The Effects of Redemption undertaken could not be upon a Subject not yet existent and so no Subject though it might be for them None but Adam and Eve were then Existent Yet as soon as we do Exist we receive benefit from it The suspending of the rigorous execution of the Sentence of the Law is the most observable immediate Effect of the Death of Christ which suspension is some kind of Deliverance from it Thus far Mr Baxter Thess. 9. Explicat pag. 67. There are scarce more lines then mistakes in this Discourse Some of them may be touched on 1 Effects are to be Considered with Respect to their Causes Causes are Real or Moral Real or Physical Causes produce their Effects immediately either Immediatione suppositi or Virtutis Unto them the subject must be Existent I speak not of creating power where the Act produceth its Object Moral Causes do never immediately acting their own Effects nor have any immediate influence into them There is between such Causes and their Effects the intervention of some 3d Thing previous to them both viz. Proportion Constitution Law Covenant which takes in the Cause and lets out the Effect And this for all Circumstances of where how when suitable to the limitations in them expressed or implyed with the Nature of the things themselves The Death of Christ is a Moral Cause in respect of all its Effects Whether those subjects on which it is to have its Effects be Existent or not Existent at the time of its performance is nothing at all considerable If it wrought Physically and Efficiently the Existence of the Subjects on which it were to work were requisite It is altogether in vain to enquire of the immediate Effects of Christs Death upon an Existent subject By the way That Adam and Eve only were Existent when Christ undertook the work of Redemption to me is not cleer no nor yet the following Assertion That as soon as we do Exist we receive Benefit by it taking benefit for a benefit actually collated as Mr Baxter doth not for a right to a benefit or the purpose of bestowing one which will Operate
I any Reason to expect from the great endeavours which are entring the City of God with Io Triumphs any thing beyond fruitlesse Attempts to varnish over with plausible appearances formerly decryed Invectives and Reasonings whose Deformity and Nakedness have been often discovered to the lothing of them by the Saints of God so I no way doubt but that the Lord whose Truth is precious to him will continue to powre out from the rich Provision which he hath made for the use of his Church and laid it up in the Lord Jesus sutable Gifts and Abilities against all Opposition whereunto by the Craft of Satan it is exposed I shall say no more though Occasion be administred to deplore that successe which the spirit of Seduction that is gone out in this hour of Temptation hath had in prevaising upon them that live in the Earth to turn away their minds from sound Doctrine and the forme of wholsome words Only I desire to Commend the Reader unto those two Apostolical Cautions one 1 Tim. 1. 18 19. the other 1 Tim. 6. 20. and to Commit him to the Grace of God May 15th J. O. OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST CAP. I. The Occasion of this DISCOVRSE with the Intendment of the whole A Few words will briefly acquaint the Reader with the Occasion of this Discourse ensuing It is now about 2 yeers since I Published a Treatise about the Redemption and Satisfaction that is in the blood of Chrst My aym was to hold out the whole Work of Redemption as flowing from the Love of the Father dispensed in the bloud of the Son and made effectual by the application of the Spirit of Grace And because in this whole Dispensation and in all the Method of Gods proceedings to make us nigh to himself in the bloud of Jesus There is no one thing so commonly Controverted as the object of that Redemption in respect of the extent of it That in the whole I did specially intend What by the grace of him who supplieth seed to the Sower was attained in that undertaking is left unto the Judgement of men upon the Issue of his Blessing thereunto altogether I am not out of hopes That that Labor in the Lord was not in vain The Universality of Redemption one thing in that Treatise mainly opposed having of old and of late got room in the minds of some men otherwise furnished with many precious Truths and eminent Gifts I was not without expectation of some opposition to be made thereunto Something also I have been informed hath been attempted that way but I am yet at so much quiet in that regard as an utter nescience of them can afford Only whereas many other questions are incidently and by the way handled therein as about the Satisfaction and Merit of Christ c. It pleased Mr Baxter a learned Divine in an Appendix to a Treatise of Justification by him lately Published to turn aside in the Censure of some of them and opposition to them Indeed most of his Exceptions do lie rather against Words then Things Expressions then Oppinions wayes of Delivering things then the Doctrines themselves as the Reader will perceive so that of this labour I might ease my self with this just Apology That I was desired and pressed to handle the things of that Discourse in the most popular way they were capable of and in the best accommodation to vulgar Capacities so that it is no wonder if some Expressions therein may be found to want some grains of Accurateness though they have not one dram the less of Truth in a Scholastical ballance Notwithstanding because 1 I am not as yet convinced by any thing in M. Baxters Censure and Opposition that there was any such blameable deviation as is pretended but rather the words of Truth and Sobriety cloathing a Doctrine of wholsomeness and especially because the things pointed at are in themselves weighty and needing some exactness in the delivery to give a right Apprehension of them I was willing once more to attempt whether the Grace of God with me who am less then the least of all Saints might give any further light into the right understanding of them according to the Truth to the advantage of any that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity The true nature of the satisfaction of Christ with the kind of Payment of our Debt by him made and accomplished is doubtless worthy of our most serious enquiry The right Constitution of the immediate Effects of the Death of Christ the relation of men to the Election of God and the Redemption of Christ with their several states and Conditions in reference unto those Works of Grace ought to be of no lesse esteem And that not only for the nature and excellency of the things themselves but also because a right disposal of them gives more light into the stating and settling many other Controverted Truths about Faith Justification Vocation and the like These are the Subjects about which I am called forth in my own or rather Truths defence For the Treatise and Subject thereof whose latter part gives Rise to this I shall say no more but as there are in it many footsteps of Commendable Learning Industry and Diligence so to my present Apprehension the chief Intendments of it with very many occasional Expressions of the Authors Judgement in sundry Particulars are obnoxious to just Opposition from Truth it self It is not at all in my thoughts to engage my self into the chief Controversie there agitated though I could desire That some to whom Providence hath given more leasure and opportunities for such employments would candidly examine those Aphorismes for the further advantage of Truth and Light But whereas the learned Author hath to make streight the work he had in hand endeavoured to cast some part of the Doctrine of the Satisfaction and Redemption of Christ as by me delivered into a crooked Frame and that with some such passages of Censure as might have been omitted without losing the least Grace of his Book or Stile I shall with the Lords assistance endeavour to reinforce what of Truth hath been thereby assaulted in vain and more especially take occasion from thence further to unfold those Mysteries which to our apprehension are wrapped up in no small darkness there being in them some things difficult and hard to be understood The First thing then which that learned Divine chose to stand in distance from me in is concerning the nature of the payment made for sin by the bloud of Christ Whether it be ejusdem or tantidem and of the Sense of those Expresions is our First Debate In handling whereof I hope I shall not only satisfie the Reader as to the Truth of what I had before written but also further cleer the whole Doctrine of Satisfaction with especial reference to the kind of the Payment that Christ made and Punishment which he underwent The other Head wrappeth in it self many particulars concerning the
contended for and asserted from the Word of Truth in the like publick way wherein it is opposed It hath been the constant practise of all Persons in all Ages who have made it their Design to beget and propagate a Belief of any Doctrine contrary to the form of wholsome words to begin with and insist mainly upon those Parts of their beloved Conception and Off spring which seem to be most beautiful and taking for the turning aside of poor weak unlearned and unstable Souls knowing full well That their Judgements and Assertions being once engaged such is the frame of mens Spirits under Delusion that they will chuse rather to swallow down all that follows then to discharge themselves of what they have already received Upon this Account those who of late dayes have themselves drank large Draughts of the very dregs of Pelagianisme do hold out at first only a desire to be pledged in a taste of the Vniversalitie of the Merit of Christ for the Redemption or rather something else well I wote not what of all and everie man finding this rendred plausible from some general Expressions in the Word seeming to cast an Eye of favour that way in the Light wherin they stand as also to be a fit subject for them to varnish over and deck up with Loose Ambiguous Rhetorical Expressions they attempt with all their might to get entertainment for it knowing that those who shal receive it may well call it Gad being sent before only to take up Quarters for the Troop that follows To obviate this Evil which being thus planted and watered through other subtilties and Advantages hath received no small Increase I have once and again cast in my Mite into the Treasury of that rich Provision which the Lord hath inabled many men of Eminent Learning and Pietie to draw forth from the inexhaustible store-house of Divine Truth and to prepare it for the use of the Saints In one of those Treatises having at large handled the several Concernments of the Death of Christ as to the Satisfaction and Merit thereof in their Nature and tendency as well as their Object and Extent and finding some Opposition made to sundry Truths therein delivered I have attempâ—ed through the Assistance of Grace to Vindicate them from that opposition in this Ensuing Discourse as also taken Occasion to hold forth sundry other things of weight and importance of all which you have an Accounâ— given in the first Chapters thereof whither I remit the Reader For the present there are some few things which Christian Reader I desire to acquaint thee withal in particular which something neerly concern the businesse we have in hand Since not only the compleat finishing of this Treatise under my hand which is now about 5 Months ago but also the Printing of some Part of it the Two Dissertatious of Dr Davenant of the Death of Christ and of Predestination and Reprobation were setforth in both which especially the former there are sundry Assertions Positions and Thesis differing from what is delivered in the ensuing Treatise and as I suppose repugnant unto Truth it self The whole of that Perswasion I confesse which he endeavoureth in them to maintain is suited to the Expressions of sundry Learned men as Austine Hillary Fulgentius Prosper who in their Generations deserved exceeding well or the Church of God But that it is free from Opposition to the Scripture or indeed self-Contradiction is not so apparant Yea through the Patience and Goodnesse of God I undertake to demonstrate That the main Foundation of his whole Dissertation about the Death of Christ with many Inferences from thence are neither found in nor founded on the Word but that the several Parts therof are mutually Conflicting and destructive of each other to the great prejudice of the Truth therein contained It is a thing of the saddest Consideration possible That Wise and Learned men should once suppose by tempering the Truths of God so that they may be suited to the self-Indulgency of unsubdued Carnal Affections to give any Lustre to them or in the least to remove that Scandal and Offence which the fâ—eshlie minded doth take continually at those Wayes of God which are far above out of its sight That this is the grand design of such undertakings as that of the Learned Bishop now mentioned even to force the Mysteries of the Gospel to a Condescention and sutablnesse unto the unpurged Relicks of the Wisdom of Nature when all our thoughts ought to be captivated to the obedience thereof is to me most apparent Whence else should it proceed that so many unscriptural Distinctions of the various Intentions of God in the business of Redemption with the holding out for the Confirmation of one part of their Opinion viz. That Christ died for all and every one in such a sense those very Arguments which the most that own the Truth of their Inferences do imploy meerly against the latter part of their Opinion viz In some sense he died only for the Elect with sundry inextricable Intanglements should fill up both the Pages of their Discourses It is no way cleer to me what Glory redoundeth to the Grace of God what Exaltation is given to the Death of Christ what Encouragement to sinners in the things of God by maintaining That our Saviour in the Intention and from the Designment of his Father died for the Redemption of Millions for whom he purchased not one dram of saving Grace and concerning whom it was the Purpose of God from Eternity not to make out unto them effectually any of those means for a participation in the fruits of his Death without which it is impossible but it should be useless and unprofitable unto them and yet this is the main Design of that Dissertation concerning the Death of Christ What in that and the ensuing Discourse is argued and contended for according to the mind of God we thankfully accept and had it not been condited with the unsavory salt of human wisdom it had been exceeding acceptable especially at this time For 2 That there are some more than ordinary Endeavors for the Supportment and Re-inforcing of the almost conclamated Cause of Arminianisme ready to be handed unto publick view is commonly reported and believed concerning which also many swelling words of which there lies great abundance on every side are daily vented as of some unparalelled product of Truth and Industry as though Nil oriturum alias nil ortum tale for the most part by such as are utterly ignorant how far these Controversies have been sifted and to what Issue they have been driven long ago For my part as I have not as yet of late heard or read any thing of this kind either from Publick Disputes or in Printed Sheets but only long since exploded Sophismes inconsequent Consequencies weak Objections fully soundly Answered many a day since nor by the Taste which I have already received have
{non-Roman} {non-Roman} which it will not and so is of no use here For 1 There is solutio tantidem as well as ejusdem and therein consists satisfaction according to Mr B. 2 Whether Satisfaction be inconsistant with solutio ejusdem but not per eundem is the {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} After all this Mr B. ads Yet here Mr Owen enters the List with Grotius Where I pray I might very justly make enquiry from the Beginning to the Ending of this Discourse to find out what it is that this word HERE particularly answereth unto But to avoid as much as possible all strife of words I desire the Reader to view the Controversie agitated between Grotius and my self not as here represented by Mr Baxter so changed by a new dress That I might justly refuse to take any acquaintance with it but as by my self laid down in the places excepted against and he will quickly find it to be 1 Not whether the Law were at all Relaxed but whether it were relaxed as well in respect of the Penalty to be suffered as of the Person suffering That is Whether God be only a Rector or a Rector and Creditor also in this Businesse which Controversie by the way is so confusedly Proposed or rather strangly handled by Mr B. page 145 where he adjudges me in a successeless assault of Grotius as makes it evident he never once perused it 2 Nor Secondly Whether there be any need of Gods Gracious Acceptance in this businesse or no for I Assert it necessary as before described in reference to solutio ejusdem sed non per eundem 3 Neither Thirdly Whether the Satisfaction of Christ considered absolutly and in statu diviso and materially be refusable which I considered not or be unrefusable supposing the Divine Constitution which Grotius as I take it delivered not himself in Nor 4 About the value of the Payment of Christ in reference to Acceptance but meerly as I said before Whether the Lord appointing an End of Deliverance neither intimated nor couched in the Obligation nor any of it's Attendencies constituting a way for the attainment of that End by receiving Satisfaction to the Obligation did appoint that the thing in the Obligation should be paid though by Another or else some new thing that of it self and by it self never was in the Obligation either before or after it's solution As the Payment made by Christ must be granted such unlesse it were for substance the same which the LAW required And here with most Divines I maintain the First viz. That the Law was Relaxed in respect of the Person suffering but Executed in respect of the Penalty suffered Relaxation and Execution are not in this businesse opposed {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} but only {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} He that would see this further affirmed may consult what I wrote of it in the Place opposed which is not once moved by any thing here spoken to the contrary By the way observe I speak only of the Penalty of the Law and the Passive Righteousness of Christ strictly so called For his Active Righteousness or Obedience to the Law though he did many things we were not oblieged unto for the manifestation of himself and Confirmation of the Doctrine of the Gospel that it was the very idem of us required I suppose none can doubt What place that Active Righteousness of Christ hath or what is it's use in our Justification I do not now enquire being unwilling to immix my self unnecessarily in any Controversie though I cannot but suppose that M. B. his Discourse hereabouts gives Advantage enough even Minorum Gentium Theologis to ordinary Divines as he calls them to deal with him in it CAP. III. The Arguments of Grotius And their Defence by Mr. Baxter about the Penalty under-gone by CHRIST in making Satisfaction Considered THE State of the Question in hand being as above laid down let us now see what Mr Baxter his Judgment is of my successe in that undertaking Concerning which he thus delivereth himself Yet here Mr OWEN enters the List with GROTIUS And 1 He over-looketh his greatest Arguments 2 He slightly Answereth only Two 3 And when he hath done he saith as Grotius doth and yeeldeth the whole Cause These Three things I will make appear in Order Append. pag. 139. A most unhappy Issue as can possibly be imagined made up of Deceit Weakness and self-Contradiction But how is all this proved To make the First thing appear He produceth the Argument over-looked The chief Argument of Grotius and Vossius saith he is drawn from the Tenor of the Obligation and from the Event The Obligation chargeth Punishment on the Offendor himself It saith In the day thou eatest thou shalt die And Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things c. Now if the same in the Obligation be paid then the Law is Executed and not Relaxed and then every Sinner must die himself for that is the idem and very thing threatned So that here dum alias soluit simul aliud solvitur The Law threatned not Christ but us besides that Christ suffered not the loss of Gods Love nor his Image and Graces nor eternity of Torment of which I have spoken in the Treatise What saith Mr Owen to any of this Let the Reader observe what it is we have in hand It is not the main of the Controversie Debated by Grotius wherein I do oppose him Neither yet All in that particular whereabout the Opposition is Now suppose as he doth That the punishing of the Person Offending is in the Obligation yet I cannot but conceive that there be Two distinct things here 1 The Constitution of the Penalty it self to be undergone 2 The Terminating of this Penalty upon the Person Offending For this Latter I Assert a Relaxation of the Law which might be done and yet the Penalty it self in Reference to it's Constitution be established In those places then In the day thou eatest c. there is Death and the Curse appointed for the Penalty and the Person Offending appointed for the sufferer That the Law is Relaxed in the Latter I grant That the former was Executed on Christ I prove Now what sayes this Argument to the Contrary If the same in the Obligation be paid then the Law is Executed not Relaxed Then every Sinner must die himself for that is the idem and very thing threatned So that here dum alias soluit aliud solvitur Answer 1 The Matter of the Obligation having plainly a double Consideration as before it may be both Executed and Relaxed in sundry respects 2 The Idem and very thing threatned in the Constitution of the Law is death The Terminating of that Penalty to the Person Offending was in the Commination and had it not been Released must have been in the Execution but in the Constitution of the Obligation which respects purely the kind of Penalty primarily
the Deity and over-throws the Properties thereof immediatly and directly All other Stipulations under Condition are co-incident as I said before with that which is sub Termino only from whence ariseth an immediate Obligation for the performance of the thing stipulated about though there be not an immediate Action granted him unto whom it is made Surely they are wide if not very wild who Affirm That all the Stipulations on the part of God upon the Death of Christ are upon a Condition which himself knows to be impossible for them to perform to whom they are made which amongst wise men are alwayes accounted Nugatory and Null This being then so vain I say that the Merit of Christ flowing from the free purpose and Compact of God resteth on his Justice thence also arising fixing thereon an Obligation to make out all the Fruits of it unto them for whom he died sub Termino only whereby a present right is granted them thereunto though they cannot plead for present Enjoyment CAP. XI More particularly of the State and Right of them for whom Christ died before Beleeving THE former Assertions about the Merit of Christ being in some measure cleered we may hence have light into the State and Condition of those for whom Christ died in their several Generations before Beleeving To make this the more fully appear we must distinguish between their present State or Possession and their present right Their State is not changed because all the procurements of the Death of Christ are to be made out unto them by vertue of a Stipulation sub Termino that Term or Season being not come So that still in present actual state I leave them as before not Justified not Sanctified not entred into Covenant Right also is twofold 1 In re as the Father hath a right to his Estate And this Jus in re holds though the Estate be unjustly or forcibly detained from him 2 Ad rem so the Son hath a Right to the Estate of his Father being to enjoy it at his Death The first right is presently actionable upon any detainment the latter not so The first we do not ascribe to the Elect in this Condition viz. That which is in re and instantly actionable but that which is ad rem and sub termino This being That which I Aimed at and being by Mr Baxter Opposed I will further Consider it that it may appear whether any thing in this Assertion be justly blamable I said That by the Death of Christ we have actual Right to the good things purchased by that Death That Right which is not actual to speak a word to that Term is not The Contradistinct Affection hereunto is Potential And this is totally destructive to the Nature of a Right All Right is actual or not at all To evince the main Assertion I shall 1 Shew the Nature and Quality of this Right 2 The Bottome or Foundation of it And 3 Prove the Thesis 1 By Right I understand Jus in general now jus est quod justum est Aug. in Psal. 144. sub Fon. That is right which it is just should be And Quiquid rectum est justum est Aâ—sel de verit Cap. 13. it is just all that should be which hath a Rectitude in it self Farther What this justum is Aquinas tells you 22. ae q. 57. a. 1. c. justum est quod respondet secundum aliquam aequalitatem alteri Then a thing is just when it stands in some aequality unto those things whereunto it relates And this Aequality or Adaequation of things is Twofold 1 That which ariseth from the Nature of the Things themselves As an Eye for an Eye a Tooth for a Tooth c. 2 That which ariseth from a Proportion condescended unto by Condict Agreement Covenant or Common Consent Dupliciter est aliquid adaequatum uno modo ex natura ipsius rei alio modo cum est Commensuratum ex condicto sive ex commune placito Aqui. In the first Sense as to a Right that should accrew unto the Creatures in respect of God from the Commensuration of the things themselves we shewed before that it cannot be It must be from some grant Compact Covenant or the like from whence a Right in Reference to the Faithfulnesse or Righteousnesse of God may arise The Right then whereof we speak which they for whom Christ died have to the things which by his Death are procured consists in that Equity Proportion and Equality which upon the free Compact Constitution and Consent of God the Father is between the Death of Christ and their Enjoyment of the Fruits of that Death It is just and equal that they should enjoy the Fruits of his Death in due time Neither is the Right of any Man to any Thing any more but such a Frame and Order of things that it is just either from the Nature of the Things themselves or from common Consent and Agreement That he should enjoy that thing This is the Right whereof we speak which in their sense the very Socinians grant Christus Jus quoddam ad obtinendam remissionem peccatorum salutem morte sua nobis dedit Crellius adu Groti Cap. 1. 2 For the Foundation of this Right Seeing that before the Consideration of the Death of Christ as was declared it is not from thence it must needs be nothing of any likelihood to be such a Foundation being co-incident therewithal Now whereas in the Death of Christ Two things are Considered 1 The Satisfaction And 2dly the Merit thereof it may be enquired after under whether Respect this right relates thereunto 1 The Satisfaction of Christ tends in all that it is to the Honor and Reparation of the Justice of God This then in its utmost extent and Efficacy cannot give ground to build such a Right upon The ultimate Effect of Satisfaction may be accomplished and yet not the least right to any good thing Communicated to them for whom this Satisfaction is made The good things attending the Death of Christ may be referred unto two heads The Amotion of Evil and the Collation of Good For the First The Amotion of Evil the taking that from us that it may not grieve us and subducting us from the Power and Presence thereof it is immediatly aimed at by Satisfaction That the Curse of the Law be not executed That the Wrath to come be not powred out is the utmost reach of the Death of Christ considered as Satisfactory Yea in it self as only such it proceedeth not so far as to give us a Right to escape these things but only presents that to the Justice of God whereby it may be preserved in all its Glory Severity and exact Purity though these things be not inflicted on us This I say I conceive to be the utmost Tendency of the Death of Christ as Satisfactory That Condemnation cannot possibly de facto follow where such Satisfaction hath been made is immediatly from the Equity of
spiritual Blessings soever are bestowed on any Soul I mean peculiarly distinguishing Mercies and Graces they are all bestowed and collated for Christs sake That is They are purchased by his Merit and procured by his Intercession thereupon That supernatural Graces cannot be traduced from any natural Faculty or attained by the utmost Endeavour of Nature howsoever affected with outward advantages I now take for granted These things I looked upon as the free-gifts of Love So the Scripture Joh. 15. 5. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Eph. 2. 8. 1 Cor. 4. 7. Eph. 2. 10. Mat. 11. 25 26. Act. 16. 14. c. Now the Dispensation of all these as it is through Christ so they are for Christ On whomsoever they are bestowed it is for Christs sake For Instance Peter and Judas are Unbeleevers Faith is given for Faith is given to Peter not to Judas Whence is this difference Presupposing Gods Sovereign discriminating Purpose the immediate procuring Cause of Faith for Peter is the Merit of Christ To us it is given on the behalf of Christ to beleeve on him Phil. 1. 20. We are blessed with all spiritual Blessings in him Eph. 1. 3. Whatsoever is in the Promise of the Covenant is certainly of his procurement for therefore he is the Surety Heb. 7. 22. And his Bloud the Ransome he paid is the Bloud of the Covevenant Mat. 26. 28. Whereby all the Promises thereof become in him Yea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. And whether Faith be of the Blessings of the Covenant and Conclude in the Promise thereof or no let the Scripture be Judge Jer. 31. 31 32. Ezek. 36. 26. Heb. 8. 9 10 11. Furthermore What we have through him we have so him All these things being made out on this Condition that he should make his Soul an Offering for sin Isa. 53. 10 3 That all the procurements of the Death of Christ in the behalf of his are to be made out by vertue of a Stipulation sub termino or in respect of their actual collation and bestowing they are to be made out in the season limited and appointed by the Will of the Father Of this before 4 No Blessing can be given us for Christs sake unless in Order of Nature CHRIST be first reckoned unto us Here I must do two things 1 Declare what I mean by reckoning Christ unto us And then 2 Prove the Assertion as laid down Gods reckoning Christ in our present sense is the imputing of Christ unto ungodly unbeleeving Sinners for whom he died so far as to account him theirs to bestow Faith and Grace upon them for his sake This then I say at the Accomplishment of the appointed time the Lord reckons and accounts and makes out his Son Christ to such and such Sinners and for his sake gives them Faith c. Exercising of Love actually in the bestowing of Grace upon any particular soul in a distinguishing manner for Christs sake doth suppose this accounting of Christ to be his and from thence he is so indeed which is the present Thesis and may be proved For 1 Why doth the Lord bestow Faith on Peter not on Judas Because Christ Dying for Peter and purchasing for him the Grace of the Covenant he had a Right unto it and God according to his Promise bestowed it With Judas it was not so But then Why doth the Lord bestow Faith on Peter at the 40th yeer of his Age and not before or after Because then the Term is expired which upon the Purchase was by the Counsel of Gods Will prefixed to the giving in the beginning of the thing Purchased unto him What then doth the Lord do when he thus bestoweth Faith on him For Christs sake his Death procuring the Gift not moving the Will of the Giver he creates Faith in him by the way and means snited to such a work Eph. 1. 18 19. Chap. 2. 1 c. If then this be done for Christs sake then is Christ made ours before we beleeve Else Why is Faith given him at this instant for Christs sake and not to another for whom also he died That it is done then is because the appointed time is come that it is done then for Christ is because Christ is first given to him I cannot conceive how any thing should be made out to me for Christ and Christ himself not be given to me he being made unto us of God Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. 2 The Apostle holds out this very Method of the Dispensation of Grace Rom. 8. 32. He that spared not his Son but delivered him up to Death for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things First Christ is given for us then to us then with him he having the preheminence in all things all things and this being also for him Phil. 1. 29. he is certainly in the Order of Nature given in the first place He being made ours we receive the Atonement by him Rom. 5. 11. How Christ is said to be received by Faith if he be ours before Beleeving is easily resolved Christ is ours before and after Beleeving in a different sense He who is made ours in an Act of Gods Love that for him we may have Faith may be found and made ours in a Promise of Reconciliation by Beleeving I offer also Whether Absolution from the guilt of sin and obligation unto death though not as terminated in the Conscience for compleat Iustification do not proceed our actual Beleeving For What is that Love of God which through Christ is effectual to bestow Faith upon the Unbeleeving And how can so great Love in the actual exercise of it producing the most distinguishing Mercies consist with any such Act of Gods Will as at the same instant should bind that Person under the Guilt of sin Perhaps also this may be the Iustification of the ungodly mentioned Rom. 4. Gods absolving a Sinner in Heaven by accounting Christ unto him and then bestowing him upon him and for his sake enduing him with Faith to beleeve That we should be blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ and yet Christ not ours in a peculiar manner before the bestowing of those blessings on us is somwhat strange Yea he must be our Christ before it is given to us for him to beleeve Why else is it not given to all others so to do I speak not of the supream distinguishing Cause Mat. 11. 25 26. but of the proximate procuring Cause which is the bloud of Christ Neither yet do I hence assert compleat Justification to be before beleeving Absolution in Heaven and Justification differ as part and whole Again Absolution may be considered either as a pure Act of the Will of God in it self or as it is received beleeved apprehended in and by the soul of the Guilty For Absolution in the first sense it is evident it must proceed beleeving as a discharge from the Effects of Anger naturally proceeds all Collation of any fruits of Love such as is
ago which seems to me to express a jus ad rem and in re Answ. 1 I love not to enquire into the Reason of Gods actings which are according to the Counsel of his own Will and yet think it not very difficult to conceive how a Son is for a season kept as a Servant though he be Heir of all 2 He speaks as though this Deliverance lay all in Heaven whereas it is here fully enjoyed on the Earth though not in all the degrees of the Fruits thereof 3 If the Right wherof we speak were Jus in re I see not well indeed how God could keep us from the Possession of it as Mr Baxter sayes a man cannot be kept long from what he hath But saith he 5 If he mean a Right to future Possession I do not see how Right and Possession should stand at so many yeers distance To have Right to Gods favour and Possession of that favour seem to me of neerer kin Except he should think that Possession of favour is nothing but the Knowledge or feeling of it And that Faith Justifieth only in loco Conscientia but I will not Censure so hardly until I know Answ. 1 If at so many yeers distance it may not be allowed he had done well to express at how many it might For my part placing this Right upon the Purchase of Christ as before and Possession in the actual Enjoyment of the Fruits of that Purchase then refering the distance between them to the Good pleasure of God who had granted and established that Right to an Enjoyment sub termino I see no difficulty no perplexity in this at all 2 That no small portion of favour consists in a sense and knowledge of the kindness of God in its Actings terminated upon the Conscience I must beleeve whatever Mr Baxter be pleased to Censure It is far more facile to give the hardest Censures then to Answer the easiest Arguments 3 The place where Faith Justifieth I am not so solicitous about as the manner how which of all other wayes commonly insisted on I conceive not to be as it is our now Obedience yet that in this Work it looks further then the Conscience I easily grant The most of what is subjoyned to these Exceptions is fully Answered in what went before As much as possible I shall avoid all Repetitions of the same things Only whereas he Affirmeth That to have Right to Justification and to have Possession of it is all one I must needs enter my Dissent thereunto which may suffice until it be attempted to be put upon the Proof If he shall say That a Right to a future Justification at the day of Judgment is the same with the Possession of present actual Justification it is neither true nor any thing to the Business in hand In the Close he shuts up this Discourse and enters into another giving in his Thoughts about the immediate Effects of the Death of Christ A matter wherein he pretends to great Accurateness Censuring others for not being able to distinguish aright of them and so to spend abundance of labour in vain in their Discourses thereabout Particularly here he denyes and calls it A dangerous Errour to suppose That actual Remission and Justification are immediate Effects of his Death or any Right thereunto which he attempteth to prove by sundry Arguments Of the Effects of the Death of Christ and what Relation they all stand in thereunto I have spoken at large before Now because actual Remission is denyed to be an immediate Effect of the Death of Christ and so a potential Remission not once mentioned in the Book of God is tacitely substituted in the Room thereof and this also in Opposition to what I had Delivered I shall briefly consider his Arguments and so give an End to this Debate Argum. 1 What Right soever God giveth unto men in things supernatural such as Justification Remission and Adoption he giveth it by his written Laws But by these Laws he hath given no such thing to any unbeleevers such as are the Elect before Conversion therfore c. The Major is evident Gods Decree giveth no man a Personal Right to the Mercy intended him And for the Minor no man can produce the Scripture giving to unbeleevers such a Right Answ. 1 Taking the Laws of God in the strict and proper sense and it is so far from being a Truth That what Right God gives to any he gives it by his written Laws that indeed the Laws of God give no Right to any one concerning any thing whether supernatural or otherwise The End of the Law is not to give Right but to exact Obedience and that chiefly if not upon the sum solely The usual proper genuine signification of Gods Laws being his revealed Will for our Obedience I know not why Mr Baxter should bring them in in the Latitude of his single Apprehension to be a Medium in an Argument Hence 2 Here is not a sufficient Annumeration of Causes the Promises of God are to be added and those either made to us or to any other for our Good But 3 That the Decree of God gives to no man a Right to the thing concerning which the Decree is is so far from being a sufficient proof of the Major That it is in it self very questionable if not unquestionably false That the Decree gives not being and Existence to the things concerning which it is is an old Rule That no Right should from it arise unto that thing by vertue thereof is not yet so cleer Right is but Jus Jus est quod justum est If it be just or Right that any one should have such a thing he is said to have a Right thereunto Now supposing the Decree of God that a man shall by such means have such a thing is it not Just equitable and Condecent unto Righteousness that he should have it But yet further 4 We are not at all speaking of a Right founded on Gods Decrees which considering what was proposed to be proved by this Argument I wonder how it found any mention here but upon Two other things 1 The Covenant of God with Christ about the Pardoning Justifying and Saving of those for whose sin he should make his Soul an Offering which Covenant respecting Christ as Mediator God and man is not to be reckoned among the meer Decrees and Purposes of God containing in it self al those Promises and Engagements wheron the Lord Jesus in the Work of Redemption rolled himself Now in this Covenant God Engaged himself as I said before to make out to those for whom Christ undertook whatsoever was the Fruit of his Purchase and that was what in his good pleasure was assigned thereunto And this is the first bottome of this Right 2 The Purchase of Christ being compleated by the Performance of all things by divine Constitution thereunto alotted and
it was not Death is the reward of Sin is all that is there 3 We Enquire not about Payment but Suffering To make that suffering a Payment supposeth another Constitution by vertue whereof Christ suffering the same that was threatned it became another thing in Payment then it would have been if the Person Offending had suffered himself 4 That the Law threatned not Christ but us is most true but the Question is Whether Christ underwent not the threatning of the Law not we A Commutation of Persons is allowed Christ undergoing the Penalty of the Offence though he were not the Person Offending I cannot but still suppose that he paid the Idem of the Obligation 5 For the Parenthesis about Christ's not suffering the loss of Gods love c. and the like Objections they have been Answered neer a thousand times already and that by no ordinary Divines neither so that I shall not further trouble any therewith How this is the Argument the great chief Argument of Grotius and Vossius which Mr Baxter affirmes I overlooked That I did not Express it I easily grant neither will I so wrong the ingenious Reader as to make any long Apology for my Omission of it considering the state of the matter in difference as before proposed When Mr B. or any man else shall be able to draw out any Conclusion from thence That granting the relaxation of the Law as to the Person suffering the Lord Christ did not undergo the Penalty constituted therein or that undergoing the very Penalty appointed he did not pay the idem in the Obligation supposing a new Constitution for the converting of suffering into a satisfactory payment I shall then give a Reason why I Considered it not In the next place Mr B. giveth in the two Arguments wherewith I deal And for the First about an Acquitment ipso facto upon the payment of the Idem in the Obligation with my Answer refers it to be considered in another place Which though I receive no small Injury by as shall be there declared yet that I may not transgress the Order of Discourse set me I passe it by also until then The Second Argument of Grotius with my Answer he thus expresseth To the Second Argument that the payment of the same thing in the Obligation leaveth no room for Pardon he Answereth thus 1 Gods Pardoning compriseth the whole Dispensation of Grace in Christ As 1 The laying of our Sin on Christ 2 The imputation of his Righteousness to us which is no lesse of Grace and Mercy However God pardoneth all to US but nothing to CHRIST So that the Freedome of Pardon hath it's Foundation 1 In Gods Will freely appointing this Satisfaction of Christ 2 In a Gracious Acceptation of the decreed Satisfaction in our stead 3 In a free Application of the Death of Christ to us To which I Answer c. So far he Though this may appear to be a distinct Expression of my Answer yet because it seems to me That the very strength of it as laid down is omitted I shall desire the Reader to peruse it as it is there Proposed and it will give him some light into the thing in hand I apply my self to what is here Expressed and Answer 1 To the Objection proposed from Grotius as above I gave a Threefold Answer 1 That Gracious Condonation of sin which I conceive to be the Sum of the glad tydings of the Gospel seemeth to comprize those Two Acts before recounted both which I there prove to be free because the very Merit and Satisfaction of Christ himself was founded on a free Compact and Covenant or Constitution Now I had Three Reasons among others that prevailed with me to make Gracious Condonation of so large extent which I shall Expresse and leave them to the thoughts of every Judicious Reader whether they are enforcing thereunto or no being exceedingly indifferent what his Determination is For the weight of my Answer depends not on it at all And they are these 1 Because that single Act of remission of sins to particular persons which is nothing but a disolution of the Obligation of the Law as unto them whereby they are bound over to Punishment as it is commonly restrained is affirmed by them whom Grotius in that Book opposed into whose Tents he was afterwards a Renegado to be inconsistent with any Satisfaction at all yea that which Grotius maintains per tantundem But now if you extend that Gospel phrase to the Compasse I have mentioned they have not the least Colour so to do 2. Whereas the Scripture mentioneth That through Christ is Preached the forgivenesse of Sin Act. 13. 38. I do suppose that phrase to be Comprehensive of the whole manifestation of God in the COVENANT of Grace 3 God expresly saith That this is his Covenant That he will be merciful to our unrighteousness Heb. 8. 12. By the way I cannot close with Mr B. that this place to the Hebrews and the other of Jeremiah 31. 32 33. do comprize but part of the Covenant not the whole God saying expresly THIS IS MY COVENANT To say it is not is not to Interpret the Word but to Deny it It is true it is not said that is the whole Covenant no more is it that Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life only As the want of that term of nestriction doth not enlarge in that no more doth the want of the note of Vniversality restrain in this To say thus because here is no Condition expressed is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} If you mean such a Condition as God requireth of us and yet worketh in us it is there punctually expressed with reference to the nature of the COVENANT whereof it is a Condition which is to effect all the Conditions thereof in the Covenanters This by the way having resolvedly tied up my self from a Debate of those Positions which Mr B. dogmatizeth though a large field and easie to be walked in lies open on every hand for the scattering of many Magisterial Dictates which with confidence enough are crudily asserted This is to return my First Answer to the forementioned Objection with the Reasons of it whereunto Mr B. excepteth as followeth 1 Pardon implyeth Christs Death as a Cause but I would he had shewed the Scripture that makes Pardon so large a thing as to comprize the whole Dispensation of Grace or that maketh Christs death to be a part of it or comprized in it 2 If such a word were in the Scripture will he not confesse it to be Figurative and not proper and so not fit for this Dispute 3 Else when he saith That Christs Death procured our Pardon he meaneth that it procured it self So he To all which I say 1 The death of Christ as it is a Cause of Pardon is not once mentioned in any of my Answers There is a wide Difference in Consideration between Gods imputation of Sin to Christ and the Death of Christ