it comes to pass that the external Act conceived to be prohibited by the Divine Law is no real Breach thereof save only when and as it impedes or diminisheth the Souls due Affection or Love which of right it ought to have to God in order to its own Felicity as shall hereafter in the explication of the seventh and Eighth Commandments Sect. 19. be made appear 7. In the greatest Alienation therefore of the Heart from God is the greatest sin which Alienation because it befalls the Damned in that their Aversion from God is perpetual the Damned are the greatest Sinners Object 1. Sin is the Transgression of the Law of God. 1 John 3. 4. and the Transgression of the Law is therefore sinful because it is repugnant to the Divine Will and an Offence to God. Solut. The Definition of Sin given by the Blessed Apostle must needs be infallibly true but the reason offered why the Transgression of the Law is sinful is none of the Apostles and its truth may very well be questioned For in case Gods Will had been absolutely set against Sin rather than it should have been ever in the World neither the Author nor Actors of it had received a Being since he was the Maker and Creator of them both And therefore it is not in respect of any Injury Harm or Inconvenience whatsoever that can befall the Almighty who is infinitely above the reach of any Displeasure or Annoyance possible to be done unto him by the committing of Sin that he forbids it but because it is mischievous and hurtful to the Creature in many respects as hath been set forth in the three preceding Sections last past So that the Reason why the Creator gave Man a Law to observe was not simply this that he required Obedience should be given to whatsoever he commanded but that Man through Obedience to the Law which is a Rule that if rightly observed will make him happy might reap the Benefit of the due Observance of it as from this subsequent Argument will I think be evinced Tho Obedience is due to be performed but in respect of some Command given to be obeyed no Command is to be given to be obeyed but in respect of some good End whereunto it tends for to command a thing either to no End at all or to a bad End would be irrational since to do the former would be an impertinent Vanity and to do the latter would be plain Perversness both which since they are infinitely remote and estranged from the Nature of God 't is impossible he should command any thing but for a good End. And forasmuch as he is utterly incapable of receiving any manner or measure of Good by reason of his infinite Self-perfection he cannot possibly require Obedience from his Creature for any Good either of Profit or Pleasure expected to redound thereby to himself And therefore whenever he gives a Law or Command to his Creature he does it for this sole End that the Creature may be benefited thereby in case a sincere and cordial Obedience be performed unto it Object 2. If God cannot possibly give a Command but such only as tends to the Good of the Creature it will not be in his Power to command a thing of that nature that simple Disobedience to his Will without respect had to some or other definite Good to be obtained by fulfilling the Command should be a sin Solut. That God cannot possibly give a Command but for some good End and Purpose and that he himself is incapable of receiving any good hath been proved before But it doth not thence follow that he cannot command a thing to be done without respect had to some or other express definite Good because he may command a thing purely indifferent in it self to the intent that men by yielding Obedience to his Command for the Commands sake may be inured to submit with readiness and chearfulness to his Will in all things which whosoever doth cannot fail of being at length eternally happy because the most of his Precepts at least as in Sect. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. will be seen are proper means in themselves for procuring mans Felicity which the performing of things wholly indifferent in their Nature when enjoyned by God if any such there be by facilitating of Obedience will be apt to further in that a pliableness to observe Commands in things necessary will be promoted thereby But if it were so that Obedience were good for the meer Commands sake without respect had to the benefit intended to accrue to the sincere Observers of it Disobedience would be equally sinful in every sinful Act whatsoever whence a small stroke given in wrath would be as great a Crime as Parricide or Treason to rob a poor Man of all he has would be a Fault as small as to steal a Penny from the richest Person and to commit Adultery or Incest would be no greater a sin than a lascivious Thought or Word since all sin without exception is absolutely forbidden by God and not one single Crime whatsoeever allowed to be committed But if Disobedience to Gods Commands be therefore sinful in that it causes a Want or Privation of some good or degree thereof which is a Means conducible to Felicity then is every sin greater or less than other by how much the good whereof it deprives the Soul is more or less available then other for bringing it to Bliss And therefore although every Sin be a Transgression of the Law yet inasmuch as every Branch and Title of the Law is not of equal Virtue to further Mans Felicity 't is clear that all Acts whereby the Law is transgressed are not equally bad or sinful Object 3. God by the sole Act of Creation or making Man out of nothing to have an Existence or Being obtained a Sovereignty over him by virtue of which he has a Right of Dominion or a just Power to lay what Commands he pleases upon him Whence it must needs be that every Act of Disobedience to Gods Commands is a Wrong and Injury done unto him although the Performance of the Command would neither do him good nor the omitting to do it procure him any harm Solut. That God has a Right of Dominion over Man or a just Power to command him whatever he pleases is an undeniable Truth but the Ground thereof is not solely as the Objection would make it because Man was created by God and received his Being from him but by reason also that such is the unerrable Rectitude of his Understanding and the absolute Goodness of his Will that he cannot possibly command him any thing but what if duly observed will infallibly procure his Good. For if God by the sole Act of Creation abstracting from this that he created Man from an end agreeable to his Nature certainly to be obtain'd if he obeyed the Law of his Maker had a Right to dispose of him after any manner whatsoever without
sect 13 14. which perfected is Felicity it evidently follows that there is not any Vice mortally vicious or finally prejudicial to Man's Felicity save only by reason of Charity 's inconsistency with it But it is impossible that those who either through Infidelity never believe or through Apostasie fall from the belief that there is an eternal Being which ought to be belov'd above all things should place their Affections on God and equally impossible that they who either through Presumption or Despair will not make use of the necessary Means should attain to the End to be acquired by them Whence it is manifest that every one of these Vices are Mortal Sins and necessarily if not forsaken destructive of Salvation If it be replied that every Sin is a Transgression of the Law and every Transgression of the Law a Mortal Sin no less than Infidelity Apostasie Presumption and Despair and therefore destructive of Salvation as well as they I grant it to be true in every one abiding in the State of sinful Nature for since such a Man's Will is habitually vitiated with the Love of the World above the Love of God every Act proceeding from that Source or Principle will partake of its Nature and Disposition and all such Love is Mortal Sin Sect. 8. par 5. But to him that is in the State of Grace or endued with the Habit of Charity which is Formal Righteousness sect 11. pa. 6 7 8. I deny that any single sinful Act or Transgression of the Law is Mortal unless it be such as either by the grossness of it or else by the perverse wilfulness of committing it destroys the Habit of Charity in the Soul for it is impossible that that Man should suffer the Pains of Hell who habitually loves God above the World and prefers the enjoyment of him before all Terrestrial Pleasures sect 11. pa. 6 7. albeit thro' infirmity and the frailty of human Nature he sometimes transgress in smaller Matters some part of the Law of God. Object 2. Faith and Hope seem very excellent Virtues in themselves Faith in that it owns the Truth of God in readily assenting and firmly adhering to those mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture which wholly transcend all our Reason and Apprehension And Hope in that it owns the infinite Power and Goodness of God such Faith and Hope being required as Conditions of our Salvation and that God may be righteous in absolving and saving Sinners Rom. 3. v. 24 25 26 27. Whence it appears that they are on these accounts abstracting from this that they are Ministerial to Charity necessary to Salvation Solut. That the owning the Truth of God by readily assenting and firmly adhering to the Mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture and the owning the infinite Power and Goodness of God are any Virtues when they are not accompanied with Charity besides for the reason shewn sect 13. par 1. therefore deny because the Devil not only gives a most firm assent to every Divine Truth revealed in the Scripture as knowing it to be the Word of God and therefore infallibly true but also owns upon the same account the infinite Power and Goodness of God as they are there in every respect declared and set forth and yet he is not at all virtuous in doing of either yea the stronger his Assent is to their Truth the more wicked he is because he has not Charity answerable to his Knowledg in that he loves not God as the only Sovereign Good of all rational and intelligent Creatures when he most certainly knows that he ought to be so beloved by them If it be alledged that Faith in the Objection is to be understood of a Divine Faith I return that if an Assent given to a Divine Truth upon the Credit of a Divine Testimony be Divine Faith the Devil's Belief of the Truths revealed in the Scripture is a Divine Faith But if by Faith be meant a Saving Faith then I grant the Devil is void thereof because his Faith is not accompanied with Charity for all Faith without Charity is nothing worth in reference to Salvation 1 Cor. 13. 2. 7. As the principal Aim and Drift of the Precepts of the former Table of the Decalogue is the Love of God as Mans chiefest Good Par. 6. so hath the Loving of our Neighbour likewise its Consummation therein For since Rational Nature is the same in all men and consequently the same End appointed for all Mankind 't is clear that every Man in that he is a Man is obliged to wish and further the same final Good and the Necessary Means conducible to it to every one and this is that which is truly loving a Mans Neighbour as himself whilst every other good one man ought to do to another is a thing extrinsecal to man as man and depends as to the Obligation thereto on prudential Motives or mutual Consent explicit or implicit or formal Contracts for the Preservation or Comfort of the animal Life and is not so much as to be absolutely prayed for even for our selves Sect. 15. Par. 3. and then certainly not of necessity to be absolutely wished or done to others as their final good Estate and what necessarily conduceth to the obtaining of it evermore are 8. Seeing then to love a mans Neighbour as himself is heartily to wish and desire that he may enjoy the same necessary good with himself and to contribute his Assistance when occasion requires to the furthering thereof and that eternal Felicity is that necessary good consisting in the perfect Love of God Sect. 4. Par. 13. it is plain that in heartily wishing and endeavouring also when occasion serves that our Neighbour may attain to the sincere Love of God here and the perfect Love of God hereafter We love our Neighbour as our selves and thereby keep all the six last Commandments 9. And forasmuch as no man can possibly heartily wish to another either Grace or Glory but because of his own real desire thereto for himself first had it is manifest that he who loves his Neighbour as himself doth evermore first at least in order of nature love God as his chiefest Good. 10. And because the sincere Love of God or Charity is formal Righteousness and that formal Righteousness doth formally justifie Sect. 11. Par. 8. it directly follows that a man is formally Righteous or justified before in order of Nature at least he love his Neighbour as himself and consequently that the Love of our Neighbour is not any part of formal Righteousness but a necessary Effect and Consequent thereof which will farther appear to be a Truth from hence that as on the one side he who desires and endeavours by his Council and Prayers his Neighbours Felicity though he never attain thereto performs his Duty to him and thereby fulfils the Precepts of the latter Table if so be he did them for the Love he bears to God because such Love doth justifie so on the other side
same day for it is a day of Atonement to make an Atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever Soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day he shall be cut off from among his People And whatsoever Soul it be that doth any Work in that same day the same Soul will I destroy from among his People Ye shall do no manner of Work it shall be a Statute for ever throughout your Generations in all your Dwellings It shall be unto you a Sabbath of Rest and ye shall afflict your Souls on the ninth day of the Month at Even from Even unto Even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath Lo how strictly it was commanded by God that every one should afflict himself to wit with Fasting and other pious Signs of Sorrow as Interpreters agree and to what end but that their afflicting themselves should work Contrition in them for their sins that the Lord might be propitious to them for without Contrition the inward Sacrifice of the Heart and a real turning from Sin unto God to which the very External Rite of Sacrificing did contribute something I say something for the Law made nothing perfect Hebr. 7. 19. whensoever it was seriously perform'd with calling to mind and detesting their Sin which the Institution necessarily required the offering of the Victim was not at all grateful to God but rather an Abomination to him though in the sight of the People who are not privy to the thoughts of the Heart the Law was fulfilled thereby and Offenders freed from Judicial Punishment as diverse Places of Holy Writ plainly shew To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the LORD I am full of the Burnt-offerings of Rams and the Fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the Blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an Abomination to me new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn Meeting Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my Soul hateth they are a Trouble unto me I am weary to bear them And when you spread forth your Hands I will hide my Eyes from you yea and when ye make many Prayers I will not hear your Hands are full of Blood. Wash ye make ye clean put away the Evil of your Doings from before mine Eyes cease to do Evil Isa 1. ver 11 12 13 14 15 16. To what purpose cometh there to me Incense from Sheba and the sweet Cane from a far Country Your Burnt-offerings are not acceptable nor your Sacrifices sweet unto me Jerem. 6. 20. I hate I despise your Feast-days and I will not smell in your solemn Assemblies Though ye offer me Burnt-offerings and your Meat-Offerings I will not accept them neither will I regard the Peace-offerings of your fat Beasts Amos 5. 21 22. But of the inward Sacrifice of the Heart Contrition thus saith the Royal Prophet The Sacrifice of God is a troubled Spirit a broken and contrite Heart O God shalt thou not despise Psal 51. 17. And in all sincere Contrition a renouncing of Sin is always necessarily implied for whoever in good earnest bewails his sin cannot while so doing continue in a voluntary course of sinning There was then no Remission of Sin before God even under the Law of Moses but that Transgressors notwithstanding their observance of its external Ordinances were liable to Punishment yea and that Temporal also as well as Eternal as is evident from the Almighties afflicting the Jewish Nation with Plagues Famines and Captivity for their sins to prevent the sinning still anew and consequently the Aggravation of the Pain of such as he knew would never be reclaim'd and to be a Motive to the rest to leave their wicked ways in this World and transmitting those that continued obstinate and impenitent to everlasting Misery in the World to come for no Repentance no Pardon He that covereth his Sin shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have Mercy Prov. 28. 13. Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the Vnrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the LORD and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isa 55. 7. It may be that the House of Judah will hear all the Evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every Man from his evil Way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Jerem. 36. 8. If the Wicked will turn from all his Sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die All his Transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his Righteousness that he hath done he shall live Ezek. 18. 21 22. Neither are Sins remitted in the time of the Gospel any more than they were in the time of the Law unless forsaken as might be proved from many Texts of the New Testament of which for brevities sake I will produce some few plain ones Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Luke 13. 3. 5. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out Acts 3. 19. But shewed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the Coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn unto God and do works meet for repentance Acts 26. 20. Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. as if the Apostle had said Let no Man presume that Christ will save any one who is a Christian unless by virtue of his Christianity he depart from iniquity Since then it is apparent that there is no Pardon of sin without Repentance and Conversion unto God and that the design of the Sacrifice of Expiation in Moses's Law was to be a Motive and Cause to incline Men to call their sins to remembrance to be sorry for them and to forsake them without doing of which that Sacrifice had not the Effect intended by its Institution as is clear from the Scriptures above recited it remains only to make it manifest that Christ's Crucifixion was a proper Expiatory Sacrifice for Sin to shew these two things First That he purposely came to suffer Death upon the Cross to the end that he might convert men thereby from their sins to God. And Secondly That there is no Condemnation to those that are so converted First That Christ came on purpose into this World to die the Death of the Cross for this very end that he might turn Mens Hearts from Sin unto God these following Texts of Sacred Writ will irrefragably I doubt not evince When our Blessed Saviour told his Disciples of his Death near at hand he said Now is my Soul
it hinders the same and not as it meerly crosses the Will of the Legislator Every Breach of them is more or less Evil as it is more or less prejudicial to the General Good and has in that respect a greater or less Penalty assigned thereunto Penal Laws are made for preventing of Evils that might happen for want of them and not to take Revenge on the Transgressor of the Law for neglecting to observe or for opposing the Law-givers Mind p. 111 SECT XI Faith Hope and Charity are necessary Means for procuring everlasting Bliss Sincere habitual Charity formally expels Mortal Sin and is therefore formal but incompleat Righteousness Perfect Charity formally expels all Sin and is therefore compleat formal Righteousness or the absolute falfilling of the Divine Law. p. 128 SECT XII Neither by the Light of Nature nor by the Law of Moses without Christ could ever any either Jew or Gentile be eternally saved and come to Glory but through him both of them might The Christiam Religion is in many respects preferable to the Law of Nature and the Law of Moses The Injunction of the Judaical Ordinances Rites and Ceremonies had a farther Tendency than than the exacting of bare Obedience p. 163 SECT XIII Nothing is available to Felicity but as it contributes to Charity The Nature of the two Theological Virtues Faith and Hope and how they become useful to the obtaining and augmenting the Habit of Charity p. 176 SECT XIV The Moral Habits Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance are truly Virtues in that respect only as they promote Charity What the Office of each of them in particular is in the way of subserviency unto Charity p. 184 SECT XV. Prayer offered to God for all things absolutely necessary to Salvation whether the Theological or Moral Virtues or Remission of Sins is evermore effectual if it be made aright and it is then made aright when it is unfeigned fervent and frequently performed p. 194 SECT XVI Praise and Thanksgiving to God are proper and efficatious Means whereby to get and increase Charity Vocal Prayer Music and Gestures of Body betokening Humility and Reverence towards the Divine Majesty are beneficial for the obtaining of everlasting Felicity p. 219 SECT XVII The two great Sacraments instituted by Christ for the Benefit of his Church Baptism and the Lords Supper were ordained to be serviceable to Charity the one in procuring it the other in preserving it Yea and all other Divine Institutions and Ordinances whatsoever are only so many designed ministerial Helps and Furtherances thereunto p. 225 SECT XVIII In the Exercise of the hearty Love of God or Charity consists the sincere Observance of every Precept of the Decalogue But the absolute entire fulfilling of the Moral Law is not accomplished till Charity have attained its ultimate Perfection in Heaven p. 235 SECT XIX There is not any one Precept of the latter Table of the Decalogue truly kept but when it is observed out of Love to God nor is there a real Breach of any of them but when the Soul is either deprived of the Love of God or has the same abated and weakned in it by the Omission of something which is required or by the Commission of something which is forbidden in the Precept p. 247 SECT XX. Charity or the unfeigned fervent Love of God above all things proved by Scripture to be Righteousness or the sincere keeping of the whole Law of God. p. 265 RELIGION AND REASON Adjusted and Accorded OR A Discourse wherein Divine Revelation is made appear to be a congruous and con-natural Way of affording proper Means for making Man eternally Happy through the perfecting of his Rational Nature SECTION I. There is an absolute perfect Being which is self-existent Eternal only One Infinite Immutable a pure Act entirely Simple one Formality and a Spirit 1. WHatsoever has Perception the same has a Being for what is not can have no Perception And that there is Perception the very Denyer of it if there be any one so vain as to contradict the rest of Mankind may be convinced from his own denyal For the denyal of it if the denyer be serious must proceed from this that he thinks there is no such thing as Perception which Thought of his he cannot otherwise chuse but grant to be either true or false if he grant it to be false he owns in effect there is Perception But in case he will have his Thought to be true he must yield that his very Thought it self is a right Perception and so either way he 'll be necessitated to acknowledg that there is for certain Perception 2. Perception then most certainly there is and consequently something that perceives or that has an actual Being which is the Subject of Perception And whatsoever has an actual Being or doth Exist the same must have it's existence either intrinsecal of it self or from some other thing that is extrinsecal to it Whatsoever receives its existence from any thing that is extrinsecal to it that same it not the perfectest Being that is because it depends upon another for its existence provided there be any Being at all which has nothing of Existence from another 3. And that there is some Being which has nothing of existence from another is clear from hence that since the reason of a things existing by virtue of another is because there is some other thing which causes it to exist and that an endless Series or infinite number of things causing others to exist is impossible to have been because a by-past Series of things may be encreased by a new addition made unto it and a Series of things which may be encreased is not infinite for otherwise there might be something that would be more or greater than infinite which questionless cannot be there must of necessity be some first cause which receives nothing from another but exists wholly of it self and is thereupon the most perfect Being 4. That which is the most perfect Being or first Cause must of necessity have always existed or been from Eternity because if there had been a time when it was not it must of nothing have become something seeing it self was first And in case it should of nothing have become something it would have been or existed before it had a Being or Existence and consequently have been and not have been or existed and not existed at once which is impossible For being supposed to be the first Being if ever it had a Beginning it must have been as well the Producer as the thing to be produced and so as it was the Producer must be supposed to have had a Being and as it was the thing to be produced to have had no Being and both at the same Instant which is a manifest Contradiction 5. The prime or first Being then is necessarily eternal à parte antè and what is necessarily Eternal à parte antè is likewise so à parte pòst because having nothing of
for Breach of Laws were purely vindicative and intended as satisfaction or just recompeuce for the violation of them For since in strictness there 's no equality or proportion between the Member of a Man's Body and the Goods of Fortune it were unequal and unâ—â—â— to recompense the loss of any Limb with a pecuniary Mulct and yet we see 't is generally so done by Christians who nevertheless maintain the perpetual obligation of the Law of Nature Yea the Learned Bodin tells us upon no slight ground that the Lex Talionis in the commonly received Notion of it was never in practice among the very Jews his Words in the English Translation are these To requite like with like is indeed nothing else but to punish Offences with Punishments answerable to them that is to say great Offences with great Punishments mean with mean and so little Offences also lightly which they also meant when they said a Hand for a Hand a Tooth for a Tooth and an Eye for an Eye And so the ancient Hebrews the best Interpreters of God's Law have understood it expounded it practised it as it is in their Pandects to be seen in the Title of Penalties Yea Rabbi Kanan denieth the Law of like Punishment to have any where in the Cities of the Hebrews taken place in such sort as that he should have an Eye put out who had put out another man's Eye but the estimation of an Eye put out was usually by the discretion of the Judges in money valued For proof whereof let it be that before the Law of like Punishment there was a Law viz. Exod. 21. whereby it was ordained that if two men fighting one of them should hurt the other but not yet unto Death he which had done the hurt should pay the Physician for healing thereof But to what end should he so pay the Physician if he which did the hurt were in like sort to be himself wounded It should also thereof follow more absurdly that many delicate and tender Persons in receiving of such Wounds as they had given to others should thereof themselves die and perish Besides that also he who had the harm done him having lost his I Hand where with he should get his Living if the others Hand were also for the same cut off he so wanting his Hand wherewith he should get his his Living might haply so starve Wherefore such literal Exposition of the Law of like Punishment by Aristotle and Favorine is but vain and deceitful Bodin of a Common-weal Book 6. page 781. 9. I 'le conclude this Point with one only Argument more for the confirmation of what has been said which is this to inflict Punishment as dolorous and painful without regard had to a farther End to be obtained by the doing of it is to do direct Evil because that Punishment which has no Tendency to the procuring of something which has as much or more good in it than the pain has harm for Pain simply in it self considered is Evil as being offensive to Nature and a thing occasioned by Sin is purum putum Malum meer Evil which for any Law to design would argue the Makers of it to be void of Reason and Humanity Obj. 1. If the Breach of a Law be not an Offence and punishable as it only stands in opposition to the Will of the Law-giver without regard had to the Public Good presumed to be included in it then are not men obliged in Conscience to obey a bad Law or which tends not to the Common Good But men are obliged in Conscience to obey the Laws of the Land where they live although in that respect bad as not tending at all to the Public Good Ergo the Breach of the Law is an Offence and punishable as it only stands in opposition to the Will of the Law-giver without regard had to the public Good presumed to be included in it Solut. In answer first to the Major I return that if it were so that a private Person could certainly know that a certain Law had no manner of Tendency to the Public Weal yet would he be obliged in Conscience to give Obedience to it provided it were not against the Moral or some Positive Divine Law because in disobeying he might be an occasion to others of slighting or contemning the Governour and Government which is a Mischief of most dangerous Consequence to a Nation But Secondly I answer to the Minor that no Law which is not repugnant to some part of the Law of God who by reason of his inerrable Wisdom never commands but what is good ought by private Persons to be judge bad For every Legislator among Men whatever way he acquires a Right to the Legislative Power doth necessarily receive with it the Sovereign or Supreme Judgment and Will both these being so inseparable Ingredients of the Legislative Power that it cannot subsist without them For whoso has not the Supreme Judgment or a Right invested in him to give final Judgment and Determination what is requisite and convenient to be enacted for procuring the Publick Good he wants the Knowing part of a Law-giver or that which legally enables one finally to judge and determine what will be a proper Means for the Consecution of the Common Good. And whoever has not the Supreme Will or a Right appropriated to him of enacting what is finally adjudged and determined to be good for the Common-weal he is destitute of the commanding part of a Law-giver or that which legally empowers one to pass what is determinately adjudged requisite for procuring the general Good into a Law. Which things being presupposed to be true the Inference from them will be necessarily this That no Law enacted by a Sovereign Power can in Reason be said by any private Person to be bad or not tending to the Public Good if it be not manifestly contrary to his Law whose Judgment is infallible For in that he has the Legislative Power he is of necessity supposed to have the Supreme Judgment so that no inferior Judgment as the Judgment of every Subject there being but one Supreme in one Government necessarily is can without manifest Contradiction to Reason judge that he judges amiss Object 2. If Laws be therefore obliging because presumed to be good since it is certain that no Command can be good which is opposite to Gods Law it would follow that no manner of Obedience either Active or Passive is due to the Commands of Sovereigns which are against the Moral or a Divine Positive Law. Solut. If to do a thing commanded because commanded to be done be to obey a Command then to refuse to do a thing commanded is to disobey a Command and how a Man should at the same time both obey and disobey the same Command I understand not Actively you 'l say he cannot do both at once but may he not refuse to give an active Obedience to an unjust Command and yet at the same Instant be
willing and ready to suffer for that his Refusal in case it be required that he should either actively obey or undergo the Penalty enjoyned for not so obeying I answer that there is no Law can oblige a Man to be willing to suffer for not actively obeying what is unlawful to be done for by what Law is it possible he should be obliged Not by the Law of God for that commanding him not to yield an Active Obedience cannot also enjoyn him to be willing to suffer for no other Cause but that he observes what is commands Nor by the Law of Reason for how should this oblige him to be willing to be punished for Nor-observance of that which it tells him he ought not to observe Some of the Roman Emperors set forth Edicts that the Christians should either Sacrifice to their Idol-gods or be put to Death the Active fulfilling of which unjust Commands was to do Sacrifice the Passive to be put to Death and yet divers good and godly Christians fled on purpose to avoid both and doubtless did no wrong therein being warranted by Christ himself saying When they persecute you in this City flee ye into another Matth. 10. 23. albeit they neither answered the Letter of the Edicts nor the Intention of the Emperors which was that one of the two either sacrificing or suffering Death for not sacrificing should be done And by the way this is a remarkable Instance that Disobedience to a Command is not an Offence as it meerly contradicts the Will of the Legislator But there is not however the least Encouragement to be gathered from hence for Resisting or forcibly opposing the Higher Powers for tho there be no manner of Obedience due to an unjust Command for that Command which is unjust has no obligatory Virtue in it but is unlawful that is truly speaking no Law. Yet in that a Sovereign looses not by commanding something which is unjust his Legislative Power or a Right to command whatsoever he deliberately thinks to be for the general Good which is not against the Divine Law Moral or Positive he ought not to be forcibly withstood For whosoever has by Law the Supreme Judgment and Will which together constitute the Supreme Power the same Law presumes that the common Safety depends on his Government and therefore without violating of the Law and through that the Common Safety the Sovereign is not even in the Abuse of Government to be opposed by Arms because it is more convement in respect of the Whole that some Part suffer unjustly than that the Government it self should be rendred useless or so obstructed that it could not protect and secure the Laws which it is always presumed by the Law will fall out when Subjects with Violence oppose the Supreme Governour Object 3. Albeit the Lex Talioni be no part of the Law of Nature yet seeing it is not disagreeable thereunto as 't is evident by the Instance of Adonibezek Judges 1. 6 7. that it is not does it not rightly follow that Punishments may be justly Vindicative though they are not necessarily so Answ No it does not for notwithstanding that it may be reasonable at sometimes to take an Eye for an Eye a Hand for a Hand c. yet will not Vindicative Punishment be found thereupon to be lawful for if the taking Eye for Eye Hand for Hand c. be at any time prudently thought by a Law-giver to be the best Expedient either for reclaiming Offenders or for terrifying others or for both as it may peradventure on occasion fall out to be the exercise of that Strictness will be just yet not Vindicative For that which Men will have to be Vindicative Justice looks not at all forward but wholly backward being purely design'd and intended for Recompense or Satisfaction for a presumed Injury or Contempt done to the Law-giver in disobeying his Will and violating his Law whence Vengeance executed upon a Transgressor of the Law is the very End and Scope which Vindicative Punishment aims at and therefore the Punishment of Adonibezek was not vindicative unless it was inflicted on him for no other end save only to repay like for like without any intention that it should be a Motive to him of Repentance or that others might be warned to abstain from such Cruelty as he had used by the remarkable manner of his being plagued himself as he had plagued others which cannot in reason be thought to be true because Adonibezek saith As I have done so God hath requited me which shews that the manner of his Punishment proved a Motive of bringing his Sin to remembrance and was either so intended to be or elso to deter others from the like Wickedness or rather for both and not barely for strict Retaliation or executing of Vengeance upon him for his Crime 10. In fine then it appears from what has been said of Human Laws and Law-givers First That Sovereign Powers make not Laws out of meer design to have their Wills obeyed but to procure their own and their Subjects Good. Secondly That Laws therefore are more or less good as they contribute more or less to the general Good. Thirdly That hence again the Breach of any Law is a greater or less Offence as it is more or less prejudicial to the Common-weal Fourthly That from this it moreover follows that Penalties inserted in Laws are not intended as pure Revenge for the Breach of them but to be a means to enforce the observing the directive Part of the Law. Fifthly That Laws duly executed are proper Ways or real Causes of advancing the Public Good. 11. From the Consideration of all which concerning Human Laws compared with what was writ before Sect. 8. of the Divine Laws the Analogy between them is obvious and the Certainty of these following Truths apparent First That God gave Man a Law to observe not that he sought to be obeyed for the meer Obedience sake but that Man by obeying it might benefit himself in obtaining the Possession of his chiefest Good. Secondly That because of this the several Branches of that Law are of more or less virtue and value as they are more or less serviceable for procuring the Fruition of the same Sovereign Good. Thirdly That from hence again it must be that the Breach of any part of the Divine Law is a greater or less Evil or in the Language of Divines a greater or less Sin as the keeping of it is more or less available towards the Enjoyment of God. Fourthly That it will hereupon follow that the Punishment of Sin is not vindicative but always either corrective for the Amendment of the Offender or exemplary for a Terror to others or for both as in this World it perpetually is or else a necessary and natural Product and Consequent of Sin as it is ever in the World to come Fifthly That the keeping of Gods Law or the pious Practice of Virtue and Holiness is a proper effective Means or an
efficacious Cause of Mans Eternal Felicity the truth of which shall hereafter God assisting be shown in particular as it hath already been in general SECT XI Faith Hope and Charity are necessary Means for procuring everlasting Bliss Sincere habitual Charity formally expels Mortal Sin and is therefore formal but in compleat Righteousness Perfect Charity formally expells all Sin and is therefore perfect formal Righteousness or the absolute fulfilling of the Divine Law. 1. SInce it is clear by Sect. 8. Solut. of Object 1. that God created Man and gave him a Law not in expectation of any Profit or Pleasure to be acquired to himself but altogether for the Benefit and Delight of Man and that it is likewise proved in Sect. 4. that the End for which Man was created and had a Law given him is the full Fruition of God by perfect Love it necessarily follows in regard the End cannot be obtain'd but by Means available for procuring of it that the Knowledge of the Means available thereto no less than of the End it self is requisite to be had in order to the Acquisition of the perfect Love of God or that full Enjoyment of him which is Mans Ultimate End and eternal Felicity 2. And because Men arrive not at the certain Knowledg of things but either by Demonstration which begets Science or by an inerrable Testimony which creates an infallible Belief 't is clear seeing a Demonstration wherein Felicity consists tho it be a thing in it self demonstrable as appears by Sect. 4. cannot by the generality of Mankind be attained unto much less wherein all the Means available to the obtaining of Felicity some of them being positive and supernatural are placed that a Revelation from God who alone is inerrable was necessary for the Discovery both of the Means of Bliss and of Bliss it self to the World in order to Man's acquiring of Beatitude 3. And forasmuch as that Knowledg which proceeds from and is caused by Divine Revelation is Divine Belief or Faith 't is plain that Divine Faith is required on Man's part towards the obtaining of Felicity 4. And in regard it is ineffectual to the obtaining of Felicity to have firm Belief only wherein it truly consists and what the Means available to procure it are without some farther Progress made towards the getting possession of it which will never be unless a man have Hope by reason of the Divine Promise that in the due use of the means of Bliss he shall acquire the same 't is plain that Divine Hope is likewise requisite as well as Faith for every one that shall eternally be saved 5. And forasmuch as he that has a right Belief both of Bliss and the Means available to it and withal an Assurance that in the due use of the Means Felicity will be attainable by him shall reap no Benefit thereby if he never enter upon a resolved serious Course of making a constant diligent use of those Means which he most certainly will not do unless he first have an unfeigned ardent desire to enjoy the End whereto they tend the eternal Fruition of God 't is evident that the sincere and hearty love of God or Charity proceeding from Faith and Hope for no good Man stedfastly desires what he believes not to be true or has no Hope to obtain is moreover necessary for the acquirment of Felicity 6. And seeing the habitual Love of God above all things is utterly inconsistent with the habitual Love of the World above God 't is manifest that by the accession of the habitual Love of God above all things into the Soul the habitual Love of the World above God is necessarily expelled and consequently that Sin whether taken privatively as an Aversion from God or positively for a Conversion to the Creature which brings everlasting Death and Damnation Sect. 7. whence it is called mortal and damnable Sin. 7. Hence in regard as well Paena sensus as Paena damni are the natural and necessary Result of the perpetual Continuance in sin in the manner before shown Sect. 7. it is manifest that Charity possessing the Soul and thereby freeing it from mortal Sin by formally expelling it out of the same Par. 6. secures it from the Danger both of the loss of Heaven and of incurring the Pains of Hell. 8. And forasmuch as he that is secured from the Danger of Damnation and the Pains of Hell is freed from the Guilt of mortal Sin which is a liableness to be eternally damned and tormented for Sin and that he who is freed from the Guilt of mortal Sin is blameless and innocent in respect of the mortal Breach of the Law which alone creates a mortal Guilt and that he who is blameless and innocent in respect of the mortal Breach of the Law is a righteous Person or acquit by the Law from the Punishment due in respect of such Breach it necessarily follows that Charity in regard it formally expells mortal Sin the mortal Breach of the Law is formal Righteousness or the formal Cause of Justification being that which formally justifies and makes Righteous 9. And as every degree of sincere habitual Charity formally expells mortal Sin and thereby frees the Soul from mortal Guilt and the Consequent of it eternal Pain as well that of the Torments of Hell as of the loss of Heaven so doth perfect Charity formally expel all Sin and consequently remove all Guilt and thence exempt from all Pain and Misery whatsoever For he that loves God with all the Might and Power of his Soul hath thereby of necessity totally rooted out of it all the love of the World and so hath no Sin but is perfectly Righteous and hath fulfilled the Great Commandment or Royal Law Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind which to do is compleat Righteousness the highest Act of glorifying God and eternal Felicity Object 1. When the Act whereby the Law of God is transgressed be it Adultery Theft or any other Enormity is over the Sin is past and yet the Guilt remains which is contrary to what hath been said Solut. The Sin is not past when the Act of Adultery Theft or any other Enormity is over For since Sin formally taken is a Want or Privation of that sincere hearty Affection which the Soul ought to have unto God as its Sovereign Good Sect. 8. Par. 3 4 't is evident that the Sin still remains tho the materially sinful Act be over so long as there is a Want of the due Love of God in the Soul which there always is till it be habitually endued with Charity And while the Sin remains the Guilt must needs do so but no longer for 't is only while a Man is in the State of mortal Sin that he is obnoxious to eternal Misery and not when he is in the State of Grace or ready Way to Bliss as he evermore is when he has an habitual
hearty Affection unto God Par. 6 7 8. Object 2. The sincere habitual Love to God above all things cannot of it self alone justifie any one because the Divine Law requires that a Man love his Neighbour also as himself Solut. True it doth so but since it is impossible but that he who cordially desires and accordingly stedfastly endeavours to enjoy God eternally should also unfeignedly wish the like to his Neighbour which comprehends all Mankind and assists him when occasion serves in what is necessarily conducible thereunto so far as he well can in doing of which the Duty of loving a Mans Neighbour as himself is fulfilled as will be at large set forth in the Explanation of the Decalogue Sect. 18. and 19. 'T is plain that he who loves God above all things doth in consequence thereto of necessity love his Neighbour like as himself If a Man love me he will keep my Words John 14. 23. And this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God loves his Brother also 1 John 4. 21. But of this more hereafter in the three last Sections Object 3. If Men be formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness then are they not formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them But Men are formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them Christ is made unto us Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. Therefore Men are not formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness Solut. In answer to the proof of the Minor Proposition viz. That Christ is made unto us Righteousness I return that in the same Text he is likewise said to be made unto us Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption and therefore if Christ's Righteousness can be proved from thence to be the formal Cause of man's Justification or that man is formally just thereby by the same Text it may be equally and as well proved that man is formally wise and formally holy by the Wisdom and Holiness of Christ which if he truly were then would a justified Person be as just wise and Holy as Christ himself and consequently he ought to have no remorse for any thing he ever did nor to crave pardon for his Sins and by consequence since Sin is a Transgression of the Law unless he no more transgress God's Law than our Blessed Saviour himself did he 'l be a Transgressor of the Law and not a Transgressor of the Law a Sinner and no Sinner at the same time which is impossible Christ's Righteousness therefore in the quoted Text is Metonymically to be understood for the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness even as his Wisdom and Holiness likewise are in respect of our being wise and holy In this sense all the meritorious Doings and Sufferings of Christ may be rightly said to be ours whilst by virtue of them Grace is wrought in our Hearts by which we overcome the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil so that the Benefit of them really redounds to us and whatever Righteousness we have here or shall have hereafter it is the very effect of the righteousness of Christ For since rational Arguments Motives are the proper inducements whereby a Rational Creature is inclined to Good whilst through them the Understanding is illuminated with Truth and the Will excited to the love of it 't is evident that nothing possibly besides except the immediate irresistible Will of God could so effectually work on mens rational Souls to cause them to forsake the love of the World for the love of God as Arguments and Motives fetcht from the consideration of Christ's love to man his Incarnation Doctrine Conversation Passion Resurrection Ascension Session at the right hand of his Father and his coming to Judgment Whence in very truth those men who in attributing man's formal Righteousness to the Righteousness of Christ made his by imputation through Faith think they attribute more to Christ and give him greater honour than they do that hold the sincere habitual love of God to be the formal cause of Justification are under a manifest Mistake For since Christ is personally God and not personally Man and that the infinite value of his precious merits is from the hypostatical Union of his Manhood with the Deity 't is plain that it is far more excellent and glorious that Christ's righteousness which comprehends the whole merit of all his active and passive Obedience should be the efficient Cause of man's Justification by producing a real habitual Righteousness in his Soul than the formal cause thereof by a meer imputed Righteousness because such imputed Righteousness in case it were possible would be the Righteousness of Christ as man for otherwise a righteous person would be infinitely righteous and consequently be God since nothing is infinitely perfect in any respect whatever but he alone whereas if his Righteousness be the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness it is proper to him as he is both God and Man. But indeed it is impossible that Christ's Righteousness should become formally man's for seeing it is personal and thence a thing extrinsecal to every one but himself 't is not possible to become a formal Cause to others in that a formal Cause whether it be substantial or accidental is an internal Cause and essentially constitutive of the thing whereof it is a Cause For instance Man's Soul is the formal Cause and a substantial essential part of man as man or a rational Animal Prudence is the formal Cause and an accidental essential part of man as he is prudent and so is Temperance of a temperate man and every Abstract else of the Concrete to which it is appropriated For what is a prudent man but one habitually indued with Prudence or a temperate man but one whom the habit of Temperance formally makes such And must not a righteous person by parallel Reason be one habitually possessed of Righteousness If it were not thus but that on the contrary a prudent man could be prudent by the Prudence of another without the Habit of Prudence within himself then were it possible that a man might be prudent though really imprudent in all his doings and so be prudent and utterly imprudent at once And if a man could be temperate without the Virtue of Temperance inherent in him he might possibly be temperate when he wallowed in the Sink of all filthy Pleasures and thence be temperate and not at all temperate at the same time And so in like manner if a man could be righteous by the Righteousness of another without any inherent Righteousness of his own he might possibly at the same instant be righteous and a notorious Transgressor of God's Law and consequently be a just and unjust person a Sinner and no Sinner both together If it were replied that God always in the very moment wherein Christ's Righteousness through Faith is imputed to any man infuses entire holiness into his Soul so that he exactly keeps every Divine Precept I would make this
and slight those Benefits which God by them tenders to him and in so doing not only sets slight of the Author of them but also rejects the End at which they ultimately aim Felicity No man therefore possibly can deliberately dishonour his Parents or other his Superiors but his Heart will be thereby estranged from God. But much more in wilfully disobeying their just Commands is there an Aversion from their Sovereign Good for therein is a direct Refusal of God's Goodness offered by them whilst every thing they lawfully command is some way more or less directly or by consequence advantageous to the acquisition of Bliss if right use be made thereof The 6th Commandment which is Non occides Thou shalt not kill or Thou shalt do no Murther is not kept by a meer abstaining from desiring contriving or attempting the Death or bodily Harm of our Neighbour but in wishing and doing likewise our Endeavour to preserve his Life and Health in order to the eternal Welfare of his Soul which we cannot do save only as we are excited thereto by the Love we bear to our own Life and good Estate of our Bodies as serviceable to the End for which Life and all the Helps and Attendants of it were given For neither Health nor Life ought to be desired if such Circumstances occur as that the Preservation of them is inconsistent with the everlasting Welfare of the Soul which because it is placed in the Fruition of God the Love we have thereto is the principal reason and motive why we ought to desire to continue in Life and Health our selves or wish the like to our Neighbour for making preparation towards the full Enjoyment of him after this Life is ended And on the contrary the bare doing of bodily Harm to our Neighbour or even the taking away of his Life is no sin simply in it self considered but in this respect only that he who does it has not that due regard for want of the Love of God to the preservation of it which the importance thereof in order to the end whereunto it was given requires For who is ignorant that the Execution of the Penalties in Laws for capital Crimes is no Sin either in the Judge who gives Sentence of Death or in him that executes the same provided they have no personal Malice to the Offender but solely have an Eye to the satisfying of the Law which intends not any Mischief to the Malefactor but Good to the Weal-public by removing an incorrigible Member from among the People But if the Judg or Executioner desire his Death out of hatred to him albeit he deserve to die and be justly condemned and executed there is Murther committed notwithstanding that the Party suffering has no more Torment inflicted on him than if no Malice had been towards him whence it is apparent that the Breach of this Commandment lies in that depraved Disposition of Mind which is opposite to the sound desire of wishing a Man's Neighbour's bodily Welfare in order to the Health of his Soul which because none ever heartily doth but in virtue of his own Love of Bliss the Want of that Love is the formal Reason why the bereaving any one of Life or working his bodily harm is a sin or hinderance to Felicity The 7th Commandment is Thou shalt not commit Adultery the Breach of which doth not consist in the material Act of carnal copulation with anothers Wife but in forsaking the Love of God for an unlawful Pleasure For suppose a Wife should leave her Husband and be married to another Man inculpably ignorant of her former Marriage the Woman alone would offend against this Precept albeit the Man also transgressed the Letter of the Law in carnally knowing anothers Wife Or in case a Man should have his Neighbours Consort put into his Bed thinking her to be his own he offended not although he should commit the external Act of Adultery with her And on the contrary if an Husband lay with his own Wife thinking her to be his Neighbours he would in so doing sin against this Precept and yet no Transgression of it would thereby be made as to the external Act prohibited Hence it is plain that the Violation of the Seventh Comandment is in the depraved Affection of the Will in turning the Heart away from the Love of God to unchast Pleasures and that it is kept by having a Mind undefiled with fleshly Lusts which every one so long hath as Charity or the Love of God above all things is predominant in the Soul. If it be objected that simple Fornication also alienates the Heart from God through the desire of unlawful Venereal Pleasures whence it should be a sin no less grievous then Adultery I answer that he who attempts to pollute his Neighbours Bed knows that he ought upon a double account not to do it First because his Neighbours Wife is not tied in a Matrimonial Bond to him Secondly because she is bound to another and therefore he will have his Heart more hardned in sin or farther estranged from God than if he only desired to satisfie his Lust with one from whom upon the former account alone he holds himself to be restrained and so the sin of Adultery all Circumstances being equal is a more heinous Transgression of the Law of God than the Sin of simple Fornication is The 8th Commandment is Thou shalt not steal by which we are obliged not only to abstain from taking by Force or Fraud whatsoever temporal Good our Neighbour has a Right to but also to employ our Endeavours if just occasion require to help to secure him in the lawful Possession of the same yet with this intent that he use it as a Means to further him in the pursuit of his Eternal Good the fruition of which is the Vltimate End of all Laws whether Divine Moral Canonical or Civil in the sincere Desire whereof they are only truly kept and for want of which they are solely broken as to their principal and Grand Design albeit not as to their particular respective ends which they more immediately but less beneficially look at And therefore even this Precept which more obviously regards and enjoyns the doing Justice may be violated as to the letter of it without a formal Breach thereof as will appear by shewing that in some Case one Man may without violating this Precept take from another without his Consent what the Municipal Laws of the Land where they both live entitle him to which I thus undertake to do No Man by the primary Law of Nature or Reason can or ever could except Adam who was Lord of the whole Earth claim Propriety in any thing without himself Propriety came by a latter Law namely either by Distribution of Lands and Goods made by Adam or else by Division or Occupancy after Adams Decease of what he had not disposed of immediately or mediately in his Life time to which purpose Grotius in his Second Book
other World will by being eternally separated from its Pleasures convert into a hopeless desire and upon that account grow more furious impatient For of all the torments of the Mind I know none that is comparable to that of an outragious desire joyn'd with despair of satisfaction which is just the case of sensual worldly-minded Souls in the other Life where they are full of sharp and unrebated desires and like starved men that are shut up between two dead Walls are tormented with a fierce but hopeless hunger which having nothing else to feed on preys and quarries on themselves and in this desolate condition they are forced to wander to and fro tormented with a restlefs Rage and Hunger and unsatisfied desire oraving Food but neither finding nor expecting any and so in unexpressible Anguish they pine away a long Eternity And though they might find Content and Satisfaction could they but diver their affections another way and reconcile them to the heavenly Enjoyments yet being irrecoverably pre-engaged to sensual Goods they have no Savour nor Relish of any thing else but are like Feverish Tongues that disgust and nauseate the most grateful Liquors by reason of their own over flowing Gall. Lastly if in any thing I have writ about Christ's meritorious Satisfaction I peradventure fully accord not with some Divines the difference when the Matter is duly weigh'd will prove I hope to be only verbal For I assert sect 11. First That Christ's death on the Cross was of infinite value and merit Secondly That by and through the same Remission of Sin Justification and every other Good whether of Grace or Glory are obtain'd Thirdly That Christ's Crucifixion was as real and proper an expiatory Sacrifice for Sin as any under the Law of Moses but of infinitely more value ever was Fourthly That God's Justice is de jure prevented thereby from being exerted agaist Sinners in their everlasting Destruction The only difference then if any remaining is in this That I cannot apprehend what some others perchance think viz. That Christ's Merits operate upon God and work an Effect of Mercy and Favour in his Will whereas I humbly conceive them to be a secondary efficient Cause subservient to God's Love to Man for conveying and applying the same unto him by being an effectual Means of converting his Affections from the Vanities of the World unto God that he may be eternally saved for which I offer to serious consideration these following Reasons inducing me thereto 1. That Christ's most gracious doings and sufferings for Man are held by all Christians to be a Meritorious Cause 2ly That a Meritorious Cause is an efficient Cause 3ly That it is the Property of an Efficient Cause to work some real Effect 4ly That it seems plainly impossible that any real Effect should be wrought in God who is impassible and immutable sect 1. par 8 9. for otherwise seeing whatsoever is in God is God sect 1. par 11. such an Effect would be God himself and so the Merits of Christ would be the efficient Cause of the Deity 5ly That Christ's Merits therefore are not an antecedent but a subsequent Cause to the merciful-lovingkindness of God to Man by which the eternal Goodness actually confers all the happy Effects of divine Favour and Grace on him whereby he is delivered from Sathan Sin and Damnation and brought to everlasting Bliss If it be replied that however plausible yea certainly true this arguing be yet there is something more in Christ's Suffering for the Sin of Man than what hath hitherto been said namely the satisfying Divine Justice I answer that strictly speaking neither Justice nor Mercy nor other Attributes of God are formally distinct either from one another or from the very Essence of the Deity Sect. 1. Par. 11. and therefore albeit I willingly grant that Christ died for all men even the Reprobate as to me seems plain from these Words of the Apostle But there were false Prophets also among the People even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift Damnation 2 Pet. 2. 1. yet it was not to this very intent and purpose that he should undergo those Pains and Punishments which were allotted for Sin the everlasting Torments of Hell but to put Mankind thereby into a Way State and Condition that not any one should finally perish save only such as embraced not the Mercy of God in Christ manifested to the World in his Holy Gospel for what Justice is it that the Damned should suffer the Pains of Hell in case Christ had as truly and fully satisfied for them as if they had already undergone them themselves If it be answered that the actual Benefit of Christ's Satisfaction only reaches to those who believe in him and obey his Word so as that they shall not perish but have everlasting Life I readily own that Christ's Merits and more especially his bloody Death and Passion did in this sense abundantly satisfie Divine Justice for by these he really affected that none can justly be damned to whom they are applied by a lively and efficacious Faith Sect. 11. so that at the last day it will be equally just for God to render some for and through the Merits of Christ eternally blessed as it will be to give up others for their Sins to be for ever miserably afflicted and contrariwise it would be alike unjust to save the Wicked in that day who do not believe in Christ and obey him as to destroy the Godly who believe and put their Trust and Confidence in him whose Death on the Cross was as real a propitiatory Sacrifice for Sin but of infinitely more value as the annual expiatory Sacrifice under the Law as by the explanation of the Nature and Efficacy of it will appear The Sacrifice of Expiation was never compleat and perfect nor had the designed and due Effect of its Institution by the sole slaying and offering of the Beast however rightly and solemnly performed both by the Priest and People unless they added thereto the afflicting of themselves as is plain by Levit. 16. ver 29 30 31. In the seventh Month in the tenth Day of the Month ye shall afflict your Souls and do no Work at all whether it be one of your own Country or a Stranger that sojourneth among you For on that day shall the Priest make an Atonement for you to cleanse you that ye may be clean from all your Sins before the LORD It shall be a Sabbath of Rest unto you and ye shall afflict your Souls by a Statute for ever And again Chapt. 23. ver 27 28 29 30 31 32. On the tenth Day of this seventh Month there shall be a Day of Atonement it shall be an holy Convocation unto you and ye shall afflict your Souls and offer an Offering made by Fire unto the LORD And ye shall do no work in that