Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	mystical_a	person_n	union_n	3,769	5	10.8414	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45151	Peaceable disquisitions which treat of the natural and spiritual man, preaching with the demonstration of the Spirit, praying by the Spirit, assurance, the Arminian grace, possibility of heathens salvation, the reconciliation of Paul and James, the imputation of Christ's righteousness, with other incident matters : in some animadversions on a discourse writ against Dr. Owen's Book of the Holy Spirit / by John Humfrey ...	Humfrey, John, 1621-1719.	1678 (1678)	Wing H3702; ESTC R21932	66,481	118

Communication with Christ cannot indeed be rationally thought on but we must conceive of some Vnion presently which is the ground of it But there is a double Union between Christ and us The one is by taking upon him our Nature and the other by giving us his Spirit The blessed Commutation the Dr. speaks of does not depend upon that Union which we have with him by the Communication of his Spirit for this indeed is no waies any effect thereof But it does depend on the Union which he hath with us in taking upon him our Flesh Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also took part of the same Again He took not on him the nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham and in that seed our Nature and as he took our nature he took on him our sins for he took our nature only to this end that he might redeem Man when the Angels whose nature he took not were not redeemed Wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me A body is prepar'd for Christ that he may be a sacrifice to answer those Types under the Law which without him could signifie nothing The Beast for the Propitiatory Sacrifice had the sins of Israel laid on him and this is exhibited in that saying of John Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world And of that in Peter Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree It is manifest then that this Commutation which consists in Christ's taking upon him our sins that he might be a sacrifice for them and fulfilling the duty of the whole Law which we were bound unto but broke to procure new terms in the performance whereof we might be righteous and so accepted upon the account of his merits which is his becoming sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him as I have said before and have need to say again does belong to that Union which Christ hath with Mankind according to that Text in the Hebrews He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are of one that is of one flesh as appears by what follows and not to that Union which he hath with his Members only according to that Text in the Corinths He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit that is it belongs to that Union which is Hypostatical in Christ's taking our nature with the Divine Nature into one person and not to that Union which is Mystical according to the supposition of the Dr. There is a distinction then to be remembred which we have often in Scripture and that is of Christ in the Flesh and Christ in the Spirit We must make a difference accordingly between what he did for us as he was in the flesh and what he does for us in the Spirit or by it That which he did for us in the Flesh I speak it indefinitely must belong to All for the flesh he took was the flesh of All and hence is he said to die for All to taste Death for every man to be a propitiation not for our sins only but for the sins of the world That which he does for us in the Spirit is peculiar to his Members and the Elect to whom he gives it I speak of the Spirit as a principle of Union and Life in Christ and not as Author of common gists I argue now It is certain that the Righteousness Christ performed and the Sacrifice he made for us was performed and made in the Flesh It is certain that in this Righteousness and Sacrifice is contained all that he undertook in our behalf as he sustained our part in the work of his Mediation for Man's Redemption It is certain that the Commutation the Dr. speaks of must be supposed unto Christ's sustaining our part in this work It is certain consequently that this Commutation and the part Christ sustained in the performing this Righteousness and offering this Sacrifice does belong to Christ in the Flesh and so must be universal for all the world and does not belong to Christ in the Spirit to be appropriated to his Church or Members only which is this Learned Drs. apprehension throughout his Book Let us distinguish then now at last between the Impetration of our Redemption and all those benefits we have by Christ and the Application of them The Impetration belongs to Christ in the Flesh and the Application to Christ in the Spirit I mean by Impetration obtaining by Sacrifice and Merit and distinguish it from Intercession Christ took our Flesh to procure our Redemption he gives us his Spirit to apply it Now I have this notion to offer the Dr. under his correction if I be out and under his candour to receive it if it be light that this blessed Commutation he speaks of and rightly magnifies does go to the Impetration of our Redemption and the benefits we have by Christ and not to the Application If this Commutation between Christ and us of his Righteousness for our sins did go to or was made in the Application I see not how any more than one man could have it If Christ makes the Commutation with Peter and so takes his sins and gives him his Righteousness in exchange this Righteousness of Christ must now be Peter's and so Paul and James and John cannot have it It must not be therefore conceived sure that this Commutation is made with particular persons or that it does go into the Application but that it goes into the Impetration of those benefits we have by Christ which being procured for all upon condition there is no particular person but by the performing that condition alike may and by that means only can enjoy them one with another To make this quite clear there is but one cloud to be removed which does as I suppose hang on the mind of most in thinking something more of the Spirit 's Application of what Christ hath done for us or of his Merits and Righteousness to the soul than there is But this is all that I am able to understand of this Application to wit that the Spirit by his grace enables us to perform the conditions upon which these benefits are procured for us and so they become ours and the Merits and Righteousness of Christ are said to be so in regard to those effects They are ours for the Impetration of these benefits but they cannot be ours in themselves that is not ours in regard to the Application What. Christ did for us in the Flesh was to reconcile our salvation to God's glory and the ends of Government What Christ does in the Spirit is to reconcile our spirits to what God requires of us and so to qualifie us for our possession of the benefits which he hath purchased in the flesh The benefits are ours and we enjoy them as being impetrated for