Reprobation of sinners issues from the Sovereignty and Justice thereof The Reprobation of sin is universal and without any distinction of persons God hates sin where-ever it be be it in his own beloved Jedidiahs 't is an abominable thing such as his soul abhorrs but the Reprobation of sinners is particular Esau and not Jacob was hated Judas and not Peter was a Son of perdition Indeed he that denies particular Reprobation must by necessary consequence deny particular Election and he that asserts an Election of some individual persons doth in eodem rationis signo assert a Reprobation of others 2. What are they for Quality I answer in two particulars 1. Reprobation as to the first and second Acts thereof viz. Preterition and Permission of final sin respects them as lying in the corrupt Mass. This appears by those Names and Titles whereby Reprobation is set forth and described in Scripture there 't is hatred and God hates none but sinners 't is hardening and God hardens none but such as are in a corrupt estate 't is abjection or casting away and God doth not cast away an upright one or a man standing in integrity 't is not knowing and God knows and approves every sinless creature 't is not shewing mercy and that supposes men to lie in a state of misery or else they are not capable of mercy or the denial thereof Wherefore I conceive that in Preterition and Permission of final sin men are considered as lying in a corrupt and undone Condition 2. Reprobation as to its third Act viz. the decreeing of Damnation respects them as final sinners 'T is true every sin as sin is in it self intrinsecally meritorious of Damnation but through Gospel Grace in Jesus Christ no sin but such as is final doth actually produce Damnation God condemns none but for final sin and decrees to condemn none but for it Those vessels of wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fitted to destruction Rom. 9. 22. are as I take it final sinners only Great sinners may be vessels of Mercy and repent unto Life Eternal but final sinners are vessels of Wrath and fitted to destruction God swears by his life that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked Ezek. 33. 11. not unless he be a final sinner in whom there is no true turning or repenting not in such a way as to leave no place or room at all for Conversion for the sinners turn is in the Text opposed to his death and opposed as a thing more destrable to God than his death Should the Decree of Damnation objectively terminate on a sinner merely as a sinner there could be no place or room for Repentance but if it terminate on him as a final sinner there is no such obstruction at all Wherefore I conceive that as God condemns none but for final sin so he decrees to condemn none but for the same and by consequence that Decree respects them as final sinners that is they are first considered as final sinners and then the Decree of Damnation terminates on them Object But here an Objection meets me God condemns none but final sinners and decrees to condemn none but such yet hence it follows not that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for God saves none but final believers and decrees to save none but such yet from thence it follows not that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for as hath been laid down before Faith and Salvation are comprized in one and the same Decree and therefore there is no antecedency of Faith to Salvation in the very Decree but only in the execution thereof Answ. To which Objection I answer That between the two Cases there is a triple difference which if considered will make it appear that the consequence which fails in the one case doth hold good in the other 1. These two Propositions God decrees to save none but final Believers and God decrees to damn none but final Sinners must be taken in a different meaning When we say God decrees to save none but final Believers the meaning is not final Believers so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree for Faith and Salvation are comprized in one Decree but final Believers so to be made by force of that Decree But when we say God decrees to damn none but final Sinners the meaning is not final Sinners so to be made by force of that Decree for God's Decree makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree Wherefore from that Proposition God decrees to save none but final Believers it cannot be concluded that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers but because of the different meaning from that other Proposition God decrees to damn none but final Sinners it may be rightly concluded that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners 2. There is an immediate contact between Grace and Glory hence these two may very aptly be comprized in one Decree and if so final Faith is not preconsidered to the Decree of Salvation But between Preterition or Permission of sin and Damnation there is no immediate contact for the Act of the Creature even his final sin comes between hence Preterition or Permission and Damnation cannot according to our understanding be congruously comprized in one Decree but in distinct Decrees and if so final sin is preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation For no sooner doth the Decree of Preterition and Permission pass in the divine Will but therein as in a Glass there is a Prescience of final Sin and thereupon passes the Decree of Damnation But you 'l say Neither is there such an immediate contact between Grace and Glory as you assert for between the donation of Grace and Glory the act of the Creature viz. final Faith doth intervene I answer 'T is true it doth intervene but as a fruit or effect of that Donation it doth intervene but that Donation hath a Causal influence and attingency into the Creatures Act and its Perseverance wherefore it so intervenes as not to break the immediate contact in the least measure But between Preterition or Permission and Damnation the Creatures Act viz. final Sin doth intervene not as an effect of Preterition or Permission but as a fruit of man's corrupted and depraved Will and that intervention cannot stand with an immediate contact Wherefore there being distinct Decrees first Preterition and Permission are decreed and then upon the prescience of final Sin Damnation 3. The third difference is that of the Apostle The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 23. Eternal Life is a gift freely given therefore the consideration of final Faith is not a prerequisite to the Decree of Salvation But Death is wages exacted by the
intrinsecal merit of Sin and paid only to a final Sinner therefore the consideration of final sin is a prerequisite to the Decree of Damnation without that consideration I see not how it can be decreed as Wages But you 'l say Is not Eternal Life also a Reward of Faith and Holiness and how then can that be decreed as a Reward without a preconsideration of these I answer Eternal Life is a Reward but 't is a Reward of pure Grace 't is Grace upon Grace glorifying Grace upon sanctifying therefore to the Decreeing thereof as a Reward it suffices that it be decreed to Believers and Saints Not Believers and Saints so preconsidered to that Decree for Grace and Glory being both mere gifts and gifts of immediate contact are comprized in one Decree but Believers and Saints so to be made by force of that Decree and so to be made before they wear the Crown This is enough in the decreeing of a Reward so purely gratuitous But in Eternal Death there is nothing at all gratuitous all is mere wages and pay for Sin Sin doth really and intrinsecally merit it Wherefore Eternal death as such wages is decreed only to final Sinners Not final Sinners so to be made by force of God's Decree for that makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation for without that preconsideration it is not as I conceive decreeable as wages or pay due unto them To shut up this point in a word Reprobation as to the Decree of Preterition and Permission respects men as lapsed Sinners and as to the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinnets 4. What is the Impulsive Cause of Reprobation To which I make answer 1. As for the Decree of Preterition and Permission of final Sin it is from God's Will as cloathed with supreme Sovereignty God passeth by and hardneth whom he will This appears in two particulars 1. First God doth not give so much as the Gospel-means unto some men He suffered all nations to walk in their own ways Acts 14. 16. Some sin and perish without Law or Gospel all the Law they have is the dark glimmering of Nature and all the Gospel they have is the patience and goodness of God leading to Repentance The Sun Moon and Stars are divided to all nations Dent. 4. 19. but Jesus Christ a Sun of infinite light and lustre shines in a narrower compass on the earth than the finite Sun the Moon is lesser than the Earth the visible Church than the World of Men. The Apostles those Stars of light must not shine in Asia and Bithynia Acts 16. 6 7. By what way is this Evangelical Light parted Surely by the divine Will alone the difference is not from the worthiness or unworthiness of men for those in Asia and Bithynia were as good as others Christ was manifested to a Thief and not to a Socrates or Plato Rebellious Israel hath the light of the Word in it and a more flexible Nation which would hearken thereunto wants it Ezek. 3. 6 7. Impenitent Corazin and Bethsaida have a visible Deity before them in Christ's Miracles when poor Tyre and Sidon much nearer to Repentance hath it not Matth. 11. 21. In all which the sovereign Will of God is to be adored for that is it which divideth between the Light and the Darkness 2. In the Visible Church the Orb of Gospel-light God doth not give saving Grace unto all 'T is true the mercy of God is so immense that all the sins of men are but as the drop of the bucket to it the Blood of God is so meritorious that all the crimson Crimes in the World are as nothing to it and the Spirit of God is so almighty that all the chains of hardness and unbelief fall off before his converting Grace Nevertheless this immense Mercy doth not pardon all this meritorious Blood doth not wash all nor this almighty Spirit doth not convert all unto God Oh the wonderful Abyss of the divine Counsel All men naturally lie in bloody pollution and God saith to one Live and not to another all are as it were one entire Rock of obstinacy against God and he calls Abraham's children out of one part of the Rock and leaves all the rest to be Rock still All are dead in sins and trespasses nay and sealed up in their Graves with a stone of hardness and unbelief and one Grave-stone is rolled away and the dead under it raised up by almighty Grace and not another External Revelation is all over the Church why is not the inward holy Unction so too The Gospel sounds in every Ear why do not all hear and learn of the Father The Gospel calls and knocks at every door why are not the Demonstrations of the Spirit and the drawings of the Father in every heart The Gospel says in general Whosoever will may take the Water of Life freely why doth not God work the Will in all Why are any dimissi libero arbitrio left to the miserable servitude of their own free Will Here there is no other resolution but that of the Apostle He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth and beyond this we can only wonder and in quodam mentis excessu cry out Oh the depth Cur hoc illi operetur saith St. Austin illi non operetur metuentem me trementem judicia ejus inscrutabilia incomprehensibilia nolo interroges quia quod lego ercdo revereor non autem discutio And Ne dicas Deo interrogando Quae est voluntas tua sed tremendo Fiat voluntas tua And again Posset Deus saith he of wicked men ipsorum voluntatem in bonum convertere quoniam Omnipotens est posset planè cur ergo non fecit quia noluit cur noluerit penès ipsum est If there were any thing extra Deum moving him to the Decree of Preterition and Permission it must needs be sin either Original or Actual or final Impenitency and Infidelity therein but none of all these moved God thereunto Not Original sin for this is the common blood wherein all men Elect as well as Reprobate lie by nature And this is St. Ambrose's Mirum touching Infants Ubi actio non offendit ubi arbitrium non resistit ubi eadem miseria similis imbecillitas causa communis est non unum esse de tanta parilitate judicem quales reprobat abdicatio tales adoptat Electio Indeed Original Sin makes all men reprobable for all are by nature Children of wrath Transgressors from the womb an unclean and corrupt Seed lying in bloody and abominable pollution fit and worthy to be put away from the holy One as dross and for ever to be cast out into utter darkness but it makes no man a Reprobate for the Elect are as deep in this filthy mire as others Nor yet doth Actual sin do it for Jacob was loved and Esau hated before they had
had done all and omitted nothing and then by their Principles what need we obey in our own persons But 2. That Christ obeyed for us and therefore we need not obey is as vain a Consequence as to say Christ died for us and therefore we should not die But the different Ends reconcile all Christ died that there might be Satisfaction for Sin as to the Guilt of it and we die that there may be a Destruction of Sin as to the Being of it Also Christ obeyed that our Justification might be effected and we obey that our Sanctification may be promoted Christ obeyed that we might reign in life and we obey that we may be more and more meet for it Nay Christ obeyed that we might obey for one fruit of Redemption was that we might be a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2. 14. and we obey that his Obedience may not be in vain as to us for he is the author of eternal redemption to them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. Hence it appears that Christ's Obedience and ours may as well consist together as Justification and Sanctification Life and the way to it Redemption and the fruit thereof 3. Because the Price of our Redemption is a thing of superexcellent fulness and superimaginable glory redeeming Captives in a way completive and perfective of the Law broken by them Do we make void the Law by Faith or by its Object our Redeemer and Redemption Nay we establish the Law Rom. 3. 31. When Man was in Innocency the Royal Law sate in Glory commanding upon its Throne holding forth in its right hand a Crown of Life in the Promise and in its left a Sword of Vengeance in the Threatning But when Monstrous Sin entred into the World the very Throne of the Law seemed to shake and the Crown in its right hand to wither only the Sword was glittering and fiery in the left the Minatory part of the Law stood fast captivating and cursing the Sinner but the Mandatory and Promissory parts thereof fell a trembling and staggering as if their natural and primary End viz. perfect Obedience and all the ensuing Bliss were utterly lost Now Jesus Christ our wonderful Redeemer redeemed us in such a way as that he established the Law in every respect by his Active Obedience he fastened and newpinned the very Throne of the Law and made the old Promise to bud again with Life and in his Passive Obedience the fiery Sword of God's wrath did awake against him Zach. 13. 7. and smote and wounded him for our iniquities he paid down his humane Nature in doing and suffering and what could the Law desire of him more Thus Jesus Christ became the end the fulness the perfection of the Law Rom. 10. 4. But if the Passive Obedience of Christ be only the Price then indeed the Curse or Wrath which is in the left hand of the Law and which comes accidentally by sin is satisfied But where is the primary and natural end of the Law Where is that perfect Obedience which is in the right hand and right eye of the Law You 'l say 't is in the Person of Christ our Redeemer But how is it there the Apostle says that Christ is the end of the Law to the believer now if it be there only personally as for himself then as to that he is the end of the Law only for himself but if it be there also fide jussorially as for us then 't is part of the Price and so he is the end of the Law to us also But you 'l reply that though Christ's Active Obedience be no part of the Price yet his Passive suffices for that takes away Sin and Death from us and Sin being removed Righteousness follows and Death being removed Life follows and so the Law hath its end I answer I might deny these consequences for Adam in Innocency was free from Sin and Death yet in that state had neither all the Righteousness performable nor all the Life attainable by him But if I admit that upon the remotion of Sin and Death Righteousness and Life do follow yet these may follow from Christ's whole Obedience as their total Principle and not only from the Passive If they follow from the Passive only the Glory of Redemption is much darkned for who sees not that the Law is not nor cannot be so completely accomplished by the mere Sufferings of Christ as if over and besides those he also performed perfect Obedience for us Who sees not more Glory shining out when perfect Righteousness is a part of the Price than if it be only an effect thereof issuing by consequential resultance from the remotion of Sin Wherefore the Messiah is set out to us in the Prophet not only as making an end of sin but as bringing in everlasting righteousness Dan. 9. 24. and in the Evangelist not only as giving his life but as fulfilling all righteousness Matth. 3. 15. and in the Apostle not only as made sin but as made righteousness too 1 Cor. 1. 30. and thus the Law hath its perfect accomplishment by our Redeemer Wherefore concluding that the humane Nature of Christ paid down in his Active and Passive Obedience is the entire and integral price of our Redemption I pass on to the second Quaere 2. What manner of Price this is and this I shall open in three things 1. 'T is a Price Redemptive from Evil. 2. 'T is a Price Procurative of Good 3. 'T is a Price Sufficient for both 1. 'T is a Price Redemptive from Evil even from all the evils of our Captivity viz. the Chains of Sin the bloody Jaylor Satan and the Prison of Wrath our great Redeemer by laying down this price hath hroke off our Chains vanquished the Jaylor and opened the Prison-doors for us only here is an observable difference for 1. As to the Guilt of Sin and the Wrath of God this Price is redemptive in a more immediate way by it self 2. As to the stain of Sin the power of Sin and the tyranny of Satan this Price is redemptive in a consequential way by procuring the holy Spirit for us 1. This Price is Redemptive from the Guilt of Sin and Wrath of God and this in a more immediate way by it self Now albeit the entire Price concurr herein yet because as to this there is a special relucency in some parts thereof I shall only insist on five things viz. 1. Our Sins were laid upon Christ. 2. He suffered the same punishment for the main that was due for these Sins 3. He suffered it in our stead 4. Suffering in our stead he satisfied God's Vindictive Justice and Minatory Law 5. These satisfied God is reconciled 1. Our sins were laid upon Christ. Whilest the Chains are upon the Captive Captivity is unavoidable whilest Sin is on the Sinner Redemption is impossible God therefore gave Sin a remove from its proper Ubi I will remove iniquity in one day saith he Zech. 3.
it stands in the Law absolutely is Death punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature is eternal Death the first was really suffered by Christ and the second could not be justly exacted of him for he paid down the whole sum of Sufferings all at once and so swallowed up Death in victory As to that of the Worm I answer the Worm attends not Sin imputed but Sin inherent 't is bred out of the putrefaction of Conscience and that putrefaction is from the in-being of Sin Now Christ being withot spot suffered punishment not as it follows Sin inherent but as it follows Sin imputed and so he suffered the same punishment for the main as was due to us 3. Christ suffered this punishment in our stead he died 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for us Rom. 5. 8. and which is more emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in stead of many Matth. 20. 28. the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth sometimes in Scripture signifie only the utility or benefit of another but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly imports a Subrogation or Substitution of one in the Room of another and so Christ as our Surety died in our room or stead Hence the Apostle argues thus If one died for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then all died 2 Cor. 5. 15. all died in the death of one in as much as that one died as the Surety of all Hence our Sins were condemned in his flesh Rom. 8. 3. and so condemned there that upon Gospel terms they are remitted to us But unless he had stood in our room divine Justice could neither have adjudged him to punishment nor yet have admitted us to an absolution from Sin 4. Suffering thus in our stead he satisfied both God's vindictive Justice and minatory Law 1. He satisfied God's vindictive Justice God is a righteous God a God that loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity nay he so perfectly hateth it that his pure eyes cannot look upon it and his righteous hands cannot but punish it he will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. not unless his Justice be satisfied for he is a righteous judge 2 Tim. 4. 8. so righteous that he cannot but do right Gen. 18. 25. his judgment is righteous judgment Rom. 3. 8. and every sin must have a righteous recompense Heb. 2. 2. and no wonder for Sin is an horrible Ataxy and God will not inordinatum dimittere the subjection of a rational Creature to its Creator is indispensable God whilest God must be above and the Creature whilest a Creature below and this dependance so far as it is broken off by Sin must be salved up by punishment or else God loses his dominion over his Creature This is that which the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the righteousness of God Rom. 1. 32. and this is so naturally in him that the very Heathens knew it by the light of Nature The Viper upon Paul's hand made the Barbarians cry out of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 28. 4. Now what doth this vindictive Justice require Not precisely that the Sinner himself should be punished for then Redemption should be impossible but that the Sin should be punished and so it was in Christ he for our debt was cast into Prison and paid every farthing of it The damned in Hell pay a little and a little and can never satisfie but he paid down the total sum of Sufferings all at once they are always striving with God's wrath but he wrastled with it and prevailed Hence in Isai. 49. Ver. 3. he is called Israel a Prince with God His Sufferings were so satisfactory to divine Justice that the pains of death could not hold him Acts 2. 24. neither could the Prison of Wrath detain him Isai. 53. 8. and all because there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a redemption of transgressions Heb. 9. 15. that is a compensation or satisfaction made to divine Justice for them I go to my Father saith he and ye shall see me no more Joh. 16. 10. Justice did not stop him in his passage to Heaven neither did his Father send him back again to mend his work You shall see me no more no more bleeding under the burthen of Sin no more paying down sufferings to divine Justice for all 's discharged and to assure us of it God who received the sum pawns Heaven and Earth in mortgage that he will forgive our Sins without any further satisfaction Jer. 31. 34 35 36. By all which it appears that Justice was fully satisfied But here 't will be objected That the innocent should suffer for the nocent is unjust that which is such cannot satisfie Justice I answer 'T is unjust if the innocent suffer compulsorily but not if he suffer freely 't is unjust if the innocent sink under his sufferings but not if he be able to bear them 't is unjust if there be no good in his sufferings commensurate to the evil but not if the evil be exceeded by the subsequent good 't is unjust if the innocent stand in no relation to the nocent for whom he suffers but not if he stand in relation to him Suppose a natural relation Saul's Sons were hanged up for Saul's sins 2 Sam. 21. 9. Suppose a political relation seventy thousand fall for David's sin 2 Sam. 24. 15. which makes him cry out Lo I have sinned but these sheep what have they done Suppose a voluntary relation Sureties must pay for their Principals and that not only in Money-matters but in Capital punishments thus the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 engaged life for life which the Apostle seems to insinuate in that passage Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die Rom. 5. 7. and why then may not Christ who by all these ways is conjoin'd to us naturally as a Man legally as a Surety and mystically as a Head justly suffer for us Especially seeing there was free Action in his Passion victorious Strength under his Burthen and the penal Evil crowned by such a grand Good as Redemption is why may not he justly suffer for us The Scriptures are positive in it Christ died for the ungodly Rom. 5. 6 the just for the unjust 1 Pet. 3. 18. and one for all 2 Cor. 5. 14. Wherefore if humane Reason will not subscribe it fights against God himself 2. He satisfied the Minatory Law for this is no other than the voice of vindictive Justice uttering Death and a Curse against Sinners and to satisfie this he died and died an accursed Death in their room But you 'l say though he died for us yet the Law is not satisfied because it requires that the Sinner himself should die thou shalt die the death Gen. 2. 17. and cursed is he that doth not all the words of this Law Deut. 27. 26. in which places he and thou relate to the person of the Sinner and therefore though Vindictive Justice as in it self might have been satisfied with punishing Sin
full of mercy as he is he could not forgive in a way opposite either to his Justice which in its nature calls for satisfaction for Sin or to his Truth which in the Law pronounces death on the Sinner but Justice and Truth being satisfied by Christ's death he is ready to forgive The mercy-seat was covered with a cloud of incense Levit. 16. 13. and the reason there rendred is very remarkable lest he that was before it should die What die before the Mercy-seat Yes even there unless the Merits of Christ be as a Cloud round about it Mercy as of it self alone would not save us but every Sinner must have died before it had it not been surrounded with the Incense of Christ's Merits God out of Christ is a consuming Fire to Sinners but in Christ he is reconciling them to himself The second is wrought by Christ's death as applied by Faith therefore 't is called propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3. 25. and both these were typified by the sprinkling of the blood of the Sacrifice under the Law That blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat Levit. 16. 15. prefiguring the first degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death in it self and it was sprinkled on the people Exod. 24. 8. prefiguring the second degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death as applied to us by Faith But you 'l say If God be first angry and then reconciled and reconciled by degrees there must be a change in God and his Will which cannot be admitted I answer that Reconciliation is not an immanent Act but a transient not so properly abiding in God as passing from him upon the Creature As when the Scripture saith the Wrath of God at such a time was kindled or arose 't is not meant that the Will of God was novelly inflamed but that the flame of wrath then broke forth in transient effects from thence so when it saith God is reconciled it imports not a cooling alteration in the Will of God but a gracious effluxion of Love breaking out from thence As in punishment wrath goes out from the Lord against sinners Num. 16. 46. and is upon them 2 Chron. 29. 8. So in reconciliation Love goes out from the Lord towards Believers and is upon them so that the change is not in God but in the Creature Proportionably to the nature of Reconciliation as a transient Act Christ reconcileth us unto God not by making a new Will in God but by doing his Will for so he himself saith when he came about the work Loe I come to do thy will O God God's Will as to this point may be considered under a double notion either as naturally pregnant with Vindictive Justice and decretively issuing out the Minatory Law both requiring that Sin if committed should be punished or else as decreeing within it self the way and manner how this Justice Law should be satisfied by a Surety in order to the Redemption of sinners Now Christ perfectly fulfilled God's Will in all these respects in him our Sins were punished according to the exaction of Justice and the equitable interpretation of the Law and that in such a way as was preordained by God's Will for our Redemption This Will being thus satisfied God is truly reconciled not only as the Socinian would have it we reconciled to him but he to us and this appears in three things 1. In that Sin is not objected before God's Will as it would have been had not Christ satisfied it would have been objected before it as that just cause for which God might nay according to the naturality of his Justice and veracity of his Law must have punished us Sinners to all Eternity But now it is not so objected before it for albeit there be an intrinsecal and inseparable desert of wrath in the nature of it yet now its obligation or redundancy upon the Sinner appears not because expiated in the Surety this the Apostle calls the reconciling of sin Heb. 2. 17. Without Christ's death Sin like a fury would have cried and clamoured for wrath and vengeance to be poured down on the Sinner but through his death Sin as one reconciled hath nothing to say against him but that he may have Life and Salvation on Gospel-terms 2. In that the effects of wrath do not issue out from God's Will against the Sinner as they would have done God who is infinite Holiness and essential Rectitude cannot but hate Sin and in this hatred there is nothing less than a velle punire and from thence condign punishment must have poured down upon the Sinner if it had not by the Will of God been derived upon the Surety but being derived thither that righteous Will is satisfied and the merited Wrath comes not forth against the Sinner but instead thereof 3. Effects of Love break forth from God's Will towards him Grace appears to all men Tit. 2. 11. to all men in a gracious Reconciliability and to Believers in actual Reconciliation Believers are actually accepted or ingratiated in the beloved Eph. 1. 6. and so shall all others as soon as they become Believers Thus God is truly reconciled yet without any change in his Will only Sin doth not cry to that Will against the Sinner punishment doth not break out of that Will upon him and Grace beams and sparkles out of that Will towards him whilest in all these his Will remains unchangeable Hence in Scripture we are rather said to be reconciled to God than God to us not as the Socinian would have it because we only are reconciled to God and not God to us but because God is reconciled to us in such a way as is not alterative but perfective and completive of his unchangeable Will Thus Christ bore our Sins and God's Wrath in a way so satisfactory to God's Justice and Law that thereby God is reconciled to us and we are redeemed from Sin and Wrath. But here I am obviated by an Objection If there be such a compensatory Price paid for Sin where is free Remission Free Remission cannot stand with plenary Satisfaction what is fully paid cannot be at all remitted I answer It cannot if there be a solution by the Debtor but it may if there be a satisfaction by a Surety it cannot if that Surety were of the Debtors own providing but it may if he were of the Creditour's procuring it cannot if the Suretie's paiment be irrecusable but it may if the Creditor's acceptance be free it cannot if the remission were to the same person who makes satisfaction but it may if one person make satisfaction and another find remission And thus it is in this case our debts were paid to God but by a Surety Jesus Christ and this Surety was of God's own sending and that his payment went for ours was of God's own Grace and hence it comes to pass that God hath full satisfaction and we free remission and this without any repugnancy for Christ who satisfied had no remission
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 32. God did not spare or bate him a farthing and we who are remitted make no satisfaction all our Tears Prayers Sorrows Services pay not a mite to divine Justice Why should corrupt Reason mutter as if Satisfaction and Remission which are matches in Scripture were inconsistencies in Nature What saith God Levit. 4. 31. the Priest shall make an atonement there 's satisfaction and it shall be forgiven there 's remission What saith the great Apostle Rom. 3. 24. We are justified freely by his grace there 's remission through the redemption that is in Christ there 's satisfaction Take both in three words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Eph. 4. 32. for Christ's sake there 's satisfaction hath forgiven you there 's remission and free remission for 't is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dismission or discharge of Sin but 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dismission or discharge of it in a gracious way In Christ our Surety there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3. 25. but towards us there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 2. 11. Christ may say totum exsolvi and God may say totum remisi there was nothing forgiven to Christ for he paid all but there was all forgiven to us for we paid nothing Thus this Price is Redemptive from the Guilt of Sin and Wrath of God but this is not all 2. This Price is Redemptive from the stain of Sin the power of Sin and the tyranny of Satan and that by procuring the holy Spirit for us We are saved by the renewing of the holy Ghost and that is shed on us through Jesus Christ Tit. 3. 5 6. and where it is shed there it redeems 1. From the stain of Sin Sin is the dross or rust of the Soul Isai. 1. 22. but the Spirit refines and purifies from it Sin is the wrinkle of the old man Eph. 5. 27. but the Spirit smooths and removes it Christ came by water and blood 1 Joh. 5. 6. and the water sprung out of the blood the Spirit is that clean water Ezek. 36. 25. which fetcheth out the spots and stains of Sin and that healing water coming out from the side of the Temple even the pierced side of Christ Ezek. 47. 1. which by degrees cures all the Ulcers and Plague-sores of the heart The Corinthians were all over mire and dirt but they were washed in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 6. 11. the Spirit washed them and washed them in the name of Jesus that is for his Merits sake The Soul in sinning runs to the Cabul of the Creature dirtying and fouling it self but the Spirit brings it back again to the holy one and as it approaches nearer and nearer to him the macula peccati goes off and the nitor animae appears 2. It redeems from the power of Sin Sin merited Christ's Crucifixion and Christ's Crucifixion merited the Crucifixion of Sin and upon this account out comes the holy Spirit and nullifies the Law of Sin batters down the strong holds of it plucks up the very Throne of it and crucifies the old Man with all his members by outward restriction nailing his hands and his feet and by inward circumcision cutting and piercing into his heart and from thence gradually letting out his vital blood even the love of Sin hence his motions wax feeble his members weak his natural heat of original lust spent and exhausted and his whole body drooping and languishing to his dying day and all this by a secret virtue from Christ's death We are planted together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle Rom. 6. 5. he saith not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the conformity but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the conformation of his death because his death procured that conformity in us Hence Sin doth not reign in us as a Prince upon his Throne but die as a man upon the Cross Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ. 3. It redeems from the tyranny of Satan Christ in his own person spoiled principalities and powers on the cross Col. 2. 15. and Christ by his Spirit spoils them in the hearts of men Satan hath his Palace there but Christ hath bought him out and the Spirit will cast him out Satan would keep on our chains but Christ dissolves them 1 Joh. 3. 8. As he by his Spirit enlightens off go the chains of the Mind as he converts off go the chains of the Will as he spiritualizes off go the chains of the Affections and as he sprinkles his blood upon us off goes the weighty Guilt of all these Satan would keep us within the Prison but Christ comes with an Habeas Animam translating us from the power of darkness into his own kingdom Col. 1. 13. a Region of Grace and Light where Satan the Ruler of Sin and Darkness cannot have the Victory because Christ the Wisdom and Power of God fights against Him who is as I may so say the wisdom and power of Sin Hence he falls as lightning from heaven Luke 10. 18. falls and breaks his Serpents head even his design against poor souls the ruine of Souls is a heaven to him and in falling short of that he falls as it were from heaven The Prince of this world shall be cast out saith Christ Joh. 12. 31. and he adds as a reason If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me Ver. 32. Lifted up upon the Cross he purchased the Spirit and lifted up into Heaven he sends down the Spirit which draws men out of Satans World into Christ's where the Gates of Hell can never prevail The God of peace bruises Satan underfoot Rom. 16. 20. the Apostle saith not the God of Mercy or Power shall do it but the God of Peace because unless Peace had been made through the blood of the Cross Satan would have kept us in everlasting Chains But now Justice being satisfied the Spirit comes forth with a Quo jure first rescuing the Captive-soul and then treading down Satan under its feet Thanks be unto God for this victory also through Jesus Christ. Thus this Price is redemptive from Evil but 2. This Price is procurative of Good Infinity is a boundless Ocean and may run over in effects as far as it pleaseth infinite Power might have run over in making millions of Worlds more and infinite Mercy might have run over in saving millions of Sinners more The Price of Redemption hath a kind of Infinity in it no wonder then if after remotion of Evils it run over by its transcendent excess of Value in the procuration of Good such was the glorious redundance and supereffluence of its Merit that it paid divine Justice to the last mite and over and besides made a purchase of three Worlds I mean the lower World of Nature the middle World of Grace and the upper World of
9. that is in the day of the Messiah Ver. 8. But how far will he remove it The Psalmist tells us as far as the East is from the West Psal. 103. 12. and so he did he removed it from us who were in occasu Adami as far as Christ who is oriens Sol Justitiae by this remove all our sins met upon him as the Prophet speaks Isai. 53. 6. Never such a concourse of Sins as here Sins of all weights Pence and Talents Sins of all magnitudes Gnats and Camels Sins of various degrees Frailties and Presumptions Sins of vast distances as far remote in place as the parts and quarters of the Earth and in time as the Morning and Evening of the World met all together upon him he is the Lamb of God that takes or bears away the sin of the world Joh. 1. 29. he saith not Sins but Sin because all the Sins of the World were as it were made up into one burthen and so laid upon him Sins past were present to him for there was a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Transmission of them unto him Rom. 3. 25. there was indeed an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Remission as to the faithful but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Transmission as to the Surety Sins future were all one to him as if already existent all our Sins met upon him Hence he cries out My iniquities have taken hold upon me Psal. 40. 12. My iniquities a strange word to drop from the holy one of God but the Apostle clears it God made him for us to be sin 2 Cor. 5. 21. there was no Sin in him by Inhesion but God made him Sin by Imputation not only a Sacrifice for Sin which yet includes that imputation but Sin it self the double Antithesis in the Text carries it this way he was made that Sin he knew not and that was Sin it self he was made that Sin which is opsite to Righteousness and that was Sin it self Hence Luther brings in the Father casting all our Sins on him with these words Tu sis Petrus ille negator Paulus ille persecutor David ille adulter peccator ille in paradiso latro ille in cruce person a illa quae fecerit omnium hominum peccata all our sins were imputed unto him But you 'l say How can these things be Can the righteous God who judges according to truth impute Sin to his holy one I answer As there are in the Apostle two distinct Comings of Christ in the first he bore our sins in the second he appears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without sin Heb. 9. 28. So in his first coming he susteined two distinct persons his own and ours as he was in his own person he was without sin but as he was our Surety and susteined our persons so our Sins were imputed to him and imputed to him according to truth because he was such The holy One was righteously made sin because first he was a Surety for sinners a World of Sins was justly cast on the innocent Lamb because he stood in the room of a World of sinners In eadem persona Christi saith Luther congrediuntur illa duo summum maximum peccatum summa maxima justitia this is one of the wonders in Theology Reason and Philosophy can shew Sin in the sinner but the sublimer Gospel shews Sin on a spotless Lamb here darkness seized upon the Sun here the abomination of iniquity stood where it ought not I say where it ought not because upon the holy place yet withal where it ought because of an holy Imputation God can by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. that is the guilty remaining such therefore he first translated the guilt upon Christ and then he justifies the ungodly through him Rom. 4. 5. Oh the glory of the divine Will It s Purity cannot but hate Sin yet its Power removes it its Justice cannot but punish Sin yet its Mercy translates it from the Sinner to the Surety that it may be condemned there where it was never committed even in the flesh of Christ Rom. 8. 3. 2. Our Sins being laid on him he suffered the same punishment for the main that was due to us for them for how doth the Scripture express the punishment of Sin 'T is death Gen. 2. 17. and he died for us 't is the second death Rev. 20. 14. or death unto death 2 Cor. 2. 16. and he suffered deaths Isai. 53. 9. not the death of the Body only but all the deaths in moriendo morieris as far as his holy Humanity was capable thereof 't is wrath Rom. 1. 18. and he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man set in the stroke of Gods wrath as the Septuagint hath it Isai. 53. 3. 't is a curse Deut. 27. 26. and he was made a curse Gal. 3. 13. not only a ceremonial but a real Curse even that which he redeems us from Tu Christe saith Luther es peccatum meum maledictum meum seu potius ego sum peccatum tuum maledictum tuum 't is hell Psal. 9. 17. and he descended thither though not by a local Motion yet by an immense Passion his Soul travelling under the wrath of God He began to descend into Hell when he sweat drops of Blood and he descended yet further into it when he cried out My God my God! why hast thou forsaken me There are two Essentials of punishment in Hell poena sensûs poena damni and he suffered both when the fire of God's Wrath melted him into a bloody sweat there was poena sensùs and when the great Eclipse of God's Favour made him cry out of forsaking there was poenadamni Christ suffered the same punishment for the main which we should have suffered the chief change was in the Person the just suffering for the unjust the Surety for the Sinner But you 'l say Christ did not suffer the same punishment for he neither suffered eternal Death nor yet the Worm of Conscience As to that of eternal Death I answer by two Distinctions 1. In eternal Death we must distinguish between the Immensity of the Sufferings and the Duration the Immensity is essential to it but the Duration is but mor a in Esse and accidental Christ suffered eternal Death as to the Immensity of his Sufferings though not as to the Duration of them he paid down the idem as to Essentials of punishment and the tantundem as to the Accidentals what was wanting in the Duration of his Sufferings was more than compensated by the Dignity of his Person for it was far more for God to suffer for a moment than for all Creatures to suffer to Eternity 2. We must distinguish between punishment as it stands in the Law absolutely and punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature which cannot at once admit a punishment commensurate to its offence and so must ever suffer because it cannot satisfie to Eternity Punishment as
all on the Cross may be offered to all in the Gospel there is no Pagan in the World to whom Christ may not be offered And if there were but one great Ear or Organ of Hearing common to all how would Christ's Ministers always be filling it with Gospel But it follows not that Christ shall be preached to all for the Gospel is God's own and he may do with his own as he pleaseth and Christ who purchased for all the Being of the Gospel as far as the general Promises go yet purchased not for all the publication thereof In a word the Pagans have some glimmerings of Gospel and may be saved on Gospel-terms which shews that Christ so far died for them and that they have not the express knowledge of Christ is a deep Abyss much fitter to be adored than dived into by us Object 3. If Christ died for all men then he intercedes for all but he intercedes only for the Elect therefore he died for them only I answer that Christ doth in some sort intercede for all men and this I shall clear several ways 1. From the Nature of Christ's Intercession that is not a formal Prayer but an appearing in the Holy of Holies before the face of God as an Advocate and there presenting his Blood and Righteousness in their freshness and endless life of Merit with a Will that all the Grace purchased thereby may be dispensed to the sons of men therefore Christ even in Glory stands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one slain Rev. 5. 6. shewing his bleeding Wounds to make Intercession with God Hence it follows that his Intercession being a kind of celestial Oblation perfectly answers to his Oblation on the Cross he is an Advocate above so far as he was a Surety here below his Blood speaks the very same things in Heaven as it did on Earth and his Will stands in the same posture towards Sinners there as here Now how far was Christ a Surety for all Surely thus far that all may be saved if they believe else either they cannot be saved at all which is contrary to the truth of the Promise or they may be saved without a Surety which is contrary to the current of the Scriptures But if he were so far a Surety for all then he is so far an Advocate for all for he appears an Advocate in Heaven for all those for whom he appeared as a Surety on the Cross. Hence the Apostle saith in general If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father 1 Joh. 2. 1. he saith not strictly if the Elect sin but at large if any man sin we have an advocate and as the true ground-work of this general Advocation he adds he is the propitiation for the whole world Ver. 2. So far forth as he was a Propitiation for the World so far forth he is an Advocate for it And another Apostle affirms that Christ is a Mediator between God and men 1 Tim. 2. 5. he saith not betwixt God and his Church but betwixt God and men and the following words give the true reason of it Christ gave himself a ransom for all Ver. 6. he is no less a Mediator for all than he was a Ransom for all Christ's Blood shed on the Cross spake thus far for all men that they might have their pardon on Gospel-terms and afterwards being carried to Heaven it speaks the very same language for them for the voice or speech of that Blood is its Merit and that Merit is of an indeficient virtue Hence that Blood cannot be speechless because it cannot be meritless and so far on Earth as it merited for all so far in Heaven it speaks and intercedes for all Moreover as Christ's Blood speaks the same things for them in Heaven as it did on Earth so Christ's Will in Heaven stands in the same posture towards them as it did on Earth wherefore in a sort he intercedes for all 2. From the Patience of God which waits on men even such as at last perish If Christ did not stand with the Incense of his sweet-smelling Merits between the living and the dead between the reprieved Sinners on Earth and the damned Spirits in Hell the Patience of God would not wait one moment upon them 3. From the working of God's Spirit for as Christ is our Paraclete or Advocate in heaven 1 Joh. 2. 1. so the holy Spirit is Gods Para. clete or Advocate on earth Joh. 16. 7. Surely if the Advocate in Heaven spake nothing for the Non-lect the Advocate on Earth would not wooe them to salvation if the Blood of Christ did not at all plead for them the Spirit of Christ would give no touches at all upon them much less such touches as to make them taste the powers of the World to come 4. From the liberty of Prayer Simon Magus even whilest in the gall of bitterness was commanded to pray Acts 8. 22. but what without a Mediator No surely that sinful man who hath no Mediator in Heaven must not presume to pray on Earth I see no reason why a man merely mediatorless should have more lieve to pray than a Devil who is therefore without hope because without a Mediator The Apostle commands men to pray every where 1 Tim. 2. 8. but a little before he lays down this as the ground-work there is one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all Ver. 5 and 6. The Mediation of Christ opens the door to Prayer Wherefore as to this Objection I answer thus Christ intercedes for all men in such sort as he died for them I say in such sort for there is a vast difference between his general Intercession for all and his special Intercession for the Elect For as Christ by his Blood shed on the Cross merited for all in general that they might be saved on Gospel-terms and merited for the Elect in special that they should believe and be saved so by the same blood presented in Heaven he intercedes for all that they may be saved on Gospel-terms and intercedes for the Elect that they may believe and be saved And thus he is the complete Mediator of the Covenant as the general Promises extend to all so answerably he intercedes for all and as the special Promises point only at the Elect so proportionably he intercedes for the Elect. Object 4. If Christ died for all men then he was a Surety for all and satisfied for the sins of all and consequently God hath a double Satisfaction one in Christ the Surety and another in the persons of the Damned which is against the nature of his Justice In this Argument are two consequences to be weighed 1. If Christ died for all then he was a Surety for all satisfied for the sins of all 2. If Christ so satisfied for the sins of all then God hath a double Satisfaction which is against Justice As to the first consequence I admit it as a
Nature 't is a Nullity in naturals and if a rational Creature be separate from the God of Grace he is a Nullity in spirituals Sure if he were any thing at all he might speak or think but he can do neither As running a fountain of Words as his tongue is he cannot say Jesus is the Lord 1 Cor. 12. 3. and as swarming a Hive of Thoughts as his Heart is he cannot think any thing as of himself 2 Cor. 3. 5. The great Apostle gives a double account of himself an account what he is in himself I am nothing saith he 2 Cor. 12. 11. and an account what he is by Grace by the grace of God I am what I am 1 Cor. 15. 10. all his nothingness is in and of himself and all his spiritual essence is in and of Grace A mere Natural man is nothing in Spirituals his eyes are on that which is not Prov. 23. 5. his joy is in a thing of nought Amos 6. 13. and all the false Gods in his heart are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nihilitates nothingnesses Psal. 96. 5. As they are Creatures in the World they are Beings but as they are Idols in his 〈◊〉 they are nothing nothing to make a God of and he who makes them such is like unto them even nothing in Spirituals 2. 'T is a State of Enmity against God he is not only a Stranger but an enemy too Col. 1. 21. nay which is more his carnal Mind is enmity against God Rom. 8. 7. Enmity is irreconcileable it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be not unless the Enmity be slain in it nay further the Apostle call the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haters of God Rom. 1. 30. and Hatred is Enmity boiled up to the height Hatred saith the Philosopher seeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Not-being of the thing hated and such is man's Wickedness that strikes as it were at the Life and Being of God it had rather that God should not be than that Lusts should be restrained The Scripture sets out some grand Enemies as opposing God openly and upon the Stage of the World and by what they did openly we may discern what spirit and mystery of Iniquity is working in every Natural man's heart secretly there is in him some of the corrupt flesh of the old World somewhat of Pharaoh's spirit which secretly saith Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice Somewhat of the bloody Jew which is ready to crucifie the Son of God afresh and trample his precious blood under-foot somewhat of the proud Antichrist the man of sin which exalts it self above God it s own Reason above the Wisdom of God and its own Will above the Will of God The very same Venom and Poyson of Enmity which the Grand Enemies of God pour out openly privily lurks and works in every Natural Man Thus in general Man's State is Estrangement and Enmity But to procede 2. What is Man's State in particular in relation to his several parts Now here the same Estrangement and Enmity shews forth it self according to the Nature of each part 1. As for the Understanding 't is turned away from God the first and essential Truth and so become a Forge of lying Vanities 't is turned away from God the first and essential Light and so become a dark place nay darkness it self Eph. 5. 8. and if the light be darkness how great is that darkness So great it is that a Natural man sets an higher estimate on the Follies of Time than on the Blessedness of Eternity and rates the broken Cisterns above the Fountain of living waters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the souly man who hath nothing but a rational Soul the Spirit of a mere man in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God 2 Cor. 2. 14. One would think that all Truths should be welcome to a rational Soul and above all the Mysteries of Heaven but he receiveth them not And this the Apostle lays down distinctly The spirit of man knows the things of man because they are within his own Line but the things of God are only known by the Spirit of God because they are above the Sphere of natural Reason As the things of Man are above the Sphere of Sense so the things of God are above the Sphere of Reason and yet as if they were below it the Natural man counts them foolishness which evinces an extreme foolishness in his own heart he is not a Man not an understanding Creature in Spirituals Agur is a Brute in his own eyes I have not the understanding of a man saith he Prov. 30. 2. The Apostle proving all under sin asserts that there is none that understandeth Rom. 3. 11. Millions of ratinal Creatures in the World and yet there is none that understandeth and his proof is invincible there is none that seeketh after God which sure would be done if there were any spark of spiritual Understanding in him 'T is true there may be a mass of Notions in a man unconverted but not a dram of spiritual Knowledge Seeing he sees not he sees the things of God in the image or picture of the Letter but he sees them not in their liveliness and inward Glory Just as the carnal Israelites who saw their Manna and Sacrifices only in the outside but saw not Christ in them or as those false Seekers of whom Christ saith Ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled Joh. 6. 26. There was a Miracle in those very Loaves but they saw only the carnal and grosser part of the Miracle and not the Glory and Power of Christ's Deity sparkling out in it An Unconverted man knows nothing as he ought to know it no not in the midst of his notions there is no savouring tasting or practical Knowledge in him nothing but a husk shell or form of Knowledg and in the midst thereof a real enmity against the things known Whilest the light of Truth shines only in the Notion he likes it well enough but if it waken Conscience check Lust press Duty or any way offer to assume its Supremacy in his heart or life he instantly hates it as an enemy 2. As for the Will the Principle of Freedom 't is turn'd from God the primum liberum and from his service the vera libertas and so it is become servum arbitrium an arrant Slave bound in the bonds of iniquity and which is the height of Slavery 't is in love with its Bonds and which is the intenseness and intimateness of that love when Christ comes to break these Bonds 't is loth to be made free indeed the iron is so entred into his soul the Bondage is so intimate in the forlorn Will that it looks on God's service as bondage and Sins bondage as freedom and hence it is dead and lame to God's ways but runs and flies