undergone those most grievous punishments due unto and for the same But Christ hath so born or carryed our iniquities sustaining and suffering death for the same that we might be freed there from Therefore he hath truly and indeed sustained the most grievous punishments of our iniquities Here the Dialogue doth endeavour Tenebras inducore rebus to cast a mist before our eyes by telling us that this very place being cited by St. Matthew c Mat. 8.17 is by him applyed to bodily sicknesses and diseases inferring from hence that Christ did not bear infirmities or sicknesses from the sick and diseased as a Porter bears a burthen by laying them on his own body but bearing them away by the power of his Word * See how they reason Ferre seu portare in Scripturali quando ergo Semper after which manner also he bare our sins and our iniquities One egg cannot be more like another then these Words and this glosse are to those and that of Socinus d De Christo Servatore and his Disciple Crellius e Corporales morbos Christus non sustinuit aut perculit sed ab hominibus abstulit ac verbo Sanavat Cont. Grot. pag. 56. if they may not be said and that truly to be the same To which we in the name of the Orthodox do answer that that place of St. Matthew is to be read by way of application not explication sicknesses and diseases are the effects and fruits of sin therefore he declareth Christ to be a Physician not for the soul only but for the body also and in token of spiritual health and recovery from sin he did afford and apply corporal from maladyes and distempers So Pareus upon this place in Matthew It was the end of Christs coming to bear our sins which are the sicknesses of the soul and therefore he begins by practising upon the sicknesses of the body that so having cured the one he might proceed to the Sanation of the other Thus honest Ferus the fryer f Christi propositum erat ut peccata nostra portaret quae verè infirmitates sunt animarum c. in Mat. 8. Also St. Chrisost saith g Homil. 25. that the corporal health which Christ afforded to the sick was a type of that spiritual health which was to be expected from him Nor is there so much difference if any at all between that in Isaiah which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that in St. Matthew which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they would bear us in hand in regard he may be truly said to bear both the one by passion the other by compassion Now seeing the figg-leaf will not serve to cover their nakedness but that it must be discovered for that he bare wounds and bruises for us cannot be denyed He that is our Dialogue tells us that Satan and his instruments did thus bruise and wound him True but not for us The sufferings wounds and bruises of which the Prophet Isaiah doth so liberally discourse and so literally describe are not only such wherein Satan and wicked men were instruments as these Socinians the Dialogue and the rest h We put them together as birds of a seather do fondly fain but some of them were immediately inflicted by God himself without any second means as instruments of the same so Vers 6. the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all also Vers 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise him Now these sufferings were principally in his soul which neither men nor Divels could afflict or terrify but God could and did as was forespoken of him in the same verse Thou shalt make his soul a sacrifice for sin Add to these the complaint of Christ himself i Matt. 26.33 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my soul is exceeding heavy even unto the death And then the sum of all will be this that Christ our Saviour did undergo most exquisite torments both in body and soul joyned with and lying under the sense of Divine wrath by reason of the guilt of sin which lay upon him and was imputed to him For the further confirmation hereof I might urge and that with better authority then any can refuse it that place in the book of the Lamentations k Lam. 1.12 Is it nothing to you all ye that passe by Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce wrath I know and according to the letter it cannot be denyed but that these words are set down by the Prophet Jeremiah in the person of his own people being then in great misery and of the holy City then laid wast by the Chaldees their professed Enemies what then says one l Bishop Andrews his serm as learned as the best of those that dare oppose it I find saith he there is not any of the Ancient writers but do apply yea and in a manner appropriate this speech to our Saviour Christ and wheresoever they treat of the passion ever this cometh in to expresse the bitterness and the horrour thereof And to say the truth taking the words strictly and as they lye before us they cannot agree with or be verified of any but of him and him only For though some other and not altogether unfitly may say the same words yet it must be in a qualified sense For in full and perfect propriety of speech he and none but he can say si fuerit dolor sicut dolor meus no day of wrath like to his day no grief no sorrow no torment to be compared to his yea his exceeded them all Besides what if it were spoken literally of this people then So was that in the Prophesie of Hosea m Hos 11.1 Ex Aegypto vocavi filium out of Aegypt have I called my Son yet it is by the Evangelist n Matt. 2.15 understood of and applyed to our Saviour Christ My God my God why hast thou forsaken me was at first uttered by David o Psal 22.1 yet Christ himself maketh use of the same words and that more truly and properly then ever David did or could and of those of Davids and of these of Jeremies there is the same reason Well though the Ancients all along have ascribed them unto Christ and in fitness of terms and more fulness of truth they may be taken to be spoken of him more and rather then of any other whatsoever yet because we will give nâ—ne occasion to cavil we will freely and fairly passe them by A man that would commend a Spring water need not drink up the whole Fountain one or two draughts is sufficient We have already had a tast of the truth of Christs suffering the wrath of God for us Yet we will take a sip or two more and so will conclude this first part And to this purpose mark how fully the Apostle Paul p Gal.
the Dialogue professe he knows not what kind of imputation it is and yet doth he thus reproach it We may easily know then what Spirit he is of Iude 10. Speaking evill of those â—hings which he knoweth not And 't is a sign he knows it not indeed otherwise he would not so severely censure it yea condemne and blaspheme it as he doth which most darkens the necessary Doctrine of a sinners justification let the indifferent Reader judge If he desire to know what it is let him search the Scriptures for they do abundantly testify of it To the Law and to the Testimony * Legimus passim apud Paulum nos justos fieri justificari pâ—r Christum per Christi mortem sanguinem redemptionem obedientiam justitiam illam justitiam imputari nobis à Deo absque operibus Noster Amesius Bell. enerva 10.4 pag. 137. and they which speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them The very term Impute taken for judicial laying of that to the charge of a person which is not properly his but yet justly laid to him and put truly upon his account is ten times used by the Apostle Paul in the 4th to the Romanes In which sense we affirm that sin is imputed to Christ or else he could not have suffered This we take to be and shall stick by as an infallible truth No man dyes as death is a privation of the life of the body unlesse it be for his own sin or the sin of some others imputed to him The Scriptures that confirm this are divers Gen. 2.17 In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Rom. 6.23 The wages of sin is death 1 Cor. 15.56 The sting of death is sin Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed over all men for that all have sinned from whence we collect that every man that dyes dyes for sin that is either for his own or the sin of some other made his by imputation Death is not natural to man as man For that which is natural to him as he is man was engraffed into him and appointed unto him of God but death is not planted or engraffed into him by God neither was he by him made lyable to it e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Man before his fall was free from death as after the last judgment he shall be likewise Besides death is an enemy to humane nature threatning the ruine and destruction thereof will any man then say that that is natural to him which doth destroy him Is that agreeable to the nature of man which above all other he abborreth being accompanied with that which brings nothing but trouble anguish and vexation to him whence we see that death is not natural to man as man but to man only as a sinner Now that Christ dyed the Devils themselves have not impudence enough to deny being themselves instrumentally engaged for the effecting of his death But let the Dialogue or any man else for him answer me in good sadness was it for his own sin or for the sin of others None can none dare openly though these black mouth'd Socinians do secretly mutter so much affirm for his own therefore it must necessarily be for the sin of others Sin may be said to be anothers properly or improperly either truly or after a certain manner those sins are truly anothers of which in no sort thou hast bin partaker and for which by no Law thou art bound to suffer but for those whereof thou hast bin partaker no reason can be produced to the contrary but thou shouldst suffer Christ doth in a manner partake of our sins f Isa 53.6 the Lord hath laid on him or hath made to meet on him the iniquities of us all yea Peter in the 2. Chapter of his first Epistle and the 24. vers saith plainly that his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree c. and so cannot especially offering himself and becoming our surety undertaking for us the penalty due to us but be every way lyable to the same Christ was not subject to any necessity of dying being as God immortal as man holy and immaculate without the least tincture of sin therefore no necessity in him no necessity for him but in respect of us and as our pledge and surety This is a proposition of an undoubted truth that where there is no Original corruption there is no actual transgression Christ being free from the one must needs be acquit of any suspition of the other therefore not for his own sins but for ours the guilt whereof being laid upon him and imputed to him did he suffer that misery those torments and that death that accursed death of which we have already so fully spoken Here the Dialogue that he may the more closely and covertly beguile the over-credulous Reader which I perceive is his great endeavour doth ignorantly if not wilfully corrupt some texts of Scripture wresting and wringing them about to make them speak in his sense and to his purpose namely that Christ did not bear as we say by imputation but did bear away our sins and our iniquities from us Having therefore already freed those places quoted out of the Prophesie of Isaiah g Isa 53.7 c. expounded as he saith by that of Matt. 8.16 and from which he draweth this false consequence that Christ bore our sins as he bore our sicknesses whereas indeed there is great difference in the manner of bearing h Hos enim abstulit non pertulit illa non pertulit illa pertulit abstulit simul Sibran Lub lib. 2. cap. 4. these he did not bear but bear away those he bore and bore away together We shall now do the best we can by Gods assistance to clear this of St. Peter also and free it from the like corrupt handling In this 1 Pet. 2.24 the place before cited the Apostle saith expresly that Christ did peccata nostra sursum tulisse carry our sins up with him upon the crosse If the Spirit of God by the Apostle had intended herein a bearing away he might have used as learned Grotius well observes i De Satisfactione Christi cap. 1. and more apt for that purpose the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which barely signifies to take away But for the greater Emphasis and more cleer expressing of his meaning he useth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is he took up which is so far from diminishing that it adds something to the signification thereof Now Socinus and his Ape the Dialogue that they may weaken if possible the strength of this place do tell us that this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie abstulit he bare away but quite contrary to the nature and use of the word For neither the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will admit of
Anti-Socinianism OR A brief Explication of some places of holy Scripture for the confutation of cerrain gross Errours and Socinian Heresies lately published by William Pynchion Gent. in a Dialogue of his called The Meritorious Price of our Redemption Concerning 1. Christ's suffering the Wrath of God due to the Elect. 2. God's Imputation of sin to Christ 3. The nature of the true Mediatorial Obedience of Christ 4. The Justification of a sinner ALSO A Brief Description of the Lives and a True Relation of the Death of the Authors Promoters Propagators and chief Disseminators of this Socinian Heresie How it sprung up By what means it spread and When and By whom it was first brought into England that so we be not deceived by it By N. Chewney M. A. and Minister of God's Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ad Trall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiph. Haeres 74. LONDON Printed by J. M. for H. Twâ—ford and T. Dring and are to be sold in Vine-Court Middle-Temple and at the George in Fleetstreet neer Cliffords Inn. 1656. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL And his Ever Honoured UNCLE HENRY CRISPE Of Queax in the Isle of Thannet Esq Sir YOur Commands have given Being especicially in Publike to these Lines and did I not believe they would pass by the mercy of a Worshipful Perusal I should never have exposed them to the Criticisme and Comment of such a Censorious Age as this which under-values most things because they are common and many things because they are good Though these poor Labours of mine can lay no Title to the latter in respect of their Frame and Structure they may in respect of their Subject which is High and Sacred our very Right and Interest unto Heaven and so not only invite acceptance but enforce it As they are good Sir vouchsafe them entertainment The Noble encouragements you have hitherto given and fair Interpretations you have made of things of this Nature have even fully assur'd me of the same I have made bold therefore to stamp your Name upon them that others in our Age may be the rather induc'd to peruse them and that Posterity also may know as well as we that you were one that durst both countenance and maintain poor simple naked Truth when flaunting Errour and Heresie do almost bear down all before them I dare assure you it is no small honour to have a fixed heart in such loose times and stayed feet in such slippery places as your Worship hath lived in and waded thorow And it is both a comfort and an honour to none of the meanest that I can shelter these poor lines under the protection of one of your gravity solidity and other great ability from the malignity of these erroneous days What shall I say God send Truth more such Friends and they in due time that recompence which the God of Truth hath promis'd to them and reserved for them Constancy and Perseverance are the way to it and Faithful is he that hath promis'd it To whose merciful Protection I commit and commend your Worship with Sir Nicholas Crisp your Son and the Vertuous Lady the Lady Thomasin Crisp his wife for whose sake I was the more willing to engage in this quarrel and to encounter with this supposed Goliah Beseeching God to crown your life with such Blessings here as may the better adapt and fit you for the Crown of life hereafter So praying rests SIR Your humble Servant and respective Kinsman N. C. To the Right Worshipful his once Honoured Patron and his ever Honoured Friend Robert Hales of Howlets in the County of Kent Esquire Noble SIR JNGATITUDE being a sin which not only Men but Divels abhor I could not durst not forbear the publishing of my Thankfulness for former though Malice hath for present rendred me uncapable of future Favours lest Posterity should rank me among those ingrateful wretches that are unthankful unto such as have been bountiful unto them Necessity then obligeth me to this Publike Manifestation of the Thankfulness of my heart to you for those many expressions of Bounty and Goodness which my hand hath received from You. But what are Verbal Thanks in respect of Real Courtesies Yet God himself in whose place somtimes You sit and in whose stead You Act telleth us plainly That a man is accepted according to what he hath and not according to what he hath not Accept then I pray You this humble and hearty acknowledgement of your Worships Real and Ready Favours and suffer it to lie by You as a lasting Monument of Your due deserved Praise and my just acknowledgements of Your Worth And now seeing I can serve You no longer as I desire give me leave to Bless You before I go The Blessings of the Bed and of the Board the Blessings of the City and of the Country the Blessings of the Sea and of the Land the Blessings of the Basket and of the Store the Blessings of Heaven and Earth in a word all Blessings that were ever showred down upon Mortals be upon You and Yours Your Vertuous Consort Your Hopeful Issue Your Well-ordered and Religious Family And so Praying rests Worthy SIR Yours at Command in and for the Lord N.C. Anti-Socinianism OR A Brief Explication of some places of Holy Scripture for the confutation of certain gross Errors and Socinian Heresies lately published in a Dialogue called The Meritorious Price of our Redemption c. CONCERNING 1. Christ's suffering the wrath of God due to the Elect for sin 2. God's imputation of sin to Christ 3. The true nature of the Mediatorial obedience of Christ 4. The justification of a Sinner First Concerning Christ's suffering the wrath c. I Had verily resolved to have been silent in Polemical matters but as the Prophet Jeremiah saith a Jer. 20.9 so may I the Word of the Lord was in mine heart and as a fire shut up in my bones and I was weary with forbearing yea I could not stay For Sions sake then I cannot hold my peace especially when I hear that those who pretend much to Truth and some who Virtute officii should be Assertors and Maintainers thereof do take a course to betray it by countenancing and commending such books as are repugnant thereunto I know the weighty doctrine of a sinners justification before God hath been notably canvaâ—ed and discussed among Divines of all sorts and is excellently defined and determined in and by the word of God yet partly through the weakness of humane apprehension and partly through the deceit and malice of the devil There is not any doctrine of our Religion b Praecipue in controversiam vocatur that I read of more impugned more obscured with errors and absurdities then this precious point c Doctrinam Christi Apostolorum de praecipuo salutis Articulo vocat Dr. Prideaux Lect. 5 de Justificat To wave the difference between the Papists and us concerning it and to speak the very truth we are
far from agreement among our selves Some affirming our justification to be by infusion of righteousness into us for which we are accepted Others take away the imputation of Christ's righteousness from us A third sort deny the satisfaction of Christ A fourth would have the very act of beleeving accounted for righteousness One cries up this Another that as their severall humours and affections sway them So that there are almost found tot Sententiae quot capita as many different minds as men Among which I find one Gentleman the Author of the Dialogue I mean who by the fame and opinion of his learning and piety hath drawn in many professours of Religion not only to a liking but defending of his errors For with that tract of his baited with the glorious Title of the Meritorious price of Mans redemption hath he hooked in many and some no smal fools in the eye and judgement of the World The very Title page d Hedera illa quam in Dialogi sui vestibulo fronte suspensam habet vinum intus haud vendibile indicat whereof is sufficient to declare its contents to be unsound what then can be expected from the whole Indeed nothing but what is exceedingly derogatory both to the Justice of God and the Grace of Christ e Nimis extenuatur Christi gratia nisi ejus sacrificio vim expiandi placandi satisfaciendi concedimus Cal. Inst lib. 2. cap. 17. Sect. 4. which being openly published and secretly commended especially by some of repute and office in this Common-weal may contribute much to the heap of those many errors and heresies too much abounding already among us For reclaiming then of the Ignorant who are by him seduced for confounding of the Impudent who are by him perverted and for stopping the mouths of those his high Admirers who set themselves against the known Truth so long received so cleerly maintained as a Christian as a Minister though the least and most unworthy of many thousand I shall discover him to be a dangerous Socinian Sophister and his book so highly commended so much admired to be as opposite to Truth as light to darkness Christ to Belial The whole controversie between us is laid down in these four things 1. Concerning Christ's suffering the wrath of God due to the Elect for sin 2. Concerning God's imputation of sin to Christ 3. Concerning the true nature of the Mediatorial obedience of Christ c. Lastly the Justification of a sinner The two former as they are disposed in the Dialogue are a meer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet we will not alter their place but take them up as they lye before us and write something briefly concerning each leaving the more particular handling thereof to some more worthy seing Reverend Mr. Norton cannot be heard or if God so please to a more large and full discourse hereafter Zanch. de Attr. And first concerning Christ's suffering the wrath * Ira Dei significat vel essentiale Dei attributum vel ejus attributi effectum i. e. poenam of God due to the Elect for sin I will pass by the impertinent and unsound exposition which he makes of that place of Moses Gen. 2.17 wherein Mr. Norton hath cleerly evicted him for saith he the sum of the sense thereof according to the Dialogue is this Christ could not sin therefore he could not suffer the punishment due to the Elect for sin as their surety which he calls and that truly a reasonlesse and sick consequence and the contrary thereof true He could not as a Mediatour and surety have suffered satisfactorily the punishment due to others for sin if he had not been himself without sin Though Christ was not a sinner inherently yet was he a sinner imputatively whereupon the substantial f Execratio quam Christus pro nobis subiit non fuit ceremonialis sed realis Sibr. Lubbus lib. 2. cap. 1. curse of the Law was justly executed upon him and what is the substantial curse of the Law but the wrath of God which he for a time endured for us that we might be freed from the weight thereof for ever That Christ did suffer this is plain from that which follows for that he should be so troubled in soul as St. John g John 12.27 declareth in so grievous an Agony as St. Luke h Luke 22.44 in such anguish of mind and deep distress as St. Mark i Mark 14.35 have his soul so invironed with sorrow and that sorrow to the death as St. Matthew k Matth. 26.38 doth set forth no manner of violence being offered to him in body no man touching him or being neer him in a cold night l For they were fain to have a fire within doors at that time of the year as Bishop Andrews observes And John 18.25 being abroad in the air and upon the cold earth to be all of a sweat and that sweat to be bloud m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken for an adverb of simitude and sometime adjuncta certitudinem indicat Joh. 1.14 Joh. 7.10 i. e. in secret and not as they call it Diaphoreticus a thin faint sweat but Grumosus of great thick drops so many so plenteous as that they went through all and streamed to the ground in great abundance do all speake aloud the greatness of his sufferings And that his most dreadful cry which at once moved all the powers of Heaven and Earth my God my God why hast thou forsaken me must needs be the voyce of some weighty anguish wherewith his soul was smitten For as that learned Prelate n Bish Andrews ser de passion pag. well observes derelinqui a Deo the body cannot feel or tell what it meaneth It is the souls complaint and therefore without all doubt Christs trouble anguish agony sorrow and deadly sorrow must needs declare unto us those spiritual and internal torments * Propter nostram justificationem sic actum est per Christum Nos enim peccatoris in ipso infernales poenas quas justè meremur exsolvimus Nicol. de Cusa exercitationum lib. 10. which he suffered in his soul out of the sense of Divine wrath hanging over him and inflicted on him by reason of the guilt of our sins which lay upon him being imputed to him Besides this he being the Son of God Lord of Heaven and Earth to be so terrifyed with the sense of a bodily death only which he was to suffer and the Dialogue endeavours to perswade as that he should for very fear thereof sweat bloud want the comfort and support of an Angel and cry out so bitterly when on the contrary we see many others not only without sorrow and fear but even with joy and rejoycing conflict with as violent a death every deal it must necessarily follow that either Christ the Son of God Lord of Heaven and Earth had lesse strength lesse courage lesse confidence
3.13 expresseth himself Christ saith he hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law when he was made a curse for us For it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree that the blessing of Abraham c. Which words we take as an answer to an objection occasioned from the 10. verse thus If they be accursed that continue not in all things written in the Law to do them then all men are accursed and the Gentiles are not partakers of the blessing of Abraham as is before declared To this the Apostle applyeth these words Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law that is to them that believe there is full redemption from this curse of the Law to which they were lyable Christ himself having undergone the curse for them For the more cleer illustration of this answer the Apostle gives us a description of our Redemption in these three particulars 1. The Authour Christ hath redeemed us 2. The form or manner being made a curse for us 3. The end which is two-fold 1. More generally that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles 2. More particularly that we might receive the promise of the Spirit In the first and the last the Authour and the end we all agree the difference between us lyes in the manner or form of our Redemption expressed in these words Who was made a curse for us For the better understanding whereof these four things are to be enquired after First what this curse is Secondly how Christ is said to become a curse Thirdly in what nature Christ was accursed Lasty how far forth Christ was accursed First we will enquire what this curse is Here Socinus Gitichius Ostorodius Smalcius Muscorovius Crellius with all the rest do croud in and would fain be heard But let us hear the Dialogue and we hear them all who now lispeth not but expresly useth the same Language and to the very same intent and purpose with them which is that the Apostle speaks in this Chapter of a two-fold curse of the eternal curse vers 10. of the outward temporary curse vers 13. Namely such a curse as all men do suffer that are hanged upon a Tree which curse the Apostle brings in speaking in a Rhetorical manner only thus Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law namely from the eternal curse at the very self same time when he was made not that q Christus non nostram sed aliam quandam subiit execrationem Socinus de Christo Servatore curse but a curse for us according to that in Deut. 21.23 and thus the Dialogue with them endeavoureth fictis illudere verbis with a shadow to deprive us of the substance But to deal truly and uprightly with the Reader we are to know that the Apostle in the 10. vers Speaks of the eternal or moral curse and in the 13. vers both of the eternal and ceremonial in neither of which is there any need of Rhetorick or any Rhetorical expressions What a strange imaginary or illusory curse would these men frame to themselves if they might have their own wills and make others believe our Saviour under-went When as St. Paul tells us in plain terms he was made that very curse that they had deserved which continued not in all things written in the book of the Law to do them And this doth appear by that place forecited r Deut. 21.23 Cursed even with that moral curse is every one that hangeth upon a Tree Besides this is made more evident by proving that the person hanged upon a Tree and accursed was a Type of Christ For if the type bare the ceremonial 't is then manifest that the Anti-type bare the moral that is the eternal curse If not only the curse of every one that is hanged upon a Tree be signified but also Christs redemption of us from the curse of the Law by being made a curse for us * Deus Ideò suscepit carnem ut maledictum carnis peccatricis abâ—lerot factus est pro nobis maledictum ut benedictio absorberet ma edictionem integritas peccatum c. Abrosius de Fuga seculi cap. 7. Maledictionem condemnationem cui obnoxii eramus assumpsit Christus ultroque in serecepit quae pati debucramus illa ipse pertulit Theodoras Abucara disput 15. c. 5. be both signified and fore-told in that place of Deuteronomie then that place hath not only a proper but a typical signification But not only the curse of every one that is hanged upon a Tree is signified and fore-told in that place Therefore that place hath not only a proper but a typical signification which typical signification being taken away namely Christs bearing the moral curse upon the Tree all the Hebrew Doctors whose judgment in other things our Dialogue doth so highly esteem and magnify are now at a non-plus to give a sufficient yea probable reason why hanging upon a Tree should so much defame or fasten this special curse upon the person hanged above all other capital sufferings whatsoever I suppose Mr. Norton in his answer to the Dialogue hath written very fully and satisfactorily to this purpose to which I referre the imparâ—iâ—l and judicious Reader that so we may proceed This curse saith Abrahamus Callovius Å¿ Nihil aliud est quà m damnatoria s ntentia de subcundis paenis peccatu debitis vel iâ—sâ— paena à sent ntiâ— legis damnaturia dependens de Satisfact Christi Pastor of the Church of Wittenberg is nothing else but the condemning sentence of the Law whereby a man is adjudged to undergo such punishment as is due to the offence committed Or else it is the very pun shment it self depending upon that condemnatory sentence of the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is according to Aretius t Arâ—tius in Gal. 3.13 the due punishment of sin that is the wrath and high displeasure of God yea even eternal death due to the Elect by reason of their transgressions which he in a manner and in some kind u Quâ— ad acerbitateâ— etsi non quoad durationem Dâ— Prid. de redem may justly be said to suffer for them We come to the second namely how Christ is said to be a curse For answer He is not so by nature for he is the very natural Son of God but first by voluntary dispensation Secondly by mutual combination between the three Persons of the Deity Father Son and Holy Ghost Thirdly by manifest and apparent Ordination w 1 Pet. 1.20 and that before the foundation of the World was laid Fourthly by Divine obsignation x Iohn 6.27 Fiftly by a seasonable and timely consecration and that first by his Baptisme in which saith Mr. Perkins y Perkins on the Gal. he took upon him our guilt as we put off the same in ours and secondly by his bitter crosse and passion in which he underwent the punishment of our sin and thus
he was made a curse For the third in what nature he was made a curse We have this answer In his humane nature consisting of body and soul yea in soul rather then in body the soul of man being the principal seat and place of residence for sin For saith Christ himself z Mat. 15.19 out of the heart which in Scripture beareth usually the name and title of the soul proceedeth evill thoughts murthers adulteries c. Yet I say in both compleating and making up the humane nature sustained and supported by the Divine being in Union with it Here is something to be borne and meet it is a Bishop Andrews ser that every one should bear his own burthen the nature that had sinned bear his own sin Mans nature had sinned and therefore mans nature ought to suffer But that which mans nature should mans nature could not bear not the heavy and insupportable weight of Gods wrath due to sin but God could The one ought and could not The other could but ought not if he had not bin man he could not have suffered if he had not bin God he had sunk in his sufferings and had never bin able to have gone thorow with them God had no shoulders Man had but too weak God knows to sustain so great a weight So that as he was man he was lyable and as he was God he was able saith that learned Prelate b Pag. to bear the burthen in the heat of the day c Psal 16. To the last how far forth Christ was accursed We answer thus There is a two-fold death a first and a second death in the first death there are two degrees separation of body and soul and the putrifaction of the body separated The first Christ suffered but not the second For his body being deprived of life according to the dialect of the Psalmist c Psal 16. saw no corruption Again in the second there are two degrees the first is a separation from God in sense and feeling The second is an absolute separation from him for ever never to be admitted into favour any more Into this last degree of death Christ entred not for in the midst of his most grievous sufferings in the exaltation and height of all his sorrows he yet cryed out my God my God declaring his trust in and dependance upon God notwithstanding all his misery Neither could it be otherwise without a dissolution of the personal Union But into the first degâ—ees of this second death we affirm and that upon plain Scripture grounds against all opposition that Christ did enter that is the sense and feeling of Gods wrath and indignation d Cum ira Dei sit voluntas puniendi rectè etiam diâ—ipotest Iratus illo quèm vice loco delinquentium punire vult essen due to the Elect in regard of their iniquities by which they had provoked him to be highly displeased with them Not to muster up any more * Instances witnesses we will only take a short survey of that place of the Apostle to the Hebrews cap. 5. vers 7. Who in the dayes of his flesh when he had offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared and so free it what we may from the violence done unto it by the Dialogue who notwithstanding his profession of reverence to those Authours who expound the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fear yea the fear of astonishment at the sense and feeling of Gods wrath for the guilt of our sins yet labours tooth and naile to overthrow their exposition and by one of his own to carry the meaning of the Text another way telling us that some translate it reverence others dignity a third sort piety to which because he himself adheres rather then to any other doth therefore conclude that it must be so taken here and must not cannot be otherwise But by the Dialogues good leave there is no such necessity for that as he would have us believe the proper signification of the word being fear together with the frequent use of it by all sorts of Greek Authours both holy d Heb. 12.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and humane e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Plut. in Camille declare the contrary as also the Proposition annexed f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which cannot be bribed or corrupted to comply with the sense and interpretation of the Dialogue It was not an ordinary fear arising from an ordinary cause g Metus vel solitudo c. that thus constrained our blessed Saviour to entreat and supplicate for he felt such pains saith Piscator h In animo pariter corpore tales sensit dolores quales damnati sensuri sunt in inferno ut ita satisfaceret pro peccatis nostris quae ut Sponsor in se susceperat c. In Heb. 5.7 as the Elect if they had bin damned in Hell should have felt that so he might make satisfaction to the Justice of God for their sins the guilt of which as a Pledge or surety he had freely and voluntarily taken upon him He offered up saith the Apostle prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared If it had bin fear of bodily death only as the Dialogue would have it what need such cryes such strong cryes with tears Surely be would make him lesse then a man and more faint in a good cause then Malefactors are in a bad But the Text is plain he was heard in that he feared that is saved from the death he feared but he was not saved from the bodily death for he dyed and gave up the Ghost i Mat. 27.58 therefore it was not the bodily death but the great horrour of soul * Christus ut plenè pro nobis satisfaceret non tantum corporis sed etiam summos animi cruciatus sustinuit Vicit Bâ—za in Mat. by reason of the wrath of God which he suffered that he so feared and from which he was in respect of the eternity there of delivered Nor was it Christs deliverance out of these sufferings much lesse from a bodily death only as the Dialogue but upon what grounds I know not doth most vainly to say no worse affirm but the glory of God his Father in the salvation of the Elect which was the Master-piece of all his prayers Well we have enough for our purpose He prayed that he might be delivered from death True but this death was the death of the crosse the principal part whereof was the curse that is the wrath of God due to the Elect for sin from which he was delivered in respect of duration but sustained it for a time for them that they might for ever be freed from the same And this we take to be the
very drift and purpose of the Holy Ghost in this place of the Apostle Further more there are some and those of no small account in the Church of God who take that Article in the Creed of Christs descension into Hell to signify those Spiritual and internal passions which he suffered in his Soul out of the sense of Divine wrath hanging over him and inflicted upon him by reason of the guilt of our sins for which he was to satisfie Thus Uâ—sinus k Catechism pag 236. and Spanhemius l Summos cruciatus angustias dolores quas Christus perpossus c. de exinatione Christi pag. 274. also our own Perkins m Perkins on the Creed upon the Creed expounding that part of Hannah's song 1 Sam. 2.6 The Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive He bringeth down to Hell and raiseth up again saith thus The Lord maketh men feel wo and misery in their Souls yea even the pangs of Hell and afterwards restoreth comfort and refreshment to them But we passe this What ever uncertainty in this point the Dialogue would fasten on us and make the World believe there is among us shall so he may gain the more credit to himself and his Socinian opinion I leave to the judgment of the indifferent Reader in the mean season let all men know that in this we all agree and this constantly and unâ—nimously affirm that Christ Jesus suffered that death and those very Soul n Ipsam poenam infornalem re ipsa tulit c. Poliander 1. concertatione torments to which the Elect were subject by reason of the curse of the Law which lay upon them For the further confirmation whereof we here propound a three-fold question First in what manner Secondly in what measure Thirdly for what time Christ suffered this death and these torments Which being resolved will not be much unlike Solomons three-fold cord not easily broken First how and in what manner Christ suffered this death and these torments Answ Our sins and we by reason of our sins being accursed hatefull and abhominable in the sight of the most pure God not beholding us in our filthinesse but with indignation towards us It pleased Jesus Christ being himself most holy by the unspeakable mercy of the Father and his own free grace and goodness taking upon him our miserable and forlorne condition and undergoing both in body and soul those torments which we should everlastingly have suffered * Christus fit pro nobis maledictio in cruce luens poenam iis debitam qui voluerunt dificri Bez. in Luc. 23. to free us from the same This I say he did freely and of his own accord for though according to the Evangelist o Mat. 26.39 there may seem some reluctancy in him yet against the Monotholites we consider in Christ a double will the one Divine the other humane in respect of his humane will he may be said under condition to eschue death and desire to be delivered from it but his Divine will was that the will of his Father and not his humane will might be accomplished which being considered he did freely and voluntarily engage himself to suffer what ever his Father in Justice would even to his wrath and indignation to satisfy the same and free the Elect from it Secondly how much and in what measure Christ suffered Answ As much in full weight and measure if we may use the terms as did counter-vail all the sins of the Elect past present and to come and what was wanting in his bodily torments to make full satisfaction to Divine Justice was supplyed and made up in his soul sufferings * Christus cum Satana cum pâ—ccatis cum morte denique horrenâ—a illa maledictione Deâ—armatis potenter luctans c. Beza in Mar. cap. 13. the sense of which both before and in the time of suffering did so much molest and trouble him Thirdly what time and how long did he suffer Answ From the very time that he began to work out the Redemption of the Elect date it when they will untill upon the crosse he cryed out consummatum est it is finished To the Jews this may be a stumbling block to the Greeks foolishness to the Dialogue and the rest of the Socinian brood absurd and ridiculous but both to Jews and Greeks with all that believe it is the mighty power wisdome and goodness Object 1 of God to Salvation But here the Dialogue c. do scoffingly object what would God deal so hardly with his own Son as not to abate him any thing of the full price of that which sinfull man should have payed Answ To which the Apostle himself hath given an answer hear we him for we cannot mend it p Rom. 8.32 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non pepercit he spared not his own Son but gave him up to death and what death even the cursed death of the crosse for our redemption Object 2 It is further objected that this punishment and these sufferings and that death which our Savivour Christ endured cannot he said to be eternal because they lasted but a time which being expired they were likewise finished Answ For answer whereunto we affirm that a thing may be said to be eternal two wayes q Vel ratione quid dicatis vel ratione durationis L. V. de satisfactione either in respect of the substance or in respect of the circumstance the being or continual being of a thing in the former sense Christ suffered eternal death not in the latter he suffered the essential part of those torments r Ipsissimam maledictionem in lege minacum subierit Idem which all the Elect should have suffered unto all eternity though not the circumstantial in respect of duration Besides eternal death in the phrase and dialect of the Scriptures doth not signify the perpetual dissolution of body and soul as the Socinians do understand it for so the damned themselves do not suffer eternal death Å¿ Aliud est ceterum in morte manere aliud est aeternam mortem sustinere Illud durationem hoc virtutem mortis utrumque vel de animae corporis solutione vel de cruciatibus gehennae intelligitur Cal. de Satisf pag. 466. but either in the immeasurable greatness of infernal torments or the everlasting continuance thereof The first of which is essential the other but accidental That Christ suffered This he could not ought not to undergo Could not because he is eternal life it self God blessed for ever Amen Ought not because it was his office to free us from death by conquering the power and taking away the sting thereof Lastly Christ may be said to suffer eternal death potentially if we may borrow that expression to declare our intention though not actually that is a death alwayes enduring though not by him alwayes to be endured There is this proportion between that death which we should have suffered and that which Christ did
cursed of God Now what is it to be cursed of God but to have the punishment of the curse inflicted on him both in body and soul It is no marvell that the grand Enemy of our Salvation doth set men and they their wits on work to oppose this wholsome Doctrine namely the truth of Christs suffering the wrath of God for the Elect considering the great benefit which issues from and the good use may be made of the same As first by faith beholding Christ in his Spiritual conflict with the wrath of God and seeing him sorrowing sweating praying fainting crying out unto and upon his Father * Jesus in inferrarum gurgitem submersus ejulat Bez. in Mat. as one utterly forsaken by him no whit sparing or one jot regarding him standing in the room of sinners and by reason of our iniquities suffering such things should make us loath and abhorre our sins which caused God to be so displeased with his own Son by reason of the guilt thereof which lay upon him and to think thus sadly with our selves Oh how shall we if we go on now and lye down hereafter in our sins and transgressions be able in the great day to appear before him How shall we endure his fury which made the Son of God so groane and cry Surely we can expect no other no better then with Esau to be sent away empty though with tears we seek the blessing We will therefore resolve thus seriously with our selves reasonably to break off our sins by repentance and our iniquities by turning to our God from whom so long we have turned away to serve our own turns in and upon the vanities of this life which by no means the Devil can endure to hear Secondly it begets an exceeding contentment and comfort in us when the hand of God by sickness with other bodily diseases and distempers do lye hard and heavy upon us thâ—n to think with our selves why what are these to those miseries that anguish those horrours of conscience those eternal and unutterable torments which my sins have deserved or my Saviour suffered As a poor Prisoner laid up for some capital crime by reason of which according to his desert and the equity of the Law he can expect nothing but death and that with the severest execution but being beyond hope pardoned his life and only adjudged to the penalty of some few stripes doth rejoyce in the midst of these his petty sufferings considering what he should have undergone So we though we be in misery here yet being by the mercy of God and the sufferings of Jesus Christ delivered from those eternâ—l torments which were due unto us by reason of our sins do rejoyce in the midst hereof with joy unspeakable and full of glory which the Devil cannot endure to see and therefore stirs up his instruments with all the slights and tricks that may be to weaken the ground thereof And truly these of all other the most dangerous for under the pretence of exalting Christ they most of all debase him making him more infirm then other men which have suffered as great if not greater bodily torments and yet never expressed so much fear grief and sorrow under them or else with shame to them be it spoken to counterfeit what he suffered not so while they inconsiderately endeavour to defend his glory they most of all darken and obscure it by calling in question the truth of his sufferings and consequently the certainty of our Redemption leaving us under the insupportable weight of Gods wrath which if he hath not none other either man or Angel is able to satisfie for us yet here 's our comfort Truth is strong yea so strong that the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it Secondly Concerning Gods imputation of sin to Christ. WE complained in the beginning of the Dialogues want of order but know not how to help our selves for we resolve in his own way and method to give him that answer and the Reader that satisfaction which we intend And for our more orderly proceeding herein we shall propose and prove these three things First that sin was imputed to Christ Secondly that it was imputed to him by God himself Thirdly that it was imputed by way of satisfaction to Divine Justice For our entrance into the first we shall enquire what imputation is and what is meant thereby that so it may be the better understood of what and what we do affirm The words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are not to be taken physicè according to the native and natural signification thereof as if any sinful quality were infused into Christ but relative as he is considered in relation to us Nor is it a naked and bare relation that must make or bear out such an imputation Christ therefore is termed and that truly to our Head Husband Saviour Redeemer Surety Voluntarily interposing between God and us undertaking our debt and so becoming lyable to the satisfaction thereof Imputation then z Imputatio est rei unius pro altero acceptatio Bradshaw de Justificat is the taking of one for another nor is there any mistake at all in so doing a righteous person is made a sinner that is justly esteemed and accounted a sinner In this sense the Apostle Paul offers himself to Philemon Verse the 8. of that Epistle desiring that that wrong which Onesimus had done unto him and his debt might 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be imputed to him that is put upon his account and esteemed as though they vvere his ovvn committed and contracted by him And thus is the vvord to be taken here one standing in the room and place of others and so in their steed accounted guilty He vvas made sin saith the Apostle a 2 Cor. 5.21 not in respect of act but transaction conveyance c. It is no trouble at all to us that the Dialogue doth so often term it the common doctrine of Imputation St. Paul calls faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b Tit. 1.4 common faith and St. Jude Verse 2. our Salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common salvation Now a good thing c Bonum quò communius eo melius the more common the more commodious I would to God it it were yet more common and then let the Dialogue scoffe his belly-full But because he knows not what kind of Doctrine it is nor can his Master Socinus teach him therefore he would fain perswade us there is no such thing shall a blind man perswade us there is no Sun because he cannot see it shine Yea he tells us because he knows it not that therefore it may well be suspected to be but a device of Satan to darken the truth of the most needfull Doctrine of a sinners justification bona verba but we intend not to be deluded by them For we can see light in Goshen though he and the rest of his party can see none in Aegypt Doth
Christ his Son our Saviour freely and fully reconciled to us Now anger in God to speak after the manner of men is nothing else but a will or disposition to punish which the Apostle saith t Rom. 1.18 is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness from which none out of the State of Grace and communion with Christ are exempted being all by nature the Children of wrath and so lyable to Divine indignation This anger abideth upon some u Joh. 3.36 and upon whom it abideth not from them it is turned away Christ having obtained this favour by his sufferings from the hand of his Father Here we would not be mistaken as if we made God lyable to passions and affections so that he should be one while angry provoked against us and by and by that anger should be mitigated and he himself pacified towards us God is not neither indeed can be subject in the least to such mutations But this we believe and affirm that Divine wrath or punitive Justice being irritated and incensed by us hath cause enough as well as power to take vengance on us but Christ by his sufferings hath purchased our impunity and quenched those flames by taking away the cause thereof which otherwise would utterly have consumed us and therefore is most fitly stiled and that twice by the Apostle w Joh. 2.1 2. and Joh. 4.10 a Propitiation Add to these that of St. Paul x Rom. 3.24 25. whom namely Christ God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in his bloud Christ then is made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reconciliation by his bloud dying for us that so we might be freed from the wrath to come Secondly such as declare our redemption by a prise or valuable consideration paid to the Justice of God for our deliverance which words with the like which we meet with in holy Scriptures are as it were fitted to that freedome that we enjoy from the punishment that we deserved That this is so appears plainly by the Apostle Paul in two several places using one and the same expression y and z in vvhom we have redemption through his bloud In which words we consider these particulars 1. The matter what 2. The manner how 3. The means whereby The matter what that is Redemption a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est liberatio ali cujus ab incommodo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intercedente which is a delivering of one from mâ—sery or slavery by paying a price or ransome for him It is that deliverance which we enjoy from the bondage and slavery of sin and death to which we were subject so long as we remained in the Kingdome of darkness in which none are free but all under the same vassalage The manner how fully expressed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth such a deliverance as a man enjoyeth the price of his redemption being paid For as before the Justice of God will not sign our discharge nor give us our manumission till shee be fully satisfied and contented Nor is this any disparagement to or diminution of the mercy of God * Quà m multae est Deus ergo nos clementiae Filio non pepercit ut parceret servo Unigenitum traâ—â—dit ut râ—dim ret servâ—â— planae ingratos c. Chrysost in Isa as the Socinians do cunningly insinuate and pretend that his Justice must be satisfied before we can be delivered seeing he himself doth afford the means the whole means which is our next consideration whereby it is accomplished the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very prise of our redemption not gold not silver not any corruptible thing but the most precious bloud of Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from that misery into which by reason of our rebellion we had plunged our selves Thirdly such as denote a surrogation or the setting and appointing one in the place or room of another as when Christ is said to have tasted of death for all Heb. 2.9 that he should dye for the people b Joh 11.50 when we were sinners Christ dyed for us c Rom. 5.8 This is a common expression in every Speech and Language when one doth or suffereth any thing in the steed and place of another he is said to do or suffer that for him Neither is this phrase or manner of speaking appropriated to persons only but also to things For in the like propriety of speech this is said to be given put or accounted for that which is given put or accounted in the place or steed of that The Socinians would willingly decline this interpretation by supposing some ambiguity in the Preposition pro for which oftentimes say they is found to signifie a thing done for the profit and commodity of another and therefore do keep no small a do to have it so here But they had as good be quiet for it will not be and indeed it seems they are very ill provided that are beholding to such poor shifts I wonder none of their great Admirers and Abetters will take the pains to help the lame Dog over the stile I have often found my observation true Ignorance and Impudence are the first begetters of errour and heresy and after the chief maintainers and propagators of the same begotten Indeed among the Latines they may seem to find some shelter and among the Greeks too if we had to deal with the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for But never with the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for which is here used and with which we have here to do This may appear by the Evangelist St. Matthew d Matt. 20.28 he came to give his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ransome for many that is to give his life in the place of many and to dye in their steed Utterly rejecting the Socinian interpretation Also the same Evangelist e Matt. 5.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth one in the steed and room of another And the Apostle Peter f Pet. 1.3 9. not rendring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evil for evil or railing for railing as he expresseth it Moreover when â—t is applyed to persons it denotes the succession of one in the room and place of another as St. Matthew g Matt. 2.22 speaking of Archelaus saith he reigned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the room of his Father Herod not their interpretation then being too much derogatory to the grace of Christ but ours as most agreeable to the mind of the Holy Ghost not for our good benefit and profit only as they would have it but in our room and steed as we expound it for so it must be here Lastly such as speak of the death of Christ as an holy expiatory or sacrifice for sin which the Epistle to the Hebrews
by Christ is imputed to us also But the former is true And therefore the latter Seventhly from another place in the same Epistle p Rom. 10.4 before we passe away from it in which the Apostle telleth us that Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth From whence the argument may be thus framed If Christ be the end of the Law and the complement thereof for righteousness unto all that believe in him we ought assuredly to perswade our selves that the fulfilling of the Law performed by Christ is our righteousness by which we are justified before God But the Antecedent is true And therefore the consequent Eightly from the words of St. Paul q 1 Cor. 1.30 who saith he meaning as is before expressed Christ Jesus of God is made to us wisdome righteousness c. Whence we argue If Christ be made of God righteousness to us then is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us because he was so made righteousness as that we might be made in him the righteousness which is by faith through him as the Prophet Jeremiah r Ier. 23.6 the Lord our Righteousness But the former is true Therefore so must be the latter Ninethly from another place in the other Epistle to the Corinthians Å¿ 2 Cor. 5.21 He that is God made him namely Christ to be sin for us who himself knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him who otherwise of our selves knew not what righteousness was Here then as Christ was made sin for us whâ—ch knew no sin So are we made the righteousness of God who knew not what righteousness meant in respect of any thing in us But Christ was made sin for us our sins by Divine Justice and his own submission thereunto being imputed to him and he suffering death for the sâ—me Therefore vve are also made yet without any work of ours â—n Chrâ—st the righteousness of God Christs righteousness being imputed to us Tenthly and lastly from another place of St. Paul to the Galatians t Gal. 4.4 when the fulness of time was come God sent his Son made of a Woman made under the Law c. Whence we conclude that if Christ were subject to the Law that he might redeem us from the Law verily the fulfilling of the Lawby Christ performed for us is truly imputed to us for our justification and salvation But Christ was subject to the Law for no other cause * Finis enim ostenditur ab Apostolo quod videlicet non sibi ipsi sed nobis talis est factus Tossanus in Gal. 4. pag. 212. but that he might redeem us from under the power and curse thereof Therefore the fulfilling of the Law performed by Christ for us is truly and really imputed to us for our justification and eternal salvation Thus we have proved the common Doctrine of imputation as the Dialogue scoffingly terms it that we mâ—ght if God see good to give a blessing to these poor yet well intended endeavours make it more common And herein we appeable to the judicious and understanding Reader whether he find the least shadow or appearance of that absurdâ—ty in it which he imputeth to it I hope then none will believe that lies are true We have now done with the Efficient Material and Formal cause of a sinners justification before God We come now to the last namely the Fâ—nal cause which we conceive to be two-fold Supreme ex parte justificantis in respect of the person justifying Subordinate ex parte justificati in respect of the person justified The Supreme is the maniâ—estation of the glory both of the mercy of God and also of his justice which as they do concurre in all the works of God if we will gâ—ve any credit to the Pâ—almist u Psal 145.17 as well we may who there saith The Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works and especâ—ally in the work of redemption and justification For therein God doth so exceedingly maniâ—est yea magnifie the glorious attribute of his mercy that rather thâ—n he would suffer such wretches as we had made our selves utterly to perish in our sins he sent his own only begotten Son out of hâ—s bosome that we might as the blessed Apostle St. Paul excellently sets â—t forth w Rom. 3.24 be freely justified by his grace though the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and mark the end to the praise of the glory of his grace Wherein as the same Apostle in another place expresseth it x Eph. 1.6 He hath made us accepted in his beloved His Justice also is made manâ—fest to the wonder and amazement of all the World For rather then he would suffer the sins and transgressions of his own Elect Children to go unpunished and so his Justice be unsatisfied he punished them in the person of his own Son exacting from him a full entire and perfect satisfaction for them having set him forth as St. Paul testifies y Rom. 3.25 26. for this very purpose to be a Propitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus The Subordinate end of justâ—fication is our eternal salvation this is indeed the end both of our justification and sanctification For being made free from sin z Rom. 6.22 and become servants of God we have saith the Apostle in the person of the Elect our fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life So St. Peter a 1 Pet. 1.9 the very end of our faith by which instrumentally we are justified is the salvation of our souls These are the causes We come now according to our promise to the fruits or effects of this excellent Doctrine of a sinners justification before God which we take to be these Remission of sins * Remissio peccatorum fit per justitiam imputatam perfectam Pareus castique Bell. de justif Reconciliation with God An effectual vocation An actual adoption Peace of conscience Joy in the Holy Ghost and other such like gifts of the Spirit which it worketh in the hearts of those that are justâ—fied We shal not have to do with al these they are somewhat too many and too far off from our purpose in hand the two first only fall within the compasse of our present intendment and first of Remission of sins Remission of sins we conceive to be the free absolution of the person offending both from the guilt and punishment which by an irregular conversation he hath contracted and deserved If it were not in some measure free it could not properly be called remission or condonation If it were from the guilt of sin only and not from the punishment also it were foolish and ridiculous for we may as well and truly affirm that a man is discharged of a debt without beâ—ng freed or acquitted from the payment of the same
confidence as if Orpheus like he meant to charm all to follow him that did but once vouchsafe to hear him Spiritual arrogance is so much more mischievous as the soul is beyond all earthly pelf For when we are once come to advance and admire our own judgments we are at first apt to hugge our own inventions then to esteem them too precious to be smothered within our own closets the World must know of how happy an issue we are delivered and must applaud it to or else abide a contestation So that the Wiseman well noteth Prov. 13.10 only by Pride cometh contention So Puccius grew so high in the in-step by reason of this new-light which only he had discovered and these new opinions which he broaching defended that there grew some trouble thereby in the City of London for which he as the ring-leader was clapt up into prison Out of which being again delivered and perceiving that this was not a place for his purpose he again crossed the Seas being before crossed by Land and betook himself to Bavau From hence he sent divers times to solicite Socinus to a conference about their mutual opinions certain conditions were agreed upon and Moderators appointed to that end Socinus returns answer that he was in a readinesse to make his appearance there and to accomplish whatsoever should in reason be requested or required of him But Puccius either in confidence of his own ability or else induced by some other weighty argument takes a journey on purpose by way of prevention For he which for Socinus his sake came to Basil to meet him comes now for his sake also to Cracovia in Polonia where after they had met and had had divers disputations between them and could not agree for it is next to a wonder to see hereticks though never so neerly linkt together to agree in all things unlesse it be in the opposition of truth he returning from thence became a companion of some that studied magick with whom he came to Prague and there like an Apostate as he was fell to his old superstitious devotion again of cringing and crouching to every stock and joyned in Communion with the Church of Rome whom he had openly renounced and defyed as the whore of Babylon We see here the inconstancy of mans nature even in that wherein he should be most constant and that is religion Apostacy of manners cannot but be dangerous of faith deadly together with truth it looseth shame and not seldom swells up to the sin against the Holy Ghost for which there is no forgiveness in Heaven because there can be no remorse on earth This is a most perilous effect of spiritual pride which bears such sway in the heart of man that neither he himself is nor shall the Church of God be if he can help it at any quiet through his misgrounded novelty and most dangerous heresy to which he stands extreamly affected Can it be any other then an height of pride for a man to think himself wiser then the whole Church of God upon earth wiser then the Church of God that hath bin upon earth ever since the Apostles of Christ inclusively in all successions to this present time It was this pride that undid Puccius and brought him back with shame to that religion which he had disclaimed And many such examples have we of divers who have strayed from the truth to the Samosatenian or Socinian assemblies ye tat length have foully miscarryed either returning back to Popery from whence at first they took their flight or else to Iudaisme or Turcisme which is worst of all That Spirit which beareth rule in the hearts of the Children of disobedience bringeth them about with such a giddiness of mind that without Gods special preventing grace there is no help for them And no marvel they are so ready to turn Turcks or Jews that are once entred into the Socinian Doctrines For they are so like that there is not a pin to chuse Christophorê° Ostorrodus Smiglensis caetus Minister Ecclesiae pacem quis conturbavit amaenam Ostorrodus erat Daemonis arte potens CHristopher Ostorrodus a Germane Minister of the Socinian congregation at Smiglen is another of this heretical crew who did mightily infest the Churches of God in divers parts And sure the trouble that befell his Master Socinus in the University of Cracovia where by the rising of the Students for the suppressing of his heresies he was hardly entreated insomuch that he scarce escaped from thence with life was the cause of the travail and dispersing abroad of many of his most intimate disciples and followers and the coming of Ostorrodus into Holland and Friesland Who with Andraeas Voivodius a companion of his and fellow-Socinian brought thither their Masters book de Christo Servatore printed and divers others of the same kind both manuscripts and printed books prepared and provided for that very purpose to propagate the Socinian heresie in those parts also hoping to build their nest there and to settle themselves with more quiet and advantage then they could in Polonia But their project being discovered and their close underminings of the peace and tranquillity of the Churches by Gods good providence timely detected divers copyes of their pestiferous books were taken and brought before the States General of the United Provinces by whose especial command they were exhibited to the faculty of Divines in the University of Leyden whose Rescript together with the States decree which I conceived both necessary and worthy to be inserted I have here presented to the Reader A true Copy of the Rescript REnowned Lords the Copies of those books which ye commanded to be sent unto us we have now thorrowly perused some part whereof we have seen before and have found out by diligent search divers others of the same argument That we may not be tedeous to your Lordships we judge those writings to come neer to Turcisme endeavouring to overthrow the true and eternal Deity of Jesus Christ the Son of the living God and also of the Holy Ghost the office of Christ his saving benefits satisfaction redemption justification c. the institution of Holy Baptism and our religious duty to Christ consisting in prayer and invocation which they deny to be due unto him not being God and true Creator of the World with many other grosse errours As for example in the book de Servatore are these very words That the Justice of God could not require that our sins should be punished Also that Christ by his death and sufferings did not satisfie the Justice of God for our sins yea that Christ could not satisfy Divine Justice for us by undergoing those punishments in our place and steed which by the Law of God we were liable to have undergone Lastly though there be many more to this purpose that Christ could not satisfie the Justice of God for us by performing those things in our place and stead which we by the Law were
may read in his Epistle ad Hypolytum de collibus and other of his writings And although those errors which he held and maintained were justly condemned in the late Synod of Dort Yet his Disciples the Remonstrants do obstâ—nately persist in them though tâ—ey would mâ—ke the world beleeve they decline and disclaim them Let Ancient and Reverend Pâ—reus stand forth and hear we him in this matter Anno 1613. writing from Heidelberg to those oâ— Leyden he saith The Socinians of Poland have lately taken and acknowledge your Arminians for their own together with Arminius himself as their cheif Dictator and one Bonfinius Acontius with the rest that are clandestine waiters on him And because Arminius will not be behind in courtesie he and his complices do mutually and expresly declare that they can entertain fraternity with all sects yea even with the Socinians themselves the Reformed Churches only excepted We will compare their opinions and by that means we may the better judge of them especially in this point the satisfaction of Divine justice which is at this day so much controverted among us It is no where extant say the Remonstrants That Divine justice is satisfied for our sins by the sufferings of Christ yea it is manifestly repugnant to that free grace of Goâ— in remission of sins which he offers to us by Jesus Christ. Now hear the Socinians in this matter who say Christians commonly think that Christ by his death hath made full satisfaction for our sins and merited salvation for us but this opinion is false and erroneous yea very dangerous and pernicious Again they both affirm that the righteousness of Christ is not ours nor accounted as our Righteousness before God It cannot be sayes the one That God should impute Christ or his Righteousness to us This Doctrine say the other hath no footing in the word of God nor common reason We might follow them by the foot and see how they walk together in many if not most of one anothers Heresies But we need not any further witness then their own confession one egge is no â—iker another neither doth milk more resemble milk then the Remonstrants do the Socinians in their Doctrine and manners So that Arminius did but play Socinus his game or act his part for him in Leyden which he and his wretched adherents had done in Italy Germany Poland Transylvania the great Dukedome of Lituania and divers other parts and places besides by which the peace and tranquillity of the Churches hath been much disturbed the progress of the Gospel impeded many poor souls seduced the Kingdom of Satan enlarged and their own condemnation hastned as may appear by the suddain and violent deaths of many yea the most of the Professors and propagators of the same Antonius VVotonus Anglus Anglia quid de te meruit Wottoâ—e quòd illam Haeresibus divis perdere tute velis SIngularity in conceit concerning matters of Religion is as perilous as to follow a plurality or multitude in the custome of evil Yet Wotton blinded therewith was led aside himself and endeavoured to misguid others This is the last perverse Publisher of this damnable Heresie that we shall think fit to name and who first openly professed it in England and by manuscript Pamphlets and Printed books dispersed it in London a place as much adicted to and taken with novelty as any other whatsoever For let the Doctrine be what it will if it smell not of novelty it hath there for the most part no better entertaâ—nment then Christ among the Gadarens they regard it nâ—t from thence it was carryed as a discovery of some new truth into several places of the Country and this about forty years ago But being detected hotly pursued and strenuoâ—sly opposed by that stout Champâ—on for the Truth Mr George Walker Pastor of St John the Evangeliâ—t London and by his Zeal together wâ—th the industry of some other Ministers in that City he was quickly quell'd and his opinion seemingly suppressed But yet because he would still uphold a secret faction He wrote a Book in Latine wherein he seemed to retract or rather to run from some desparate opinions which he formerly maintained and wild speeches and expressions which he had uttered which are to be seen in his private Manuscripts given by him to those of his party and so delivered over from hand to hand and formerly dispersed But the Plaister was nothing neer so broad as the sore For his retraction if any was clandestine and secret whereas his endeavours to propagate this pernicious heresie were notoriously manifest by his writings wherein he professeth in plain words his desent from all our Orthodox Divines which had before written any thing concerning the necessary Doctrine of a sinners justification before God saying I am forced to dissent from them all In that very Book he shews how skilful he is in the art of dissimulation whâ—ch is able to deceive thousands For therein he makes a shew of consent with them and endeavours to perswade them to beleeve it whereas he wrests their doubtful speeches to countenance and to cover his errour and socinianism which he would have his seduced Disciples to embrace and follow This Book some of them hâ—ving more Zeal then knowledge more faction then Religion with much difficulty after it was rejected at Lâ—yâ—en and which is wonderful to tell at Amsterdam procured privately to be Printed at their own cost elsewhere brought over the Copies and sold them in London where they thought they might make the best market of such wicked and deceitful ware But by the blessing of God upon the careful endeavours of those that stood up in the gap against it it was utterly extirpate and might have lyen rotting with the carcase of him that first brought it over and brought it into England to get him a name though but an evil one by poysoning his country with the contagious infection of this damnable heresie but that our Dialogue by the New-English Gentleman revived some Iohn Biddle others of these diabolical doctrines The one having the very words the other the opinions of Socinus and his followers And are not we all beholding to these and such as these that go before for raising the dust to put out the eyes or at least for the present to blind the sight of all those that follow after He that hath an eye left to see let him see and he that hath an ear to hear let him hear and the Lord touch his heart that he may understand what God is yet doing and speaking to the Churches Quod scripsi scripsi was Pilates answer to the Jews that that I have written I have written and so say I What I have written I have written for the good of my poor seduced Countrimen that are taken but mistaken with these upstart revived heresies insteed of new lights or new discoveries of truth which these seducers pretend they meet with and are misled by the errours