must be preserved inviolable to every one Pray see you don't invade God's property which you cannot do without manifest injustice to God and wrong to your selves we are depending Creatures because we are Creatures our being well-being our safety comfort and sufficiency lyes in another and not in our selves A Creature separated and cut off from all Divine influences must needs wither away and sink into nothing God hath bought you have a care of selling your selves away from him into other hands of alienating your selves from God as if you could shift well enough without him have a care of living to your selves of bringing forth fruit to your selves Hos. 10. 1. All that you are and have is God's and all that you do should be for God 'T is a rule in Civil Law quodcunque per servum adquiritur id Domino adquiri Whatever a Servant gets he gets to and for his Master and that a Servant running away from his Master does furtum sui facere he steals away himself he takes away that which is none of his own a Servant was reckoned among the Goods Utensils and Possessions of his Master he had nothing at his own disposal all was his Masters and for his use So are all Believers vessels of honour sanctified and meet for the master's use prepared unto every good work 2 Tim. 2. 21. Whos 's they are and whom they serve Acts 27. 23. Did we better consider whose we are we should quickly see whom we ought to serve They live without God indeed who cast him off will not be governed by him but resolve to live as they list to speak and act as they please our lips are our own Psal. 12. 4. Our hands our strength our estates are our own who is Lord over us I shall from this Text shew you whose you are to whom you belong who is your Lord and Master to whom you are accountable for every thing done in the Body even to him who hath bought you and hath the first right to every thing that is your his servants must serve him Rev. 22. 3. That I may the better clear up the interest and right that God hath in you and the Service and Duty you owe to him as your Lord and Master I shall cast all I have to say from this Text under these following heads viz. 1. Who are they who are said to be bought 2. Who was the Buyer 3. What was the price paid by Christ for our Redemption 4. Who set the price of our Redemption so high 5. To whom was the price paid 6. For whom and to what end was it paid 7. How by the Law of Redemption the Redeemed pass over Body and Soul into the possession of the Redeemer First Who are they who are said to be bought Ye are bought i. e. The believing Corinthians and all other Believers whose hearts God has drawn to close in with Christ by a true saving Faith as their only Redeemer and Saviour Till Faith be wrought in us we can have no sure evidence that we are among God's Redeemed ones 't is Faith only that tells us this from the word of God ye are bought this implies that we were sold under sin reduced to a miserable state of Bondage by our Apostacy from God which none could deliver us from but Jesus Christ our mighty Redeemer and Saviour Secondly Who was the Buyer Christ our Redeemer who was God and Man The right of Redemption among the Jews lay in the next Kinsman who was to purchase the Widow's land and to marry her person Deut. 25. 5. comp with Ruth 4. 3 4. That Christ might claim kindred with us in order to a Marriage afterwards to be compleated he took part of our flesh Heb. 2. 14. A body hast thou prepared me Heb. 10. 5. I am willing to take it up lo I come to dye in that Body for all the Elect that having overcome death I may be Married to them and become their Head and Husband had an Angel offered himself supposing him otherwise qualified he could not have been our Redeemer because he must be akin to us bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh who undertakes that Office therefore I say Christ took up that Body prepared of the Father died in it rose in it ascended into Heaven in it is now glorified in it to shew what he intended to bring fallen Man unto as many as should believe in him Thirdly What was the price paid by Christ for our Redemption Viz. His own Blood 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Pretium pretiorum the greatest price that ever was paid for any thing that ever was bought all the Gold and Silver in the World heaped together is not to be compared to the value of the Blood of Christ by this you see the great love of Christ to the Souls of Men who in themselves were hopeless and helpless could do nothing towards the Redemption of their own Souls but Christ being God and Man pours out his Soul as man and takes it up again as God when he had done his work that we might have a sure ground for our Faith and Hope to rest upon not doubting but as Christ raised himself from the dead so he will also raise us at the last day who dye in him that we may live by him with him and upon him for ever who is the Resurrection and the life as his death is imputed to us and spiritually acted over upon us in the mortification of sin so is his life actually communicated in some degree to all Believers here by the same spirit that dwells in him and in them and this eternal spirit of life in Christ will never cease working higher and higher in the mystical Body of Christ diffusing it self more abundantly through all the Members till Mortallity be quite swallowed up of life this will be more manifest when Christ who is our life shall appear You see that God went not out of himself for a Mediator but appointed the Second person of the Trinity to that Office that the whole transaction between God and Man might go through his hands who is both God and Man Fourthly Who set he price of our Redemption so high 1. God the Father who also found out this Ransom he knew the whole world could not raise it it must come out of the Treasury of Heaven God himself was at the charge of our Redemption and whatever it cost him was resolved to effect it and therefore he spared not his own Son but parts with the greatest Jewel in the Crown of Heaven to buy off sinful man from that Thraldom and Bondage he was involved in and could never have extricated himself out of 2. The Law sets the price by consequence not that the Law provides a Mediator the Law seeks its own satisfaction in saving and damning men it promises Salvation upon our perfect Obedience and all who come short of that it threatens with eternal Damnation Cursed is every one
c. In the day thou eatest thou shalt die Nothing does establish this Law and give it its full course towards Believers but faith in Christ Jesus who was made a curse and died according to Law for our sins and being risen again he brings those whom he freed from the curse of the Law under the blessing of the Gospel giving eternal Life as a free-gift to all who thankfully receive it from his hand by faith owning him as the Author and Donor of it 3. The nature of the Offence as committed against an infinite God requires a price equivalent to it of infinite value none but God could satisfie God the wrath of God is asswaged by the blood of God and that he might bleed he became Man the Second Person of the Trinity as incarnate died for man tasted death for us in our nature which he still kept hypostatically untied to his own Divine Person for Christ by dying did not lay down humane Nature but humane Life only which he took up again and now lives for ever as a quickning Spirit communicating eternal Life to Believers through his humane nature now glorified in Heaven Therefore Christ is said to be our life Col. 3. 4. And this life is in his son 1 John 5.11 Hid with Christ in God Col. 3. 3. The life which we derive from mere humane nature will quickly fail but the life which we derive by faith form the Divine Person of the Son of God is everlasting John 3. 16. As the father hath life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself John 5. 26. i. e. He is life essentially the essence of the Deity is communicated by the Father to Christ incarnate and so he becomes the Fountain of life to us therefore let all those who hope to inherit eternal life join themselves by faith to Christ the only Fountain of life How little of this hidden life does appear in the effects of it among Professors We live more by sense than faith very solicitous about natural life but how few do carry it as those who have eternal life abiding in them 1 John 3. 15. Living in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2. 20. Who fell a Sacrifice for our sins but rose again and now lives for ever And gives eternal life to as many as the father hath given him John 17. 2. He has undertaken to the Father to draw all the Elect into a participation of that eternal life which he as man possess now in Heaven and because he lives we shall live for ever in him The Second person in the Trinity died as a man in our human nature to satisfie the Law and to evidence the reality of his death he lay buried three days in the Grave he was alive as God when dead as Man what a profound Mystery is this that the Deity of Christ should suffer his human Body to fall under the power of death for three days this shews the strength of sin the strength of the law and the strength of the wrath of God that so great a man as Christ was could not stand under and live die he must by the sanction of the law being found in the likeness of sinful flesh Rom. 8. 3. bearing our sins in his own Body on the Tree but the dignity of his person was such and the extremity of his sufferings so great that his three days death was equivalent to eternal death he did that in three days which a damned sinner in Hell cannot effect to eternity for that which is doing to eternity can never be actually done and compleated i. e. Christ gave full satisfaction to the Law in three days and therefore could not longer be detained in the Grave there was no Law nor Reason for it having paid the utmost farthing of our whole Debt the Prison-doors were opened and Christ let out That which keeps the Damned in Hell for ever is because they can never fully satisfie the law of God by all their sufferings therefore they must suffer on still to eternity but Christ by one offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 10. 14. Christ could have chose whether he would have died or no but for this end he came into the World and did voluntarily yield up himself to the Death of the Cross but rising the Third Day he lives for ever and has brought eternal life into human Nature to be communicated to all his Members who cannot forfeit that life which they derive from the second Adam as we all did that which we derived from the first Adam In Adam all die and in Christ all are made alive 1 Cor. 15. 22. CHAP. II. To whom was this PRICE paid FIfthly To whom was this Price paid viz. Into the hands of God the Father to appease his wrath under which we were Joh. 3. 36. God's justice requires this 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the judgment of God that sinners are worthy of death Rom. 1. 32. To this end Christ is our propitiation Rom. 3. 25. Reconciling God to us that we may be received into his favour again hence God declares in the new Covenant I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more Heb. 8. 12. Sing O ye heavens c. Isa. 44. 23. vide That satisfaction that Christ gave to the Justice of God lay in his bearing the Punishment of our sins which is the wrath of God in all the dreadful effects of it 2 Cor. 5. 21. 1 Pet. 2. 24. He was made a curse for us Gal. 3. 13. Died for us Mat. 20. 28. Isa. 53. 5. Was cut off for our sins Dan. 9. 26. Death was required to make satisfaction for sin In the day thou eatest c. The Wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. There is no escaping this death for us but by dealing with the Justice of God in some way that may satisfie Justice and save the sinner this Christ undertook and by his own Death effected for us He gave himself for our sins Gal. 1. 4. His Blood was the Price of our Redemption Price here is not taken as vulgarly for Money but whatever may satisfie him in whose hands the captive is that is the Price of Redemption God does not seek to make a gain of us that which he stand upon is the vindication of the honour of his Law and Justice the maintaining his Truth and Faithfulness To declare his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth ion Jesus Rom. 3. 26. Christ did not pay the Price of our Redemption to the Devil but to God the Father who had power to condemn us and as a Judge to detain us in prison till his Justice was satisfied therefore Christ deals with the Law-giver takes the penalty upon himself Whilst the condemning power of the Law is in force against us the Devil has a right in
Holiness inclines him to hate Sin and his Justice to punish it And till these Two Attributes of God be for us there is no Hope of Glory Christ by taking our Nature put himself into a capacity of suffering for us He took not on him the Nature of Angels this is some ground of Hope to Man and having drawn his heart to believe in him rely upon him it is a sure sign he intends good unto him Christ being become Man he doth through our own nature convey himself to us in the most intimate familiar manner that can be His Spirit enters into us passes through all the Faculties of our Souls leaving a Spiritual Inclination in them all towards God which by degrees prevails over all the sinful inclinations of our corrupt natures making us at last perfectly conformable to the Son of God and this is our Sanctification Christ in us demonstrates the Love of God to us sheds it abroad in our hearts by his Spirit We hope for little from those who have no kindness for us no love to us But the love of God most eminently appears to us in Christ Ephes. 2. 4. God having given us his Son how shall he not with him give us all things There is ground enough for Hope Faith having Christ raises our Hope for every thing else If Christ be ours all is ours Thirdly Christ hath given us a famous Instance in himself of the full actual accomplishment of his whole Undertaking for us which I find insisted upon in Scripture as an Encouragement to Believers Saith the Apostle Heb. 2. 9. There are many Promises and Prophesies not yet come to pass many things we do not see fulfilled But do we see nothing fulfilled Ay saith he we see Jesus entred into Glory that is enough for us so 1 Pet. 1. 21. saith he God hath raised up Christ from the dead and given him Glory to what end pray That your Faith and Hope might be in God Believers by virtue of their Union to Christ their Head and Representative they are in Heaven already made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Ephes. 2. 6. All is already fulfilled in Christ that you hope for You hope for full pardon of Sin full sense of Comfort full sense of your Justification you hope for thorough Mortification of your Sin perfect Sanctification you hope for full deliverance from all afflictions for a Resurrection from the Grave you hope to ascend up to Heaven to be Glorified there All this is past upon Christ already he hath finished Transgression as to what concerns the business of our sins Christ hath finished it he hath finished Transgression and brought in Everlasting Righteousness It is not a thing to be done but already actually done he hath finished Transgression Sin when finished brings forth death saith James this is the perfection of Sin in the utmost extent of its fatal Energy and Efficacy when it is finished it brings forth Death But Christ's finishing Sin was to prevent Death the dispatching it out of the World He by finishing Sin utterly abolished Death and Sin too by the infinite Merit of his precious Blood Christ's finishing Transgression was the blotting it out the undoing and reversing of all that Evil that Sin had brought upon us that it might not be able to bring down a Curse upon us any more The consideration of this famous instance is a wonderful support to our Faith Let me tell you this that a bare word of Promise concerning things to be done for us by God without this famous instance of their being done and actually accomplished in the Man Christ Jesus would not have been such a confirmation of our Faith tho in it self it ought to be yet through our weakness and infirmity it would not have been such a convincing confirmation as now it is in conjunction with this undeniable instance It strengthens the very Word of God and helps us with more confidence to settle upon it There is nothing we hope for but the Man Christ Jesus is already possessed of he is Risen he is Ascended he is sate down at the right Hand of God upon his Throne he is Glorified in our Nature and what is done to man may be done again So that Christ is the most rational ground of a Christians Hope that can be Fourthly Christ hath not only given us a famous instance in himself of the coming to pass of all that is promised to us but in the Fourth place he gives us present earnest of all this in our selves We have the first fruits the earnest of the spirit in our hearts 2 Cor. 1. 22. We are sealed by the holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance Ephes. 1. 13 14. They who are so sealed do walk in the comfort of the Holy-Ghost Acts 9. 31. as well they may under so great an Assurance of Glory hereafter Some Rays of this Glory do shine in upon the hearts of Believers here A spirit of glory rests upon them now 1 Pet. 4. 14. Now from these Beginnings we may hope for all that is to follow Our Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon us in some measure already and is continually rising higher and higher towards a Noon-day Light which is our perfect day Thus we are transformed now from Glory to Glory Believers find it so in themselves And therefore experience should beget Hope Rom. 5. 4. And then Lastly Lest Death should dash all our Hopes Christ hath assured us of a Glorious Resurrection If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable 1 Cor. 15. 19. Christ hath taken off this Objection that we might not be in bondage through fear of death Heb. 2. 16. It is evident he hath power to raise the dead as he hath raised himself from the Grave They deny matter of Fact who deny the Resurrection 1 Cor. 15. 13. If there be no resurrection then Christ is not risen but that is matter of fact he is risen we know it Christ is the first fruits of them that sleep in the Grave The first begotten of the dead Rev. 1. 5. The first who rose from the dead Acts 26. 23. He is the first-born from the dead Col. 1. 18. And he will change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body Phil. 3. 21. See what ground there is for your Hope of Glory from the Resurrection of Christ. That which is sown in dishonour shall be raised in glory 1 Cor. 15. 43. This still maintains your Hope of Glory Therefore my beloved brethren saith Paul be stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know your labour is not in vain in the Lord v. 58. Were there no Resurrection all the pains we take in Religion would be labour in vain but we know our labour is not in vain Thus you see how Christ in us is our Hope
Sin but the Scripture seems to make them the same Rom. 4. 5 6 7. I think they are so inseparably joined together that no man who has obtained the Pardon of all his Sins ever was or can be at a loss for a Righteousness to compleat his Justification and entitle him to the reward of Eternal Life promised in the Law I conceive the Pardon of all our Sins is a Righteousness we may boldly appear before God in because it lays before God that full satisfaction that Christ made for Sin by his active and passive Obedience which is not only satisfactory for Sin but also meritorious of Eternal Life so that all the ends of Justification are accomplished in the Remission of Sin What precise conceptions we may have of Remission of Sin and imputation of Righteousness as differing in the notion will not argue any real difference in the things themselves We must have a care we do not separate what God has so intimately joined together This hath occasioned all those unhappy Controversies about Justification as I shall shew anon They who want a sufficient Justifying Righteousness after the full Remission of all their Sins do not rightly resolve Remission of Sin into the proper procuring causes of it viz. the satisfaction that Christ made for Sin by what he did and suffered for us from his Birth to his Death so it became him to fulfil all Righteousness that he might be the end of the Law for Righteousness to them who Believe So that Christ himself is our Righteousness the Lord Jehovah our Righteousness the Law is as well satisfied with what Christ hath Done and Suffered for us as if we our selves and perfectly kept the Law or Died by it for our Sins 'T is dangerous separating Christ and his Righteousness as if we were to derive a justifying-Righteousness from Christ distinct from the Person of Christ This notion has insensibly led men to seek a Righteousness in themselves not wrought out for them but wrought in them by Christ this indeed is the right way of Sanctification but not of our Justification The Scripture directs us to seek our Justification in the Person of Christ only by Receiving him Believing in him to them is Remission of Sin Promised and everlasting life John 1. 12. John 3. 15 16. John 6. 40 47. Rom. 4. 5. Rom. 3. 26. Acts 10. 43. Acts 26. 18. Some do too nicely distinguish between freedom from Punishment and a right to eternal Life as if one could be obtained without the other which is impossible Certainly not to Die is to Live not to Die eternally is to Live eternally the expulsion of Darkness is the bringing in of Light He who is counted worthy to escape the Punishment threatned by Law is worthy to receive the Reward promised by Law I see not what should hinder it since no fault of Omission or Commission can be charged upon him whose Sins are Pardoned If after the full Remission of all our Sins we were to receive eternal Life from the Law then some Righteousness distinct from Pardon a Righteousness wrought by our selves after Pardon would be antecedently necessary to our justification unto life But that is not so for every Pardoned Sinner receives eternal Life from the hand of Free-Grace as the Gift of God freely given without any consideration of any works of Righteousness done by us Gal. 2. 6. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified If there had been law which could have given life verily righteousness should have been by the law Gal. 3. 21. But since the Law does not give Life therefore that Righteousness that lets us into eternal Life is not of the Law but that of Faith Phil. 3. 9. The Law admits of no Pardon allows of none is not at all concerned about that matter but seeks its own satisfaction in a way of strict justice the Law is all for Justice Mercy comes in by another Covenant 'T was never in the nature and constitution of the Law to give life to a Sinner the Law can't do that Rom. 8. 3. It can give life to a Righteous man but not to a Sinner The Law will prosecute him to death 't would act contrary to it self to its own eternal Sanction and declared judgment if it should do otherwise and therefore the Law as a Covenant of Life and Death is fully determined in the Death of Christ towards all Believers who are no longer under the Law but under Grace Yet I say the rigour of the Law in it self is not relaxed by the Pardon of Sin only it does not exert its condemning power upon the persons of Believers because Christ has already Suffered for their Sins but still the Law remains and ever will remain a Sin-condemning and Sin-avenging Law it has as much power as ever to stay the Sinner but it can slay him but once and the stroke of the Law is so heavy in that case that it need not smite him a second time Christ indeed being God as well as Man recovered from that deadly blow the Law gave him for our Sins and so saved himself and us Here is no relaxation of the Law but a full execution of it full satisfaction given to it the whole debt is paid to the utmost farthing by Christ our surety Now all the Life Glory and Happiness that follows upon this comes in by Grace Christ having Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law and the Law being fully satisfied cannot be against any thing that Christ shall do for his Redeemed ones he may freely bestow what he will upon them having brought them under a Covenant of Grace he may and he will pursue that Covenant to the utmost towards them for their good till he has made them as happy as infinite Love and Grace can make them Sin being taken away and expiated by the Death of Christ Believers do pass over of course into his Life they Rise with him he who has called us into a Communion with him in his Death will not deny us Communion with him in his Life and Resurrection otherwise the benefits accruing to us by his Death in a freedom from Punishment would never have made us happy had we been quite shut out from his Life 't was for that end he Died for us that we might Live for ever in him by him and with him The Law and the works of the Law contribute nothing to this Life and for our Evangelical Holiness that is but the fruit and effect of this eternal Life derived from Christ already begun in us and exerting it self gradually according to the measure of our imperfect Sanctification here All our Evangelical works are but so many expressions of that new Life
which we are raised up unto in this World by the Power of Christ's Resurrection which hath a quickning influence upon our Souls raising us up to newness of Life There was some distance though but a little at first between the Death and Resurrection of Christ only Three Days during that time they could not draw comfort from his Death till he Rose again But since the time of his actual Resurrection the Death and Resurrection of Christ stand closer together in our thoughts and have a joint Spiritual influence upon our Hearts we presently pass in the actings of our Faith from one to the other from the effects of his Death in the Pardon and Mortification of Sin to the effects of his Resurrection in our Spiritual Vivification and quickning up to new Obedience thus the Death of Christ lets us into his Life being planted together in the likeness of his Death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection Rom. 6. 5. We deal with the Blood of Christ for our justification from Sin and with the Spirit of Christ risen from the Dead for our Sanctification Did we clearly discern how our Sanctification flows from the Resurrection of Christ as a consequent of that forgiveness of Sin purchased by his Blood Eph. 1. 7. we should not so confound Justification and Sanctification as some do So much as we ascribe to our works in justification so much we take off from the Blood of Christ to which the whole of our Justification is ascribed 'T is a Righteousness without works by which we are Justified therefore it can never pass thorough our hands no part of it is wrought by us 't is all imputed to us for Pardon of Sin that we may live and not die and this is Justification unto life Justification has different names in Scripture from the different respects it bears to us as we are obnoxious to Punishment 't is called Remission as it relates to a state of Sin which is a state of servitude and bondage 't is called Redemption as we are Enemies to God 't is called Reconciliation Remission of Sin is absolutely necessary in order to Salvation I will shew you the necessity of pardon and of Preaching this Comfortable Doctrine to all Having given you a general account of that comfortable Gospel Doctrine concerning the full and free remission of all our sins through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and shewed you from Scripture how the remission of sin implies our Justification I opened to you that common distinction by which Divines do well express the whole nature of Justification as consisting in the Remission of Sin and imputation of Righteousness and shewed you how these Two are inseparably linked together whereever the former is viz. Remission of all Sin there is also the latter viz. Imputation of Righteousness I shall now proceed to the further opening of the nature of Remission of Sin in these following Particulars 1. Remission of Sin does not change the nature of Sin that that which is Sin should be counted no Sin that Evil should be called Good Isa. 5. 20. Sin is as really Sin after Pardon as before only Pardon frees us from the guilt of Sin takes away meritum poenae the deserved Punishment This it takes away not from the Sin but from the Sinner only still the wages of sin is death i. e. Sin deserves Death even after 't is Pardoned but this Death is not inflicted upon him to whom Sin is Pardoned and this absolving from Guilt is properly the Justification of a Sinner as such in himself but now looked upon by God as Righteous in Christ by virtue of his Pardon To make this yet more clear take it thus Any act contrary to Law is properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Transgression or Sin and Sin in respect of its guilt binding us over to Punishment is called a Debt The fact or action it self cannot be Remitted because that which is done is done and cannot be said not to be done yet the guilt of that evil act may be Remitted and is Remitted when the Punishment which we have deserved is Remitted and this is properly pardon of Sin Sin is not imputed To impute is an act of Reason and Judgment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rationem ineo ratiocinando deduco 't is a mental act a rational inference or conclusion from such premises So when applied to God 't is an act of Divine Reason and Wisdom to impute Sin is to deal with men according to the just demerit of sin to give it its due reward its wages according to reason and justice 't is an act of the Divine understanding God does think with himself what Sin deserves and doth resolve upon the Punishment of it as a thing most just and reasonable So not to impute Sin or to forgive Sin is not to enter into Judgment with the Sinner Psal. 143. 2. according to the strict terms of the Law of Works For when God so enters into Judgment with us the reason of the Law and Justice of God must needs carry it against the Sinner and yet not to impute Sin is an act of Judgement too an act of Divine Reason and Understanding in God But in this act of Judgement whereby God does not impute Sin God judges of sin according to the terms of the New Covenant having in his Eye and under his Consideration the full satisfaction that Christ has made for Sin upon this account he judges it most reasonable not to impute Sin to those for whom Christ has died Civilians do admit of a supposed imaginary solution when really nothing is paid this among men is to forgive the Debt acceptum ferre Whence comes the term Acceptilatio the Creditor counting the Money as Received which he forgives the Debtor But in God's forgiveness there is a great deal more than this here is real payment made full satisfaction given by Christ our Surety and the Grace of Pardon lies in the free application of all this unto us this is God's Grace towards us yet the Pardon of the Sins of Believers is but justice towards Christ 't is Grace towards us that God should accept of satisfaction from the hand of another but upon full satisfaction given 't is an act of Justice to remit the Debt 2. Pardoning Grace takes away that that makes a man unrighteous in the sight of God it takes away sin how that is I have in part shewed already and shall more fully demonstrate 'T is evident that Gods counts them righteous whose sins are pardoned and that he has nothing in his eye then but the full satisfaction Christ made for sin which is the Foundation of Pardon and also meritorious of eternal Life it was not only bare satisfaction that Christ made for that is but Justice paying what is due not a Penny over or under but in Christ's satisfaction there is a redundancy of Merit procuring Grace and Glory for us the Merit of Christ procures the
favour of God for us and a right to all the blessings promised in the Gospel and his Spirit effectually applies all this to us and works all this in us 3. Remission of sin as it is held forth and offered in the Gospel presupposes nothing in man as the cause and condition of it moving God to pardon him but only denotes God's gracious Indulgence towards him not reckoning his sin to him upon his believing in Christ see how pardoning Grace finds us Col. 2. 13. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickned together with him having forgiven you all trespasses So Heb. 8. 10 11 12. God does not eye any Qualifications in us but promises to do all himself I will and they shall c. 'T is objected That Faith is the beginning of Sanctification and if Faith be required unto Justification then some part at least of our Sanctification is required unto justification Answ. No part at all for though Faith be a supernatural Principle infused by God in order to our Sanctification as well as our Justification yet it first Justifies before it Sanctifies I speak of Faith now not in its first Principle but in its first actings I say it first acts upon Christ by receiving him before it begins actually to sanctify us there is a great difference between the Instrumentality of Faith in receiving Christ for our Justification and the efficacy of Faith applying Christ received for our Sanctification to speak properly 't is not God's working Faith but Faith working in us and upon us that Sanctifies God always gives Christ in and with our first Faith for Justification and Pardon this must be first finished and compleated before Faith will or can begin to sanctifie us because Faith fetches all its sanctifying Virtue from Christ received but our first act of receiving Christ is that that justifies Sanctification always follows upon it and is gradually carried on by a justifying Faith to our lives end in is not pardoned because it is mortified but because it is pardoned therefore it 's mortified Remission of sin presupposes no real change in the man himself as moving God thereunto Neither does remission of sin alter the nature of sin but only the state of the Sinner his sin is not imputed to him To forgive sin is not to remember it Jer. 31. 34. There 't is but God won't look towards it his thoughts are so taken up with the blood of Christ and the Interest that Believers have in that blood that he willingly forgets their sins he will not deal with them after their sins nor reward them according to their iniquities Psal 103. 10. And that they may be sure of this he casts their sins into the depths of the sea Mich. 7. 19. As far as the east is from the west so far hath he removed our transgression from us Psal. 103. 12. Not only from himself but from us he sees no iniquity in Jacob. If pardoning Grace does not presuppose but make a real change in a man for the better yet forasmuch as we are imperfectly Sanctified the Pardon of sin and the being and presence of sin may and do consist together in every true Believer here below provided they do not allow themselves in the practise of it 4. Remission of sin is an act of Mercy not Justice yet not contrary to Justice because the sins that are pardoned to us are punished in Christ 't is from God's Justice that he will not pardon sin without satisfaction 't is from his Mercy that he will accept of satisfaction from the hand of another This answers that plausible Objection that is commonly made against our Salvation by Grace viz. Wicked men are condemned for their evil works therefore Saints are justified for their good works Answ. This does not follow because one is an act of Justice and the other of Mercy Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Death is wages due by Law eternal Life is a free gift through Jesus Christ. 5. Remission of sin as 't is an act of Mercy so 't is act of Power too God has Power to forgive sin none but the Creditor can forgive the Debtor God is the greater Creditor and we are all his Debtors against thee only have I sinned therefore God only has Power to forgive sin but yet it is not an act of mere absolute Power neither but an act of Divine Jurisdiction that carries in it a due respect unto the Law which God as the righteous Judge and most wise Governour of the world will not violate Therefore Remission of Sin under this provision that God has made in Christ for the satisfaction of his Law and Justice is called Justification Rom. 4. 5 6. God is Just as well as Merciful in Pardoning Sin Rom 3. 25 26. So that Pardon flows from the Love of God acting towards us for Christ's sake i. e. upon the account of his Merit and Satisfaction which respect the Justice of God The truth is the satisfaction of Christ is the foundation of Pardon this satisfaction lyes in the expiatory Sacrifice offered by Christ upon the Cross hence expiation or atonement is joyned with pardon in Scripture Numb 15. 25. Levit. 4. 20. The priest was to make an atonement that the sin should be forgiven An expiatory Sacrifice led the way to forgiveness under the Law and so it does now under the Gospel without shedding of Blood there is no remission of sin If you have not the Blood of Christ is your eye when you go to God for Pardon never think to speed CHAP. IV. The APPLICATION I Shall shut up all with a word of Exhortation urging every one of you to a frequent deep serious consideration of this grand fundamental truth concerning the only way of Salvation by the remission of sin through Faith in Christ Jesus I know the time will shortly come when all our Notions and Disputes must be resolved into our believing or not believing in Christ for Pardon of sin therefore be perswaded to begin your Religion in pure Faith trusting in Christ only for the remission of all your sins through the merit of his Blood begin here lay this as the Foundation of all your Religion make this sure and then you will more clearly see upon what account you stand righteous before God if you joyn any thing with Christ here and miss your way in the first setting out you 'll go wider and wider from the Gospel every stop you take and be forced to wrest the Scriptures all along to make good your first grand mistake therefore I say beg of God to bring your hearts to a true reliance upon the free-Grace and Mercy of God in Christ Jesus for the pardon of all your sins Take this as a clue in your hands to guide you into such an understanding of all other truths as is consonant to this
suffered for us interceded for us but before Faith he is not said to be in us i. e. Not to live in us by his Spirit that we may live to God Gal. 2. 20. This Saving Knowledge of God which I am now speaking of is not the Knowledge of his Essence but of his Grace Love and Good-Will towards us in Christ and this the only begotten Son declares to us John 1. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is plenior perfectior rerum explitio CHAP. II. THat I may more distinctly open to you the nature of this saving knowledge of God in Christ I shall shew 1. What may be known of God out of Christ. 2. All that may be known of God out of Christ is better known in and by Christ. 3. What may be known of God in and by Christ that cannot be known any other way 4. What it is to know God in Christ. 5. What a true saving knowledge of God implies 1. What may be known of God out of Christ viz. The invisible things of God even his eternal Power and Godhead Rom. 1. 19 20. This Natural Philosophical knowledge of God though it be not sufficient to Save us yet 't is sufficient to Damn us to render us inexcusable and consequently to justifie our Damnation It may convince us of Sin but does not enable us to shun it or to do Good to addict our selves to it in a constant way this is a special work of the Holy Spirit Natural Concience knows something of God but nothing of Christ till our Ears are opened Psal. 40. 6. Aures perfodit digged or bored our Ears There is an obstruction a stoppage in all our Natural faculties that Spiritual objects can't enter till we are Spiritually enlightned till God moves our Hearts to assent to this Divine Revelation of God in Christ so giving us knowledge which is an effect of Divine Power 2 Pet. 1. 2 3. Eph 1. 19 2 Thes. â— 11. Which overthrows the Pelagian Doctrine asserting it to be in man's power to believe contrary to 2 Cor. 4. 7. and 2 Cor. 2. 5. in the Power of God i. e. In the irresistible efficacy of his Grace Though all Natural men do resist Grace at first yet Grace overcomes them at last takes away all final prevailing resistance turning the heart of stone into a heart of flesh Ezek. 36. 26. Besides to be able to resist the Grace of God is no Argument of man's Power but of his Weakness Malice and Pride The Gentiles knew God by the Creation but not by the Scriptures forbidding inward Lust and Concupiscence which natural light does not Rom 7. 7. They judged thoughts to be free for this reason the Gentiles are said not to know God 1 Thes. 4. 5. 2. All that may be known of God out of Christ is better known in and by Christ By Reason we know that the World was made but by Faith we know it more certainly Heb. 11. 3. The light of Nature gathers up something from the Works of God but Faith gathers up more from the Word of God the Word speaks more distinctly than the Works of God do these hold forth something of God in the general Notion of a Deity but leave us in the dark where to find out this God They speak out God to our Reason by some remote consequences leading us up to a first cause and in a discursive way convincing us of the Being of a God but few men have such Logical heads as to keep themselves under the power of these reasonings they are apt ever and anon to sink at last into practical Atheism He is a Practical Atheist who does not order his life according to those inward speculations he has of God The Word holds forth God more powerfully and directly to our Faith shewing us that God in Christ which it speaks of Since in the Wisdom of God i. e. by the Fabrick of Heaven and Earth setting forth the Wisdom of God the World cannot by all its Wit and Wisdom comfortably know God unto Salvation therefore he calls us to Faith in Christ 1 Cor. 1. 21. 3. What may be known of God in and by Christ that cannot be known any other way viz. His Pardoning Grace which as Sinners we are most of all concerned to know all other Attributes of God make against us without the knowledge of this which makes all to be for us The way of a Sinners Salvation is no where revealed but in Christ the last word the Law speaks is Death in the day thou eatest thou shalt dye and so leaves us under that Sentence till the day of Execution The Devils knew God without a Redeemer and therefore tremble Jam. 1. 19. The Gentiles knew God but not in Christ Rom. 1. 20. The Jews knew God as the Creator of the World as their Deliverer out of Egypt as the founder of their Commonwealth but not as the Father of Christ the true Messiah All this knowledge of God out of Christ does represent him to us only as our Judge which leads a Sinner to utter Despair overwhelms him with a sense of God's Wrath. 'T is only in Christ that we look upon God as a Saviour freely pardoning all our Sins This Pardoning Grace flows down to us only through Christ In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins Col. 1. 14. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be apâ—opitiation through Faith in his blood to deelare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God Rom. 3. 24 25. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 1. 15. Who hath saved us and called ws with a holy calling Not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 9 10. From all these Texts it plainly appears that God never had a thought from all Eternity of Pardoning Sinners but only in and through Christ and what applications we have made and do make every day unto God in the Name of Christ for the Pardon of Sin does highly concern every one of us seriously to consider This hidden Mystery of Gods Pardoning Grace unknown to the World before Mat. 13 35. is revealed to us in and by Christ being intimate with the Father even in his bosom Joh. 1. 18. And what he hath seen and heard that he testifieth John 3. 32. Let us receive his Testimony and set to our seal that God is true and will never pardon any who believe not in Jesus The end of his Coming into the World in our Nature was
Years before Gal. 3. 17. which it must have done had the Law been then given to bring Israel under a Covenant of Works The Church of Israel continued under this Sinai-Covenant till this better this second this New Covenant was introduced Heb. 8. 6 7 8. This Mount Sinai-Covenant is in Scripture called the First or the Old Covenant in comparison of the New established by Christ in the Gospel In this Sinai-Covenant there was a revival or a repitition of the Law of Works and a Typical pointing to the time of the promise when Christ himself should appear hence the Law is said to be our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The Sinai-Covenant had all the institutions of Worship annexed to it Heb. 9. 1 2 3. but this whole System of Levitical Worship in all its Rites and Ceremonies was to be disanull'd that a more Spiritual and Evangelical Church-state might be established by a standing irrevocable Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sancitum est Heb. 8. 6. The Sinai-Covenant was suited to the times of the Old-Testament 't was that dispensation which God thought fit to place the Church under at that season till the fulness of times should come for a clearer discovery of God's free Grace in Christ who was born under the Sinai Covenant made under the Law to redeem us from the curse of it Gal 3. 13. Gal 4. 4 5. The Covenant of Works put a double bar to man's Salvation since the Fall 1 st The Curse lay upon man for sin which must be removed or death was unavoidable 2 d. Perfect Righteousness was to be performed without which life was not attainable by that Covenant neither of these done then under the Sinai-Covenant Therefore Christ by virtue of the New Covenant-sanction authorising him as Mediator to undertake both he dies to free us from the Curse of the Law and by his active Righteousness or Obedience made us Righteous as Rom. 5. 18 19. It is as plain as words can express it that it is not by our own Evangelical obedience by works of Righteousness that we do but by the Obedience of that one Man Christ that we are made Righteous unto Justification of life So that Gospel Grace in the right notion of it doth not consist in abating the rigour of the Law or that for Christ's sake our sincere imperfect obedience shall be accepted unto Justification instead of that which is perfect But it lies here viz. in exempting us from a personal performance of perfect Righteousness required by Law unto our Justification and admitting Christ to answer the Law for us in our stead who accordingly fulfilled all Righteousness for us is become the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believes Rom. 10. 4. This is that Righteousness without works imputed to us Rom. 4. 6. or the righteousness of God by Faith Phil. 3. 9. Rom. 1. 17. the Obedience or righteousness of that one man Christ as before opposed to our own Righteousness Phil. 3. 9. Rom. 10. 3. Let us not carry it as if there were no way to Preach up Holiness and Sanctification but by Preaching down Justification by Faith alone in Christ Jesus Were some persons as zealous for the Doctrine of Free-grace as they who assert it are for good Works and strict Holiness of life there would not be that offence given by setting up a new way of Justification by our own Evangelical Obedience All who oppose this new scheme are presently branded with Antinomianâ—sm a beadroll of abominable errors are reckoned up and obliquely charged upon them But the strength of this way of Arguing I understand not Thus Christ as Mediator of the New Testament satisfied for the Transgressions of the Old Covenant That they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance Heb. 9. 15 16. Dan. 9. 24. He brought in everlasting Righteousness and by one offering hath perfected for ever them that are Sanctified Heb. 10. 14. So Redeeming us from the Law the Sinai Law for of that the Apostle there speaks Gal. 3. 10 17. Let us have a care of living in the Spirit of the Old Covenant going about to establish our own Righteousness Since by virtue of the New Covenant God hath accepted Christ in our stead to be oâ—â—â—econd Adam every way to answer the demands of the Law or Covenant of Works which was revived at Mount Sinai and added because of Transgression that Christ by coming under the Law might make satisfaction for that Transgression There was a necessity of a New Covenant that the fulfilling of the Old by Jesus Christ might be imputed to us there must be a Law for that before it could be that the benefit of Christ's Sufferings and active Obedience might redound unto us The New Covenant as comprehending that of Redemption obliged Christ to satisfie for our breach of the Old But though Believers are Redeemed from the curse of the Law yet they are still under the Law to Christ their Mediator who satisfied for their breaking of it 1 Cor. 9. 21. they are indeed dead to the law by the body of Christ Rom. 7. 4. i. e. Not under the condemning power of the Law because Christ bore the curse of it on his own Body yet still obedience to the Law is strictly required of all Believers though not in order to their Justification but for other ends all doing for life is now over that is no Antinomian Doctrine Gospel motives to Holiness from the Love of God in Christ Jesus are far more forcible than those drawn from the terror of the Law The New Covenant is a mild gentle Covenant full of Grace therefore called the Covenant of Grace consisting not of precepts and threatnings but of absolute Promises I will and they shall Heb. 8. 10 11 12. The Covenant of Grace is one and the same for substance all along ever since the fall there have been several discoveries of it 1. In the promise to Adam in more general terms 2. In that to Abraham limiting the seed to his family And when the Posterity of Abraham multiplied into a Nation the Covenant was put into a National form and was made with Israel as with a people and only with the people of Israel But when Christ came the last edition of the Covenant was more comprehensive both of Jew and Gentile reckoning all Believers to be the spiritual Seed of Abraham and was more expressive of spiritual Blessiugs than before This is called a New Covenant another Covenant because it was so different from the outward form and Systeme of the Sinai Covenant and of this New and better Covenant Christ is the Mediator We are come unto Mount-Sion to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant The Apostle persuades to more exact holiness of life 1. From the greatness of Gospel Grace 2. From the sweet alluring nature of it it must needs draw our hearts towards it make us fall in love with it thankfully receiving it with Reverence
of man made of the dust of the Earth laying aside all consideration of sin made it impossible for man to be brought so near to God as Christ has brought him 'T is something difficult to apprehend how Adam in Innocency held Communion with God how he could pray without a Mediator But after he fell for those few hours before the Promise of Christ came to him no doubt he was full of horror The Text says he was afraid and hid himself from the presence of the Lord Gen. 3. 8 9 10. But Christ interposes took our nature upon him to convey his to us to make that ours by Grace which was his by Nature so uniting us to God again CHAP. IV. 4. How Christ was fitted and qualified for the Office of a Mediator HE had the Nature of both parties in him as our Immanuel Isa. 7. 14. He had a right in both as God manifest in the Flesh he stood in the middle between both parties and may be called the Third Isa. 19. 24. because Israel was joined in league and amity with Egypt and Assyria they all had an interest in one another all were Blessed of God v. 25. So God and man considered as united in a Third Person who is God-man they both have an interest in him and he is them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mediator is one who stands in the middle between Two partaking of both the extreams In this sense Christ is a middle Person medius not only by Office but by Nature as God-man Divinity and Humanity being substantially united in his Person he must be God that he may be able to satisfie he must be man that he may be in a capacity to die So that medius may refer to the Person Mediator to the Office the Office depends upon the Person such an Office requires such a Person who was God-man Christ is a Mediator according to both his Natures as God-man as his Divine Person is Incarnate in Christ's Mediation both natures are imployed and do act distinctly His Deity did what was Divine his Humanity what was Humane and what was done according to either Nature is ascribed to his Person The Person of the Mediator hath something common to both the dissenting parties viz. The same essence of the Godhead though not the same Personality with the Father and the Holy Ghost and the same humane Nature with us not numerical but specifical In the Incarnation of Christ humane Nature is not individuated to a formal subsistency in this particular Man by the Divine Essence but by the Personality of the Son and therefore the Son is said to be Incarnate because the Person of the Son gives humane Nature a subsistency in himself The Person of Christ joins Two Natures not disagreeing for the sinless Humanity of Christ was never contrary to his Divinity though inferior to it Christ thus Incarnate lays out himself to reconcile God and man which his Two Natures do fit him for disposing and giving an aptitude to the Office of a Mediator for Christ is Mediator oeconomically and by Office Christ's assuming humane Nature was part of his Humiliation and did fit him for his Mediatory Office Phil. 2. 7 8. Though as has been said there was no enmity between God and Christ's sinless humane Nature yet as 't is in us 't is defiled and contrary to God therefore Christ mediates for us with the Father Though Christ Offered up himself a Sacrifice for us in humane Nature yet the whole Divine Person may be said to be offered up in that Nature John 10. 17 18. Christ speaks there as Mediator the power that he had of laying down and taking up his life was the power of the Divine Person not of his humane Nature Some of the Schoolmen have this apt similitude viz. As a man draws a Sword out of a Scabbard holding the Sword in one hand and the Scabbard in the other so the Divine Person of Christ separated his Soul from the Body as a Sword from the Scabard and yet kept both parts united to himself Toletus Christ took our Flesh in which he was mortal and freed even our flesh from that mortality when he raised it from the dead Aug. de Civ D. l. 9. c. 15. mortalitatem habuit transeuntem and so raising us ex mortuis facit immortales Who could swallow up death but he who was life it self It makes much for the relief of fearful Consciences that our Mediator is God-man we should tremble at the mention of God only but when we hear he is Man as well as God then we come willingly to a man like our selves God hath hid and veiled his Majesty under our flesh that the brightness of his Glory might not overcome us When God appeared of old to the Patriarchs it was in some visible shape which he took up for that time and laid down again but now he has really taken the substance and truth of humane Nature into a fixed union to the Person of his Son never to be dissolved Heb. 1. 1. Christus Incarnandus was Mediator under the Old Testament as Exod. 23. 20 21. This could not be a created Angel because he had power to forgive sin therefore it was Christ to come apud Deum facta facienda things actually done and to be done hereafter things present and to come are all one Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13. 8. Who was verily fore-ordained 1 Pet. 1. 20. Faith in Christ to come saved our fore-fathers Christ was an effectual Mediator then in esse cognito not in esse reali this gives present efficacy to a moral Cause hence Abraham had the benefit of Christ's Mediation therefore he rejoyced John 8. 56 58. The Israelites are said to tempt Christ 1 Cor. 10. 9. Therefore he was with the Church then so verse 4. called a rock David calls Christ Lord Psal. 110. 1. Which shews that Christ had power over him to save him to redeem him so that you see Christ tho not actually Incarnate procured Remission of sin for the Saints then who acted Faith on Christ to come they saw him a far off Numb 24. 17. Promises do signifie something before they are fulfilled the Merits of Christ's Blood being known to God before it was actually shed had its vertue and influence from the beginning According to the Divine Oeconomy Christ mediates with the Father only he is never in Scripture brought in praying to the Son or the Spirit Christ as God-man is Mediator to himself as he is essentially God and Christ as Mediator is inferior to himself As he is essentially God so he is the Party offended but as Mediator God-man so he is the party that makes reconciliation A Mediator is not of one i. e. He consists of two distinct Natures Angels and Saints are mere Creatures and never will be more and therefore will make but sorry Mediators the Man Christ is the highest Creature Image of God because he