Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
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A67000
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The freeness of Gods grace in the forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ, vindicated. Against the doctrine of Mr. Fergusson, in his sermon preached at the morning lecture, the fifth of August 1668. in a letter to a friend. By H. W. a lover of the truth that is according to Godliness.
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H. W.
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1668
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Wing W35; ESTC R217619
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15,119
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other could do it but Christ Now having shew'd you that his Doctrine is not in his Text nor deducible from it I shall shew you in the second place that it is false and therefore not deducible from any Text but contrary to the Scriptures But to make good this charge it would behove me to write a large Volumn if I should disprove all the frivolous Arguments that are wont to be brought for the maintaining it but I intend only a short Letter and therefore shall content my self 1. To shew you the contradiction of this Doctrine to it self and to the holy Scriptures 2. To vindicate those Scriptures or the chief of them he brings for proof from giving countenance to his Doctrine And First That it is contradictory to it self and the Scriptures observe two clauses in it one is Making full satisfaction to the Justice of God the other is God's forgiving sins To make full satisfaction to the Justice of God for sin is in this Preacher's sence To bear all that punishment which is due to men for their sins in their stead To forgive sin is according to the Apostle Paul Rom. 4. 7 8. Not to impute sin or to deal with the sinner as if he had not finned But now every one may perceive that these two are contradictory as to bear all the punishment due to sin and to bear none of the punishment due to sin To exact of the sinner or his surety as they speak all the punishment which he owes and to exact neither of the sinner nor his surety any thing that he owes For whether the sinner himself or his surety bear the punishment of his sin sin is in that case imputed If these be not flat contradictions I know not what are for the terms in the affirmation and negation are taken in the same sence and latitude So that for any one to say That God could not pardon mens sins till Christ had made full satisfaction to his Justice is alike as to say The King cannot pardon a Rebel without punishing as the Law requires forasmuch as to pardon is not to punish as the Law requires And this is so clear and evident that in all other cases save in this even the Asserters of this Opinion do easily perceive the absurdity Which of them having committed an offence deserving death by the Law of the Land would account himself pardoned if all that punishment were exacted that the Law required In debts of money which may be transfer'd from one to another which of them would account himself forgiven a debt of an hundred pounds if he himself or any other paid it in his name What an empty vain word would Forgiveness be at this rate Pay me all you owe me and I will forgive you is either a senceless or cruel saying What! must we be absur'd onely in our Faith Must Absurdities there be reputed for Mysteries Why not believe the Papists then when they assert the Bread to be Flesh and say it is a Mystery Nay much rather believe them than these for they have the words of Scripture on their side but these have not save ill-forg'd premises Thus you may see this Doctrine is contradictory to it self as much as punishing and not punishing exacting a debt and not exacting it are flatly contradictory That it is contrary to the Scripture is proved by the same labour for every thing absurd and contradictious to it self must needs be contrary to the holy Scriptures But more particularly 1. It is contrary to all those Scriptures that speak of God's forgiving or pardoning or remitting our sins through Jesus Christ or through his Blood And I think I need not tell you the Scriptures are full of such Will it not be impertinent to name a few among so great a number Nay is it not the main purport of the Gospel to shew that God forgives us our sins by Jesus Christ John Baptist the fore-runner of Christ Preaching the Baptism of Repentance for the remission of sins Luk. 3. 3. Christ himself taught us to pray Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors Mat. 6. 12. v. 14 15. For if ye forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses Will any man be beholden to us for forgiving his trespasses when we have receiv'd full satisfaction as much to a tittle as the Law allows Or dare we say We immitate God when we do not pardon them any thing except we have our due to a doit Might not the Servant in the Parable Mat. 18. have excus'd himself for his severity to his fellow-servant by this Doctrine For his Lord said v. 32 33. O thou wicked Servant I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me Shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pitty on thee Might he not have replyed Lord thou didst receive a full and plenary satisfaction for me but I received no satisfaction for him and therefore thy example is no Argument in this case Is not this to clude the most plain and excellent Precepts and Arguments in the Gospel Christ saith in the institution of his last Supper Mat. 26. 28. For this is my Blood of the New Testament Marg. Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins He doth not say for the satisfaction of divine Justice for the bearing the punishment of your sins for what hath a Covenant or Testament to do with satisfaction or punishment for sin And after his resurrection he said unto them the Diciples Thus it is written and thus it behoved the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins not satisfaction for sins should be preached in his name c. accordingly the preachings of the Apostles and Evangelists are full of this Doctrine of remission of sins See a few Act. 2. 38. ch 3. 19. ch 5. 31. ch 10. 43. ch 13. 38. 2. This Doctrine of Christ satisfying the Justice of God by bearing the punishment due to their sins is contrary to all those Scriptures that attribute our Remission or Salvation to the Grace Mercy and Kindness of God for what is more contrary to Mercy than punishing the miserable to the utmost what is more contrary to Grace than to give nothing but what one is paid for what more opposite to Kindness or Goodness than exacting all that strict Justice may require Now the Name of the Lord is proclaimed Exod. 34. 5 6 7. The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping mercy for Thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin Here it follows that I may take notice of it in my way because the Preacher urges it to prove that God cannot forgive sin without satisfaction and that will by no means clear the guilty I pray Friend
consider this Text that is cited by us both and that upon a contrary account and see if it can possibly be meant by the Lords not clearing the guilty after his being merciful gracious c. that he will indeed pardon sin when he hath taken as much punishment as the Law requires but he wil by no means bate any thing of that As if the Lord were very gracious and merciful because he takes no more than the Law allows O wonderful Mercy that this Preacher attributes to the most merciful Lord God! see Psal 103. 8 10. The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plentious in mercy He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities But according to this Gentlman God must reward every one according to his Iniquities for every one must bear the full punishment of his sins either in his own person or in the person of another See v. 13. Like as a Father pityeth his Children so the Lord pityeth them that fear him That is if the Lord can get any body to be punished in their stead and make full satisfaction to his avenging Justice then they shall go free See also Jer. 3.12 Joel 2.13 Jona 4.2 or shall I transcribe a great part of the Bible to this purpose I cannot omit to mind you of our Lords precept Luk. 6.35 36. where he saith Love ye your enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the Children of the Highest for he is kind unto the unthankeful and to the evil Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful Is God kind to the unthankful and evil how comes it to pass according to this Gentleman either Christ or some other made satisfaction for them or else I know not how it could be 2 Cor 1. 3. God is called the Father of mercies In that Prophesie Luke 1. 77 78. To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy marg Bowels of mercy of our God The great reason of the blessings of the new Covenant is this for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more Heb. 8. 12. I would sain pass from this matter as obvious to every one but that text in Jam. 2. 13. will not let me go For he shall have Judgement without Mercy that hath shewed no Mercy and Mercy rejoyceth against Judgement Where you may observe that Mercy is opposed to Judgement or satisfaction of Justice and that gloryeth against this Whereas were this Gentlemans doctrine true Judgement would glory against Mercy That this Doctrine of full satisfaction to avenging Justice I say is contrary to all those Sriptures that attribute our remission or salvation to the Grace of God me thinks I should not need to cite texts in this case to such as profess to live under a Covenant of Grace and commonly suspect every thing that is but said to lessen the Grace or favour of God But give me leave to mention one or two among a multitude And that of the Apostle to the Ephesians ch 1. 7. doth first present it self In whom we have Redemption through his Blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his Grace Here forgiveness of sins is ascribed to the riches of Gods Grace though it comes through the Blood of Christ Would it have bin any such rich Grace for God to let men alone after he had punished their sins to the utmost See Col. 1. 14. a parallel place to this in Eph. I. In both which you may note that redemption is expounded by remission of sins See also Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ How justified by Grace or savour if by a full satisfaction O you will say Because God gave Christ and procur'd him to make this satisfaction But suppose that could be How then justified freely or gratis by his grace if he received a ful satisfaction Can a man be said to deliver his imprisoned Debtor freely or gratis by his Grace out of prison and from his obligation though he procure another to pay him the mony sure Mr. F. would not think so if he were that captive Debtor and so deliver'd And this Apostle in the next Chap. Rom. 4. 4. and 11. 6. argues the opposition between Grace and Debt and Grace and works shewing that they mutually destroy each other so that if God received full satisfaction he is obliged in Justice as this Preacher saith to take no more and our Justification accordingly will be no longer of Grace but of Debt Thus this Preacher doth unawares destroy the Grace of God while he preaches up a penal satisfaction of Justice Now I might proceed to other Scriptures and Arguments to which this Doctrine of satisfaction is contrary but I am writing a Letter and perhaps I may have occasion to produce some of them by way of Answer to some of his Argumentations And I shall as I go along prove against him that which I proposed in the beginning as the third and greatest fault in a Preacher namely That his Doctrine is not only false but false in a matter of high comcernment in the faith of a Christian And first I take notice he argues from Gods threatnings that there must be a satisfaction but he allows this satisfaction to be made either by the Criminal or by his Surety But I would fain have him to shew me that threatning of punishment that may be satisfied either by the party offending or his Surety To Adam he saith In the day thou eatest dying thou shalt die Gen. 1. 17. and Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things c. Deut. 27.26 Cal. 3.10 The soul that sinneth it shall die Ezek. 18.4 Here is no mention of a Surety Let him that addeth or its Surety take heed of the Curse denounced against him that addeâ—â— or diminisheth c but perhaps he hath a Surety that can and will bear it for him 2. He argues from the congruity of it to the Righteousness Wisdom and other Attributes of God to pardon sin upon a full compensation He cites Rom. 3 25 26. that he might be just But we have seen already in the 24. vers of that Chap. that the Justice there meant is such as consists with justifying gratis and therefore without a full compensation 3. He argues from the Holiness Purity and Righteousness of the Nature of God to the necessity of the punishment of every sin But he doth here again take the boldness of adding a surety for the bearing of this punishment I beseech you my Friend make a stand and tell me supposing such a nature in God as obliges him to punish every sin whether that Nature can be satisfied with the punishment of another that is innocent instead of him