Dr. observes that this is the only Law he could be liable to as a man for an innocent man in a Covenant of works as he was needed no other Law nor did God give any other Law to such persons the Law of Creation is the only Law that an innocent Creature is liable to with what Symbols of the Law God is pleased to add But now Jesus Christ yielded perfect obedience to all the Laws which came upon us by the occasion of sin as the Ceremonial Law yea those very Institutions that signified the washing away of sin and repentance from sin as the Baptism of John which he had no need of himself this therefore must needs be for us This looks something like but I fear it will prove like all the rest that is to no purpose I would willingly have had some proof of it that an innocent man can be bound by no other Law than that of Creation God as he acknowledges might add what Symbols he pleased to that Law for he remembred the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and I know not what these Symbols are but positive Laws and such the Ceremonial Laws were and if God may require the obedience of an innocent man to one positive Law he may if he please enjoyn twenty And though they were at first commanded upon occasion of sin an innocent man may observe them to good and wise purposes as solemn acts of Worship external expressions of Devotion a publick profession of a virtuous Life to which purposes among others the Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Law and Baptism of John served And if there were no other reason this were enough that an innocent man should set an example of reverence to all divine Institutions But this is not worth contending about for the Righteousness of the Ceremonial Law could never justifie any man neither can I understand why the Doctor should suppose that Christ fulfilled the Ceremonial Law for all Believers when the greatest part of them the Gentiles were never under the obligation of it God gave unto innocent Adam symbolical Precepts Answer over and above the Law of Creation but what were those Precepts Not Washings Purifications Circumcisions Expiations Sacrifices nothing that was significative of sin but such only as were congruous to that State The true One would not have the least shadow of a lye in his Service neither is it to me imaginable that Christ should for his own sake be put under such Laws as are unsutable to his Innocency what need had he of Circumcision who had no corrupt flesh in him or of Baptism who was without spot But saith the Author an innocent man may observe such Laws for profession or examples sake But surely what he doth must be done in truth We find in Scripture that at the Jewish Sacrifices there was a confession of sin the form of which as their Doctors say was thus O Lord thy people the house of Israel they have sinned they have done wickedly c. and might an innocent Israelite had there been such an one have joyned in this confession and that without the forfeiture of his innocency I doubt he could not Besides when the Scripture assigns no such reason for Christ's subjection to any Law who may be so bold as to do it But saith the Author Christ's Obedience to the Ceremonial Law justifieth no man Neither according to the Author doth his Obedience to the Moral Law and therefore he might have left his Obedience which is the compleature of all divine Laws undivided and in its entirety The Dr. saith Mr. Sherlock There can be no other reason assigned of Christ's Obedience to the Law of God but only this that he did it in our stead Now this Argument would be good were it true and were there not a great many things done which we cannot assign the reason of and yet done for great and weighty reasons but this reason is sufficient because he was as much bound to it as any other man The Dr takes it for granted That if Christ were not bound to obey these Laws upon his own account it must be either for us or to fit him for his Death and Oblation but it was not to fit him for his Death therefore it was for us He tells us that he answered all Types and was every way fit to be made an offering for sin by his Union and habitual Grace If his Obedience were not for us and upon our account there is no just cause to be assigned why he should live here in the world so long as he did in perfect obedience to all the Laws of God Had he died before there had been perfect Innocence and perfect Holiness by his habitual Grace and infinite Virtue and Worth from the dignity of his Person and surely he yielded not that long course of Obedience but for some great and special purposes in reference to our Salvation Yes truly but must this needs be his actual fulfilling all Righteousness for us What do you think of his preaching the Gospel throughout all Judea which would take up some time What of the many Miracles which confirmed his Doctrine What of training up his Apostles to succeed him in his Ministry as Eye-witnesses and Ear-witnesses of his Miracles and Doctrine What of the holy Example of his Life which was no less necessary than his Laws These are all great and special purposes in reference to our Salvation though we should suppose him fit to have been a Sacrifice as Herod designed he should have been as soon as he were born though by the way I think he could not have answered the Types and Predictions of him had he dyed so soon notwithstanding his perfect innocence and holiness I take it the Doctor 's Scope was this Answer That the end of Christ's Active Obedience could not be assigned to be that he might be fitted for his death and oblation and that because be was every way fit to be made an offering for sin by his Vnion and habitual Grace the Dr. intended not that Christ lived here so long only that he might obey and for no other ends It 's true that Christ lived here so long that he might preach and do Miracles and instruct his Apostles and it 's true that he lived here so long that he might fulfil all Righteousness all these were ends of his living here but the Quaere is What was the end of his Active Obedience I never yet read that the end of that was his preaching doing of Miracles or instructing his Apostles these were simultaneous and concurrent in time with his Obedience But Christ obeyed the Law that he might give us an holy Example by his Life I grant it but that was not all Christ died also for to leave an Example to us but there was much more in his Death in truth both were for our Justification As we are justified by his blood Rom. 5.9
may we receive Christ and be as we were Doth he bring nothing at all with him May we receive him and not have his righteousness imputed and his spirit imparted to us It is utterly vain and impossible But now a touch for worthy Mr. Watson Christ Mr. Sherlock as Mr. Watson hath it saith to a believer with my body yea with my blood I endow thee and a believer saith to Christ with my soul I thee worship As if saith the Author Christ and a Believer were married by the Liturgy I suppose our Church intended some such thing Answer and I mean it in good earnest for in the Communion Service she tells us That we dwell in Christ and Christ in us we be one with Christ and Christ with us and excellently prayes That our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our Souls washed through his most pretious blood and that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us Sure such passages import a near Union and Communication between Christ and believers But saith Mr. Watson When a Soul is united to Christ no condemnation can fall upon him a woman being married her debts light upon her husband O blessed priviledge saith the Author And who would be afraid of running into debt with God when he hath such an Husband to discharge all and then how vile and impure soever men are their comfort is they are married to Christ and his beauty is put upon them To which I answer No men are more afraid to run into debt with God than those who taste of that Grace which forgives all and drink of that blood which pays for all Our love to Christ is a pure principle of Obedience and his love to us is a Divine inflammative of ours because he will discharge all shall we be presumptuous and extravagant Some Gallants in Queen Elizabeths time hoping for some Church-lands run out desperately crying out Solvat Ecclesia but shall believers who have past through the pangs of the new birth and tasted the hidden Manna of Gods love sin on and say Solvat Christus Nothing is nor can be more unnatural because they know themselves espoused to such an husband as Christ shall they be adulterous Because Christ will be their friend shall they be enemies These are strange repugnancies indeed As to what the Author adds How vile and impure soever men are their comfort is they are married to Christ those words how vile and impure soever men are are none of Mr. Watson's but added by the Author after which rate one may turn any thing into non sence or blasphemy And to crown all Mr. Sherlock when they are once ingraffed into Christ they are secure to eternity Christ is not divided a member cannot be lost the union cannot be dissolved This indeed is that Answer wherein the Covenant of Grace lifts it self up above the Covenant of works in that of works the stock was in mans hand but in this of Grace it is in Gods in that there was no promise of perseverance but in this there are many such promises God shall confirm you unto the end 1 Cor. 1.8 He will put his fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from him Jer. 32.40 The Apostle praying for the Thessalonians that they may be preserved blameless unto the coming of Christ immediately adds Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it 1 Thess 5.23 24 Evidently God undertakes it and engages his faithfulness in it shall we take the matter out of Gods hand into our own or turn about to the old Covenant Shall we take these promises conditionally Then we must utterly evacuate these promises for they must run thus if we will persevere we shall persevere and so much was true under the old Covenant and without any promise at all Mr. Watson argues thus If any branch be plucked away from Christ it is either because Christ is not able to keep it or because he is willing to lose it But saith the Author May not sin dissolve the union What if the believer will not stay with Christ I answer This doth not at all answer the Argument from Christs power Hath he not power to prevent sin from being or from being final Hath he not power to strengthen believers in that which is good or if they lapse to raise them up again If so his promise cannot fail his faithfulness will make it good neither doth sin committed un-saint a believer as the Author hints this was the remarkable difference between the two Covenants in Adam one sin expelled perfect holiness but in believers it doth not extinguish inherent Grace though imperfect still there is a seed of God abiding in them a well of water springing up unto everlasting life through Grace they shall be revived again But saith Mr. Shepherd Christ hath taken upon him to purge his Spouse upon which the Author If she be not purged whose fault can it be but his own To which I answer Christ hath undertaken to purge believers but not so as to prevent all lapses when they are purged it is meerly of Grace but when they sin it is of their own By such lapses God lets them know as he did Hezekiah what is in their heart Let us now consider the consequential Mr. Sherlock conjugal affections the Soul must be enamoured with Christ sick of love to him he is maximè diligibilis the very abstract and quintessence af beauty you must delight in his embraces thirst after more intimate acquaintance with him follow him from one ordinance to another and never be satisfied unless you meet with him in ordinances there they hear of his Beauty Riches Fulness All-sufficiency of all truths they savour the truths of Christ best And what needs all this Answer These truths are too plain to be denied and too sacred to be laughed at Such sanctified Souls loath all dull Mr. Sherlock insipid moral discourses which are perpetually inculcating duty and troubling them with a great many rules for a good life Which Mr. Watson calls the quaint points of virtue and vice For this is not to enjoy Christ in ordinances I suppose they cannot loath discourses of duty Answer For as our Author tells us a little after they make Obedience to Christ their husband a conjugal act and in order to that they must hear of duty Only I take it they had rather hear duty spread before them in a plain Scriptural dress than in curious speculations of meer humane reason They would have duty inculcated but not so perpetually as to exclude the preaching up of that Divine Grace which enables thereunto without this they despair of doing any thing aright but saith the Author It is very hard to find a proper place for Obedience in this new Religion for this is not necessary at all to our coming to Christ and closing with him nay it is a great hinderance to it
as the fickle Will of Man doth that standing there is an Election that falling there is none and so toties quoties as often as it pleases man to shew himself variable Election will be something or nothing as it happens This Opinion doth not ascribe Eyes and Hands to God as the gross Anthropomorphites did but it assimilates him to the filly turnings and windings of the Creature But to speak more directly to the Author God's electing Love antecedes all Goodness in in Men and if his elect Vessels fall into great sins as holy David did and this after their Conversion however the Light of God's Countenance be for a time suspended however their habitual Graces be weakned and their Consciences wounded yet the Foundation of God stands sure electing Love remains unvariable and will revive them again by Repentance When God elected a People to himself he did not as Mr. Shaw speaks in allusion to the words of the Apostle use lightness or purpose according to the flesh after the manner of men unsteady and wavering in their determinations no the foundation of God standeth sure the Lord knoweth those that are his But if the Love of Christ be infinite Mr. Sherlock eternal unchangeable fruitful I would willingly understand how sin and death and Misery came into World for if this Love be so because the Divine Nature is so then it was always so for God always was what he is and that which is eternal could never be other than it is now And why could not this Love as well preserve us from falling into Sin Misery and Death as love Life and Holiness into us for it is a little odd first to love us into Sin and Death that then he might love us into Life and Holiness which indeed could not be if this Love were always so unchangeable and fruitful as the Dr. perswades us For if this Love had always loved Life and Holiness into us how should it happen that we should sin and die The gracious Decree of Election is Answer as becomes the Divine Nature eternal unchangeable fruitful yet was it a free Act terminating upon what Object it pleased Hence God saith Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated he infallibly brings his Elect to Glory But no man may be so vain or presumptive as to limit the holy One or chalk a Way or Method for him to walk in who works all things according to the counsel of his own will But how then came sin and death into the World Why surely it came in by Man's Transgression and under God's-Permission But why could not this eternal unchangeable fruitful Love preserve us from falling I doubt not at all but God who is Almighty could have kept up Man and all his Posterity in their primitive station as well as he did the standing Angels but if you ask on Why did he not do it I have nothing to answer but that it was not his pleasure God loves no man into sin the Expression is too odd for a Christians Mouth or Ear but he suffers his very Elect to fall into sin yet is his Love eternal unchangeable fruitful towards them if I may allude to that of Hezekiah Isai 38.17 He loves them from the pit of corruption he fetches them out of the corrupt Mass of Mankind by his effectual Grace and though afterwards they have many falls and lapses yet electing Love sets to its hand again and revives them by a fresh Repentance shewing it self fruitful in their recovery and safe conduct to Heaven and all this is managed in a way of unaccountable Sovereignty Not that I deny that the Love of God is eternal Mr. Sherlock unchangeable fruitful that is that God was alwayes good and alwayes continues good and manifests his love and goodness in such wayes as are suitable to his nature which is the fruitfulness of it but then the unchangeableness of Gods love doth not consist in being alwayes determined to the same object but in that he alwayes loves for the same reason that is that he alwayes loves true virtue and goodness where-ever he sees it and never ceases to love any person till he ceases to be good and then the immutability of his love is the reason why he loves no longer for should he love a wicked man the reason and nature of his love would change and the fruitfulness of Gods love with respect to the Methods of his Grace and Providence doth not consist in producing what he loves by an omnipotent and irresistible power for then sin and death could never have entered into the world but he governs and doth good to his Creatures in such wayes as are most suitable to their Natures he governs reasonable Creatures by Principles of Reason as he doth the material World by the necessary Laws of Matter and bruit Creatures by the instincts and propensities of Nature After all the rest Answer the Author himself confesses that there is in God an eternal unchangeable fruitful Love how so There is a Love of Virtue and Goodness and is there not a Love of Persons too The Scripture is express in it St. Paul is a chosen vessel Act. 9. Jacob was loved and that before he was born or had done any good at all Rom. 9. The Lord knoweth those that are his 2 Tim. 2. He calleth his sheep by Name Joh. 10.3 Some are drawn of the Father Joh. 6.44 Some are called according to purpose Rom. 8.28 On some God will have mercy when he hardens others Rom. 9.18 All which places places prove that electing Love is of particular persons who as St. Austin hath it certissimè liberantur are certainly saved when others are left in massa perditionis Unless this be owned that great Design of a Church which is the Master-piece of Providence must be carried on in such a lame and imperfect manner as if God which is unworthy of him should say I would have a Church but I intend not who shall make it up Such a Jeofail is hardly to be found in a prudent Man But saith the Author The Vnchangeableness of God's Love doth not consist in being determined to the same Object but in that he always loves for the same Reason that is he always loves true Vertue and Goodness where-ever he sees it and never ceases to love any person till he ceases to be good he always loves for the same Reason where Goodness is there he loves where Goodness is not there he loves not This is the Author's meaning this is loving for the same Reason But if this had been so what could have become of Man corrupt lapsed Man in whom as our Church tells us there is not a spark of Goodness How desperate must his case have been Divine Love could not possibly have let out a drop of Mercy to such an one much less have shewed forth it self in such an unparalle'd Act as the Mission of his own Son for our Redemption there
of God in this place Thus 2 Cor. 5.21 He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him The Apostle doth not speak of a Righteousness in our selves but in him not of a Righteousness inherent but imputed Christ's Righteousness is made ours as our sins were made his and that is only by Imputation St. Austin pithily expresses it Ipse ergo peccatum Enchirid cap. 41. ut nos justitia nec nostra sed Dei simus nec in nobis sed in ipso sicut ipse peccatum non suum sed nostrum nec in se sed in nobis constitutum similitudine carnis peccati in qua crucifixus est demonstravit Thus Phil. 3.9 That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith By the Righteousness which is of God cannot here be meant inherent Graces those words that I may be found in him have a tacit relation to the Judgment of God and before that Tribunal no Saint on earth can can stand in his own Righteousness Job could not If I justifie my self my own mouth shall condemn me Job 9.20 David could not Enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Psal 143.2 Danicl could not O Lord righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of faces The Righteousness which is of God is not the same with inherent Graces which because inherent are our own and so stiled in Scripture neither is it the same with Faith it self The Apostle saith not that it is Faith but that it is a Righteousness through the Faith of Christ a righteousness of God by faith It is therefore no other than Christ's Righteousness which Faith receives and God imputes But there is one place behind which in terminis calls the Righteousness of God the Righteousness of Christ 2 Pet. 1.1 To them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Observe it is not through the Righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of God and of our Saviour Christ as noting two Persons but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of God and our Saviour as betokening one as Reverend Bishop Downham hath observed like that Tit. 2.13 The glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour where one Person is intended Hence it appears that the Righteousness of God is the Righteousness of Christ who is God Neither can inherent Graces be here meant for Faith the first Radical Grace of all is said to to be obtained through this Righteousness Thus far it appears that the Righteousness of God is the Righteousness of Christ Now it is evident that this Righteousness is imputed to us or else it could never arrive at those glorious Effects which are ascribed to it how should it profit us unless it were applied and become ours Or how should it become ours but by Imputation Being the Righteousness of another it cannot be ours subjectively and inherently and if it at all become ours it must be so by Imputation Without the first fundamental Imputation it could not render us justisiable or savable any more than it doth render Devils so without the after particular Imputation it cannot justifie or save us Unless this Righteousness be imputed it cannot save or avert God's wrath Rom. 1. It cannot be upon the Believer to justifie him Rom. 3. It cannot be the end of the Law for Righteousness to him Rom. 10. We cannot be made the Righteousness of God in Christ 2 Cor. 5. We cannot have the Righteousness of God to make us stand before God's Tribunal Phil. 3. The virtue of all depends upon Imputation Thus much touching that excellent Phrase The Righteousness of God so often mentioned in Scripture I now proceed to other Scriptures To him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness Rom. 4.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is reckoned or imputed for Righteousness Now is Faith taken here properly absolutely in it self or is it taken relatively with respect to its Object the Righteousness of Christ Properly absolutely in it self it is a Work the Apostle opposes believing to working ver 5. and speaks of a Righteousness without Works ver 6. Faith therefore is not here taken absolutely for so Faith is a Work and believing working Faith absolutely taken is our own hence we meet with those Phrases Thy faith and My faith Jam. 2.18 But that which justifies us is not our own but the Righteousness of God the Righteousness which justifies is through Faith Phil. 3.9 and not Faith it self Faith is the hypostasis of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 but the justifying Righteousness is not the hypostasis but the very thing hoped for We by faith wait for the hope of righteousness Gal. 5.5 That Righteousness which justifies us is the Righteousness which is imputed to us but we are justified by Christ's blood Rom. 5.9 we are made righteous by his obedience Rom. 5.19 these therefore are imputed to us for Righteousness It is not Faith in it self is our Righteousness but its Object the Blood and Obedience of Christ Another famous place we have Rom. 5. there Adam and Christ are set forth as two Roots Adam conveying to the Branches naturally in him Sin and Death and Christ conveying to the Branches spiritually in him Righteousness and Life As by the offence of one judgment came upon all to condemnation so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous ver 18 19. Here the Apostle speaks of Justification Justification of Life is opposed to condemnation Christ's Righteousness is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it hath a virtue in it to justifie others and is opposed to Adam's Transgression which had a power to involve others in condemnation By the obedience of Christ we are made or as the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implies constituted righteous And how can Christ's Obedience being not inherent in us make us righteous This I confess is above Philosophy but the Apostle clears it Adam's Transgression was not inherently ours yet was it imputed to us to Condemnation in the same manner Christ's Obedience is not inherently ours yet was it imputed to us to Justification of Life Hence St. Bernard expostulates thus Cur non aliunde justitia Epist 190. cùm aliunde reatus Alius qui peccatorem constituit alius qui justificat à peccato An peccatum in semine peccatoris non justitia in Christi sanguine And indeed it would be very strange that Adam's Sin should be imputed to us as the Church hath ever acknowledged against Pelagians and yet Christs
Righteousness should not be imputed to us Another place I shall instance in is that Rom. 8.3 4. What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us Unto which I shall also add that other Rom. 10.4 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Righteousness of the Law is a pure and spotless Perfection the least defect makes a breach upon it and ushers in a Curse The chief and primary End of the Law was absolute Obedience and how is the Righteousness of the Law fulfilled or its great End attained Our inherent Graces can no more reach it than defect can reach perfection or a spotted Face absolute Beauty Neither doth the Apostle say that the Righteousness of the Law is fulfilled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by us but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in us it is not our own work but in the Righteousness of Christ the Law hath its end and completion and when that Righteousness is made over to us by Imputation then the Law may be said to be fulfilled in us The Apostle Rom. 5.18 saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By the Righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life Here we have a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Christ answering to that in the Law and that being ours by imputation the Law is fulfilled in us St. Chrysostome putting the question on that place Rom. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What is the Righteousness What would the Law have And answering himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That we should be without sin adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This therefore is performed for us by Christ The last place I shall quote is that Eph. 1.6 He hath made us accepted in the Beloved Where we may observe that we are not accepted in our selves in our inherent Righteousness but in Christ the beloved in his perfect Righteousness which becomes ours by Imputation Thus far I have asserted Imputed Righteousness by Scripture I shall now add some Reasons to prove it And 1. God the righteous Judge proceeds judicially in Justification his judgment is according to truth Rom. 2. 2. he esteems no man righteous which is not such nor doth he account an imperfect Righteousness to be a perfect one such as justifies before him Hence it appears that our inherent Graces because imperfect cannot be our Righteousness or the matter of our Justification and what then shall we doe How may we be justified before him Must not the perfect Righteousness of Christ come in and to make it ours a divine Imputation No other expedient can be thought of because there must be a Righteousness and a perfect one to justifie us If any reply That in and through Christ our inherent Graces though imperfect are accepted of God in the room of a perfect Righteousness I answer God is mercifull but his Mercy never clashes with his Truth which calls for a perfect Righteousness He accepts of our Graces but they must pass as St. Austin saith of our Life sub veniâ under pardon and under the Wings of Christ he accepts them but not as the Matter of our Justification nor in the room of Christs perfect Righteousness Justification of Life comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by one righteousness as that place may be read Rom. 5.18 and that one only Righteousness is the perfect Obedience of Christ no other Righteousness may take away its Crown But further should God accept of an imperfect Righteousness in Justification some I fear might ask why he could not abate a little more and accept of a No-righteousness why he could not pardon justifie wilful and impenitent sinners which the impure Socinus himself will not allow of yet if the true holy one might decline from a perfect Righteousness in Justification what may not men imagine or presume upon 2. God hath set down in the Gospel his own Way and Method of Justification The Apostle Rom. 3.28 30. having drawn his Conclusion up That a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law that Circumcision and Uncircumcision are justified in one and the same way of Faith adds ver 31. Do we then make void the Law through faith God forbid yea we establish the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we make the Law to stand in its firmness and perfection That God might justifie poor sinners returning and believing he doth not abrogate the Law and so accept of their imperfect Grace in the room of that perfect Righteousness which the Law calls for but he introduces the perfect Righteousness of a Mediator and imputes it to Believers and so stablishes the Law and justifies in a way completive and perfective of it Hence Christ is said to be the End of the Law and the Law is said to be fulfilled in us The Obedience of Christ answers the Law in every point and makes the old Promise Do this and live dead through our Impotency spring and bud again with life Here the infinite Wisdom of God shews forth it self that as all the Types and Shadows of the Law which were but Temporaries were perfected in Christ the true Substance so all Moral Commands which are of an immortal Goodness were completed in his Righteousness it pleased God through the perfect Righteousness of Christ imputed to us to justifie that being a way perfective of the Law neither may any man presume to contradict his Method 3. A man in Justification is presumed to stand at God's Bar and to answer to somewhat and what must he answer to to the Gospel only or to the Law also If to the Gospel only I confess Faith answers to the Terms of it but mean while all the Pagans in the World must be in a justified State They as well as others are only to answer to the Gospel and to that because unreveiled they need make no answer at all and having nothing to make answer unto they must needs be in a justified condition And mean while also all true Believers must be in a state of Perfection the defects of their Graces must be no sins for the truth of Grace in them answers to the Terms of the Gospel and to more than these they are not to answer But if in Justification a man be to answer to the Law also nothing less than the perfect Righteousness of Christ and that made his by Imputation can possibly serve his turn nothing else is an answer to the pure perfect Law nothing else can stand before the divine Tribunal of Heaven Hence the Reverend Bishop Andrews saith with respect to that Name Jehovah our righteousness we may say Esto justitia Sermon of Justif in Christ's Name fac justitiam esto justitia intra in judicium cum servo tuo With
Christ's Righteousness and Satisfaction to us he now in a legal notion looks upon both but as one person Now I have two things to say to this First I wonder why this should be called the union of Saints to Christ Or why Christ should be called only the Saints Surety The Apostle tells us that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 7.22 The Surety of a Testament or Covenant Now there is a vast difference between Christ's being the Saints surety and the surety of the Covenant for the Covenant respects both Saints and Sinners therefore is antecedent to our union to Christ as Saints and to be surety of the Covenant signifies no more but to confirm this Covenant and to undertake for the performance of it that all the promises of it shall be made good upon such terms as are annexed to them But to be a Surety for Saints as the Doctor explains it is to strike hands with God to put himself in their stead to do and suffer for them Now this notion is different from the notion of a Surety of a Covenant and so it wants some better proof But secondly suppose Christ had been called the Saints surety I doubt they are as much out in the Law of suretiship as they were before in the Laws of Marriage For first the prime end of suretiship among men is not that the Surety shall without more ado pay the debt but to give security to the Creditor that the debt shall be paid that is the Surety doth not make himself immediate Debtor but the Debtor is Debtor still and bound to pay the Debt and the Surety is liable only in case of his default It is a strange definition of suretiship That it is an absolute taking the debt upon our selves and an actual discharging the Debtor No man in his wits ever became surety for another when he knew before hand that if he did he must pay the debt but men become sureties upon reasonable assurance that they shall suffer no injury by it Therefore when Christ died for us he did not dye as our Surety but as our Sacrifice substituted in our room which is the Scripture notion of it and differs as much from the notion of a surety as paying the debt doth from being bound with another that it shall be paid Suppose secondly That Christ dyed for us as our Surety yet did Christ fulfill all Righteousness for us as our surety too Doth this also exactly answer the case of suretiship among men so as that there needs no illustration of it The Doctor was so wise that he would not assert this in the premisses but very craftily thrusts it into the conclusion That therefore God makes over our sins to Christ and Christ's Righteousness and satisfaction to us But was there ever such a surety heard of among men that one man should discharge all offices of piety virtue justice temperance instead of another If such a thing had ever been such a man ought not to have been called a surety but a proxy But humane Laws as many defects as there are in them never admitted of such proxies for these are personal duties which none can perform for us you may as well say that a man may live and be a man by proxy as discharge those duties which are necessarily entailed on his person by a proxy Proxies are allowable only in such cases where the material enquiry is whether the thing be done not who doth it but where the consideration of the person that doth it is essential to the action there is no place for a surety or proxy because it doth not satisfie the Law that the thing is done unless it be done by such a person Thus it is in all the duties of Piety and Religion every individual person is bound to do them Though there were never so many righteous men in the World there righteousness can avail none but themselves Nay the righteousness of God which is more than all the righteousness of men cannot make an unrighteous man righteous no external Relation can make the righteousness of another ours because it is personal righteousness that is required of us and the righteousness of another can never be our personal righteousness unless we become one person with him There is no other way to make the personal righteousness which is the Righteousness required of us but by a personal union to Christ by being christed with Christ as some speak how boldly soever yet very agreeable to these principles Christ is the Surety of the Covenant Heb. 7.22 Answer And he is our Surety also he undertook the satisfaction of our debts and therefore must be such Lo I come to do thy will O God saith he Heb. 10.7 Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices could not pay our debts The blood of Bulls and Goats could not take away sin as the Apostle there tells us Christ therefore undertook the doing of it he was substituted in our stead or room he gave his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 20.28 A price in the room or stead of many he gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 2.6 A counterprice or vicarious price for all he was our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Soul was in our Souls stead which could never have been unless as our Surety he had undertaken to satisfie for us The sins of us all met upon that holy immaculate one Isai 53.6 He was made sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 Sin by imputation who had not the least spot by inhesion and this could by no means have been unless he had undertaken satisfaction as our Surety St. Paul could never have been charged with the debt of Onesimus unless as his Surety neither could Christ have been charged with our sins unless he had been ours he was nor only charged with our sins but made actual satisfaction for them he paid that he never took he was wounded for our transgressions Isai 53.5 He gave himself for our sins Gal. 1.4 He made such satisfaction that he blotted the bond or hand-writing that was against us Col. 2.14 And these things he would never have done unless he had taken them upon himself as our Surety he saith of himself that he came to give his life a ransom for many Matth. 20.28 He came for that end as being bound by his suretiship so to do He was therefore our Surety as well as the Surety of the Covenant Nay it being plainly the divine pleasure that there should be no remission without shedding of blood that all pardoning mercy should issue out to us through a satisfaction unless he had been our Surety unless he had undertaken to satisfie for us he could not have been Surety of the Covenant he could not have secured the least Grace or Mercy to us more than to Devils for whom he would not be surety or make any satisfaction Now being our Surety he is one with us Conjunctione legali and so he is with all those for
absurdius aut iniquius dici potuerit quà mjure alicui posse aliena peccata imputari I see nothing saith he more absurd or unequal than that the sins of one man should be imputed to another Yet for all this our Divines do maintain that our sins were imputed to Christ and indeed there can be no Satisfaction without it The Author here complains that Christ should be a Surety to fulfil all Righteousness for us and so that Righteousness should be imputed to us but if the sin of one man may be imputed to another why not his Righteousness The Apostle argues from the Imputation of Adam's Sin to the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness As by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Rom. 5.18 19. What can be more express if our Reason would submit to it Bishop Davenant tells us that De justit habit cap. 28. Christus Sponsor pro nobis factus nostro nomine non modò subivit perpessionem Crucis sed impletionem Legis Christ not as our Proxy but as our Surety did in our name not only undergo the sufferings of the Cross but took on him the impletion of the Law But saith the Author Righteousness is a personal thing to be performed by our selves I answer What Christ performed for us was not performable by our selves in our lapsed estate he fulfilled all Righteousness for us to the very highest pitch of the Law in order to our Justification and that we could not reach in our own persons and that sincere Obedience which we pay in our own persons doth not fully answer the Law and so appertains not to our Justification but Sanctification And this I take to be the Method of Salvation which God hath chalked out to us It 's true the Author urges That the Righteousness of another can never be our personal Righteousness But though it cannot be ours by Inhesion yet it may by Imputation it was only in Christ's Person yet may be reckoned or accounted to us in Justification or else I cannot tell how the Blood of Christ which cleanses away all sin should ever be ours that was not inherent in us and if it become ours it must be by Imputation If we own not the Imputation of Christs Passive Obedience we cannot own that Christ gave himself for us as a Ransom or a Sacrifice and if we own the Imputation of his Passive Obedience we must also own the Imputation of his Active for there was not to say a tincture but a great and high measure of Active Obedience in his Passion and if his Passion in its entirety and complete perfection be imputed to us his Active Obedience must be imputed to us also But now let us consider Mr. Sherlock whether in Law the Debtor and Surety are one person no considering man can think it indifferent who pays the debt the Surety or the Debtor or that they are both equally obliged to it the Debtor is the immediate Debtor still and the Surety only obliged in case of default the Law doth not account it indifferent which of them pay it For though it permit the payment to be exacted from the Surety in case the Debtor refuse yet it will look back again and allow the surety an action against the debtor for such a refusal which is an Argument that the Law doth not judge them one person Thus it is in bail the Law doth not judge them one person for if the prisoner escape the bail or surety shall be punished according to the nature of the fact and yet the prisoner is not quitted by this means but liable either to the arrest of the Surety or in Criminal Causes to the Sentence of the Law if ever he be retaken Thus in Sureties for good behaviour which sounds as if it were nearest a kin to the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness as our Surety though the Surety be never so innocent and virtuous this will not serve him for whom he is Surety but if he prove a Villain they shall be both punish'd So that humane Laws are strangers to this Mystery of imputing the Righteousness of a Surety to a bad man Suretiship doth not so unite their Persons that whatever one doth is always and to all purposes imputed to the other And if this will not hold good among men it is a very sorry foundation for this bargain and exchange betwixt Christ and Believers that he should take their sins upon himself and impute his Righteousness to them All this runs upon a mistake Answer that Christ cannot be a Surety unless he be such after the manner of men the Suretyship of Christ is not to be measured by humane Laws unto which because variant among themselves no less I suppose in points of Suretyship than in other things it cannot possibly correspond but it is to be measured by the holy Scriptures which set forth his undertaking and satisfying our debts in a way of superlative Excellency above all the Sureties in the world Among men notwithstanding the Surety the Debtor is Debtor still But Christ hath as our Surety made such a plenary Satisfaction on our behalf that if we receive him by Faith we are Debtors no longer all our debts are crossed and blotted out of Gods Book Among men the Surety having made payment may have his Action against the Debtor and ordinarily he seeks to reimburse himself But our heavenly Surety seeks no such matter he knows that all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth are not able to repay him what he hath laid down for us neither if they could doth he desire it but on the contrary he woes and beseechs men to come in to him that their Debts may not be charged on them by the Law for want of imbracing the Gospel If upon the escape of the Prisoner the Bail be punished yet is not the Prisoner quitted But our Surety Christ did not suffer as a Bail doth upon escape upon accident or contingency but upon absolute and irrevocable certainty such as could not be avoided and he suffered so in our room and stead and his Satisfaction is so far reckoned or imputed to us that upon our believing there is not there cannot be any condemnation to us or satisfaction required of us for ever In Suretiship for the Behaviour the Virtues of the Surety are not accounted to him for whom he is Surety But the Payment and Satisfaction of Christ our Surety is upon Gospel-terms so imputed and made over to us that the Law or Justice of God cannot demand a second Payment and Satisfaction from us Hence it appears that Christ and we are one person in Law that his Payment and Satisfaction is reckoned as ours And what matters it if humane Laws are strangers to imputed
his death and sufferings because this was the subject of his discourse but yet these expressions His righteousness and obedience seem to take in the whole compass of his obedience in doing and suffering the Will of God and the meaning of the words is this That as God was so highly displeased with Adam's sin that he entailed a great many evils and miseries and death it self upon his posterity for his sake So God was so well pleased with the obedience of Christ's life and death that he bestows the rewards of Righteousness on those who according to the rigor of the Law are not righteous that for Christ's sake he hath made a new Covenant of Grace which pardons our past sins and rewards a sincere though imperfect obedience For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be made righteous is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be justified That is treated like righteous persons So that Christ's Righteousness is not the formal cause of our justification that very Righteousness whereby we are righteous But it is the meritorious cause of that Covenant whereby we are declared Righteous and rewarded as Righteous for the Apostle tells us in vers 17. who those are who are thus justified by Christ and shall reign with him in life not those who are Righteous by the imputation of Christ's Righteousness But those who have received abundance of Grace and the gift of Righteousness that is who by the Gospel which is the abundant grace of God are made holy and righteous as God is which Righteousness is called a gift because it is not owing solely to humane endeavours but is wrought in us by supernatural means We are made righteous by the Righteousness of Christ not that his actual obedience is reckoned as done by us which is impossible But because we are made righteous both in a proper and forensick sence by the Gospel-Covenant which is wholly owing to Gods Grace and Christ's Merits and Righteousness So that the Righteousness of Christ is our Righteousness when we speak of the foundation of the Covenant by which we are accepted but if we speak of the terms of the Covenant then we must have a righteousness of our own for the Righteousness of Christ will not serve the turn Christ's Righteousness and our own are both necessary to our Salvation the first as the foundation of the Covenant the other as the condition of it We are now arrived at that famous place Answer as by the offence of one judgement came upon all to condemnation so by the Righteousness of one the free gift came upon all to justification of life as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Rom. 5.18 19. The Apostle here uses two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Righteousness and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Obedience both these signifie the doing of God's Will which doing for its rectitude is called Righteousness and for its subjection Obedience neither of them do properly signifie suffering Meer suffering which is not spirited with a right and subjective mind is not Righteousness or Obedience The Apostle here speaks of Righteousness in general and Obedience in general and who may pare off ought and say it is not all Christ's Righteousness or Obedience but some especially when that some the passive I mean is less properly such than the active and what necessity or cogent reason is there for doing so The Antithesis in the Text evinces the contrary Act is here set in opposition against Act Christ's Obedience against Adam's Disobedience Now for what the Author alledges I say it is true that of Christ's being obedient Phil. 2.8 reaches down to his death but it takes in all the Obedience of his life and that of Christs doing Gods will Hebr. 10.7 extends to the Sacrifice of himself but it comprises all the righteousness of his life too It is true that the Apostle in this 5. Chapter to the Romans doth first speak of Christ's Death and Sufferings but his active and passive Obedience are so near in conjunction that the Apostle may in his discourse easily pass from the one to the other Nay as I before noted when the one is expressed in Scripture the other is implied so that the Apostle doth not indeed pass from one thing to another but only vary his Phrase The Author himself confesses That those expressions his righteousness and Obedience seem to take in the whole compass of his Obedience in doing and suffering the will of God And how doth the active and passive righteousness of Christ justify us or make us righteous Why these procured that Gospel Covenant whereby we are declared righteous and rewarded as righteous Now this Interpretation may stand good when justifying and procuring the Covenant shall be what they can never be one and the same thing Christs active and passive Obedience according to the Author procured the Covenant for all Men But surely they do not justify all Men. The whole Obedience of Christ may be confidered two wayes either as it is procurative of the Covenant and so it renders us justifiable or as is it received by Faith and so it actually justifies us But neither of these can be without a Divine imputation without that first fundamental imputation which is implied in such Scripture expressions as tell us that Christ died for us the Obedience of Christ could not have rendred us justifiable any more than it doth Devils and without that second particular imputation which is implied in such Scripture expressions as tell us That we are justified by Christs Blood that we are made righteous by Christ's Obedience the Obedience of Christ could not justify us for it justifies us not as it procures the Covenant that is done according to the Author for all Men and all Men are not justified but it justifies us as it is particularly made ours and made ours it cannot be without an Imputation According to the Author the Apostle must be interpreted thus By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all unto Justification of life that is by the righteousness of one the Covenant was procured and so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous that is by the obedience of one the Covenant was procured But this Interpretation is so harsh and strange that I suppose few will be able to receive and own it But the Author tells us That the Apostle in ver 17. acquaints us who the justified are not those who are righteous by imputed righteousness but those who by the Gospel which is the grace of God are made righteous as God is But by the grace of God vers 17. is not meant the Gospel but the rich mercy of God and by the gift of righteousness there is not meant inherent graces but the righteousness of Christ which is made over to us by a gracious imputation the very same righteousness which is called the