which we are raised up unto in this World by the Power of Christ's Resurrection which hath a quickning influence upon our Souls raising us up to newness of Life There was some distance though but a little at first between the Death and Resurrection of Christ only Three Days during that time they could not draw comfort from his Death till he Rose again But since the time of his actual Resurrection the Death and Resurrection of Christ stand closer together in our thoughts and have a joint Spiritual influence upon our Hearts we presently pass in the actings of our Faith from one to the other from the effects of his Death in the Pardon and Mortification of Sin to the effects of his Resurrection in our Spiritual Vivification and quickning up to new Obedience thus the Death of Christ lets us into his Life being planted together in the likeness of his Death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection Rom. 6. 5. We deal with the Blood of Christ for our justification from Sin and with the Spirit of Christ risen from the Dead for our Sanctification Did we clearly discern how our Sanctification flows from the Resurrection of Christ as a consequent of that forgiveness of Sin purchased by his Blood Eph. 1. 7. we should not so confound Justification and Sanctification as some do So much as we ascribe to our works in justification so much we take off from the Blood of Christ to which the whole of our Justification is ascribed 'T is a Righteousness without works by which we are Justified therefore it can never pass thorough our hands no part of it is wrought by us 't is all imputed to us for Pardon of Sin that we may live and not die and this is Justification unto life Justification has different names in Scripture from the different respects it bears to us as we are obnoxious to Punishment 't is called Remission as it relates to a state of Sin which is a state of servitude and bondage 't is called Redemption as we are Enemies to God 't is called Reconciliation Remission of Sin is absolutely necessary in order to Salvation I will shew you the necessity of pardon and of Preaching this Comfortable Doctrine to all Having given you a general account of that comfortable Gospel Doctrine concerning the full and free remission of all our sins through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and shewed you from Scripture how the remission of sin implies our Justification I opened to you that common distinction by which Divines do well express the whole nature of Justification as consisting in the Remission of Sin and imputation of Righteousness and shewed you how these Two are inseparably linked together whereever the former is viz. Remission of all Sin there is also the latter viz. Imputation of Righteousness I shall now proceed to the further opening of the nature of Remission of Sin in these following Particulars 1. Remission of Sin does not change the nature of Sin that that which is Sin should be counted no Sin that Evil should be called Good Isa. 5. 20. Sin is as really Sin after Pardon as before only Pardon frees us from the guilt of Sin takes away meritum poenae the deserved Punishment This it takes away not from the Sin but from the Sinner only still the wages of sin is death i. e. Sin deserves Death even after 't is Pardoned but this Death is not inflicted upon him to whom Sin is Pardoned and this absolving from Guilt is properly the Justification of a Sinner as such in himself but now looked upon by God as Righteous in Christ by virtue of his Pardon To make this yet more clear take it thus Any act contrary to Law is properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Transgression or Sin and Sin in respect of its guilt binding us over to Punishment is called a Debt The fact or action it self cannot be Remitted because that which is done is done and cannot be said not to be done yet the guilt of that evil act may be Remitted and is Remitted when the Punishment which we have deserved is Remitted and this is properly pardon of Sin Sin is not imputed To impute is an act of Reason and Judgment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rationem ineo ratiocinando deduco 't is a mental act a rational inference or conclusion from such premises So when applied to God 't is an act of Divine Reason and Wisdom to impute Sin is to deal with men according to the just demerit of sin to give it its due reward its wages according to reason and justice 't is an act of the Divine understanding God does think with himself what Sin deserves and doth resolve upon the Punishment of it as a thing most just and reasonable So not to impute Sin or to forgive Sin is not to enter into Judgment with the Sinner Psal. 143. 2. according to the strict terms of the Law of Works For when God so enters into Judgment with us the reason of the Law and Justice of God must needs carry it against the Sinner and yet not to impute Sin is an act of Judgement too an act of Divine Reason and Understanding in God But in this act of Judgement whereby God does not impute Sin God judges of sin according to the terms of the New Covenant having in his Eye and under his Consideration the full satisfaction that Christ has made for Sin upon this account he judges it most reasonable not to impute Sin to those for whom Christ has died Civilians do admit of a supposed imaginary solution when really nothing is paid this among men is to forgive the Debt acceptum ferre Whence comes the term Acceptilatio the Creditor counting the Money as Received which he forgives the Debtor But in God's forgiveness there is a great deal more than this here is real payment made full satisfaction given by Christ our Surety and the Grace of Pardon lies in the free application of all this unto us this is God's Grace towards us yet the Pardon of the Sins of Believers is but justice towards Christ 't is Grace towards us that God should accept of satisfaction from the hand of another but upon full satisfaction given 't is an act of Justice to remit the Debt 2. Pardoning Grace takes away that that makes a man unrighteous in the sight of God it takes away sin how that is I have in part shewed already and shall more fully demonstrate 'T is evident that Gods counts them righteous whose sins are pardoned and that he has nothing in his eye then but the full satisfaction Christ made for sin which is the Foundation of Pardon and also meritorious of eternal Life it was not only bare satisfaction that Christ made for that is but Justice paying what is due not a Penny over or under but in Christ's satisfaction there is a redundancy of Merit procuring Grace and Glory for us the Merit of Christ procures the
favour of God for us and a right to all the blessings promised in the Gospel and his Spirit effectually applies all this to us and works all this in us 3. Remission of sin as it is held forth and offered in the Gospel presupposes nothing in man as the cause and condition of it moving God to pardon him but only denotes God's gracious Indulgence towards him not reckoning his sin to him upon his believing in Christ see how pardoning Grace finds us Col. 2. 13. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickned together with him having forgiven you all trespasses So Heb. 8. 10 11 12. God does not eye any Qualifications in us but promises to do all himself I will and they shall c. 'T is objected That Faith is the beginning of Sanctification and if Faith be required unto Justification then some part at least of our Sanctification is required unto justification Answ. No part at all for though Faith be a supernatural Principle infused by God in order to our Sanctification as well as our Justification yet it first Justifies before it Sanctifies I speak of Faith now not in its first Principle but in its first actings I say it first acts upon Christ by receiving him before it begins actually to sanctify us there is a great difference between the Instrumentality of Faith in receiving Christ for our Justification and the efficacy of Faith applying Christ received for our Sanctification to speak properly 't is not God's working Faith but Faith working in us and upon us that Sanctifies God always gives Christ in and with our first Faith for Justification and Pardon this must be first finished and compleated before Faith will or can begin to sanctifie us because Faith fetches all its sanctifying Virtue from Christ received but our first act of receiving Christ is that that justifies Sanctification always follows upon it and is gradually carried on by a justifying Faith to our lives end in is not pardoned because it is mortified but because it is pardoned therefore it 's mortified Remission of sin presupposes no real change in the man himself as moving God thereunto Neither does remission of sin alter the nature of sin but only the state of the Sinner his sin is not imputed to him To forgive sin is not to remember it Jer. 31. 34. There 't is but God won't look towards it his thoughts are so taken up with the blood of Christ and the Interest that Believers have in that blood that he willingly forgets their sins he will not deal with them after their sins nor reward them according to their iniquities Psal 103. 10. And that they may be sure of this he casts their sins into the depths of the sea Mich. 7. 19. As far as the east is from the west so far hath he removed our transgression from us Psal. 103. 12. Not only from himself but from us he sees no iniquity in Jacob. If pardoning Grace does not presuppose but make a real change in a man for the better yet forasmuch as we are imperfectly Sanctified the Pardon of sin and the being and presence of sin may and do consist together in every true Believer here below provided they do not allow themselves in the practise of it 4. Remission of sin is an act of Mercy not Justice yet not contrary to Justice because the sins that are pardoned to us are punished in Christ 't is from God's Justice that he will not pardon sin without satisfaction 't is from his Mercy that he will accept of satisfaction from the hand of another This answers that plausible Objection that is commonly made against our Salvation by Grace viz. Wicked men are condemned for their evil works therefore Saints are justified for their good works Answ. This does not follow because one is an act of Justice and the other of Mercy Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Death is wages due by Law eternal Life is a free gift through Jesus Christ. 5. Remission of sin as 't is an act of Mercy so 't is act of Power too God has Power to forgive sin none but the Creditor can forgive the Debtor God is the greater Creditor and we are all his Debtors against thee only have I sinned therefore God only has Power to forgive sin but yet it is not an act of mere absolute Power neither but an act of Divine Jurisdiction that carries in it a due respect unto the Law which God as the righteous Judge and most wise Governour of the world will not violate Therefore Remission of Sin under this provision that God has made in Christ for the satisfaction of his Law and Justice is called Justification Rom. 4. 5 6. God is Just as well as Merciful in Pardoning Sin Rom 3. 25 26. So that Pardon flows from the Love of God acting towards us for Christ's sake i. e. upon the account of his Merit and Satisfaction which respect the Justice of God The truth is the satisfaction of Christ is the foundation of Pardon this satisfaction lyes in the expiatory Sacrifice offered by Christ upon the Cross hence expiation or atonement is joyned with pardon in Scripture Numb 15. 25. Levit. 4. 20. The priest was to make an atonement that the sin should be forgiven An expiatory Sacrifice led the way to forgiveness under the Law and so it does now under the Gospel without shedding of Blood there is no remission of sin If you have not the Blood of Christ is your eye when you go to God for Pardon never think to speed CHAP. IV. The APPLICATION I Shall shut up all with a word of Exhortation urging every one of you to a frequent deep serious consideration of this grand fundamental truth concerning the only way of Salvation by the remission of sin through Faith in Christ Jesus I know the time will shortly come when all our Notions and Disputes must be resolved into our believing or not believing in Christ for Pardon of sin therefore be perswaded to begin your Religion in pure Faith trusting in Christ only for the remission of all your sins through the merit of his Blood begin here lay this as the Foundation of all your Religion make this sure and then you will more clearly see upon what account you stand righteous before God if you joyn any thing with Christ here and miss your way in the first setting out you 'll go wider and wider from the Gospel every stop you take and be forced to wrest the Scriptures all along to make good your first grand mistake therefore I say beg of God to bring your hearts to a true reliance upon the free-Grace and Mercy of God in Christ Jesus for the pardon of all your sins Take this as a clue in your hands to guide you into such an understanding of all other truths as is consonant to this
Sin but the Scripture seems to make them the same Rom. 4. 5 6 7. I think they are so inseparably joined together that no man who has obtained the Pardon of all his Sins ever was or can be at a loss for a Righteousness to compleat his Justification and entitle him to the reward of Eternal Life promised in the Law I conceive the Pardon of all our Sins is a Righteousness we may boldly appear before God in because it lays before God that full satisfaction that Christ made for Sin by his active and passive Obedience which is not only satisfactory for Sin but also meritorious of Eternal Life so that all the ends of Justification are accomplished in the Remission of Sin What precise conceptions we may have of Remission of Sin and imputation of Righteousness as differing in the notion will not argue any real difference in the things themselves We must have a care we do not separate what God has so intimately joined together This hath occasioned all those unhappy Controversies about Justification as I shall shew anon They who want a sufficient Justifying Righteousness after the full Remission of all their Sins do not rightly resolve Remission of Sin into the proper procuring causes of it viz. the satisfaction that Christ made for Sin by what he did and suffered for us from his Birth to his Death so it became him to fulfil all Righteousness that he might be the end of the Law for Righteousness to them who Believe So that Christ himself is our Righteousness the Lord Jehovah our Righteousness the Law is as well satisfied with what Christ hath Done and Suffered for us as if we our selves and perfectly kept the Law or Died by it for our Sins 'T is dangerous separating Christ and his Righteousness as if we were to derive a justifying-Righteousness from Christ distinct from the Person of Christ This notion has insensibly led men to seek a Righteousness in themselves not wrought out for them but wrought in them by Christ this indeed is the right way of Sanctification but not of our Justification The Scripture directs us to seek our Justification in the Person of Christ only by Receiving him Believing in him to them is Remission of Sin Promised and everlasting life John 1. 12. John 3. 15 16. John 6. 40 47. Rom. 4. 5. Rom. 3. 26. Acts 10. 43. Acts 26. 18. Some do too nicely distinguish between freedom from Punishment and a right to eternal Life as if one could be obtained without the other which is impossible Certainly not to Die is to Live not to Die eternally is to Live eternally the expulsion of Darkness is the bringing in of Light He who is counted worthy to escape the Punishment threatned by Law is worthy to receive the Reward promised by Law I see not what should hinder it since no fault of Omission or Commission can be charged upon him whose Sins are Pardoned If after the full Remission of all our Sins we were to receive eternal Life from the Law then some Righteousness distinct from Pardon a Righteousness wrought by our selves after Pardon would be antecedently necessary to our justification unto life But that is not so for every Pardoned Sinner receives eternal Life from the hand of Free-Grace as the Gift of God freely given without any consideration of any works of Righteousness done by us Gal. 2. 6. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified If there had been law which could have given life verily righteousness should have been by the law Gal. 3. 21. But since the Law does not give Life therefore that Righteousness that lets us into eternal Life is not of the Law but that of Faith Phil. 3. 9. The Law admits of no Pardon allows of none is not at all concerned about that matter but seeks its own satisfaction in a way of strict justice the Law is all for Justice Mercy comes in by another Covenant 'T was never in the nature and constitution of the Law to give life to a Sinner the Law can't do that Rom. 8. 3. It can give life to a Righteous man but not to a Sinner The Law will prosecute him to death 't would act contrary to it self to its own eternal Sanction and declared judgment if it should do otherwise and therefore the Law as a Covenant of Life and Death is fully determined in the Death of Christ towards all Believers who are no longer under the Law but under Grace Yet I say the rigour of the Law in it self is not relaxed by the Pardon of Sin only it does not exert its condemning power upon the persons of Believers because Christ has already Suffered for their Sins but still the Law remains and ever will remain a Sin-condemning and Sin-avenging Law it has as much power as ever to stay the Sinner but it can slay him but once and the stroke of the Law is so heavy in that case that it need not smite him a second time Christ indeed being God as well as Man recovered from that deadly blow the Law gave him for our Sins and so saved himself and us Here is no relaxation of the Law but a full execution of it full satisfaction given to it the whole debt is paid to the utmost farthing by Christ our surety Now all the Life Glory and Happiness that follows upon this comes in by Grace Christ having Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law and the Law being fully satisfied cannot be against any thing that Christ shall do for his Redeemed ones he may freely bestow what he will upon them having brought them under a Covenant of Grace he may and he will pursue that Covenant to the utmost towards them for their good till he has made them as happy as infinite Love and Grace can make them Sin being taken away and expiated by the Death of Christ Believers do pass over of course into his Life they Rise with him he who has called us into a Communion with him in his Death will not deny us Communion with him in his Life and Resurrection otherwise the benefits accruing to us by his Death in a freedom from Punishment would never have made us happy had we been quite shut out from his Life 't was for that end he Died for us that we might Live for ever in him by him and with him The Law and the works of the Law contribute nothing to this Life and for our Evangelical Holiness that is but the fruit and effect of this eternal Life derived from Christ already begun in us and exerting it self gradually according to the measure of our imperfect Sanctification here All our Evangelical works are but so many expressions of that new Life
must be preserved inviolable to every one Pray see you don't invade God's property which you cannot do without manifest injustice to God and wrong to your selves we are depending Creatures because we are Creatures our being well-being our safety comfort and sufficiency lyes in another and not in our selves A Creature separated and cut off from all Divine influences must needs wither away and sink into nothing God hath bought you have a care of selling your selves away from him into other hands of alienating your selves from God as if you could shift well enough without him have a care of living to your selves of bringing forth fruit to your selves Hos. 10. 1. All that you are and have is God's and all that you do should be for God 'T is a rule in Civil Law quodcunque per servum adquiritur id Domino adquiri Whatever a Servant gets he gets to and for his Master and that a Servant running away from his Master does furtum sui facere he steals away himself he takes away that which is none of his own a Servant was reckoned among the Goods Utensils and Possessions of his Master he had nothing at his own disposal all was his Masters and for his use So are all Believers vessels of honour sanctified and meet for the master's use prepared unto every good work 2 Tim. 2. 21. Whos 's they are and whom they serve Acts 27. 23. Did we better consider whose we are we should quickly see whom we ought to serve They live without God indeed who cast him off will not be governed by him but resolve to live as they list to speak and act as they please our lips are our own Psal. 12. 4. Our hands our strength our estates are our own who is Lord over us I shall from this Text shew you whose you are to whom you belong who is your Lord and Master to whom you are accountable for every thing done in the Body even to him who hath bought you and hath the first right to every thing that is your his servants must serve him Rev. 22. 3. That I may the better clear up the interest and right that God hath in you and the Service and Duty you owe to him as your Lord and Master I shall cast all I have to say from this Text under these following heads viz. 1. Who are they who are said to be bought 2. Who was the Buyer 3. What was the price paid by Christ for our Redemption 4. Who set the price of our Redemption so high 5. To whom was the price paid 6. For whom and to what end was it paid 7. How by the Law of Redemption the Redeemed pass over Body and Soul into the possession of the Redeemer First Who are they who are said to be bought Ye are bought i. e. The believing Corinthians and all other Believers whose hearts God has drawn to close in with Christ by a true saving Faith as their only Redeemer and Saviour Till Faith be wrought in us we can have no sure evidence that we are among God's Redeemed ones 't is Faith only that tells us this from the word of God ye are bought this implies that we were sold under sin reduced to a miserable state of Bondage by our Apostacy from God which none could deliver us from but Jesus Christ our mighty Redeemer and Saviour Secondly Who was the Buyer Christ our Redeemer who was God and Man The right of Redemption among the Jews lay in the next Kinsman who was to purchase the Widow's land and to marry her person Deut. 25. 5. comp with Ruth 4. 3 4. That Christ might claim kindred with us in order to a Marriage afterwards to be compleated he took part of our flesh Heb. 2. 14. A body hast thou prepared me Heb. 10. 5. I am willing to take it up lo I come to dye in that Body for all the Elect that having overcome death I may be Married to them and become their Head and Husband had an Angel offered himself supposing him otherwise qualified he could not have been our Redeemer because he must be akin to us bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh who undertakes that Office therefore I say Christ took up that Body prepared of the Father died in it rose in it ascended into Heaven in it is now glorified in it to shew what he intended to bring fallen Man unto as many as should believe in him Thirdly What was the price paid by Christ for our Redemption Viz. His own Blood 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Pretium pretiorum the greatest price that ever was paid for any thing that ever was bought all the Gold and Silver in the World heaped together is not to be compared to the value of the Blood of Christ by this you see the great love of Christ to the Souls of Men who in themselves were hopeless and helpless could do nothing towards the Redemption of their own Souls but Christ being God and Man pours out his Soul as man and takes it up again as God when he had done his work that we might have a sure ground for our Faith and Hope to rest upon not doubting but as Christ raised himself from the dead so he will also raise us at the last day who dye in him that we may live by him with him and upon him for ever who is the Resurrection and the life as his death is imputed to us and spiritually acted over upon us in the mortification of sin so is his life actually communicated in some degree to all Believers here by the same spirit that dwells in him and in them and this eternal spirit of life in Christ will never cease working higher and higher in the mystical Body of Christ diffusing it self more abundantly through all the Members till Mortallity be quite swallowed up of life this will be more manifest when Christ who is our life shall appear You see that God went not out of himself for a Mediator but appointed the Second person of the Trinity to that Office that the whole transaction between God and Man might go through his hands who is both God and Man Fourthly Who set he price of our Redemption so high 1. God the Father who also found out this Ransom he knew the whole world could not raise it it must come out of the Treasury of Heaven God himself was at the charge of our Redemption and whatever it cost him was resolved to effect it and therefore he spared not his own Son but parts with the greatest Jewel in the Crown of Heaven to buy off sinful man from that Thraldom and Bondage he was involved in and could never have extricated himself out of 2. The Law sets the price by consequence not that the Law provides a Mediator the Law seeks its own satisfaction in saving and damning men it promises Salvation upon our perfect Obedience and all who come short of that it threatens with eternal Damnation Cursed is every one
c. In the day thou eatest thou shalt die Nothing does establish this Law and give it its full course towards Believers but faith in Christ Jesus who was made a curse and died according to Law for our sins and being risen again he brings those whom he freed from the curse of the Law under the blessing of the Gospel giving eternal Life as a free-gift to all who thankfully receive it from his hand by faith owning him as the Author and Donor of it 3. The nature of the Offence as committed against an infinite God requires a price equivalent to it of infinite value none but God could satisfie God the wrath of God is asswaged by the blood of God and that he might bleed he became Man the Second Person of the Trinity as incarnate died for man tasted death for us in our nature which he still kept hypostatically untied to his own Divine Person for Christ by dying did not lay down humane Nature but humane Life only which he took up again and now lives for ever as a quickning Spirit communicating eternal Life to Believers through his humane nature now glorified in Heaven Therefore Christ is said to be our life Col. 3. 4. And this life is in his son 1 John 5.11 Hid with Christ in God Col. 3. 3. The life which we derive from mere humane nature will quickly fail but the life which we derive by faith form the Divine Person of the Son of God is everlasting John 3. 16. As the father hath life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself John 5. 26. i. e. He is life essentially the essence of the Deity is communicated by the Father to Christ incarnate and so he becomes the Fountain of life to us therefore let all those who hope to inherit eternal life join themselves by faith to Christ the only Fountain of life How little of this hidden life does appear in the effects of it among Professors We live more by sense than faith very solicitous about natural life but how few do carry it as those who have eternal life abiding in them 1 John 3. 15. Living in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2. 20. Who fell a Sacrifice for our sins but rose again and now lives for ever And gives eternal life to as many as the father hath given him John 17. 2. He has undertaken to the Father to draw all the Elect into a participation of that eternal life which he as man possess now in Heaven and because he lives we shall live for ever in him The Second person in the Trinity died as a man in our human nature to satisfie the Law and to evidence the reality of his death he lay buried three days in the Grave he was alive as God when dead as Man what a profound Mystery is this that the Deity of Christ should suffer his human Body to fall under the power of death for three days this shews the strength of sin the strength of the law and the strength of the wrath of God that so great a man as Christ was could not stand under and live die he must by the sanction of the law being found in the likeness of sinful flesh Rom. 8. 3. bearing our sins in his own Body on the Tree but the dignity of his person was such and the extremity of his sufferings so great that his three days death was equivalent to eternal death he did that in three days which a damned sinner in Hell cannot effect to eternity for that which is doing to eternity can never be actually done and compleated i. e. Christ gave full satisfaction to the Law in three days and therefore could not longer be detained in the Grave there was no Law nor Reason for it having paid the utmost farthing of our whole Debt the Prison-doors were opened and Christ let out That which keeps the Damned in Hell for ever is because they can never fully satisfie the law of God by all their sufferings therefore they must suffer on still to eternity but Christ by one offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 10. 14. Christ could have chose whether he would have died or no but for this end he came into the World and did voluntarily yield up himself to the Death of the Cross but rising the Third Day he lives for ever and has brought eternal life into human Nature to be communicated to all his Members who cannot forfeit that life which they derive from the second Adam as we all did that which we derived from the first Adam In Adam all die and in Christ all are made alive 1 Cor. 15. 22. CHAP. II. To whom was this PRICE paid FIfthly To whom was this Price paid viz. Into the hands of God the Father to appease his wrath under which we were Joh. 3. 36. God's justice requires this 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the judgment of God that sinners are worthy of death Rom. 1. 32. To this end Christ is our propitiation Rom. 3. 25. Reconciling God to us that we may be received into his favour again hence God declares in the new Covenant I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more Heb. 8. 12. Sing O ye heavens c. Isa. 44. 23. vide That satisfaction that Christ gave to the Justice of God lay in his bearing the Punishment of our sins which is the wrath of God in all the dreadful effects of it 2 Cor. 5. 21. 1 Pet. 2. 24. He was made a curse for us Gal. 3. 13. Died for us Mat. 20. 28. Isa. 53. 5. Was cut off for our sins Dan. 9. 26. Death was required to make satisfaction for sin In the day thou eatest c. The Wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. There is no escaping this death for us but by dealing with the Justice of God in some way that may satisfie Justice and save the sinner this Christ undertook and by his own Death effected for us He gave himself for our sins Gal. 1. 4. His Blood was the Price of our Redemption Price here is not taken as vulgarly for Money but whatever may satisfie him in whose hands the captive is that is the Price of Redemption God does not seek to make a gain of us that which he stand upon is the vindication of the honour of his Law and Justice the maintaining his Truth and Faithfulness To declare his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth ion Jesus Rom. 3. 26. Christ did not pay the Price of our Redemption to the Devil but to God the Father who had power to condemn us and as a Judge to detain us in prison till his Justice was satisfied therefore Christ deals with the Law-giver takes the penalty upon himself Whilst the condemning power of the Law is in force against us the Devil has a right in
is God as well as Man The Hypostatical union of the two natures in Christ is the Foundation of our spiritual and mystical union to God God and his Creature Man meet in Christ the Mediator We must not understand our union to Christ so grosly as if we were Deified I abhor that blasphemous Famelistical Notion of our being Christed and Godded no the new Creature in its nearest union and highest communion with God is but a Creature and never will be more nothing that is infinite eternal and uncreated can in its immensity enter into us but we may enter into it hence the Saints are said to enter into life Mat. 18. 8. Mat. 19. 17. As a Barrel cast into the Sea is in the fulness of the Sea tho the fulness of the Sea be not in the Barrel 't is filled according to its Capacity and can hold no more So is the life of Christ derived to us by gradual Communications in a way of influence from Christ the Fountain of life we live because he lives who hath life in himself and is a quickning Spirit in us certainly great things are intended by and implied in our union to Christ I remember a late eminent Divine now in Glory expresses it thus That provided we keep below the Hypostatical union of the two natures in Christ we cannot ascend too high in our thoughts and conceptions of the mystical union between Christ and his Members all that is below the hypostatical union may be allowed to this So that I would not have any interpret our union to Christ and communion with him into so low a sense as not to apprehend how Believers by vertue of their union to Christ stand in a nearer relation to God than the Angels do whose Nature Christ took not I say Believers are under a more special immediate influence of the eternal Spirit their life is hid with Christ in God and will be better understood by us in Heaven than it is here on Earth though we should be studying it more and more I am sorry to see the most spiritual expressions of the Gospel sealed up as it were by a common short exposition of them that goes with most for the full sense of the Text it contains it may be truth but not all the truth or at least does not fully express all the truth 't is looked upon as very unsafe to put a further and higher construction upon the words than others has done before though they will bear it I think while we keep within the Analogy of Faith not wounding any vital part or fundamental Principle of Religion nor wresting the Scriptures to a forced sense we may admit any farther light that shines through the word unto us waiting upon God to lead us by his Spirit further and further into the knowledge of the truth as 't is in Jesus that our light may shine out into the perfect day Christ being thus qualified for his Office is 1. Called the Messenger or Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3. 1. Because he does declare and interpret the terms of the Covenant between God and Man as Moses did Exod. 20. 19. Deut. 5. 5 27. In this he was a type of Christ Deut. 18. 15 18 19. Therefore Christ as Mediator is referred to in the Old Testament Isa. 7. 14. Isa. 8. 8. 2. The Angel absolutely Exod. 23. 20. 3. The Angel of his Face or Presence Isa. 63. 9. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 John 2. 1. An advocate The Holy Ghost has the same name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 14. 16. 26. Because as Christ makes intercession for us above his Spirit makes intercession in us here Rom. 8. 26. God is in Christ reconciling the World unto himself if ever we meet with God in peace it must be in and through this great Mediator Jesus Christ. 5. What are those special Mediotory acts that Christ puts forth CHAP. V. Of Christ's Mediatory Acts. WHAT are those special Mediatory Acts that Christ puts forth Some proper to his Prophetical some to his Priestly and some to his Kingly Office To his Prophetical Office 1. To know and rightly to state the case between God and Man 2. To propose and declare the terms of the Agreement between God and Man contained in the New Covenant To his Priestly Office 1. To make satisfaction in order to our Redemption 2. To make intercession for us by Arguments drawn from that satisfaction To his Kingly Office 1. To Protect and Govern his Church defending it against all the sworn Enemies of it 2. To give Rules Laws and Ordinances to his Church for the avoiding of all Will-Worship But I shall not tye my self to this Method But speak of Christ's Mediatory Acts. First As Mediating with God for us Secondly As Mediating with us on God's behalf 1. As Mediating with God for us 1. By giving satisfaction to his Father's Justice He undertook this as our Surety Heb. 7. 22. Heb. 10. 7. And actually performed this Undertaking 1 Tim. 2. 6. Mat. 20. 28. John 10. 15. To give satisfaction is tantum facere quantum satis est Christ as a Priest offering himself up to death for us was one of the chiefest acts of his Mediation that he might take away the guilt of sin bur this was not all for as our Mediator he puts forth a further act viz. 2. By promising to sanctify us to free us from the filth of sin Eph. 5. 25 26 27. He shews there that Christ upon giving himself for the Church laid himself under Engagements to sanctifie and cleanse it here the law of the spirit of life in Christ makes us free from the law of sin and death Rom. 8. 2. Thus Christ by himself purges our sins Heb. 1. 3. 3. By making Intercession for us 1. On Earth John 17. 9. 20. I pray for them and for all that shall believe on me through their word 2. In Heaven Heb. 9. 24. Rom. 8. 34. 1 John 2. 1. Heb. 7. 25. He ever lives to make Intercession for us 't is continual Intercession should it cease but for a Moment we should be in great danger therefore Christ is continually representing in Heaven what he has done and suffered for us in the flesh 2. As Mediating with us on God's behalf Christ as Mediator came about the Father's business Luk. 2. 49. And deals with us Prodigals about our returning to our Heavenly Father 1. By declaring the Father's Will to us John 1. 18. John 6. 38 39 40. John 17. 8 14. 2. By applying his Merits in the efficacy of them unto us The son quickneth whom he will John 5. 21. If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the deatb of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Rom. 5. 10. There is a mighty Power in the Death and Resurrection of Christ Phil. 3. 10. Rom. 6. 3 4 5. When we are planted in the likeness of both we shall then as Branches abiding in
Holiness inclines him to hate Sin and his Justice to punish it And till these Two Attributes of God be for us there is no Hope of Glory Christ by taking our Nature put himself into a capacity of suffering for us He took not on him the Nature of Angels this is some ground of Hope to Man and having drawn his heart to believe in him rely upon him it is a sure sign he intends good unto him Christ being become Man he doth through our own nature convey himself to us in the most intimate familiar manner that can be His Spirit enters into us passes through all the Faculties of our Souls leaving a Spiritual Inclination in them all towards God which by degrees prevails over all the sinful inclinations of our corrupt natures making us at last perfectly conformable to the Son of God and this is our Sanctification Christ in us demonstrates the Love of God to us sheds it abroad in our hearts by his Spirit We hope for little from those who have no kindness for us no love to us But the love of God most eminently appears to us in Christ Ephes. 2. 4. God having given us his Son how shall he not with him give us all things There is ground enough for Hope Faith having Christ raises our Hope for every thing else If Christ be ours all is ours Thirdly Christ hath given us a famous Instance in himself of the full actual accomplishment of his whole Undertaking for us which I find insisted upon in Scripture as an Encouragement to Believers Saith the Apostle Heb. 2. 9. There are many Promises and Prophesies not yet come to pass many things we do not see fulfilled But do we see nothing fulfilled Ay saith he we see Jesus entred into Glory that is enough for us so 1 Pet. 1. 21. saith he God hath raised up Christ from the dead and given him Glory to what end pray That your Faith and Hope might be in God Believers by virtue of their Union to Christ their Head and Representative they are in Heaven already made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Ephes. 2. 6. All is already fulfilled in Christ that you hope for You hope for full pardon of Sin full sense of Comfort full sense of your Justification you hope for thorough Mortification of your Sin perfect Sanctification you hope for full deliverance from all afflictions for a Resurrection from the Grave you hope to ascend up to Heaven to be Glorified there All this is past upon Christ already he hath finished Transgression as to what concerns the business of our sins Christ hath finished it he hath finished Transgression and brought in Everlasting Righteousness It is not a thing to be done but already actually done he hath finished Transgression Sin when finished brings forth death saith James this is the perfection of Sin in the utmost extent of its fatal Energy and Efficacy when it is finished it brings forth Death But Christ's finishing Sin was to prevent Death the dispatching it out of the World He by finishing Sin utterly abolished Death and Sin too by the infinite Merit of his precious Blood Christ's finishing Transgression was the blotting it out the undoing and reversing of all that Evil that Sin had brought upon us that it might not be able to bring down a Curse upon us any more The consideration of this famous instance is a wonderful support to our Faith Let me tell you this that a bare word of Promise concerning things to be done for us by God without this famous instance of their being done and actually accomplished in the Man Christ Jesus would not have been such a confirmation of our Faith tho in it self it ought to be yet through our weakness and infirmity it would not have been such a convincing confirmation as now it is in conjunction with this undeniable instance It strengthens the very Word of God and helps us with more confidence to settle upon it There is nothing we hope for but the Man Christ Jesus is already possessed of he is Risen he is Ascended he is sate down at the right Hand of God upon his Throne he is Glorified in our Nature and what is done to man may be done again So that Christ is the most rational ground of a Christians Hope that can be Fourthly Christ hath not only given us a famous instance in himself of the coming to pass of all that is promised to us but in the Fourth place he gives us present earnest of all this in our selves We have the first fruits the earnest of the spirit in our hearts 2 Cor. 1. 22. We are sealed by the holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance Ephes. 1. 13 14. They who are so sealed do walk in the comfort of the Holy-Ghost Acts 9. 31. as well they may under so great an Assurance of Glory hereafter Some Rays of this Glory do shine in upon the hearts of Believers here A spirit of glory rests upon them now 1 Pet. 4. 14. Now from these Beginnings we may hope for all that is to follow Our Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon us in some measure already and is continually rising higher and higher towards a Noon-day Light which is our perfect day Thus we are transformed now from Glory to Glory Believers find it so in themselves And therefore experience should beget Hope Rom. 5. 4. And then Lastly Lest Death should dash all our Hopes Christ hath assured us of a Glorious Resurrection If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable 1 Cor. 15. 19. Christ hath taken off this Objection that we might not be in bondage through fear of death Heb. 2. 16. It is evident he hath power to raise the dead as he hath raised himself from the Grave They deny matter of Fact who deny the Resurrection 1 Cor. 15. 13. If there be no resurrection then Christ is not risen but that is matter of fact he is risen we know it Christ is the first fruits of them that sleep in the Grave The first begotten of the dead Rev. 1. 5. The first who rose from the dead Acts 26. 23. He is the first-born from the dead Col. 1. 18. And he will change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body Phil. 3. 21. See what ground there is for your Hope of Glory from the Resurrection of Christ. That which is sown in dishonour shall be raised in glory 1 Cor. 15. 43. This still maintains your Hope of Glory Therefore my beloved brethren saith Paul be stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know your labour is not in vain in the Lord v. 58. Were there no Resurrection all the pains we take in Religion would be labour in vain but we know our labour is not in vain Thus you see how Christ in us is our Hope
to manifest the Name of God to his Elect Joh. 17. 6. to tell us all things relating to our salvation Joh. 4. 25. Therefore let us hear him Mat. 17. 5. by Christ Angels have a clearer knowledge of God Eph. 3. 1. He is seen of Angels as the Redeemer of the World and he only gives us understanding of those truths that lead unto Eternal Life 1 Joh. 5. 20. He is the way the truth and the life no man comes unto the Father but by him Joh. 14. 6. 4. What it is to know God in Christ Of this only in general to make way to the last Head which I shall more enlarge upon He that knows Christ to be God knows God in Christ this needs no proof But what is it know Christ to be God Answer To own him to be the Eternal Son of God When do we own him as such Ans. when we acknowledge him to be indeed the Christ the Saviour of the world Joh. 4. 42. Trusting in him for the Pardon of Sin Jer. 31. 34. They shall all know me from the least to the greatest saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more Till we know God to be a God of Forgiveness casting our selves by Faith upon Christ for the pardon of our Sins we do not savingly know the Lord. To know in the sense of the Text includes in it Faith Love and Approbation Faith in the Truth Love to the Truth and a hearty Approbation of the Truth which we profess to know testifying all this by our ready subjection and obedience to it As to know is to love and approve Psal. 1. 6. So not to know is to disallow to disown to disapprove to hate that which I do I allow not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 7. 15. I know not and therefore know not because I allow not I hate it So the Lord said to the foolish Virgins Mat. 25. 12. I know you not i. e. I do refuse reject and condemn you So Joh. 17 25. The World is said not to know the Father because they rejected that Revelation which he made of himself in Christ The Galatians in their Pagan state are said not to know God Gal 4. 8. some knowledge of God they had by the creatures but none in Christ and therefore are said not to know God This saving-knowledge of God in Christ is altogether Spiritual and lies in the spâ—cial light of Faith discerning the God-head of Christ and therefore inclining us to trust in the Merits of his Precious Blood for the Pardon of all our Sins 'T is a very gross corrupt Interpretation of that Text 2 Cor. 5 16. that the Lutheran Divines give Tho we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more i. e. say they in favour of their Ubiquity Tho we have known him as a Body circumscribed and limited to a certain place while on earth yet since his Ascention we know him so no more but suppose a Corporeal Ubiquity by virtue of his Divine Glorified Person which is in effect to deny the Truth of his Human Nature by ascribing that to it which is altogether inconsistent with it The Apostle's meaning is plainly this Henceforth know we no man after the flesh i. e. I and all true Believers since our Conversion bear no affection no carnal worldly respect to any man living Tho once we knew Christ after the flesh i. e. as the world knew him by his outward appearance only slighting and condemning that in him in his state of Humiliation which the world so much despised Then we looked upon him as a mere Man as an Impostor worthy of death therefore we blasphemed him and persecuted all his Followers This was the sense of the flesh But now we look upon him in the Light of the Spirit as the Son of God who died to save us from our sins They counted Paul's Ministry inferior to that of the other Apostles because he had not conversed with Christ on earth What tho says Paul I have not known him after the flesh as you have who boast much of this That you knew his Parents his Brethren and Sisters where he was born and bred c. Yet I spiritually know him by Faith as the Redeemer of the world tho I have not known him after the flesh as you have neither do I desire henceforth so to know him i. e. to account of him according to any mere human Endowments or outward worldly Circumstances but I judge of him according to his Divine Supernatural Excellencies and so I admire and magnifie him When Paul says We know Christ no more after the flesh flesh here is not taken for the substance of the flesh but for the quality or natural Passions of his Human body being liable to all those natural yet sin-less Infirmities of Human Flesh He was hungry athirst weary a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs 'T is not said we know no more the flesh of Christ but we know no more Christ after the flesh i. e. according to that mean outward appearance he made in the world in his state of Humiliation Our thoughts run higher now to Christ glorified in Heaven in our Nature These words Not to know Christ any more after the flesh must not be taken in Servetus's sense as if the Human Nature of Christ were now quite swallowed up by the Divine as if Christ had now put off his Human Body and was turned into a Spirit This overthrows the whole Foundation of Christian Religion Tho the Papists many of 'em seem to be against the Lutheran Ubiquity yet 't is evident That neither the Doctrine of Consubstantiation nor Transubstantiation can possibly stand without a Corporal Ubiquity and therefore both must fall to the ground as having no foundation in Scripture The Apostle's meaning is That we don't know Christ now according to the sense of the flesh but by a Divine Spiritual Knowledge as New Creatures Vers. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature CHAP. III. What a true saving Knowledge of God implies Being the Fifth and last Head WHat that Saving Knowledge of God in Christ that every new Creature hath does imply I shall more particularly shew some things first premised viz. 1. True Religion flows from and is grounded upon a right Knowledge of the True God 2. A Religion without a God is a very strange unaccountable thing no reason can be given for it 3. A man without a God is a very lonely solitary Creature he would not know what to do with himself under extraordinary difficulties and distresses if he had not a God to go unto and to rely upon 4. Man by Nature is a devout Creature he will have a God and a Religion he hath a Conscience and therefore he must have a God and a Religion of some sort or other 5. Man by Nature is prone to Idolatry grossly mistaken in the
he is no Worshipper of God but a Malicious Blasphemer of him he pretends to no manner of Worship he intends no such thing towards God though he promotes Idolatry in others yet does what in him lies to eclipse his Glory altogether and to set up himself for the God of this world The Devil would be a God to this end that Wickedness may be accounted Godliness receiving its denomination from Satan usurping the name and title of God But from such a God and such Godliness good Lord deliver us Therefore that we may have clear distinct apprehensions of the only True God let us keep the eye of our Faith fixed upon Christ in all the acts of Worship we perform unto God believing him and him only to be the True Living God who hath Manifested himself to us in the Flesh of Christ. CHAP. VI. To know this only True God to be OVR God 1. WHAT it is for God to be our God God as Creator and Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth might have dealt with his creature Man in a way of Absolute Prerogative commanding duty without promising any Reward being Debtor to none he might without shewing any cause why have given to or taken from man what he pleased all was his own whether he gave or took away he did with his own as he pleased Thus he might have disposed of Man from time to time according to the secret good pleasure of his Will not made known to us but by the unavoidable events of it upon us This had been a Government not so suitable to our rational Natures to which God was resolved to accommodate himself in all his dealings with us therefore having made Man a knowing Creature he reveals his Will to him tells him what he expects from him and binds himself by Covenant to continue man in Life as long as he continues in his Obedience which his perfect State inclined him to Thus God set Life and Death before him left him to his choice what he did he must do knowingly and willingly if he injure himself the whole blame must lye upon himself he could not rebel against God but he must rebel against his own Reason and wilfully act against his own Light I say wilfully For there was nothing in his perfect Nature that could incline him to the Sin he committed his will chose it without any direction from the understanding for it was absoltuely impossible that the perfect understanding of man in Innocency should be guilty of such a mistake and dictate such a wickedness no the Devil dictated it and the mutable will of man was deceived by the Tempter and fell under a Curse from that time forward the law could do nothing but Curse fallen man who had now lost his legal Interest in the Love and Favour of God There is nothing due to a Sinner by Law but Death the wages of sin is death by nature we are Children of wrath fallen under the heavy displeasure of God and must Perish Eternally unless some means be found out to reconcile us to God again some dayes-man to umpire the business between God and us and to take up the quarrel Christ undertook this to make our peace with God to bring us nigh by his blood shed for the remission of our sins that God being pacified towards us might become our God and loving Father ceasing from his anger receiving us into a state of Grace and Favour with himself God lost none of his Power over us when we fell 't is so far from that that we fell into the hands of the living God sin fitted us for destruction Rom. 9. 22. Laid our Necks as it were upon the block exposed us to the stroke of Divine Vengeance In respect of power God is God over all still but in respect of Grace he ceases to be God i. e. a gracious God to those who are shut out of his love having forfeited all their Interest in it When God comes to a sinner and says as to Abraham Gen. 17. 7. I am thy God 't is as much as if he should say what I am in my self I 'll be on thy behalf I 'll be all in all to thee I 'll confer all blessings temporal and spiritual upon thee I 'll communicate all good to thee Grace and Protection I ll be with thee whereever thou goest to bless thee Alas What if God be Almighty and Alsufficient in himself unless he will help me and do good to me what am I the better therefore says God whatever I am have or can do shall be for thy good my Power Wisdom Goodness Mercy shall be applied to thee and thine for Blessing and Salvation Psal. 144. 15. I will be thy God In words a short promise but in sense the most ample promise in the whole Bible God here is taken relatively as he stands related to his people and his people to him he is the God of such a people and they are the people of such a God Hos. 2. 23. God dwells among them Exod. 29. 45 46. As a God nigh at hand to help them ready upon all occasions to do them good he does not only dwell but walk among us he goes into every room of the House takes care of every thing keeps all in good order Levit. 26. 12. 2 Cor. 6. 16. Zech. 2. 10 11 12. This dwelling denotes not only the general presence of his Power but the special presence of his Grace So he was with Joseph Gen. 39. 2. And when he withdraws his favour and assistance he is said not to be among us Numb 14. 42. Then they are smitten by their Enemies but when God appears then their Enemies fly before them Psal 79. 9 10. For God to be our God and our Father secures us to eternity whatever Chastisements we pass through all will issue well 2 Sam. 7. 14. 15. if God be our God and Father For God to be our God is equivalent to other expressions of Scripture of the like import viz. to be for us Rom. 8. 31. To be on our side Psal. 124. 1 2. To be round about us as the Mountains about Jerusalem Psal. 125. 2. To be with us in us always nigh at hand to help us God is ours when all that he hath is ours for our use and benefit 2. How comes God to be our God This comes originally from himself because he truly bestows himself upon us in the new Covenant by vertue of which he becomes ours and we become his Gen. 17. 7. God and the Saints have a propriety in each other Heb. 8. 10. I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people God gives himself to us and then we resign up our selves to him Isa. 44. 5. We must prove God to be ours by some grant or deed of gift which God has made of himself to us in his word before we can lay claim to him As God became the God of Abraham by Covenant and
us and to us as God's Executioner by virtue of that Law which casts us into his hands but when the Law is satisfied and the Curse taken off the Devil's claim ceases where there is no condemnation there can be no punishment inflicted Just punishment is according to Law but where no sentence of judgment can be passed there can be no execution of the minatory part of the Law upon that man Currat lex fiat justitia but where the due course of Law is stopped and by some means prevented there can be no trial and consequently no judgment pass upon that man unto condemnation The Devil detains us Captives not in his own right but in God's whose Prisoners we are Our Redemption by Christ is a spiritual Redemption both of our Bodies and Souls as we are said to be sold under sin by our own default so we are said to be Redeemed or freed from sin by Christ's giving satisfaction for our offences the Price was paid to God Christ offered up himself to God Heb. 9. 14. Who as a Righteous Judge has power to cast Body and Soul into Hell 'T was his Divine Majesty that we offended 't was his wrath we lay under Rom. 1. 18. John 3. 36. We don't ask pardon of the Devil but of God 't is to his judgment that we are bound over Gal. 3. 22. Rom. 3. 9. Rom. 11. 32. 'T was God that cast the Devils into Hell 2 Pet. 2. 4. So he delivers Impenitent sinners up to the Devil as his Executioner as that Lord delivered the unjust servant to the tormentors Mat. 18. 34. And the Judge to the officer Mat. 5. 25. The power of the Devil over us mentioned Col. 1. 13. 2 Tim. 2. 26. is but a secondary power derived from God the Judge as Christ said of his Murtherers You could have no power over me if it were not given from above John 19. 11. 'T is God who has power over all plagues Rev. 16. 9. Even over death it self Heb. 5. 7. He hath the keys of hell and death Rev. 1. 18. When we are redeemed from the curse of the law and from the wrath of God 1 Thes. 1. 10. we are Redeemed from all the adjuncts and effects of these as a vain conversation from the power of Sin Satan and Death Our Captivity lies in our alienation and distance from God and when we are brought nigh by the Blood of Christ and reconciled to God the ransom being paid by Christ we are delivered from the wrath of God and all the consequents of it As in Civil Corporal Redemptions the Price is paid not to the Jaylor to the Hangman to the Tormentors but to the Supreme Judge in whose power the Prisoner is if he be discharged by the Judge he is freed of course from his Chains from the Dungeon and the noysome stench of it Thus you see how we are bought with a Price not one Penny or Farthing of this comes out of our own Purses Isa 45. 13. Isa. 53. 3. No good thought no good word no good work of our own no not any act of our own Faith does belong to this sum as part of the Price We buy but without money Isa. 55. 1. what is so bought is freely given The hope of eternal Glory is proposed in the Gospel as a motive to and reward of our good works but still 't is Faith in Christ alone that lets us into this hope begets it in us and being justified by Faith perfectly justified in this life our good works though imperfect in themselves are rewarded of mere grace yet the imperfection of them makes them uncapable of a reward from Justice and if that imperfection were not covered and pardoned Grace it self would turn away from them and disregard them but being justified from the guilt of all our sins God remembers them no more he will not see iniquity in Jacob there it is but God having pardoned it he passes it by and overlooks it so as not to charge it upon us to our condemnation God considers the Holiness of his children as if it were by it self shining out under the covering of all their infirmities through their Faith and Sincerity 'T is not the degree but the truth of their Holiness that God takes most notice of he is pleased to see the fruits of his own Spirit in Believers he looks through their good works upon their Faith from whence they spring and so accepts both of their persons and their works for his Son's sake Though Faith be an appointed means instrumentally necessary to apply and put on Christ by whom alone we are justified in the sight of God we shall never be the less justified for deriving all from Christ alone converting our own inherent holiness to those proper uses the Gospel hath assigned it unto viz. the glory of God in this World a testimony of our obedience and thankfulness to him an example to others provoking them to good works and a meet fruit of true saving justifying Faith these are motives strong enough to good works without advancing them into the room and place of Christ robbing him of the Glory of our full and free Redemption What the Socinians object against this purposely to overthrow the satisfaction of Christ denying any Price to be really paid to the Father for our Redemption I shall speak to next time and clear the Text from their Cavils The Socinians that they may overthrow the necessity of Satisfaction for Sin deny the Divinity of Christ and that he paid any Price to the Father for our Redemption They say the word Redemption is but a Metaphor signifying only simple deliverance or freedom from Bondage without any Satisfaction given to any they make Mercy and Justice no essential Properties in God but only mere voluntary effects of his Free-will because God say they may pardon sin without satisfaction by an Arbitrary Act of his Absolute Power For this they quote many Scriptures speaking of God's redeeming his people out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh Deut. 7. 8. Deut. 15. 15. Neh. 1. 10. Jer. 15. 21. Answ. 'T is granted that the Hebrew word used in all those formentioned places is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies redimere absque pretio and 't is applied to civil bodily temporal Redemptions but when the Holy-Ghost speaks of our Spiritual Redemption by Christ either in the thing it self or in the Type He uses another word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 redimere pretio So Exod. 15. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 redimisti That this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to redeem by price appears plainly Lev. 25. 49 50 51. in buying the Field of Naomi Ruth 4. 6. and the field of Hanameel for money seventeen shekels of silver I weighed him the money Jer. 32. 7 8 9 10. The same word is applied to Christ Gen. 48. 16. The angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads The Angel in the precedent
verse is called God And he blessed Joseph and said God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk the God which fed me all my life long unto this day the angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads Hence Christ is called our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa. 43. 14. Thus saith the Lord your redeemer the holy One of Israel Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel and his redeemer the Lord of hosts Isa. 44. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Redemptor ejus This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a near kinsman as well as a Redeemer Ruth 4. 4. Blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Redeemer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Redemptor propinquus Ruth 3. 12. a near kinsman Christ was both Heb. 2. 14. ad finem vide So in the New Testamen the word used for Redemption or to redeem is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forum to buy as in a market with ready money as in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are bought with a price So Rev. 5. 9. Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood And Rev. 14. 3 4. The Hundred forty four thousand were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 redeemed or bought from the earth and from among men Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law emercatus as Merchants who give a valuable consideration for the Commodities they buy so Christ emendo exemit has redeemed us by buying us off The same word you have Gal. 4. 5. God sent forth his Son to redeem them that were under the Law by laying down a sufficient price Hence Christ is said to give his life a ransom for many Mat. 20. 28. He gave himself a ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. The words used in those places are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 solvo to loose one from his bands as Paul was Acts 22. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he loosed him from his bands It signifies also to loose from sin by the Free Pardon of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven Mat. 16. 19. The same word is applied to Christ 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ or with the honourable invaluable Blood of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As Servants under the Law were redeemed by Price or Compensation Lev. 25. 52. so are we under the Gospel we are Servi emptitii bought Servants By all this it appears That our Redemption by Christ is not a bare simple deliverance and freedom from Misery by a meer act of Power only but a real Price was paid It pleased God to redeem man in a way of Justice as most agreeable to his holy Nature who as a Righteous God punishes sinners Psal. 11. 5 6 7. Rev. 16. 15 16. Rom. 3. 26. Natural Conscience is convinced of the equity of this that a sinner is worthy of death Rom. 1. 32. Justice cannot be taken off from inflicting this Punishment but by Satisfaction given by Christ If sin could have been forgiven without it Christ would never have undergone such Sufferings as he did A Believer may plead both Mercy and Justice for the Pardon of Sin Art thou afraid Grace will not reach thee then know that Justice it self will discharge thee Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died Rom. 8. 33 34. CHAP. III. SIxthly For whom and to what end was this Price paid For all the Elect that not one of them might be lost John 6. 39. 'T was the love of God that procured this Ransom God so loved the world c. John 3. 16. Rom. 3. 24 25. We are brought nigh to God by the blood of Christ Eph. 2. 13. Justice being satisfied nothing can now obstruct the free course of his mercy towards us Christ knew he was able to rescue us out of the power of Sin and Satan undertook this when he laid down the ransom but the actual accomplishment of this in us is a work of time many for whom Christ shed his Blood are not presently freed from Sin and Satan they both have power over them till Christ by his Word and Spirit hath subdued them and set his Elect at perfect liberty some degrees of this liberty they attain in this World but not their full and perfect liberty till the Resurrection then the strong man shall be quite cast out by one stronger than himself then will those Scriptures Heb. 2. 14. Col. 2. 14 15. be fulfilled in us Our Redemption by Christ is the greatest expression of God's love to us that ever was Rom. 5. 8. Rom. 8. 32. Joh. 15. 13. Seventhly By the law of Redemption the Redeemed pass over Body and Soul into the possession of the Redeemer they become his Isa. 43. 1. vide His peculiar people the lot of his Inheritance Deut 4. 20. Deut. 32. 9. God calls them so from their Redemption out of Egypt which was a Type of our Redemption by Christ therefore Believers are called in the New Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a peculiar people or a purchased people 1 Pet. 2. 9. To buy is to acquire or procure unto ones self a special right in any thing so bought thus the Church is purchased by the Blood of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 20. 28. Possession follows Purchase the Purchased Possession Eph. 1. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to do something about us God does clasp us round as it were and incircle us he draws us to himself separating us from the rest of Mankind These are mine says Christ I am the sole Proprietor I have purchased an everlasting right in them and dominion over them they are my own I am their Lord and King they are at my disposal 1 Cor. 7 23. I am their father and redeemer Isa. 63. 16. A dwelling-house in a walled city if it were not redeemed within a whole year after 't was sold it was established for ever to him that bought it Levit. 25. 30. But the Saints are Christ's own for ever as soon as he has bought them he will never sell them never part with them What right did God recover in and to us by Redeeming us 1. God has an original right to and dominion over all Creatures by the Law of Creation Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump to make what vessels he pleases unto honour or dishonour Rom. 9. 21. 2. God as a Creator and Judge hath a right to man fallen to dispose of him according to justice to execute his vengeance upon him To make his power known upon vessels of wrath fitted to destruction Rom. 9. 22. But 3.