〈◊〉 tâ—â—â— all hâ—ve 〈…〉 4 Pro. That the Glory of Governing Justice might not suffer by the saving of Sinners there must be a Satisfaction for the Offence they committed and a Meritorious Price for the good to be dispensed to them Gods Government must not be Arraigned before Angels or Men as weak Nor would the Justice of God seem an approver of Rebellion by admitting Sin to pass unpunished nor admit such an occasion of Disobedience to his Government By Satisfaction I mean that which fully vindicates the Reputative Glory of Justice so injur'd by Sin and secures the ends of Government By Merit I intend that which Governing Justice adjudged proportionable to the Benefit to be conferred on the Sinners 5 Pro. Sinners being utterly incapable for this God our Lawgiver did Ordain and Admit Christ with his Consent to be the Redeemer and Saviour of lost Sinners by making Satisfaction for Sin and Meriting the forfeited Blessings and much greater for them Hâ—b 3.2 he was appointed This was an act of the Lawgiver as above the Law but it was not by the Law of Works Yea God dispensed with the Law of Works in admittiâ—g Christs Sufferings and Obedience to be Satisfactory and Meritorious for Offendors That Law knew no vicarious Obedience or Punishment The Soul that Sins must Diâ— â—â—d nâ—â— another for it was the Language of the Law Divine Grace and Sovereignty â—erâ— exert themselves to answer the Eâ—ds of the Law by substituting a Saviour of lost Souls 6 Pro. It was in the Covenant of Redemption wherein it was adjusted and agreed what should be thus Satisfactory and Meritorious and so effectual to save Sinners Is. 53.10 11 12. Ps. 40.6 7 8. Zeâ—h 6.13 Ioh. 17.4 The Parties in this Covenant are the Father and Spirit on the one part and the Son on the other Whatever Christ suffered in time and all the Obedience he yielded were terms proposed to him and accepted by him In that Volume were Recorded what his Work and Rewards were to be and of the later the Salvation of his Members is a part What he herein submitted to he became obliged as an act of Faithfulness to perform Whatever was herein promised him he had a right to receive and did accordingly Claim By this Compact he agreed to be a Subject and Servant and hence the Law of Mediation did Commence as Binding By this Compact his Obedience and Sufferings became a Satisfaction that otherwise had been Uneffectual Satisfaction imports a Refuseableness antecedently to an Agreement And hence we may perceive that though what Christ paid was a â—ull equivalent yet it was not in all things the same in kind as Man was obliged to True Justice took care that all was inserted into this Covenant as Christs Work which was necessary to the Reparation of its Glory And hence the great Essentials of the Law of Works were inserted as Articles to be performed by Christ viz. Sinless Obedience aâ— a Man which is the Sum of the Precept and Death the substance of the Threatning and these to be done and suffered in the Human Nature Nevertheless some things in the Threat were incompetent to him as Spiritual Death the Hatred of God c. Many Precepts were not agreeable to his Circumstances all which were omitted Nay many things which the Law of Works never injoyn'd on Men were necessary to be done by the Redeemer and therefore were superadded From this Covenant ariseth the immediate Obligation of Christ to all his Obedience as well as the Rule and Measure of it And from this his Title to all the Reward much of which the premiant Sanction of the Law of Works never contained and could never give a right to No doubt that in this Covenant were adjusted the terms of the application of Redemption to Men which the Gospel Covenant doth enjoyn which I suppose the Assembly mean when they join the Covenant of Redemption and the Gospel Covenant together and say it was made with Christ as the second Adam But they cannot intend that Christ obliged himself to perform Personally all the Terms of the application of his purchased Benefits to us as he did the Terms of the Impetration of those Benefits He bound not himself to Repent and Believe for us tho' he did to Die for us yea and as Surety of the Gospel Covenant he engaged that the Elect should Repent Believe and Persevere But yet the Benefits should be applied to Men upon their Personal Believing and they are required by the Gospel so to Believe and become themselves federating parties in the Gospel Covenant This runs throughout the Assemblies Confession and Catechisms As when they say Faith is required by the Covenant as a Condition to Interest us in Christ large Catechism Q. 32. And they say Q. 153. That we may escape the Wrath and Curse of God due to us by reason of the Transgression of the Law God requireth of us Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus and the diligent use of outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the Benefits of his Mediation You have the same in the lesser Catechism And they oft tell us of Promises made to Graces c. by which and much more its plain that Conditions are required of Men. 7 Pro. Satisfaction being to be made for innumerable Sins committed and not only forfeited â—â—essings but even greater to be Merited and that for many the Obedience of Christ must exceed what the Law of Works injoyned on Mankind as the condition of its Reward What was necessary from every single Man for himself could not by Legal Justice be sufficient from one Man for all others that omitted it Now the Law required Obedience to its Precepts from every single Man That could not Merit the Reward for Sinners which was but necessary to an Innocent Mans Title to the Reward But what the Law requir'd was necessary to Innocent Mans obtaining the Reward though he had not Sinned before That which was by Governing Justice adjudged but proportionable to a less Reward could not Merie a greater Reward But whatever the Law of Works required was but proportioned to its lesser Rewards Lesser I call them though I allow them to be an Eternal Felicity in another World yet these were not Union with Christ nor such a degree of Conformity to his Glory c. much less did they include the Rewards promised to Christ for his Obedience as a Name above every Name all Iudgment and Authority with many more all which are the Reward of Christs Obedience As to Expiation of Sin by Punishment for Reconciliation with the offended God the Law enjoins no such Duty nor hinted such a thing It s Threatning was Eternal Death As Eternal Eternity was an ingredient into the Misery of every Sinner and can be removed by nothing but the Law-givers dispensing therewith upon Considerations equally Vindicating the Glory of Justice as this Eternity of Sinners Torments would do And it must be equivalent
Clots of Blood and rendred him Sorrowful even to Death God hid his Face from him A Death in the manner of it accursed as well as shameful he tasted and endured He lay in the Grave for a time after he had thus wade◠through a Sea of Blood Shame and Terrour Alas Who can tell what he underwent whose Resentments of all must give them a weight beyond our conjecture One so Glorious to be thus Debased one so near to God to be thus Deserted c. How astonishing a sight was it to see Christ hang upon a Cross The purposes designed by it must be answerable to the wonder and so we shall acknowledge when we understand the Justice and Purity of God the Evil of Sin the Harmony of Divine Government the value of Pardon and Eternal Life the Honour of the Mediatour and the influence of his Obedience on Myriads of Angels At present we see the Pardon of Sin made consistent with Justice Our Lord endured that Punishment of Sin that God might be Glorious whilst the Believing Sinner escapes By this God declared the Righteousness of his Government whilst he Glorified his Grace in saving Transgressors Christs being Obedient even unto Death Honoured the Law above all that Men could perform in their best Condition yea sets it above Contempt when the Penitent is forgiven his greatest Enormities So that God as our Governor receives such Glory by Christs Subjection as it suffers nothing by the Impunity and Happiness of all who are saved Yea A Dying Christ is more fit to Awe every one against Rebellion and dispose to the exactest Obedience than any other Consideration For the further clearing of this Point I shall propose three Enquiries 1 Enq. Were Christ's Sufferings a part of the Obedience of Christ whereby we are made Righteous Ans. The Sufferings of Christ were a part of the Obedience of Christ whereby we are made Righteous No Precept could try his Obedience more than that he should make his Soul an Offering for Sin Herein he outdid the Loyalty of all Beings for the proof of this Point I shall give you some further Evidence that Christs Sufferings were a part of his Obedience 1. Whatever was endured by Christ was injoyn'd on him in a way of Authority upon supposition he would be Redeemer He agreed to be a Subject and Servant He learned whât Obedience was even by what he endured Heb. 5.8 and still acknowledged an Authority over him as Mediatour This Commandment I have received of the Father 's John 10.18 Not as I will but as thou wilt were his Words when the Human Nature hinted so much Reluctancy as expressed the Cup to be truly bitter Mat. 26.29 2. Christ's Sufferings were endured by him in a way of Obedience he obeyed in whatever he endured Isa. 50.5 6. The Lord God hath opened my Ear and I was not Rebellious I gave my Back to the Smiters c. Mat. 26.42 He shews the most Obediential regard Thy Will be done Phil. 2.8 He was Obedient unto Death The Law of Mediation injoin'd it his Will exerted its true consent even giving up the Ghost 3. The efficacy of Christ's Sufferings much depended on their being acts of Obedience had they been against his Will or had he Repented after he had first agreed Men had fail'd of Salvation Heb. 10.9.10 Lo I come to do thy Will O God By the which Will we are Sanctified through the Offering of the Body of Iesus Christ one for all The Will of God appointing and accepting this Atonement and the Will of Christ obeying and freely performing what was appointed are that we are Saved by The Obedient Heart of Christ in all gives a Power thereto Hence there 's a Stress laid on his Voluntariness in his Work He gave Himself Gal. 14. Tit. 2 14. And he offered Himself Heb. 7 27. He testified this in being the Priest that offered himself as well as the Sacrifice that was offered These being such amazing instances of Obedience tended much to glorify Gods Government how sacred is that Authority and how binding are its mandates ◠When the Son of God in Flesh will observe them even when they require such Sufferings to be endured and submitted to These are harder precepts than Angels or Men were ever called to obey and therefore how chearful should they be in observing such Commands as be less humbling and difficult especially when the Authority of Gods precepts are founded in his absolute Dominion over them But Christ could be under no Law till by his own consent he was willing to be a Subject I infer then that if Christs Sufferings were a part of his Obedience then we are made Righteous thereby or we are made Righteous by only some part of his Obedience which I suppose you 'l not affirm 2. Christ's Sufferings are a part of Christ's meriting Righteousness this will both prove that they are part of Christs Obedience and that we are made Righteous thereby Unless any should surmize we are made Righteous by some what of Christs besides his Obedience or that his meriting Righteousness doth not conduce to make us Righteous That Christs Suffering are apart of his Righteousness might be demonstrated many ways as First They were part of the condition whereupon Christ had a right to Mens Pardon and Salvation Isaiah 53.11 12. Second Christ pleads and interceeds in the virtue of his Sufferings 1 Iohn 2.1 2. Third We are justified by his Blood Rom. 5 9. Four They are meritorious of what blessings we receive but these things will be insisted on in the third Enquiry 2. Enquiry Was Christ's Incarnation a part of his Humiliation Ans. Christs Incarnation was a part of his Humiliation To argue this point with evidence I must mind you that the subject of this proposition must be taken as it naturally lieth I would think it of no use to you and in it self a vain question to ask had Christ assumed our Nature in another State than it is since the Fall or had Christ become incarnate in another manner than by being Conceived in the Womb of the Virgin Whether then his Incarnation had been a part of his Humiliation thô I know some Popish Schoolmen ungroundedly affirm that Christ would have taken our nature into union with him if Adam had not fallen and so there would not have been that place for his Humiliation yet I think not hard to prove that for the Eternal word to become Incarnate in any manner would have been a great Humiliation and there must have been somewhat that would have rendred it so or he would not have assumed our Nature But we have nothing to do with such Chimaeras Christ was Incarnate he hath assumed our Nature the Word of God tells us in what manner he assumed it and to what ends and in what State Therefore we must in our Question speak of Christs Incarnation as it was and not as it was not and which ever way it be decided every one must
their Happiness as if themselves had done and suffered what Christ did Reader were these Men duly tender or honest when they pervert Words â—o plain and ascribe to me what is as directly contrary to my Words as yea and no. They say I affirmed what I do deny and that I denied the very thing I affirmed But the Turn could not be served without these Methods 3. The Ground of Jealousie I 'll give and judge you how just it is 1. I did affirm that Christ did bear the Punishment of our Sins yea and he bare the Guilt of our Sins which is that respect of Sin to the threatning of the Law whereby there is an Obligation to bear the Punishment of Sin But I denied that Sin it self as to its Filth and Fault was transacted on Christ and that Christ was made and accounted by the Father the very Transgressor the Adulterer and Blasphemer Gospel-Truth p. 10 11. Here 's my Crime for Mr. M. hath oft preached up the later 2. I affirm as thou seest of the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness but my Fault is that I deny that God accounts that we legally died and obeyed that we made Satisfaction to God though I grant that Christ died for us yea in our Place and stead 3. I have through the Goodness of God lived to declare in this Book enough to confute his Prophesie and his Opinion too though I think he should pray for a more calm and charitable Spirit before he prâ—tend to Predictions concerning his Brethren 4. Will he repent of his rigid censorious Slander For I 'll here declare that I assent to his own Words p. 18. By imputed I mean that it Christ's Righteousness is looked on by God as belonging to us in order to our being judicially dealt with according to the Merit thereof This I have oft affirmed but it 's far short of what elsewhere he strains it too 4 Charge The Son of God was united to an Embrio which is a Piece of ignorant Blasphemy Repl. My Words were Oh! For God-Man to be at any time unactive as an Embrio or Child in the Womb for him to be born of a Woman I said not that the Son of God was united to an Embrio unactive as an Embrio is another thing And I 'll â—â—ing him twice Ten to oppose his two Witnesses But had I said it where is the Blasphemy when the divine Nature I hope was united to Christ's dead Body in the Grave as all grant And very many say that the divine Nature was united to the Flesh before it was organized or animated of whom Turretin's Instit. Theol. p. 372. Etsi anima infundi non potuit in Corpus nisi jam organizatum c. Non sequiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non potuisse carnem statim sibi unire cum Opus ejus non possit aut praesente aut absente anima sibi coarctari Pierson and Multitudes are Blasphemers with this bold Man But supposing that though the Virgin conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost and went her usual Time and that Christ was like other Children and the Faetus had Matter and Nourishment ministred thereto by the Virgin who conceived by the Power of the Spirit Yet that the Divine Person was not united to the Flesh before it was animated But are not many Phisicians so ignorant as to judge the Soul is united to the Body unorganized and if so either the humane Nature of Christ had a separate Subsistence from the Divine Person which is false or the Divine Person assumed it when the Body was unorganized But it 's a Theme not fit for me to pursue who must confess my Ignorance therein in Comparison of Mr. M. who can tell us how the humane Nature of Christ leans on the God-head in the Son and hath the eternal Power of the Deity clasping about it and holding it in that Vnion p. 63. May not this seraphical yet very dull Author call what he please in this Point a Piece of ignorant Blasphemy whatever greater Divines or skilful Phisicans say to the contrary 5 Charge Because I would wash off all his Dirt at once I 'll give you one Charge out of his Book that he forgets in his Postscript though it hath been their best Tool viz. That I lick up Bellarmin's Vomit in my Exposition of Phil. 3.8 9. Repl. This is as true as the rest for when I expounded that Text I plainly affirmed thaâ— 1. We are justified by Christ's imputed Righteousness only 2. That all Holiness compared with winning Christ is to be esteemed as Dung 3. The best thing in us is vile compared with Christ's Righteousness And indeed if that Text speaks only of Justification and that the Apostle designes to oppose his own Righteousness to Christ's then his own and ours are as unfit as Dung to be found in 4. But I then judged and still do that the Apostle there designed to proclaim the Preferrableness of Christianity to Judaism and what was Pharasaical yea or self-invented And therefore as he enumerates all the Dignities of Judaism so he ascribes to Christ the whole Glory of his entire redeemed State shewing that not only his Justification but his Sanctification too came from and by Christ both which were of a diviner Nature as well as appointment than what he arrived to whiles he was a Stranger to Christ and therefore expected and pressed after a Perfection therein whiles he despised all Things Priviledges and Attainments which stood in Competition with Christ Yea was glad he had lost them all for Union with him a Perseverance in whom with higher Communications from him was the very main Aim of his Life and Endeavours I am sure this Sense best agrees with the Context and is far enough from Bellarmin's Sense neither want I Reasons sufficient to prove it had I room yea my Exposition of that Text is so far from militating against Justification by Christ's Righteousness that it proves it strongly 2. I come now to consider Mr. M's Defence of his own Errors He confines them to two Saying I kept Silence as to more When others read this Book they 'll see a greater Number though it seems he could not perceive them when he read my Notes and hath left out of his printed Sermons many obnoxious Passages yet he 'll meet with his Suretiship Righteousness the Debtor being as clear as the Surety P. 24. With his limiting so far Christ's Merit to his active Obedience p. 13. With his Position that all Graces of the Spirit are Effects of our being justified and not at all the Means thereof p. 32. That all our Obedience avails no more to our Justification than our worst Sins p. 71. Though he ascribes a Causality to Faith that the Crown of Glory is due to us in Justice p. 12. Even a remunerative Justice is exerted to us p. 15. c. But let us take what he thinks most concerns him the first whereof is that Christ's Incarnation was no
effects be produced in a different manner We must not limit our being made Righteous by Christ's Obedience below our being made Sinners by Adam's Disobedience as far as Adam made us Sinners so far Christ makes us Righteous or the reddition is improper We are as truly absolved by Christ's Obedience as we were made guilty by Adam's Disobedience And we are as truly Regenerated by Christ's Obedience as we were Depraved by Adam's Disobedience In the first we are made free from the Curse of the Law due to us as Sinners in the later we are preserved from being impenitent ungodly Infidels to whom the Gospel doth not give a freedom from the Curse but leaves such under the Law 's Sentence yea denounceth greater punishments against them By the first we have a full Righteousness to stand before God in notwithstanding the exactness of the Law of Innocency and all our Faults and Defects By the second we are render'd the Objects or Subjects of that full Righteousness according â—o the Gospel promise which is the Instrument whereby God bestows it But hereof more fully in due place I shall insist most on the first point 1. To be made Righteous by Christ's Obedience is to be made Free from Condemnation as if we had not Sinned and to be Entitled to Acceptance with God and Eternal Glory as if we had kept the whole Law and both for the sake of Christ's Righteousness imputed to Penitent Believâ—â—s for Pardon and Adoption I can in the shortest way Comprehend the Nature and Parts of this Particular by the following Propositions 1 Pro. All Men are unrighteous by nature Rom. 3.10 There is none righteous no not one We are all Transgressors and therefore each is liable to Vengeance Rom. 3.19 All the world is become guilty before God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he might have arrested and Executed Judgment upon all of us When Innocency ceased the Sentence of the Law took place and obnoxiousness to Misery inevitably followed This includes a forfeiture of Right to Happiness by the Law of Works Be sure if it condemns us by its Threats it cannot reward us by its Promise Disobedience putting us past a possibility of perfectly obeying which was the Condition of its Reward Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified for by the law is the knowledge of sin Rom. 3.20 God can never speak peace by it to the Sinner nor acquit the Offender because by it he condemns for the least Sin and promiseth Life to none but the perfectly Obedient By this Law Sin is not only known to be Sin but Sin is known to bring Damnation and to bar us from Happiness Hence though Christ's Obedience was perfect according to the Law yet it is not by the Law that God pronounceth the Believer just but by the Gospel Righteousness comes not by the Law Gal. 2.21 No Man is justified by the Law Gal. 3.11 Exh. Be affected with that Unrighteous State wherein you all once have been and the Impenitent still remain Is it a small thing to have been Rebels against the holy Law of your Maker Can you make a light account of being under the Curse which comprehends the utmost Misery Gal. 3.10 This as a flaming Sword keeps thee from the Tree of Life and with irresistible power binds Vengeance on thee whilst thou art Christless Divine Wrath points to thee as the Obnoxious Person and in the mean time thou hast no Claim to God's Favour no Title to God or any Saving Blessing In this State the best of you once were Eph. 2.12 And what Grace was it that refâ—ued you out of this extremity Who can enough adore it But what is the stupidness of such among you that can quietly sleep in an Unrighteous State yea so long despise and refuse Deliverance from it Hell is your due every moment and should you die in this condition as you may without farther warning neither the Mercy of God nor the Merits of Christ will prevent Eternal Torments 2 Pro. God is so Righteous and Jealous of the Glory of his Government that his richest Mercy admits the Pardon of no Offender nor Saving Benefits to such as in the least fail in their Obedience but on the account of a Righteousness at least exactly adequate to what strict governing Justice did enjoin and prescribe It must be a Righteousness of Obedience as perfect as the Law Precept required of Men it must be a Righteousness of Satisfaction by bearing a Punishment equivalent to what the Law Threatning denounced against Sinners And because this Law in its Precepts and Threats was a Law to Men and they were Men that transgressed therefore Justice required that the Obedience should be yielded and the Punishment suffered by and in the Humane Nature Hence even the Son of God must take our Flesh if he would be a Redeemer The Satisfaction must yield as much glory to Justice as the Sin forgiven did injure it The Merit must be proportioned in the Scale of Justice to the Benefit to be conferr'd and that upon Offenders which render'd what was appointed to Christ to be above what the Law required of Men. Of which I have spoken somewhat already and shall have reason again to enlarge Rom. 3.26 His Righteousness is declared and he appears just when the Justifier of him that believes in Jesus Sin must be condemned in the flesh of Christ by his dying a Sacrifice for it that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Rom. 8.34 Exh. Adore the Authority and Justice of God notwithstanding Pardoning Mercy The Atonement speaks it neither is it debased by all the Displays of Grace We are as subject to God as if he had never spared us and he is still as just as if all Mankind were to be damned If you despise his Dominion you shall find the edge of his Sword if you reject the Atonement the Severity of his Justice will instance it self upon you See then that you provoke not the Lord to jealousie Deut. 29.20 3 Pro. No Grace nor Act of the best Saint can be a Satisfaction for the least Fault or a Righteousness Meritorious of the least Benefit All Saints have sinned yea Sins and Defects adhere to their best Duties Our exactest actions cannot atone for a past Crime because they are no more than what 's at present due from us Imperfect Duties cannot merit because they are not in the estimate of governing Justice proportioned to the lowest Benefit A Reward of Debt can be to none below him that never sinned and perfectly obeyeth Rom. 4.4 though a Reward of Grace is promised to the Upright Ps. 50.11 When we have done all we now can do we are unprofitable Servants and by the Law of Works the iniquity of our holy things were enough to bring us under condemnation Exh. See your need of a greater Righteousness than your own and submit to the
way of its application Rom. 10.3.4 For they being ignorant of Gods righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God They not knowing the Righteousness which God had contrived and appointed for the Salvation of fallen Man proudly thought they could by a tale of Works made up with operous costly Sacrifices merit Life at the hands of God and by this conceit they despised a Crucified Christ as needless refused to believe in Christ for Justification by his Merits and went on in Impenitency as above the necessity of Pardon by his Blood Which Impenitent persisting in rejecting of Christ was their non-submission to the Righteousness of God Oh the danger of a Heart too proud and a Will too stubborn to stoop to Christ and his Gospel Alas our own Garments are too scant for a covering and unless we accept of a whole Christ we shall be naked notwithstanding the largeness of his Robe His Stripes will not heal us if we return not unto this Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls 1 Pet. 2.24 25. A Righteousness to procure Acceptation or Merit Life we cannot work out but blessed be God Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth Rom. 10.4 The end of the Ceremonial Law is what the Tipes signified The end of the Law of Works as being the scope and issue of it for if it had been perfectly obeyed by Man right to Impunity and its Reward was the utmost which that Law could confer on Innocent Man And blessed be God Christ hath by his Obedience merited both these and all that will truly believe shall in Christ's Right be Entitled to both tho' for any thing wrought by them they could never attain either Impunity or Glory If you peruse v. 5. to the 11. you will find that God hath put us past all solicitousness concerning the sufficiency and certainty of a Christ who hath a fullness of Righteousness for the Salvation of Sinners But the thing incumbent on us to be sollicitous about is that we comply with the Gospel that we may be saved by his Righteousness V. 10 11. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and believe with thy heart thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made to salvation Without these neither his coming to Dye nor his Resurrection from Death will avail us to Salvation Oh! then accept of Christ and yield up your selves to him and to a due and faithful Confession of him as your Lord and Iesus 4. Prop. Jesus Christ by the gracious Dispensation of God as our Law-giver was admitted and in our Nature did so fully answer the demands of Governing Justice as that to its own very Glory it admits the Grace of God to exert it self in forgiving Believing Sinners and in conferring on them Saving Benefits in the Righteousness of Christ. It was not so small a matter as most account it to bring Justice and Pardoning Mercy to consist to honour the Government of God and save Believing Sinners who before were Sentenced to Dye But having spoken to some part of this Proposition in my former Discourse I shall reduce it to these Particulars which I shall briefly hint at 1. It was in our Offending Nature that Christ answered the Demands of Justice tho' it was not in our Person Rom. 8.3 God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh If without this it had been possible to vindicate the Government of God in general yet without assuming our Nature it would not have been a Vindication of the Government of God over Men in particular the Sufferings had not been a satisfaction for Human Offences as Human. 2. Nothing was abated to Christ that Governing Justice exacted the Substantials of the Law were inserted into the Rule of his Active and Passive Obedience and Justice adjusted his Work to his Wages There 's no Common nor Special Benefit promised or given on the account of his Obedience to any but the value of his Obedience is proportionable thereto tho' yet the Benefits much exceed what Adam forfeited and therefore his Obedience must transcend what was injoined Man by the Law of Works 3. Gods Government and Justice were not only Vindicated by Christs Obedience but greatly Honoured Oh! the lustre cast on Gods Laws hereby Never did the Authority of Gods Precepts appear so Royal as when God in Flesh so accurately obeyed them even to that of Dying for Sinners Never was the awfulness of Gods Penal Sanctions discovered as in the Tears Sweats Agony and Blood of his Glorious and Beloved Son There 's no instance of the Riches of Gods Praemiant Sanction as in the Rewards which our Saviour received How Exalted is his Human Nature above Angels And how great are his Rewards in his Members Yea no Blessing given to lost Man but it 's on his account What an attesting Eccho have you Ioh. 12.28.27 Father glorify thy Name Then came there a voice from heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorify it again Christ spake his part when he had inspected the united force of Terrors just besetting him Now is my soul troubled Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour q. d. As heavy as it presseth as awful as it is yet Father glorify thy Name abate nothing that will make for thy Honour however my Flesh trembleth and my Soul is distressed Be thou great however low I must be brought Spare not for my crying so as to abate whatever tends to make thy Authority Sacred and Justice Exact The Father Answers I have persued the Interest of my Glory hitherto in thy Debasement Poverty Contempt Sorrows Shame Temptations and Torments which are now just a finishing my Sword is giving its utmost blow and then I will be Glorious in Exalting and Rewarding thee I 'll get my Remunerative Justice as great a Name in thy Triumphs as my Punitive Justice hath acquired in thy Debasements So Christ explains it v. 31 32. Now shall the prince of this world be judged and when I am lifted up I 'll draw all men to me 4. Tho' all was fulfilled by Christ when appointed to it yet it was by a gracious Dispensation of God as Law-giver that Christ was allowed to work this Righteousness for the Salvation of Sinners The Law-giver is above the Law and tho' the Law knew no Sponsor whose Obedience should procure Pardon and save the Guilty alius was aliud in its accounts Noxa Caput sequitur is its Language The Punishment must fall on the Sinner it could appoint no other to bear it and imputing to the Sinner what another endureth is above its Dialect Yet God the Law-giver had not signified his whole Will by the Law of Works he had reserved a Prerogative whereby he could secure the Glory of his Government and spare the Rebel satisfy Justice
and not destroy the Sinner and be as glorious in forgiving as in punishing To him the satisfaction was made and by him accepted Heb. 10.7 And hence the Sinner is not free as soon as the satisfaction was made but it's when and on what terms the Law-giver and Sponsor would adjust yea and the release comes to the Sinner as a forgiving Act. Exh. Adore the Wisdom and Grace of God Oh! what Grace that would transfer the punishment What Wisdom that contrived a way to place it so that God should be satisfied and yet his Grace be free The Sinner saved and yet not tempted to Rebel The Sufferer repaid in Glory suited to what he did and endured The Redeemed kept Humble as Pardoned tho' the Pardon was granted on a valuable Price The Gift so bestowed as to exert Authority and necessitate Diligence And yet nothing done on the Receivers part to purchase the Gift or to Rob Grace of its Glory it s comprehensively expressed Eph. 1.7 8. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence 5 Prop. The righteousness of Christ in all respects is perfect and compleat yet Christ's Righteousness is variously denominated from those different respects However variously we conceive thereof it s every way perfect it 's chargeable with no defect nor subject to any challenge 1. It 's perfect if you consider it as a meer conformity to the preceptive part of the Moral Law in which respect it 's the same as Holiness He was holy harmless and undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 He was habitually Holy above Adam yea above Angels none so full of grace and truth as he Joh. 1.14 No Mind so filled with light in actu primo even from the very â—â—nning no Heart so inlaid with the Divine Image and enflamed with Love as his he had the Spirit without measure Ioh. 3.34 He had no taint of evil in his Constitution in the Womb he was that Holy thing Luk. 2.35 And when the Tempter assaulted him with the most Skilful violence he had nothing in him Ioh. 14.30 He super-eminently obeyed to an Iota all that was required of him or competent to his Person and this without any defect in the manner and to the utmost extent of the Precept Thus compleatly Holy was Christ which Holiness went into the matter of his Righteousness and is often called so he gave God his utmost due as a Holy Law-giver 2. It was a perfect Righteousness as the performed condition of the Reward promised him in the Covenant of Redemption Whatever was promised to Christ either for himself or Members was promised upon certain conditions some of which were a due undergoing of the bitterest Sufferings threatned in the Law of Works others were included in that of his Active Obedience A Penal Sanction in case of his failure had no room in the Law of Mediation because of the impossibility of his Non-performance and therefore a right to Impunity is of as little concern but Christ's Active and Passive Obedience became formally a compleat Righteousness as what he did and suffered was an exact fulfilling of the condition of the Reward in the Sanction He took our Nature he made his Soul an Offering for Sin he Honouâ— the Law he Glorified God he did all the â—â—rk which was given him to do and drunk the Dregs of the Cup which was appointed him to Drink He fulfilled all Righteousness Mat. 3.15 Even all that for which he was to be Exalted or his Seed made Happy nothing was omitted by him or abated to him 3. This Righteousness of Christ as the performed condition of the Reward was a Federal Righteousness above what was to be Man's Righteousness by the Law of Works which could not be but that the conditions consented to by Christ in the Covenant of Redemption were other and greater than what were required of Adam by the Covenant of Works I shall give you a few of many instances of Conditions appointed to Christ in the Covenant of Redemption above what the Law of Works required The Law of Works did not require the Person Obeying or Suffering to be the Eternal Son of God in our Nature but the Covenant of Redemption required this should I Name no more this would fully prove the point But I add The Law of Works did not exact an Obedience above what Innocent Adam was able to perform but the Covenant of Redemption did this And Christ so obeyed in our Nature not needlessly as must fill the Angels with admiration to see themselves outdone The Covenant of Works did not exact Punishment even to Death from the same Person as still yielded perfect Obedience but the Covenant of Redemption did this The Law of Works did not require or appoint a vicarious Punishment or Obedience from a Sponsor for others but limited both to the Persons originally subject to the Law whereas the Covenant of Redemption appointed this The Law of Works did not command the Sufferings of any as a Reconciling Propitiation but the Law of Mediation did this My reason for that is The Law of Works did by its Threats denounce Vengeance against Sin But this was not by a Precept upon Obedience whereto the Sufferer could Merit Peace and Reconciliation whereas the Law of Mediation appointed Christs Death for a Propitiatory Offering and in Dying he yielded the highest Act of Obedience to a Precept Ioh. 14.31 And this to make Reconciliation Heb. 2.17 Col. 1.20 The Covenant of Works did as a condition of Impunity and Reward injoin Obedience to no Law but that which Adam was under viz. the Law of Works and the Positive one Prohibiting the Eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil But the Covenant of Redemption required Obedience to the Ceremonial Law c. The Law of Works appointed no more Obedience than Governing Justice as such had suited to the Rewards of that Covenant But as the Covenant of Redemption had far higher Rewards so it ordained suitable conditions The Law of Works appointed no Obedience after Sin as a Meritorious condition of obtaining forfeited Benefits but the Covenant of Redemption did this We may easily perceive that the conditions prescribed to our Redeemer much differ'd from those the Law of Works required and since Christ fulfilled all these his federal Righteousness exceeds that which the Law of Works prescribed If you ask why Christ's Righteousness must thus exceed what the Law of Works ordained I Answer It 's because it's a greater thing to Redeem an Offender than to continue an Innocent Persons Right to Impunity And it 's more to Purchase greater Blessings for one that hath forfeited all good than it is to continue lesser Blessings tho' with some addition to one that hath not forfeited Yea and Reconciliation is more difficult than maintaining Peace before any Enmity 4. Christs Righteousness was perfect as it was his
Righteousness who chuse that word They think that because a Principal may be said in Law to pay to the Creditor the very same Money as the Surety pays and in Law equally with the Surety therefore all Sinners for whom Christ Died and Obeyed did then Equally Die and Obey as Christ himself or as others wheâ— they believe God doth account that they Died and Obeyed Equally with Christ and in Law Sense they fully answered the Law of Works and they are Justified by that very Law being truly and legally Innocent by the Satisfaction they have made and Obedience they as one Legal Person with Christ yielded And so they are Righteous as Christ not in Similitude but in Equality But though I grant that the Righteousness of Christ's for which we are Justified be a Righteousness adequate to the Law yea supra-legal as well as in substance truly Legal yet I deny that to be a Suretiship Righteousness in a sense that can infer us Equally Righteous as Christ. 1 R. I have fully proved that Christ was not a Money-Surety with Sinners or Believers in the Law of Works though he Died in their stead and his Death secured their Release and Happiness because the Law-giver in the Covenant of Redemption admitted and promised this and the Gospel doth proclaim this and assure Christians that they shall be treated as Believers yea and as if themselves had Obeyed and Satisfied viz. As to all the Blessings promised to Believers But all this doth not infer that we paid the Price of Heaven that we Legally endured the Wrath of God there 's no Suretiship that amounts to this and therefore no Suretiship Righteousness that connotes it Christ was not our Money-Surety in the Law of Works in performing the Law of Redemption and therefore we cannot be said to do and suffer what Christ did Equally with him nor consequently to be as Righteous as he in Equality Obj. Christ was made under the Law to Redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons Gal. 4.4 5. Ans. 1. I might shew how the Context doth confine to the following sense viz. Christ was made under the Jewish Law as delivered Four Hundred Years after the Promise which could not give Life nor the Spirit under which Law the Jewish Believers were shut up and it their Schoolmaster and they as Servants in Bondage under the Elements of this World i. e. The Ceremonies and far from the designed Liberty of adopted Sons But Christ was made under this Law to Redeem and Rescue those Jewish Believers from this Bondage and to bring the Gentiles as well as they and at one instant with them to the Gospel Freedom and Liberty called the adoption of Sons even a Liberty from the Jewish Yoak and Bondage which many were still fond of Consult Chap. 3. and 4. In this sense it 's not the Law of Innocency as a proper Covenant of Works that 's meant by the Law under which Christ was made The Law of Innocency or Works had not in it these Ceremonies Ordinances and the like 2. I grant that Christ in taking our Nature became a Servant and subject to the Law of Innocency to its Precepts and its Punishments as a Mediator according to the Terms adjusted in the Covenant of Redemption 3. But how follows it that because he obliged himself in the Covenant of Redemption that he would be in our Nature subject to the Law for our Redemption that therefore he was such a Surety in what he did as that we Legally did what he did and that in the Estimate and Sentence of that Law as a Law of Works It 's so far from concluding this that it concludes the contrary we did it not because he did it he did it to Redeem us we were to do it to prevent the need of Redemption and had we done it there had been no room for his doing of it And Obeying alone would have serv'd our turn before Sin and neither our obeying nor suffering have served the turn after Sin Further 4. Christ did not then become a Surety or Undertaker to Die for us by being made under the Law but he was made under the Law because he had undertaken to Die for us His very being made under the Law of Works was but a performance of a previous Engagement to to the Law-giver this being one Article in the Covenant of Redemption That he should take our Nature be a Servant under the Law and make his Soul an Offering for Sin Heb. 10.9 Isa. 53. Can any infer then that because Christ was made under the Law in performance of his Prior Engagement to Redeem lost Sinners to which Engagement these Sinners were never obliged that therefore these Sinners did truly do and suffer whatever Christ did and suffered to Redeem and Save them It 's true but for Sinners and the Law and Divine Justice Christ needed not to enter into any Obligation that he would be under the Law and Die for Sinners and Obey to make the Law Honourable But what is this to make us Principals in that Bond whereby hâ— became obliged to come under the Law and Die for us The Law is Honoured and Justice Satisfied but not by us though for us because he stood alone obliged by his Bond to Honour the Law and Satisfie Justice It was not from any Obligation the Law of Works had upon him that he become obliged to be a Subject or if he became a Subject that he must Die whilst he was an Innocent Person Nor was it the Law of Works that gave him a right to his Reward if he should Obey and Die this Law never promised his Death would be a Ransom for all and he be Glorious as a Redeemer the Law of Works hath nothing of this Christ had to do with a higher Law before he submitted to this A Law wherein he was Principal transacting without us though for our Recovery I 'll give you an instance There is a Law made that he that Commits High Treason shall Die a Thousand Persons Commit High Treason in various degrees and are Condemned But the Law-giver or absolute Supreme Ruler makes a Law that if such a great Monarch will become his Subject and Die to Expiate this Treason those Condemn'd Traitors shall be forgiven and released in such a time and way as is agreed between the Law-giver and this Monarch This Monarch becomes a Subject and Dieth to Expiate the Treason and deliver the Traitors Now here the Law-giver is satisfied the End of the Law is answered the Monarch Dies in the stead and place of the Traitors and they in a fit time and way are released But yet they cannot be said to Die nor pay a Ransom for their Lives much less to say that they paid as much as the Monarch 2 R. We did not equally with Christ perform the Legal Conditions of Redemption otherwise we equally vindicated the Honour of Divine Justice as Christ did
are so strong That the Image of God is so little restored God so much dishonoured and offended still by us c. will this reasoning perswade you Because I shall be kept by Christ's Righteousness out of Hell therefore I am as righteous as Christ though still subject to many Penal Effects of Sin and know not how much greater I may yet be subject to 5. Doth the Plea formed in this Objection fit the Mouth of any true Believer Lord I do not now need thy Forgiving me any thing nor ever was indebted to thee for abating me ought I bore the Punishment legally before I offended and paid the Debt before I contracted it Be but just towards me and I fear no Advantage thou canst have against me Let me be and do what I will or can I am out of thy reach I have in the eye of thy Law suffered what can be inflicted nay I am as righteous as Christ himself and that in equality therefore thou mayest as well and as much be offended with him as with me yea may'st as justly deny him the Reward of his Obedience as deny me any part of that Reward for I performed the Conditions in the Eye of the Law as much as he and have a right equal to his I am equally righteous with him Are these the Apprehensions of an humble broken Heart These things are as unreasonable as if Millions of Persons were liable to die for Robbery and the King and his only Son should agree that the Son should die in the room of these Millions of Criminals that they owning humbly his Kindness might be released and honoured and the Son to have the Glory of being their Redeemer and have Homage done him as such Would it not appear strange if one of these should after his escape by the Prince's Death say to the King I owe you nothing for my Life I paid you in your Son 's dying for me And to say to the Son I have done and â—uffered as much in the Eye of the Law to â—ave my Life as you did and deserved it as much as you and have as much Honour due â—o me for dying in you as you have for dying for us Millions the King and the Law look on me and all should judge me as Just a Man as your self I doubt such a Man might forâ—eit his Claim to Freedom for want of humble Thankfulness and for denying the King's Son â—he Glory of being his Redeemer Exh. With Sobriety of Mind keep an humâ—le Sense of your distance from Christ under â—he highest Privileges he advanceth you to â—dore his Grace that through his Blood you â—re Righteous as pardoned Believers but â—read comparing with him He will and it's 〈◊〉 he should In all things have the Preheminence Col. 1.18 and sure to be more righteous than us in all respects is one of those things What can be a tenderer part of his â—rerogative 11 Pro. Neither Faith nor any Work of Believers are any Righteousness that have any Share or Place with Christ's Righteousness in Justification as this is before described Our Graces do neither make Atonement nor merit Pardon of the least Sin or the conferring of the lowest Benefit No Acts of ours are a jot of our Righteousness or right to Pardon or Glory in a way of Justice Justice could not allow them that place they being Imperfect and the Actions of Sinners God hath no Eye to our Works as any procuring cause of his imputing Christ's Righteousness or of his Pardoning Absolving or Accepting us Reader Because my Enlargement on this Head is long that it may be better comprehended I shall divide it into several Heads 1. I have already told you that Justification is that Act of God whereby he imputes Christ's Righteousness to a Believer and thereupon Pardons Absolves from Condemnation Accepts and Adopts him whereby he hath a right to Glory and sentenceth him one free from Condemnation as if he had not sinned and an Heir of Glory as if he had obeyed the whole Law This is to make us Righteous as in Justification 2. In Justification thus considered the Righteousness of Christ is that which is regarded by God and influential into all as the only Merit and procuring cause his Obedience Active and Passive is the only legal Consideration on which God Pardons Absolves Adopts or gives a right to Glory yea it is Christ's very Right wherein God doth Pardon Absolve c. 3. Justification as including these Benefits stands entire as to its causes antecedently to a Believer's Interest therein it 's a Blessing purchased by Christ it 's offered to Sinners and included in the Promise a Justifying Righteousness wherein or whereby a Sinner is to be pardoned and entitled to Glory is not to be wrought out by Men it 's already fulfilled by Christ and these Effects of it are lodged in the Gospel as Christ's Deed of Gift with his Title To be applied to all that are made Partakers thereof 4. To be Justified Actually is to be made Actual Partakers of a Gospel-right to these Immunities and Privileges in Christ's Righteousness as it is imputed to us by God in the Applicatory Sentence of the Gospel-Promise We have for Christ's Obedience a right to Pardon c. given us and thereupon are pardoned and to be dealt with and defended as such 5. God in and by the Gospel hath described and determined who shall be thus actually Justified and this by descriptive Qualifications they are Sinners condemnable by the Law hence called Ungodly Rom. 4.5 but not Unbelieving Impenitent Sinners for God Justifies none but whom by the Gospel he promiseth to Justifie Now if the Gospel promised Justification to all Sinners as such or to all Impenitent Unbelieving Sinners then all Sinners all Impenitent Unbelieving Sinners would be Justified as soon as they are such and cease to be Justified when they cease to be Unbelieving Impenitent Sinners But God by his Word hath positively declared that such he will not Justifie whilst they are such but leaves them under Condemnation and the Wrath of God abides on them Iohn 3.38 God's purpose of a better State for any doth not prevent their being at present in this worser State it is his Justifying Act that changeth their Condition from a liableness to Condemnation to a Right to Impunity from destructive Evils As it was his condemning Act which altered their State from a Right to Impunity to an Obnoxiousness to ruin this Condemning Act was by the Law that Absolving Act is by the Gospel 6. Therefore whatever God by his Gospel makes necessary in a Person whom he promiseth to Justifie all that and nothing but that is absolutely necessary in the Person who shall be Justified I do not speak of what is necessary in a Person after he is Justified but what is necessary in him on whom God's Justifying Act doth terminate We may judge what is made necessary in the Person to be Justified Thus Whoever God promiseth
to Justifie as described by any Personal Character such as a Believer c. whatever God promiseth Pardon to as Repentance whatever is contrary to that for which he declareth that he will notwithstanding Gospel-Grace continue the Sentence of Condemnation on Sinners and deny them Mercy As when he saith If the Wicked turn not he shall die thereby Conversion is necessary By these Rules we may know what kind of Person he must be whom God by his Gospel doth Justifie God will not deny it to whom the Gospel promiseth it he cannot by the Gospel grant it to him whom he declares he will deny it to yea on whom he still more binds Condemnation 7. Faith in Christ hath a peculiar Aptness and is more especially honoured in the first Application of God's Justifying Act upon a Christian though nothing can be wanting which God hath made necessary in him whom he will Justifie This acknowledgeth Christ and his Righteousness and by it we return to him as the way to the Father Heb. 7.25 and own his Authority which is the Reward of his Mediation Iohn 5.23 This is our conjugal Consent and Band of Union on our part with Christ as our Husband Head and entire Saviour 2 Cor. 11.2 it includes all of that regard which is appropriated to Christ as Redeemer and therefore we are said to be Justified by Faith and not by any other Grace as I remember Rom. 5.1 But yet Forgiveness and pardoning Mercy is promised to other things especially to Repentance and we are called to repent with this Promise That our Sins shall be forgiven upon it and we turn to God that we may receive Remission of Sin Acts 26.18 Luke 13.3 When I have considered that we are said still to be Justified by Faith and yet Repentance is so absolutely required to the Pardon of Sin I have been apt to think that the Spirit of God seems to instruct us that Justification in the first part of it viz. The Imputâ—â—â— Christ's Righteousness and investing us in his right to Pardon and other Blessings is especially applied to Faith and yet our enjoying actual Pardon upon our Investiture in Christ's right is promised to Repentance As if God would ascribe the first Application of Christ's Righteousness to that Grace which more especially acknowledgeth the Redeemer whose Righteousness it is by which we are Justified and yet that Sin which is Treason against God should not be forgiven even for Christ's sake without Repentance wherein God is more especially acknowledged as our God and rightful Law-giver whence the Sum of our Ministry is made Repentance towards God and Faith towards the Lord Jesus Acts 20.21 If there be any weight in this which I only offer to Consideration then Faith is more especially made the Condition of the first part of Justification viz. The Application of Christ's Righteousness And yet Repentance also made the express Condition of the second part of Justification viz. Actual Pardon that great Privilege possessed by us with a right to what this Pardon entitleth to Hereby the Dignity of the Law-giver and the Honour of the Redeemer are distinctly provided for in the Justification of a Sinner yea the Gospel-order is preserved for by Christ we come and return unto God whom we had by Sin forsaken Yet remember that Repentance is still a Concomitant of Faith whatever Priority as an exprest Condition I assign to it for no utterly Impenitent Person can put forth an Act. of Saving 〈◊〉 Justifying Faith 8. Our Blessed Lord exerts a Governing Authority in a way of Grace or Grace in a way of Governing Authority in the appointing and requiring what he makes necessary in the Person to be Justified He commands Men to believe with a Promise that they shall be Justified if they do believe which is the Scope of the Gospel He plainly threatens all that will not believe that they shall not be Justified if they continue in Unbelief Iohn 3.18 36. He hath appointed Ministers to use the Blessing of a Justified Estate as a Motive to Mens Believing or coming to Christ. Thus it is as to Repentance in order to Pardon c. here 's the Authority of a Law-giver yet the Grace of a Redeemer here 's a Law in the obliging Power of the Command and the certain Connexion between the Duty and the promised Benefit and yet here is Grace meer Grace in the Adjustment of the Sanction as to the Matter it contains and Merit it refers to This as to us is Governing Grace and not Governing Iustice it 's not Justice that adjusts the Benefit with respect to the Duty as Meritorious thereof here 's nothing as of Debt to us for Believing yet a certainty of being Justified upon Believing here 's no Pardon as a Debt for repenting yet a Pardon sure upon repenting Divine Justice was honoured in Christ's fulfilling the Law of Works where God displayed Justice in Government yea it 's honoured with respect to Christ in God's giving all Benefits in Christ's right and as Christ's proper Reward But as to us it 's of Grace that a Believer should be thus sure to be Justified But though Grace be thus advanced in the Matter given yet here 's Authority expressed in the manner of giving and Divine Government maintained according to the present State of redeemed Sinners Some Obedience shall be yielded though perfect Obedience is become impossible there shall be the Reins of a Sanction on our Necks though the Sanction of the Law of Works hath and must condemn us if Christ relieves not from it Fear and Hope in us shall not be useless to us though we were by the Fall in a Case as to our selves utterly desperate and as to Election and Christ's Undertaking eventually Safe There shall be a Law of Faith to Judge and Save us by though we daily Transgress the Law of Works and by every Transgression are liable to the Curse Rom. 3.27 Gal. 3.10 I might had I time easily prove what I have asserted and give you the great Usefulness of this Point that the Gospel by which the Blessings of Christ are dispensed is a Law or a Display of Grace in a way of Authority and Government but I 'll only glance 1. Hereby the Gospel is said to be obeyed and disobeyed Rom. 10.16 2 Thess. 1.8 2 Cor. 9.13 2. Men become culpable as Rejecters of its Benefits Acts 13.38 41 48. 3. All Gospel-Benefits become fit and strong Motives in Gospel-Duty Acts 2.38 4. The Benefits are Suspended Infallibly till the Conditions be performed Luke 13.3 5. They that obey the Gospel may be sure of the promised Benefits and know how to try their Interest and conclude it Heb. 5.9 6. The Gospel-Blessings may be truly offered to all and all charged to accept of them by complying with the Conditions Acts 13.38 7. The Conditions hereby are described stated urged and not left uncertain 1 Cor. 13.2 8. A Rule of Judgment is hereby fixed whereby God is justified in
Publick-spiritedness Godliness Integrity and whatever makes a Gospel-spirit and the Image of Christ upon a Man to say nothing of Humility good Nature Freedom from Envy and Malice c. Yea God blessed him more to the real Conversion of Souls than a hundred Mr. Mather's notwithstanding his charging him with rejecting the Counsel of God against himself P. 10. And to hold pernicious Soul-destroying Errors for it 's him whose Words he puts in a broken Light P. 46. 4. He very oddly evades the Charge of the Assembly Confess Chap. 26. A. 3. viz. This Communion which the Saints have with Christ doth not make them in any wise Partakers of the Substance of his God-Head or to be equal with Christ in any respect either of which to affirm is impious and blasphemous This Place I cited but would not repeat the Words at Pinners Hall To this he tells us P. 76. This must be taken in a limited Sense c. for taken absolutely it will not hold Believers are Menequally with Christ c. Rep. True for he hath almost told us we are hail Fellows with Christ he was not humbled in being a Man nor is he dishonoured in our being as righteous as he He saith P. 7. Christ's Incarnation may as justly be said to be a Part of his Exaltation as of his Humiliation But though they intend not the being of a Man in what they so severely brand yet they mean nothing if they exclude what is so great a Perfetion of Christ as his Righteousness is when they fix Blasphemy on saying we are equal with Christ in any respect they must think his Righteousness such a Prerogative that who will equal Christ in this may next ask of him his Kingdom also and Mr. M. hath given us a Handle for that upon our very being as Righteous as Christ. For P. 25. He at large shews that Christ hath two Titles to Glory a natural one and an accumulated one viz. An acquired Title as our Surety and if you ask what Glory that is you 'll find P. 56. It 's that special Revenue of Glory and Praise which the Father who began his Son from Eternity and loving him with an infinite Love designed him Now then if Christ's Title to all his acquired Glory be his Suretiship Righteousness and as to that we are as Righteous as he in Equality what can hinder us not only to have that very same Title to Heaven and Glory as Christ hath as he is our Sponsor But I say what can hinder Believers Claim and Title to the very same high Throne in Heaven and the very same Degree of Glory as Christ as their Surety hath a Title to since Christ hath it For that very Righteousness which they have as much of as he himself and that God gives or rather payâ— them all of remunerative Justice and that they are one mystical Person with Christ all which this modest Author affirms P. 55. Reader â—â—â—ge is this no other Equality than in being Men as well as Christ 5. Though he talks so much of Suretiship Righteousness he gives an uncertain Sound of that Bond wherein Christ and Believers come into that legal Oneness 1. One while he was constituted a Surety in that Covenant between God and him P. 10. Thereby there was a legal Vnion and this Vnion was from everlasting and it was of supercreation Grace and perfected in the Transaction between God and Christ. P. 50 60. Reader know That I grant there was a Covenant of Redemption beforetime and that therein Christ undertook to redeem and save elect Sinners c. But yet I deny that by that Covenant Christ and the Elect were eternally one legal Person or that he is their Surety in such a Sense as will render them legally esteemed to do and suffer all that Christ did pursuant to that Covenant or that thereby they are as Righteous as he Thou wilt find my Arguments in this Book at present it 's enough to say we were never Principals in that Covenant and therefore Christ could not be such a Surety The thing insisted on in that Covenant was Redemption Work and the Salvation of Sinners as fallen but the redeeming and saving of Sinners or our selves as Sinners was never proposed to us as our Duty it was inconsistent and impossible to our State as fallen and with his Leave as it looks strange the Elect should have two legal Heads at once viz. Christ and Adam so if Christ and Men were eternally one legal Person I doubt it may as well be proved that Christ legally broke the Law in the Elect's breaking it as the Elect kept the Law in Christ's keeping it Well thus far here 's a Surety without a Principal and a Work or Debt which none was ever bound to but him that is called a Surety in a Sense that many must be said to do and pay as much as he 2. Another while Christ's Name was put into the original Bond in which we by the Law and Covenant of our Creation were bound P. 10. He told us before he was constituted a Surety in another Bond viz. The Eternal Compact if so then his Name is put into this Bond in performance of his antecedent Suretiship and not made a Surety by putting his Name in this Bond then it follows that what he doth pay of this Bond can be said to be paid by us no otherwise than according to the Nature of his Suretiship in the former Bond wherein we have seen he was principal and sole Undertaker I am glad by this that I need not argue with him that if Christ was a pecuniary proper Surety with us in the Covenant of Works then it was either absolutely or disjunctively if absolutely that he would keep it then we were not Parties at all engaged If disjunctively viz. That either we or he would keep it then it was never broken for he hath kept it and his Obedience without any Suffering sufficed to fulfill it c. But Mr. M. granting and that truly that Christ was constituted Surety in the Covenant of Redemption prevents my insisting on such things Only still note as I have elsewâ—ere proved that Christ being made under the Law which he means by putting his Name in the Bond was the Effect of Christ's Suretiship 3. Yet inconsistently enough P. 14. Christ was made our Surety his Name was not only put into the Covenant of Works but into it as a broken Covenant Here all is ruffled again and how shall we unriddle it He was but now constituted a Surety in the eternal Bond but he is here made a Surety in the broken Bond He that distinguished between assuming our Nature and being conceived no doubt will find some Difference between constituted a Surety and made a Surety for that he must do or he contradicts himself Well I grant that Christ came in our Nature to obey the Law we had broken and bear the Punishment we had deserved and answer the End of
the Law which we had frustrated But this will not make him such a Surety in this broken Bond as shall make us legally accounted to do all and suffer and answer all and be as righteous as he that did it though it be in his very Righteousness that we are saved notwithstanding we have failed in all this For I ask when he put his Name in this broken Bond Sure not before it was broken then he was Surety before Again when he did put his Name did he do it to the same very purpose as we were originally bound viz. that we might live by our Innocency and Obedience as our Righteousness No it was to redeem us from the Effects of our own Disobedience Did he engage that we should do and suffer what would be a Price of our Redemption and Salvation No he was to do it himself in his own legal Person I say legal because the divine Dignity of his Person gave the legal yea supralegal Value in God's Account to what he did and suffered for one meer Man's doing and suffering what the meer Law injoined would not have satisfied for Millions and the broken Bond it self did not require a divine Person 's obeying any more than the whole Bond did though the Attainment of its Ends did so Again if Christ's Suretiship was so limited within this broken Bond than as he was bound to do and suffer no more than it required so neither he nor we are entitled by that Obedience to any more than this broken Bond at first covenanted to give Yea further Mr. M. faith P. 57. The elect were constituted at first under another Head and under another Covenant which had nothing in it of Christ and his Righteousness either to be brought in for them or to be applied to them Reply But if Christ's Righteousness be no higher than that Covenant did require before it was broken the Righteousness of perfect Adam had been as great as Christ's And if the unbroken Covenant was the same as the broken Bond How should the unbroken Covenant neither have nor require any Righteousness of Christs and yet the broken Bond measure and limit Christ's Righteousness and Sentence us legally Righteous for it But if as Mr. M. saith the Covenant with Adam and the Elect was another Covenant from the broken-Bond then we are not under the Covenant requiring what at first it injoyned and being federating Parties only in the first and subjected to Penalty only by it as it 's broken Here 's no Obedience-work for a Surety nor place for a proper Surety in bearing the Penalties But I have elsewhere enlarged and therefore conclude That such Confusion about the Suretiship should abate Mens regard to his Censures against such as will not own he himself knows not what and proveth none sees how 6. I find after all that this Equality of Righteousness between Christ and us is not so much from Legal Union or Judicial Imputation but from a Coalescence of Believers into one mystical Person with Christ by Vital Union Thus p. 55. Between our believing and our being justified there comes in our Coalescing into one mystical Person with Christ by this Vital Vnion and our having his Righteousness upon us unto the Iustification of Life and so our being justified is not the next or immediate effect of our Believing c. Here indeed if I understand what one person is he may well argue we are as Righteous as Christ for we are Christified with Christ not in Name or on Account of his undertaking or his being the Head of the Church as his mystical Body But as being one mystical Person opposed to a Legal Person than by pointing at any Believer you may avoid the danger of Ioh. 8.24 If you believe not that I am he you shall die in your sins Mr. M. may rise higher than that we are as Rightâ—â—us as Christ and say we are as Holy as Christ as Honorable as Christ as Wise as Christ and so interpret his proof 1 Cor. 1.30 Nay are we not assumed into a Personal Union with the Eternal Word as the Humane Nature of Christ is which I think is unavoidable unless Christ hath more Persons than one Besides his being a legal Person which he opposeth this mystical Person to And that he means something like this hear him p. 60. It 's called a Vital Vnion because in effecting it there is a Vital Touch as I may say between Christ and us and a clasping each on other Compare this with P. 63. The Humane Nature of Christ leans on the Godhead in the Son and hath the Eternal Power of the Deity clasping about it and holding it in that Vnion c. The Eternal Power of the Godhead in Christ and not so much the strength of any created Principle of Grace in us holding our Hearts unto him and causing them for ever to live upon him Can you find much difference though he pretend a Disproportion The Awfulness of the Subject restrains me from exposing this affected Cant which is the only Gospel with these Men because its Mystery i. e. unintelligible Nonsence fitted to a Rosocrucian or Behemist It is not enough that Christ is the Author of all in us and the Securer of all promised Good to us and that he condescended to confirm this and comfort our Souls by such gracious Instances of a Mystical Union as that between Vine and Branches Head and Members Husband and Wife yea that the same Spirit dwells in Christ and us each of which inform and assure to us the Blessing designed to be signified thereby but not whatever our Profane Fancies may wrest a Metaphor or force an Expression to Must Men strain it to one Person whereby Christ's Prerogatives and our Vile Defects are in common to Christ and us Is this to let Christ in all things have the Preheminence Col. 1. 18. The Scriptures needed not so many Metaphors to represent to us the several Benefits we have by Union with Christ This one would have served for all yea far exceeded all only that one Person would consist but with few of them nay with none Head and Members do not make one Person but one Body yea one Spirit in Christ and us doth not make one Person unless you 'll make the Holy Ghost to be an animating Soul to the Body and so be the chief constitive part of the whole Person What will a deluded vain Fancy expose Men to at last Exceptions against some more Passages in Mr. M's Book I Have been already engaged to hint at some yet among many obnoxious enough let 's consider some more of his Stamina 1. That God hath ordained Christ to do all with God for the Elect and that he shall be aâ—â— from God to them c. All I say that in this ruined Condition they need to bring them to that heighth of Happiness c. P. 56 58. Reply If he had meant only that Christ was to do all with God in