and so it was observed in every Sacrifice no Sacrifice being otherways offered For which things it is said that the Beasts were brought that their lives might be offered for theirs Antonius the Hermite Epist 2. in which also the Father of Creatures being moved in his Bowels for our wound which could not be heled but by his goodness only sent his only Begotten to us that by our Bondage he might take the form of Bondage and deliver himself up for our sins And our very sins humbled him but by his stripes we all were healed Macarius Bishop of Jerusalem Lib. 2. Act. Concil Nicen. But he came a Saviour of all men and undertook for our sake in his own flesh the punishments that were due to our sins Athanasius concerning the Incarnation of the Word of God And because it was necessary that that which was due from all should at length be restored for it was due that all men should dye as I said before for which chiefly he came For this cause after his manifesting of his Divinity by his Works it remained that he should offer a Sacrifice for all having given the Temple of his own Body unto Death for all men that he might make all men unblameable and free from the ancient Transgression and might declare himself also to be more powerful than death having shewed his own body uncorruptible as a First-fruits of the Resurrection of all And presently For there was need of Death and there was need that Death should be for all that that which was due from all might be performed whence as I said before the Word because it was impossible that he should dye for he was Immortal took upon himself a Body that could dye that he might offer it as being his own instead of all men And that he suffering for all men by entring thereinto he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and might deliver those that through fear of Death were subject to Bondage The Saviour of all men having died for us we that believe in Christ do not now dye the death as of old according to the threatning of the Law The same in the same place And by such a manner of death Salvation came to all men and all the Creation was redeemed this is the life of all And as a Sheep he gave his Body unto Death instead of all men for their Salvation The same upon the Passion and Cross of Christ But beholding the visibleness of the wickedness and that the Mortal Generation was not able to stand against Death nor able to suffer the punishment of their sins for the excessive greatness of the evil exceeded all punishment and seeing the goodness of his Father seeing also his own fitness and power For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God he was moved with love to Mankind and pitying our weakness he cloathed himself therewith for he himself as saith the Prophet took our Infirmities and carried our Diseases and pitying our Mortality cloathed himself therewith for Paul saith He humbled himself unto death and that the death of the Cross and seeing the impossibility of our bearing the punishment took it upon himself For Christ became a Curse for us and so being compassed about and cloathed with Humane Nature by himself brought us to the Father that he himself suffering may make mans suffering to be without damage and may exchange small things for great Hilarius Pictaviensis on cap. 14. Matth. in the Hymn on the Epiphany Jesus hath forth shin'd The gracious Redeemer of all Mankind Blest John with fear doth shiver To dip him in the River Whose Blood is able to purge out The sins of all the world throughout Optatus Milevitanus concerning the Schism of the Donatists against Parmenianus lib. 3. When ye say redeem your souls whence bought ye them that ye may sell them Who is that Angel who makes a fair of souls which the Devil possessed before his coming Christ the Saviour redeemed these with his Blood according as the Apostle said Ye are bought with a price for it is evident that all men were redeemed by the Blood of Christ Victor Antiochenus on the fifteenth Chapter of Mark. And wherefore sayest thou was the Lord and Maker of all things made Man for our sakes and suffered so much reproach and so great punishments He was made like unto us and took our Miseries and our Crosses upon himself that he might raise up our Nature that was fallen down by sin and might again restore it unto its ancient degree of Dignity Therefore the Advantages that have redounded unto us by his Torments are very many for he paid our Debts for us he bore our sins he both lamented and sighed for our sake Cyrillus of Jerusalem Catechis 13. But he set free all that were kept in Bondage under sin and redeemed the whole World of Mankind And you need not wonder that the whole World was redeemed for he was not a meer man but the only begotten Son of God who died for them And verily the sin of one man Adam was effectual to bring death upon the World But if Death reigned over the World by the sin of one man how much more shall life reign by the Righteousness of one man And if then they were thrown out of Paradise for the Tree of Food verily now by the Tree of Jesus Believers shall more easily enter into Paradise If the first man that was formed of the Earth brought Death upon the World certainly it must needs be that he that formed him of the Earth being Life himself should bring Eternal Life If Phinehas being zealous against the Evil-doer caused the Anger of God to cease doth not Jesus who slew not another but delivered up himself the Price of our Redemption take away the Anger of God that was provoked against men Basilius Homil. on Psalm 48. One thing was found that was worthy of all together which was given for the price of the Redemption of our Souls the holy and precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ Gregor Nazianz. in the two and fortieth Oration which is the second on the Paschal Lamb. That great thing and unsacrificeable that I may so speak in respect of the first Nature was mingled with Legal Sacrifices and not for a small part of the World nor for a little time but for all the World and it eternized the Purification The same in the same place A few drops of Blood renew the Creation of the whole World and they have united and gathered all men into one Body And in the same Oration It is therefore requisite to search into the Matter and Doctrine which hath been neglected by many but by me hath been very diligently searched after For unto whom was that great and much celebrated Blood of God and the High-Priest and the Sacrifice poured forth and upon what account for we were kept in Bondange by that wicked one under sin and
that we should follow that cannot at all be applied to the remission of sins that happened not to Christ Wherefore then is that so often repeated mention of Death in this business of Redemption Socinus brings two things first because in Death there is some Expence which is not in the Resurrection therefore the mention of Death is fitter for Redemption also because the Love of God and Christ is more declared by Death As touching the first we go back to the same thing for if by the Death of Christ the effect of our deliverance did not follow of it self which is the profession of Socinus himself expressed in manifest words there was no need that Christ and his Apostles should have mentioned either Redemption or Price especially so often sith Deliverance might be expressed more conveniently in other words But that other consideration though it may belong to those Sentences that commemorate the Love of God yet is not very sutably brought to explain other Sentences which do not nor yet the very word Redemption It may also here be mentioned that Love is not shewed by this thing because it was not so much the cause as the naked occasion of our good Socinus thinks he pursueth our Opinion when he says That the Scripture so treats of the Redemption purchased by the Death of Christ that it sets something manifest before the eyes but not that it may declare some hidden Vertue such as he thinks that to be which we deduce from Scripture But when he says this he wounds not us but rather furnishes us with a Dart against themself For those things which are God's who knows but the Spirit of God and he to whom he will reveal them 1 Cor. 2.10,11 But that the Death of Christ is procured by God for this purpose that the punishment of our sins might be required of him and that he might become our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isaiah said it long before Christ himself said it neither did the holy Rites in the Old Covenant signifie any other thing So that he who should take notice of these things could not be ignorant of God's Will and Decree about this business though I may now also say that Nature it self says that Death is the wages of sin This Will of God being known by Oracles there is afterwards gathered the great love of God towards us as John speaks 1 Epist 4.10 and Paul Rom. 5.10 Neither is it any other thing that is signified by the word witness 1 Tim. 2.6 as it is easie to understand by those things that go before vers 4. And verily the words of Scripture themselves simply understood bring these things with them whereas it is so impossible for any man to gather that consequence of deliverance from Death which Socinus deduceth through so many Degrees and so variously from the words of Scripture themselves that it cannot be easily understood out of Socinus himself what he would have to be the proper sense of Scripture in these Expressions Therefore true Redemption hath been proved by us as just now true Reconciliation hath been proved But either of those being proved that which is intended is proved to wit That we are delivered by the punishment of Christ which he paid for our sins Not that all Redemption and Reconciliation is such but because the subject matter admits of no other Therefore it is vain and nothing to the purpose that Socinus so often says both that a man may be appeased though nothing is performed and also that a man may be truly redeemed that owes nothing and therefore without payment For we treat of that Propitiation and Redemption which the Scripture declares to be made by the performance of something to wit by Death and of that Redemption by which the same Scripture testifies that we are delivered from deserved punishment but such a performance which frees the Debtor of punishment from punishment is both rightly and properly called Satisfaction which Socinus seeing that he might take away Satisfaction he took away also Propitiation and true Redemption Here I think good to censure some other things which he did not discourse of whilst he handled the Argument of Redemption yet he discoursed of them elsewhere as belonging to this Argument He would not have the word Mediator to signifie any other thing in the holy Scripture but the Interpreter of God Two places do perswade me of another thing the one 1 Tim. 2.5 where there is said to be one Mediator of God and Men Jesus Christ who gave himself an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for all The other Hebr. 9.15 where Christ is called the Mediator of the New Covenant that Death intervening for the Redemption of Transgressions they that are called might obtain eternal life To which fitly may be added a third Hebr. 12.24 which shall be discoursed of afterwards it appears here that Mediation is placed in Redemption it self neither is the word contrary For it belongs no less to the Office of a Mediator to be in the room of Men with God than to be in the room of God with Men. Neither is a Mediator only among the unlearned called he that appeaseth a man but also amongst those who speak elegantly Whence Suidas interpreted that word Peace-maker Elsewhere Socinus says The dignity of the Person makes nothing for the estimation of the punishment and consequently that the Divine Nature of Christ and his great Perfection brings no value to the punishment But we believe otherways to wit that this punishment was thence to be esteemed that he who suffered the punishment was God though he suffered not as God For hitherto belongs that Expression whereby God is said to have purchased the Church with his own Blood Acts 20.23 After which manner also elsewhere the Lord of Glory is said to have been crucified 1 Cor. 2.8 Also the Dignity of the whole Person that is Christ contributes not a little to this estimation Therefore in the Scripture it is called emphatically the Blood of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.27 the Blood of Christ Hebr. 9.14 The blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God 1 John 1.7 both the most perfect innocency and holiness of Christ comes into the same estimation Hence it is called precious blood to wit of the Lamb without blame 1 Pet. 1.19 making allusion to the custom received not only by the Hebrews but also the Gentiles that they sacrificed Beasts excellent for whiteness and all beauty of Body which because they were exempted from the whole Flock thence by a word invented in holy things but presently translated to prophane they were called eximiae excellent To the same purpose belong these also My righteous servant shall justifie many Isai 53.11 He made him that knew no sin to become sin 2 Cor. 5.21 But that Socinus disputes because the Divinity it self doth not suffer therefore that this comes not into the consideration of punishment it is just as if you should say that it is the same