past upon him as I have proved and upon all Men in him 2. An actual Curse or a Curse for all actual Sin which remains upon all whilst they abide under the Law for as many as are for the Works of the Law are under the Curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them Thus by our actual Sins we were brought also under this Curse is evident Obj. But doth not Paul say Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law Ans 1. It appears such whom he hath redeemed c. were once under it and if they were delivered before they believed 't is necessary that such who assert that should assign the time when they were delivered Paul tells the Saints when they were delivered from Sin Guilt and the Curse being then made free from Sin Then when why when they believed and received Christ and his holy Doctrine and obeyed it from the Heart 2. It is evident that Paul speaks it of Believers even of such as had received the Spirit of Adoption and so could call God Father 3. The Price may be paid for the Redemption of Captives and yet they may not presently be delivered but may remain in Bondage in Slavery and lie in Chains A Surety may satisfy the Law for a Criminal or for a Debtor yea pay the utmost Farthing but he may notwithstanding lie under the Sentence of Death or remain in Prison for a time and not have his personal Discharge The Sacrifice may be offered up and an Atonement may be made but the Blood may not be sprinkled the slaying the Sacrifice is one thing and the sprinkling the Blood is another So the Atonement made for us by Jesus Christ which is the Price and meritorious Cause of our Redemption and Justification is one thing and our receiving the Atonement or the application of his Blood to our personal and actual discharge from Sin Guilt and Condemnation is another thing For if when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life We grant God was not only made reconcilable by the death of his Son but by his Death God was fully reconciled that is he received a full Satisfaction by that one Offering Faith adds nothing to the Merits of Christ's Blood or meritorious Sacrifice but it is by his Life by his Intercession that it is made effectual or efficacious unto us who pleads with God for the Spirit which he purchased also for his Elect that so the saving Benefits and Blessings might be applied to them And therefore the Apostle adds in the next verse And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the Atonement God hath as if Paul should have said through Christ's Intercession given us a free and personal Discharge purchased for us he hath given us Faith to receive the Atonement The particle Now hath its Emphasis denoting the Privilege of all such as believe and hence it is that we glory in Tribulation we are now actually acquitted and for ever delivered from Condemnation Sirs since the strict time of the laying down the Price of our Redemption was not the time when many of the Elect were actually acquitted and justified why should it be asserted to be the time when any of them were For those Believers that lived and died from Adam till Christ came were justified and went to Heaven before the Sacrifice was offered and the Atonement actually made the Father trusted the Son according to that holy Compact that was between them Christ covenanting and engaging that he would die for them And now as Adam received the Atonement when he believed and not till then so we when we are in Christ believe do receive the Atonement also and not before for at the same time and upon the same terms they under the Law received it we under the Gospel-Dispensation do receive it by Time I mean when they had and we have actual Union with Christ and believe or do receive the Spirit the Bonds of this Union Brethren tho all in the first Adam were fundamentally and representatively condemned in him his Sin being imputed so to all his Off-spring yet none are actually condemned until they actually exist and partake of his corrupt Nature So in the second Adam all the Elect were fundamentally and representatively justified in him his Righteousness being imputed so to all his Spiritual Seed or Off-spring yet none of them are actually and personally justified until they are united to him and partake of his Divine Nature Fifthly All Men the Elect as well as others are under Condemnation before Grrce or actual Union with Christ because it is positively said that he that believeth not is condemned and the Wrath of God abideth upon him The Law condemns him let him be who he will even every Soul that believes not savingly in Jesus Christ and it remains upon him because he believes not or because he continues in the first Adam in condemned Adam and is not transplanted into the second Adam Jesus Christ Nay and his Unbelief binds all his Sins and the Sentence upon him not believing is not the first Disease but it is the refusing the Remedy Those stung with fiery Serpents were mortally wounded that was their Disease and if any would not did not look up to the Brazen Serpent that was the reason they died in respect of their refusing the Remedy but their being stung was that which kill'd them So 't is Sin that is the breach of the Law of God which is the Disease and the Cause why Sinners perish all are condemned already and their refusing of Christ offered in the Gospel for their Cure aggravates their Sin and Condemnation and it leaves such that finally persist in Unbelief incurable for ever Sixthly All before they are in Christ are under Condemnation because the Holy Ghost frequently ascribes our actual or personal Justification to Faith and can't we read those Scriptures without offence or do any think they understand this Point better than Paul or the other Apostles Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God c. Therefore we conclude that a Man is justified by Faith c. Knowing that a Man is not justified by the works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ c. And again he saith That we might be justified by Faith In him all that believe are justified from all things c. He that believeth hath the Son and he that believeth not hath not the Son but the Wrath of God abideth on him Brethren Where is it said in the Scripture that any Person was justified that believed
the charge of God's Elect i.e. such of them that are called and are united to Jesus Christ for before that both Law and Justice could charge them It is God that justifieth who is he that shall condemn It is Christ that died Who can arrest impeach accuse find guilty and condemn such Object Perhaps some may say 1. The Devil may both accuse them and condemn them 2. Wicked Men may traduce and condemn them 3. And through Satan's Temptations such that are in Christ Jesus may accuse and condemn themselves Answ What of this For altho Satan wicked Men and their own Hearts may lay many things to their Charge and so pass a false Judgment upon them yet since God justifies them neither Law nor Justice can condemn them and none else can do it let all the Devils of Hell condemn them and all wicked Men on Earth nay tho many good Men should ignorantly accuse and condemn them as Job's three Friends dealt by him yet they stand justified Persons before God The Apostle doth not say there is no Sin in them which are in Christ Jesus nor any thing worthy or deserving Condemnation Nor doth he say there is no Affliction no Correction no fatherly Chastisements to them which are in Christ but there is no Condemnation 'T is one thing to be chastned and another to be condemned tho all Legal Guilt is for ever gone yet many Infirmities may attend such as are in Christ Jesus and tho God punisheth them not as an angry Judg yet he may correct them as an offended Father When we are judged we are chastned of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World Tho God is not so severe and unjust to condemn them yet he is so wise so holy and so faithful as to correct them Now This Now refers as some think to what precedes others take it as an Adverb of Time i.e. in time past it was otherwise once they who are now in Christ Jesus were in the first Adam dead and condemned Adam and were under the Law and Children of Wrath by nature as others and so under the Sentence of Condemnation But now being transplanted into Jesus Christ or into the Second Adam they are actually freed and for ever acquitted and delivered from Condemnation as were all those also under the Law when they were in Christ which walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit These are the happy Persons and this is their Character that are in Christ Jesus Let me note here three things 1. Here is an account of their special Vocation They are in Christ Jesus 2. Here is implied their Justification There is now no Condemnation 3. Here is comprehended also their Sanctification who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Negatively They walk not after the Flesh they are not unsanctified or unholy Persons they lead not ungodly Lives they are not under the Power and Dominion of Sin nor carried away whither ever carnal Affections would lead them Affirmatively But after the Spirit they are influenced by the Holy Spirit they follow the Dictates of the Spirit tho there is Flesh in them much Corruption in them yet they walk not after the Flesh they resist Sin mortify Sin or have crucified Sin with the Affections and Lusts they walk in a holy course of Life and not as they did in times past they live according to the rule of the new Creature Note here by the way that negative Holiness is not enough we must not only forsake Sin but follow after Holiness and bring forth the Fruits of Righteousness not only cease from doing evil but learn to do well Therefore Wherefore look back to the precedent Chapters particularly to Chap. 7.25 I thank God through Jesus Christ tho I have a Body of Sin in me that makes me cry out and tho it be thus also with all Believers yet Christ hath delivered me and them from the Guilt the Power and Slavery thereof There is now therefore no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not c. And as this therefore may look backward to what precedes so it may look forward to what succeeds ver 3. But first take notice of the 2d verse For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath delivered me from the Law of Sin and Death Brethren The Law of Sin and the Law of God are opposites now the remainders of Sin or indwelling Sin the Apostle calls in chap. 7. the Law of Sin and Death or the Law in the Members c. By the Law of Sin therefore is doubtless meant the Power and Rule of Sin God's Law is no where called the Law of Sin no God forbid The Law is holy just and good By the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ I understand the Root of all Grace in the Person of Christ which is made over to Believers by the Spirit in their mystical Union in which Sense Christ is not only made to us Wisdom and Righteousness but Sanctification also and Redemption Brethren of that fulness of Grace or of the Spirit which is in Christ we do not only all receive and Grace for Grace but the Grace and Spirit in him is ours as he is our Root or Head 'T is worthy to be noted that the Apostle brings in what he speaks in ver 2 and 3. to confirm what he speaks in ver 1. Yet I conclude what he speaks ver 2. For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus c. refers to what he speaks in the close of the 1st verse Who walk not after the Flesh c. And that in the 3d verse refers to the former part of the 1st verse For what the Law could not do c. The Law could not justify us acquit us discharge us from Condemnation but contrariwise through our inability to keep it that condemns us and so he illustrates and confirms his Consolatory Proposition of our free Discharge and Justification by Jesus Christ in ver 1. by that in ver 3. In the 2d verse the Spirit is set forth two ways 1. By the Subject in whom it is radically i.e. in Christ Jesus 2. By the Property i.e. it is the Spirit of Life which in our Union flows to us as Sap from the Root that so all the Branches in the True Olive might be made alive and bring forth Fruit to God or lead holy Lives So much as to the Parts Scope and Explanation of the Terms of our Text. From hence I shall observe this one Proposition viz. Doct. That all those that are in Christ Jesus or have obtained actual Vnion with him are justified Persons and for ever delivered from Condemnation In speaking to this Doctrine I shall I. By way of premise lay down four Propositions II. Shew you what it is to be in Christ or open the Nature of the Soul's Union with the Lord Jesus III.
the World which until we do believe he could not do for according to the revealed Rules of his Word which he professeth to proceed by at the latter day there is a Curse and Sentence of Condemnation pronounced against us under which we stand till he shall take it off by giving us Faith unto which he hath in the same word made the promise of justifying us in our own Persons as before he had done in Christ Yet still notwithstanding so as altho when we first believe then only Justification is actually and personally applied to us c. Thus the Doctor which I agree with Eighthly All Men are in a State of Condemnation before they are in Christ or have actual Union with him doth appear because Ministers in preaching the Gospel are commanded and do preach it to lost undone and miserable Sinners or to such as are in a deplorable State even under Wrath and Condemnation and do declare this to be the State of all out of Christ without exception Not to offer Christ to justified Persons to such that are dâ—liver'd from Condemnation and so in a good State but to such who are in a lost state condemn'd to eternal Misery and under the Curse of the Law which is God's Curse and Children of Wrath. I am told lately that some there are who affirm the Elect did not fall in Adam but this I can't tell how to believe why then did Christ die Brethren must Christ be offered to righteous Persons to justified Persons or to Sinners condemned or do any of us preach that which we believe not do any preach thus or have they any Authority so to do viz. Sinners if you are elected you are in a good State and are actually justified whether you believe or not only you do not know it or have not the evidence of it in your own Consciences Or do we not all preach to all out of Christ as unto ungodly ones to such that are under Wrath and Condemnation in their own Persons and so remain until they believe or have Union with Christ Our Lord came not to call the Righteous as such neither self-righteous ones nor such who in a Gospel-Sense are righteous Persons but Sinners to Repentance to such that were really lost in the first Adam and under the Bondage of Sin and the Law True the Jews said indeed that they were free and never were in Bondage c. How saist thou ye shall be made free but what says our Blessed Lord he that committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin If the Son therefore shall make you free then are you free indeed And doth Christ make any free until they are united to him and so believe in him But to put the matter to an issue I find we are all agreed in this Point who preach free Grace Dr. Crisp who I think is abused both by his Friends and Enemies says All by Nature are under the Curse of the Law Cursed cursed cursed saith he every Moment every Hour But how actual Condemnation can consist with actual Justification I see not or how a Man can be under the curse of the Law and yet be blessed with the chiefest Gospel-blessing is strange to me Ninthly and Lastly All are under Condemnation c. before they are in Christ Jesus appears because the Holy Spirit by its Convictions represents this to be the state of every elect Soul by nature namely Children of Wrath even in a condemned state and not only so in their own Consciences but even as others And hence a Minister when he meets with a Person under Convictions on whom God hath begun a good work asketh him what do you judg your State is by Nature O Sir saith he a woful state and condition as in the first Adam and without Christ under God's fearful Wrath being condemned to Eternal Misery having originally and actually broken the Law of God which lays every Man obnoxious to everlasting Burning Now sure the Divine Spirit in Convictions would never hold forth or represent this to be the state of the Soul before it is in Jesus Christ if it was not really so because he is a faithful and true Witness and because he is God and cannot lie So much shall suffice to prove this premised Proposition Application Caution 1. Shall be a Use of Caution to such to take heed how they seek to render the state of the Elect to be good before Grace and actual Union with Jesus Christ 1. Because the holy Word of God declares their State to be very bad and as to the present State of their Persons whilst Unbelievers there is no difference 2. Because such a Notion cannot tend to the Glory of God nor the profit of any Person either before or after they do believe I challenge any to shew what Glory it can bring to God or benefit it can be to any Sinner to hear he is justified or discharged from Wrath and Condemnation before he is in Christ or that it can be of profit to him when he doth believe to be told that his State was good before he did believe in Christ Jesus tho he knew it not 3. But contrariwise it may tend to encourage Unbelievers to conclude that their State is good tho Swearers Drunkards and what not and so harden them in their Sins and to disbelieve or cast contempt upon what some faithful Ministers daily declare to the contrary 4. It also clearly tends to lessen or extenuate the rich Grace of God in giving his Spirit to regenerate the Soul and to work Faith in us if the relative and real change were not at one and the same time which the Scripture doth affirm it is But you are sanctified but ye are justified c. Also then Grace received could not be any sign of our being passed from a state of Death unto a state of Life which the Apostle asserts it is By this we know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren he that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death The Apostle no doubt intends a state of Death 2ly It puts also a just rebuke upon such as cause trouble or divisions amongst Christians on such a Notion Brethren were it a Truth that the Elect were actually delivered from Condemnation and were personally justified before they are in Jesus Christ yet certainly it cannot be judged to be an Essential of Salvation nor of Church-communion Are all such Persons not to be communicated with that can't believe the Elect are acquitted or delivered from Condemnation or personally justified before they are in Christ Jesus Secondly This I hope may tend to clear up the matter and shew the present difference is but little and rises rather from mistaking of words than otherwise for according to what I have said and proved it appeareth 1. That God sees things even all his works from everlasting and calls things that are not as if