in the Administration of these his Offices is not the Righteousness here spoken of for it is not unto and upon Believers that is it is not imputed to them nor is it upon them through Faith Christ administers his Prophetical Office righteously namely according to the Law thereof the command given him by his Father He discovers to us what he hath seen with and received of his Father for that end So he did when on Earth Joh. 1.18 and 3 32 34. and 5.19 and 8.38 and 12.49 50. And now he is in Heaven he goes by the same rule in revealing his Fathers Counsels to us Rev. 1.1 Both in Heaven and on Earth he speaks in righteousness Isa 63.1 Christ doth administer his Kingly-Office in Righteousness he gives Righteous Laws and Ordinances and Executes Righteous Judgments and Administers all the Affairs of the World and of his Church most Righteously Isa 32.1 He is a King that reigns in righteousness Psal 145.17 All his ways are holy and all his judgments just Rev. 15.3 and 16.5 7. The Judgments which he executeth on his Enemies and for his People are Holy and Just and he is True and Righteous in executing of them But this Righteousness of Christ in his Administring his Prophetical and Kingly Offices is not the Righteousness which here in the Text is said to be upon us For in his Prophetical and Kingly Administration he acts from God towards us but in bringing in this Righteousness which is upon us through Faith and wherein we stand justified he acts towards God for us which is the proper work of his Priestly-Office as the Apostle expresly declares and asserts Heb. 5.1 and Heb. 8.3 Some there are who say That the Righteousness of Christ which is upon us through Faith is his Mediatorial Righteousness but either they therein do mean the Righteousness which as a Priest he brings in before God for us or it is too wide an Expression None that I know of but Socinians or Semisocinians who do really deny the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to us though they seem in words sometimes to own it do speak of the Imputation to us of any part of the Righteousness of Christ's Administring his Prophetical or Kingly Offices For the same reason for which I limit this Righteousness which is upon us through Faith to the Righteousness brought in by Christ as a Priest I conceive the Incarnation of Christ taken precisely as abstracted from the Condition that attended it all the days of his frailty is not a part of this Righteousness If any will needs call it a part of this Righteousness inasmuch as he therein did according to the Will of his Father and according to his own undertaking I would not much contend with them though the Expression be both unaccurate and insnaring But I can by no means grant it to be a part of this Righteousness For it is no part of the Humiliation of Christ or of his Satisfaction or of his Obedience to the precept of the Moral Law not of his Humiliation by his Humiliation I mean that Abased State of Christ which is contradistinguish'd and opposed to his Exaltation for his Humiliation was of the Whole Person in both Natures and the ground of it was our Sins being upon him as our Surety and ally'd in Blood to us and all the while he was in a State of Humiliation he was under the Curse But certainly Christ is not now under the Curse and yet he doth now dwell in our Nature in his State of Exaltation Nor is Christ's Incarnation a part of his Satisfaction For Satisfaction to speak properly is made to the Justice of God and the Demands thereof by Vertue of the Moral Law and not meerly to the Just and Righteous Will of God the Law-giver Satisfaction is a repaying and making amends for Wrong done and not barely a pleasing of the Will and Mind of him to whom Satisfaction is made and thence Satisfaction is the Fruit and Effect of Punishment But Christs dwelling in our Nature is no part of the Punishment of Sin for then the Divine Nature only is punished and not the Humane at all nor the Person Besides it may as justly be said to be a part of his Exaltation as of his Humiliation for the Humane Nature subsisting in Personal Union with the Divine hath an higher and better subsistence then any it could have had in subsisting by it self Nor Lastly Is it a part of his Obedience to the Precept of the Moral Law For the Law took not hold upon him he was not under it before his Incarnation and therefore could not be bound by it to become Incarnate For these and such like reasons Divines of very Subact and Accurate Judgments have denyed the Assumption of the Humane Nature to be any part of the Satisfaction or Humiliation of Christ So Bradshaw of Justif ch 17. Sect. 7. and Ames Med. Theol. l. 1. c. 20. Sect. 4. And I do the rather note it and desire it may be observ'd and taken in by you because some who have lookt upon Christ Incarnation as a part of his Humiliation have also deny'd any other manner of Imputation of his Righteousness than what agrees to and may be affirmed of his Incarnation Namely that it is for our behoof and benefit and that the Effects and Fruits of it are communicated to us but his Righteousness it self is not upon us according to them and is not imputed to us at all I will issue this point thus which also further clears it up There is a difference in the Nature of the things and distinction therefore to be made in our thoughts between the Incarnation of Christ and the Condition or Form of a Servant in which he did come and appear in our Flesh from the first moment of his assuming it until he enter'd on his estate of his Exaltation The assuming of our Nature was an Act of Love and Grace to us ward and great Condescension in the Son of God and it belongs to the Constitution of his Person as he now is and is one thing wherein consists his Fitness for that work of Mediation to which he was called and which he had undertaken But his subjection to the Law and his fulfilling it in the form of a Servant is that Righteousness brought in by him for us which is upon us through Faith Proposition IV. Among the performances of Christ as a Priest this Righteousness is his Sponsory Fide-jussory or Suretiship Righteousness viz. That Righ eousness which as our Surety he was obliged to bring in for us and did so I do thus bring down and confine this Righteousness of Christ which is upon us unto his Suretiship-righteousness which is somewhat narrower than the whole of Christs performances as a Priest because there are some things which Christ did as a Priest which yet cannot be said to be any part of this righteousness which is upon us As for instance Christ passed through all
this Doctrine There is a righteousness of God which through faith of Jesus Christ is without difference unto all and upon all who believe Here are these six things which offer themselves to be spoken unto for clearing this Doctrine and making way for the Application of it 1. What Righteousness is this and why is it called the Righteousness of God 2. How is it upon those that believe 3. What is the meaning and import here of that Expression without Difference 4. What is this Faith of Jesus Christ and why is it so called 5. What reference has Faith unto this Righteousness's being unto and upon Believers 6. How comes all this about and whence is it that there is this Righteousness provided and that it is through Faith upon all without difference which believe Quest 1. What Righteousness is this and why is it called the Righteousness of God Answ To have this matter rightly stated in our thoughts is very useful and needful both for the direction guiding and fixing of our Faith to its proper Object in its acting and exercise and also for the establishing of our Minds in the Truth of God in this Point lest darkness and mistakes herein should occasion our stumbling and the overturning of our Faith I shall therefore proceed step by step and deliver my self about it in five Propositions in which put together I shall indeavour a clear and just stating and declaration of this Matter Proposition I. This Righteousness is the Righteousness of Christ and not our own So the Apostle useth those Expressions setting our own Righteousness in Opposition to this Righteousness Phil. 3.9 though there be a sense wherein this Righteousness may be said to be ours When I say it is the Righteousness or Christ I mean it is the Righteousness whereof Christ is the original first and native Subject it is the Righteousness which he brought in as the word is Dan. 9.24 a Phrase taken from the Old Testament Ordinance wherein it was commanded that the Priest should carry the Blood of the Sacrifice which was shed at the Altar of Brass without the Tabernacle into the Holy of Holies and there present it unto God And this Righteousness of Christ is justly called the Righteousness of God both because it is a Righteousness of Gods ordaining and providing or devising as her word is speaking of this very thing 2 Sam. 14.14 and also because Christ whose it is primitively and originally is by Nature God over all blessed for ever And I think the Apostle delights to set forth this Righteousness by that Epithet that it is Gods and of God the more to commend it to our Consciences and Hearts as that which beyond all comparison is to be preferred before and rather chosen by us to stand in than that Righteousness which he calls our own The best of our own Righteousness is inherent in us or wrought out by us we are the original Subjects of it though it be in us from God and by his Grace But this Righteousness of Christ as it is called the Righteousness of God in another Sense and on another ground than our own Righteousness can be said to be Gods or of him so this Phrase is used of it for this end namely to denote such a transcendent Excellency in it it is an usual Hebraism to add the Epithet of God to set forth a surpassingness in things thus we read of the Wrestlings of God the Mountains of God the Cedars of God that in comparison of and in competition with this Righteousness the Righteousness of Men and Angels is to be despised and abhorred by us Now that this Righteousness in the Text is the Righteousness of Christ all the Circumstances of the Text do evince every thing which is here said of this Righteousness agreeing to the Righteousness of Christ which is brought in by him for us It is a Righteousness of God it is manifested without the Law for the Law that is the Covenant of Works tells us nothing of it yet it is witnessed unto by the Law and the Prophets and though it was heard of in the Old Testament times yet it was veiled under many shadows then but now in the days of the New Testament it is very clearly revealed and manifested It is a Righteousness which is unto all and upon all without difference who do believe and the way of its being on them is through Faith It is that Righteousness in which we stand justified freely of Grace it is that Righteousness which contains a price of Redemption and which hath Propitiation or Atonement in it and whereof the Blood of Christ is a part all which are true of the Righteousness of Christ and of no other and lastly it is either the Righteousness of Christ or our own the Scripture mentions no other Righteousness that is upon us but one of these But it is not our own Righteousness for our own Righteousness consisting in our Conformity to the Law that being to us the Rule of Righteousness we should then be justified by the deeds of the Law which the Apostle here tells us no Flesh shall for by the Law is the knowledge of Sin Proposition II. This Righteousness of Christ which through Faith is upon all that believe is the Mediatory Righteousness of Christ viz. That Righteousness which he as Mediator doth bring in for us and present unto God and therefore in which he acts as Mediator between God and us I mention this because I would set by and seclude the Essential Righteousness of Christ from being any part of this Righteousness which is upon us by Faith By his Essential Righteousness I mean that perfection of the Divine Nature which we commonly do also call Holiness and Justice and this belongs to Christ as he is God co-equal with the Father and the Holy Ghost being one of the blessed Perfections of the Divine Essence But this Righteousness cannot be said to be upon us through Faith For then we might be said to be justified by the Righteousness of the Father and of the Holy Ghost as we are by the Righteousness of Christ Atonement or Reconciliation with God is not made for us by this Essential Righteousness of Christ nor is it brought in before God for us nor are we said to have it nor do we stand accepted in it nor is it imputed to us all which the Scripture speaks of this Righteousness of Christ in the Text. I conclude therefore it not being the Essential Righteousness of Christ as God it is his Mediatorial Righteousness that Righteousness which Christ as Mediator and by Virtue of his being clothed with that Office doth bring in before God for us Proposition III. It is that part of Christs Mediatorial Righteousness which belongs to his Priestly Office and is brought in by him as a Priest Christ is Righteous as a Prophet and as a King and that for us that is for our good and benefit But this Righteousness of his
the transaction between God and Christ concerning us without any thing done on us or in us or by us which cannot be said of the other for in it and indeed in order to the effecting it Christ lays hold on us Moreover the one I mean that which I call Vital Vnion is reciprocal or mutual in it not only we are in Christ but he is also in us Joh. 14.20 and 15.4 and 17.23 Colos 2.7 In this Union there is a mutual in-being between Christ and Believers But that other Union which I called Vnion in Law is not in like manner mutual for though we are said to be in Christ because of that publick capacity and common relation to us all that he stands in yet till the Vital Vnion between Christ and us is effected it cannot be said that he is in us And lastly these two Unions stand affected one to another as cause and effect The former namely that which I call Vnion in Law between Christ and us is the cause of the latter namely of our being brought into that Vital Vnion to him And hence the former is the rule and measure of the latter the latter is extended to all those and to those only who are comprised within the former and it is in the vertue and causal efficacy of the former that the latter is brought about and accomplished 6. Of this latter viz. Vital Vnion between Christ and us Faith is the means on our side Hence appears a further reason why it may well be called a Vital Union Both because in its effecting there is a vital touch as I may say between Christ and us and a clasping each on other and also because by and in this Union unto Christ we are brought immediately into a state of Spiritual Life first relative in Justification and Adoption and then and thereupon qualitative or transformative in Sanctification and Comfort which are Glory begun and shall be perfected hereafter Hence it is that some Divines and those no mean ones for Spiritual Light and Judgment make Faith to be actus medii ut simus in vivis rather than actus vitae quâ in vivis jam constituti vivimu the means and way of our being made Spiritually alive rather than our acting Life as being already brought into a state of Life As the Bodies closing with and clasping hold on the Soul by the animal Spirits which are corporeal things is rather the means of Natural Life than an Act of Life it self And the Notion seems to be countenanced by the Scripture which makes believing one thing and Life another and Faith the means of Life See Joh. 5.40 and 6.53 54 57. and 20.31 and Rom. 1.17 However this is plain and certain that he who hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son hath not Life 1 Joh. 5.12 and that we in our believing do receive Christ Joh. 1.12 Faith being our closing with him in that conjugal Covenant and Relation in which we are and stand vitally united to him 7. It being the proper use of Faith to be the means of Vniting us thus unto Christ and its proper Nature to rest upon Christ for all and to receive all from Christ the Crown of all is hereby set upon the head of Christ and to flourish there for ever And thus you see how the grand original design of God to bring in a Revenue of singular Honour and Praise and Glory unto his Son Christ is in this way brought about accomplished and fulfilled For this Righteousness of Christ being upon us through Faith it glorifies Christ in that he is made all unto us in our acceptance with God as righteous to Eternal Life And indeed Faith is such a Grace as that there is in its Nature a singular aptitude and fitness to give Glory unto Christ This will be made apparent by considering these two things 1. Faith is a going out of our selves unto Christ for all It is a going out of our selves as Indigent miserable and perishing And to whom do we in believing go but unto Christ Faith therefore gives him the Glory of having in him a fulness of suitable sufficiency for Sinners in our guilty ruined Condition And what do we go to him for It is for all that we need Being guilty and under Condemnation we go to him for Righteousness unto Justification of Life and thence Faith is said to be in his Blood Rom. 3.25 Being utterly without strength and dead in sins we go to him for strength Isa 45.24 Being frail and mutable as Creatures and having unsteadfast treacherous hearts as Sinners we go to him for Everlasting Righteousness and for establishment in himself by an unchangeable Ordinance and constant never-failing influences that is in one word for Eternal Life Thus as the Son of God is in himself a Person of infinitely higher Excellency than the first Adam and a better Head unto all his Seed than the first Adam was So Faith acknowledgeth him to be an Head far better than Adam beyond all comparison and gives him the Glory of it accordingly 2. Faith is a prime and principal part of our being conformed to the image of the Son of God Suppose that the principle of Grace begotten and created in us in Regeneration do contain in it the habit of Faith which I will not now call in question nor determine yet this is manifest that in our acting Faith we cannot so well and congruously be said to act like God as to act like Christ For God never acted Faith but Christ did Heb. 2.13 and was so open and frequent in the profession of it that his Adversaries took notice of it Psal 22.7 8. He owned and professed that he lived by the Father as we by Faith do live by him Joh. 6.57 Though he be God by Nature and of himself yet as Mediator he lives by the Father and the Humane Nature of Christ lives and subsis Person leaning on the Eternal Deity of the Son of God it hath its subsistence in the bosom of the God head We in believing do herein imitate Christ after our manner and measure and according to that unmeasurable distance and disproportion that is between him and us We lean and live on Christ and fetch all from him and from God through him But he is the first Pattern and Original Copy of believing both because he lived a Life of Faith and because the Humane Nature of Christ leans on the Godhead in the Son and hath the Eternal Power of the Deity clasping about it and holding it in that Union After somewhat of a similitudinary way though with great dissimilitude and disparity do we by Faith lean and live upon Christ and on God in and through him the Eternal Power of the Godhead in Christ and not so much the strength of any created principle of Grace in us holding our hearts unto him and causing them for ever to liâ—e upon him USE 1. Here we may see the