only God 2. As he hath assumed our Nature into Union with his Person and so is God-Man 3. As he hath a Mystical Union with all the Members of his Church or with all Believers in which sense he is also called Christ 1 Cor. 12. 12. and under which of these considerations he is a party in this Covenant is variously apprehended Here then we may conclude 1. That Christ Mystical is not the party in this Covenant my meaning iâ— that the Members of Christ or his Spiritual Seed were not joyntly Covenanters with him here The People of God are considered as a party in the Covenant of Grace with whom God Indents through a Mediator but they have no such consideration here It is true they are taken notice of in this Covenant yea it is for them that Happiness was contrived and secured in it but that is as they stand related to the Terms of it The Elect are not Agents but Patients here There is nothing in it required of them to be done by them but all is to be done for them They are not Undertakers but are Undertaken for Isa 53. 10. and this is one difference between these two Covenants 2. Hence it is the Person of Christ alone that is the Party It must be either Christ personal or Christ Mystical not the latter as is already declared He was alone in this Undertaking He only was to perform the work of Redemption and had no Coadjutor Isa 63. 3. Redemption-work is appropriated to him As he was to have the whole honour of our deliverance paid unto him so that none might share with him in the Glory of it he took none into Partnership with him in the work but took it wholly upon himself nay there was none in Heaven or Earth to be found to Undertake in this Business besides him and therefore he stood alone in it 3. Christ meerly considered as the Eternal Son of God and the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity and not as God and Man by the Assumption of our Nature is the other party in this Covenant I know there are weighty Divines of another Perswasion who labour by many arguments to prove that the Son of God was looked upon as in our nature or with respect to the Futurition of his assuming it in the Indenting of this Covenant But I suppose that conception will overthrow the very notion of a Covenant in this matter The present conclusion that hath now been laid down will be apparent by these things 1. This is as hath already been observed called a Covenant only by way of Analogy as it is accommodated to our understanding it being nothing else but that Article in the Decree which concerns the Redemption of Man by Christ There must therefore be such an Analogy observed in our conceptions of it and it must be Interpreted by notions proper to a Covenant Now though the Father and the Son be one in Essence and so have not two Wills but one undivided yet they are Two Persons and as such are conceived by us as consulting deliberateing and concluding about things hence the Divine Persons are so represented Gen. 1. 26. and the reason of it is because the things done are to our manner of conception the Fruits of Counsel That there was not only a Divine Will in the Father sending but also in the Son consenting to be sent by him we must needs entertain else we can have no rational and regular notion of a person sending and of a Person sent Although these are but one Will yet it comes under a distinct consideration by us though the manner of it be above our conception 2. Christ not only as he is Man but also as he is Son is in the Oeconomical Dispensation of things Subordinate to his Father Though in the Divine Essence he is Equal as he is God for where there is a compleat sameness there must needs be a perfect equality yet in the Oeconomy of the Administration of the Affairs of his Kingdom he is Subordinate The meer Assumption of our Humanity did not make him so for his Person was not degraded by his Incarnation he was still in regard of that In the Form of God and counted it no Robbery to be Equal with him Phil. 2. 6. but he voluntarily complied with his order This is the common consent of Orthodox Divines and that according to Scripture Gal. 14. 29. My Father is greater than I. Not as â—he is God for so he asserts Joh. 20. 30. My Father and I am one but as he is the Father considering Christ not as man but as Son For this reason he is said to be Sent by the Father which must needs have reference to the Eternal Covenant and that this relates to his Person therein appears because how else can we Terminate the Incarnation upon the Son as the Person assuming 3. Though it be true that without the Humane Nature Assumed by the Son of God the work of Redemption could not have been performed by him which is the main stress of the reasonings for the other assertion yet the Son of God both could and did undertake for the doing of this work without the Humane Nature Assumed The Incarnation therefore of the Son of God is rather a Condition of Redemption or a thing requisite in him who was to be a Redeemer in order to his fitness to go through with that great Undertaking than a quality needed to render him a party Though the Son of God could not actually Redeem us but in our Nature yet without our Nature he could Covenant to Redeem us Though he could not perform Obedience active or passive to the Law but in our Nature which was only concerned in this Obedience as to the actual performance of it yet he could Undertake without it to obey the Law in it and that is sufficient with respect to his Covenanting about it 4. The Son of God became man according to Covenant and therefore is not tobe considered as man in the act of Covenanting The Incarnation of the Son of God was one Article in this Covenant as will be afterwards observed it was one of the things undertaken by him and for which he engaged The futurition therefore of his being man depended upon this proposal and undertaking and for that reason must needs presuppose it Nor was it necessary that the person Covenanting must so be looked upon as man for the Saving of the Elect before his actual coming in the Flesh it was sufficient that the person was designed to this before time by promise or Covenant 5. The Covenant of Redemption was an Eternal Covenant and therefore the party as such must come under an Eternal consideration and that could only be in regard of his being the Eternal Son of God or with respect to his Divine Personality Though in the Decree Christ is no sooner appointed to be a Redeemer than he is designed to be man and therefore this also had an
Satisfaction for all the breaches made upon it It will have Reparation for all damages and Thunders Curses upon all that become Transgressors of it in any one Artiâ—le Gal. 3. 10. and God whose honour stands engaged to it to see that there be no injury offered to it will take care that it shall be answered to the least punctâ—lio Math. 5. 18. This Law being at first given for a Rule of Relative Justice must be exactly kept to so that there is no indulgence to be expected 3. Hence without the coming in and undertaking of a sufficient Surety there can be no discharge to man who is become a Delinquent The Scripture tells us that the Sinner is Guilty that he is bound fast that he is concluded or shut up under Sin The word that is Translated is in danger Mat. 5. 21. Signines is held fast It is a Metaphor from a condemned man who is manacled or fettered against the day set for his Execution Now the Law sets no such at liberty but by an exchange If it remove the Curse by taking it off from the Sinner some other must become a Curse in his room Gal. 3. 12. 2 Cor. 5. ult and it must be one that is sufficient one that can and will make reparation for that Sin otherwise the Sin is not legally punished 3. That none but the person of the Son of God could be a suitable and sufficient Surety for sinning man This will best appear if we consider what was requisite in such a Surety viz. 1 He must be one that might be both God and Man in One Person The nature of this Suretiship having a reference to the Law of the first Covenant required that he must be Man because it was Man that had sinned Heb. 2 14. The nature of the work to be done in this state of Suretiship made it necessary that he should be God as will appear in the following Considerations Now though the reason why this best suited the Second person in the Trinity rather than any other be abstruse to us yet in the Oeconomy of these affairs it better became the Son than any of the other persons It was meet that the Father should appoint the person and that the Holy Ghost should finish this Affair which is done in Application but Redemption which must Intervene best suited the Order of personality to be the Province of the Second Person 2. He must be one whose Obedience must be of equivalent worth to that of all those for whom he became a Surety and whatever may be pleaded in point of Active Obedience that that of a meer man might answer the Covenant for the First Adams would have done if he had stood who was but a meer man yet as to Passive Obedience or Suffering Adam could not expiate his own Guilt by suffering much less that of his posterity who are every one of them become guilty It could not be any less a personage that might engage on this account than the Son of God the Law else could not have been satisfied but violence must have been done to Relative Justice if the Debtor be discharged before all his Debts are paid He must be one that could put an Infinite merit into his Obedience who could do this and who but the Son of God had this ability 3. Hence he must be one able to bear and not sink under the weight of all the wrath which man had pulled down upon himself by his Sin Now this was Infinite Wrath and therefore the power that was requisite for the sustaining of it must needs exceed that of a meer Creature This was the Glory of his Redemption that the Work was laid upon one who was mighty to Save Isa 63. 1. Psal 89. 19. If he had broken under it the design had surely miscarried and the Salvation of Fallen Man had still been left an hopeless thing 4. He must be one whom God the Father could accept of and take content in None could force a Surety upon him no Law tied him to accept of any it was his meer pleasure to do it had he refused it from one that was never so sufficient it had been no Injustice Needs therefore must it be one in whom he could confide whom he could trust and devolve this work upon and such only was his own Son There was none found in Heaven or Earth besides but of him he gave that Testimony Math. 3. 17. 5 He must be one who bare us good will and took delight in the work of Redemption It was certainly a very great Love to Mankind that could move him to engage in such an Undertaking as this to expose himself to so sore a Travail of Soul and submit to undergo such grievous things as it was requisite for him to do in the making of satisfaction to the Justice of God and answering all the demands of the Law and tâ—ere was none but the Son of God that encertained such a respect for poor man in his misery but he did Prov. 8. 31. c. Ezek. 26. 5. 4. That the Son of God could not become actually engaged to be mans Surety so as that our Redemption should be secured by it but only by a Covenant and this will be manifest in the consideration of these things 1. It was absolately free for the Son of God to chuse whether he would be a Redeemer and Surety or no. The Son of God is a Divine Person and hath all personal properties belonging to him Now one thing proper to a Person is to be Intelligent and by consequence to have a power of Election Christ was no Surety by nature it was none of his either Essential or Personal Properties and he could not be so by Coaction for he is the Eternal Jehovah and therefore cannot be compelled The Apostle plaiâ—ly asserts his full liberty in this matter in Phil. 2. 6 7. 2 God the Father was not absolutely bound to accept any satisfaction at thâ— hands of a surety Had the Son offered it yet his Suretiship could not have beeâ— authentick but by the intervention of thâ— Fathers voluntary consent Iâ— God haâ— said and resolved that fallen man should bear his own punishment and there should be no substitute accepted in â—iâ— room who should have opposed him he had Justice on his side man waâ— the sinner yea and he did so say concerning the fallen Angels and thereforâ— they are all of them reserved in everlasting Chains The case was criminal and an exchange of an offender for an innocent person to suffer in his room is scarcely allowable among men to be sure the Judge may righteously refuse it Nor did it flow from Gods natural love to mankind for he had as much for the Angelical nature and for the residue of men who were not included in this Covenant it must then be of his free choice 3 Hence it follows that neither could the work be sure to be done nor the reward of the work be
THE Doctrine OF THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION Wherein is laid the Foundation of all our HOPES and HAPPINESS Briefly Opened and Improved By Samuel Willard Teacher of a Church in BOSTON Psal 89. 3. I have made a Covenant with my Chosen I have Sworn to David my Servant Boston Printed by Benj. Harris over-againâ—â—â—e 5wordâ—-House 1â—92 To the Reader THE Great and Glorious God who has an absolute Dominion over his Creatures might had he pleased have dealt with Men in a way of Soveraignty only requiring Duty and Obedience from them without any promise of reward But he has seen Good to transact with them in a Covenant way There are but Two Covenants essentially differeing which the Most High has made with men Viz. That of Works And that of Grace The first Covenant which man whilst in Paradise was concerned in is rightly termed a Covenant of Works because Works or Doing was the Condition of it Thiâ— was soon broken and so made Null 〈◊〉 then the Lord out of his Infinite Goodness was pleased to establish another Covenant The first was made with a Righteous Pâ—â—son and so a Covenant of Worâ—â— between the Holy God and him This latter was made with sinners and is therefore a Covenant of Reconciliation And it is sitly stiled the Covenant of Grace Not but that there was Grace in the First Covenant for His Divine Majesty did infinitely condescend in binding himself to his Creature but to do thus to a fallen forlorn sinful Creature is by way of Eminent Grace The Scripture speaketh expresly of Two Covenants Gal 4. 24. And that not only as Diverse but as Opposite and differeing in their Natures The Law of Faith is set in direct opposition to the Law of Works Rom. 3. 27. For a man to find the Life of his hands to live by his own Righteousness and for him to depend solely upon the Righteousness of another that is of Jesus Christ for Life and Salvation are contrary things And from thence it is impossible for a man to be under both the Covenants at the same time he cannot be the Child of two Mothers the Child of Hagar and of Sarah too That the Covenant of Grace has for the substance of it been the same in all Ages differing only in Circumstances as to the manner of dispensations is denied by the Old Pelagians and by Socinians Arminians and some Baptists at this day But the Scripture assureth us That Believers under the Old-Testament were not made perfect without us Heb. 11. 40. They we are saved by the same Christ by the same Covenant the Mediator of the Covenant has always been the same Yesterday to day for ever the same The Son of God was an Intercessor for his People before his Incarnation Zach. 1 12. Believers under the Old-Testament were secured by him Neither is there salvation in any other If then the Partriarchs were saved as we know they were it was by Jesus Christ No man was ever saved since the world began but by him Under the Old-Testament Faith in Christ was necessary in order to Justification Salvation To him give all the Prophets Witness that through his Name whoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins Promises which do concern Spiritual and Eternal as well as Temporal blessings were made to Old-Testament believers Our Saviour proveth that the bodys of Saints shall have a Glorious Resurrection to Eternal Life from the Covenant made with Abraham They of old Looked for a City which has Foundations whose maker and builder is God Which if Heaven and not Temporal Blessings only had not been Promised them they would not have done Now if there is an Identity as to the Mediator the Condition the promises of the Covenant made with Believers in the days of the Old Testament and of the New the Covenant must needs be effectually the same When therefore by the Old the New-Covenant that of Works and of Grace are intended the distribution is of the Genus into its Species But when the Covenant of Grace as under the Legal or Evangelical dispensation is meant so it often is in the Scripture the distinction is of the same subject according to its various adjuncts There is another Covenant which that of Grace is built upon Viz. The Covenant of Redemption That there have been blessed Transactions between God the Father and the Son from the Days of Eternity concerning the Salvation of the Elect is a glorious Truth which not the light of nature but only the written word of God has revealed That speaketh of Gods Purpose and Grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world began and of Eternal Life promised before the world began These transactions were Foederal The father said of the Son im Tasim si posuerit If he shall make his Soul an offering for Sin Isa 53. 10. Whatever is required to a compleat formal Covenant between two distinct Persons is to be affirmed concerning what has passed between God and Christ with respect unto the Redemption of those that were from Eternity given to him Articles of Agreement to speak after our Nature have been concluded accepted and exactly kept unto by them both On this account the Lord Christ is said to be a Surety He is not only Fidejussor but Expromissor He has so undertaken to answer for his Elect as that they were many of them set at liberty before the price of their Redemption was actually payed that by vertue of this Covenant wherein the Father did take the word of his Son Jesus Christ that the thing should in due time be performed As to the Efficacy of his Death He was slain from the Foundation of the World Believers that dyed in the beginning of time went to heaven because the Son of God had promised to lay down his life to satisfy divine justice in their behalf Concerning the Covenant of Grace this Author has Published a judicious Treatise ten years since whereby the Churches have been edified He has here with the like solidity discoursed on the Covenant of Redemption shewing himself a workman that needs not be ashamed The Reader will find therein Gospel Mysteries with Brevity and yet Perspicuity which is rare explained confirmed applyed so as that both Learned and Unlearned God has made us Debtors unto both may thereby be built up in their most Holy Faith in some more disputable Points He expresseth his own Judgement without reflecting on those whom He differs from It has been controverted amongst very Learned men whether it is consistent with the Rectoral Holiness of that God who cannot look upon iniquity to pardon sin without satisfaction made to his injured justice Grotius Vossius Voetius Turretin Heidan and of our own Divines the great Owen and Mr. Burgess have inclined to the Negative in the Question mentioned But others of great name and worth and in particular Dr. Twiss concerning whom our Mr. Norton in his Life of Mr. Cotton does
Covenant viz of Redemption supposeth a Subject unto whom this Redemption is to be applied and consequently for whom it was undertaken But it is requisite that we Fix the due limits here or else we shall be at a great loss in an Essential Point relating unto this Covenant for only the Redeemed and all of them are to receive the benefits of it here then let these things be considered 1. It supposeth subject that stands in need of Redemption To have undertaken it for any other had been Supervacaneous And there could be no other such monument but such a creature as is forfeited and fallen into misery and cannot get out â—â— it again till it be bought out and rescued from it Rom. 5. 6. 2. There are two sorts of creatures that are reduced to this exigency viz fallen Angels and men As to the Angels which kept their first station though they needed Confirmation yet not Redemption and that this Confirmation of theirs doth derive from this Covenant to them is no-where in Scripture so much as insinuated But those once Angels now Devils are become miserable by their woful revolt from God being fallen under a Righteous Condemnation and therefore they so far need Redemption as that without it they must needs be Eternally miserable and all mankind are by the Apostasy come under this infelicity they are a company of dead Creatures by vertue of that sin the Guilt whereof lieth heavy upon them Rom. 5. 12. 3. The Fallen Angels or Devils stand no way related unto this Covenant but only men God never thought of or contrived a way for the Jayl-Delivery of Devils but hath left them hopelesly under the Sentence which fell upon them when they rebelled against him and therefore their misery is beyond all hopes of remedy they are said to be Reserved in Everlasting Chains Jude 6. But God had more Gracious thoughts for man and in this respect we find that the Son of God in pursuit of this Covenant medled not with the Assumption of the Angelical nature but took that only of Humanity Heb. 2. 16. And the reason of this was because he had not covenanted to redeem Angâ—lâ— but only men 4. That all mankind universally were not included in this Covenant so as that the Son of God undertook to pay the Redemption price for them How far there was some benefit to redound from it to mankind I here dispute not But that Christ became Surety to pay the Price for all is not to be believed As to the notion or distinction of his redeeming all Sufficiently and only some Effectually it cannot be reconciled to sense how then shall it be believed It is one thing to pay a Price of sufficient value to redeem all and another thing to pay it for their Redemption and to suppose that he did it for this end and yet they should perish at the last is not only besides but against Scripture Joh. 6. 39. This is the Fathers Will that hath sent me that of all that he hath given me I should Lose nothing yea if we consider the nature of the Covenant it will evidence it to be inconsistent The end of it hath been shewn to be for the Glory of Gods Grace in the Salvation of his Redeemed this Covenant was a Medium to that end and therefore all that were so Covenanted for must certainly attain it or else the Covenant so far loseth its design This therefore is that which Christ Intercedes for in behalf of those whom he hath Redeemed Joh. 17. 24. these are they whom his Father gave him that he might Redeem them 5 That Those whom he Covenanted for were a Definite Company of particular persons Not only was the number of them agreed upon in this Transaction but the individuals also were Determined Here observe 1. The Covenant did not run Illimitedly That he should pay a price for all and that offers should be made to all and that as many as would accept of them might be made to partake in the benefits of it was not the form in which this Covenant ran There is indeed such an offer made in the Promulgation of the Covenant of Grace by the Gospel to all unto whom it comes on such a condition but neither is this to all men nor yet doth the Covenant of Redemption run so and there is this reason for it among others because it is one Article in this Covenant that whom Jesus Christ doth Redeem he shall save and in order to it bring them to himselfe John 6. 37. and but for this none would come to him vorse 44. and then where would be the seed that should serve him and be counted to him for a generation 2. Nor did this Covenant run upon the Previous qualities of mâ—n before Conversion It did not say that such sorts of persons should be redeemed and others not but it took in as God saw meet all sorts of persons Jews and Greeks Barbarians and Scythians of every age sex and disposition some that proved civil before they were savingly changed others who before they were brought home to Christ were the vilest and most debauched of mankind This appears to have been so by the event for which we have plentiful Scripture Testimony and therefore it assures us that it was not upon these terms that it stood 3. But it took in so many Individual persons chosen according to the Sovereign pleasure of God Hither the Apostle limits it Eph. 1. 11. The Lambs Book of Life in which names are written mentioned Rev. 21. 27. refers properly to this Covenant and they are persons who are written here they have their names in it The Son of God knew from eternity whom he was to Redeem and God knew them This is the Foundation of which the Apostle speaks which hath such a Seal upon it 2. Tim. 2. 19. who are his this Indigitates the very persons Our Hygh Priest therefore had their names written upon his brestplate when he was to offer the Sacrifice for them and make expiation in their behalf in the Holy Place CHAP. 9. What are the Articles of the Covenant IT Belongs to the nature of a Covenant that there are terms agreed upon and concluded between the parties in it or something in which each obligeth himself to the performance of and by the distinct knowledge of these it is that we come to have an insight into the particular nature of any Covenant It is therefore needful that we take the account of the Articles of the Covenant of Redemption that so we may discover the main and essential difference between that and the Covenant of Grace to prevent our confounding of them one with the other Here let it be observed that this is one of those Covenants which is made between equals therein is divers from the other which is made between a Superiour and inferiour They are equal whether we consider them in their nature Phil. 2. 6. or if we consider the things
arising from it the Glory of One God in Three Persons is the design which was laid in it or if we consider the mutual obligation they stand equally bound each of them to the terms which he Undertakes Now for a more distinct and particular view of these Articles it may be Enquired 1. What were the common Terms between both the Parties 2. What were the Obligations lying upon each Party by himself 1. What were the common Terms between both Parties A. They were such as these that follow viz. 1. That a certain number of Mankind should be made the Monuments of Rich Grace or That the Glorious Attribute of Grace should be exalted in the Eternal Salvation of a Definite Company of men and to this Article belongs the consideration of mans being Created in his Integrity put under a 〈◊〉 and permitted to fall from it and make himself miserable in order to the making way for the Illustration of this Grace That such a thing should be was voluntary on Gods part and therefore there past a Decree for it and this being Essential it belongs to all the Three persons Hence the Scripture speaks of mens being Ordained or appointed to Glory and of their being Elected or Chosen to the Kingdom which expressions denote this eternal designation which was agreed upon and so past between God Father Son and Spirit see ' 1. Thes 5 9. Mark 13. 20. 1 Thes 1. 4. 2 Thes 2. 13. and all this was with an eye to the glorifying of the Grace of God Eph 1. 6. 2 That in order to the Illustration of this Grace in mans Salvation the first Covenant should be Satisfied in all the demands of it That whatsoever that required should be fully responded The consideration of mans being under a Law-Covenant and forfeiting himself to the Curse of it being supposed in the former Article there is a Proviso that the Covenant shall not be baulked and that therefore the Salvation intended should make no breach upon nor offer any violence to the Rule of Justice but that it should in all points be complied withal and mans Salvation be so effected as that no jot or tittle of the Law should pass for so it is brought about Math. 5. 18. and that Justice and Peace should agree in one Psal 85. 10. that God should be Just in Justifying of the sinner Rom. 3. 26. 3 That in order to the accomplishment of this great affair there should be a sutable and sufficient Redeemer provided who should undertake this work and accomplish it in all things that were requisite for the compleating of it The agreement about a Redeemer still belongs to the common consent among the three Divine Persons according to our distinct conception of it for it is an act of absolute Divine Soveraignty to accept of Satisfaction at the hands of any besides the proper Offender the case being Criminal it must therefore proceed from that Soveraign Will of his to determine that it should be so from whence alone it could be a thing acceptable to God when therefore Christ appeared in the Execution of his Work God declared his acceptableness to him by a voice from Heaven Mat. 3. 17. 2. What were the Articles peculiar or the Engagements lying upon each party by himself A. Such there were and here in general we are to observe That though the Parties were equal in their Covenanting yet in the Covenaâ—t one Party Indented to be Inferiour to the other The Son of God was to take to himself a Nature in which he was to be his Fathers Servant hence he is so called Isa 42. 1. and because there was something to be done by him first in order to his meriting of that which he was to receive of his Father for it this may first come under our consideration Here then 1. We may consider the Engagement which the Son took upon himself The work of Redemption was laid upon his Shoulders he was the party agreed upon and consenting to take that Province upon him in his own person and it may suffice to speak generally of this and so his Undertaking may be comprized in two things 1. He accepted of and took upon him to perform the work of Redemption and thereby he received the Relative Title of Redeemer from Eternity To this the Scripture bears witness when it tells us that he was the Lamb slain from the Foundations of the World Rev. 13. 8. and when it saith that we are Chosen in him to obtain Redemption by him Eph 1. 4 7. which Scriptures clearly express his designation to this Office 〈◊〉 Work and this being personal hence there was not only the Father Propounding but the Son also consenting and accepting so that this amounts properly to one Article of the Covenant for we cannot rationally suppose a person free sovereign and under no natural obligation to it to be designed constituted and set apart to an Office without his own free and voluntary consent Hereupon it follows that on this very score or account all the old Testament believers dying before his appearing in the flesh went to heaven upon the credit of his undertaking having their sins discounted and their happiness conferred upon them in the merit of that satisfaction and obedience which he had engaged for 2 He undertook and engaged to do all that which was requisite for the performance and accomplishment of this Redemption and this is necessarily inferred upon the former He who takes upon him to do any work engageth himself to do all that without which the work cannot be done What this was will appear both by taking a view of that which was needful for mans recovery from misery and being restored to favour and happiness and by observing what it was that the son of God did actually perform Whatever Christ did go thorough here was according to the foreknowledg and determinate Counsel of God i. e. the Covenant between God the Father and the Son and this was summarily in two things 1 That he would assume to his person the nature of man and thereby put himself into a capacity of performing Redemption work That the Covenant was made with the Son of God not considered as God man but only as Son hath been already made to appear This undertaking then is to be considered as an Article belonging to it and it must needs be so for the Son of God could not be appointed to be a Man but by a Covenant because his consent was absolutely requisite in such an appointment it being a Covenant between equals as is granted on all hands hence we must either unnecessarily multiply Covenants or else assign it unto this The Scripture mentions no more but three covenants in which God is concerned about man viz that of works that of Grace and this of Redemption and it must belong to this if to any of these for in the other two men themselves are parties Besides the Humane Nature to be assumed needs not to be
respected as Covenanting but only â— Covenanted for inasmuch as the Divine Nature assuming the Humane wrought it into a perfect subordination to itself for it was not to have an Humane Personality but to be of the Person of the Son of God and to be an organ or instrument in and with which the Son of God was to do this work It was a body i. e. an Humanity Prepared for him Heb. 10. 5. 2 That in this nature he would become sponsor or surety for Gods Elect and so put himself under the law and stand responsible to it for all that was demanded of them whether of active obedience as they were Gods subjects or Passive as they were sinners Hence that Gal. 4. 4. 5. He was not only to be in our nature but also in our stead he was to do that we might be happy and to dy that we might be delivered from misery This is included in Isa 53. 10. Thus he became a surety by way of exchange not as bound joyntly with us but as bound alone for us Gods Holiness did expect Obedience and his Justice did exact Satisfaction from him upon our account for this reason is he called not only a Lamb but a Lamb slain from the foundation Rev 13. 8. for then was his death agreed upon and fully concluded hence when they who were the instruments of it had wâ—â—â—â—ed their malice upon him the 〈◊〉 of God acquaints us that it was according to Appointment a thing determined long before Acts 2. 23. the whole work that Christ did upon Earth was nothing else but a fulfilling of this Covenant he did not do it by any compulsion but voluntarily so he tells us Joh. 10. 17 18. 2. The obligations which God the Father bound himself in in this Covenant were of two sorts 1. Such as relate to Christs help and Encouragement in the Undertaking and Management of the work of mans Redemption and these are principally three 1. The Investing him with such Offices as were needful for the discharge of this great Work It was meet that the Son of God should come with Authority There were great things to be done in the performance of this Business and the acceptance of all depended on the good pleasure of God The Redeemer therefore must not only be designed but Invested The Son of God was in our Nature to be Inaugurated in his Mediatorly Function hence his being Anointed King was according to the Decree Psal 2. 9 8. and hereupon also he is said to be an Everlasting Priest Psal 110. 7. and a designed Prophet Isa 42. 6 7. for these Prophetical Predictions concerning him were discoveries of the Tenour of this Covenant 2. The fitting of him for this work with all the things which were requisite for his being every way furnished for the discharge of it else his Offices had been in vain God is not wont to send a Messenger without Legs If God calls any to special Service he furnisheth him and this was promised to the Son he was therefore to have an Humane Nature Hypostatically United to his Person without which he could not have actually appeared in the Business of mans Redemption or possibly have stood our Surety according to the Tenour of the first Covenant This is by a Synecdoche called a Body and his Father is said to prepare it for him Heb. 10. 5. and this refers to that ancient Covenant in which there was such a provision made as is exprest in Psal 40. 7. He was also to have this Humane Nature fitted and qualified with all the necessary Endowments whereby it might be capacitated for the doing of what was requisite and to this end was his Unction promised Isa 61 1 2 whereby he was not only Inâ—ugâ—râ—ted in his Offices but also his Humane Nature was Sanctified and all those Graces which were needful for him in his active and passive Obedience â—ere put into him in an overflowing measure Psal 45. 8. Joh. 3. 34. 3. The affording to him all the supplies of all constant assistance in his Work that so it might not fail in his Hand It was a great work and it was a frail nature in which it was to be performed for this cause it would need mighty assistance to support or uphold it so as not to â—ail There was Infinite Wrath which our Nature was to sustain and therefore a mighty arm must be underneath to bear it up elâ—e it would have been broken in pieces by it Almighty Power therefore did stand engaged for him whereby a good issue of this Affair was secured God promised him that he should not sink under the weight of it Psal 89. 21. Isa 42. 4 6. 2. Such as relate to the Fruit and Efficacy of his Undertaking and these are comprehended in two things 1. The acceptance that this work should find at the Fathers Hands We have already observed that not only the Valuableness of the Satisfaction offered but also the Acceptance of it with God is to be considered in the making of it a Redemption because it is at Gods liberty whether he will let the Prisoner of Justice go free and receive another to stand in his room Now God promised to his Son in this Covenant that he would take content in this Satisfaction of his that it should be a very grateful or pleasing thing to him and accordingly it is expressed concerning him Isa 42. 1. 2. The Reward which he should receive for this work of his There was a Reward Indented for and Christ had an Eye to it in this Work and Improved it for his Relief when he was under the sorest Agonies of Temptation Heb. 12. 2. and that was 1. In regard of himself personally that he should receive the highest honour and glory in our nature Psal 89. 27. this therefore was propounded after the nature of a reward Isa 53. 12. Phil. 2. 8 9. Yea such a Reward is promised as shall give him full content Isa 53. 11. we find that his Work and Recompence are put together Psal 110. ult He was to have the Everlasting Honour of this Work ascribed to him and to Triumph gloriously 2. In regard of those who were to be Redeemed by him As he Sanctified himself for their Sakes and undertook to Redeem them by Satisfying for them as a fruit of his Everlasting Love to 〈…〉 the Father promised him that he should Enjoy them as a Purchase and that they should be a Generation of his Praise Psal 22. 30. Isa 53. 10. He was assured that not one of all those whom he was to Dye for should ever be Lost or finally miscarry but they should all of them be brought to the Possession of that Glory which he should procure for them that they should be his Spouse and therefore we have him claiming this Reward as that which he had Indented for Joh. 17. 24. and these are the Summary Articles of this Wonderful Covenant CHAP. 10. The necessity of this Covenant in order to
to the Ransoming of his Chosen from sin and misery it may there fore well be called the Covenant of Redemption If the Son of God became a Redeemer by his own Consent freely and was determined unto it before the World began it infers according to our Capacity that there was something propounded to him and that he did accordingly accept of it The Transactions between the Glorious Divine Persons Infinitely Transcend our Understandings but if we will form a Conception of them it must be after this manner and God is pleased so to declare it unto us that we may be able to entertain it in our Faith and in as much as this stands among the Decrees of God in which there is the whole Idea of this work and it is in all of it ratified unchangeably there must together with the mention of all those things which relate to it be also a final and determinate conclusion about it all must be ratified In this regard the Counsel of Peace is said to be between them both Zech. 6. 13. hereupon also the proposal of it by the Father to the Son is represented under the form of a Covenant Hypothetically propounding both a Condition and a Reward Isa 53. 10. and in Psal 110. 7. there is a Connexion which amounts to the same thing for in a Copulate Axiom where there are things joyned together that are consequent the one upon the other it bears the force of a Connex and so it is in the Text and this may suffice for the evidence of the thing or that there is such a Covenant CHAP. 4. Of the Parties in the Covenant of Redemption IT follows now that we come a little nearer make a more distinct Survey of this Covenant according to the Light afforded us concerning it in the Word of God I shall therefore here explain it in such things wherein the special nature of it and its difference from other Covenants may be discerned especially the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace and here may these things be Enquired into 1. Who are the Parties in this Covenant 2. Whence this Covenant had its rise or what was the ground of its being made 3. When it was made 4. Whether it be a Covenant of Works or of Grace 5. Who are Covenanted for 6. What are the Articles of it 1. Who are the Parties in this Covenant A. It is a general Observation that in all Covenants there are two Parties and there can be neither less or more for the notion of a Covenant belongs to the Head of Relation which hath but the Relate and the Correlate and cannot exceed If then there are divers parties they suppose divers Covenants In the Covenant of Works God and Man immediately were the Parties In the New Covenant they are God and Man thro' the Interposition of a Mediator unto whom both Parties have a respect But in the Covenant of Redemption they are God the Son This is agreed on among all those that acknowledge such a Covenant but under what consideration it is debated with reference to each party and may be here particularly Explained 1. God is one Party Psal 89. 3. I have made The Party that speaks there is God himself But it may be asked whether he be to be considered Essentially or Personally and so is to be applied to the Father In the former Description given of this Covenant I have expressed it as belonging to God the Father There are some Divines who would have it taken Essentially and assigned to the Deity considered in the Essence and not in any particular Subsistence lest otherwise the Holy Spirit the Third Person in the Sacred Trinity should be excluded from being personally concerned in this Covenant This Debate needs not be eagerly pursued being easily reconcileable here then observe 1. That the Decree in which this Covenant is to be found is properly an Essential Act or belongs to all the Three Persons in common as they are one in the Essence Acts properly personal are only such as flow from their Relative Properties or at least have their Foundation in these Relations The Decrees is an act of Divine Counsel exerted by the Divine Will which is undivided and common to the three persons and thus the Deity is the one party Covenanting because the Essential acts of the Trinity are undivided Joh. 5. 17 19. 2. That in these Essential Works the Scripture frequently observes a personal propriety and an order of working according to the order of their Subsistence and manner of working so that in whatever work any one persons order of Subsistence and manner of working doth principally appear it is by way of specialty ascribed to that person not because that person is alone in it but because God doth herein manifest himself to us most clearly in such a manner of being or Subsistence The Father is the first Person hence beginning Works are Attributed to him as Election and Creaâ—ion The Son is the Second Person and therefore secondary works are ascribed to him such as Redemption The Holy Ghost is the Third and Last Person and therefore finishing works are given to him such as Application The Father works of himself by the Son and Spirit The Son works from the Father by the Spirit The Holy Ghost works from them both Joh. 5. 19. 16. 13. and this Order is to shew the Oecononomy of the Divine Persons Now in this regard Essential Works may have a peculiar Appropriation to a person not exclusive but inclusive of the other 3. That Jesus Christ in making mention of this Covenant acknowledgeth the Father to be the Party whom he had Indented withal See Psal 2. 7 8. the mentioning of the Son here spoken to and owned points us to the Father under the Personal Relation So also in Psal 89. 26. which Psalm hath a proper reference to this Covenant and how often in the Gospel have we Christ declaring his Mission to be from his Father more particularly in John 17. he challengeth of him the performance of the Promises of this Covenant and truly as this Covenant is the beginning of all our Salvation and the spring or Original from which all the good that we hope for so it is fitly attributed to him who is the first of the persons 2. The other Party is the Son of God the Second Person in the Trinity who is Coeternal with the Father The Covenant being Eternal there could not be any party in it but one who was an Eternal Person Whosoever is engaged in a Covenant which is a voluntary act must be presumed to Exist either in himself or in his Representative Nor is this disputed whether the Son of God be the other party but yet there is no little difference in the notions about the qualility or respect in which he stands as a party in this Covenant The Son of God is considered under a treble notion 1. Meerly as he is a Divine Person and so is