Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	distinct_a	person_n	property_n	2,539	5	9.4838	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55299	An answer to the discourse of Mr. William Sherlock, touching the knowledge of Christ, and our union and communion with him by Edward Polhill ..., Esquire.	Polhill, Edward, 1622-1694?	1675 (1675)	Wing P2749; ESTC R13514	277,141	650

united in respect of the Oneness between them This is plain saith the Author they are one by their Oneness I fear the Reader may think we are at Tittle-tattle How should they be one without Oneness or who would deny or cavil at it But the Doctor should have understood the Vnion first before he had come to the Bonds And hath not the Dr. in his Book set down the Properties of this Union Or what can better shew the Nature of it than the Bonds thereof But the Dr. in his design to prove an Vnion of Persons is bewildred and the Author will help him out Bewildred Not by any Arguments as yet however it is kindly meant for one who hath interlaced his Discourse with so many exceptions to very little purpose But Christ and Believers are not united by a natural Adhesion No who ever said so Doth not the Dr. make the Union and the Bonds of it both spiritual But the Author apprehends some strange Mystery in the business which now must be heard Dr. Owen tells us Mr. Sherlock That by the Graces of Christ's Person he doth not mean the glorious Excellencies of his Deity considered in it self abstracting from the Office which for us as God and Man he undertook nor the outward appearance of his Humane Nature neither when he converst here on earth nor yet now as exalted in Glory but the Graces of Christ's Person as he is vested with the Office of Mediation his spiritual Eminency Comeliness Beauty as anointed and appointed by the Father unto that great work of bringing home all his Elect into his bosom Now unless the Person of Christ as Mediator be distinct from his Person as God-man all this is idle talk for what personal Graces are there in Christ as Mediator which do not belong to him either as God or Man The peculiar Duties of that Office of Mediator are not personal Graces his Personal Graces fitted him for his Office but he hath no Personal Graces as Mediator which he hath not either as God or Man The Dr. tells us That Christ is white in his Deity and ruddy in his Humanity but these belong to his Divine and Humane Nature and that without regard to his Mediatory Office Again the Dr. tells us That Christ is excellent in his Deity and desirable in his Humanity This looks like a contradiction to what he said before but he hath a Salvo which delivers him both from contradiction and from sence that he doth not consider these Excellencies of his Deity or Humanity as abstracted from his Office of Mediator though he might if he pleased for these Excellencies would have belonged to him as God and Man whether he had been Mediator or not But what becomes of his distinction of the Graces of Christ's Person as Mediator from the Graces of his Person as God and Man When there are no personal Graces in Christ but what belong to his Deity or Humanity an then you can find no other Person to be the Subject of these personal Excellencies unless his Office of Mediation must go for a distinct Person which is a new kind of Heresie It was the saying of Nazianzen Answer That there is one Consideration of the Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dr. Owen being to speak of the Grace of Christ the Mediator did not consider the Excellencies of his Deity in it self or apart nor the Excellencies of his Humanity singly and by it self but the Excellencies of both Natures met in conjunction in the Person of the Glorious Mediator Jesus Christ This must be a distinct Consideration from the other or else what is the Hypostatical Union What the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Immanuel or Word incarnate What is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Communication of Properties celebrated by Divines How did God purchase his Church with his own blood Act. 20.28 Or lay down his life for us 1 Joh. 3.16 which way was the blessed Virgin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the ancient Council hath it What is the Grace of Unction or all those full Treasures of habitual Grace in the Humane Nature of Christ And what are the opera 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or operations of God-man the Great Mediatour who hath the Excellencies of both Natures in himself This Consideration being therefore a distinct one the Dr. shews that Christ was white in his Deity and ruddy in his Humanity which needed no more have been slighted than such allusions common in the ancient Fathers but the humour of exposing to scorn provokes to such things The Doctor doth not and I am sure will not own any such thing as that the Person of Christ as Mediator is distinct from his Person as God-man or that the Graces of Christ's Person as Mediator are dististinct from his Person as God-man But saith the Author What personal Graces are there in Christ as Mediator which do not belong to him either as God or Man To which I answer The Grace of Union was not peculiar to either Nature in Christ but common to both the Humane Nature in him was only assumed but the Divine and Humane were both united but saith the Author Those excellencies would have belonged to him as God and man whether he had been Mediator or not To which I shall only say That Christ should be God and man and yet not Mediator is such an extrascriptural conceit as I suppose never entred into the Doctors mind But what ever becomes of the distinction Mr. Sherlock there is a very deep fetch in it the observing of which will discover the whole mystery of the Person of Christ and our Vnion to him For these men consider that Christ saves as Mediator and not meerly considered as God or man they imagine that we receive Grace and Salvation from Christ's Person just as we do water from a Conduit or a Largess from a Prince that it flows to us from our Vnion to his Person and therefore they dress up the Person of the Mediator with all those personal Graces and Excellencies which may make him a fit Saviour that those who are united to his Person need not fear missing of Salvation hence they ransack all the boundless perfections of the Deity and what ever they can fancy as comfort to Sinners this is a personal Grace of the Mediator they consider the effects of his Mediation and what ever great things are spoken of his Gospel or Religion or Intercession these serve as personal Graces too that all our hopes may be built not on the Gospel-Covenant but on the Person of Christ so that the dispute now lies between the Person of Christ and his Gospel which must be the foundation of our hope which is the way to life and happiness To what purpose all this is I see not Answer Is not Christ God-man our Mediator Do we not receive Grace and Salvation from Christ's person And if we do is he

preservation in Jesus Christ But take away the Mystical Vnion he is a man out of Christ he stands upon his own bottom he subsists by himself alone he receives no influences from Christ the Head nor is acted by any higher Spirit than his own and in such a case the next news we hear of him must be an utter downfall But to say no more of the Mystical Vnion that other Point touching the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to us hath also been ever owned in the Church he that denies it must I fear in the consequent overturn the Law the Gospel and the Satisfaction of Christ He must overturn the Law for he must own a Justification without a Righteousness answering thereunto inherent Righteousness being imperfect and imputed a Nullity there is nothing to answer the Law and yet we are justified which is as much as to say the Law is no Law If it be a Law none can be justified without a Righteousness adequate to it if we may be justified without such a Righteousness the Law is no Law which is what the Antinomians would have That a Law should be in force and a man should be justified without an adequate Righteousness and that before a most righteous Judge who judgeth according to truth is utterly impossible Again he must overturn the Gospel and that upon a double account The one is this He must subvert the Promises of Justification made in the Gospel the Promises run thus That we shall be justified by Christ's blood made righteous by his obedience that his blood shall cleanse away sin and purge our consciences from dead works and how can these be fulfilled without an Imputation To say that Christ's Blood founded the Covenant will not serve the turn these are Promises of a Covenant founded already and a founded Covenant doth not promise the founding of it self Christs blood as it founded the Covenant is precedent to the Promises and by it as such the Promises cannot be fulfilled for then they should be fulfilled before they were made or at least in the making of them It remains therefore that Christs righteousness must be made ours by imputation thereby the promises may be made good to us If the Promises mean as they speak then we must be justified by Christs blood obedience which infers Imputation if the Promises how plain how emphatical soever the words be mean not that we shall be justified by Christ's Blood or Righteousness then Christ shed his Blood for us that we might be justified without it he satisfied for us that we might be pardoned without a satisfaction which is an odd reflection on his satisfaction if not a total evacuation of it The other is this he must pervert the Conditions of the Gospel from their true end and scope These Conditions were in infinite Wisdom accommodated and attempered to the death of Christ which founded them they were made to be subordinate and subservient to Christ's satisfaction and the glory of it The Faith required in them was not intended to be the matter of our Justification and in that notion to discharge and justifie us the main scope and end of those conditions was to shew upon what terms Christ's righteosness and satisfaction should discharge and justifie us Now as long as these conditions are made but conditions as long as Faith keeps its proper station all is well and as it ought to be but if those conditions be advanced above their own station if our inherent righteousness be made the very matter of our Justification as indeed it must if imputed Righteousness be denied then the conditions of the Gospel are corrupted and perverted from their true end they are no longer subordinated to Christ's satisfaction but made to set up our inherent Righteousness in the room of it they shew no longer upon what terms Christs satisfaction shall discharge us but how our own Righteousness may do it which is plainly to pervert the conditions of the Gospel Moreover he must overturn the satisfaction of Christ Touching this three things are considerable viz. Christ's surrogation in our room Gods acceptation of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on our behalf and the operation of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in our discharge none of which can stand without an imputation The first thing is Christ's surrogation he suffered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 20.28 in stead of many he was our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putting his Soul in the room of ours or else he could not have satisfied for us Now that Christ should suffer in our room and stead and his sufferings should not be accounted or imputed to us is a contradiction take away Imputation and you take away Surrogation take away Surrogation and you take away Satisfaction The second thing is Gods acceptation of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on our behalf Christs Sacrifice was a sweet-smelling savour unto God Eph. 5.2 God accepted it on our behalf or else Christ could not have satisfied for us Now that Christs sufferings should be accepted by God as on our behalf and yet that they should not be accounted or imputed is utterly impossible so far as Christs Satisfaction was accepted by God for us so far it must be imputed to us if it was accepted only for a remissibility then it is imputed no further but then remission will be without satisfaction which is what the Socinians would have but if as the truth is it was accepted for Remission and Justification to be dispensed upon believing then it is imputed to that end actually to justifie and discharge us Take away Imputation and you take away Acceptation and with it Satisfaction The third thing is the operation of Christ's satisfaction in our discharge Satisfaction is destructio obligationis it doth really and properly discharge him for whom it is made accepted absolutely it discharges him immediately accepted on terms it discharges upon the performance and that as properly and really though not so soon as in the other case its vertue and efficacy which was suspended by the condition breaks forth into effect upon the performance this is the nature and property of Satisfaction A Satisfaction which doth not discharge doth not satisfie that is in plain terms it is no Satisfaction Now the satisfaction of Christ doth no discharge us immediatly but upon believing which is the Evangelical Condition and how doth it do it Surely one of these two ways either it discharges us meerly as it founded the Covenant or else as it is made ours by Imputation the former cannot be it founded the Covenant before our believing if it do no more after it discharges us not for it doth as much before believing before which it discharges not as after It founded the Covenant for those that perish at least so far that upon believing they might have been justified if it do no more for those that are saved it discharges us not for it doth operate as much and as far