measure God is in holinesse righteousnesse goodnesse wisdome truth mercy c. and that he is so light or such a light in whom there is no darknesse at all 1 Joh. 1.5 And in this sense the light of the knowledge of God is said to be given by the ministers of the Gospell in the face of Iesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 meaning that those who truly and effectually preach Iesus Christ unto men and hold him forth in all the glory and excellencie of all that he both did and suffered in the world as they are left upon record by the Holy Ghost in the Gospell doe with one and the same labour certify informe the world what manner of essence and being in respect of hâ—linesse grace love sweetnesse mercy goodnesse bounty c. the true God is with whom they have to doe All these excellencies being apparantly extant and visible and that in the full transcendencie and height of their severall perfections in that obedience which Christ exhibited in the flesh unto God it cannot with any colour or pretence of reason be imagined but that that God from whom he came forth and whose servant hee was in all this great administration and from whom he must of necessitie receive and be furnished with all that strength and power of grace whereby he was enabled to do all these great things must needs be a God supereminently glorious in all the same and like perfections So that we see here is another end and that of maine consequence of the active obedience of Christ besides imputation Thirdly SECT 7 another end of this righteousnesse of Christ we speake of is the exemplarinesse of it it is the patterne in the Mount for all Adams posteritie to work by It is true the Law it selfe is as absolute and perfect a rule or patterne of righteousnesse as the conformity or obedience of Christ himselfe to it is but it is not so plaine and distinct a rule in some cases as the obedience of Christ to it And therefore the Holy Ghost sometimes briefly mentioning the letter or rule of the Law maketh use of the exemplarinesse of the obedience of Christ as it were to illustrate and interpret it And walke in love even as Christ hath lovedus and hath given himselfe for us c. Ephes 5.2 with many the like Fourthly the intire obedience and subjection of Christ to the Morall Law is of excellent importance and hath a Spirit of provocation in it to draw all the world after it in imitation of it it is a tempting righteousneste or an holy strong and blessed temptation to the world to worke righteousnesse the force and power whereof no man can withstand but with an high hand of desperate wickednesse and to the deepe shame and reproach of his person This end likewise is oft mentioned or insinuated in the Scriptures Take my yoke upon you and learne of me saith our Saviour himselfe Mat. 11.29 for I am meeke and lowly in heart c. implying that there was in his meeknesse not only a patterne or example to follow but a provocation also to make them willing and desirous to follow See Ephes 5.24.25 1 Pet. 4.1 with many others Fiftly the righteousnesse of Christ now under consideration was a meanes of continuing his person in the love and complacencie of his Father which was a thing of absolute necessitâ—e for the carrying through and accomplishing that great worse of Redemption which he had undertaken For if the mediator himselfe upon whose favor and interest with God the favor peace and salvation of the whole world depended should have but once miscarried and displeased him who should have mediated for him or made an attonement or reconciliation for him If salt hath lost the savor there is nothing to season it againe withall because all things are to be seasoned by it This end of his obedience and subjection to his Father himselfe plainly expresseth Joh. 15.10 If yee keepe my commandements you shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers commandements and abide in his love See also Joh. 8.29 Sixtly that righteousnesse of Christ we speake of SECT 8 was of absolute necessitie to qualifie and fit the sacrifice for the Altar I meane to render him a person meet by his death and sacrifice of himselfe to make attonement for the world and to purge and take away the sinne of it It is true the infinitnesse of the value and considerablenesse of his death sprang from the God-head or Divine nature with which the humanitie of Christ had personall union yet was the absolute holinesse and righteousnesse of the humanitie it selfe of necesâ—ary concurrence also thereunto and that in two respects First there is no capacity in any part or parcell of the humane nature of personall union with the Divine except it be absolutely free from all touch and tincture and spot of sinne otherwise this proposition might be verified that God is sinfull a sound which neither the eares nor consciences of men are able to beare That God should die though it be a conclusion which to reason not yet taught or principled from above may seeme of the same hardnesse and inconsistencie with the other yet we know it is become not only familiar and of easy admittance but of very precious and sweet importance in the Schoole of Christianity But that God should finne is a saying of a greater offence and abhorring to reason proselyted and made Christian then to reason yet only it selfe and no more Secondly suppose for argument sake a possibilitie of that which is unpossible that the Divine nature might be hypostatically or personally united to an humanity tainted with sinne yet could it not give an infinitnesse of expiatory value or acceptation thereunto for others in case it were offered or made a sacrifice by it The reason is because such an offering or sacrifice were of absolute necessitie for the expiation of its owne sinne or at least it should be due and the justice of God might lawfully require it in such a way For no relation whatsoever of any creature to the Divine nature it selfe or to any person subsisting therein be it never so neere and intimate is able to dissolve or make voide any right or power which is essentiall to God as the right of requiring a full satisfaction for sinne is wheresoever or in what creature soever he findes it Now then whatsoever God either doth or in justice may require of any man to make satisfaction for his owne sinne unpossible it is that with the payment or tender thereof he should make satisfaction for the sinnes of others as it is unpossible in a course of Law and Civill Justice that a man by paying his owne debt should thereby discharge another mans The High Priest under the Law did not make atâ—onement for himselfe and for the people with one and the same sacrifice but saith the Scripture he offered sacrifice first for his owne sinnes and then
wants a literal or legall righteousnesse upon him especially supposing he hath another righteousnesse holding any analogie or proportion thereunto as he may account any mans uncircumcission circumcission Rom 2.26 Or call the un-circumcised Gentiles the circumcision Philip. 3.3 O◠pronounce and call Iohn Baptist Elias Mat. 11.14 Or call the two witnesses two O live Trees and two Candle-sticks Revel 11.4 besides other instances in Scripture of like interpretation without number Now as Christ spake as truly when he called John Elias as he should have done if he had called him only Iohn and the Holy Ghost spake as truly when he called those that beleeve though uncircumcised in the flesh the circumcision as if he called them the uncircumcision or as if they had bin literally circumcised So may God with as much righteousnesse and truth pronounce and call or account a man righteous that is not strictly properly or literally such if he hath any qualification upon him that any way answereth or holds proportion in any point with such a righteousnesse as he should doe in case this man had this legall righteousnesse as he should doe in case this man had this legall righteousnesse upon him in the absolutest perfection of the letter For as in those and such like Scripture instances the ground of the communication of the Name is only some particular agreement betweene either the persons or things not an universall concent or identitie in all things So when God pronounceth or accounteth a man righteous it is not necessarie that he should be literally properly morally and every way RIGHTEOUS it is sufficient to beare out the justice and truth of God in giving either the Name or esteeme of a righteous man unto him if his person be under any such relation or condition Idemsunt habere temissionem peccarorum et esse justum Vrsinus Cat. part 2 Qu. 56. Sect. 1. Idem sunt justificatio et remssio peccatorum ibid. Q. 60. Sect. 3. as belongeth to a legall righteoussesse or which a legall RIGHTEOUSNESSE would cast upon him Now one especiall privilege or benefit we know belonging to a perfect legall righteousnesse is to free the person in whom it is found from death and condemnation Doe this and thou shalt live and he that hath his sinnes forgiven him is partaker with him in the fullnesse of this privilege is as free from condemnation as he and may with truth and proprietie of speech enough in this respect be either called or accounted a righteous man Thirdly and lastly answere might be made in few words that forgivenesse of sinnes is a true yea a compleate righteousnesse in the kind though it be not a through conformity with the morall Law Remission of sins is a passive righteousnesse as absolute perfect in the kind of it as any active righteousnes which consists in an entire observation of some Law And for him that hath once sinned or ever failed in the observation of the Law there is no other righteousnesse appliable unto him or whereof he is capable but only this passive righteousnesse of forgivenesse of sinnes Which for all other ends purposes advantages privileges whatsoever is as effectuall to him that is invested with it as the active righteousnesse it selfe could be except only for selfe-boasting and glorying in the flesh which is a privilege if it must needs be so called altogether inconsistent with and numeet for the lapsed weake and sinfull condition of man So that God when he hath forgiven any man his sinnes may with abundance both of justice and truth pronounce and call him a righteous man though he be as far from that legall righteousnesse as the East is from the West CAP. XX. Conteyning the 21 22 23 and 24 Reasons to prove the imputation of Faith and the non-imputation of the righteousnesse of CHRIST TRuth may have many Reasons for her SECT 1 though many times she hath but few friends But Reasons give them time will make friends and the usurpation of error will cease from the judgements and understandings of men when her nakednesse and filthinesse shall be discovered But they shall proceed no further saith Paul of men that resist the truth 2 Tim. 3.8.9 and gives this signe or reason of their period approching for their follie shall be manifest unto all them c. Men that either are or would be esteemed wise will owne nothing that is foolish when the follie thereof is made manifest unto them Now as some things are more visible and easier to be seene or discerned then other for the manifestation whereof a lesser light is sufficient whereas things lesse perceptible require an advantage of light more condensed and fortified to make a cleere and distinct representation of themselves to the sight so are some truths in Religion better prepared and fitted for the understandings and judgments of men in themselves and consequently the errors opposite to them have a more pregnant inconsistencie with reason and for the discoverie of such both errors and truths a weaker and fainter light of argumentation is for the most part sufficient but againe there are other truths whose scituation lyeth at a greater distance from those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common principles of reason or that have a more subtile and lesse perceptible connexion with them and for the manifestation of these together with their opposite errors to the judgments and consciences of men many times the most strongest and cleerest and-most multiplied light of discourse and argumentation is found lesse then enough Therefore let us yet contend with some further demonstrations to bring the conclusion laboured for into a cleere and perfect light that it may be no charge or trouble at all to the minds and thoughts of men to receive it That which having bin done in our owne persons Argum. 21 SECT 2 could not have bin our Iustification nor any part of the righteousnesse by which we could have bin justified cannot be made our justification nor any part of it by imputation from another But the righteousnesse of the Law pretended to be imputed from Christ in justification had it been wrought by our selves in our owne persons could not have been our iustification nor any part of that righteousnesse by which we were to be justified Therefore this righteousnesse of Christ cannot be made our justification nor any part of it by imputation from him The major I conceive hath more reason in it then to be denyed If a personall fulfilling of the Law could have bin no justification nor part of justification to us certainly an imputative fulfilling of it could not have bin either The imputation of a thing from another cannot adde any strength or vertue to it above a personall acting or working yea the nature and intent of imputation in the sense we now speake of it is only to supplie the defect of personall performance therefore it cannot exceed it For the minor that the righteousnesse of the Law which was performed by
formally sinners before God if this I say be the meaning of the terme Imputation when it is applyed to Adams sin Transeat let it passe But if the meaning be Adams sin is imputed to his posteritie i. that sinfull act wherein Adam transgressed when heate the forbidden fruit is in the letter and formalitie of it and as it was Adams owne personall sinne imputed to his posteritie so that by this imputation all his posterity are made formally sinners before any part of the punishment of that siâ—ne comes upon them this is an imputation which I am certaine the Scripture wil never justifie neither in the letter of it nor in the spirit of it yea and reason it selfe riseth up against it with a high hand The equitie on Gods part for the involving of Adams posteritie SECT 8 in the punishment due to his first sinne for I do not conceive it to be an act either of district and essentiall justice in God or yet of absolute or pure prerogative but a certaine mixt act betweene both seemeth to be founded upon 3 things Sine dubio potuit Deus si sic ei visum fuisset Adae peccatum aut ipsi condonare aut in ipso tantum ulcisci posterisque omnibus gratiam salutarem co neutiquam obstante liberare gratificari Dr. Twist and yet none of them the act of Adams sinne nor yet the imputation of it But 1º the demerit or sinfullnesse of the sinne which is a thing much differing from the act of it the act of it being principally from God him elfe and that by way of efficiencie properly so called as all Divines unanimously agree but the sinfulnesse of it wholly from the creature Secondly the streightnesse or narrownesse or scantnesse of Adams person Thirdly and lastly that speciall and neere relation that his posterity had to his person From the posture I conceive or standing up of these or the like circumstances before God may be demonstrated the equitie of his proceedings in involving or binding over aswell Adams posterity as his person in and to the same condemnation and punishment with him for his first sinne First for the fullnesse and weight of the demerit or sinfulnesse of it it is almost unconceiveable of what aggravations it is capable of if all those circumstances and considerations were but made to speake home which are able to charge it in this kind Some we touched towards the begining of this Chapter and many others there are which I do not purpose now to insist upon because the sinfullnesse of this sin is generally confessed and acknowledged by all though it be true also there are some circumstances on the other hand which doe much case and lighten the provocation and offensiâ—â—nesse of it as we shall have occasion to shew hereafter in the second part Onely I desire to mention one thing SECT 9 which to my best remembrance I have not often met with under observation in this kind though it be a consideration obvious and neere at hand The sinne of Adam hath this peculiar streyne or burden of sinfulnesse in it wherein it justifieth the sinne even of the reprobate Angells themselves being in that respect a sinne more intolerable then theirs These wicked Angells were entrusted but with their owne portions respectively and therefore what they sinned they sin'd to themselves they sin'd away ruin'd only their personall estates in blessedness But Adam had a deerer and deeper ingagement upon him to keep him upright he had the estates of all his posterity put into his hand and knew that if he sinned and fell he should draw thousands thousands of soules after him into the same perdition with him and those such the things of whose peace safety and welfare the Law of nature it selfe obliged him to provide for with more care and tendernesse then of all other creatures whatsoever being those that were to be his owne naturall children even flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone the ingagement of which relation the Apostle averreth in this respect 2 Cor. 12.14 where he saith that Children ought not to lay up for the Parents but Parents for the Children If it be esteemed a sore brand as well it may upon the wickednesse of Ieroboam that he made Israel to sinne and yet this was no other making to sinne then what possibly might and ought to have bin resisted and withstood by those that were drawne to sinne by it then must it needs be a far soarer charge upon the sinne of Adam who made not Israel onely but the whole world to sinne and that in such a way and by such a making against which there was not the least strength or power in the world to make the least resistance or opposition So then the exceeding sinfulnesse or demerit of this sinne of Adam being granted it cannot be judged any waies unequall in God or repugnant to the rules of justice to inflict an unanswerable measure or weight of punishment upon it Punishment is a kind of payment or recompence for an injury or losse susteyned J paied or restored saith David Psal 69.4 the things that I never tooke i. I went under censure and was punished in my good Name and otherwise for offences whereof I was never guilty The like phrase of restitution by way of punishment you shall finde Iob 20.18 So that now to require or take in punishment valuably to the losse or injury a man hath susteyned hath thus far no appearance of unrighteousnesse in it Therefore 2º SECT 10 consider we further the narrownesse or scantnesse of Adams person of how small receipt or capacitie his vessell was to containe that abundance of wrath or that fulnesse of punishment which God might lawfully require for the great injury or dishonor done unto him in that mighty sin and this will bring you to confesse and acknowledge this further that either God must sit downe by the losse as we use to say and want meanes of coming againe into his owne or else he must looke out beyond Adams person for more to be joyned in the punishment with him to supplie as it were that was wanting in him in that respect In civill and politique States it is not more usuall then equall and reasonable that when the offence is of a very high nature as in the case of Treason and the like c. the punishment should not be confin'd to the person of the offender which how great soever is ever lesse then an offence of that nature but be further extended untill the qualitie of the offence be somewaies answered Vpon this ground of equitie I conceive it was that God would not be satisfied with the personall destruction though in a way of extraordinary judgement of Korah Dathan and Abiram their sin of rebellion against Moses and Aaron riseing to a greater height then so but involved their Families their wives their Sons their little ones yea their Tents and all their goods in the punishment with
yeares in his integritie and uprightnesse without the least touch of any transgression he had still bin a debtor of obedience to the Law upon the same termes that he was at the beginning and the least interruption or breach in the course of his obedience had even now beene the forfeiture of that life hee enjoyed So then this position also is unquestionably true that there needs no other righteousnesse but onely the forgivenesse of or freedome from sinne to give a man a cleare and lawfull title unto life Notwithstanding the Scriptures of the new Testament seeme to place the immediate right or capacitie which beleevers have to the Kingdome of heaven and eternall glory rather in the grace of Adoption or Sunship vouchsafed by God unto them through Jesus Christ then in any righteousnesse whatsoever even remission of sinnes it selfe not excepted as was proved more at large in the 12th Chapter of the former part of this Treatise The reason whereof may haply be this because the life and blessednesse which come by Jesus Christ to the world through Faith are of a farre higher nature excellencie and worth than that life which was covenanted by God with Adam by way of wages for his worke or obedience to the Law and therefore require a higher and fuller and richer capacity or title in the creature to interesse him therein than that did Worke or labour faithfully performed is sufficient to entitle a man to his wages or hire the labourer saith Christ is worthy of his hire but the gift of an inheritance requireth a speciall grace and favour no lesse than of an Adoption to make a man regularly and according to the usuall course of humane transactions capable thereof That satisfaction which Christ made to the justice of God for sin Conclusion 6 SECT 7 and whereby he procured remission of sinnes or perfect righteousnesse and reconciliation with God for those that beleeve See Mr. Gataker against Gomarus p. 4.15.25 And Paraus de Iustit Christi Act. pass p. 168. 180. consists onely in that obedience of his which he performed to that peculiar and speciall Law of mediation which God imposed upon him which we commonly though perhaps not altogether so properly call his passive obedience and not at all in that obedience or subjection which he exhibited to that common Law of nature which we call morall This is evident because nothing can be satisfactory to divine justice for sinne but that which is penall without shedding of blood saith the Apostle Heb. 9.22 there is no remission and consequently no satisfaction for doubtlesse where there is satisfaction there is and may be remission Now that that obedience or subjection which Christ exhibited to the morall Law was no wayes penall to him is evident from hence Penall to him in respect of his Godhead it could not be the divine Nature being no wayes passive in it selfe nor capable of punishment Againe in respect of his humane nature this obedience could not be penall because it was required of man in his innocency and imposed by God upon Adam before his fall yea and still lieth and shall he to the dayes of eternity upon men and Angels yea and upon Jesus Christ himselfe in their glorified conditions Love which the Apostle affirmeth to be the fulfilling or keeping of the Law never falleth away Therefore to make obedience to the morall Law penall is to affirme that man was punished and that by order and appointment from God before his fall or before hee sinned and that the glorified Saints and Angels yea and Iesus Christ himselfe are now punished in heaven Besides the Scriptures themselves no where ascribe this satisfaction we speak of or the work of Redemption nor any part or degree of it to the holinesse innocency or active obedience of Christ but still to his passive See Rom. 3.25 Rom. 5.6 8. 2 Cor. 5.21 Eph. 1.7 Ephe. 2.16 Col. 1.14 Heb. 2.14 Heb. 9.12.14.26 Heb. 10.10 1 Pet. 2.24 1 Pet. 3.18 1 Iohn 1.7 Revel 1.5 c. Besides many other places of like importance Conclusion 7 But this is a point which I have had occasion to prosecute more at large elsewhere SECT 8 where I have fully answered that common answer and exception to these and such like Scriptures See Mr. Gataker against Gomarus p. 8.19.20 c. Qui verò obedientiae activae aut sanctitati nativae meritum justitia ascribunâ— mortem Christi fine dubio inanem reddunt Par. de Iustic Christi Activa Pasâ—va p. 181.182 that they are all figurative and by a Synechdoche expresse the whole by mentioning only a part Therefore I shall not further insist upon this here If Christ had fulfilled and kept the Law for us i. in our steed till the utmost period of his life there had beene no occasion or necessity of his dying for us There is no light clearer than this For if we stand before God by vertue of the perfect obedience of Christs life imputed to us as our owne righteousnesse and obedience to the Law perfectly righteous we are no more obnoxious to the curse of the Law and consequently have no neede of any satisfaction to divine justice nor of any remission of sinnes by blood Duo ista pronustciata Christuâ— sanguinis effusione redemit nes ab execratione legis Christus obedientiam prâ—stitit proâ—â—â—bis implicant contradictionem Piscator There needs nothing more to a perfect justification than a perfect righteousnesse or a perfect fulfilling of the Law This the Apostle clearely layeth downe Gal. 2.21 If righteousnesse be by the Law whether performed by our selves or by another for us for there is the same reason of both in respect of justification then Christ is dead in vaine This proposition is so cleare and full of the light of its owne truth that both Piscator and Pareus heretofore and Mr. Gataker of late have not simply affirmed but with more than an ordinary confidence avouched that to hold an imputation of the active obedience of Christ amounts to no lesse than an abrogation of his death But this consequence also I remember I have argued more at large in the 13. Chap. of the former Part of this Treatise and therefore for the present leave it Conclusi 8 That Vnion and Communion which true beleevers have with Christ SECT 9 doth no wayes require or suppose any such imputation of his righteousnesse unto them as is conceived That Vnion and Communion which the wife hath with the husband doth not require that whatsoever the husband hath should be imputed to the wife or that the wife should be reputed to have whatsoever the husband hath The wife is not reputed wise because the husband is wise she may be weake and simple notwithstanding and justly so reputed to be neither is the honestie or faithfulnesse of the husband in marriage so imputed to the wife and therefore she must be reputed faithfull and honest in the same kinde The wife may be
description of this cause given of Iustification is God himselfe Father Son and Holy Ghost considered is one and the same simple and intire essence though this act of justification as that of creation and some others besides is in special manner appropriated to the first person of the three the Father as other acts are to the other two persons Redemption to the Son Sanctification to the Holy Ghost c. in both which notwithstanding all the three persons being but one and the same intâ—re and undivided essence must needs be interesâ—ed Thus Rom. 8.33 where it is said that it is God that justifieth it is meant by way of appropriation of God the Father because there is mention made of Christ the second person immediately it is Christ that is dead c. Now that God is that kinde of cause of Iustification which hath bin attributed to him and no other is evident from the description of this cause formerly layd downe Sect. 4. of this Chapter For 1º that he is a cause of Iustification is the consent of all men without exception besides the Scripture lately cited Rom. 8. is full and pregnant this way It is God that justifieth 2º that he is neither the matter nor the forme of Iustification is sufficiently evident of it selfe neither did ever any man affirme either the one or the other of him and besides we shall cleere this further when we come to inquire after these causes 3º that he is not the end or finall cause of Iustification appeares from that property or condition of this cause mentioned Sect. 3. viz that it is to be atteyned or receive it's being by meanes of that thing whereof it is the end which cannot be verified of God or his being in respect of Iustification inasmuch as these no way depend upon it This likewise will further appeare when we come to lay downe the finall cause Therefore 4º and lastly he must of necessity be the efficient cause of Iustification there being no fift kinde of cause whereunto he should be reduced Secondly SECT 10 that he is the principall efficient cause and not instrumentall is evident also because he is not assum'd acted or made use of by any other in or about the justification of a sinner but himselfe projecteth the whole frame and cariage of all things yea and manageth and maketh use of all things instrumentally concurring or belonging thereunto It is God that justifieth the Gentiles by or through Faith Gal. 3.8 so Rom. 3.30 c. God maketh use of Faith and so of his word and of the Ministers of his word to produce Faith in the hearts of men and consequently to justifie them but none of these can be said to act or make use of God in or about this great effect Thirdly that he is the Naturall efficient cause of Iustification according to the notion and description of this cause given Sect. 5. is evident because in the exercising or putting forth this act of Iustification he acteth and worketh out of that authority and power which are essentiall and connaturall to him and not out of any superadded or acquired principle of art or otherwise whereof he is wholly uncapable It is true he is moved to the exercise of this act of â—ustifying men by somewhat that is extrinsecall and not essentiall to him viz. the intercession of the death and sufferings of Christ yet the act it selfe in the exercise of it proceeds by vertue of that authority and power which are estentiall to him as hath bin said No creature can be said to justifie or forgive any man his sinnes no not by Christ but God alone Who can forgive sinnes but God onely Mar. 2.7 Fourthly SECT 11 the Morall or internall impulsive cause of Iustification as it is an act of God is that infinite love goodnesse mercy sweetnesse and graciousnesse in God himselfe towards his poore creature Man looked upon as miserable and lying under condemnation for sinne This was the moving and procuring cause of the guift of Christ and his death and sufferings from him and consequently of that justification which is procured and purchased by Christ and his sufferings So God loved the world that hee gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life viz by Iustification through him Ioh. 3.16 Fiftly the externall Morall or impulsive efficient cause of this act of God is the Lord Iesus Christ himselfe in or through his death and sufferings or which is the same the death and sufferings of Iesus Christ God looking upon Christ as such and so great a sufferer for the sinnes of men is thereby strengthened and provoked to deliver those that beleeve in him from their sinnes and that condemnation which is due unto them i. to justifie them The Scripture is cleere in laying downe this cause Even as God for Christs sake freely forgave you viz. your sinnes i. justified you Ephe. 4.32 Those words for Christs sake are a plaine and perfect character of that kinde of cause we now speake of This with the former i. both internall and externall impussive or moving causes are joyn'd together Rom. 3.24 And are justified freely by his grace here is the inward impulsive cause of Justification through the Redemption that is in Christ Iesus viz. by meanes of his death and sufferings here is the outward moving cause we speake of Neither can the Death and sufferings of Christ with any shew of reason or with any tolerable construction or congruitie of speaking be referred to any other cause in the businesse of justification but the impulsive only He that would make Christ the instrumentall cause of Iustification (a) Mr. Walker Socinian discovered c. p. 138. discovers himselfe to be no great Gamaliel in this learning and had need thrust his Faith out of doores as he doth in many places and not suffer it to have any thing at all to doe about his Iustification least his Christ and his Faith should be corrivalls and contend for preheminence therein And yet more repugnant to reason is it to make either Christ himselfe or any righteousnesse of his whatsoever either the matter or materiall cause of Justification which yet the Socinian Discoverer doth (b) Ibid. p. 139 or the forme or formall cause thereof which is done by some others But that is a streyne of unreasonablenesse above all the rest to make either Christ or his righteousnesse both the formall and materiall cause too of this great act of God we speake of the Justification of a sinner these causes being of so opposite a nature and different consideration as hath bin described and yet even this conceit also hath found enterteynment with some To this kinde of cause we now speake of must be reduced also the active or personall righteousnesse of Christ as farre as it hath any influence into or any waies operates towards the justificatioÌ„ of a siner For though it be not satisfactory
the judgment of the best Expositors of the Protestant party ALL errour and mistake in matters of Christian Religion SECT 1 is occasioned either in the conception or continuance or both by somwhat which God in the Scriptures hath well said but is by men not well understood And as Gregory long since well observ'd it in matter of practise (a) Cum vitium virtus putatur culpa fine meâ—n cumulatur Greg Do Paster Cur. l 3. c. 1. that when men conceive of sinne under the notion of a duty there it is committed with an high hand and without measure the reason whereof is because conscience and concupiscence are then in conjunction which for the most part are in opposition about the committing of sin whereby the course of it is somwhat broken and impaired so it is likewise in point of judgement when men conceive of their by-thoughts and misapprehensions as countenanced from Heaven in the Scriptures their confidence lifts up it selfe very high and the mildest contradiction is little lesse then an abhomination unto them The reason whereof I conceive to be this the opinion in this case being their owne must needs have a strong and perfect sympathie with all the powers of nature yet unsanctified and so must needs engage these and then againe being look'd upon as a truth of a divine parentage and issuing from God by means of this apprehension it engageth all the powers of Grace and of the new man also to contend for it And thus what by the nature and substance of it on the one hand being erronious and sinfull and what by the appearance and shew of it on the other hand being as if it were indeed spirituall and divine it is apt to transport a man with an extasie of zeale even above himselfe for the maintenance of it and to inspire him with resolutions of sacrificeing credit Name estate friends himselfe upon the honour and service of it in case it be opposed Now amongst many signes that might be given of an opinion of that very frame and constitution we speak of darknesse for substance and light in appearance this is one of frequent observation when the maintainers of it are ambitious to heap up citations of Scripture proofes without end and to overwhelm their adversaries with Divine testimonies For as the saying is Nusquam est qui ubique est he that is every where is no where so it is much to be suspected that such an opinion is no where in the Scriptures which is pretended to be every where When men sharke about for Scriptures and cannot find those that willingly and freely offer themselves in the service of an opinion but labour and toyle as it were in the fire to redeem the defect of full and pregnant proofes with multitudes and numbers of such as they can find it is a ground of much suspicion that the opinion is not of God but of men The Scriptures are many which are mustered up by the Masters of that way of Imputation which we oppose for the service of their opinion but amongst them all there is not one that comes roundly on or that speaketh plainly or directly to the businesse in hand which is a plaine signe that it is not indeed they that speak at all but the spirit of the men that speaketh in them whatsoever they seem to speake in this kind I make no question but I shall be able to give a thorough and perfect accompt of what I now affirme by a particular examination of the Scriptures themselves alledged in that behalfe The greatest part of them I conceive have bin occasionally touch'd already and in part cleered in this discourse But because a true and solid understanding of them carryes the maine stroke in the Question and controversie depending I thought good to assigne an intire Chapter for the interpretation and solution of them so that the Reader may more readily know where to find and whither to repaire for explication of them al together I begin with those usually alledged from the old Testament which are not many The first place is Psal SECT 2 32.1 Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven Psal 32.1 2. Answered whose sinne is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not transgression c. The covering of sin mentioned in the middle clause is by some conceived to be the righteousnes or active obedience of Christ which God imputing to beleevers covereth all their sinnes therewith To this I Answer 1. That some of our best Expositors conceive all the three expressions here mentioned to be but synonymous i. of one and the same signification and importance and yet with all conceive this variety to be emphaticall and to note that abundance of Grace in God whereby our sins are forgiven Doctor Ames in his sixt Document upon this Psalme carryes the tenour of these passages thus (a) Magâ—a est Dei gratia qua peccata nostra remittuntur Hoc eo ipso innuitur quod taÌ„ emphatica repetitione et quasi congerie verborum declaraâ—ar quia rei tantae nulla sufflcis Orationis forma Amesius in Psal 32. Document 6. Et â—ex Gratia Dei abundans est ad â—mnia peccata tollenda levat tegit et non imputat And Luther in his Summarie of the Psalme is not farre from it (b) Iustitia nostra propriè est remissio peccatorum seu ut loquitur Psalmus peccata non imputare peccata regere Luther in Summ. Ps 32. Peccatorum remissionem tribus loquendi generibus exprimit quae tamen omnia in idem cadunt Sâ—ph Fabrit in Psal 32. Parcus likewise on Rom. 47. is of the same judgement and cites Ambrose with him 2. For those two expressions not-imputing of sin and covering of sinne Calvin holds them to be the same in sence and signification and that they are of the same importance with those other Scripture phrases where God is said not to remember sinne to blot it out to cast it behind his backe or into the depths of the Sea and the like and moreover cites Augustine as his Predecessour in this Interpretation (c) Peccatorum non recordari est ea non postulare ad poenam Id ipsum alibi dicitur proij ere post tergum delere in star nubu demergere in profundum maris non imputare tectumque habere Certè si punit Deus peccata imputat Si vindicat recordatur si ad judicium vocat tecta non habet c. Atque in hune moduâ— interpretatur Augustin claru verbis c. Calvin Inst lib. 3 c 4. So that none of all these with twenâ—y more that might be put to them never dreamt of the righteousnesse of Christ lying so close under this covering of sin 3. Neither can sinne be said to be covered with the righteousnes i. the active obedience of Christ since according to the grounds and principles of that very opinion against which we argue sinne is wholly
needing no further attonement himselfe for the people Heb. 7.27 So then evident it is that howsoever the infinitenesse of the merit and satisfactorinesse of the death and sufferings of Christ hath its resultance and rise from the Divine nature yet could no such merit or satisfactorinesse have taken place in respect of others had not Christ as man or his humane nature wherein he suffered bin perfectly righteous and free from all sinne that so he might stand in no need at all himselfe of that sacrifice which himselfe offered of himselfe Dying righteous and being God his death holds out weight and worth merit and satisfaction for the whole world whereas had he died a sinner in the least degree though his death by reason of the Godhead personally united to that created nature wherein in such a case he were supposed to suffer had bin of infinite value and satisfaction for otherwise it could not have bin expiatorie for himselfe there being every whit as much required for the attoning of one mans sinne as is for the sinne of the whole world yet had the infinitnesse of this satisfaction extended only to himselfe and to the purging of his owne sinne and not so much as to one other In so much that in this case had he meant to have propitiated for the world after he had once died and overcame death for himselfe he must have returned againe into the infirmitie of the flesh and have suffered death the second time Vpon this consideration doubtlesse it is that the Holy Ghost tendering the satisfaction and peace of the consciences of beleevers touching the fulnesse and unquestionablenesse of their redemption and salvation by the death of Christ still inserteth the mention of his perfect righteousnesse when he speaketh of his death or sufferings for them By his knowledg shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall beare their iniquities that is the punishment due to their iniquities Esa 53.11 manifestly implying that there is a great weight and moment in the righteousnesse of Christs person to assure or secure the consciences of men coÌ„cerning their justification by his death You may please at leysure to peruse and compare these Scriptures further being all with many more of the same consideration 2 Cor. 5.21 Heb. 9.14 1 Pet. 1.19 1 Pet. 2.22 23.24 c. Thus then we have at least discovered another great end of the righteousnesse or active obedience of Christ viz the qualification of his person at least in part for that meritoriousnesse of his death which may stand the world in stead for their justification So that there is no necessitie at all of having recourse to the pretended imputation for salving the necessitie or usefulnesse of it By what we have reasoned in this last passage it appeares how little substance of truth there is in that which some much insist upon SECT 9 as a confirmation of the argument now under debate viz. that the bare union of the God-head with the flesh or humane nature of Christ did sufficiently qualifie it for a sacrifice they meane for a sacrifice of that same expiatorie value and vertue which now it is so that in this respect at least there could be no necessitie or use of his fuâ—fiâ—â—ing the Law Doubtlesse the men of this affirmation either do not consider the necessitie of that personall integritie in Christ which we lately demonstrated and which the Scriptures from place to place insinuate or else they conceive that Christ man might have bin righteous without doing the works of righteousnesse that is without keeping the Law which is all one as if they should say he might have bin righteous though he had transgressed For not to keepe the Law in those to whom the Law is given is nothing else but to transgresse If they thinke to relieve themselves with this interpretation of their notion that if Christ had suffered in the first houre or instant of his incarnation or immediatly after the personal union of the two natures his sacrifice had bin of equall value merit and satisfaction with what now it is and yet in this case he had not fulfilled or kept the Law I answere that this interpretation is every whit as unfound and inconsistent with reaâ—on as the text it selfe For First let this supposition be admitted that Christ might have suffered in the Womb and that this suffering of his had bin as fully satisfactorie for the world as those sufferings are which he hath now endured yet had he bin as perfectly righteous in this case and consequently had observ'd and kept the Law as perfectly as now he hath done For the Law requireth of Infants during their Infancie nothing but integritie and holinesse of nature which doubtlesse the Lord Christ had from the first moment of his conception a child or infant thus qualified I meane with holines integritie of nature keepeth the Law as perfectly exactly as a man living to 30 or 40 yeares of age should do in case he never traÌ„sgrest But Secondly SECT 10 this interpretation drawes the saying it selfe quite besides the businesse in hand and makes it a meere impertinencie to the present question For when we affirme the righteousnesse of Christs life or his obedience to the Morall Law to be of absolute necessitie for the qualification of his person for a meet sacrifice our meaning is not that there was an absolute necessitie that he should have kept the Law upon the same termes every waies which now he hath done as that he should performe the same individuall acts of obedience or the same number of acts in case he had bin called to the suffering of death any whit sooner then now he was but that untill the very houre and instant wherein he should suffer whether it were sooner or later he should in all things submit himselfe unto the good will and pleasure of God concerning him aswell in that generall Law which requires obedience of all men besides which we call Morall as in that particular and speciall Law of Mediator which was given unto and imposed upon himselfe alone Such an indefinite righteousnesse as this we judge and have I suppose unanswerably proved to have bin simply necessarie in Christ for the raising of that sacrifice of himselfe to that height of acceptation in the behalfe of others which now it hath found at the hand of God But however suppose this necessitie or use of the righteousnesse of Christ could not be sufficiently cleared yet since there are many others of undeniable evidence the position so much contended for viz. that the God-head of Christ sufficiently qualified him for such a sacrifice as he was makes nothing at all for the imputation of his righteousnesse in the sense pretended Therefore we shall not trouble either our selves or our Reader any further with untying an impertinent knot But Seventhly SECT 11 as Christ was a sacrifice so was he and yet is and is to be for ever Heb. 7.17 c.