r. were born P. 249. l. 10. r. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã P. 254. Marg. r. Legi P. 278. l. 24. r. fain P. 307. l. 24. r. init P. 325. l. c. r. speak P. 347. l. 8. r. other P. 349. Marg. r. sciri P. 354. l. 1. r. is not P. 374. l. 3. r. on P. 403. Marg. r. desiisset P. 405. Marg. r. Lombard P. 408. Marg. r. immortalem P. 423. l. 3. r. where Pa 540. Marg. r. primis P. 560. l. 23. dele do P. 580. l. 3. r. formally P. 606. Marg. r. Lucium P. 608. l. 14. r. quoad hoc The HEADS treated upon in the several CHAPTERS Ver. I. There is therefore now no Condemnation Of the Exemption of Believers from Condemnation Chap. 1. p. 1. c. to them which are in Christ Jesus Of the Saints Vnion with Christ Chap. 2. p. 41. c. who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Of the Holy and Spiritual Life in opposition to the Sinful and Carnal Life Chap. 3. p. 87. c. Ver. II. For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death Of the Sinners being made free by the Power of the Spirit from the Power of Sin and Death Chap. 4. p. 142. c. Of the Law or Power of Sin under which all men are by Nature Chap. 5. p. 168. c. Of Regenerate Persons being made free from the Law of Sin Chap. 6. p. 202. c. Of the power of the Holy Spirit in the making of persons free from the Law of Sin Chap. 7. p. 227. c. Of the Law of Death Chap. 8. p. 249. c. Ver. III. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh Of the Laws inability to justifie and save Chap. 9. p. 251. c. God sending his own Son Of Christs Mission and Gods sending him Ch. 10. p. 281. c. Of Christs being the Natural and Eternal Son of God Ch. 11. p. 318. c. in the likeness of sinful flesh Of Christs Incarnation and abasement in Flesh Chap. 12. p. 371. c. and for sin condemned Sin in the flesh Of Christs being a Sacrifice and expiating Sin thereby Chap. 13. p. 456. c. Ver. IV. That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us Of the Fulfilling the Laws righteousness in Believers Chap. 14. p. 565. c. who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Spiritual Walkers the Subjects of the foregoing Priviledge Ch. 15. p. 619. c. THE Grand Charter OF BELIEVERS OPENED ROM 8.1 There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit CHAP. I. Of Believers Exemption from Condemnation The Introduction to the Work The Excellency of the Chapt. Its main Scope and Parts How this first Verse comes in Paul in the preceding Chapt. compared with himself in this The Proposition divided into its Parts The Praedicate in it No Condemnation first opened Two Observations raised from the Words The first spoken to Seven things premised by way of Explication As 1. 'T is not no Affliction or no Correction but no Condemnation 2. 'T is not no Matter of Condemnation onely no Condemnation de Facto this enlarg'd upon against the Romanists 3. 'T is Gods Condemnation onely which is here excluded not the Condemnation of Man oâ of Conscience or of Satan 4. Of the âmpoât and significâncy of the Pârâiâle Now in his placeâ 5. No Condemnation may be rendred Not one Condemnation 6. Of the Indefiniteness of the Proposition with respect to the Subject 7. That the Positive is included in the Negative The Observation it self more closely handled Condemnation opened is to the Quid Nomânââ and the Quid Rei It relates to Guilt and Punishment to the Sentence and State 'T is either Virtual or Actual The Point confirmed by Parallel Scriptures by a double Argument in the Text. The First is couch'd in the Illative Therefore which points to Justification and Sanctification both of which prove no Condemnation The Second is grounded upon Vnion with Christ. Use 1. To show the Misery of such who are not in Christ Jesus The dreadfulness of Condemnation set forth in five Particulars Use 2. To exhort all to make sure of No Condemnation Six Directions touch'd upon about it Use 3. To excite such as are in Christ to be very thankeful Use 4. Comfort to Believers I Purpose with Gods leave and gracious assistance in the revolution of my Ministerial Labours to go over this whole Chapter 'T is a very great undertaking and I am very sensible how much it is above me I have only this encouragement I serve a good Master one who both can and I trust will help me in it and carry me through it for he uses to give strength where he calls to work And 't is no matter what the Instrument is if he will be pleased to use it the mighty God by weak means can effect great things * Math. 21.16 out of the mouths of Babes and Sucklings he can perfect praise to himself Here is indeed a rich and precious Cabinet full of Grace to be opened yet a Key of small value may open it if God please to direct the hand Therefore in all humble yet steddy relyance upon him whose Grace alone is * 2 Cor. 12.9 sufficient for me I shall now enter upon this work though it be vast and difficult Of the Excellency of this Chapter And in the midst of all my discouragements which are very many God knows yet I find my self under a strong inclination to engage in it when I consider the transcendent excellency preciousness usefulness of that matter which the Spirit of God lays before us in this Chapter Who would not be willing to take pains in a Mine that hath such treasures hid in it where the breast is so full who would not be drawing from it I think I should not hyperbolize should I say of it Search all the Scriptures I 'le except none turn over the whole Word of God from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Revelation you will not find any one Chapter into which more excellent sublime Evangelical Truths are crowded than this which I am entring upon The Holy Bible is the Book of Books in some though not in equal respects this Chapter may be stiled the Chapter of Chapters From first to last 't is high Gospel 't is all Gospel its Matter being entirely Evangelical and 't is all the Gospel either directly or reductively in having in it the very sum marrow pith of all Gospel-revelation 'T is indeed the Epitome Abridgement Storehouse of all the Saints Priviledges and Duties You have in it the Love of God and of Christ displaid to the utmost and shining forth in its greatest splendor Would any take a view of the Magnalia Dei with respect to his glorious
in the eye of the world We walk in the Flesh 't is as if he had said we are poor frail mortal men as well as others made with them of the same flesh living in the same flesh and incompassed with the same infirmities of flesh and there is nothing from our outward condition and appearance to gain us any honour esteem or success amongst men thus saith the Apostle we walk in the Flesh But then he adds we do not war after the Flesh h. e. we do not carry on our work and business as we are the Apostles and Ministers of Christ by the flesh it is not humane power or any fleshly advantage which we go upon 't is only a divine power that helps assists and prospers us by vertue of which God's work in our hands doth and shall go on in spite of all opposition from Men and Devils This clearly seems to be the Apostles meaning for it immediately follows v. 4. The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly and carnal but spiritual and mighty through God Well! but now walking in the Flesh or after the Flesh here in the Text carries a quite other sense along with it For the finding out of which we must first enquire what is meant by Flesh Now as to this Enquiry to give you the several acceptations of the word Flesh would be both tedious and unnecessary Expositors generally agree about its sense in this place only I find some few a little varying in their Explications of it They by Flesh here understanding at least wise taking in that sense as well as that which is usual and common the Jewish * Fortasse per Carnem Ceremonias Legis intelligit vultque dicere Christianos illos à condemnatione exemptos liberos âffe qui Christo Jesu serviunt non carnali illâ ceremoniarum observatione sed spirituali Mussus Ceremonial Law with the several rites ceremonies appurtenances thereof and so they make the Words to run thus Such are exempted from condemnation who serve the Lord Jesus Christ not according to the fleshly observation of the Ceremonies of the Law but in a spiritual and evangelical manner Now 't is true those may come under this title of Flesh for they are called carnal ordinances Heb. 9.10 and Paul in part speaking of them calls them Flesh over and over Phil. 3.3 4. Yet I conceive they do not fall within the great intendment of our Apostle in these words Our * There is therefore now no obligation lying on a Christian to observe these Ceremonies of Moses's Law Circumcision c. nor consequently danger of damnation to him for that neglect supposing that he forsake those carnal sins that the circumcised Jews yet indulged themselves in and perform the evangelical obedience in doing what the mind illuminated by Christ directs us to that inward true purity which that circumcision of the flesh was set to signifie that is now required by Christ under the Gospel Dr. Hammond learned Annotator in his Paraphrase upon the Text and also upon the following Verses though for the main he opens it as Others do yet he makes it more specially to refer to the Jews as under the Law and to Christians as under the Gospel What there may be of that notion in the Words I shall not meddle with but rather come to the general and unquestionable interpretation of the word Flesh as 't is here used Where I will consider it 1. more generally 2. more particularly Of Flesh in its more general Notion 1. More generally So Flesh in Scripture commonly notes that corrupt sinful depraved vitiated nature that is in man as he comes into the world This Nature is variously set forth Sometimes by the old man so Eph. 4.22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the Old man c. Sometimes by the Law in the members warring against the Law of the mind so Rom. 7.23 Sometimes by Sin in the general so Rom. 7.8 Sin i e. the corrupt Nature taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence Sometimes by indwelling sin so Rom. 7.17 Sometimes by the sin which doth so easily beset us so Heb. 12.1 And sometimes by Flesh so here and so in several other places Joh. 3.6 That which is begotten of the flesh is flesh Joh. 1.13 Born again not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Rom. 7.18 I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing and v. 25. So then with the mind he means the renewed and sanctified Nature I serve the Law of God but with the Flesh he means the corrupt Nature the Law of Sin Gal. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit c. Once indeed in Scripture this corrupt Nature is set forth by Spirit Jam. 4.5 The Spirit that is in us lusteth to Envy but usually 't is set forth by Flesh And several Reasons might be given of that appellation I 'le name some few but will not in the least enlarge upon them The sinful Nature in man is stiled Flesh Why the corrupt Nature is set forth by Flesh 1. Because 't is convayed and propagated as the Flesh is 2. Because 't is propagated by the Flesh or by fleshly generation 3. Because 't is very much acted in the Flesh or fleshly part 4. Because 't is nourished strengthened and drawn forth by the Flesh or by fleshly Objects 5. Because of its baseness sordidness and degeneracy And by the most of these things the corrupt Nature in Man is distinguished from the corrupt Nature of the Apostate Angels Their's is set forth by * Eph. 6.12 spiritual wickedness because it vents it self in spiritual not in carnal acts such as are envy hatred pride blasphemy fretting at God himself and at his dispensations c But Ours is set forth by the Flesh because 't is conveyed through the Flesh and acted in the Flesh and drawn forth by the Flesh What it is to walk after the Flesh in the general notion of it Now if you take Flesh in this general notion then to walk after it it 's this To have the corrupt sinful Nature to be a mans principle and guide and Not to walk after the Flesh 't is not to have that Nature to be ones principle and guide For the Text brings in these two Flesh and Spirit as different and opposite principles and guides and therefore they who make Flesh their principle and guide they walk after the Flesh as they who make the Spirit their principle and guide they walk after the Spirit Take men our of Christ and such as are unregenerate they walk after the Flesh how why Flesh is their principle and Flesh is their guide the Flesh is that which they act from there 's their principle and 't is that which they act by there 's their guide That which is the spring of action that 's the principle that which puts upon and orders
Popish Objection closes with another interpretation of the Words but there 's no necessity for that as I conceive In short as was said in the handling of the foregoing Verse we are for inherent righteousness as well as our Opposers though they are pleased very freely to * Becanus Opuse de Justif Calvinist c. 2. Costeri Enchir. c. 6. p. 220. Campian Rat. 8. Against which Calumny vide Chamier tom 3. lib. 1. cap. 2. calumniate us as if we denied the Thing because we deny it to be the Cause or Ground of Justification We are for infallibilis nexus an inseparable connexion betwixt Justification and Sanctification where there is the blood there is the water also for Christ came by both 1 Joh. 5.6 We further hold that Regeneration Habitual and Actual Righteousness are the indispensible Conditions of eternal life and absolutely necessary thereunto Nay some worthy * Pareus in Respons ad Dub. 2. pag. 773. With some eminent Divines of our own Divines go so far as to make them Causa sine quâ non even with respect to Justification But all this is nothing unless we make them the proper formal cause of Justification which we cannot do that being a thing so diametrically opposite to Gospel-revelation This block being removed out of my way now I proceed The Law of the Spirit of Life c. In the Former Verse you had contrary Principles Flesh and Spirit in this you have contrary Laws here is Law in opposition to Law the Law of the Spirit set against the Law of Sin the Law of the Spirit of Life against the Law of Death the Law of Sin inslaving us against the Law of the Spirit freeing us from that slavery In the Words something is imply'd and something is express'd That which is imply'd is this That all Men the very best of them for a time viz. till they be converted are under the Law of Sin and Death That which is express'd is this that Believers by the Law of the Spirit of Life are made free from the Law of Sin and Death The Opening of these things will be my present business for I cannot well pitch upon the Doctrinal Observations till I have cleared up the Sense of the Words and the Apostles main Scope and design in them The Words summ'd up under three General Heads First General Opened viz. the Gracious Deliverance In order to which I will reduce the whole Matter contained in them to these Three Heads A Gracious Deliverance the Subject the Author or Efficient of that Deliverance 1. Here 's a gracious Deliverance hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death As to the First of these if you consider them as distinct the being made free from the Law of Sin for the better understanding thereof I desire you to take notice of the following Particulars 1. That by Sin the Apostle chiefly aims at the Root Sin the Sin of Nature or the sinful depraved Nature which is in falt'n Man 'T is the same with the Flesh spoken of before as also with the indwelling Sin the Law in the members c. in the foregoing Chapter This is that Sin which hath the greatest power in and over the Soul Particular and Actual Sins do but derive their power from this all that dominion and strength which they have is but delegated the Supream Sovereign Original dominion of Sin is seated in the corrupt Nature there chiefly is that Law of Sin which Believers are freed from yet in subordination to this the power of particular sins and deliverance from that is here also to be taken in 2. The Apostle doth not say that Believers are simply and absolutely made free from Sin onely that they are made free from the Law of Sin There 's a * Non sunt idem Peccatum Lex peccati Peccatum est vitium inhabitans in Carne Lex Peccati dominium peccati quod in Carne non regenitorum plenè exercet Ab hoc peccati inhabitantis dominio efficacia Spiritus regenerantis liberat fideles fraenando illud non vero penit ùs tollendo Pareus Attendendum quod non dicit Non enim Gratia hominem impeccabilem reddit sed fomitis vim minuit c. Corn. Muss Nos it a à morte peccato liberati fumus ut tamen horum malorum non parum adhuc supersit Pet. Mart. great difference betwixt Sin and the Law of Sin a total freedome from the Former none have in this life no not they who are most under the Law of the Spirit The dearest of Gods Children must wait for that till they come to Heaven the onely place and State of Perfection there they shall be perfectly compleatly freed from sin yea from the very Being of it but here the utmost that they can arrive at is to be freed from its power in Regeneration and from its guilt in Justification The Text therefore doth not speak of absolute freedom from Sin for that being unattainable here below is yet to come and so it falls under the glorious liberty of the Sons of God mentioned Verse 21 but the being made free in the Text is spoken of as a thing that is past hath made me free c. and therefore it must be limited to freedom from the Law of Sin onely 3. There is in this life a Twofold Freedom from Sin the One respects its Guilt the Other its Power 'T is a Law in both respects in reference to Guilt as it binds the Creature over to answer at Gods Barr for what he hath done and makes him obnoxious to punnishment in reference to Power as it rules commands and exercises a strange kind of Tyranny and Dominion over the Sinner Now Believers are freed from Sin in both of these respects namely as was said but just now in Justification from the guilt in Regeneration from the power of it But here a Question must be resolved viz. Which doth the Apostle here speak of which of these two parts of the Saints Freedome from Sin is here primarily and principally intended For Answer to which Divines do somewhat differ about it (a) Non damnatur nisi qui Concupiscentiae Carnis consentit ad malum Lex enim Spiritus vitae in Christo Jesu liberavit te à Lege peccati mortis ne scil consensionem tuam concupiscentia Carnis sibi vindicet August contra duas Pelag. Ep. lib. 1. cap. 10. Liberavit quomodo nisi quia ejus reatum peccatorum omnium remissione dissolvit Lex Spiritus vitae in Chrislo ut quamvis adhuc maneret in peccatum tamen non imputetur Idem de Nup. Concup lib. 1. cap. 32. Austine took in Both and therefore he sometimes opens it by the One sometimes by the Other Amongst Modern Expositors (b) A jure peceati i. e. à reatn c. Pet. Martyr Liberatio haec non est Regeneratio quâ liberamur ex parte à peccato inhaerente sed est
can challenge no such thing This for a Law in its proper sense Sin is a Law according to the improper acceptation of a Law 2. Secondly the word Law is taken improperly for any thing that hath an impelling or impulsive virtue in it which though it be not strictly and properly a Law yet it may pass under that appellation because it hath the virtue and force of a Law and doth that which a true and proper Law uses to do And so an inward operative lively Principle that which efficaciously moves and acts a man or impells and urges him so and so to act may be stil'd a Law because of its powerful and authoritative influence in and upon the man in his acting a Principle is a Virtual Law or that which is equivalent to a Law inasmuch as it inclines urges impells with power and efficacy to such and such operations which are suitable to it And therefore when Sin is the Principle which acts a person in his general course and which doth efficaciously excite and impell him to those things which are suitable to its own nature I say when 't is thus there Sin may be called a Law and there 't is the Law of Sin So that when Paul here supposes himself before his Conversion to be under the Law of Sin he means that then Sin was his principle the sole and active principle in him that which with a strange kind of power and efficacy did urge excite impell him to wicked and sinful acts all along in that state The Law of Sin notes the power of Sin as hath been shown now that is twofold Moral or Physical I will not upon several accounts undertake to justifie this distinction in the rigid acceptation of things I onely make use of it to help your conceptions in that which I am upon Sins moral power lies in its being a Law for that 's the power of a Law its physical power lies in its being a Principle for that 's the power of a principle As to its Moral power it directs and regulates prescribing to the Sinner what it would have him to do and in a sense commanding him to do accordingly as to its Physical power it doth so and so excite and act by its inward effectual powerful inclinations and impulsions I distinguish here between a Law and a Principle because I now consider the Latter strictly in it self and not according to the improper application of the word Law to it And I make use of this distinction of Sins twofold power not as designing to assert any specifical difference betwixt them possibly something might be objected against that I onely design thereby to set forth the several ways and modes wherein Sin doth exert its power for though 't is very true that Moral and Physical power as considered in themselves and when applied to such and such things are distinct kinds of power yet when they are applied to sin they are but different modes the Nature of the thing admitting nothing more Now to bring this to the Point in hand Unregenerate persons are under the Law of Sin inasmuch as in that state Sin the depraved Nature is the principle which acts them and which strongly effectually nay impetuously inclines and excites them to what is sinful Every Agent hath its principle which acts it strongly and irresistibly as Natural Agents in natural acts have their principle working with great efficacy in them the Fire burns and cannot do otherwise because 't is determin'd and influenc'd by that natural principle which is in it so Moral Agents in Moral acts have their efficacious principles too which work as strongly and powerfully in them the difference being always preserv'd 'twixt Natural and Free Agents But now these principles are very different according to mens different state where 't is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus there the Spirit is the principle and the New Nature too in the Soul as the principle doth with a great deal of power and efficacy excite and quicken to what is good 2 Cor. 5.14 The Love of Christ constraineth us But where it is the Law of Sin there Sin is the principle which doth also strongly excite to what is evil The Natural man hath no other principle than this and 't is very active in him it ever workng with great power and strength to draw out his corruption and so he is under the Law of sin I conceive this Law of Sin as to its most proper import notes the activeness and efficacy of a principle rather than the authority or Soveraignty of a Law though that be the word here used But however 't is best to take in both notions and in both the Doctrine holds true so long as any man is unrenewed Sin is both a Law to him to command rule and govern him and also a principle powerfully and efficaciously to act him in his whole course in both respects before regeneration 't is nothing but the Law of Sin By which expression the Apostle seems to superadd something to what he had said Ver. 1. he had there spoke of walking after the Flesh thereby intimating the Flesh to be the principle by which men out of Christ do act but now here in calling it the Law of Sin or of the Flesh he intimates the power and strength of that principle in those persons 't is a commanding principle in them which takes in the sum of both the significations which I have been enlarging upon it rules and acts them as it pleases it hath over them the authority of a Law and in them the energy or efficacy of a principle both of which do center and are comprehended in one word the power of Sin So much for the First Thing to show what the Apostle means by the Law of Sin and in what respects 't is so stiled 1 Quest Wherein doth Sin act as a Law in the Vnregenerate Two Questions here arise the answering of which will give further light into the Doctrine the First is this How or wherein doth Sin as a Law exert and put forth its power and dominion in and over unregenerate persons In the answering of this should I fall upon particulars Answ to set forth the various workings of Sin in the matter or kind of them or the various arts and methods of Sin in the manner of its working it would occasion a discourse too large for my present design I will therefore limit my self to two General Heads under which the several particulars will fall The Law of Sin shews it self partly with respect to what is Evil and partly with respect to what is Good You may understand its workings in the Vnregenerate by its workings in the Regenerate for 't is the same in both onely in different degrees Now how doth it work in these that you shall see in our great instance in the Text Paul complaining of this Law as in himself shews how it did
tell us that some of our Kings who had the worst Titles made the best Laws and indeed they had need use their power well who get it ill But now Sin doth not only usurp that power which of right belongs not to it but it also manages its power very wickedly particularly with respect to the Laws which it makes and imposes upon its Subjects ô 't is sad living under its government The Philosopher tells us that the intention of the Legislator is to make his Subjects good certainly 't is either so or it should be so but when Sin gets upon the throne and assumes a legislative Authority to it self its intention is only to make its Subjects bad for the worse they are the better they suit with it 'T is a blessed thing to live under the Rule of Christ because of the holiness purity goodness of his Laws but 't is a woful thing to live under the Rule of Sin because its Laws are quite contrary hellish and wicked for here it holds true like Lord like Law Nay the Laws of Men I do not say all have real goodness in them so far as they are founded upon * Lex est nihil aliud nisi recta à Numine Deorum Ratio imperans honesta prohiâ ens contraria profectò ita se res habet ut quoniain vitiorum emendatricem Legem esse oportet commendatricemque virtutum ab eâ vivendi doctrina petatur Cicero de Legib. l. 1. Reason and designed for good Ends viz. to excite persons to what is good and to restrain them from what is evil and so far 't is the happiness of any to live under them and their duty readily and cheerfully to comply with them But 't is not thus with the Laws of Sin inasmuch as they are always contrary to right and sound Reason and always tend to what is evil which therefore so far as any man is subject to he must needs be miserable 'T is commonly said Ex malis moribus bonae Leges bad manners sometimes produce good Laws but bad Laws especially when they are written in the heart and are the principle of action as the Laws of Sin are can never produce good manners if Sin make the Law I know what will be the Life Further this Sin is not onely out of measure sinful in the exercise of its power where it is uppermost but 't is also out of measure tyrannical There have been too many Tyrants in the World but never was there such an one as Sin all the Nero's Caligula's Domitians c. that ever lived were nothing to it this first acted the part of a Tyrant in them before they acted the part of Tyrants over others The tyranny of Sin appears in many things I 'le instance in a Few 1. Its Commands are innumerable there 's no end of its Laws and * In corruptissimâ Republicâ plurimae Leges Tacit. multiplicity of Laws always speaks either a bad people or a bad Prince 2. Its Commands are contrary one Law thwarts another the poor Sinner under its dominion is haled contrary ways that he scarce knows whether to go or what to do Lust clashes with Lust one draws one way and another another so that the poor inslaved Soul is at a loss and knows not how to please all Tit. 3.3 serving divers Lusts ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã divers for their Number and divers for their Nature and Kind also O quam multos habet Dominos qui unum non habet how many Lords and Masters hath he who hath not Christ onely for his Lord 3. 'T is very rigorous in its demands it must have full Obedience or none at all Eph. 2.3 fulfilling the Lusts of the flesh partial and half-Obedience will neither satisfie an holy God nor an unholy Nature and as God for whom the All is too little so Sin too for which the least is too much is for the doing of all it requires 4. Its Commands are never at an end Let the poor bondman sin to day he must sin again to morrow and so on in infinitum yea the more he doth in obedience to it the more it grows upon him in its Commands just as Tyrants and hard Masters use to do 5. When Sin once gets upon the throne 't is so imperious and cruel that its Vassals must stick at nothing Be the thing never so base the costs and hazards never so great yet if Sin calls for the doing of it it must be done Sinners you must waste you Estates blast your Credit impair your Health destroy your Bodies damn your Souls you must part with God peace of Conscience Heaven it self you must quit all that is good and venture all that is bad in its service and in compliance with its Edicts ô what an imperious insolent insatiable thing is Sin here 's the Tyrant indeed both in Titulo and also in Exercitio And now is not the poor unregenerate Sinner very miserable who lives under such a Tyrant is not his bondage exceeding great who that is not highly besotted would be willing to continue under Sins power that may be brought under the holy gracious excellent government of the Lord Jesus 3. Thirdly the Evil of this bondage arising from the Law of sin appears from its principal Subject 't is a Soul-bondage Of all Evils Soul evils are the worst Soul-famin is the worst famin Soul-death the worst death Soul-plagues the worst plagues and so here Soul-bondage is the worst bondage The bondage of Israel in Egypt was very evil yet not comparable to this which I am upon because that was but corporal and external but this is spiritual and internal when the best part is inslav'd that must needs be the worst slavery There may be a servile condition without and yet a free and generous Soul within as * Errat siquis existimat servitutem in totum hominem descendere pars melior ejus excepta est corpora obnoxia sunt adscripta Dominis mens sui juris est c. Sen. de Benef. l. 3. c. 20. Seneca observes of Servants but if the Soul it self be under servitude then the whole man the very top of man all is in servitude Sin is of so proud and aspiring a nature that no place will serve it for its pallace or principal Seat but the very Soul ô there it delights to have its residence and to exercise its dominion And this is its subtilty as well as its pride for it knows if it can but rule the Soul that then the Soul will easily rule the Body as the main Fort within the Town being gained that will with ease command all the outward Forts And 't is the whole Soul too that Sin must have God who made it will have the whole Heart and Sin which designs to enslave it will have the whole Heart too 't is not satisfied with this or that Faculty but all must be subject to it it must reign in the Vnderstanding
ire Cypr. fear it For to you 't will come without a sting and you know the Serpent that hath lost its sting may hiss but cannot hurt 't is in it self an enemy and the * 1 Cor. 15.26 last enemy but to you 't is an harmless because a conquer'd enemy it may seem to threaten the greatest evil but in truth it shall do you the greatest good But here lies your main happiness you are wholly exempted from eternal death the second death you shall dye but once and then live with God forever 'T is this second death that makes the first to be so formidable for a man to dye that he may live that 's not at all dreadful but to dye here in order to a worser death hereafter there 's the thing which is only dreadful When death is but an inlet to eternal life a departure to be * Phill. 1.23 with Christ when there 's no condemnation to follow after it you may and you should meet it with joy and holy triumph And know that to you it shall not be bare freedome from eternal death but it shall also be the possession of eternal life there 's very much in the privative part of the mercy but when the positive part too is joined with it how high doth it rise ô admire and adore the Grace of God! The least of your sins deserves death the best of your duties doth not deserve life and yet you are freed from that which you so much deserve and shall be put into the possession of that which you so little deserve here 's the riches of the grace of God towards you Sin and Death are the two * Peccatum mors sunt duae partes adaequatae humanae miseriae nam in culpâ poenâ tota miseria hominis consistit Streso comprehensive evils all evil is summ'd up in and under them but you are freed from both what reason have you to rejoice and to admire the Lords boundless goodness ô the damned in hell who are under this death and feel it what would they give to be freed from it You through the merit of Christ and the power of the Spirit are made free from it therefore you should first be very thankeful and then very chearful What great things hath the gracious God done for you he hath delivered you from the Rule of sin whilst you live from the hurt of death when you dye have not you abundant cause of blessing and rejoicing 'T will not be long before this Death will look you in the face and lay its cold hands upon you 't is every minute making its nearer approaches to you by every breath you draw it gets ground upon you well be not troubled at this you know the worst on 't 't is death but not damnation 't is the parting of the Soul from the Body but no parting of the Soul from God 't is but dying temporally that you may live eternally how great is your happiness proportionable to which how great should your thankefulness and holy joy be So much for this Verse ROM 8.3 4. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit CHAP. IX Of the Laws inability to justify save High and glorious Matter contained in these two Verses Of their Coherence with what went before The difference amongst Expositors about that The General sense and meaning of the Words The various Readings and Explications of them They are divided into Five Parts There 's a Complication in them of the several Causes of the Sinners Justification and Salvation The First Branch of the Text insisted upon What the Law c. Four things observed in it Of its Literal Exposition What is here meant by Law What that was which the Law could not do How 't is said to be weak What the Flesh is by which 't is weakened The whole matter drawn into one Observation Of the Special matter of the Laws impotency as it refers to Justification and Salvation Three Grounds or Demonstrations of its impotency 1. It requires more than what the fal'n Creature can perform 2. It doth not give what the fal'n Creature needs 3. It cannot make reparation for what the fal'n Creature bath done Use 1. To humble us because we have a Nature in us by which Gods own Law is thus weakened where some thing is said against the Power of Nature Use 2. First To vindicate the Honor of the Law notwithstanding the Weakness charg'd upon it Secondly The Laws Obligation not to be cast off because of this Thirdly Nor yet is it to be look'd upon as altogether weak or useless Use 3. To take men off from expecting Righteousness and Life from and by the Law Use 4. To stir up Believers to adore the Love and Mercy of God in sending his Son when the Law was under an utter inability to justifie and save High and glorious things contained in these Verses OUr Apostle here Eagle-like soar's aloft and rises up in his discourse to the most sublime truths of the Gospel These two Verses set things before us so high and glorious as may fill Heaven and Earth Angels and Men with amazement and astonishment Here 's the whole Gospel sum'd up in a few words contracted and brought into a narrow compass here 's in one view Man undone and Man recover'd the depths of the Creatures misery and the heights of Gods Mercy in a short abridgement Here 's Gods sending his Son which surely was the greatest thing that ever he did it being the highest contrivance of his infinite Wisdom and the highest product of his infinite Love Here 's this Son sent in our flesh the first and the great Mystery of the Gospel for it comes in the front of the Gospel-Mysteries 1 Tim. 3.16 Here 's sin condemn'd and the Sinner acquitted the Law represented as impossible for us to keep yet fulfilled for us in a most strange and wonderful manner as Christ hath done and suffered that for us which we were utterly unable to do and suffer our selves O the * Eph. 3.18 bredths lengths depths heights of the Wisdom Mercy Justice Holiness of God! for all these several Attributes in what is here set forth do concur and shine forth in their greatest lustre Who can hear or read these two Verses with due consideration and not be in a divine transport and extasie for the truth is whatever is short of the most raised workings in the Soul is too low for the glorious things here spoken of The Coherence of them with what goes before We must first enquire into their Coherence or Connexion with what goes before They are a further proof or confirmation of the main Proposition laid down in the first
suo qui Spiritualem Legis partem absolvit Erasm Subaudiendum verbum praestitit aut aliquid simile Estius Omninó videtur ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã verbum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã aut simile Piscat Ut huic malo fuccurreretur tale quid enim necessario intelligendum est Staplet Antid p. 626. Sanè conjunctio Et postulare videtur ut aliquid subaudiatur ut sensus sit perfecit id Deus quod Lex efficere non poterat Justin Subaudiendum videtur praestitit aut aliquid hujusmodi Bucer To the same purpose Salmer tom 13. p. 531. Catharin Vorst Muscul Heming c. Some would have a Word inserted as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã fecit praestitit thus What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God did he sending his own Son c. They conceive with the addition of this one Word the sence would be more clear and the words would run much more smooth but â Hoc supplementum non est necessarium Tolet. c. Sed non est opus et Socinus Haereticus illud ad suam blasphemiam trahit Pareus Mihi videtur aliter contextus optime fluere Calv. Others will not admit of this addition * Unâ tantùm Conjunctione expunctâ nullo praeterea opus est supplemento Soto with divers others Some again would have the Conjunctive particle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and and for sin c. to be expung'd apprehending that it makes the Words to be more obscure They would have us read them thus what the Law c. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin condemned sin in the flesh But this too is not approved of for â Copula ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Erasmum decèpit ut insereret verbum praestitit egó veró amplificandi causâ positam suisse sentio Calv. Calvin lays a great stress upon that particle as heightning the matter spoken of and for sin 't is as much as Yea or Even for sin condemned sin c. 'T is not a Pleonasm or superfluous word but 't is particula intensiva to show the greatness and strangeness of the thing spoken of 'T is not omitted by any of the Greek Scholiasts and I see no reason why we should put it out Tolet would solve all 1st by adding some illative word as ideò igitur c. 2dly by turning the Participle sending into the Verb sent of which hereafter Take the Words in the gross as I am now considering of them I think our Translators render them very well and there will be no necessity either to add to them or to take from them Only 't is necessary that you make this Variation or Addition whereas 't is said and for sin condemned sin reade and by a Sin-offering or Sacrifice for Sin condemned Sin And so they will run thus For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending or sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and by a Sacrifice for Sin condemned Sin in the flesh That the righteousness c. There are great difficulties in their several branches and parts but they shall be opened as I go over them in their order The Words divided into Five Parts If you take them in pieces you have these Five things in them 1. 'T is here imply'd That something was to be done in order to the Recovery Justification Salvation of the lost Sinner 2. Here 's an express assertion of the weakness inability of the Law to do what was to be done with the true cause of that inability of the Law What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh 3. The Way and Method which the wise and gracious God took upon this that He might effectually do that which the Law could not de He sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh 4. The double Effect produced by this or the double End and design of God in this sending of his Son for sin he condemned sin in the flesh That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled 5. The description of the persons who have an interest in all this Grace who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit We have in the whole a Complication of the several Causes of the Sinner's Justification and Redemption Here 's a Complication of the Causes of the Sinners Justification and Salvation Here 's the Deficient Cause the Law Here 's the Principal Efficient Cause God the Father here 's the Subordinate Agent I mean with respect to the Father or the Meritorious Cause Christ the Son the Formal and also the Material Cause for sin condemning sin in the flesh the Final Cause the Finis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled and the Finis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in us who walk not after the flesh but c. Here I bring in the Words for sin condemned sin under another Head of Causes than that laid down but now in the division of the words but that I may do well enough because they will bear diverse causal respects I begin with the Causa deficiens which comes in also as the Procatartick or impulsiue Cause as that which moved God to send his Son viz. the weakness and impotency of the Law to help the lost Sinner The first Branch of the Words pitch'd upon Four things observed in it For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh Here observe 1. The thing spoken of the Law 2. That which is asserted concerning this Law it could not do 3. The ground or reason of this its inability to do in that it was weak 4. The assignation of the true Cause of its weakness viz. the flesh in that it was weak through the flesh it could not do because it was weak and it was weak because of the Flesh I will a little insist upon the Literal Explication of this Branch and then come to the matter contained in it The literal explication of the Words For what the Law could not do In the Greek 't is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which if you render word for word runs thus For the impossible of the Law or the invalid of the Law so * Quod invalidum erat Legis De Resur carnis Cap. 46. Tertullian renders it The Sense and meaning of the expression is plain enough our Translation gives us that very well What the Law could not do but the form and manner of it in the Original especially when 't is turn'd into our language is somewhat harsh and unusual Interpreters for the opening of the Phrase and the cleering up of the connexion of the matter do several wayes Comment upon the Words Some bring in this first Paragraph under a Parenthesis but that signifies but little one way or another * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã impotentiâ Legis existente Beza
but little better with the Moral Law it self though that was a far higher and better Law even this was and is as weak as the former This very Law which is so much for doing which requires and commands the creature to be so much in doing it self can do little or nothing The lost Sinner hath great things to be done by him and for him but in all these the Moral Law though God's own Law and an excellent Law cannot without Christ give the least help or assistance to him The Third Enquiry is 3d Quest How the Law is said to be weak What is the weakness of the Law here spoken of The word is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Answ which is used to set forth any debility or weakness whether it be natural or praeternatural as being occasioned by some bodily disease or distemper in which Sense 't is often used in the New Testament 'T is applied here to the Law and 't is brought in as the ground of its ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã before mentioned Else where the Apostle uses it he speaks of the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the weakness of the Commandment Heb. 7.18 And speaking of the ordinances rites injunctions of the Ceremonial Law he calls them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã weak and beggarly elements Gal. 4.9 Here in the Text an higher Law was in his eye and yet he attributes weakness to it also it could not do because it was weak and it was weak because it could not do for these two do reciprocally open and prove each the other And let me add that this weakness of the Law is not * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ex quâ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nascitur virium non imbecillitatem sed omnem destitutionem declarat Beza Non dicit quod Legi erat grave difficile sed quod c. quibus sanè verbis adimit Legi in universum justificandi vim c. Muscul Infirmitatem Legis accipe quomodo solet usurpare Apostolus vocabulum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non tantùm pro modicâ imbecillitate verùm pro impotentiâ ut significet Legem nihil prorsus momenti habere ad conferendam justitiam Calv. Quamquam per verbum infirmari ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ab Interprete versum sit vis tamen illius verbi Graecè potius significat vires nullas quam imbecillas Salmer tom 13. p. 532. gradual or partial but total 't is not the having of a lesser strength but 't is the negation of all strength 't is so weak that it hath no power at all to accomplish what is here intended The Apostle carries it up to an impossibility he doth not say it was somewhat hard or difficult for the Law to do thus and thus or that it could do something though but imperfectly but he says this was impossible to it as being utterly above its power and ability A man that is weak may do something though he cannot do it vigorously exactly and throughly but now as to Justification and Salvation the Law considered in its self is so weak that it can do nothing it cannot have the least influence into these effects further than as God is pleased to make use of it in a preparatory or directive manner It s weakness as to the great things of the Gospel is like the weakness of the body when 't is dead 1 Cor. 15.43 It is sown in weakness ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 't is the same word with that in the Text concerning the Law it is raised in power a dead body is so weak that it cannot put forth one vital act it may be weak in part whilst it lives but when 't is dead it lies under a total weakness Such is the weakness or impotency of the Law in reference to the taking away of guilt and the making of a person righteous before God Fourthly 4th Quest What are we to understand by Flesh It will be query'd What the Flesh is here by which the Law is made thus weak The word Flesh occurs thrice in this Verse c. Answ in that it was weak through the Flesh God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh As 't is us'd in the first place it carries in it a very different sense from what it doth in the two following places and t is not unusual in holy Writ for one and the same Word in one and the same Verse to be taken in different senses as you may see Matth. 26.29 Matth. 8.22 When 't is said the Law was weak through the Flesh here Flesh is taken Morally for the corrupt nature in man but when 't is said God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and so on there Flesh is taken Physically for the humane nature of Christ But to come to the business in hand The Law was weak through the Flesh By this Flesh the Manichees of old understood the very being and substance of Flesh that which constitutes the body in man but this interpretation is rejected by all Origen with some others expounds it of the * Puto quod stance of Flesh that which Legem Mâsis in duas partes Apostolus dividat aliud in eâ carnem aliud Spiritum nominat et illam quidem observantiam quae secundum literam geritur sensum caruis appellat illam verò quae accipitur spiritualitèr Spiritum nominat Impossibile Legis cò quod c. Intellectus qui secundum literam est accipi potest ipse enim impossibilis erat c. Orig. Vel per carnem infumabatur Lex i. e. per carnalem intellectum et per carnalem observantiam erat imbecilla non per seipsam Anselm Per Carnem h. e. Per carnalem Legis intelligentiam sive carnis infirmitatem cui deerat Evangelica Gratia Erasm Origenes Per Carnem intelligit crassam literalem et carnalem Legis intelligentiam atque etiam Legis infirmitatem in eò collocat quod impossibile fuer it Legis Ceremonias omnes secundum Carnem i.e. secundum Literam observare A. Lapide Ceremonial Law with respect to the gross and literal sense and meaning of that Law Now 't is true as hath been already observed that that Law may be stiled Flesh because it lay very much in fleshly things 't is called the Law of a carnal commandment Heb. 7.16 it stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed till the time of reformation Heb. 9.10 And 't is also most true that they who looked no further than the fleshly part the letter of that Law who did haerere in cortice and only rodere literarum ossa as the Jews did to them it must needs be weak and unable to bring about any Evangelical and saving good But this is not the Law as you have heard which the Apostle here doth mainly intend * Distinguit hoc loco impurissimus ille scriptor Legem
legis impotentiam aliò ut Legem absolvat à culpá quam dat carni viz. nostrae i. e. corruptae nostrae naturae Muscul Ne quis parum honorificè Legem impotentÃae argui putaret vel hoc restringeret ad Ceremonias expressit nominatim Paulus defectum illum non à Legis esse vitio sed Carnis nostrae corruptelâ Calvin through our Flesh 't is not so in and from it self but only through our depraved nature 't is meerly by accident et aliundè that it lies under this impotency The Law is not to be blamed but we had not we finn'd the Law would have been still as able and mighty in its operations as ever it was did it but meet with the same subject it would soon appear that it hath the same power which it had before Adam fell So that I say the Law is not at all in the fault but only we because of the Flesh Observe here the wisdom and care of our Apostle where-ever he seems to tax the Law there he will be sure to vindicate it As where he speaks of its irritating of corruption he there layes the blame upon his own wicked nature not at all upon the holy Law Rom. 7.8 9 10 11. Sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence for without the Law sin was dead For I was alive without the Law once but when the commandment came Sin revived and I died And the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death For Sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me Yet vers 12 13 14. The Law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good Was then that which is good made death unto me God forbid But Sin that it might appear Sin working death in me by that which is good that Sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful For we know that the Law is spiritual but I am carnal sold under sin And thus we should carry it with respect to the Laws weakness O in it self 't is mighty and powerful but there is sin in us by which only the Law is made weak there therefore the blame must lye Could we but get rid of this Sin we should soon find what a mighty thing the Law is so mighty that nothing would be too high or too hard for it 2 Secondly Take heed that you do not cast off the Law upon this pretence 'T is indeed weak as to such ends but yet 't is a Law and that which is obligatory to all even to Believers themselves under the Gospel State and Covenant Shall we because of this weakness especially it being occasioned by our selves cast off the Law and pretend that we are not under the obligation of it we must not so argue Observe it in the Apostle even when he was proving the weakness of the Law as to Justification and shewing that God had found out another way for that viz. the way of Faith yet foreseeing that some might run themselves upon this rock and infer from hence that they had nothing to do with the Law he therefore adds * Rom. 3.31 Do we then make void the Law through Faith God forbid yea we establish the Law in its proper place and Sphere The Creature as a creature is under a natural and therefore indispensable obligation to this Law so as that nothing can exempt him from that obligation It commands to love fear serve honour obey God wherein it obliges so strongly that God himself with reverence be it spoken cannot free the creature from its obligation to these duties True indeed Believers are not under the curse rigor or bondage of this Law or under it as it is the condition of life but they are and it cannot be otherwise under the obligation of its commands as to an holy life There may be and blessed be God there is a great change as to circumstances a great relaxation as to the Laws rigors severitys and penaltys but for the main duties of Obedience and Holiness it is eternally obligatory and never to be abrogated O therefore do not look upon your selves as made free from this Law though it be weak and unable to justifie and save you it can damne upon the breaking of it though it cannot save by the keeping of it 3 Thirdly Neither must you upon this look upon the Law as altogether weak or useless I say not as altogether weak for though as to some things it be under a total impotency yet as to other things it still retains its pristine power It cannot take away sin or make righteous or give life which it promis'd at first and for which it was appointed for the commandment was ordained to life Rom. 7.10 here 's the weak side of the Law as to these 't is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But as to the commanding of duty the directing and regulating of the life the threatning of punishment upon the violation of it here it can do whatever it did before The Laws preceptive and punitive part where 't is not taken off by Christ are yet in their full strength only as to the promissory part of it viz. its promising life upon the condition of perfect Obedience there 't is at a loss In a word its authority to oblige to duty or punishment is the same that ever it was but its ability to give righteousness or life in which respects only the Apostle here speaks of it is not the same If God open this Law to you and set it home upon your Consciences you will find it hath yet a very great strength and efficacy in it let it not therefore be altogether weak in your eye Nor altogether useless For Some will be ready to say if the Law be thus weak then what use is there of it to what end doth it serve what is to be looked for from that which can do so little for us But do not you thus reason For though the Law be not of use to you as to Justification I mean in a way of immediate influence upon the Act or State a remoter influence it may have yet in other respects 't is of great and admirable use viz. as a Monitor to excite to duty as a Rule to direct and guide you in your course as a Glass to discover sin as a Bridle to restrain sin as an Hatchet to break the hard heart as a * Gal. 3.24 Schoole-master to whip you to Christ The Lord Jesus indeed hath taken Sin-pardoning God-atoning Justice-satisfying Soul-saving work into his own hands he would not trust this in the hands of the Law any longer because he knew the weakness of it but for other work the awakening and convincing of a Sinner the terrifying of the secure the humbling of the proud the preparing of the Soul to close with Christ though this last act be only eventual and accidental as to the Law all this work I
't is called Zech. 9.11 all blessings whatsoever are insured and made over to God's people and if so is not that a sufficient ground of comfort to such What shall I say if the atoning of an angry God the washing away of all sin the fulfilling of a righteous Law the satisfying of infinite Justice the ratification of the Covenant of Grace the purchase of Heaven if there be any thing in all these things as surely there is to promote spiritual joy you have them all by this great Sacrifice therefore rejoyce and again I say rejoyce So much for this Head which I very well know I might have dispatch'd with much more brevity but it containing that matter in it which is not commonly so fully opened and which is of so high concern to us therefore I have been thus large upon it ROM 8.4 That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us CHAP. XIV Of the fulfilling of the Laws righteousness in Believers Of the Second End or Effect of Christ's being sent in Flesh viz. the fulfilling of the Laws righteousness A general explication of the main Scope of the Words and of the principal matter contain'd in them More particularly 't is enquired 1. Of what Law doth the Apostle hear speak 2. What is the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or righteousness of the Law 3. What is it to fulfil the Laws righteousness 4. How the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us Four interpretations given of it 1. That 't is perfectly and personally fulfilled by the Saints themselves 2. That 't is personally fulfilled in them though not perfectly yet inchoately and in respect of God's acceptation 3. That 't is perfectly but not personally fulfilled in them Christ's Obedience and perfect fulfilling of the Law being imputed to them 4. That 't is fulfilled in them in respect of the remission of sin Three Propositions laid down to clear up the third interpretation and the main Truth As 1. That Christ was made under the Law that opened in some Particulars 2. That Christ perfectly fulfilled the Law 3. That his fulfilling of it is imputed and reckoned to Believers Two Questions raised and answered Whether Christ's active and passive Obedience or his passive only be imputed In what sense may it be said to be imputed Use 1. First to shew upon what terms Believers are justified and saved Secondly what a respect God had for his Law Use 2. To exhort persons 1. To get an interest in this priviledge 2. Such as have an interest in it are exhorted 1. To go as far as ever they may in the personal fulfilling of the Law 2. To look after the fulfilling of the Evangelical Law in themselves 3. To admire the Love of Christ Use 3. The Comfort of this drawn forth to Believers The Second End or Effect of Christ's being sent in Flesh viz. the fulfilling of the Law for Believers THese words hold forth another end or effect of Christ's being sent in the likeness of sinful flesh for I do not understand them to refer to the Clause immediately foregoing and for sin condemned sin in the flesh as if they were an assignation of the end or effect of Christ's condemning sin by the Sacrifice of himself but I take them as referring to that which is before spoken of God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as they do represent God's end in that wherefore did God so do what did he design or aim at therein why at this that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us The conjunctive particle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã may be taken either ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the first notion which is most usual and common it carrys a final sense and notes the end why God sent his Son in Flesh namely that he might fulfil in his own Person the Laws righteousness and so imputatively or in a Law-sense Believers in him I say this was God's end for it doth not come in as a bare event or consequent upon Christ's taking our Nature and doing in that Nature what he did but it was the very * Idque totum hoc consilio fecit ut nos perfectè justi coram ipso perficeremur non secus atque illi habiti suissent qui omnia divinae legis praecepta conservassent Vorst end which God designed and propounded to himself therein viz. that Christ might perfectly fulfill the Law which to do to the Saints themselves in their own persons was altogether impossible and yet upon which it being accepted of by God on their behalf and made over to them they should be accounted just and righteous even as if they had fulfilled it in their own persons this is the first import of the word Then it may be taken ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or by way of apposition and so it notes the superadding of some further matter and that which is * See Burg. of Justif 2. part p. 361. distinct from what went before in this appositive sense 't is used Joh. 15.12 Joh. 17.3 And so the Apostles meaning is this God sent his Son into the World not only to be a Sacrifice for sin and thereby to condemn sin by his bearing the Laws penalty due to it but also by his active obedience and conformity to the Laws commands to bring things to this that the righteousness of the Law should be fulfilled in believers Christ's being a Sacrifice for sin was not sufficient to answer all the ends and demands of the Law there must be the doing of what it commanded as well as the suffering of what it threatned therefore Christ was sent for both and both were accomplished by him Man in his lapsed state stood in need of two things * Cum duo nobis peperisse Christum dixerimus impunitatem praemium illud Satisfactioni hoc merito Christi distinctè tribuit vetus Ecclesia Satisfactio consistit in peccatorum tralatione meritum in perfectissunâ obedientiae pro nobis praestitae imputatione G. Vossius in Prefat ad Grotium de Sat. Christi In homine lapso duo consideranda quod pro peccatis ejus solvendum fuit ut liberaretur tum ut vitae insuper fieret particeps quod praestari debuit id ad quod vita promissa erat c. Utrumque Apostolus docet conjungit Rom. 8.3 4. c. Hoornb Socin confut l. 3. c. 1. p 657. Satisfaction and Merit Satisfaction with respect to God's punitive Justice the expiation of sin by the undergoing of the punishment incurr'd by it c. Merit with respect to eternal life and the possession of the heavenly blessedness the measure and foundation of which Merit was the fulfilling of the Law in active obedience Now both of these are here distinctly spoken unto Christ for sin condemned sin in the flesh there 's Satisfaction and he also fulfilled the righteousness of the Law in the stead at leastwise for
Gospel as well as under the Law Page 13 'T is not only No Condemnation to Believers but positive Salvation Page 16 Of the dreadfulness of Condemnation Page 25 How it may be avoided Page 32 Persons exempted from it are to be thankful and chearful Page 37 c. What the Condemning of Sin is Page 460 There may be troubles in the Conscience after Sin and yet Sin may reign Page 212 The Contrariety of the two Walkings Page 95 The Corrupt Nature set forth by Flesh Vide Flesh The Covenant of Redemption touched upon Page 298 Of the New Creature Page 65 Of the crucifying the Flesh Page 66 D. The Law of Death opened Page 152 249 Sin and Death go together especially when 't is the Law of Sin Page 250 How the Regenerate are freed from the Law of Death Page 253 c. Comfort from hence to such against the Fear of Death Page 257 In temptations to Sin 't is good to consider that 't is Sin and Death Page 254 Comfort to Believers as to Death from their Vnion with Christ Page 81 Christ's Death a strong Dissuasive from walking after the Flesh Page 128 The main Ends of Christ's Death made good against the Socinians Page 518 c. Man had not died if he had not sinned Page 250 Of the Saints Dignity from their Vnion with Christ Page 96 Of the Dominion of Sin See the Law of Sin E. The converting Spirit works efficaciously and irresistibly Page 234 Of the spiritualness of a mans Ends. Page 111 Expiation of sin by Christ's Sacrifice Page 449 That finished on Earth not done in Heaven Page 505 The Nature of this Expiation Page 510 The Extent of it Page 511 Vide Sacrifice F. God the Father's Love to be admired in his sending of Christ Page 303 Saints are to think well of God the Father as well as of God the Son Page 305 Faith the Bond in the Mystical Vnion Page 49 Faith to be repeated in fresh applications to Christ Page 553 There are but few in Christ Page 118 Flesh is in the Best Page 91 All particular Sins comprehended in Flesh Page 97 Of being in the Flesh and walking after the Flesh ibid. Flesh taken for corrupt Nature Page 99 Why that is set forth by Flesh Page 100 Flesh considered more Generally Page 99 Particularly Page 101 The Philosophical notion of Flesh and Spirit Page 105 What it is to walk after the Flesh Vide Walking What the Flesh is by which the Law is made weak Page 263 Of Christ's being sent in Flesh that opened Page 375 He did not bring his Flesh from Heaven Page 376 Of the verity of his Flesh against the antient Hereticks Page 377 379 380 That proved ibid. How he was sent in the likeness of sinful Flesh Page 406 c. And but in the likeness of sinful Flesh Page 410 c. Of the excellency of Christ's Flesh Page 417 He as sent in Flesh is to be believed on Page 424 Of Freedom from the Law of Sin Vide the Law of Sin Freedom from its Guilt and from its Power Page 150 Of Christ's Fulfilling the Law Vide Law G. The eternal Generation of Christ the Son of God proved Page 324 c. The difference between that and common Generation Page 356 Its mysteriousness Page 354 Of the excellency of the Gospel and Christian Religion Page 415 The Priviledges of Believers under the Gospel above those under the Law Page 450 Grace set forth by Spirit and the Reasons why 't is so Page 104 c. There should be in Saints a Growth in Spiritualness Page 137 Of the Spirits being a Guide Page 108 Whether Christ took our very Guilt upon him Affirmed Page 490 H. Heaven made credible upon Christ's Incarnation Page 447 Holiness press'd from Vnion with Christ Page 75 From being made free from the Law of Sin Page 225 From the Incarnation of Christ Page 437 The Holiness and sinlesness of Christ's Humane Nature Page 411 The necessity thereof Page 414 The difference of the Humane Nature as in Christ and as in us Page 386 Of the advancement of the Humane Nature by Christ's assuming it Page 451 Christ to be highly Honoured 'T is shewn wherein Page 363 Humiliation the way to Consolation Page 5 6 Saints to be humbled that they were so long under the Law of sin and that sin still hath such a power in them Page 217 c. As also that there should be that Flesh in them by which God 's own Law is made weak Page 271 Humility press'd from Christ's taking our Nature Page 437 Of the HypostaticalVnion Vide Vnion I. About the Idem and the Tantundem With respect to Christ's Sufferings Page 489 To his Active Obedience Page 608 c. Of the Imputation of Christ's Active Obedience Vide Obedience How the imputation thereof is to be stated Vide ibid. The Incarnation of Christ largely discoursed of Page 372 c. His Mission and his Incarnation two distinct things Page 376 The Latter not impossible not incredible Page 386 The Grounds laid down why Christ was Incarnate Page 387 c. Prophesies and Types of it ibid. Seven Propositions insisted upon for the explication of it Page 393 c. What benefit had they by Christ who lived before his Incarnation Page 397 Why he was Incarnate just at that time when he was incarnate Page 398 A firm Assent is to be given to the Verity of Christ's Incarnation as also a firm Adherence to him as incarnate Page 420 c. Many other Duties urged from this Incarnation Page 426 c. As also the Comfort of it to Believers is set forth in several Particulars Page 441 c. Whether if Man had not sinned Christ had been incarnate Neg. Page 406 Of Inclinations Good or Evil and their difference in the Godly and Others Page 110 The severity of God's Justice in Christ's being a Sacrifice Page 543 The Law unable to Justifie Page 266 Whether there be two distinct integral parts of Justification Page 602 In the Justifying of Sinners God proceeds upon the fulfilling of the Laws righteousness Page 610 As to Christ we are justified by Works as to our selves by Faith Page 610 L. Law of Sin what it is Page 151 What the Law of the Spirit is Page 159 All Vnregenerate persons under the Law of Sin Page 169 c. How Sin is a Law opened in the proper improper notion of a Law Page 172 c. Wherein Sin acts as a Law Page 177 How it may be known when it is the Law of sin That particularly opened Page 179 c. All the Regenerate are freed from the Law of Sin Page 154 203 c. They are freed from Sin only as 't is a Law Page 149 203 206 Their freedom from the Law of Sin proved from Scripture and Argument Page 207 c. How fâr men may go and yet not be freed from the Law of Sin Page 210 A serious Exhortation to all to get free from it
sin is there is matter of condemnation There 's not a man to be found on earth who upon this account and in this sense is not obnoxious and liable to a sentence and state of Condemnation for * 1 Kings 8.46 there is no man that sinneth not * Jam. 3.2 in many things we offend all * 1 Joh. 1.8 if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Besides those actual sins which break forth in external acts which are committed upon deliberation and with consent of which all are more or less guilty I say besides these there is in all a corrupt wicked depraved Nature which Nature puts forth it self in evil motions sinful propensions strong inclinations to what is evil O that Fomes Peccati those Motus Primo-primi as the Schoolmen call them those inward ebullitions of indwelling sin in impure and filthy desires set forth in Scripture by Concupiscence what shall we say to these are not they sinful is there not in them matter of Condemnation if God should enter into judgment and proceed according to the rigour of his Justice and the purity of his Law surely yes If it be prov'd that they are sinful unquestionably then it follows that they expose a person to Condemnation now how full are our Divines in the proof of that Concupiscence the first risings and stirrings of Corrupt Nature even in renewed and regenerate persons are properly and formally sinful whether they consent or not for Consent is not so of the Essence of sin but that there may be sin without it that may have some influence upon the degree but not upon the nature of the thing it self Those evil thoughts and motions in the Heart with which the best are so much pestred are not meer infirmities attending the present state of imperfection but they are plain iniquities there is sin in them The Apostle speaking of them sets the black brand of sin upon them Rom. 7.7 What shall we say then is the Law sin God forbid nay I had not known sin but by the Law for I had not known Lust except the Law had said thou shalt not covet The holy Law forbids these inward workings of the sinful Nature as well as the exterior acts of sin therefore they are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a breach of that Law and being so therefore they are sinful They flow from sin they tend to sin and yet are they not sin when Lust hath conceiv'd it bringeth forth sin Jam. 1.13 This is the Doctrine of our (a) Art 9. Church of the ancient (b) August lib. 1. contra duas Pelag. Ep. cap. 13. lib. 3. contra Julian cap. 3. with several others cited in Chamier tom 3. lib. 10. c. 10. Fathers of the Body of (c) Vide Cham. tom 3. lib. 10. c. 4. c. Chemn Exam. Decr. 5 Sess p. 93. c. Calv. Instit lib. 3. c. 3. Daven Det. Qu. 1. Ward Determ Theol. p. 136. c. Protestants and they make it good by several Arguments of great strength The (d) The Council of Trent anathematizeth all who hold Concupiscence in renewed persons and after Baptism to be sin Sess 5. Bellarm. de Amiss Grat. lib. 5. cap. 7. Valentia de Pec. Orig. cap. 7 8. Perer. Quaest ad Cap. 7. in Ep. ad Rom. Disput 7 8 9. Papists are wholly of another mind And whereas 't is said here in the Text There is no Condemnation c. they carry it so high as to affirm that in reference to Original Sin the depravation of Nature Concupiscence the inward motions and inclinations of the Heart to sin after Baptism Faith Regeneration there is no matter of Condemnation or nothing damnable in them who are in Christ He that will please to cast his eye upon the (e) Non tam significat nullam esse Condemnationem justificatis in Christo ob Concupiscentiam quà m nihil esse in eis condemnatione dignum Bellarm. de Am. Gr. lib. 5. cap. 7. Tollitur damnatio quantum ad Culpam quantum ad poenam Primus Motus habet quod non sit Peccatum Mortale ex eo quod rationem non attingit in quâ completur ratio Peccati c. Aquin. in loc c. Et consistit differentia in hoc quod inillis justificatis nempe in Christo nihil committitur damnabile propter donum Christi tam externum quam internum Intendit itaque per nullam damnationem nullum actum quo meremur damnari Et dixit hoc ad diffetentiam Primorum Motuum qui sunt etiam apud justificatos in Christo ut intelligamus illos non esle materiam damnationis Primi enim Motus non reddunt Sanctos damnabiles tum ob eorum imperfectionem tum quia absorbentur a copiâ Sanctarum actionum continuarum Cajet in loc Hinc patet nec concupiscentiam nec aliud quippiam in renatis esse peccatum damnatione dignum A-Lap Non quod volo ago c. ex iis sequitur involuntarios esse Concupiscentiae motus in renatis ac justis quibus proinde ad poenam imputari non possint Est Quamvis Caro contra Spiritum insultans molestias exhibeat iis qui sunt in Christo Jesu nihil tamen est in iis damnatiois quia dum non consentiunt non ipsi operantur illud sed peccatum quod per Concupiscentiam habitat in Corde Soto Citations here set down which are taken especially out of their Expositors upon the Text may see that this is the Interpretation which they put upon it What no matter of Condemnation nothing damnable in them who are in Christ this is much too high Our Adversaries I suppose though they deny any merit of Condemnation upon the forementioned things yet surely they will not deny but that sin in its full Act merits Condemnation if they will be so absurd the Apostle plainly determines it Sin when it is finished brings forth death Jam. 1.15 Now is there not too much of this to be found even in Saints in Christ and therefore are not they worthy of Condemnation True indeed Sin whether in the conception or in the finishing is not * Ad haec respondetur dimitti Concupiscentiam Carnis in Baptismo non ut non sit sed ut in peccatum non imputetur Aug. de Nup. Conc. lib. 1. cap. 25. imputed or charged upon them and so there is no Condemnation but yet as considered in its own Nature it merits Condemnation it doth so ex Naturâ rei exjudicio Legis onely 't is not so in point of Fact and in Event ex indultu Gratiae as one expresses it Sin is sin in the Children of God and it merits Condemnation in them as well as in others whence is it then that there is no Condemnation to them meerly from the Grace of God who doth not impute this sin to them As Solomon told Abiathar he was worthy of death yet he
c. Justification and no Condemnation with respect to the Sentence are all one onely the one notes what is Positive the other what is Negative now the Apostle in the words inferring No Condemnation from Justification as you will see he doth by and by it appears that his eye was upon something distinct from and consequential upon Justification and that must be exemption from the state of Condemnation There is no Condemnation c. 't is as if he had said such shall not be condemned hereafter or lie under that damnation in Hell which will be the portion of Unbelievers to this therefore I shall chiefly speak Condemnation Virtual or Actual Further as some distinguish of Justification 't is either Virtual or Actual either in Title as to the Sentence of the Word here or full and compleat in the Sentence which shall solemnly be pronounced by God at the Great day So we may also distinguish of Condemnation 't is either Virtual that which is now in the Sentence of the Law or Gospel or Actual that which is to come when God by Christ will in a publick and solemn way pass a condemnatory Sentence upon men according to the Word and this shall be at the Last and Great Judment You read of the First Joh. 3.18 He that believeth on him is not condemned he that believeth not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is condemned already so v. 26. of that Chapt. Of the Second Mark 16.16 and in divers other places In both of these senses also Gods people are exempted from Condemnation take it Virtually or Actually in Titlo here or in the Final Sentence of the Judge hereafter it belongs not to them And this I am now to make good which was the Second Head that I propounded to speak to The Observ proved The Negation in the Text is so express so absolute and peremptory that there cannot be the least doubt of the truth of it Indeed as to the application of this to a mans self in Hypothesi so there may be many doubts arising in the Soul concerning it but as to the Thing it self in Thesi nothing more sure and certain than it is You have it asserted not only in this single Scripture but in divers others also Joh. 3.18 He that believeth on him is not condemned neither is nor ever shall be Joh. 5.24 Verily verily I say unto you Christ would have Believers fully settled in the belief of this precious Truth and therefore he premises asseveration upon asseveration and gives you his own Authority for it he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life Read Joh. 3.16.36 Mark 16.16 1 Thess 1.10 If you look into the Text for I 'le go no further you will find a double Argument or Ground for the Non-condemnation of Believers The strength and import the Illative therefore opened 1. The First lies couch'd in the Illative Particle There is therefore now no Condemnation c. What doth this therefore point to when that is found out we must then enquire what there is of strength in it to prove and bottom Non condemnation upon For Answer to this Expositors do somewhat differ about it Some make it to refer to all that goes before from the 16 v. of the 1 Chapt. Est conclusio totius superioris disputationis à v. 16. primi Capitis Beza 'T is a Conclusion drawn from all that hath been taught hitherto Deodate Others limit it to some special part of the Apostles foregoing Discourse in this Epistle And so some apply it to what he had laid down in the 3 4 5 Chapt. where he insists upon Justification and proves at large that Believers are justified and that through the Righteousness of Christ which being so from this their blessed state and this gracious act of God upon them he here infers There is therefore now no Condemnation c. Others again make the Spring-head of the Inference to lie in the 7 Chapt. especially in the close of it Paul there thanks God who had delivered him from the body of sin through Christ he says with his mind his renewed and sanctified part he served the Law of God though with the flesh the carnal and unregenerate part he served the law of sin Now * Thus Bucer Insert ad illud in proximâ sectione Gratias ago c. Thus Pareus Illatio est valdè vehemens ex praecedenti querelâ Gratulatione Thus Musculus Nulla Condemnatio c. Quare referendum est istud exordium ad Gratiarum actionem capitis praecedentis quà dixit Gratias ago c. Thus Tolet Connexa est haec sententia ultimis praecedentis capitis verbis ex ipsis deducitur Pendet initium hoc tam saustum faelix ex hoc quod ultimò dictum est in fine praecedentis Corn. Mussus from this he draws the Conclusion There is therefore now no Condemnation c. I for my part will not limit the Inference to the One or to the Other but I 'le take in All yet I 'le consider the whole in its main Parts viz. Justification and Sanctification The Non-condemnation then of persons in Christ may be proved by or is grounded upon Non condemnation of Believers proved from their Justification 1. Their Justification He that is a justified man cannot be a condemned man for these two are contrary and incompatible If it be justifying it cannot be condemning if it be condemning it cannot be justifying There being in justification an acquitting absolving discharging from Guilt how can this consist with the condemning of one as guilty or because guilty this would be a plain contradiction oppositum in apposito 'T is with Law-contraries as 't is with Physicalcontraries upon the position of the one there needs must be the exclusion or negation of the other now Justification and Condemnation are Law-contraries ergo c. The Apostle argues upon this v. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect and surely there must be charging before there can be condemning but there can be none of that why because it is God that justifieth The Believer being justified and justified by God too he must needs be exempted from Condemnation He that will not acquit the guilty will not condemn the righteous * Prov. 17.15 for both are equally an abomination to the Lord Now the justified person is a righteous person for else what doth his justification signifie and will the righteous Judge condemn a righteous person 'Pray that you may the better perceive how the deduction in the Text is grounded look back a little into the Epistle and see what the Apostle there lays down concerning Justification He says and this is the main Position upon which he doth but enlarge in all his following discourse Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith ch 1.16 Even
Spirit O stupendious folly most woful infatuation The Apostle describing the natural state saith For we our selves also were sometimes foolish ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without any understanding or intellective faculty wherein serving divers lusts and pleasures O that is to be foolish indeed And he elsewhere speaking of lusts themselves calls them too ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã foolish and hurtful 1 Tim. 6.9 Flesh-followers are apt to admire their own wisdome but they fall under that sad character Rom. 1.20 Professing themselves to be wise they became foolâ 3. 'T is groundless and unreasonable walking Bate but the Sinners pleasing himself which is a pitiful reason and what reason hath he to serve or gratifie the Flesh what can it plead for any subjection or obedience to it This our Apostle here takes notice of v. 12. we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh We are debtors indeed to God every way to him we owe our Love Obedience c. our All but what do we owe the flesh what hath it done or suffered for us hath it redeemed us was it crucified for us surely no! Justice and gratitude call upon us to live to God and Christ but for the Flesh we are under no obligation at all to live to it rather the quite contrary Why should we pay where we owe nothing and not pay where we owe our-all were we but so just and honest as to pay our debts sure I am we should walk after the Spirit and not after the Flesh 4. 'T is uncomfortable walking Isa 57.20 21. The wicked are like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Isa 59.8 They have made them crooked paths whosoever goeth therein shall not have peace Sin and Comfort cannot go together he loses the one who closes with the other A wicked life saith (a) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Platâ de Leg. lib. 2. p. 663. Plato is not onely a sordid but a more unpleasant life than that which is vertuous the bare light of Nature led divers of the ancient (b) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Plutarch 101. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Idem in Tract Ne suaviter quidem c. p. 1087. Moralists to assert this over and over And Sinners may put the best face upon it but they find this to be true by their own sad experience they feel it their Consciences plainly tell them of it every day that there is little true joy in a sinful sensual course O the sad gripes of Conscience which they meet with in the way of sin which though they endeavour to smother yet they pursue and vex them from time to time But suppose the way of the Flesh at present be not uncomfortable to be sure in the final issue it will be so when the Sensualist and ungodly wretch shall see death making its near approaches to him when Conscience shall force him to take a review of his ill-spent life when he shall be called to stand before the tribunal of his Judge I say how will it be then will it be joy and comfort no but instead thereof inexpressible anguish and horrour of spirit O let not the Flesh deceive you its (c) Heb. 11.25 pleasures are but for a season its (d) Delectatio occidit praeteriit volneravit transivit miserum fecit abiit infaelicem reddidit reliquit August de Temp. Serm. 3. delights are soon over and gone and then that which was hony in the mouth turns into gall and wormewood in the belly Poor deluded creatures think to take their fill of it but in a little time God finds them out sets home their sin and folly gives them the prospect of a dreadful eternity and what follows first Hell is in their Souls and then in a little time their Souls are in Hell And therefore as you desire to be kept from this misery and to have peace and comfort in Life and Death see that you abandon the Flesh so as not to walk after it 5. 'T is walking which ends in eternal perdition O that this might be believed before it be felt Sirs whom will you believe Sin and the Flesh which are made up of lyes and do their business by lyes or the God of truth and the Word of truth He tells you therein (e) Rom. 8.6 To be carnally minded is death (f) Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye (g) Gal. 6.8 He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption There is no condemnation to them which walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit then there is condemnation to them who walk after the Flesh c. (h) Jam. 2.15 Sin when it is finished it brings forth death with many such Scriptures Now shall not this deter you from a fleshly conversation if this will not what will Salomon speaking of the strange Woman tells us * Prov. â 18 her house inclineth unto death and her paths to the dead just so it is with fleshly Walking Nothing more certain than that every mans end shall be according to his course as he sowes so shall he reap Gal. 6.7 now there are two very different ends and two very different courses there is Heaven and Hell two very different ends and there is walking after the flesh and after the spirit two very different courses If you fall in with the Former that will most certainly lead you to Hell if with the Latter that will as certainly lead you to Heaven which of these Courses now will you chuse Condemnation is as sure to them who walk after the Flesh as No-Condemnation is to them who walk after the Spirit So much for the third Motive 4. Fourthly let me add but one Disuasive more and that is the Death of Christ What a consideration is this to take men off from a carnal life O when this flesh begins to stir and pirk up it self you will do well in order to the suppressing of it to fix your thoughts upon your dying Redeemer Say when my Saviour hath died for Sin shall I live in Sin when he was * 1 Joh. 3.8 manifested on purpose to destroy the works of the Flesh and of the Devil shall I yet walk after them was the sinless Flesh in Christ crucified and shall the sinful Flesh in me be cherished You read of the crucifiion of the Flesh Gal. 5.24 we should be for nothing short of that for no better usage doth it deserve from us When Pilate ask'd the enraged Jews against our blessed Lord What shall I then do with Jesus which is called Christ they all said unto him Let him be crucified and when he a little hung off from this cruelty What evil hath he done they cryed out the more saying Let him be crucified Matth. 27.22 23. This was not so much their sin in being so cruel
to God daily for help against it well God will not lay particular failings thus circumstantiated to your charge The Damsel under the Law that was ravished if she cry'd out for help and did not consent to the fact was to be acquitted Deut. 22.25 so you do to God under the assaults of the Flesh and so God will do to you True sin is sin though it hath not full and deliberate consent but God is so gracious that where that is not he will not impute it I have also told you that you must distinguish betwixt (c) Non dicitur vivere secândum Carnem qui Spiritum ducem sequitur etiamsi aliquando extra viam vestigium ponat Justin lapses into sin and walking in sin thou sometimes fallest by the Flesh but yet thou doest not walk after the Flesh where the fleshly act especially if it be gross is not repeated where the Soul resists it where there is a rising again by repentance deep humiliation for for what is past and all diligent circumspection and stedfast resolation in God's strength for the time to come there 't is but a lapse and not a walking This I hope is your case and if so then what you alledge against your selves will not amount to make you walkers after the Flesh And as to the positive part the walking after the Spirit though you come short as to degrees and are not so rais'd in the spiritual life as you ought yet in such a measure which God accepts you do live it The Spirit is your Principle your Guide spiritual objects have your affections the Heart inclines and bends chiefly to that which is good your great end is to enjoy and glorifie God O be of good comfort this is walking after the Spirit You are imperfect in it yet sincere you aim at more than what you can as yet arrive at God accepts of you and will deal with you as persons really ingrafted into Christ your holy walking discovers your Vnion and your Vnion secures your Non-condemnation What have you to do but to beg of God that he will yet guide you and more and more fix and stablish you in this your spiritual walking He that knows the goodness of your Way knows also the weakness of your Graces O pray much for strengthening Grace that you may stedfastly continue in your holy course to the end Psal 17.5 Hold up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not Psal 119.117 Hold thou me up and I shall be safe and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually So much for the Application of this Point Two things should therein have been further spoken to but now must be omitted namely 1. To vindicate the true Notion of the Spiritual Life against all the false MONASTICK glosses and interpretations which Some do put upon it 2. To answer those usual and common Objections which too many do raise against it But the due handling of these two Heads would take me up some considerable time and they will in the following Verses again offer themselves and I fear I have already been too long upon this Verse therefore at present I shall not meddle with them I have done with the First Verse There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit ROM 8.2 For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death CHAP. IV. Of the Sinners being made free by the power of the Spirit from the power of Sin and Death Of the Connexion of this Verse with the Former Some bring in the Words by way of Prolepsis The proper import of the Particle For cleared and made good against the Papists In the Words something imply'd something express'd All reduc'd to three Heads A gracious Deliverance the Subject the Author of that deliverance What Sin is here mainly intended How far the being made free from it doth reach Whether it points to the Guilt or Power of Sin What is meant by the Law of Sin Of deliverance from the Law of Sin and Death Paul instances in himself as the Subject of it How that is to be taken Why he speaks in the Singular Number The Law of the Spirit c. opened A Fourfold Exposition of the Words What that is which is in Christ Jesus is it the Life or the Spirit or the Law of the Spirit In the close one Truth briefly handled That the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Life How or in what respects he is so Some short Application made thereof The Connexion of this Verse with the Former THe Apostle having in the former Verse more succinctly laid down that great Truth upon which he designed to build his following discourse he here in this Verse falls upon the amplifying and enlarging of himself about it and all that he says from this Verse to the Seventeenth is but by way of amplification upon what he had more concisely said in the First 'T is obvious at the first view that this Verse doth not onely immediately follow but that in its Matter it is link'd and imbodied with the Former the particle For plainly shows that 't is brought in to prove or to explain something there asserred For the Law of the Spirit c. Now the Apostle having there 1. propounded the happy state of persons in Christ and 2. having describ'd and characteriz'd those persons a Question here doth arise Which of these Two doth he in this Verse design to prove or open I say to prove or open for the Words may come in by way of illustration as well as by way of proof or argumentation For answer to which I see nothing of reason why * Hinc utrumque depender quod Versu praecedenti statuit Prius c. Lud. de Dieâ both may not be taken in the Words will bear a fair reference both to the One and to the Other too 1. First as to the Priviledge He had said there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus now this being the great prop or pillar of the Believers faith and hope he will therefore fasten it sure he is not satisfied barely to affirm it but hee 'l confirm and make it good and also show how 't is brought about For the Proof of it he first brings this Argument They who are freed from the Law of Sin and Death to them there is no condemnation But such who are in Christ are thus freed from the Law of Sin and Death Ergo c. All the difficulty lying in the Minor Proposition he shewes how this freedom from the Law of Sin and Death is effected and as to that he saith 't is by the Law of the Spirit of Life Which being done in this method in and for Believers they are in no danger of condemnation For the explication of it if you take the Words in that notion the Apostle
sets down the Way and Manner how this Non condemnation is carried on That is done two ways partly by the Spirit of Christ partly by the Merit of Christ In order to the Sinners Justification and Salvation two things are necessary 1. he must be freed from the tyranny usurpation and dominion of sin 2. he must be freed too from the guilt of Sin and the Justice of God must be satisfied Now saith the Apostle Both of these are accordingly done the Former by the Spirit of Christ which is spoken to in this Second Verse the Latter by the Merit or Satisfactory Obedience of Christ in his own Person which is spoken to in the Third and Fourth Verses Thus the Apostle clears up the way and method of God in the bringing about of the Non-condemnation of Believers and this in the double reference which the Words will bear with respect to the Priviledge 2. Then Secondly they way refer too to the Character or Description who walk not after c. It might be ask'd How doth the truth of this appear viz. that persons in Christ do thus walk or rather How comes it about that Such do arrive at this spiritual course The Apostle answers The Law of the Spirit of Life hath freed Such from the Law of Sin q. d. I have spoken of the holy and heavenly course of Believers and do not wonder at it you may believe me in what I have asserted for the mighty power of the Spirit of God having subdued Sin and broke its strength and dominion in these persons upon this they are brought to holy walking or therefore they do so walk In this reference several * Lex spiritus vitae quae pertinet ad gratiam liberat à lege peccati mortis facit ut non concupiscamus impleamus jussa legis c. August Octoginr Quaest p. 575. t. 4. Verius certius est quod hoc versiculo rationem reddere Apostolus voluerit non illorum verborum nihil nunc damnationis sed cur hanc quasi conditionem illis verbis adjecerit iis qui non secundum carnem ambulant Stapl. Antidot p. 625. The Apostle proves the Spiritual walking à causa procreante quae est Spiritus Sanctus Piscat He gives a reason why the true members of Christ do walk according to the Spirit Deod Expositers carry the Words but this for their Connexion Some Divines make them to be in part Proleptical as if the Apostle foreseeing some Objections which might be made against what he had laid down did here design to prevent and anticipate those Objections For as to both the forementioned Things doubts and discouragements might arise in some who were in Christ They might object thus Blessed Paul thou saist there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ but how can this be what so much Sin and Guilt and yet no Condemnation can we who are nothing but a very mass of Sin be thus safe and secure as to our eternal state O this we scarce know how to believe And again thou speakest of Walking not after the Flesh but after the Spirit alas who do thus walk when we have so much of Flesh in us and that doth so often draw us to carnal acts c. how is this qualification practicable To obviate this double Objection or Discouragement the Apostle brings in these Words in which he renders both the Priviledge and the Property of persons interested in it real and credible viz by their being freed from the Law of Sin and Death through the Law of the Spirit 'T is as if he had said 't is too true that even such who are in Christ will have Sin in them and sin will too often be committed by them yet for all this I say that such shall not be condemned why because they are freed from the Law of Sin and so consequently from the Law of Death Sin I grant is in them but 't is not a Law in them or to them it still keeps its residence in them but its reign its commanding power is gone now where it is not commanding it shall not be condemning So then this notwithstanding the foundation of a Believers Safety and Comfort stands firm and unshaken And for the Other discouragement here is a kind of tacit and implicit Concession that the people of God are Flesh as well as Spirit and that as to some particular acts through infirmity they may follow the guidance and motions of the Flesh but yet they are not under the Law and command of the Flesh why because they are freed from the Law of Sin there is another Law which hath thrust out that Law of Sin viz. the Law of the Spirit Indeed time was when they were at the beck and command of the Flesh when they walked after it but the Law of the Spirit having taken hold of them now for the main they do not they cannot walk after the Flesh The force of the is Particle FOR opened I come more strictly and narrowly to look into the Words For the Law of the Spirit of Life c. 'T is a Scripture that either is dark in it self or else 't is made so by the various and different interpretations put upon it Which before I can well speak to the first word For must be a little considered and the rather because 't is made use of and insisted upon in some matters of Controversie That which unites Verse and Verse divides party and party this little Word is made to bear its part in some sharp Contests and though to us at the first view it may seem but inconsiderable yet 't is not so to the ROMANISTS who in their arguings against PROTESTANTS make no small use of it They tell us that 't is here to be taken * Subscribit causam praedictae liberationis Soto Apostolus hanc libertatem à lege peccati per Spiritum Dei ponit ut causam ejus quod prius dixerat Stapl. Antid p. 625. With many Others causally as containing in it the Ground of Justification that it points to inherent Righteousness as the Cause of the Non-condemnation before spoken of and by this they attempt to prove that the Believer is not justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ but by his own personal inherent righteousness For say they the Apostle having said that there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ he proves it from inherent righteousness as the proper and formal cause of it there is no Condemnation For the Law of the Spirit c. And that the Argument may be the more pressing and concluding to us PROTESTANTS they urge that Calvin and Beza themselves do make this Law of the Spirit of Life to point to grace regeneration inherent righteousness To whom I reply 1. That 't is not safe either for Them or Vs in matters of great moment to lay too great a stress upon little Words which onely joyn Verse and Verse
together unless that which we build upon them or infer from them do agree with other Scriptures where the Thing is fully and professedly handled I dare not undervalue the least the meanest particle in God's Word yet I would be loath to bottom a fundamental Article of Faith upon such a particle especially when it admits of various senses as this here doth if it hath not the current of the Word to back it For our Opinion of Justification by the alone righteousness of Christ imputed to the Sinner and laid hold on by Faith we ground it upon several full and entire Discourses where our Apostle doth professedly handle that Argument proving Justification to be according to what we hold But our Adversaries to prove their justification by inherent righteousness very often I do not say always catch at some little single word and that they make the foundation which they build this Opinion upon In short against this For in the Text I mean too onely as they pervert it for in truth they have not so much as even this little Word to favour them we set the whole third fourth fifth Chapter of this Epistle to the Romans where the Apostle in a full discourse upon it doth plainly lay Justification upon imputed not upon inherent righteousness and which of us now do build upon the surest and safest bottom 2. What if this particle supposing it to be Causal doth point to the description of the persons and not to the priviledge some of their own * Stapl. ut prius Tolet. Causam exponit cur qui sunt in Christo non secundum carnem ambulant Authors do carry it so where then is the strength of their Argument from it to prove the fonmal Cause of No Condemnation All that then can be deduced from the Words is this that Grace in the heart is the Cause of an holy life that men upon regeneration are delivered from the Law of Sin and therefore they walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit what is this against us And with respect to their Glosses who questions or denies inherent righteousness or that that doth free from sin provided you take it with a double limitation 1. that the freeing from Sin upon regeneration be understood of the taking away its power 2. that it be not carried so far as quite to justle out imputed righteousness or set so high as to have that attributed to it which is onely proper to Christs righteousness Our * Si Spiritus vitae vivificans Sanctificans c. Ergo liberati sumus à Lege peccati mortis Regeneratione Sanctificatione non solâ Justitiae imputatione Gratia ergo inhaerens est quae liberat à peccato Contz Quaest 1. in Vers 2. cap. 8. ad Rom. Torsit hic locus tà m Calvinum quam Bezam quia inhaerentem Justitiam per veram peccati victoriam luculentèr probat imputativam subvertit Stapl. Antidot p. 625. Adversaries misrepresent our Opinions and trouble themselves in a great measure to prove that which we never deny and then asperse us as though we did deny it 3. 'T is one thing to be the Proof of a thing another thing to be the Cause of that thing Regeneration indeed proves Justification for every regenerate person is a justified person but 't is not the cause of justification for the person is not therefore justified because he is regenerated but because Christ's righteousness by Faith is made over to him 'T is one thing to say therefore a man lives because he hath sense and moves and another thing to say therefore a man lives because he hath a living Soul in him the Sense and motion prove the life but 't is the living Soul which is the cause of life So here the Believer shall not be condemned because the Law of the Spirit of Life c. this evinces the certainty of the thing but 't is not the proper Cause of it So that the For in the Text is onely Nota probationis but not causalitatis and so 't is used up and down in the Gospel in very many places 4. 'T is very true that (a) Legem Spiritus impropriè vocat Dei Spiritum qui animas nostras Christi sanguine aspergit non tantum ut à peccati labe emundet quoad reatum sed ut in veram pietatem sanctificet Calvin Calvin in part doth interpret the Words of regeneration and inherent righteousness but then foreseeing the Objection that would be made upon it he explains himself about it and saith (b) Siquis excipiat veniam ergo quâ sepeliuntur nostra delicta pendete à regeneratione facilis est solutio Non assignari causam à Paulo sed modum tradi duntaxae quo solvimur à reatu Calvin If any shall reply that then pardon or justification doth depend upon regeneration the Answer says he is obvious Paul doth not set down the Cause wherefore we are absolved from Guilt onely the Manner wherein this is done He adds further (c) Perinde valet haec sententia ac si dixisset Paulus Regenerationis Gratiam ab imputatione Justitiae nunquam disjungi 'T is as much as if the Apostle had said that regeneration is never separated or parted from the imputation of Christs righteousness So that he doth not argue for Non-condemnation or Justification from inherent righteousness as the proper Cause of it but onely as these two always go together and as this is the order and method of God wherein he justifies And 't is true too that * Legem Spiritus Vitae nec pro lege fidei c. sed pro ejus efficaciâ per quam peccatum i. e. corruptio ipsaque adeo mors sensìm aboletur ut docet infra V. 10. 11. denique pro Regenerationis gratiâ accipio cui opponitur carnis i. e. Naturae nostrae corruptio Beza Beza doth take in here under the Law of the Spirit Regeneration and Sanctification but then 't is very well known what he makes to be the Law of the Spirit of Life principally viz. the Sanctity and Holiness of Christ's humane Nature which he saith being imputed to the Believer he is thereupon justified * In his verbis Calvinum Orthodoxae Augustinianae expositioni conformitè dicere quis dubitaverit sed audiantur reliqua impostoris technae ac fraudes apparebunt Stapl. ubi supra Quam Legem Spiritus cum probè intellexissent recentiores Haeretici perperam transferunt non ad Gratiam justis inhaerântem sed ad externam Christi justitiam quam robis quodaminodo affingi volunt imputari Justin And now Calvin and Beza have lost all their credit So long as they expounded the Words of inherent righteousness they were very sound and orthodox but now they thus explain themselves no Censures are severe enough for them now if Stapleton may be believed they are not adulteratores sed carnifices Verbi Dei I know Pareus to avoid the
peccatorum remissio quâ liberamur non ex parte sed plenè perfecteque à peccatorum quorumcunque remissione Rolloc Paulò post satis patebit de absolutione gratuitâ loqui c. Calvin Some interpret the Words of Freedome from the guilt of sin they making them chiefly to point to that grace which is given out in Justification (c) Liberavit regenerando ad novam vitam Baza Ut intelligamus Legem Spiritus non solum hoc in nobis agere quòd non condemnemur propter imputationem justitiae sed vim peccati in nobis extinguere ut jam non regnet in nobis peccatum sed Gratia virtus Christi Muscul Others interpret them of Freedome from the power of sin they referring them to that grace which is proper to Regeneration The Opinion of the Latter I prefer and shall follow in the insuing Discourse I conceive the Law of Sin mainly refers to the power of Sin and therefore the freedome from the Law of Sin must also mainly refer to the being freed from the power of Sin As to the taking away of its Guilt that the Apostle speaks to in the following Verse for that 's the condemning of it there mentioned in this Verse the taking away of its dominion was chiefly in his eye You have him Chap. 7. sadly complaining of the Law in his Members of the Law of Sin now nothing more evident than that he thereby designs to set forth not Sins guilt but that great though not full power and strength which Sin had in him and if that be the proper notion of the Law of Sin there then why not here And besides the Word here used ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã hath made free both in Scripture and also in Common Authors usually notes the freeing of One who is under bondage and slavery it doth not so properly note the freeing of a Malefactor from his Guilt and from that condemnatory sentence which he deserves as the freeing of a Slave or Captive who is under the Tyranny and Dominion of another and so it falls in exactly with that notion of freedome which I am upon Therefore the Arabick Translator well renders it by Emancipavit me à lege peccati mortis and * Tertull. de Resur Carn cap. 46. legit manumisit me Fuimus enim quasi mancipia peccati mortis sed à Christo manumissi libertate donati sumus A-Lapide Tertullian by Manumisit me in allusion to the Manumission of the Romans when they set their Servants or Slaves at liberty O when a man is once regenerated he hath a blessed manumission he being made free from that cursed servitude wherein he liv'd before under this cruel Master Sin I say this is the strict and proper notion of the word which though 't is true it be here applied to Death as well as to Sin yet that is either in a more large and improper Sense for the Apostle having first spoken of freedome from sin and set it forth by that term which was proper to it he was not sollicitous to be so accurate as to vary his expression for the Other but would make the same to serve for both or else because there is a bondage in Death as well as in Sin and therefore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã will agree with it as well as with sin And I desire that this may be considered which I lay a great stress upon the Apostle in this Verse speaks of the Spirit personally considered as in the next Verse of the Son personally considered also it being so we must then interpret their several making free from sin according to that which is proper to them in their personal consideration Now 't is the Spirits personal act to free by regeneration from Sins power as 't is the Sons personal act by satisfaction to free from Sins guilt therefore the First is meant in this Verse where the Spirit is mentioned as the Second is meant it the next Verse where the Son is mentioned 4. The Law of Sin 'T is a Metaphor which our Apostle often uses and in which he seems much to delight you have it often Rom. 7. V. 21. I find a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me V. 23. But I see another Law warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members V. 25. With my mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the flesh the Law of sin What this Law of sin is and in what respects it passes under this Appellation hereafter shall be opened at present onely in General observe that this metaphorical expression notes the (a) Ex adverso Legem peccati mortis appellat Carnis imperium quae inde consequitur mortis tyrannidem Calv. A peccato inhabitante quod instar Legis mihi imperabat malas actiones ad eas me impellebat Piscat Est Lex peccati quia ad peccatum movet incitatque velut Lex quaedam Estius A Lege peccati i. e. à Lege fomitis quae inclinat ad peccandum vel à Lege peccati i. e. à consensu operatione peccati quod hominem tenet ligatum per modum Legis Aquin. Dum absolvuntur à Dominio peccati super ipsos ab obligatione conformandi voluntarias suas operationes Legi peccaâi à quo vinculo non absolvebat Lex Cajetan A Lege peccati h. e. à dictamine jure dominatu reatu concupiscentiae A-Lap Power Dominion Tyranny of sin Some make the Law of sin to be no more than barely sin it self but I think it carries a special reference to and super adds the Adjunct of Sin the power of it And (b) Elegantiùs vertisset à jure peccati Erasin Some would have us read it the Right of sin rather than the Law of sin the matter comes much to one So much for the being made free from the Law of Sin In the opening of which as yet I have not taken any notice of the O pinion of Some who make the Law of Sin to be the Old Mosaical Law but by and by I will It follows and Death Now this is either one and the same with sin as being onely an Epethite for it so (c) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Oecum Apostolus conjunctionem interposuit codem tamen sensu ac si peccatum mortiferum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã dixisset Piscat Several expound it Sin and Death that is deadly Sin or Sin which is of a deadly nature As the Spirit of life is the living spirit so Sin and Death is no more than deadly sin 't is an expression like that of the Poet Pateris libavit auro i. e. aureis pateris Or else you may take it as distinct from sin and so there is a double Deliverance held forth in the Words One from the Law of Sin an Other from the Law of Death thus the most
large to be written out Ambrose expounds it The Law saith he of the Spirit of Life it is the very Law of Faith * Chrysostome distinguishes much to the same purpose ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost in loc The Law of Moses was a Spiritual Law because it forbad Sin but it was not the Law of the Spirit of Life because it could not remit Sin and so quicken the dead But this Law of Faith is the Law of the Spirit of Life because it doth not onely restrain Sin but it also restores from death c. This Law in Christ Jesus that is by Faith doth free the Believer from the Law of Sin and Death The Law of Sin is that which dwells in the members which persuades to that which is contrary to the Will of God the Law of Death is the Law of Moses because it kills Sinners And no wonder that this Law should be the Law of Death when the Gospel is to some the savour of death unto death and so he goes on in the further explication of it Amongst modern Interpreters Pareus follows this Exposition making the Law of the Spirit of life to be the Doctrine of the Gospel and the Law of sin and death to be the Law of Moses The Gospel saith he is the Law of the Spirit because 't is attended with the conveyance of the Spirit the Law of Moses was spiritual but not the Law of the Spirit because it did not convey the Spirit And that was the Law of Sin because it discovered sin irritated sin made sin to be sin and of Death too because it had a killing virtue in it 2 Cor. 3.6 The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life Thus Pareus who after he had laid down and opened his Opinion thus concludes With submission to other mens judgments I judge this to be the most plain and genuine meaning of this place This way very many * Lex Spirituâ c. est doctrina Evangehi fide apprehensa Osiand Fortasse legem Mose intelligit per legem peccati mortis à quâ etiam lege liberati sumus in vulgato Jesu Christi Evangelio Massus Utraque est Spiritus Sancti ut actoris utraqne est Spiritus nostri directivaâ sed haec est Spiritus Sancti quatenus est vivificator noster in Jesu Christo c. Cajetan Legem peccati vocat literam Legis quae peccatum excitare solet damnationem revelare Vatabl. Opponitur haec Lex Spiritus Legi Mosaicae Crell Posset etiam per Legem peccati mortis intelligi Lex Mosis c. Perer. Vide Lud. de Dieu in loc Baldwin Dr. Hammond in Paraphr Others go either as to the whole or as to the most considerable part of it But neither shall I close with this Interpretation and that for two Reasons I. Because though the Gospel may very well be stiled the Law of the Spirit of life yet it sounds somewhat harsh to call the Mosaical Law God's own Law the Law of sin and death There is I grant something of truth in it and it may admit of a very fair and sound explication but then there must be a great deal of stating and limitation and cautioning before you can come at it And therefore many * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Chrysost Legem peccati mortis non ausim cum quibusdam accipere pro Lege Dei c. Quamvis enim peccatum augendo mortem generet Paulus tamen ab hâc invidiâ consultò supra deflexit Calvin His verbis non significatur Lex Mosaica c. Pet. Mart. Expositors do not approve of the application of this title to the Mosaical Law Nay our Apostle himself warns us against it whose way and custome it was whenever he had touch'd upon any thing which might seem to reflect any disparagement upon the Law presently to subjoin something for the vindication of its honour Rom. 7.7 What shall we say then is the law sin God forbid when the commandment came sin reviv'd and I dy'd and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death c. yet saith he the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good was then that which was good made death to me God forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful No man did ever depress the Law more than Paul did in the matter of Justification yet in other respects none did ever more vindicate and exalt it Well! this is one Reason why I shall not fall in with this Sense A Second is this because the Apostle here is not treating of the Law-state or Gospel-state or of the Covenant-aà ministration proper to either but he is more closely treating of the State of Nature and of Grace of freedome from Condemnation by the taking away of sins power and guilt in pursuance of which he pitches upon Sanctification by the Spirit and Satisfaction by the Son And therefore though the Former Notion may be taken in yet certainly that which directly falls in with the Latter as that Sense will which I shall presently give must be most agreeable to the Apostles Scope in this place 3. Thirdly by the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus Some understand nothing but the very Spirit of Christ Jesus They make the Law of the Spirit to be the very Spirit it self and nothing more thus * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost Theophyl Oâcumen Theodor. say the same Lex Spiritus i. e. Lex quae est Spiritus Aquin. Chrysostome and his Followers This is a very good foundation to build upon but yet without some further addition it will not so fully reach that special matter in the Words which hath a great weight and emphasis in it 4. Fourthly therefore Others do interpret them not onely as pointing to Gods Spirit but to make it the more express they consider the Spirit of God as renewing as regenerating as working the new and heavenly life in the Soul with great power and efficacy The Spirit is stiled the Spirit of life both as he is a living Spirit himself and also as he is a quickening Spirit to the Creature as he makes Sinners who were * Eph. 2.1 dead in trespasses and sins to live by working Grace and Regeneration in them and so life thereby But what is the Law of the Spirit of Life why 't is the mighty power of the regenerating Spirit put forth upon men in order to the freeing of them from the power and dominion of sin There are I know sundry other explications given of it (a) Lex-Spiritus vitae una eademque est quae Lex Dei sicut una eademque est Lex peccati mortis Nihil damnationis erit his qui Lege peccati quae est Lex mortis liberantur Legi Dei quae est Lex
this Law of the Spirit had taken hold of him he was under the Law of Sin before the mighty power of the regenerating Spirit did effectually work in him to convert and sanctifie him Sin had its full power and dominion over him He gives a sad account of this Eph. 2.3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh c. And Tit. 3.3 For we our selves also were sometimes foolish disobedient c. 'T is true even after Conversion you have him complaining of the Law of Sin Rom. 7.21 I find a law that when I would do good evil is present with me c. but there was a great difference between that Law of Sin which he was under before conversion and that which he was under after conversion as you shall hereafter understand And thus it is with all men in the world before regenerating Grace in the natural and unconverted state all are under the Law of Sin Every man is born a subject and vassal to Sin and is as he comes into the world under the power tyranny and domination of a cursed Nature Sin is that truly Vniversal Monarch which hath all men before they be converted under its Empire and Soveraignty let them be High or Low Bond or Free in other respects till they be renewed and rescued by the Law of the Spirit of Life they are all under Sin 's command and regency For the proof of this in the General I shall onely refer you to Rom. 6. from the 12. to the end where you have the Law of Sin and the Sinners bondage under its dominion set forth in great variety of Expressions I will not recite any of them 't is best to take them together as they lie in the whole discourse of the Apostle For the better handling of the Truth before us I will 1. Open this Law of Sin and show what is included in it and why that is set forth by this Metaphor Then 2. prove that Men whilst unregenerate are under this Law of Sin How Sin is a Law what this imports Yet since without any prejudice or disadvantage to the Matter contained in each of these Heads they may be spoken to conjunctly as well as apart and because too the putting of them together will somewhat shorten the work therefore that shall be my Method The word Law as a * Dr. O of the Power c. of Indwelling Sin ch 1. 2. Worthy Person hath observed to my hand is taken either properly or improperly Properly so it is the Edict or Sanction of a person or persons in Authority wherein he or they do order and enjoyn something to be done backing his or their Commands with promises of rewards as also their Prohibitions with threatnings of punnishment this is the nature of a Law in the strict and proper notion of it Now if you insist upon this its exact consideration and take in all in this Description so Sin cannot be said to be a Law or to impose a Law upon the Creature the reason is obvious because it hath no Right of Dominion or rightful Authority which is essentially requisite to the Law-maker and to the validity and obligation of the Law The power of Sin is but usurp'd it hath dominion de facto but not de jure God never gave the corrupt Nature in Man any Authority to be or to make a Law which should bind his Creatures He himself hath made excellent Laws which are unquestionably and universally obligatory and he hath set up Magistrates his Vicegerents to whom he hath delegated a power of making Laws which shall in a lower degree be obligatory also but now for Sin what hath that to do with this Law-making or Law-obliging Authority So that this Consideration of a Law doth not at all suit with it yet there is something in the Description that will suit with it well enough insomuch that it may be truly called the Law of Sin Sin is a Law as it commands the Sinner For 1. A Law is a commanding thing It lays its imperative injunctions upon men and expects their Obedience it doth not barely notifie or represent to Men what they are to do or not to do nor only advise and persuade them to do so and so but it commands Authoritatively It carries dominion in it Rom. 7.1 Know ye not the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth this is wrap'd up in the very nature of it and is inseparable from it Now in this respect Sin is a Law it commands the Sinner to act so and so lays its precepts upon him in a very imperious manner assumes a strange kind of Authority over him though justly it hath none therefore you read of the reigning of Sin of obeying Sin of the dominion of Sin Rom. 6.12 14. this is the nature of a Law in general in reference to which Sin hath this appellation of a Law In this respect such as are in the Natural State may too justly be said to be under the Law of Sin for it hath the Command over them and doth from time to time lay its Commands upon them the Subject is not more under the Law of his Soveraign nor the Servant of his Master than the Sinner is under the Laws of Sin it commands very proudly and he as tamely obeys O there 's the Law of Sin There are indeed two things in a Law 't is a commanding and 't is a condemning thing it first commands men to order their actings according to what it prescribes and if they do not so do in case of disobedience then they are by it try'd and condemn'd Unregenerate persons are in both of these respects under the Law of Sin 1. Sin hath a commanding power in them O that is upon the throne in their Hearts it rules them and with a strange kind of Soveraignty orders them to do what it pleases it * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Kings and * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Lords it over them as the words are Rom. 6.12 14 And as there is this domination on Sins part so there is subjection on the Sinners part no sooner doth it command but 't is presently obey'd it doth but speak the word and 't is done if it will have such a Lust gratified the Sinner readily yields to it As the Centurion speaks of his Soldiers Matth. 8.9 I am a man under authority having Soldiers under me and I say to this man go and he goeth come and he cometh do this and he doth it just such a power or soveraignty hath Sin in and over graceless persons they are at its beck according to its commanding propensions they order and steer their Course may they not therefore be said to be under the Law of Sin Then 2. for the Other property of a Law as 't is a condemning thing that belongs to Sin too ô 't is not
onely of a commanding but also of a condemning nature And which is not usual where it commands and is obeyed there it condemus which shows the difference betwixt the Law of sin and all other Laws they do not condemn where they are obeyed 't is onely the breach or non-performance of them which makes a person liable to Condemnation but herein lies the cursedness of the Law of Sin upon the obeying of it it becomes a condemning Law and it onely condemns where 't is obey'd But observe how this comes about for there is a difference in this double Act of the Law of Sin to command that is Sins proper and natural act to condemn that is Sins act onely eventually or meritoriously it rules of it self directly and propenly but it condemns onely as it lays the foundation of Condemnation by another for there is another Law which formally is the condemning Law viz. the Law of God upon the violation of it And this speaks the inexpressible misery of the Unregenerate they are under that Law which tyrannically commands them here and which upon their obeying of it will most certainly condemn them hereafter Sin a Law as it backs its Commands with Promises and Threatnings 2. Secondly that I may further clear up this Expression of the Law of Sin let me compare it with other Laws Divine and Humane Take the Law of God or Men they are usually back'd with * Some therefore defins a Law Ordo rectam gubernandi rationem includens ex prudentiâ prodienâ transgredientibus prenam obtemperantibus praemium decernens See Wendel Polie l. 2. c. 11 Rewards and Punnishments and 't is convenient it should be so if not for the strengthening of the Laws in themselves yet however for the furtherance of mens Obedience to them for men generally do not obey them upon the Authority of the Legislators or the intrinsick goodness of the Matter of the Law but as they are thereunto either allured by Rewards or deterred by Punnishments these are the things that do most prevail with them to yield their Obedience to the Laws both of God and Men. Answerably now to this Sin Indwelling in the Corrupt Nature will be backing its Commands with Promises and Threatnings it will be pretending to Rewards and Punnishments which though in themselves they are but sorry things yet they have a great power and efficacy upon besotted Sinners For instance Sinner saith Sin I enjoyn thee to fall in with me and my ways to do as I bid thee do I will that thou dost go and swear and steal and be filthy and profane Sabbaths and please the flesh c. here 's the Laws or Commands of Sin well how doth it strengthen and back them why thus Sinner do but obey me and here are such Profits Pleasures Delights Honours Preserments all of which upon thy complyance with me shall be thine if thou wilt but be my loyal Subject and do what I would have thee thou shalt live at ease flourish in the world pass thy days in mirth be respected by all with a great many more Promises of this nature therefore why do'st thou demur why do'st not thou presently submit and obey Particularly you read of the pleasures of sin Heb. 11.25 now it represents and heightens these to Sinners and by them urges and almost enforces Obedience to its Commands O saith Sin do but hearken to me and do thus and thus then what a delightful pleasant Life will you live how will all Comforts then flow in upon you then your good days will begin when you once resolve to comply with my Laws but 't will never be well till then And are all these promises and sollicitations of Sin in vain no! the poor deluded Sinner believes hearkens yields closes with them and knows not how to resist its Commands back'd with such promises and rewards But if these soft and mild insinuations these enticing and alluring Arguments will not do Sin then appears in the Lionsshape and begins to menace and threaten it alters its language and saith Sinner wilt thou cast off my Laws and chuse to be subject to some Other then look to thy self and take what follows wilt thou engage in a course of Duty and fall in with a strict and godly life then know what will be the fruit of this much better than thine O thou cursed Lyar thou must expect the loss of all that is good the undergoing of all that is evil thou must look for nothing but prisons reproaches derision contempt poverty persecution and what not thou must bid adieu to all thy Comforts prepare for the carrying of an heavy Cross live a pensive afflicted Life this will cost thee deer expose thee to the loss of Liberty Estate Relations Credit nay of Life it self O how doth Sin to draw and hold the Sinner in vassalage to it self and to keep him off from the way of holiness bestir it self and summon in all its Threats and Menaces And may not unrenewed Souls too truly be said to be under the Law of sin in these respects with what efficacy doth it entice them to what is evil by what it promises and deter them from what is good by what it threatens Do not these promises and threatnings of Sin carry it with men in their natural state the former for Sins of Commission the latter for Sins of Omission that they know not how to withstand them O that what we do see every day was not too full a demonstration of their being under the power of Sin as promising and as threatning By this you understand what there is in a Law in the strict notion of it that is applicable to Sin upon which the Apostle might ground his Metaphor of the Law of Sin 't is a commanding thing and it urges and seconds its Commands with promises and threatnings both of which are proper to a Law One thing further I desire you to take notice of and 't is this that Sin considered as simply commanding so 't is not a Law but it then becomes formally and compleatly a Law when it commands and the Sinner obeys so that he owns the power of it and willingly subjects himself to its dominion ô now 't is a Law indeed As it is in the Laws of Vsurpers they meerly as imposed by them are no Laws because not made by persons in lawful Authority but if a people freely own these Usurpers and willingly put themselves under subjection to them them to them their Laws become valid and obligatory so here as to Sin it hath not the least right to any dominion over the Soul it hath no power but what is by usurpation and therefore its Laws are meer nullities but yet if men which is the Case of the Unconverted will voluntarily put themselves under its Government and consent that it shall rule them to them de facto it becomes a Law and hath the force and authority of a Law though de jure it
put forth its power and strength in him namely thus 1. it did strongly excite impell and draw him to what was evil so Rom. 7.15 That which I do I allow not what I hate that do I V. 17. It is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me V. 19. the evil which I would not that I do V. 23. I see another law in my members c. 2. it did strongly oppose resist hinder him as to what was good V. 15. what I would that do I not V. 18. To will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not for the good that I would I do not V. 21. I find then a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me Thus Sin acted in Paul in whom its power and strength was much broken and thus it doth in a much higher degree act in the Vnregenerate in whom it is in its full strength and vigour 1. Sin in such exerts its power in its vehement urging and impelling of them to what is evil I say to what is evil for indeed all its impulsions are to that Sin is for nothing but Sin Sin in the Habit is altogether for Sin in the Act Indwelling Sin is wholly for dwelling in Sin it bends and works entirely that way urget ad Peccata Peccatum And no wonder that it so doth since the principle always moves and excites to those acts which are consentaneous to it self therefore Sin agreeing with Sin the sinful Nature solely stirs up a person to that which is sinful And how entire restless unwearied impetuous is it in this the truth is though there was no Devil to tempt the graceless Sinner yet that Law of Sin which is in himself would be enough to make him sin in a great measure as he doth as to many Men and many Sins of those men 't is but the Devils over-eagerness which puts him upon tempting of them for without that the thing would be done to his hand as dry wood would burn without blowing Corrupt Nature is continually egging solliciting exciting the unsanctified man to what is evil 't will not let him alone day or night unless he gratifie it and its motions are so urgent and violent that he poor creature either cannot or will not make any considerable resistance What an instance was Amnon of this he was under the Law of Sin it had such a power and Soveraignty over him and was so impetuous in its workings in him that he walked sadly pined away fell down-right sick and all because he knew not how to satisfie that Lust which wrought so strongly in him towards his own Sister read 2 Sam. 13.2 c. So Ahab Sin put him upon the coveting of Naboths Vineyard and this it did with such violence that he would eat no bread because he could not have his will 1 Kings 21.5 Solomon tells us of some who sleep not except they have done mischief and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall Prov. 4.16 O the Law of Sin it sollicits to this and that evil and its sollicitations thereunto are so pressing and earnest that it will receive no repulse yea the Sinner is so over-powered that he is even carried away with it like an empty Vessel in a fierce and rapid stream In whatever point the Wind stands it blows so fiercely so strongly that there 's no standing against it I mean whatever the Lust be in which the Sin of Nature vents it self whether Vncleanness or Ambition or Coveteousness or what you will that comes with such a force and violence upon the natural man that he falls before it and yields to it We speak much in another sense of the Law of Nature truely the grand Law of Nature as depraved is to command and incline men to sin against God and this it must needs do with a mighty power and efficacy in those in whom 't is wholly depraved 2. Secondly this Law of Sin shews it self in its opposing and hindring of what is good 'T is a Law which always runs counter to Gods Law it will be sure to further what that forbids and to hinder what that commands for it always sets it self in a direct opposition thereunto Doth that call for such and such Duties are there some Convictions upon the Sinners Conscience about them doth he begin a little to incline to what is good how doth Sin now bestir it self to make head in the Soul against these convictions and good inclinations how doth it endeavour to nip the blossoms to stifle and smother the initial propensions to what is good to kill the Infant in the Cradle as Herod would have done with Christ to make all Conceptions in order to Obedience and Holiness to prove abortive There is in Sin a fixed rooted aversation to whatever is holy and spiritual which it puts forth to its utmost wherever 't is upon the throne it doth not onely work a loathness to duty but a loathing of duty it countermands where 't is in its full power all the motions and excitations of the blessed Spirit thereunto O sometimes the Spirit comes to a man and says thou hast neglected prayer hitherto 't is high time now to set upon it thus long thou hast liv'd and all this time thou hast not minded the reading of the Scriptures the hearing of the Word preached c. come now let them be minded all thy days thou hast been a stranger to holiness now be holy thou hast been a despiser of Christ hitherto now love fear receive honour him thus the good Spirit would draw on the Sinner to what is good Well! is indwelling Sin quiet now O no! it puts forth it self with its greatest vigour and strength in opposition to the breathings of the good Spirit it saith Sinner let Word and Spirit say what they will do thou hold on thy course keep on thy way God is merciful fear it not Duty is burdensome meddle not with it what need is there of all this praying hearing believing repenting holy walking c. These are the bold oppositions and subtil insinuations of Sin against what is good set forth by the lustings of the Flesh against the Spirit Gal. 5.17 these are its cursed renitencies and reluctancies against duty Now till the regenerating Spirit comes with his victorious grace to conquer them the Sinner is wholly under their power so that they do most effectually and prevailingly keep him off from what is good You have it exemplified in the Young-man Matth. 19.22 in Felix Acts 24.25 and in several others This is the very Case of men before Conversion whether you consider the Law of Sin as it puts forth it self with respect to Evil or with respect to Good the Unconverted are under it it hurries them on to what is wicked and as powerfully holds them off from what is holy in both respects they are entirely under the command of it as a Law
and entirely acted by it as a principle 't is no better than thus and worser it cannot be with unregenerate persons Let this general Answer to the First Question be sufficient 2 Quest Of the difference betwixt the Law of Sin as 't is in the Regenerate and as 't is in the Vnregenerate A Second is this How may it be known when persons are under the Law of Sin or How may we distinguish betwixt the Law of Sin as 't is in the Vnregenerate and as 't is in the Regenerate For even the Latter find too much of this Law in them Paul here saith he was freed from it and yet in the foregoing Chap. he sadly laments it as you have often heard renewed and sanctified Souls do by sad experience feel the corrupt Nature strongly urging and pressing them to what is evil and as strongly opposing and hindring them in what is good yea in both often prevailing may not they therefore as well as Others be said to be under the Law of sin if not where lies the difference or what is it that doth indeed denominate a man to be under that Law This being a Question of great importance I shall be larger in the answering of it than I was of the Former Answ yet not so large as the Nature of the Subject would admit of nor as Some of our own Divines are who write upon it I shall reduce all to Three Heads 1. First where the whole bent and tendency of the heart is towards sin that the propensions of the Soul thereto are entire and unmixt there 't is the Law of sin and that Law of sin which is proper to the Vnregenerate this speaks Sin to be upon the throne indeed that its power and dominion is habitual plenary and absolute A Child of God may have very strong corruptions in him and they sometimes too may break forth into external acts the sinful Nature may vehemently incline him to what is evil and sometimes prevail too yet the bent of his heart is for God against Sin and the stream doth not run wholly one way he hath propensions unto good as well as unto evil whereupon he is not under the Law of sin But take an unsanctified person 't is otherwise with him his heart is in sin and set for sin that 's the thing to which it altogether bends inclines and works there is not a stronger bent in heavy bodies to descend or in light things to ascend than there is in such an one to sin against God and further he 's not divided in what is evil he 's all of a piece the sinful Nature in him is entire and doth all now where 't is thus certainly there 't is the Law of sin Paul in his saddest complaints of this Law as in himself yet says It is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me 't was not he that did it because the bent of his heart was against it and he says With the mind I my self serve the law of God the habitual tendency and inclination of his Soul was towards Good and as he was himself it was thus with him for he puts I my self onely to the serving of the law of God not to that of the law of sin So that though the Law of sin was in him yet he was not under it strictly as the Law of sin Sin had too great a strength in him but it had not the sole and full command of him 2. Secondly when all the several Faculties of the Soul are altogether on Sin 's side and wholly take its part then 't is the Law of sin and that which is proper to the Vnregenerate if this Head be not distinct from the Former yet it may be useful as a more particular explication of it In such persons Vnderstanding Will Affections all are engag'd on Sins side and therein lies its power and dominion over them the Vnderstanding assents the Will consents the Affections answerably are drawn out ô here is the Law of Sin or Sin regnant The Vnderstanding gives in its final and positive dictate that Sin is good represents it as eligible to the Will the Will upon this closes with it embraces it cleaves to it the Affections desire joy delight c. run out upon it where 't is thus the case is determin'd But this must be taken with a threefold Proviso 1. That the assent of the Vnderstanding be deliberate for even a Child of God upon a sudden surprisal pro hic nunc may judge better of sin than it deserves 2. That the consent of the Will be plenary and full for there may be in gracious persons sometimes a broken half-consent to what is evil 3. That both Assent and Consent be understood of a Course in Sin for as to particular Acts no question but one who is regenerate under the power of a temptation may do both of these This threefold Proviso being taken in the thing is clear whosoever shall be so far besotted as upon deliberation to judge a sinful course to be the best course and thereupon shall choose imbrace fall in with and continue in it yea shall delight and please himself in it unquestionably in this man 't is the Law of Sin Sin never gets thus high where Grace is For the proof of which we must recur to our great instance Paul after his Conversion found Sin to be too powerful in him which was his great burden yet notwithstanding the fixed acts of the several Faculties of his Soul were for God against Sin As for example in his Vnderstanding he assented to the goodness of the Law of God but not to the goodness of the Law of Sin Rom. 7.12 wherefore the Law is holy c. in his Will he also consented to this V. 16. If then I do that which I would not I consent unto the Law that it is good and for his Affections he saith I delight in the Law of God after the inward man now these being as I said the fixed acts of the several Faculties in Paul in him it was not the Law of Sin And thus for the main it is with every gracious Soul but for Others in whom Sin hath all all the Faculties Vnderstanding Will Affections in their proper acts being entirely for it 't is evident that they are under the Law of Sin Of all the Faculties the Will doth most discover the power of Sin for there its Dominion and Soveraignty is chiefly seated and acted ô when it once gains that then it ascends the throne indeed that 's the time as it were of its inauguration when 't is invested in all its Regalities It comes to the Sinner and says art thou willing that I should rule thee yes saith he with all my heart I like thy Commands and Government I am thine I submit to thee to be at thy dispose I here swear Fealty and Allegiance to thee c. Dreadful language ô that ever it
Law of Sin and that which is peculiar to the graceless Some there are who set themselves to sin 't is the thing they aim at which they deliberate contrive muse how to bring about their serious thoughts from time to time are at work in order to it like to that person whom David describes Psal 36.4 He deviseth mischief on his bed he setteth himself in a way that is not good like to the wickedness of men before the Deluge Gen. 6.5 c. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was onely evil continually 't is meant not onely of imaginations which had Sin in them materially and subjectively but also of those which were for Sin and in order to Sin intentionally and finally The Apostle sets it forth by making provision for the flesh Rom. 13.14 when the Sinner hath his forecasts and projects for Sin Now * When the Flesh hath the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã providenâial projecting and forecasting ability at command and at her service it is certain her supremacy is in the full Mr. Rich. Bifeild The Gospels glory c. p. 235. where 't is thus unquestionably 't is the Law of Sin this doth most certainly discover the absolute unbroken full power and dominion of Sin Joh. 8.34 Whoever commits Sin ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who makes it or frames it as an Artist doth a thing which is proper to his trade or art who sins de industriâ datâ operâ what of him why he is the servant of sin that is he is fully under its Command and is a perfect slave and vassal to it 'T is never thus with regenerate persons this * Deut. 32.5 spot is not the spot of Gods Children 1 Joh. 3.9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit Sin he doth not frame sin or contrive how to sin in the sense named but now It cannot be denied but that even a Child of God may sin after deliberation nay as to some particular sinful act he may deliberate in order to the doing of it there was a great deal of deliberation in Davids killing Vriah 't was a plotted contrived sin that which was brought about by many deliberate thoughts ô but in such an One this is very rare and seldome 't is but in this or that particular act 't is not a thing that he holds on in God forbid it should be so And therefore though this be a great aggravation of sin when it is committed deliberately and a sad evidence that it hath too much power and strength in the heart yet every deliberate sin is not enough to prove a man to be under the Law of sin when the designing and contriving is customary and that too as to a Course in sin ô then 't is the Law of sin 2. When the Temptation easily prevails and there is little or no resistance and opposition made to sin then 't is the Law of sin and that which is proper to the unregenerate If the Town be surrendred and yields upon the first Summons 't is a sign the Assailers are very strong and the Defendants very weak if the tinder takes fire upon the first little spark that falls into it surely 't is very dry so here when Satan doth no sooner lay the temptation before the Sinner but he immediately closes with it and falls before it and yields to it this argues that Sin and Satan have a full power in and over him But I lay the main stress of this Head upon little or no resistance to the motions suggestions commands of sin Possibly it no sooner commands but the Sinner readily obeys if he chance to make some some opposition 't is as bad as none at all 't is not lively vigorous resolute but cold dull faint and languid ô this is a sad demonstration of Sins heighth and regency in the Soul The bare Commands of Sin as hath been said do not make it to be a Law but when there is a ready willing subjection to those Commands then 't is a Law Rom. 6.16 Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness 'T is a brand upon Ephraim that he was * Hos 5.11 willingly walked after the Commandment may not this be charged upon men before renovation with respect to the Commands of Sin We read of Satan that he takes some captive at his will 2 Tim. 6.26 and truly so it is with the sinful Nature too it doth with the unregenerate what it will it commands governs orders them even as it will it meets with little or no resistance upon all occasions it doth but speak the word and the thing is done The true Convert stands upon his guard fights it out to the last hee 'l dye rather than yield Sin doth not so easily do his work in him he may sometimes âe a Captive to it as being overborn with its strength but he will not be a Subject to it so as to give willing obedience to it which shows that he is not under the Law of Sin When 't is willingness in the way of duty then 't is the day of * Psal 110.3 God's power when 't is willingness in the way of sin then 't is the day of Sins power There may be some resistance made to Sin and yet its dominion may be high but when 't is no resistance then its dominion is high indeed A Sinner sometimes from the stirrings of Conscience may make a little opposition but Sin having his Will in its entire consent that opposition soon goes off and so Sins Sover aignty is as absolute as ever it was 3. When Sin carries it in spight of all opposition then 't is the Law of Sin and that power of Sin which only suits with the unregenerate state when 't is committed with little opposition ab intra and in spight of all opposition ab extra I assure you then it hath a great power Many there are who are so much under the strength and dominion of the hellish Nature that nothing shall hinder them from what is evil As the sincere Christian set never so many hinderances and discouragements before him yet being under the Law of the Spirit he will be and do good so è contrà the man that is destitute of Grace set what hinderances or discouragements you will before him yet being under the Law of Sin he will be and do evil Let the threatnings of the Law of God stand in his way like the Angel with a drawn sword in his hand yet hee 'l sin let the Scepter of the Gospel be held out to him yet hee 'l sin set the Love Grace Mercy of God before him yet hee 'l sin set the Wrath Justice Severity of God before him yet hee 'l sin set the Death Sufferings Agonies Wounds Blood of the Lord Jesus before him yet hee 'l sin let Conscience smite him let Word
God hath no love there the Sinner must dye eternally You have in the Text the Law of sin and the Law of death coupled together ô what a dangerous thing is the Law of sin where Sin hath its full power over the creature to make him wicked Death upon this will have its full power also to make him miserable So Rom. 6.16 Know you not that to whom you yield your selves servants to obey his servants you are to whom you obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righreousness V. 21. For the end of these things is death V. 23. the wages of sin is death And is it so who then would be Sins servant who would serve that master who pays no better wages than death you that are Servants would you enter into the service of One that would pay you such wages such a master sin is and such wages it doth pay ô therefore quit its service be wise for your Souls be sensible of the danger of continuing under the Law of sin otherwise this Law of sin will soon be turned into the Law of death And indeed it is this which ends in death 't is not barely sin which condemns but 't is the Law of sin which condemns when it hath the Supream and Soveraign commanding power in the Soul and reigns there as Lord paramount then 't is killing and damning And now Sirs may not that which hath been spoken be sufficient to convince you of the evil of that bondage that miserable hereditary bondage which you all lie under so long as you are in the natural and unregenerate state and will you not be prevailed with to endeavour speedily to get out of it by the Law of the Spirit to be made free from the Law of Sin You may be freed from this bondage if you will Christ is come as for other ends so for this to give liberty to the captives and to open the prison to them who are bound Isa 61.1 to knock off Sinners bolts and chains and to make them free indeed Joh. 8.36 in his name I do this day tender freedom to you and deliverance from Sins vassalage will you not accept of it And here 's the Law of the Spirit too to make you free from the Law of Sin why then shall not this be done Will you still like Sins yoke I assure you Christ's is not so easie but Sins is as uneafie will you have its dominion yet kept up in you are you loath to part with your old Master then your ears must be boared for Sin and Sathan * Exod. 21.5 6. as the Servant under the Law was to be served who might have been set at liberty from his Master but he had no mind to it If it be thus I can say nothing more onely pray that the Lord will convince you what the reign and power of Sin is what a miserable bondage attends it that you may with the greatest earnestness press after Conversion and the Law of the Spirit of Life in order to freedom from it So much for the First Branch of this Vse of Information 2. Branch of Information concerning the Necessity c. of restraining and renewing Grace Secondly it informs us further of the Necessity Power and Efficacy of restraining and renewing Grace I 'le speak to them apart 1. For restraining Grace By which I mean that grace whereby God keeps in mens corruptions and sets bounds and limits to them in Sin so as not to suffer them to be as vile and wicked as otherwise they would be That such a thing is done by God all grant he that bounds the Sea that it doth not break forth and overflow all 't is most elegantly set out Job 38.8 10 11. Who shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb And brake up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors And said hitherto shalt-thou come but no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed as also Jer. 5.22 which have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it and though the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over it I say he that thus bounds the Sea that unruly body doth also bound the wickedness of mans heart a far more unruly thing than the Sea it self this God keeps in or lets out as seems good unto him You see it in the case of Abimilech whose Lust did strongly work in him towards Sarah but saith God Gen. 20.6 I withheld thee from sinning against me therefore I suffered thee not to touch her the like you have in several other instances Now this Law of Sin proves both the necessity and also the mighty power and efficacy of this restraining Grace for the making out of which be pleased to take notice of the following Particulars 1. That the most of men are under the Law of Sin All are born under it and the most continue under it for the most are in the state of Nature and in that state the Law of Sin carries it Here and there you have a Soul brought in to God converted savingly wrought upon * Jer. 3.14 one of a city and two of a family but the generality of men are strangers to this work and therefore they are under the full power and dominion of a cursed nature It being so how necessary is restraining grace for the less there is of regenerating grace the more need there is of restraining grace 2. Men naturally being under this Law it doth vehemently and impetuously put them upon sin for herein lies its being a Law and a Principle as you have heard The depraved Nature doth not barely dispose men to sin or faintly persuade them to sin but it doth powerfully and efficaciously incline urge impell nay necessitate them to sin they cannot cease from sin 2 Pet. 2.14 3. It is not this or that sin which this Law urges men to but if it be left to it self it urges to every sin yea to the very worst of sins This indwelling sin contains all sin in it the corrupt Nature is the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Seminary or Seed-plot of all wickedness in that one sinful habit all sinful acts do lie seminally and radically and Sin where it is a Law is for all Sin it will excite instigate provoke not onely to lesser evils such as the world puts a fairer interpretation upon but also to those which are most enormous hideous and horrid as Atheism Blasphemy Murther Theft Adultery c. 4. This Law of Sin hath great advantages in and over men for 't is a Law that is in them an innate ingenit inbred Law 't is written and engraven in their very nature Sin is now connatural to them yea 't is as natural in some respects for apostatized man to sin as 't is for the fire to burn
Gen. 25.23 I mean the corrupt nature must be an underling to that which is sanctified if Hagar will be content to live in the house in a state of inferiority well and good that for a time must be submitted to but if she will be presuming to vie with her Mistress for authority and rule and nothing will serve her below that she must then be made to know her self the application is obvious To make the thing unquestionable pray consider what that in special is which is done by God at the converting of a Soul 't is this very thing the dethroning of Sin and Satan and the inthroning of Christ and Grace where God converts he doth in effect say Sin thou must now come down and Christ and Grace shall now ascend the throne When ever the Sinner is regenerated in the first moment of that state Sin is divested of its usurped power and regency and the Kingdom of Christ in and by Grace is set up in him now Christ's kingdom and Sins kingdom are incompatible where he reigns it shall not for he is impatiens consortis but especially he will not have such a base thing as Sin to share with him in the government of the Soul Where Christ comes and takes possession he always abolishes the Law of Sin and instead of that sets up another Law for new Lords will have new Laws and different Lords different Laws Therefore in the work of Conversion God promises to write his Law in the heart Jer. 31.33 But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts now upon the doing of that the Law of Sin is defac'd antiquated and canoell'd for since contrary Laws cannot be together in their full force the former must be abolish'd upon the introduction of the latter Once more in the Text you have the Law of the Spirit of Life brought in in opposition to and in order to the abolition of the Law of Sin which being considered it affords a very weighty argument for the proof of the Truth in hand The Law of the Spirit is the mighty power of the Spirit put forth in the regenerate Soul for the rescuing of it from the power of Sin and the bringing of it under the Rule and Scepter of the Lord Christ now shall this Spirit put forth such a mighty power for this very end and yet Sin continue as high in its Soveraignty as before what advantage then would the Believer have by the Law of the Spirit if the Law of Sin should yet be kept up in him Certainly when this great Spirit shall vouchsafe to exert his great power there must be some great effect produced by it and what can that be but the delivering of the poor Captive-Sinner from Sins bondage the destroying of Satans kingdom and the setting up of Christs sweet and gracious Government in the Soul but I spend time in the proving of that which indeed needs not much proof In the application of the Doctrine which I judge will be more useful and necessary I might here take occasion to confute those who misunderstanding this passage being made free from the Law of Sin do from thence infer and argue for the Saints perfection in this Life But having given you all that this freedom contains in it which comes exceeding short of perfection I think I need not I 'm sure I will not speak any thing further for the obviating and refuting of that proud Opinion He that here saith he was made free from the Law of Sin elsewhere saith also * Phil. 3.12 he had not already attained nor was already perfect c. and surely he went as far nay much further than any of our modern Perfectionists God make us sensible of imperfection in this State and ever to be pressing after and waiting for that perfection which only belongs to the future state I might also from hence infer the happiness of such who are truly regenerate and the preciousness excellency advantage of regenerating grace ô how happy are they who are delivered from Sins yoke and how precious is that grace which instates the Soul in such liberty VSE 1. How we may know whether we be made free from the Law of Sin But passing by these things I will in the first place desire you to make diligent search whether you be thus freed from the Law of Sin O Sirs how is it with you what can you say of your selves about this You heard in the former Point that all in the Natural State are under this Law Adam hath entail'd this bondage upon all his posterity had he not flan we had come into the world with the Law of God written in our hearts but now we are born with the Law of Sin written in them are we therefore brought out of the state of Nature In this Point you have heard that they who are Regenerate are made free from it so that if you be not such you are concluded to be yet under the Law of Sin these two do mutually prove each the other if it be the state of unregeneracy 't is the Law of Sin and if it be the Law of Sin 't is the state of unregeneracy Well! it highly concerns you to be most seriously inquisitive about this 'pray therefore bring it down to your selves one by one and ask how is it with me am I under the Law of Sin or am I made free from it some Law or other I must be under for every man in the world is so therefore what is the Law which hath the authority over me is it the Law of Christ the Law of Grace or is it the Law of Sin hath not the sinful Nature in me the dominion of a Law and the efficacy of a Principle is not all that which makes up the Law of Sin to be found in me To help you in this Enquiry I need not say much more than what I have already said do but look back to the explication of Sins being a Law as also to the Answer of that Question How this may be known and there 's enough to direct you in examination and passing judgment upon your selves Yet however a little further to help you herein and also to quicken you to the more serious searching into it let me tell you there are very great and dangerous mistakes in this matter ô how far may Sinners go and how well may they think of themselves and yet for all that be under the Law of Sin men catch at false evidences and lay that stress upon them which they will not bear Let me instance in a few particulars to show how far persons may go and yet not be made free from the Law of Sin or to set forth the weakness of some grounds which men build upon for this How far men may go and yet be under the Law of Sin 1. They
it doth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. bridle and command the affections and put forth its power over sensual pleasures This is certain the Spirit of God doth authoritatively lead and govern the Children of God in their course and by virtue of that constant regency which it keeps up in and over them Sins power is kept down here also is the Law of the Spirit freeing from the Law of Sin VSE 1. It informs as of the greatness and glory of the Spirit I have done with the Doctrinal part let me make some short Application Where first we see what a great and glorious person the Spirit of God is he 's the Spirit of Life by a mighty power he delivers from the Law of Sin the corrupt nature with all its strength and advantages cannot stand before him that which to the Creature is invincible he overcomes with ease ô he that doth such great things must needs be a great Spirit the excellency of the effect proves the excellency of the agent Some from this very passage fetch an Argument to prove the Godhead of the Holy Ghost (a) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Cyril Alexandr in Thesaur Assert 34. p. 235. t. 5. Cyril from his being the Spirit of Life (b) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrys de Spir. Sanct. p. 206. Chrysostome from his making free from the Law of Sin Hast thou not saith he heard Paul saying the Law of the Spirit c. doth the Spirit make slaves free it not having liberty in its own nature if it be created and in subjection it self it cannot make others free The Argument may be thus drawn up He that in the way of primary efficiency is the Spirit of Life to quicken the dead Soul and the Spirit of Liberty to free the enslaved Soul he is God but the Holy Spirit of God in this way is and doth all this ergo I put in these words in the way of primary efficiency because other things as means or instruments by a derived and subordinate power may have some influence upon these things and yet not be God but whoever doth produce them by an immediate primary underived power as the Spirit doth certainly he is more than a bare Creature he is truly God To make free from the Law of Sin is work for a God and for a God only for to this infinite knowledge is requisite in order to the finding out of all the secret recesses and close workings of Sin and also infinite power for none below that is fit to grapple with so great a power as that of Sin so long as 't is finite against finite the match is but equal and so there would be no victory if therefore the Spirit carries through such a work as this it speaks him to be infinite in his knowledge and in his power and consequently to be God But this I do but touch upon here hereafter if the Lord give leave I shall have occasion to speak more fully to it VSE 2. The true Cause of the Sinners being made free from the Law of Sin 2. Secondly we have here the assignation of the true and only Cause of freedome from Sins bondage Mistakes about this are very dangerous and yet nothing more common than for men to run themselves upon such mistakes The Apostle here speaking of his being made free from the Law of Sin what doth he fix upon as the proper Cause thereof doth he resolve it into the power of Nature alas that 's a thing so feeble and weak that corrupt Nature despises it not fearing that that will ever do any great thing against it Doth he resolve it into his own * Neque liberum arbitrium quicquam nisi ad peccandum valet si careat veritatis viâ August de Sp. Lit. c. 3. liberum arbitrium captivatum non nisi ad peccatum valet Aug. adversus duâs Pelag Ep. l. 3. c. 3. Free-will no that he understood little of I challenge the whole world to give me one instance of a Sinner that was ever by the power election and determination of his own Will made free from the reign of Sin The Will as now constituted is so corrupted that 't is rather for the continuance than for the shaking off of Sins dominion ô 't is loath to be delivered even by a foreign power it likes its bondage so well One of the greatest things that the converting Spirit when it so works hath to do is to bow and incline the Sinners Will so as to make it willing to accept of deliverance from Sins yoke and he 's never brought to this till the day of Gods power dawn upon him Psal 110.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power The Evangelist setting down the proper Causes of Regeneration first removes the false ones among which mans Will is one and then assigns the true one Joh. 1.13 Which we born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God the same holds true of that which is a Consequent upon regeneration viz. being made free from the Law of Sin How can he that is a captive himself deliver others out of their captivity how can that bring down Sins power which is it self most under that power This was not the thing in Pauls eye when he was giving an account of his happy state 't was * De corpore mortis hujus non liberum hominis arbitrium neque Legis Sanctum jusiumque mandatum sed sola nos liberat gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Lex euim Spiritus vitae c. Fulg. de Incarn Grat. c. 16. Free-grace and not Free-will that he magnified Again doth he resolve it into any thing out of himself as the Word Ordinances the means of Grace c. no! 't is very true that these God having set his divine stamp upon them he also being pleas'd to accompany them with his own presence and blessing may be productive of high and great things yet as consider'd in themselves they are but means or instruments and therefore do not operate from any natural or instruments and therefore do not operate from any natural or inherent virtue but onely as they are us'd by the first Cause and as the Spirit of Life puts energy and power into them * 2 Cor. 10.4 Our weapons saith the Apostle are not carnal but spiritual and mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds c. the same may be said of all Gospel-institutions O how many live under the most effectual means the Ordinances of God in the most lively and powerful administration thereof and yet Sin stands its ground and keeps up its full power in and over them 'T is not Goliah's Sword that makes execution upon the Enemy unless it be wielded with Goliah's arm the Word is the * Eph. 6.17 sword of the Spirit which
and working ever since mans Fall alwayes was and yet is unable to justifie it may possibly attempt such a thing or rather the Sinner may look for such a thing from it but it cannot carry it on to any good issue This I conceive Pauls thoughts were in special upon when he says what the Law could not do For 't is the Sinners justification which he in this place is discoursing of and he first begins with the Law as being impotent and insufficient to accomplish this justification God by Christ condemned sin i. e. he abolish'd and cut off Sins Guilt and by him he brought about a righteousness for the Sinner but the doing of this by the Law was a thing altogether impossible that could not make the Creature to cease to be guilty or to become righteous The proving of this truth was elsewhere his main business as namely in the 3d 4th 5th Chapters of this Epistle where he doth professedly and largely insist upon it That one place is a sufficient proof of it Chapt. 3.20 Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the Law is the knowledge of Sin He pursues the same Argument in his Epistle to the Galatians where he goes over it again and again Gal. 2.16 21. 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 I do not frustrate the Grace of God for if righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 3.11 21 22. But that no man is justified by the Law in the sight of God it is evident for The just shall live by faith Is the Law then against the promises of God God forbid for if there had been a Law given which could have given life verily righteousness should have been by the Law But the Scripture hath concluded all under Sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe So also in his Sermon at Antioch Acts 13.39 By him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses How full and positive are the Scriptures in the denial of any power to the Law to justifie It can discover Sin accuse and judge for Sin but it cannot expiate Sin or make a man righteous before God There is indeed the righteousness of the Law and upon that righteousness by the Law but that now is altogether unattainable further than as 't is brought about and accomplished in the hands of Christ the Law in Christs hands can do great things but in ours it can do nothing So also the Law is weak in reference to Eternal life It could not do i. e. it could not save it never yet as separated from Christ carried one Sinner to Heaven 't is above the ability of the Law to save one Soul Consider it as the Covenant of works so its language is Do and Live Rom. 10.5 For Moses describeth the righteousness of the Law that the man which doth these things shall live by them Now man in his lapsed state cannot do according to the Laws demands therefore by it there 's no Life for him Had he continued in the state of innocency he had been able to have done all which the Law required and so would have attained Life by it in the way of doing but now the case is altered If Salvation depended upon the Creatures perfect and personal obedience not a man would be saved There must indeed be Obedience to the Law or no Salvation but should it be that very Obedience which the Law calls for and as the Law calls for it viz. as the condition of the first Covenant this would make salvation absolutely impossible You know Moses brought Israel to the borders of the Holy Land but Joshua must lead them into it so the Law as God uses it in subserviency to the Gospel may do something toward the saving of a poor creature but 't is the alone Merit and Obedience of the Lord Jesus applyed by Faith which must put the Sinner into the possession of the Heavenly Rest That which now saves is Christ not Moses the Gospel not the Law believing not doing I mean only in the old Covenant sense So much for the Matter of the Laws impotency The Grounds or Demonstrations of the Laws inability to justifie and save Secondly Let me give you the Grounds or if you will the Demonstrations of the Laws impotency and weakness to justifie and save He instance in Three 1. It requires that which the Creature cannot perform Before the Law do any great thing for a person it must first be exactly fulfill'd for that 's its way the terms and condition which it stands upon and 't is as high in these terms now as ever it was for though man hath lost his power the Law hath not lost its rigor it doth not sink or fall in its demands because of mans inability to answer them Though the Sinner be as the poor broken debtor utterly undone yet the Law will not compound with him or abate him any thing but 't will have full payment of the whole debt Now this in statu lapso as I shall shew when I come to the 4th verse is * Unde sequitur plus in lege praecipi quam praestando simus quia si pares essemus implendae Legi frustra aliunde effet quaesitum remedium Calvin Hic locus efficacissime convincit justificationem non esse ex opcribus c. P. Martyr Non implet Legem infirmitas mea sed landat Legem voluntas mea August impossible None but such an one as Christ could thus answer the Laws demands For nothing will serve it below perfection inherent righteousness actual obedience all must be perfect or else the Law despises them The Gospel accepts of Sincerity but the Law will ' bate nothing of perfection if there be but the least failure all is spoiled Gal. 3.10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them Jam. 2 1â For who soever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all And is it thus are these the terms and demands of the Law what then can it do or rather what can we do it must needs be weak to us Because in these rigors we are so weak to it it cannot do much for us because we can do but little to it it cannot do what we desire because we cannot do what it demands O how exceeding short do the best come of the high measures of the
his own Son in the likeness c. O the infinite Love Mercy Compassion of God! The weaker was Gods Law the stronger and higher was Gods love O that he should not let us all perish under the Laws impotency that he should imploy One for our recovery who was every way able to do what the Law could not how should we adore his mercy in this But this leads me to the following words in the Text God sent c. where I shall have occasion more fully to press this duty upon you So much therefore for this First Branch of the Words What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh ROM 8.3 God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh c. CHAP. X. Of Christ's Mission and of God's sending him Man being utterly lost upon the terms of the Law it pleased God to find out and to pitch upon another Way which he knew would be effectual That was the sending of his own Son c. Four things observed in the Words All reduced to three Observations Of Christs Mission How be was sent and sent by God It notes his Praeexistence before his Mission and Incarnation his Personality his being distinct from the Father 'T is opened First Negatively 1. 'T was not Christ's ineffable and eternal Generation 2. 'T was not any local Secession from his Father Secondly Affirmatively 'T was 1. Gods preordaining of him to the Office and Work of a Mediator 2. His qualifying and fitting of him for that Office and Work 3. His authorizing and commissionating of him to engage therein 4. His authoritative willing of him to assume mans Nature and therein so to do and so to suffer 5. His trusting of him with his great designs How was this Sending of Christ consistent with his equality with the Father this answered Two wayes Why was Christ sent answered first more Generally then more Particularly in Four things Use 1. To stir up persons 1. To admire God 2. To admire in special the Love of the Father 3. To love Christ 4. To imitate Christ with respect to his Sending 5. Not to rest in the external Sending of Christ 6. To believe on him whom God hath sent Use 2. This is improved for the Comfort of Believers The Law being weak God pitch'd upon another Course He Sent his Son THe Laws impotency and weakness nay utter inability to recover justifie and save the lost Sinner hath been spoken to I go on to that which thereupon the Wise and Gracious God was pleas'd to do And what was that why to the praise of his glorious grace he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh The Great God is never at a loss if one Means fails he hath another if all Means fail which fall within the view of the Creature yet God hath his secret reserves and that under the deck which shall no the work Upon Adams Sin all Mankind was lost plung'd into a woful abysse of misery obnoxious to eternal wrath and accordingly God might have dealt with them in the utmost severity of his Justice What is there now to prevent this to give any relief to man in this deplorable State Alas the Sinner cannot help himself the Law stands with a withered arm and can do nothing there 's no Creature in heaven or earth to interpose as to all of these the case was desperate Therefore God * Deus Solus in hâc intricatâ causâ poterat prospicere remedium Streso himself engages to let the world see what He could do * Isa 63.3 He looked and there was none to help therefore his own arm brought Salvation Here indeed was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a God helping at a dead lift in the greatest streights and in the most admirable manner If ever with reverence be it spoken infinite Wisdom was put to it now was the time yet even in this intricate and perplexed State of things That found out a Way which would do the business a Way which none could have thought of but God alone he sent his own Son c None could cry ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to this but God himself this was his alone invention and contrivance The restoring of fal'n man was impossible to the Law yet it shall be done God will take * Noluit proptereà quod Lex imbecillis erat per praritatem humanae naturae opus salutis humanae abjicere quasi non posset per aliam quod ista Legis via non succedebat efficere Musc another strange and wonderful Course which shall do it effectually what his own Law cannot do his own Son can therefore him hee 'll send A very high and costly Way yet rather than all mankind shall perish God will make use of it here 's the very mirror of the Wisdom Love Grace Pity of the blessed God God sending his own Son c. Of the Reading of the words To make the Sense run more smoothly Some turn the Participle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã into the Verb ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã reading the Words thus God sent his c if the following Conjunctive particle And be kept in this Reading is not much amiss Some render it in the * Dictio interpretata Mittens Participium est c. et propterea ad servandum Participium Tempus aliqui Interpretes verterunt rectè Activum in Passivum legendo sic Deus filio suo misso in Carne Cajet Passive form Deus misso Filio suo c. * Duplex est Hebraismus unus est óportet supplere Latine Ideò Alter quia Participium Mittens ponitur loco Verbi Misit Tolet. Some would put in the word Ideò therefore Since the Law was weak through the flesh therefore God sent his own Son and for sin c. but as to these things there 's no great difficulty In the whole Paragraph you have Their Division into Four Parts 1. The Act or the Thing done namely the Sending of Christ 2. The Person whose Act this was or the Person sending viz. God the Father God sent c. 'T is a known Rule when the Name or Title of God is set in contradistinction to the Son 't is then taken not Essentially but Personally for the First Person God the Father instances of which are very common 'T is here said God sent his own Son therefore it must be understood of God the Father Christ being his Son and upon that consideration he being stiled the Father And * Mr. Perkins on Galat. 4.4 p. 271. this Person is called God not because he partakes more of the Godhead than the Other Persons Son and holy Ghost do but because he is the first in the Order of the Three Divine Persons and because he is the beginning of the Son and of the Holy Ghost but hath no beginning of his own Person for he doth not receive the Godhead in the Personal consideration of it
have been some ground of fear that he would not have been able to have gone throught such a work but when Christ is pitch'd upon all ground of fear is removed to be sure he can and will finish what he engages in And 't is evident that he perfected what he came about from the Father's re-admitting him into Heaven had there been any thing left undone by him would the Father have given him such a reception as he did Believers do not fear all is * Joh. 17.4 finished Christ gave not over till he brought it * Joh. 19.30 to that You do your work by halfes very weakly and imperfectly but Christ did his compleatly yea though the Law it self through your flesh was weak yet Christ in your flesh was strong he did that throughly which the Law was altogether unable to do 4. Did God send Christ know to your Comfort he hath not yet done As to his own Satisfaction he hath no more to do but as to Your Glory and Happiness he will yet do more He sent Christ once into the Flesh and he will send him again in the Flesh not to suffer and die again no Christ â Rom. 6.9 being dead dies no more there 's now no further need of any suffering and dying but to appear * c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Athan. de Incar Verbi p. 110. like Himself in Glory and then to take you up into Glory Once already he came down from Heaven to Earth from thence hee 'l come again for what end why to carry you up from Earth to Heaven Heb. 9.28 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many that 's past and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto Salvation this is yet to come O long for it and rejoyce in it His First-Sending was to make the Purchase his Second shall be to put you into Possession which shall be done as certainly as the former is done and then there will be nothing further to be done 5. Wherefore did God send Christ for most gracious ends and purposes 1 Tim. 1.15 Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners c. 1 Joh. 4.9 10. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him herein is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Joh. 3.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Now were these God's Ends and shall they not be accomplished may not Faith fetch strong encouragement from these for in order to the strengthning of Faith we are to look to God's Works and their great Ends as well as to his Word and Promise 6. Did God send Christ set this against All. Against the weakness of the Law that which the Law could not do Christ did that which was too hard for it was not too hard for him the Text tells you he was sent on purpose to make up what was defective in the Law Set it also against the guilt of Sin upon Christ's Sending presently you read of the condemning of sin God sent his own Son c. and for sin condemned sin in the flesh Sin was to be destroy'd and the Wise God took a fit course imploy'd a fit messenger for that end as the Scape-Goat with the Sin of the people was to be sent away by the hand of a fit man into the Wilderness Lev. 16.21 Several Other things might be instanced in whatever it is which troubles the dejected Christian let him therein study a God sending a Son sent and there he may find very proper and considerable satisfaction in every Case 7. God sent Christ for whom for you who see your lost and undone condition Matth. 15.24 I am not sent but unto the lost Sheep of the house of Israel so his Commission was straitned at first but afterwards it was enlarged to the lost sheep of the Gentiles also Luke 19.10 The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost Matt. 9.13 I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am chief 8. He that sent Christ was also pleased to lay a special Trust and Charge upon him to secure all the Elect and to look to it that not One of those should perish Here 's a Truth which is like the full Honey-comb you cannot touch it but Honey and sweetness drops from it And I the rather here take notice of it because I find our Saviour himself when he is speaking of his Sending to make mention of it or when he mentions it to take in also his sending as Joh. 6.39 40. This is the Father's Will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day And this is the Will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day O when the Father sent Christ he made this known to him as his Will and Pleasure that he should take special care of all his Elect and see that not one of them should be lost And this Christ submitted to as a part of his Surety-ship and ever since he hath with all faithfulness observed this his Father's Will and made good his Trust in the securing of every sincere Christian And for your Comfort know that this Trust doth as much lie upon Christ's hands now as ever it did that even as to your individual Persons if you be true Believers it is the Father's Will to Christ that he should not lose one of you or let one of you perish A child of God perish O by no means that neither Father nor Son will permit Rather than that should befal any of the Elect God would send his Son again to do and suffer all over again if such a thing was to be imagined Here then Believers is matter of strong Consolation for you viz. as to your Spiritual and Eternal State you are safe Christ is under a special obligation to secure you For the Father did not only send him in order to the bringing of you into a good estate but he did also then entrust him with the keeping of you in that estate when he should have brought you into it and what can be spoken higher for your support and comfort But I must leave these things with you O that you would often think of them especially in Soul-distresses and be ever drawing from them till your Hearts be even brim-full of Heavenly Consolation A Third Vse offers it self
several other Texts in order to the more undeniable proving of the Proposition before us as also to answer the various replyes evasions misinterpretations about them by such who dissent and yet I could most willingly engage therein did I think such an undertaking would be proper in such a Discourse as this or tend to the advantage of any but the truth is I fear I should but perplex private Christians with things that possibly would be too high for them and I 'm sure I should do that which is needless for Others who know where this is * Arnold Catech. Racov. major p. 27â Galov Socin proflig p. 285. Cocceius against Socin in cap. 1. Joh. cap. 15. Bisterf against Crellius p. 564. Jacob. ad Portum against Ostorod p. 166. Owen against Biddle ch 13. p. 289. c. done already And indeed the whole matter in this Controversie is by Crellius himself brought into a narrow compass wherein we are very willing to joyn issue with him for he grants if Christ did praeexist before he was incarnate that then his incarnation must needs be believ'd and own'd according to our stating of it but I have * See p. 284. c. already proved and Others do it much more fully that he did so praeexist therefore upon that Concession the thing is clear and I need say no more upon it Only let me leave this one word with our Opposers their Homo Deus factus is the greatest falshood but our Deus Homo factus is the greatest truth 2. Prop. Christ the Second Person only was incarnate The second Proposition is this that Christ the Son of God the second Person in the ineffable Trinity he only was incarnate 'T is here said God sending his own Son in the likeness c. the taking then of flesh was that personal act which was proper to the Son alone and in that so often alledged Text 't is said * Joh. 1.14 the Word was made flesh which Title the Word is never attributed to the Father or to the Spirit but alwayes to the Son and you see he 's the person who was made flesh 'T is true Incarnation was the act of the whole Trinity approbativè but 't was only the Son's act terminativè all the Persons approved of it and * Sola persona Filii incarnata est operante tamen eandem incarnationem totâ Sanctâ Trinitate cujus opera sunt inseparabilia August Quest de Trinit tom 3. p. 1040. Vid. Anselm de Incam Verbi cap. 3. 4. concurred to it but it was terminated only in Christ the second Person The Schoolmen compare Christ's Flesh to a garment made by three Virgin-sisters which yet but One of them only wears A â See Lombard lib. 3. Dist 1. Dr. Jackson on the Creed 7th Book p. 255. Question is commonly here started why the second Person rather than the first or the third was thus incarnate which Some do venture to answer by assigning the Reasons of it I humbly conceive there is too much of curiosity in the Question and too much of boldness in the Answer why Christ was incarnate I can give several Reasons but why he rather than the other Persons there I must be silent 'T is also query'd * Of this see Zanchy de tribus Elohim l. 5. c. 6. p. 546. c. Tilen de Incarn Filii Dei Disp 1. Sect. 20. Aug. Serm. 3. de Temp. there being such an oneness betwixt all the Persons how the Son can be said to assume the Humane Nature and yet the Father and Spirit not assume it to which the Answer is obvious this difference might very well be upon that personal distinction which is betwixt them for this assumption of flesh being not the act of the Nature which is common but of the Person which is limited the second Person might so assume and yet the other Persons not 3. Prop. Christ not incarnate till the fulness of time Thirdly Christ's incarnation was in time and not till the fulness of time He was alwayes God for he that is not alwayes God is never God the Divine Essence admitting neither of beginning nor end but he was not * Neque enim Caro issa quae ex came Virginis nata est semper fuit sea Deus qui semper fuit ex carne Virginis in carne Hominis advenit Cassian de Incar Dom. Lib. 6. alwayes man there never was a time in which he was not God but there was a time in which he was not Man His Generation as the Son of God was eternal but his Generation as the Son of Man was but temporal In the fulness of time God sent his Son made of a woman c. Gal. 4.4 The Evangelist sets him forth in his two Natures Joh. 1. with respect to his Divine Nature he shews that he was from everlasting In the beginning was the Word c. the same was in the beginning with God c. then he comes to his Humane Nature and that he shews was in time the Word was made Flesh he was not so ab aeterno but he was made so in time In such a sense Christ may be said to be incarnate from all eternity viz. in regard of God's eternal parpose and decree as in reference to that he is said to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Rev. 13.8 but as to the actuality of his Incarnation that was but 1600 and odd years ago A double enquiry here will be made As 1. if this was deferr'd so long what then became of those who lib'd and dy'd before Christ was inearnate The efficacy and benefit of Christ's Incarnation to those who lived before it if that was so necessary as hath been shown what became of the Patriarchs of all who liv'd under the Law before that was in being I answer they had the merit virine benefit of the thing though they had not the thing it self for God having decreed it and Christ having covenanted and ingaged to the Father that in the fulness of time he would take flesh the Father all-along look'd upon it as actually done and accordingly dealt with Believers under the Law as though it had been actually done insomuch that they had the same benefit by a Christ in Flesh which we now have Therefore 't is said Rom. 3.25 Whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God Heb. 9.15 For this cause he is the Mediatour of the New Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the trrnsgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance Whatever our Lord is now since the actual exhibition of him he was the same before effectively and virtually for 't is Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever Heb. 13.8
Matth. 22.45 Lord of David and the Son of David the branch of David and the root of David both â Revel 22.16 root and off-spring how could such different things be affirm'd of him but upon the distinction of his two Natures that therefore is not in the least impeach'd by the Hypostatical Vnion True upon this Union there is the communication of properties betwixt them so as that that which is proper to one Nature is applyed to the other as you see Joh. 3.13 1 Cor. 2.8 Act. 20.48 and so as that that which is predicated of the one may be also predicated of the other I mean in the concrete for in the abstract this will not hold as I cannot say the Deity is the Humanity or the Humanity is the Deity yet I may truly say God is Man and Man is God a communication of properties thus far or in this sense we deny not it follows upon the Vnion but that that which is essential to one Nature should really Physically be convey'd and made over to the other Nature as Omnipresence Vbiquity Omniscience c. from the Godhead to the Manhood which is the Popish and Lutheran Communication this as implying a Contradiction and carrying in it a perfect repugnancy to the nature of the thing we cannot assent unto The Humane Nature in the first moment of its formation was united to the Divine 4. No sooner was the Humane Nature framed or formed but in that very instant of time it was united to the Divine Nature this also I put down as another branch of the main Proposition 'T was * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Damasc Orth. Fid. l. 3. cap. 2. v. Luommbard L. 3. Dist 2. taken as soon as it was made its first existence and its union were contemporary We distinguish betwixt the formation sanctification and assumption of the Humane Nature and we conceive of these as done successively in such an order first that Nature was form'd then sanctify'd then assum'd But this is meerly founded upon our conception not that it was so indeed and really as to the things themselves for in truth there was no priority of time priority of Nature I deny not betwixt the one and the other but at the very same moment wherein by the Power of the Holy Ghost the Manhood of Christ was formed it was also sanctify'd and united to the Godhead A Question here is moved by Some whether Christ's Humane Nature was compleat and perfect at the first that is whether as soon as ever his Flesh was formed his Soul was infus'd and united to it or whether as it is with us there was not some space of time intervening betwixt the formation of the Flesh and the infusion of the Soul in the discussing of which there is a difference among them Some being for the * Sharp Cursus Theol. p. 362. Affirmative and Others for the â Lud. Capellus in Thes Salmur part 2. p. 12. thes 15. Dr. Jackson on the Creed 7th Book Sect. 3. ch 29. p. 324. Negative But which is to my purpose all agree in this that whether it was only Flesh for sometime or whether both Flesh and Soul were form'd together yet still the Vnion began at the first instant of the Incarnation There was a time before Christ's Manhood did exist but as soon as ever it did exist there was no time wherein it was under disunion and disjunction from his Godhead Thus I have endeavoured by these Four things to give you a little light concerning the Hypostatical Vnion of the two Natures in Christ's Person which this Sixth Proposition led me unto a point of such high importance and so proper to the subject in hand that I could not wholly pass it over and yet withal so sublime and mysterious that I can neither speak nor conceive of it according to what is in it 7. Prop. 'T is probable if Adam had not faln Christ had not been sent in Flesh 7. Let me add but one thing further 'T is probable had there been no sin that Christ had not been sent in Flesh or had not Adam fallen and thereby involv'd his whole Posterity in a state of sin and guilt 't is probable that Christ had not been incarnate I express it modestly going no higher than 't is probable because though the Scriptures make it certain to me yet 't is not so to others nay some are of a quite other opinion The question is not de possibili what God by his absolute Power and Will might and could have done but only de facto whither if man had not sin'd Christ should actually have assum'd our Nature about which the Schools with other Divines are divided some * Scotus in 3. part disput 7. Quest 3. Absque praejudicio concedi potest etiamsi humana natura non peccasset adhuc Christum carnem sumpturum fuisse Alex. Alons 3. p. Qu. 2. memb 13. Catharinus de praed Christ Pet. Galatinus de Arc. Cathol ver l. 7 c. 2. Osiander c. affirming it some * Aquinas p. 3. qui. 1. art 3. Vasquez in 3. part tom 1. disp 10. art 3. Becan Theol. Schol. p. 3. c. 1. qu. 7. Calvin Instit l. 2. c. 12. against Osiander Hoorneb Socin Confut. tom 2. l. â c. 2. p. 253. Stegm Photin disp 15. p. 176. Alting Theol. Probl. Loc. 12. Probl. 5. p. 564. denying it The former affirm though sin had not been yet Christ would have come in Flesh not to have dy'd or suffer'd but only to have let the world see the glory and excellency of his Humane Nature that so great a work as his Incarnation might not have been lost or not done that God thereby might give out a singular demonstration of his Love to man the latter cannot lay so great a stress upon these things and therefore assert if man had not sin'd Christ had not been incarnate And indeed their Opinion seems to be more agreeable to the Word for that usually mentions saving from sin and the taking away of sin as the end and ground of Christ's taking Flesh My Text describes the state of the sinner to be desperate upon the terms of the Law and then upon that God sent his Son in Flesh it adds further he was thus sent to condemn sin in his Flesh so that had there been no sin to have been condemn'd he had not been sent in Fesh So Matth. 1.21 She shall bring forth a Son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners c. Joh. 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world Dan. 9.24 Seventy weeks are determined upon the people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity Tit. 2.14 Who gave
himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity Matth. 18.11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost as soon as Man fell Christ was * Gen. 3.15 promis'd as incarnate but not before The truth is had we not been Captives what need would there have been of a Redeemer * Venit Filius hominis quaerere salvare quod perierat si homo non periisset filius hominis non venisset Aug. Serm. 8. de Verbis Apost Nulla causa fuit veniendi Christo Domino nisi peccatores salvos facere tolle vulâera tolle morbos nulla est medicinae causa Idem Serm. 9. had we not been sick and wounded what need of a Physician had there been no breach 'twixt God and us what need of a Mediatour in the way of reconciliation As to that which â Smalcius disp 12. contra Franzium See Franzius's answer to him de Sacrif Disp 15. Th. 75. c. Some alledge that Christ might have come though there had been no sin for this end that he might have secured man though in innocency from death that is grounded upon a meer falsehood for had there been no sinning there would have been no danger of dying and consequently no need of one to secure from death in a sinless state I have done with the First thing observed in the Words Christ was sent in Flesh in the opening of which I have been somewhat large but if that be all I hope none will blame me for it for the Incarnation and Manhood of the Son of God being the great foundation of our happiness a thing wherein we have the very pith and marrow of the Gospel the highest demonstation of the love of God surely I could not stay too long upon it 't is an Argument which very * As Athanasâ de Incarn Verbi Dei tom 1. p. 53. c. p 591 c. de Hum. Nat. susc 595. c. Cyril Alex. tem 5. p. 678. c. Tertull. de Carne Christi contra Marcion Cassian Petav. Theol. Dogm tom 4. Ragusa in 3 part Aquin. with Vasquez c. Zanâh Oper. Theolog. tom 8. Gerhard Loc. Com. tom 1. de Pers Officio Christi p. 312. c. et in Uber. Exeg Artic. tom ult lib 4 âp 424. c. Calvin Instit lib. 2. cap. 12. 13. with inânumerable others many have wrote upon and Some very fully but that which I have said as 't was necessary because the Text led me to it so 't is sufficient with respect to my design in this Work Of the Second Head Before I fall upon the application of this Head I must speak something to the Second namely that Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh the Apostle doth not say only God sent him in flesh but he adds in the likeness of sinful flesh In the handling of this I have two things to open 1. Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful Flesh 2. It was but in the likeness of sinful Flesh How Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful Flesh Of the first the Apostle again uses his former Hebraism for in the Greek 't is in the likeness of the flesh of sin which is as much as according to our rendring of it in the likeness of sinful flesh The meaning of it is this as Christ had true Flesh so he was under some appearance of having sinful flesh there was some outward shew as if his Humane Nature had been tainted with sin he externally appeared like a sinner yea as like a sinner as one could do who yet indeed and in truth was none such as look'd upon him and saw how it was with him in his external condition might be apt to conceive of him as they once did Joh. 9.24 We know this man is a sinner There was something about Christ that had some resemblance of sin otherwise Paul would not have called it the likeness of sinful flesh he saith Heb. 9.28 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation implying that Christ at his first coming was not without some appearance of sin when he shall come the second time there shall not be the least shew or appearance of it in him nothing then but Majesty and Sanctity but Greatness and Goodness shall be seen in him but at his first coming it was otherwise But wherein was it the likeness of sinful flesh I answer if you take it in the restrained notion of the flesh or body of Christ that was like to sinful flesh how why in as much as it was so far like to our flesh which is really sinful as to be * Camem peccatrici similem in paenâ non in culpâ Habet tamen similitudinem carnis peccatâicis per passibilitatem mortalitatem August In carnem suam non pecâatum transtulit tanquam venenum Serpentis sed tamen transââlit mortem ut esset in similitudine carnis Peccati paena siue culpâ unde in carne peccati culpa solveretur paena Idem See him lib. 14. c. 5. contra Faustum Manich. Similem carni peccatrici in hoc quod erat passibilis nam caro hominis ante peccatum passioni subjecta non erat Aquin. Si peccatum cum carne accepisset dictus esset missus in Carnem peccati si etiam Carnem immotalem impassibilem sumpsisset qualem modo habet non diceretui missus in similitudinem carnis peccati at qula carnem accepit sine peccato passibilem tamen mortalem qualis est peccatorum caro propter peccatum talis effecta ideo dicitur missus in similitudinem carnis peccati Tolet. passible and mortal passibility and mortality the suffering of pain anguish c. and dying are shrâwd signs and tokens of sin Had man continued in his innocent and sinless state his body had not been lyable to either of these but he sinning it became lyable to both and it being so too with Christ's own body here was the likeness of sinful flesh If you take it in the large notion of the whole Humane Nature or Person of Christ as Man so 't was the likeness of sinful flesh in several respects He was truly man and in appearance and likeness he was sinful man for he was * Ut tractaretur quo modo nocentes tractari solent Grot. in Loc. dealt with handled used just as guilty and sinful persons are and that both by God and by Men. By God he charg'd upon Christ the sin of all the Elect â Isa 53.6 the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all â 2 Cor. 5.21 he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin c. He then let out his wrath upon him demanded satisfaction of him would have him to suffer did * Rom. 8.32 not spare
him in the least yea â Isa 53.10 it pleased the Lord to bruise him though he pray'd that â Matth. 26.39 the Cup might pass from him yet his Father would have him drink of it was not here the likeness of sinful flesh in God's dealing thus with him By Men to them 't was more than likeness they charg'd him to be really and actually guilty of sin that he was a * Matth. 11.19 glutton a wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinners an impostor a â Matth. 27.63 deceiver a â Joh. 10.36 blasphemer a breaker of the Law and what not Towards the close of his life they accus'd him of crimes of a very high and heinous nature arraign'd him as a malefactor condemn'd him to die executed him crucify'd him 'twixt two thieves * Isa 53.12 Mar. 15.28 numbred him amongst transgressors he that had sin upon him by imputation was also a sinner by reputation was not here the likeness of sinful flesh Look upon him in his sorrows afflictions sufferings he was â Isa 35.3 a man of sorrows acquainted with grââ his whole life was but one continued passion never was any sorrow like to his sorrow afflicted without afflicted within he suffer'd from God he suffer'd from Man drunk such a Cup as never any drank before him was not here the likeness of sinful flesh Did not the blind and sadly mistaken world judge Christ's own personal sin to be the proper Cause of all his suffering Isa 53.4 Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted Are not suffering and sin so conjoyn'd and link'd together that where there is the one there is some appearance of the other also I do not say that really and in truth where there is suffering there is also sin yet I say apparently and in the opinion and judgment of men who take their measures in their judging of persons by their outward condition where-ever there is suffering there is sin so that in our most holy and innocent Saviour it was the likeness of sinful flesh because it was the reality of suffering flesh Will you go on to his * In morte ejus potissimam causam sitam arbitramur cur ei similitudo carnis peccati attributa sit ab Apostolo De Dieu Caro peccati habet mortem peccatum similitudo autem carnis peccati habuit mortem sine peccato Si haberet peccatum caro esset peccati si mortem non haberet non esset similitudo carnis peccati Anselm Death the worst and most exquisite part of his Sufferings did he die did he so die undergo a death so ignominious so painful yea and so penal too the â Tametsi nullis maculis inquinata fuit Christi caro peccatrix tamen in specie visa est quatenus debitam sceleribus nostris paenam sustinuit Calvin punishment due for the sin of all believers being therein inflicted upon him O surely here was a very great likeness of sinful flesh There seem'd to be much of meer man in Christ's low condition whilst he continued in the world but there seem'd to be much of sinful man in the manner of his going out of the World What so to suffer and so to die and yet no sin no no sin for all that but so to suffer and so to die and yet no shew or appearance of sin yes that there was especially to them who could not look into things who were altogether ignorant of Christ's Person and of the great designs which he was carrying on There was such a likeness of sin in these things as that it never yet â Christus indeubat personam peccatum habentis c. cum caro passionibus mortique subjecta signum est communissimum hominis peccatum habentis nec in aliquo fefellit nisi in Christo Cajeran fail'd and was but a likeness but only in this one great and unparalled'd Instance of our blessed Saviour As he submitted to the ordinary infirmities of the Humane Nature hunger thirst c. in them there were some features and lineaments of sinful flesh but as he submitted to death to such a death there was a more lively draught a fuller resemblance of sinful flesh As it was with the Creatures which were offer'd in Sacrifice they in themselves were harmless and innocent yet having the sins of the people laid upon them and they dying for them so they had the likeness of sinful flesh and just so it was with Christ upon his being offered up upon the Cross as the Sacrifice for our sins 'T was in Christ but the likeness of sinful Flesh Of his Sanctity Holiness 2. Here was much likeness you see of sinful flesh yet 't was but likeness and nothing more some external appearance of sin there was but that was all yet no sin in truth and reality 't was the verity and sameness of natural flesh 't was but the likeness of sinful flesh As 't was with the brazen Serpent that was made in an exact resemblance of the fiery Serpents having that very shape and form which they had yet 't was but the likeness of them for it had not that poison and venome in it which was in them so here as to Christ of whom the brazen Serpent even in this was an excellent type he seem'd to have that very flesh which we have and so he had in such a sense but yet there was this difference ours is envenom'd his not 't is truly sinful flesh in us 't was but like sinful flesh in him This as before may be understood either of Christ's fleshly part or of his whole Humane Nature In the first respect so his flesh was sinless he had a true body but there was no sin in that body 't was pure holy untainted * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cyrill Lib. 15. contra Julian Peccatricem carnem non assumpsit qualis est nostra naturalem vero illam nostram assumpsit Si Caro Adae erat vera Caro antequam peccavit in Paradiso utique Christi caro vera est humana caro etiamsi peccati qualitatem non assumpserit Muscul Nostram induens suam fecit suam faciens non peccatricem eam fecit Tertull. de Car. Christi Hierom's gloss upon the Words if those Commentaries upon this Epistle be his is lyable to exception susceptâ postea carne quae ad peccandum esset proclivior ipse tamen absque peccato cam suscepit See Perer. upon this Disp 3. p. 850. flesh 't was made as to purity and sanctity â Athan. de Incarnat Christi p. 620. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to the primitive and archetype-formation of Adam's body in the state of innocency that was created holy and spotless and just such a body Christ did assume 't is true his body and Adam's differ'd in the manner of their production but as to their purity
and undefiledness by sin so they did agree He says his Father had prepared him a body Heb. 10. 5. now if the holy God in such a wonderful and immediate manner for such high and glorious ends will prepare him a body to be sure it shall be an holy body and such an one as shall be proper for the attaining of those ends which only an holy body was 'T was indeed upon our account and Christ's putting himself into our stead a passible and mortal body and so far like to sinful flesh but had it not been for that it had neither suffer'd nor dy'd In the Second respect so the whole Humane Nature in Christ was * Habuit Natura Humana quam Christus suscepit speciem peccati non tamen ea revera peccato contaminari potuit P. Martyr sinless He was true and very man but not in the least sinful man he was made man for the sin of man but yet was man without the sin of man That Nature which is so sadly depraved vitiated corrupted in us in him had its primitive original purity and holiness Sin was not so essential or so inseparably twisted into it but that God knew how to separate 'twixt the Nature it self and the deordination of it Christ took the one but not the other The Humane Nature is made up of soul and body both of these in Christ were unstained not having the least macula or spot of sin cleaving to them as 't was an unpolluted undefiled body so 't was also a pure holy spotless Soul The Humane Nature too is attended with such * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. vide Oecum in loc p. 301. affections and such â Particeps factus est infirmitatis non iniquitatis Aug. Trahens de homine mortalitatem non insquitatem Id. tom 3. ãâã 1072. infirmities to all of which Christ submitted so far as they were sinless but no further as to the former he had Anger Sorrow Joy Compassion Love but without the least stain or tincture of sin as to the latter he underwent hunger thirst pain c. but yet under all he was without sin he could suffer but he did not nay he could not sin Hence he 's called God's holy one Psal 16.10 the holy Child Jesus Act. 4.27 the most holy Dan. 9.27 Jesus Christ the righteous 1 Joh. 2.1 God's righteous servant Isa 53.11 He was a Lamb without blemish and without spot 1 Pet. 1.19 holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 't is said of him he did no sin 1 Pet. 2.22 he knew no sin 2 Cor. 5.21 he knew it in a way of imputation for he was made sin but as to any inhesion or commission so he knew it not The Apostle saith he was tempted in all things as we are yet without sin that must alwayes be excepted Heb. 4.15 he challeng'd all his enemies which of you convinceth me of sin Joh. 8.46 He says of himself he always did the things which pleas'd his Father Joh. 8.29 and now 't is said of him in him is no sin 1 Joh. 3.5 so that upon all this it appears that 't was but the likeness of sinful flesh A threefold Holiness in Christ Christ as Man had a threefold Holiness Original Habitual Actual 1. He was Originally Holy David bitterly lamented it that he was shapen in iniquity and in sin did his mother conceive him Psal 51.5 and so 't is with every man that comes into the world in the way of common generation the very foundation of our Being is laid in sin But 't was not so with out blessed Saviour in his Conception the first framing and forming of his Humane Nature there was nothing of sin for he was therefore * Haec est similitudo carnis quia cum eadem sit caro quae nostra non tamen ita facta in utero est nata ficut caro nostra Est enim sanctificata in utero nata sine peccato neque ipse in illâ peccavit Ideo enim Virginalis uterus electus est ad pattum dominicum ut in sanctitate differret caro Dommi à carne nostrâ Ambros conceived in the Virgins Womb in an extraordinary manner by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost that he might be preserv'd pure from the common pollution so the Angel told Mary Luk. 1.35 The holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God 2. He was Habitually Holy there was in his Nature nothing but an universal rectitude and conformity to the rule and pattern of holiness he had therein grace all grace nothing but grace without the least mixture of habitual corruption We bring with us into the world Natures most wofully depraved such as are a very seed-plot and seminary of all evil but our Lord Jesus had a quite other Nature one that was perfectly sanctified and not in the least tainted with sin This also was brought about by his miraculous and extraordinary formation for had he been begotten as we are his Nature had bee tainted as well as ours is that which is begotten so I would read it rather than that which is born of the flesh is flesh Joh. 3.6 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one Job 14.4 The liquor will taste of the cask into which 't is put as water when it comes from the fountain may be very pure yet if it runs through a dirty pipe it will contract filth so let the Soul as it comes out of God's hands be never so pure yet upon union with the body begotten and propagated in the usual way both it and the nature of the person too will be defil'd therefore to avoid this Chirst was begotten in another way By which means he was also freed from the imputation of Adam's sin for he not descending naturally and seminally from Adam his sin was not imputed nor imputable unto him The Apostle indeed saith Heb. 2.11 Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one i.e. of one Adam as the common root but they are not both of this one Adam in the same manner for they who are sanctified are of him and from him in a way of seminal propagation but he who sanctifieth was not so whereupon though Adam's sin be imputable and imputed to the former 't is not to the latter As according to the * Alting Theol. Problem prob 8. p. 571. Dr. Pearson on the Creed p. 365. usual illustration Levi being in the loins of Abraham paid â Heb. 7.9 10. tythes in him yet Christ who was also in the loins of Abrabam did not so all men being in the loins of Adam and carnally descended from him sinned in him and became partakers of his guilt but Christ though in some sense he might be said to be in
Dominus David semen Abrahae qui est ante Abraham Factor terrae factus in terrâ August de Temp. Serm. 20. Serm. 23. He who sate upon the throne was willing to lie in the manger he that was clothed with brightness and Majesty disrob'd himself put off his own royal attire and put on our course rags he who fill'd the World confin'd himself to a Womb he who was the Maker of all own'd a poor Woman for his Mother he who was David's Lord became David's Son what unsearchable mysteries of the Grace of Christ are here He had Angels at his beck and might have employ'd one of them upon this service but he would not he 'l come himself and trust no Creature in such an undertaking was not this Love God's first love saith * Dr. Reyn. on the Passions ch 11. p. 99. one to man was in making man like himself his Second great love was in making himself like man There 's â 1 Joh. 3.1 a what manner of love upon the Sons of men being made the Sons of God but what manner of love was there in this that the Son of God should be made the Son of Man I have nothing to say but wonder wonder This great person vouchsafed to come so near to believers that he is not â Heb. 2.11 ashamed to call them Brethren he was willing to be made like to them that they might be made like to him he took of theirs that he might give them of his and since they could not * Deplorata certè res erat nisi Majestas ipsa Dei ad nos descenderet quando ascendere nostrum non erat Calvin Instit l. 2. c. 12. ascend to him he was pleased to descend to them O inexpressible Love He did not only take flesh but that very flesh and blood which we have yea he stoop'd to the â ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost likeness of our sinful flesh and how did he abase himself by and in this flesh Phil. 2.7 8. But made himself of no reputation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he emptied himself as it were of all his former glory and fulness and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross Christ's external state in our Nature was so low and mean which he yet never stuck at or regarded * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Athan. de Inc. verbi p. 96. his design being to do good and not to appear in any worldly pomp or grandeur that it seem'd to be below him not only as he was God but even as he was Man He who before was equal to God was now scarce equal to Man 't was prophetically spoken in his person Psal 22.6 I am a worm and no man nay he was scarce equal to the meanest of other creatures for he saith Matth. 8.20 The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head now surely the lower Christ's condition was the higher should be our admiration of his Love When the Humane Nature as in us was at the worst sadly tainted by Adam's fall then Christ took it upon him though our stock was now sowre and degenerate yet he was willing to be ingrafted into it When the noblest Families are under an attainder of treason persons are very shy of matching into them 't was no better than so with ours and yet the Lord Jesus did not refuse to match into it My Brethren had he assum'd our Nature before we had spoyl'd it even that had been an admirable condescention but to assume it when in us it was so spoil'd defac'd here was the highest condescention that was imaginable The Angelical Nature was pure and untainted for though many Angels had sinned yet their Nature was not touch'd because they not standing in a Common Head as Man did the Fall of some did not reach the whole order and yet Christ meddled not with that Nature but with ours Heb. 2.16 Verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham O the grace and love of Christ to Man There are Five expressions concerning him under the word made every one of which holds forth the greatness of his humiliation and consequently of his love 1. He was made flesh Joh. 1.14 2. He was made of a woman Gal. 4.4 he might have had flesh immediately created but 't was not so there was the instrumental concurrence of a woman to it which heightens his humiliation therein then 3. he was made under the Law Gal. 4.4 yea 4. he was made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 yea 5. he was made sin 2 Cor. 5.21 Now though there be some gradual rise or rather fall in all these yet I conceive the first holds forth the greatest humiliation the reason is because there is a greater distance and repugnancy betwixt God and Flesh than there is betwixt Flesh and any of the other things which follow but shall not all put together highly affect us and fill our Souls with high thoughts of the Love of Christ Blessed God! what hearts have we if such Considerations as these will not work them up to a Christ-admiring frame Dear Saviour thou who didst once take our sinless flesh be pleas'd to take away our lumpish dull sinful hearts that there may be in us some such warm and raised affections as may in some measure answer to thine immense Love in thy Incarnation 2. Admire the Holiness of Christ That he should take true flesh and yet but the likeness of sinful flesh be so like a sinner and yet no sinner come so near to sin and yet be so far off from it assume our Nature so wofully corrupted and vitiated as it is in us and live so long in that Nature after it was assum'd and yet be perfectly free from sin that so much sin should lye upon him and yet not the least sin be committed by him O this is very strange and wonderful Who can touch pitch and not be defiled who can take a Nature which in its proper subject was wholly depraved and yet be holy why Christ did so and yet was holy and if he could not have so done without impeaching his Holiness as well as he lov'd man he would never have been made man O let the Holiness of Christ be adored by you 3. Admire the Power of Christ That that Nature which is so weak in us should be so strong in him that he even in our flesh should be able to do and suffer as he did this is admirable Therein he bafled a tempting Devil bore up under the greatest pressures that ever lay upon any did not sink under all his Sufferings wrought unquestionable Miracles pacified divine wrath satisfy'd God's Justice fulfilled the Law condemned sin
of our Nature How is that Nature advanced by Christ's assuming of it that which was his abasement was its advancement As a mean family is advanc'd when some person of eminency marry's into it so Christ having match'd into our broken and decay'd Nature what an honour did he thereby reflect upon it God put a great deal of glory upon it in its first creation Christ hath put much more glory upon it in the Hypostatical Vnion The Angelical Nature in some respects is above ours but in others ours is above it the Angels are not so concern'd in the mystical conjunction to Christ as we are their advantages by a Saviour are not so high as ours they are confirmed by Christ in a state of happiness and that 's all but we are confirmed and restored too the great things which are done by Christ as Mediator he doth them in our Nature and the great Honor which is conferr'd upon him refers to him in our Nature 't is the Son of Man who stands on the right hand of God Act. 7.56 Dominion and Glory and the Kingdom is given to the Son of man Dan. 7.13 14. hee 'l judge the world as the Son of man Matth. 25.31 Joh. 5.27 But the main preheminence of the Humane Nature above the Angelical lies in the intimate uniting of it to the divine Nature Heb. 2.16 Verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham Man was the creature that was to be redeemed and therefore 't was the Nature of man that shall be assumed can we think of this without great joy Christ himself as Man is above us in all things he must have the preheminence Col. 1.18 but Angels who are of another order in several respects are below us Christ incarnate must needs be very compassionate 6. A Christ incarnate is and must needs be very compassionate This was one great reason why he took our Nature upon him and in that Nature was exercis'd with such sorrows and sufferings that he might the better know how to sympathize with his members in all their sorrows and sufferings Heb. 2.17 18. In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Heb. 4.15 We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin He that hath felt what others undergo knows the better how to pity them sense and experience further compassion where persons are not made of flint none sympathize so much with those who labour under Gout Stone c. as those who have been afflicted with those pains themselves God told the people of Israel they knew the heart of a stranger seeing they themselves were strangers in the Land of Egypt Exod. 23.9 How then must the bowels of Christ work towards afflicted ones he himself having been afflicted just as they are besides the mercifulness and tenderness of his heart there is also his own former experience which is yet fresh in his memory of their miseries which doth much draw out his compassion to them Pray what are your afflictions let them be what they will Christ underwent the same are you poor so was he are you tempted so was he are you deserted so was he are you burdened under the weight of sin so was he though in a different way do you suffer by men so did he And if there be any infirmities which he did not lie under yet he knows how to pity you for though he did not feel those particular infirmities in kind such as sickness blindness c. yet he had some others which were equivalent to them and so by proportion he knows how to commiserate you so it comes in Heb. 5.2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity 'T is some alleviation to our grief in our troubles when we know we have some who sympathize with us under them O you that fear the Lord know in all your sorrows sufferings troubles whatsoever Christ in heaven hath a fellow-feeling and sympathy with you he suffers no more but he sympathizes still let this be an allay to your grief and a support to your faith There 's ease and relief from this under all troubles of mind 7. Lastly There 's something in this which may give ease and relief under all troubles of mind There 's such a fulness in this Truth for the comfort of Souls that there is scarce any inward trouble or discouragement which gracious persons here are exercised with wherein they may not find considerable relief and satisfaction for conscience from this Incarnation of the Son of God Christ's flesh is precious balm for a wounded Spirit as 't is meat indeed to feed the hungry Soul so 't is balm indeed to heal the wounded Soul 't is an universal catholick Cordial to revive and cheer under all faintings whatever Do I speak to any who are under spiritual darkness O that a Christ in Flesh might be thought of and improv'd by such To instance in the special fears complaints discouragements burdens of troubled Souls and to shew what there is in Christ as incarnate proper for their support and comfort under all would be a vast work I must therefore only hint a few things Are you tempted to entertain hard thoughts of God to question the mercifulness of his Nature his goodness c do you conceive of him in some hideous and frightful manner you greatly mistake God and think very much amiss of him First think of God in Christ and then of Christ in flesh and surely you 'l have other apprehensions A Christ sent in flesh represents God as benign good merciful gracious full of pity tender-hearted as designing nothing but good to repenting sinners did he thus send his own Son and is he not all this after he hath done such a thing can you imagine that he delights in the death of sinners or that he will not be gracious to all who fly to him Are you afraid because of the Justice and Wrath of God pray remember therefore Christ came in flesh that he might satisfie the one and pacifie the other these were the very things which he undertook to accomplish and what he undertook no question but he went through with Doth Sin lie heavy upon your Consciences mark the Text God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh for what end for sin to condemn sin in the flesh sin brought Christ from heaven and he would not return thither again 'till by a Sacrifice offered in his flesh he had fully expiated it Sin it self could not
stand before him as in our flesh dying and suffering for it if God will become Man the guilt of meer man shall not be so able to damn as the merit of God-man to save O thou true penitent be thy sins never so many never so great yet do not give way to despairing thoughts Bring out thy sins * Dr. Sibbs on 1 Tim. 3.16 p. 59. saith one weigh them to the utmost aggravation of them and set but this in the other scale God manifested in the flesh to take away sin now will all thine iniquities seem lighter than vanity yea be as nothing in comparison of that which is laid down as a propitiation for them And again saith he What temptation will not vanish as a cloud before the wind when we see God's Love in sending his Son and Christ's Love in taking our Nature upon him to reconcile us by the Sacrifice of his blood But some may object 't is a great while since Christ took flesh and in that flesh made satisfaction to God is not the efficacy and merit thereof impaired by that no not in the least Christ's merits are as fresh and have as great an efficacy now as they had at the first moment of his Incarnation and Passion may not that of the Apostle Heb. 2.16 have some reference to this where he speaks of Christ's taking flesh in the Present Tense as if 't was done but now for 't is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he taketh not on him the nature of Angels but he taketh on him the seed of Abraham I speak this for the comfort of Christians but not so as to give advantage to the Socinian who because the words run in this Tense would therefore have them to be no proof of Christ's Incarnation Do your many defects the imperfections in your Graces and Duties trouble you you have Christ's perfect Manhood his perfect Holiness and Obedience in that Nature to fly unto The Apostle Col. 2. sets down the Hypostatical Vnion Vers 9. In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily well suppose it doth so what 's this to Believers why it follows immediately V. 10. And ye are compleat in him Christ being such a Person so full and perfect a Mediator in him every believer is and must be compleat So that though the sense of imperfections in your selves must humble you yet it must not overwhelm you because in Christ you are perfect Are you afraid notwithstanding all the Calls Invitations Promises of the Gospel yet to close with Christ O do not give way to such fears If you come to him cast your selves upon him will he cast you off he hath assur'd you he will not Joh. 6.37 Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast off Besides his word you have this to secure you he in his Person came from heaven to you and if you by Faith shall go to him do you think he will not give you kind reception I am sure and I will venture my Soul upon it that the gracious promises and encouragements of the Gospel to draw sinners to Christ shall all be made good for since he was pleas'd to take my flesh I have not the least reason to doubt but fully to be assur'd that he is real hearty in good earnest in all of them Many things of this nature might here be spoken unto but 't is full time to put an end to this subject ROM 8.3 4. And for sin condemned sin in the Flesh That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us CHAP. XIII Of Christ's being a Sacrifice and expiating Sin thereby A Fifth Head in the Words discussed viz. the End of God in sending his own c. or the Effect thereof How the Wisdom of God is secured by this End Of the placing of the Words for sin The whole a little descanted upon What the condemning of sin is opened more generally more particularly in three things The condemning of sin for sin opened a twofold interpretation given of it Of the Flesh in which sin is said to be condemned The Observation raised from the Words where 1. Of Christ's being a Sacrifice for Sin How he excels the Old Law-Sacrifices and of their reference to him Six things in those Sacrifices which are all to be found in Christ the true Sacrifice 'T is enquired 1. What a kind of Sacrifice he was proved that he was an expiatory Sacrifice Of the difference and distinction of the Jewish Sacrifices Four Heads insisted upon for the confirming of the main Truth As 1. that our sins were the meritorious Cause of Christ's Sufferings 2. that he did substitute himself in the Sinners stead where two Questions are briefly answered 1 Whether he underwent the same punishment that was due to the Sinner or only that which was equivalent thereunto 2 Whether he took the guilt of sin upon himself or only submitted to the punishment thereof 3. that he was killed and slain and his blood shed in correspondency with the Levitical expiatory Sacrifices 4. this is prov'd from the Ends and Effects of his Death viz. Atonement and Expiation both of which are opened Of the concurrence of the Heathens in their notions about Sacrifices 'T is enquir'd 2. When and where Christ was an expiatory Sacrifice 't is answered when he dy'd upon the Cross 2. Of the Effect of his Sacrifice the condemning of Sin Parallel expressions cited Of the nature of the expiation of Sin Of the extent of it with respect to the Subject and Object Whether were all Sins expiated by the Law-Sacrifices Use 1. I infer from the premises 1. The verity of Christ's Satisfaction 2. The true Nature and principal Ends of his Death 3. The vanity and falshood of all humane satisfactions 4. The true notion of the Lord's Supper 5. The happiness of Believers under the Gospel above theirs who liv'd under the Law 6. The excellency of Christ's Priesthood and Sacrifice 7. The Evil of Sin 8. The severity of God's Justice Use 2. Several Dutys urged from hence as Holiness the Love of Christ c. Use 3. This improved several ways for the Comfort of Believers A Fifth Head viz. the End of God in sending his Son c. or the Effects thereof IN the preceding Words God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh Four things have been observed and opened in these now read a Fifth Head offers it self to our consideration and that is the Effect of Christ's mission incarnation and of what followed thereupon or God's End in all this Did he pitch upon so admirable a Way and Method surely some high and glorious Effect must be produced thereby and so there was for thereby sin was condemned and surely too therein the Wise God must propound to himself some great and very considerable End to be accomplished and so he did for he aim'd at nothing lower than that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in Believers In the Words then
we have both the Effect what God did by his own Son as first assuming then suffering in flesh and also the End of God in his taking this strange and wonderful course for these two though they be distinct in themselves and carry in them notions somewhat different yet here in this place they both are alike applicable to the matter spoken of and it to them If it be considered with respect to God's intention so it falls under the nature of an End if with respect to his execution of what he intended so it falls under the nature of an Effect Therefore upon the oneness and coalition of these two and the equal applicableness of the matter to each whereas there are two branches in the Text each of which contains distinct matter in it in the former the thing is express'd under the notion of an Effect and for sin condemned sin in the flesh in the latter under the notion of an End that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us The Wisdom of God secur'd by the proportioning of his End to the medium which he pitch'd upon It pleasing God to send his own Son c. his Wisdom would have been lyable to impeachment if 1. he had not effected some great thing thereby if 2. which indeed should have been first mentioned he had not designed some great thing therein For the Wisdom of an Agent lies not only in his having an end in what he doth but in his having such an end as shall be proportionable to the means which he pitches upon if they be high and the end but low this speaks a defect in point of Wisdom for that ever shews it self as in the fitting of the means to the end so in the proportioning of the end to the means If therefore the blessed God will single out such a medium as the sending of his own Son c. he then stands engag'd upon the account of his Wisdom to propound to himself such an end as may be answerable to that medium which therefore accordingly he did in asmuch as in that great act he had this great End or Ends the satisfying of his Justice the expiating of Sin the fulfilling of the Law c. these were Ends worthy of such Means as the Coming Incarnation Death of his own Son Now all these are set down in the Words before us in which therefore you have that which is a full vindication nay the highest manifestation of God's infinite Wisdom Of the plaâing of the Words for Sin I begin with the first Effect or End here specify'd and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh At my first entrance upon the whole Paragraph I touch'd upon the reading of this Clause there being some difference amongst Expositors about it therefore that I will not again insist upon only let me take notice of another difference among them which was not there mentioned That refers to the placing of the Words for whereas we take in for sin into this Branch * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pertinet ad Participium ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Beza Omnino referendum puto ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ad Participium ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Justin So Cyril reads them in Joh. l. 9. c. 47. Some would have it placed in the former thus God sending for sin his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh condemned sin in the Flesh But though this ranking of them may possibly seem to some to make the words run more smoothly yet if it be admitted of the conjunctive particle and must be quite expung'd which I should be loth to submit unto because of its special significancy emphasis in this place partly as it heightens the thing spoken of and intimates the wonderfulness of the way in which it was brought about and partly as it notes the â Appositam siquidem intelligimus Conjunctionem ad significandam sequelam alterius beneficii ut scil notemus Deum non tantum misisse Filium suum in similitudine carnis peccati sed de peccato damnasse peccatum in carne Cajetan joyning together of that here mentioned with that which went before God did not only send his own Son in our Flesh but which is to be superadded to that as an Effect or Consequent thereof he also in that flesh for sin condemned sin I will therefore keep to our methodizing of the Words and if you take them as here they lie there will be no necessity either of putting in or putting out yet if you will go by their sense then you may reade them with this addition And by a Sacrifice for sin condemned sin in the Flesh The Words a little descanted upon And for sin condemned sin in the flesh good and blessed Words No condemnation to them who are in Christ Vers 1. Sin it self condemned Vers 3. what could be spoken higher to raise the thankfulness encourage the faith heighten the joy of sincere Christians The word condemned is not so terrible when apply'd to the Sinner but 't is as comfortable when apply'd to sin it self that which had been the condemning is now the condemned thing how may a gracious Soul rejoyce at this The non-condemnation of persons spoken of in the first Verse is secured by and grounded upon the condemnation of sin in this for both must not be condemn'd if sin be condemn'd the sinner shall not Observe here sin was the thing which God fell upon and dealt thus severely with the Apostle had told us the Law was weak unable to help poor fal'n man whereupon he saith God sent his own Son but wherefore did he so do was it that he might fall upon this Law and condemn the condemning Law O no! 't was so far from that that he would rather have it fulfilled for so it follows Vers 4. he had no evil eye at all upon his Law for that was good upon what when why upon sin for that was evil and very evil Christ was sent that sin only might be condemn'd And no wonder that God was so set against it and resolv'd upon this severe process against it it being the principal Offender the arch Traytor and Rebel against himself the only object of his hatred the bold opposer of his glory the great obstructer of his Grace the cursed fomenter of breaches 'twixt himself and his creatures the murderer of Souls c. did not such a malefactor highly deserve to be condemn'd yes surely and therefore so it shall be O saith God I must take a course with this sin I must and I will dispatch it out of the way and then my work is done all my gracious designs will then be carried on without any let or impediment then the happiness of my people will be sure and full neither my own Wrath nor the Curse of my Law nor the sting of Death shall then be able to hurt them Upon such grounds as these God would have sin condemn'd and he
was so set upon it that in order thereunto he will on purpose send his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh yea in that flesh to offer up himself as a Sacrifice and so to bring about sins condemnation The Explication of the Words But to come to the close handling of the Words They being somewhat obscure my first work must be to open them that I may the better make way for the main Observation which they resolve themselves into There are three things in them to be explain'd 1. The condemning of Sin 2. The condemning of Sin for sin 3. The condemning of Sin in the Flesh What is meant by the condemning of Sin epened more generally 1. What doth the Apostle mean by the condemning of sin and for sin condemned sin c The word in its usual acceptation is apply'd to Persons rather than to Things yet in such a sense 't is properly enough applicable to them also viz. as it signifies the disallowing disapproving sentencing or judging of them to be so and so evil according to which signification sin may as truly be said to be condemn'd as the sinner himself in any other notion But this will not reach the full scope and emphasis of the Word in this place for unquestionably there 's a great deal more intended in God's condemning sin than barely his sentencing or judging it to be a very evil thing though Christ had never come in flesh nor suffered in Flesh yet God would thus have condemned Sin its condemnation is here brought in as a singular effect of the Grace of God to Sinners but according to this stating of it it would only be an effect of his Holiness not at all of his Grace he may thus judge of Sin and yet the Sinner perish by it 'T is very true that God in the Death of his Son did in this respect signally condemn Sin O in that he made it to appear what thoughts he had of Sin what an evil thing he judg'd it to be how he was set against it c. but yet this is not the only thing no nor the main thing held forth in this expression of God's condemning Sin Well! for the right understanding of that I conceive we must borrow our light from Condemnation amongst Men for though sin be not a person yet its being condemned will best be known by what is proper to condemned persons Amongst us malefactors are seiz'd upon brought to tryal arraign'd prov'd guilty sentene'd to die if their Offence be capital then the Sentence is executed upon them to cut them off that they may do no more mischief and this is their being condemn'd just so so far as the nature of the thing would admit of virtually and analogically all this was done by God in Christ's Death against Sin It had been an heinous malefactor guilty of high and notorious crimes had done inexpressible mischiefs for all which God will arraign judge sentence cut it off that it also may do no more mischief to his people and this is its condemnation Divers Expositors in their opening of the Words conceive of Sin here as a Person and accordingly they open its being condemn'd by this allusive and analogical notion whatever is commonly done amongst Men in their judicial processes against great Offenders all that in effect was done by God through Christ's death against sin and so he condemn'd it More particularly in three things In the abolitiof its power But not to take up with Generals this may be more particularly open'd in three things 1. God by Christ condemn'd Sin as he abolished its power Sin 's condemnation is its * Secundum Phrasin Hebraicam positum est damnavit pro abolevit extinxit sustulit Deus Perer. abolition wherein doth that lie why partly in the taking away of its power in the divesting it of that Rule and Command which it had over Sinners for a long time thus God condemn'd or abolished sin he put an end to its reign and dominion pull'd it off from the throne turn'd it out of Office and authority yea adjudged it to die for all the Evils of which it had been guilty Thus 't is with condemned men upon the passing of the condemnatory Sentence upon them they are ipso facto dispossess'd of all their power and authority and further than this too they must suffer the penalty of death for what they have done so answerably it was with Sin in God's dealings with it It had acted the Tyrants part in and over the world a great while had domineer'd and lorded it over its poor Subjects at a strange rate did with men what it pleas'd O but in the Flesh of Christ God condemn'd it that is he broke it in its power brought it down to some purpose stripp'd it of that absolute illimited dominion which it had before Christ's cross was the ruine of sins throne And not only so but there 's a sentence of death too pass'd upon it it shall not only lose its power but its life also God will have it kill'd slain put to death in all who have an interest in Christ's Merits he would not suffer such a malefactor to live hee 'l rid the world of it This condemnatory sentence was pass'd upon it long ago which though it be but gradually and in part executed whilst the Saints are here below yet when they shall once ascend to God then it shall be fully executed insomuch that then sin shall quite be taken out of the way and shall not have so much as a being in them in the glorify'd state Thus many * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrys Damnavit peccatum i.e. dominio suo mulctavit ne regnaret in carne Staplet Ut ejus dominium robur auferret Tolet. Damnavit interfecit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est interficere sicut ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pro morte quia damnati interfici solent Interfecit vero i.e. interficiendi vires nobis praestitit Interficere est efficientiam adimere Grot. See Melanch Bucer P. Mart. De dieu Deodat Interpreters do open the condemning of sin and â Who renders it by exauctoravit extinxit abolevit c. De Servat part 2. cap. 23. Socinus likes this interpretation so well that he contends for it but fiercely opposes those which follow In the abolition of Sins guilt 2. Sins Condemnation lies in the abolition or expiation of its guilt It here properly notes the taking away of that which was the hurtful destructive mischievous part of Sin Condemned men can do no hurt let them be never so hurtful before yet when once the sentence of Condemnation is pass'd upon them they can be so no longer Sin had been a very huriful thing and would have been so still to precious Souls but God in the flesh of his Son as suffering and satisfying put a stop to it took it out of the way condemn'd it that is disabled it from doing the
hurt it had done before and remov'd that in it which was of so hurtful a nature What was that I answer its guilt O that 's an hurtful thing indeed it binds the Sinner over to answer at God's tribunal for all the evils commited by him exposes him to the Wrath of the great God renders him lyable to a Sentence of eternal death but now it pleased God for sin to condemn sin i.e. by Christ's being a Sacrifice to expiate this guilt of sin which in it self was so pernicious and hurtful so that believers should not lie under it or eternally suffer for it Now this is that explication of the Word which is most commonly given by the best * Damnatio peccati nos in juslitiam asseruit quia deleto reatu absolvimur uti nos Deus justos reputet Calvin with many Others Beza dissents Non mihi facilè persuaserim de peccatorum expiatione hic agi est enim pars illa jam pridem ab Apostolo explicata adeo ut à v. 12. c. 5. aliud Argumentum sit exorsus Expositors and I prefer it before the former upon these Reasons 1 As to the abolishing of Sins power that the Apostle had spoken to already in the foregoing verse the Law of the Spirit c. and he instances in the Spirit there as he doth in the Son here Now according to what was said before as 't is the proper act of the Spirit to free from Sins power therefore that must be understood there so 't is the proper act of the Son to free from Sins guilt therefore that must be understood here 2 The Word here used ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã all along in Scripture points to the guilt of sin and the punishment inflicted thereupon never to its power or dominion for the proof of which several Texts might be cited if it was deny'd 'T is usually apply'd to the Sinner here only if I well âemember 't is apply'd to sin it self and in this different application it carries a different sense for as 't is elsewhere apply'd to the Sinner it notes the imputation of guilt to him and the passing of a condemnatory sentence upon him for that guilt but as 't is here apply'd to sin it notes the expiation or abolition of its guilt yet this doth not wealien what I have said because in both references though in a different sense it still points to guilt and punishment which is enough for my purpose 3 The Apostle speaks of that abolition of Sin which was effected in Christ's Flesh therefore it must be understood of the abolition of its guilt rather than of its power that being the thing which was most directly and immediately done in Christ's Flesh 4 'T is that condemning sin which is for sin i.e. by a Sacrifice for sin wherefore it must be taken in that sense which best suits with what was done in and by Sacrifices Now they abolished sin not so much by turning men from it or by lessening its power though that might follow as a Consequent upon them as by the * This proved in Essenius de Satisf Christi c. 8. p. 422. Turretin de Sat. c. part 6. p. 202 Dr. O. against B. P. 574. expiating of its guilt this was the proper and primary effect of the Leâitical Sacrifices in allusion to which when Christ the true Sacrifice is said to purge away sin to purifie c. you are to understand those expressions as respecting the expiation of Sins guilt as I shall have occasion further to prove in what will follow For these reasons though I would not exclude wholly the former sense yet I prefer this before it In the punishing of it in Christ's person 3. There is a * See Pareus in loc in Dub. 3. p. 779. Condemnare perpetuò significat Apostolo poenas peccati irrogare Damnare pec catum est illud dignum poenà judicare paenasque pro eo exigere Contzen his sense of the Word justified by Calov Socin profl p. 433. third interpretation put upon the Word namely God's condemning sin was his punishing of it in Christ's person or his exacting of Christ that punishment which was due to the Sinner himself For this Condemning must be joyn'd with that which follows in the Flesh and expounded by that and then the meaning will be this For sin God condemned sin in the flesh that is he fell upon sin severely punish'd it inflicted the curse and punishment due to us for it in and upon the Person of his own Son he â Isa 53.6 laid the iniquities of Believers upon Christ and then punished them in him so that he bore that penalty which Sinners themselves should have undergone God did of him in our Nature paenas peccato debitas exigere or maledictionem nobis debitam irrogare Man having fin'd either he himself or his surety must suffer the punishment thereby deserv'd God will have sin punnish'd somewhere therefore Christ having put himself into the Sinners stead he must bear the punishment due to the Sinner for though God will so far â See of God's relaxing his Law and the threatning thereof Mr. Baxter Aphor. p. 36. c. Mr. Burgesse of Justif p. 84. relax his Law as to admit of a substitution or commutation as to the Person suffering yet he will have its penalty inflicted either upon the proper Offender himself or upon the Saviour who was willing to interpose for the Offender so as to suffer what he should have suffered and God accordingly dealing withhim and proceeding against him in the laying of the punishment due for Sin upon him this was his condemning Sin in the flesh of Christ I am not now to prove the truth of the thing of that hereafter at present I 'me only shewing how 't is held forth in the Word which I am opening so much for the first thing what this condemning of Sin is How Sin is said to be condem'd for Sin 2. The Second thing that needs explaination is the condemning sin for sin what may our Apostle mean by this for sin * Contra duas Pelagian Ep. l. 3. c. 6. Austine gives a threefold sense of it 1. For sin that is by that flesh which look'd like to sinful flesh which therefore might be called sin since as he saith the resemblances of things do usually pass under the names of the things which they resemble by that flesh sin was condemn'd 2. For Sin he makes to be as much as by a Sacrifice for Sin 3. He expounds it of the Sin of the Jews not as heightning it in which sense all the Greek Expositors take it but as pointing to the effect of it by that sin of theirs in crucifying Christ eventually Sin was condemn'd or expiated But these things must be further enquired into The double Reading of Sin and for Sin both opened 'T is in our Translation exactly as 't is in the Original equally concise in both and
as the One is to be filled up so is the Other also The Preposition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifying of or for accordingly 't is rendred both wayes Some reading it of Sin as the Old Version Anselme the Greek Interpreters generally c. they making the Words to run thus Of Sin God condemned Sin Parallel to which ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is elsewhere so rendred as Joh. 8.46 Which of you convinceth me of sin Joh. 16.8 9. He will convince the world of sin c. Of sin because they believe not on me in all 't is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã just as it is in the Text They who follow this Reading make the sense of the Words to be this God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh in that flesh of his Son as suffering and dying he condemned sin of sin in as much as by that strange and wonderfull course he made it to appear to the world that sin was full of sin highly guilty and criminal * Rom. 7.13 exceeding sinful as the Apostle speaks upon another account Now though I shall not follow this Exposition yet it containing nothing in at but what is true for the matter of it and it being given by some Authors of great repute I will so far insist upon it as to give a double illustration of it 1. As 't is applicable to Sin in the general Take the whole body of Sin or Sin in its utmost extent 't was all condemn'd of sin in Christ's flesh as first assum'd and then crucify'd how why by that it was prov'd and judg'd to be a thing out of measure evil and faulty thereby God let the world see what sin is what an excess of poyson and malignity there is in its nature Did he send his own Son to be incarnate yea to appear in the likeness of sinful Flesh so to be abased suffer and die and was Sin the meritorious Cause of all this was all this done and suffered for the making of satisfaction for the mischiefs and injuries which Sin had been guilty of O what a condemnation was here of Sin Never was there such a demonstration of Sins Evil what an heinous and capital Offender it is as in Christ's being made Man and dying upon the Cross the strangeness of the remedy shows the malignity of the disease the high terms of satisfaction the greatness of the crime God's severity laid upon the Flesh of his own Son in such unparallell'd sufferings made it apparent to the world that sin is a quite other thing than what men generally take it to be had it not been evil desperately evil God had never dealt with Christ as he did therefore in his flesh sin was condemned of sin 2. This may more particularly be apply'd to that sin of killing and murdering the Lord Jesus God did not only condemn sin of sin in the gross but in special that sin which was committed against and upon the Flesh of Christ in the crucifixion of him here 't was the Sin of Sin here Sin was sinful indeed That it should so boldly so injuriously so wickedly fasten upon a Person so near and dear to God so inoffensive and innocent so holy and gracious what an aggregation of Sins and what an aggravation of Sins guilt was there in this Sin never was more sin than in this act here 't was in its highest stature and fullest dimensions this was its master-piece the vilest thing that ever it did all its other crimes were but dwarfish things in comparison of this gigantick and over-grown crime Well! according to its acting and carriage herein so God judg'd it to be very guilty and sinful and accordingly pass'd Sentence upon it And as to those that had an hand in this horrid fact whether Satan to whom some (a) Damnavit peccatum i. e. Satanam de peccato quòd nempe Christum innocentem in Cruce interfeciset Ambros So also Hilarius in Psal 67. apply the Words or the Jews O 't was in all sin full of sin their offence was superlatively great in doing what they did to the flesh of God's own Son Sin in this act did rise exceeding high Now the (b) Vide Chrysost in loc very largely insisting upon this Greek Expositors are very large upon this notion of sin God condemned sin c. that is say they God judged the sin of the Jews according to what it was in its own nature to be very (c) c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Oecum great it or rather they were guilty of a most unparallell'd offence (d) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Theodoret. high injustice prodigious cruelty inexpressible ingratitude strange impudency upon their crucifying of the Holy Jesus the Lord of Glory And in the pursuance of this Explication these Expositors bring in Sin as a Person as a person arraign'd by God for this particular crime after tryal and process sentenc'd to be highly guilty and accordingly to be dealt with And they also insist upon God's way and method in his dealing with Sin which was not in the way of Power but of Justice he did not down-right subdue it by plain force but he condemn'd it after the hearing of that plea it could make for it self as also upon God's order (e) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost first he condemn'd it and then he punish'd it This Interpretation some (f) Haec Chrysostomi Expositio convenientissima inter omnes accommodatissima videtur Tolet. Haec Graecorum Expositio ita placet ut eam caeteris anteponândam cum Toleto censeam Estius Vid. Alap Catharin c. latter Writers do fall in with and much applaud Bneer himself at first was taken with it but aftâwards he altered his thoughts (g) Haec Expositio nihil aliud est quam subtilis argutia Beza Beza passes a severe censure upon it The truth is the Apostle in the Words seems to look at another thing this was not the condemnation of Sin which he had mainly in his eye viz. the heightening or aggravating or proving of its guilt and then passing sentence upon it according to that no but there was another condemnation which he drove at viz. the abolition and expiation of its guilt God so condemned sin as that it might never condemn the Sinner that 's the Apostles proper and principal scope as I humbly conceive (h) In loco prius citato Austine though he reades it too de peccato condemnavit c. yet he opens it in a different sense he making this of sin to be as much as by sin and so he thus glosses upon it By the sin of the Jews in their putting of Christ to death God abolished and took out of the way all the sin of all the Elect he so over-ruled the matter that even by sin sin was destroy'd by the greatest sin that ever was committed sin it self was condemned had not the blood of Christ been spilt though that in
Senses are included in this and do most naturally incorporate with it as you will perceive in the following discourse What is meant by in the flesh 3. There is a Third thing to be opened which in a very few words shall be dispatch'd 't is said here For Sin God condemned Sin in the Flesh now this being indefinitely propounded it may be ask'd of what or of whose Flesh doth the Apostle speak I answer of the Flesh of Christ God sent him in the likeness of sinful Flesh and in that very flesh sin was condemn'd I know * Augustinus exponit de nostra Carne in quâ peccatum tyrannidem possidet extra Christum Muscal Sed melius est ur dicamus debilitavit fomitem peccati in carne nostrâ Aquin Some interpre it of our flesh but the most apply it to Christ's Flesh there is in dafferent respecis a truth in both for in our flesh sin is condemn'd as to the effect and benefit thereof but in Christ's Flesh it was condemn'd meritoriously and causally The Syriack therefore to make this the more express turns it and for sin condemned sin in his Flesh Sin shall be punished and expiated in that Nature wherein it had been committed Man in the flesh had committed sin and God in the flesh of him who was Man will condemn Sin ut caro humana quae peccaverat eadem pro peccato lueret Our Saviours being â Sacerdos noster à nobis accepit quod pro nobis offerret accepit enim a nobis carnem in ipsa Carne victima factus est August in Psal 129. a Sacrifice pointed to his Flesh 't was the Humane Nature wherein he offered up himself and therefore in that God is said to condemn sin And as Sin shall be expiated in that Nature wherein it had been committed so Satan too shall be bafled in that Nature over which he had been victiorious Christ will beat him upon his own ground he had overcome Man and Man shall overcome him O the Wisdom Mercy Power of God! but these things were under the former Head much enlarg'd upon I will only further take notice of two things 1. This condemning of sin is here brought in as God's act God sent his own Son c. and for sin condemned c. But is not this applicable to Christ also yes if you consider him as * Quamvis de Christo ut est Filius Dei posset verè dici eum expiare authoritativè judicialitèr quatenus ipse cum Patre potestatem habet remittendi peccata quia tamen hic consideratur non ut Deus sed ut Mediator ut Sacerdos victima non potest aliter expiatio fieri quam per poenae lationem succedaneam vicariam mortem explicari Turret de Sat. Christi pars 6. p. 204. God and as the eternal Son of God so 't was and is his act as well as the Fathers to abolish acquit and absolve from Sins guilt in an authoritative way but in the Clause which I am opening Christ is not spoken of in that notion as he was God only as he was Man and as a victime and Sacrifice for sin and so he acquits from Sin not authoritatively but as the Way and Means which God made use of for the bringing about of this mercy for Sinners 2. The Flesh of Christ here is not to be considered simply absolutely but under this restriction or special consideration * Hoc factum est per carnem i. e. per mortem quam in carne juxta humanam Naturam passus est Zwingl In Carne i. e. per Carnem Filii sui suspensam mortificatam in Cruce Estius as dying and thereby satisfying divine Justice I would take in his whole humiliation but this being the highest degree thereof therefore eminently by it sin was condemned O when this Flesh of Christ hung upon the Cross then sin received its condemnatory Sentence its mortal wound then when Christ was condemn'd Sin in another sense was condemn'd also This I say was brought about in his flesh as suffering the penalty of Death so the Apostle puts it in Col. 1.22 In the body of his flesh through death I 'le add nothing farther upon this The Observation raised The Words being thus explain'd 't is high time that I come to that Doctrinal Truth which they mainly hold forth that 's this The Lord Jesus submitting to be a Sacrifice for sin and offering up himself as such to God he did thereby take away abolish explate all sin in all its guilt so as that it shall never be charged upon Believers to their eternal ruine In the language of the Text 't is in short For Sin Sin was condemned You heard but now in the opening of the condemning of Sin that that admits of more senses than that one which I now instance in in the Observation yet however this being most agreeable to the nature of a Sacrifice in reference to which Christ is here set forth I therefore only mention it In the handling of this Point which carries me again into the very midst of the Socinians Camp where I should not choose to be but I must follow the Word whithersoever it leads me there are two things to be spoken to 1. To Christ's being a Sacrifice for Sin 2. To the blessed Effect of that blessed Sacrifice viz. the condemnation or expiation of Sin Of Christ's being à Sacrifies for Sin I begin with the first Christ was a Sacrifice for sin Which though in the General none deny yet when we come to particulars about it as namely the true notion of his being so the efficacy ends effects of his Sacrifice the time when and the place where it was offered with several other things which are incident about it there many differences do arise Certainly there are none who believe the Scriptures but in some sense or other they must grant Christ to be a Sacrifice because they are so plain and express about it Isa 53.10 When thou shalt make his Soul an Offering for Sin 1 Cor. 5.7 For even Christ our Passeover is sacrificed for us 2 Cor. 5.21 He that knew no sin was made sin a Sacrifice for Sin c. Eph. 5.2 Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour where the Apostle seems to allude 1. to the * Cloppenh Schola Sacrif p. 3. Franzius Disp 13. thes 2 3. Mincah and Zebach amongst the Jews the Former of which did refer to their oblations of the Fruits of the Earth set forth here by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Latter to the Sacrificing and offering of living Creatures set forth here by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2. He alludes to the pleasinguess and gratefulness of the primitive Sà crifices to God Gen. 8.21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour c. Noah's Sacrifices spoken of Vers 20. were highly
Page 214 c. One Direction given in order to it Page 217 What is incumbent upon those who are made free from the Law of Sin Page 217 c. Comfort to such Page 225 c. Of the Law as weakned by the Flesh Of what Law doth the Apostle speak Page 259 How 't is said to be weak Page 263 Wherein 't is weak Page 260 266 267 Grounds or Demonstrations of its weakness Page 268 Yet the Law is holy and good and ãâã disparag'd by this Page 272 c. Nor to be cast off as useless Page 274 Nor is it altogether weak in other respects Page 275 There 's no looking for Justification or Righteousness by the Law Page 276 c. Of the Law as Christ fulfilled the righteousness thereof Page 567 Which is to be understood of the Moral Law ibid. Of the Righteousness of that Law Page 569 In what respects Christ is said to fulfil it Page 570 584. How the Laws Righteousness is fulfilled in Believers Four Opinions about it Page 572 c. Christ was made under the Law opened in Five things Page 579 Whether the Law requir'd both Suffering and Doing too Page 600 Of the Honour that God had for his Law Page 611 All to get an interest in Christ's fulfilling the Law Page 612 Believers themselves to go as for as ever they can in the fulfilling of the Law Page 613 The admirable Love of Christ in being willing to be made under the Law Page 616. The Comfort that resââts from thence to Believers ibid. Christ hath fulfilled the Moral Law but we our selves must fulfil the Evangelical Law Page 615 Saints being made free from the Law of Sin must stand fast in their Liberty Page 219 And walk suitably to it Page 225 Also be very thankful for it ibid. Christ to be loved greatly for his readiness to come when he was sent Page 306 The Love of the Father in sending Christ Page 366 Of Lust or Lusts the most natural act of the Flesh Page 101 c. Lusts distinguished Page 102 121 M. Of Christ's Manhood Page 375 He was a real Man Page 377 Had a Soul and Body as we have Page 383 Yea he submited to all our sinless Infirmities Page 385 The excellency of Christ's Manhood Page 419 Marks and Signs grounded upon Sanctification not to be neglected under the Gospel Page 115 Our Sin the Meritorious Cause of all Christ's Sufferings Page 467 Whether there be a Medium betwixt not guilty and righteous Page 601 Of Christ's Mission V. Sending The Misery of all out of Christ Page 25 The Moral Law as given to Israel not only a Covenant of Works Page 260 N. The two Natures in Christ united but not confounded nor converted Page 403 Negative Promises carry a great Emphasis Page 16 Negatives in Religion not sufficient Page 94 O. Of Christ's Obedience Active and Passive Page 570 His Obedience imputed to us Page 576 He being bound to obey how doth his Obedience become imputable to us or meritorious for us That cleared up in Three things Page 582 Whether his Active as well as his Passive Obedience is imputed Four Opinions about it Page 585 c. Arguments to prove its imputation Page 588 c. Whether it be imputed as done in our stead Aff. Page 595 Arguments to prove it Page 596 c. Ten Objections against both answered Page 598 c. Though Christ obey'd yet we also are bound to obey Page 606 The Opposition which Sin makes to what is good Page 178. P. Against PAPISTS it is proved That in all in this life there is that which deserves Condemnation Page 8 That inherent Righteousness is not the proper Cause of Justification Page 145 That their granting of Christ's being come in the Flesh doth not acquit their Supream Head from being Antichrist Page 421 That no man in this Life doth or can personally and perfectly fulfil the Law Page 572 That their Calumnies against Protestants as if they were against Inherent Righteousness and Good Works are false and groundless Page 116 That their Humane Satisfactions are vain and groundless Page 523 That the Lords Supper is not a Sacrifice but a commemoration only of Christ's Sacrifice Page 528 c. Pardon of Sin plenary Page 14 Persevenrance inferr'd from Vnion with Christ Page 83 Of the different Principles by which men are acted Page 105 The Spirit the Principle in the Regenerate Page 107 Sin the Principle which acts the Vnregenerate Page 175 176 All the Promises seal'd by Christ's taking Flesh Page 443 When Propensions to sin are entire it is the Law of Sin Page 180 Protestants Vindicated Page 116 The people of God are lyable to Punishment for sin Page 7 But not under the notion of Satisfaction or in a vindictive way Page 524 R. Christ's fitness to be a Redeemer Opened in some Particulars Page 299 c. The Work of Redemption a great Work Page 352 All Believers have an equal share in Remission Page 15 Remission of Sin not the fulfilling of the Law Page 577 Of the Necessity and Efficacy of Renewing Grace Page 200 Also of the necessity and mighty power of Restraining Grace Page 197 Resurrection sure from our Vnion with Christ Page 82 Also from Christ's Incarnation Page 446 The Laws Righteousness Page 569 S. Christ a real proper Sacrifice for sin proved Page 471 All the old Sacrifices Types of Christ the great Sacrifice Page 472 They receiv'd all their virtue from him Page 473 They all began and ended with him Page 478 Six Things in the Levitical Sacrifices all which are answerably to be found in Christ Page 476 Christ a propitiatory and expiatory Sacrifice Page 478 Four Heads much enlarg'd upon to prove Christ to be such a Sacrifice Page 481 Of Atonement and Expiation and the true notion thereof by his Sacrifice according to what was done by the Jewish Sacrifices Page 494 c. to 502 c. Christ was a Sacrifice when he dy'd upon the Cross That proved Page 504 c. Of the Nature and Extent of the Expiation of Sin by Christ's Sacrifice Page 508 c. The excellency of Christ's Priesthood and Sacrifice Page 539 Duties incumbent upon us in reference to this Page 544 c. The Comforts which flow from it to Believers Page 560 c. Whether the old Sacrifices were meerly typical Page 474 The Division and Distinction of the Jewish Sacrifices Page 479 Whether they did expiate all sin opened Page 511 Of the Gentile Sacrifices and their notions in them Page 502 c. Evangelical Sacrifices now to be offered up by Christians Page 558 Salvation under the Law and Condemnation under the Gospel Page 14 The truth of Christ's Satisfaction proved Page 515 The Vanity of Humane Satisfactions Page 523 c. Of the Sending of Christ Page 282 c. When the case of Sinners as to the Law was desperate Christ was sent Page 282 God the Father sent him Page 283 Christ came not till sent Page 288
be in it I tremble to think of that distress that you will be in at the Great day though now you are quiet and unconcerned * Undique erunt tibi angustiae hinc erunt accusantia peccata tremeda justitia subter patens horridum Chaos desuper iratus Judex intùs Vermis Conscientiae foris ardens mundus Beân de Consc when your sins shall fly in your faces and accuse you when the tremendous justice of God shall affright you when if you look downwards there 's an Hell ready to receive you if upwards there 's an angry Judge if inwards there 's the Worm of Conscience if about you there 's a World all in flames O what a time will this be what would you then give to be in Christ take heed I beseech you of an after-wisdom VSE 2. To exhort all to make sure of exemption from Condemnation Secondly I would exhort you to make sure of this exemption from Condemnation to labour to be in the number of those to whom there is no Condemnation 'T is infinite mercy that such a thing is attainable surely he must be strangely besotted and utterly void of all sense of eternity who doth not with the greatest care and diligence put in for a share in this happiness No Condemnation Justification here and Salvation hererfter what can be so worthy of our utmost pains and endeavours as these what pitiful trifles and very Nothings are all other things in comparison of these 'T is no great matter how things go at present if the future everlasting state may be secured O that all your thoughts desires pursuits might be swallowed up in this You dread such and such Evils here alas what are these to the eternal Evils which have been set before you you are set upon the worlds good and what is that to an endless blessedness in the Vision and Fruition of God in Heaven think of Hell and nothing here will be very evil and of Heaven and nothing here will be very good Should you come to a condemned man and talk to him of the riches honours crowns and scepters of this world Ah! saith he what 's this to me I am a poor condemned man can you tell me how I may get out of the condemnation that I lye under then you 'l say something which will suit my condition Why Sirs you trouble your selves about the getting of wealth the greatning of your selves in the world but you do not consider you are condemned men such you were as you came into the world * Rom. 5.18 By the offenos of one judgment came upon all to Condemnation and there 's a worser Condemnation for you when you shall go out of the world O what have you to do but to get out of this Condemnation 'T is to be feared that the greatest part of men not out of any want of mercy in God or from any thing to be charged upon God but meerly through their own sin and folly will perish therein you read of the condemning of the world 1 Cor. 11.32 Now therefore what are you or what do you do that you may be exempted from the general misery Certainly if you lye in the common State and live in the common Course you must perish in the common Condemnation think of it and make some timely provision against it Your Judge deals very graciously with you he warns you before hand tells you how his terrible Sentence may be prevented nay he offers Life and Pardon to you if you will but accept of it and after all this will you force him to condemn you then 't will be Condemnation with a witness I would upon this Consideration be the more earnest with you in the present advice because though this Condemnation will be sad enough to all yet to you it will be superlatively sad you living under the Gospel where the way of Salvation is set before you where tenders of Grace are made to you if you be not wise and serious in securing the main this will not only make your Condemnation more unavoidable * Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation but also more intolerable 't will be Condemnation with an Accent or Emphasis to you * Joh. 3.19 This is the Condemnation that light is come into the world c. The Scripture speaks of * Matth. 23.14 greater damnation 't will be great damnation to Pagans and Infidels but greater damnation to Christians According to the different measures of that Gospel-light and Gospel-grace which men live under so will the different measures of their future misery be if they live and dye in impenitency and unbelief O how will these aggravate your Condemnation if there be one place in Hell hotter than another that very place shall be yours whilst others shall mitiùs ardere * Matth. 12.23 24. Thou Capernaum which art exalted unto heaven c. but I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you What persons are to do that it may be No-Condemnation You will ask me What are we to do that it may be to us No-Condemnation For answer to this several Directions might be given and much enlarg'd upon but I will give you only five or six and be but short upon them First 1. Dir. Let sin be condemned in you and by you For thus the case stands sin must either be condemned by you or you for it a condemnatory Sentence must pass either upon the Sin or upon the Sinner and is it not better it should pass upon the Sin rather than upon the Sinner that it should dye rather than you should dye O let not Sin live in you nor do you live in it for if it be so it will be Condemnation This sin is the condemning thing had there been No Sin there had been No Condemnation 't is that and that only which makes the Creature liable to eternal Death * Rom. 6.23 the wages of sin is death Did not the Malefactor break the Law by stealing murdering c. he would not be obnoxious to the Laws penalties and so 't is here We violate Gods Law upon that violation there is guilt upon that guilt there is obnoxiousness to punishment and to a Sentence of Death O take heed of sin here lies the evil of it it exposes to and ends in eternal Condemnation it pleases the Sinner for a * Heb. 11.25 season and then entails everlasting wrath upon him Was it not for this a Life in sin would be a fine Life I must recall my self a Life in sin a fine Life no was there no Hell hereafter yet such a Life would be and is a base sordid cursed Life but Hell and Wrath and Condemnation and all follow upon it and this spoils the pleasures and delights of a sinful Life Who would not fear and shun Sin a Child of
in Christ and how may that be known thus by our being New Creatures The Apostle sets it down indefinitely that he may reach every person if any man be in Christ c. This New Creature is one of the greatest riddles of Christianity to men that have it not 'T is that new creation which the Soul passes under in the work of Conversion or that great and universal change which follows upon Conversion a converted man is a changed man a quite other person than what he was before he may say with Austine I am not I all old things are pass'd away and all things are become new as it follows in the place alledged Upon Conversion understanding judgment thoughts will affections Conscience heart tongue life all is new when the Sinner is turned from Sin to God he hath new Principles from which he acts new Ends for which he acts new Guides and Rules by which he acts is not here a wonderful change Now are you acquainted with this New Creature what do you find of it in your selves it converns you to make sure of it for all is nothing without it * Gal. 6.15 In Christ Jesus and so in reference to the proof of being in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new Creature O this is all in all this must be the sure and infallible witness of your Union with Christ Therefore examine your selves about it I beseech you look back compare your selves with your selves hath any thorough change been wrought in you are you not the same you ever were just such as you came into the world Can any that hears me say O blessed be God! 't is not with me as it hath been Time was when I was blind as ignorant a Creature as any but I hope now in some measure I am enlightened God hath shined into me and set up such a Light in me that I see what I never saw before and I see it in another manner than I did before Time was when I could swear curse be drunk take Gods name in vain profane Sabbaths c. but I dare not now give way to such impieties Time was when Sin and I agreed very well but now my heart rises at it * Psal 119.104 I hate every false way Time was when I had no love for Duty I liv'd in the total omission of it but now I love Prayer I love the Word and all the Ordinances of Christ are precious to me Time was when I was all for the world my whole heart was taken up in it but now * Phil. 3.8 I count all but loss that I may gain Christ now None but Christ none but Christ Can any of you thus speak here 's a change indeed upon that the New Creature indeed and upon that Being in Christ indeed There 's a double change which evermore accompanies the Mystical Vnion 1. The State of the Person is changed He who before he was in Christ was a Child of wrath is now upon his being in Christ an heir of Grace he that before the Union was in a state of Condemnation is now after the Union in a state of Salvation 2. The Nature is changed there 's a new Nature a new Soul not physically yet morally infus'd into the regenerate person the * 2 Pet. 1.4 divine Nature it self is now communicated to him whereupon he doth not think speak or act as he did before he doth not love or live as before he walks in newness of life as 't is Rom. 6.4 This is the change which we are to make sure of for assuredly the Lord Jesus will put none into his bosome or make them a part of himself but first the New Creature shall pass upon them to prepare and make them fit for so near and so close an Union 'T is not consistent with his honour to take a Sinner just as he finds him and without any more adoe to own him as a member of himself There out any more adoe to own him as a member of himself There cannot be a passage-from one Head to another but there must be some not able alteration Christ will not break off a branch from the first root and ingraft it into himself but he will first alter the very nature and property of it 'T is not in the power of Creatures to change those whom they take into Union with them the Husband may take the Wife into his bosome but he cannot change her Nature temper disposition As Bernard saith of Moses Aethiopissam-duxit sed non potuit Aethiopissae mutare colorem he married an Aethiopian but he could not alter her Aethiopian complexion much less could he alter her inward temper But Christ can and doth thus work upon those whom he takes into near Union and relation if he joyns the black swarthy Soul to himself he puts a new complexion upon it he makes it comely with his own comeliness as God promises Ezek. 16.14 So then by this you may know whether you be truly really savingly in Christ viz if you be new Creatures without the new Creation there 's no Mystical Vnion 2. Another trying Scripture is that Gal. 5.24 They that are Christ's who are in him have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts This also is a very close Word and it speaks this No Crucifixion no Vnion The crucified Head will have crucified Members he that is planted in Christs person shall * Rom. 6.4 be planted in the likeness of Christs death O is Sin crucified in you did you ever set that upon the Cross which brought the Son of God to the Cross is there in you that death to sin which carries some analogy to Christs death for sin is the Flesh with all its cursed retinue the affections and lusts thereof mortified in you is the corrupt Nature dead as to its former power and soveraignty in the Soul for that 's the crucifixion here spoken of Assure your Selves Christ will not have a member in him to be under a foreign power the Flesh shall not be the Ruler where He is the Head where he brings about the Vnion he will have the Dominion My Text too speaks of this Flesh and it tells you that they who are in Christ Jesus do not walk after the Flesh but after the Spirit Paul here seems to rise and to go on step by step would you know who are exempted from Condemnation he tells you such who are in Christ would you further know who are in Christ he tells you such who walk not c. Here then is the Characteristical Note of all who are in Christ they live not the fleshly carnal sensual Life but the spiritual heavenly holy Life Sirs what is your walking 't is the Conversation that must discover the Vnion do but reflect upon your course of Life and that will plainly tell you to what Head you belong 1 Joh. 2.6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself
no condemnation but he doth not say there is now no corrupion no flesh no (b) Et ne putares hoc posteâ futurum ideo additum est Nunc postea expecta illud ut nec concupiscentia sit in te contra quam contendas quia nec ipsa erit Anselm concupiscence in the Children of God It shall be so hereafter but 't is not so at present no that perfect freedome from all mixtures of Flesh is reserved for heaven And therefore (c) Nihil absurdius nequo magis falsum dici potest Origenis in hunc locum expositione qui haec de iis dici vult qui sunt inquit ita emendati ut in seipsis nihil vitiosi operis inveniatur i. e. de iis qui uno excepto Christo nusquam unquam fuerunt neque sunt futuri Beza Origen's Gloss upon the Words is much too high There 's no condemnation to them who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit that is saith he to them who are so reformed and rectified that there is nothing of sin of any vitious act or of Flesh to be found in them But who Christ only excepted did ever arrive at this pitch and measure of holiness and spiritualness here on earth There is not only Flesh in the best but that is very stirring active and powerful even in them It hath not only a bare being or existence in them but a great activity and strength the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit Gal. 5.17 These two opposite principles like Rebecca's twins in the womb are daily contending in the gracious Soul each against the other and this combat will continue till the Saint be in heaven 'T is well therefore that the Apostle grounds his description not upon the * Secundum Spiritum ambulare dicit non qui penitus exucrint omnes Carnis sensus ut tota eorum vita praeter coelesten perfectionem nihil redoleat sed qui in domandâ mortificandâ Caâne sedulò laborant Calvin Omnes Carnem habent violentiam Peccati in se sentiunt tamen modò ei non obediant sed Spiritu actiones carnis mortificent nulla est eis condemnatio Pareus Attendendum est non dicere Apostolum sublatum in nobis esse peccatum utpote regeneratis sed nullam condemnationem in nobis superesse quia summa perâectissima Naturae nostrae in Filio Dei integritas nostra facta per nostram cum ipso per sidem spiritualiter apprehenso unitionem nos jam nunc licet vix ab illâ nativâ corruptione liberari coeptos sistit in sese apud Patris tribunal prorsus integros securos Beza Non dicit Qui non peccant c. Vide Muscul in loc p. 120. not having of flesh but upon the not walking after the flesh which are two very different things 2. He doth not lay his Evidence upon particular Acts but upon the general Course not upon particular Steps but upon Walking which notes the continued uniform course of life In the tryal of our selves about our Union with Christ or freedome from condemnation or the truth of grace we are not to judge so much by single acts as by the general course The reason is because the State whether present or future may infallibly be known by the latter but it cannot be so by the former for as to some single acts the bad may be very good and the good may be very bad The best sometimes tread awry and take some steps too many God knows in the way of the Flesh of which Noah's drunkenness Lot's incest David's adultery c. are too sad proofs but yet they do not walk after the Flesh because this is not their general course And on the other hand the worst may seem to take a step or two now and then in the way of duty to come up to some particular good acts Cain sacrificed Ahab humbled himself Judas preached Christ c. but yet they do not walk after the Spirit both because they are not thorough and sincere in the good they do and also because 't is not their course to do good The coursest web here and there may have some finer threads in it but they are nothing to the whole piece Even the blackest Moors have their white teeth yet the whole body being black from that they receive their denomination the application is obvious That which constitutes this walking after the Flesh or after the Spirit is a constant continued uniform course of life and therefore this is that which we must judge by A godly man indeed is and ought to be careful as to his particular steps David pray'd * Psal 119.133 Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me but that which doth denominate him to be godly it is that course of godliness which he drives on in his whole life and this is that which must evidence his being in Christ Every * Aliud est peccare etiam actu aliud in peccato ambulare h. e. eo delectâri illi operam dare eique maxime servire Gomar Qui Spiritum sequitur ducem quamvis interdum à Carne quasi pertractus extra viam vestigium ponat secundum tamen Carnem vivere non dicitur Beza Non protenùs secundum Carnem ambulat qui imprudens aut affectu aliquo abreptus delinquit Lapsus hic est vel cespitatio quaedam non ambulatio c. Slichting Fidelis seipsum omnes suas naturales facultates subdidit Magisterio Spiritus secundum ìâlum ambulat Sed dum ambulat in Obedientiâ Spiritus violentis motibus inhabitants Carnis per externa objecta externas occasiones excitatis ita obruitur ut labatur vincatur atque ita dictamen Carnis aliquando sequatur Sic fuit cum Noah c. Streso fleshly act doth not constitute fleshly walking though even they must be avoided as much as may be and greatly repented of when they do prevail but when the conversation is filled up with them and the heart too delights in them O that is to walk after the Flesh And so it is è contrà as to walking after the Spirit 3. This Spiritual walking is not redditio causae but onely descriptio personae or the Words are not the assignation of the cause of the priviledge but onely the description of the person to whom it belongs Here is walking not after the Flesh but after the Spirit how doth this come in I answer the Apostle doth not assign this as the cause of the Non-condemnation as the (a) Causa haec est cur non sic eis damnationis c. Tolets Ut haec posteriora causam contineant cur nihil condemnationis c. Justin Vide Stapl. Antidor p. 624 625. Contzen in V. 2. Cap. 8. ad Rom. Quaest 2. Popish Doctors teach or of the union with Christ onely he brings it in as a description of the person who is freed from condemnation
the Apostle in these words contrary as to their propensions tendencies workings lustings in the Subject Oh they put men upon different courses so different as that in their proper acceptation they cannot consist insomuch that he who walks after the flesh cannot walk after the spirit neither can he who walks after the spirit walk after the flesh A man cannot move to two contrary points as East and West North and South at the same time no more can a man walk heaven-ward and hell-ward at the same time now the Flesh draws hell-ward and the Spirit draws heaven-ward so that it is impossible in sensu composito to follow both These are the two opposite Masters which none can serve together Matth 6.24 Friendship with the Flesh is enmity to the Spirit whoever therefore will be a friend of the Flesh he must be an enemy to the Spirit I allude to James 4.4 6. The Order of the things here spoken of is to be observed First 'tis being in Christ Jesus and then 't is walking not after the Flesh but after the Spirit this I may briefly take notice of though it be not the thing here directly intended There must be union with Christ before there can be spiritual walking for walking is an act or operation of life dead things do not move there can be no motion where there is no life Especially spiritual and holy walking depends upon life but now there is no such life in the soul till being united to Christ it be quickened by him He who is out of Christ cannot live the holy life for 't is union with him that lays the foundation of all holiness in us The branch must first be ingrafted into the stock and then it bears fruit so here Therefore saith Christ Joh 15.4 5. Abide in me and I in you As the branch cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in me I am the Vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing Holiness is the evidence of Vnion so it comes in in the Text and Vnion is the ground of Holiness so it comes in in this Head Holy walking is an infallible consequent upon being in Christ and that is a necessary antecedent to holy walking 7. 'T is imply'd That there were in the Apostles time and so will be to the end of the world different Walkers some will walk after the Spirit and some after the Flesh As 't was said with respect to persecution * Gal. 4.27 As then he that was born after the Flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now So it may be said with respect to the different conversations of men as then in Paul's days some walked after the Spirit and some after the Flesh even so it is now So long as the world stands some will be carnal as well as some spiritual the distinction of Saints and Sinners of godly and ungodly of good and bad will abide whilst this world shall abide There is the broad way of the flesh there is the strait way of the spirit in both of which some or other will always be walking And the misery is * Mat. 7.13 14. many walk in the broad way of the Flesh when but few walk in the strait way of the Spirit this may have its thousands but that hath its ten thousands 8. The Apostle expresses it in the general onely by not walking after the Flesh but after the Spirit He doth not instance in those particulars which are proper either to the one or to the other as he doth Gal. 5.17 c. onely he speaks in the gross But all the several Particulars are included in the General and run into that as all waters do into the Sea Be it pride coveteousness uncleanness c. all center in the Flesh so be it humility heavenly-mindedness holy love c. all center in the Spirit and derive their being operation efficacy from the Spirit Therefore the Apostle sets it down thus generally under the Flesh comprehending all Evil and under the Spirit all Good he sums up all the several Sins under the former and all the several Graces under the latter These things being premis'd I come now to the main Point Such as are in Christ Jesus this is their property or course they walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit This I will 1. explain 2. prove 3. apply For Explication The Observ opened I must speak to the parts of the Description severally and show 1. What is meant by Flesh and by walking or not walking after it 2. What is meant by Spirit and by walking after it And as I go along I will take in the Doctrine and particularly bring down to it the several explications of the Description Negative and Affirmative What is meant by Flesh and by not walking after the Flesh I begin with the First Which that I may the better cleer up observe that there is a being in the Flesh and a walking in or after the Flesh which two though they be never parted yet they are distinct the First refers to a man's State the Second to his Course There is a being in the Flesh of which you read Rom. 7.5 For when we were in the Flesh the motions of sin which were by the Law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death Rom. 8.8 9. So then they that are in the Flesh cannot please God but ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit c. Then there is a walking after the Flesh this inevitably follows upon and suits with the former They who are in the Flesh will certainly walk after the Flesh for the Conversation always agrees with the State Now 't is this walking which the Text speaks of You have the same expression 2 Pet. 2.10 But chiefly them that walk after the Flesh c. 't is also set forth by living after the Flesh v. 12 13. of this Chapter If you turn to one Scripture you 'l find the phrase there used in a quite other sense than that in which 't is here used 2 Cor. 10.3 explained 'T is 2 Cor. 10.3 Though we walk in the Flesh we do not war after the Flesh what may be the meaning of walking in the Flesh in this place I conceive it notes the Apostles living the * Porrò hoc loco Paulus alitèr dicit ambulare secundum carnem quam alibi cum dixit In carne ambulantes non secundum carnem militamus ibi enim in Carne ambulare est mortalem adhuc viâam ducere hic autem secundum Carnem ambulare idem est quod militare secundum Carnem h. e Genio ac voluptatibus indulgere pravis cupiditatibus morem gârâre Justin same nà tural life with other men and also the meanness of his external appearance
in action that 's the guide Now take Christless men the persons of whom I am speaking Flesh is the spring and Flesh is the guide of their actings if they think 't is from the corrupt Nature if they speak 't is from the corrupt Nature if they love 't is from the corrupt Nature c. and so all along this is that spring in them which makes all the wheels to move And this is that guide too by which they steer order direct their whole course And it being so their conversation must needs be a fleshly conversation or a walking after the Flesh for that is always denominated from and answerable to its principle and guide if it be a fleshly principle and a fleshly guide it must needs be a fleshly walking And thus it is with persons out of Christ they act from the flesh and by the flesh and so they are said to walk after the flesh But such who are in Christ they do not thus walk corrupt Nature is neither their principle nor their guide there is another Nature in them by which they are acted and guided viz. the Spirit as I shall shew you by and by when I come to the Affirmative part Expositors whom to cite would be endless do variously open and illustrate this walking or not walking after the Flesh but the Most do pitch upon that illustration of it which I have given This concerning Flesh in the general consideration of it But then The Flesh more particularly considered Of Lust the most natural and vital act of the Flesh Secondly It may be considered more particularly with respect to its proper radical most natural and vital act and that is Lust or lusting This Lust is the great act the most genuine issue of the Flesh the stream which does most immediately and directly flow from that fountain the most proper notion of the Flesh is to conceive of it as a lusting thing The Apostle therefore when he was speaking of it presently he puts down this as its most proper and essential act * Gal. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and Rom. 6.12 Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies that ye should obey it in the Lusts thereof Sin here is the Flesh and you see how it works You read of the Lust of the Flesh Gal. 5.16 and of the Lusts of the Flesh Eph. 2.3 Rom. 13.14 Gal. 5.24 These Lusts I say are the most proper issue and the most genuine effects of the corrupt Nature in man Rom. 7.8 Sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of Concupiscence or Lust Eph. 4.22 That ye put off concerning your former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts Observe how the Flesh the old man the corrupt Nature and Lust or Lusts are usually link'd and coupled together To apply this now to the walking which I am upon To walk after the Flesh 't is to live and act as under the full power and strength of unmortified Lust 't is to indulge gratifie obey and comply with the Flesh as a lusting thing or as it puts forth it self in sinful lustings The Apostle 2 Pet. 2.10 having spoken of walking after the Flesh immediately he instances in the gratifying of a particular Lust thereby shewing what that walking after the Flesh is But chiefly them that walk after the Flesh in the Lust of uncleanness c. On the other hand Not to walk after the Flesh 't is to keep Lust under to beat it down to resist it not to give way to it in whatever form or shape it may assault the Soul to live in the daily mortification of it not to suffer such hellish fire to smother and burn in the Soul to let it have no harbour or entertainment in the heart but to thrust it out with abhorrency and detestation c. this is not to walk after the Flesh But this Lust being so near to the Flesh so connatural with it that which issues from it even as heat and burning doth from the fire and the walking or not walking after the Flesh being so much to be measur'd by it I will therefore give you some further explication of it Lust in Scripture as 't is taken in a bad sense for the Spirit hath its lustings as well as the Flesh sometimes notes the habit the root it self viz. the depraved Nature sometimes the Act that cursed fruit which grows upon the forenamed cursed root The Apostle James speaks of it as the Mother sin if I may so express it Jam. 1.4 Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lust and enticed then when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin c. Paul speaks of it as the Daughter-sin Rom. 7.8 Sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence or Lust the One considers it as the fountain the Other as the stream In this latter Notion I am to open it and so 't is the bent and propension the eager sierce vehement desire of the Soul after fleshly Objects or sensual things For Lust in its strict and primary sense mainly lies in the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the desiring or concupiscible faculty therefore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is the word by which it is set forth The Soul of man is a desiring craving thirsting thing 't is a very mass of desires and there 's no faculty more natural to it or wherein it puts forth it self more vigorously than the desiring faculty Now here 's the principal seat of Lust and that which gives it its very being when the Soul is earnestly vehemently impetuously carried out after some sensual good something that will please the fleshly part if it will but do that let it be what it will this is Lust I say it refers principally to the desires as inordinately set upon and drawn out after fleshly things Therefore the Apostle couples them together the Lusts of the Flesh and the desires of the Flesh Eph. 2.3 And the other Apostle speaking of the inordinate desire of worldly pleasure and profit he expresseth it by the Lust of the flesh and the Lust of the eyes 1 Joh. 2.16 I know if you consider Lust habitually and radically there is more in it than this for so 't is the bent and propension of the Soul to whatever is evil and its aversation from whatever is good But if you consider it actually and particularly so fleshly and sensual desires are the main and most proper acts of it Here further you must distinguish of Lust or Lusts Some are more rank and gross such as lie in the sensitive and fleshly part Others are more resin'd and secret such as lie in the upper part of the Soul the Reason Mind and Will You read 2 Cor. 7.1 of the filthiness of the Flesh and of the Spirit where the Apostle describes the Lusts of the lower faculties under the filthiness of the Flesh and the Lusts of
Nature in the Soul that too may have its place here very properly for Spirit being set in opposition to the Flesh which is the depraved Nature it must have some reference to that other Nature which is opposite to this And * Spiritus sumitur pro animo regenerato per Spiritum Pareus Per spiritum intelligit novitatem Naturae effectam per regenerationem Spiritus vitiositate naturali emendatâ Piscat Vocat Carnem universam hominis naturam ut quae corrupta exciderit à priftinâ dignitate cui opponitur Spiritus eadem viz. instaurata per Spiritum Dei Beza Interpreters generally so open it 't is best therefore I say to take in both these notions of the word Spirit The natural and philosophical notion of Flesh and Spirit is Body and Soul though yet some Philosophers sometimes speak of them in a somewhat different and more restrained sense For Spirit they make to be as the whole Soul in general so sometimes only the highest part of the Soul viz. the intellectual and discursive Faculty in compliance with whom or rather with the * Vide Drussum in 1 Thes 5.23 Jewish Writers in their Nephesh Ruach and Nesama Paul seems so to use the word * 1 Thes 5.23 I pray God your whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless c. And as to Flesh that they make to be not onely the Body it self but also the sensitive Soul that part which is void of and sets it self against Reason and refuses to be subject to the Laws and Dictates of the rational faculty Thus the * For this see Salmas in Epicl Simplic p. 116. c. Platonists and Stoicks do frequently make use of the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Flesh onely they differ about the diversity of the Faculty where 't is seated from the reasonable faculty Now though Flesh and Spirit in the Text contain in them something higher than what this philosophical notion of them reaches yet 't is not altogether to be rejected and therefore in this discourse it will accordingly be made use of What it is to walk after the Spirit Now I come to answer the Question What is it to walk after the Spirit In general 't is to walk in the way of Spirit The Flesh hath its way and the Spirit hath its way the way of the Flesh is sin wickedness rebellion against God c. the way of the Spirit is holiness obedience righteousness c. He then that walks in the way of Sin he walks after the Flesh and he that walks in the way of Holiness he walks after the Spirit for the walking is according to the way that men go in So again To walk after the Spirit 't is to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit the Spirit hath its fruits such as Love Joy c. Gal. 5.22 and the Flesh hath its fruits several of which are recited Gal. 5.19 where the fruits of the Spirit fill up the life there 't is walking after the Spirit and so è contra as to the Flesh In short as to the general opening of it To walk after the Spirit 't is to live the holy and the spiritual life 't is to have Gods Spirit and to act in compliance with and obedience to it and 't is too to have the Divine Nature in the Soul to follow the motions and dictates of that Nature and to live in the exercise of the several Graces which grow upon that root I could very much enlarge upon this General Description but I shall chuse rather to explain the thing particularly under these Five Heads To walk after the Spirit 't is 1. To have the Spirit to be the principle of acting 2. To have the Spirit to be the guide of life and to follow its guidance 3. To have those affections which are proper to and suit with the Spirit 4. To live under and to close with holy inclinations and propensions to what is good 5. To act for spiritual Ends. Here I instance in more particulars than I did in the opening of the Walking after the flesh but they are as applicable to that as to this and they being contraries the One will illustrate the Other I. To walk after the Spirit 't is for a person to be acted by the Spirit or to act from the Spirit as his principle That is the principle as hath been said which acts a man or from which he acts when the Spirit is this to a person so that he lives and acts by its vital quickening agency and working in him then he may be said to walk after or according to the Spirit You heard before a man walks after the flesh when the flesh is his principle and so he walks after the spirit when the spirit is his principle This is applicable to the Spirit in both of the respects which have been mentioned As 1. take it personally the Holy Spirit is in Believers as the spring and principle of their obedience and holy actings In a sober sense all others I dread and detest that which acts and animates the Saints in their course it is Gods own Spirit he is not barely in them but he is in them as a lively and active principle to actuate their Graces to quicken and excite them to all holy and spiritual acts This is a part of that walking in the spirit which you read of Gal. 5.25 If we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit as if the Apostle had said if the Spirit hath been a quickening spirit to us and hath wrought a supernatural life in us then let us walk in the Spirit that is let us all along live and act by this Spirit as our great principle Such as are in Christ they pray mortifie sin are heavenly minded love God deny themselves c. now in all these acti agunt they act as they are acted from above the Spirit on his part stirs them up to what is good and gives out his influences to them in what is good and they on their part fall in with his exciting and assisting grace in opposition to all the interposures of the flesh and so they walk after the Spirit Then 2. take the Spirit habitually for Grace or the sanctified Nature in the heart this is a secondary or subordinate principle the principium Quod as the former is principium Quo from which spiritual acts do proceed You have the Apostle speaking to this double principle Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me there 's the supreme and first principle and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God there 's the subordinate and secondary principle Faith and Love those two great branches of that general root which I am upon make all the several wheels in a gracious heart to move that which is done in the life comes from
appears that this twofold walking is not to be limited to meer external and visible acts in the life but it lies very much in the inward secret acts of the heart there 's the Principle the Affections the Propensions the Ends and these are the things which do constitute the walking either fleshly or spiritual but more of this in the Vse I have done with the opening of the Description in both its parts not walking after the flesh but after the spirit which was my business in the Explicatory part The Doctrine proved by Scripture-Testimony I go on to the Second thing the Confirmation of the Point where it will be a very easie thing to prove That this is the property and deservedly the Character of such who are in Christ Jesus they walk not after the flesh but after the spirit All Christ's mystical Members are spiritual walkers this is that very life which such do live that very course which such do follow 1 Joh. 3.6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not that is he doth not live in a course of sin which is all one with not walking after the flesh Gal. 5.24 They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts no sooner is a person brought into Christ but sin and the flesh are crucified and dead in that person so that there is no more walking after it 1 Cor. 1.30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption here the Apostle sets down what Christ is to Believers but first he sets down the ground of all namely the mystical union and then he adds to such who are in him he is not onely righteousness to free them from a guilty state but he is also sanctification to free them from a carnal and to bring them over to an holy course wherever then there is this union there is and must be also this spiritual heavenly and holy conversation as the inseparable fruit and consequent of Sanctification By a double Argument I shall not need to spend much time in the proof of it two Arguments I conceive may suffice for that 1. The being in Christ Jesus or the Union with him is brought about as hath been opened by the Spirit and by Faith now both of these necessarily infer this walking after the Spirit The Holy Spirit being in a person as the bond of his union with Christ wherever he is he will be a spring and principle of holiness he will not lie hid in the Soul but it shall be seen in the heavenliness and spiritualness of the conversation that he is there wherever he comes he comes as a commanding overpow'ring guide and principle working with great efficacy upon the Sinner as to his walking Ezek. 36.37 I will put my spirit within you what then and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them mark it saith God I 'le cause you c. the way of God in his working upon the Sinner is not meerly by moral suasion which leaves the Will undetermin'd and pendulous but 't is by effectual inclination and overpowering So that here 's a complication of several things in the Argument which make it very strong As 1. 'T is the Spirit which unites to Christ 2. This uniting Spirit is always an active working Spirit 3. The Matter of his working is Sanctification and universal Holiness 4. The manner of his working is effectual and irresistible Now put all these considerations together and it will most undeniably follow that such who are in Christ they shall walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Moreover 't is the very Spirit of Christ himself by which Believers are united to him so that the same Spirit which was in him is in them also though in a different measure now hereupon where there is the same spirit there will be the same course or walking and therefore as Christ was holy so will they be holy too and as Christ walked not after the flesh but after the spirit so will they walk also If he indeed should take a person and immediately make him one with himself possibly the certainty of this spiritual walking would not be so evident but the Union being carried on mediately by the Holy Spirit that Spirit will have an infallible and powerful influence upon the Way and Walk of him who is united to Christ Besides this there is the Other Bond viz. Faith and that too doth naturally operate and tend to the furtherance of that conversation which I am proving For 't is of a purifying nature it first * Act. 15.9 purifies the heart and then consequently the several acts which issue and flow from the heart Faith is the justifying grace but 't is a * Act. 26.18 sanctifying grace too it justifies before God but it also sanctifies before men 'T is not only a bare instrument or condition of justification but 't is likewise an operative and influential grace upon sanctification 'T is the lively faith which knits to Christ and being so it will shew its liveliness by its vigorous promoting of the holiness and spiritualness of the Believers course insomuch that * Jam. 2.26 as the body without the spirit is dead so Faith without this spiritual walking is dead also It would be a very easie thing to descend to Particulars therein to show the special Methods in which the Spirit of God and Faith under it do work for the keeping down of the Walking after the flesh and the promoting of the Walking after the spirit in the distinct and several considerations proper to each of them but I fear I am already too prolix The second Argument is taken from Christ's tenderness of his Honour He will advance the creature but hee 'l do it in such a way as that he may secure and advance his own glory Now would this be for the Honour of Christ to take persons into so near a conjunction with himself and yet let them live the carnal and sensual life to walk just as others do who are * Eph. 2.13 afar off from him To be in Christ and yet to live in sin immers'd in flesh and sensuality O what dishonour would this reflect upon the Head if his Members should thus walk Christ will have his followers to differ from others yea and from themselves too therefore all that are in him shall be * 2 Cor. 5.17 new Creatures and from the change in the heart there shall be a change in the life and walking also He can joyn the greatest Sinners to himself but hee 'l first prepare and adapt them for such an Union by making them other persons and so causing them to live at another rate than they did before Where there is nearness nay oneness there as you have heard shall be likeness in an holy course he that will not have us take * 1 Cor. 6.15
crassissimis vitiis c. P. Mart. Addo quòd fortasse Paulus non tam spectasse videtur vim Baptismi quâ omnis macula penitus abstergitur sed ad mores ac vitam eorum qui Christi gratia perceptâ omnes vitae suae rationes ad Christi legem exigunt atque it a pravae cupiditati nonobsequuntur Justinian we talk of Faith make our boast of the Gospel glory in our Baptism lay a great stress upon our Church priviledges when yet notwithstanding all this we are meer Flesh-pleasers our Conversations are carnal and fleshly doth not this proclaim us to be yet out of Christ VSE 2. Of Examination about our walking whither it be after the flesh or after the spirit Secondly Let me desire you to examine what your walking is whether it be after the flesh or after the spirit Is spiritual walking the property of all who are in Christ must this evidence your union with him how then doth it concern you all to judge aright about it Here are two Sorts of Walkers and every man in the world comes under the One or the Other for these two divide the world betwixt them Now where are you what is your course which of these walkings do you come under what do you follow Flesh or Spirit I told you at the first this is a thing which may be known the Apostle doth not lay the Evidence upon something that is abstruse and hard to be understood but upon that which is easie to be found out surely with a little diligence every person may know what his walking is I intreat you therefore to urge this home upon your selves O let every one say how do I walk what a kind of life do I live holy or sinful spiritual or carnal Brethren your freedom from Condemnation depends upon your Vnion with Christ will you not find out that then your Union must be known by the holiness of your walking and will you not understand your selves about this also O what a blessed thing is it when a man is clear in this so that he can frame a Syllogism upon it thus He that walks not after the flesh but after the spirit he is in Christ But I through grace am one who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit therefore I am in Christ This is a good bottom to build assurance upon these premises will bear the weight of such a conclusion be sure you take up with nothing short of this 'T is onely the spiritual life which must assure of the Mystical Vnion 1 Joh. 1.6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth 1 Joh. 2.4 5 6. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him But whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected hereby know we that we are in him He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked Faith indeed is the bond of the union but holines of heart and life is the mark or evidence of it And 't is the walking which makes the Christian 't is not external profession the being of such or such a party some good religious talking but 't is the course of life which is the distinguishing character betwixt person and person O that God would direct every one of you to pass righteous judgment upon himself concerning this I need not add any thing to what hath been laid down in order to the helping of you in this Tryal The walking after the Flesh and after the Spirit have been opened and by the particulars which make up each of them you may be able to judge of your selves 'Pray go over them in your own thoughts again and again and say is the Flesh or the Spirit our principle our guide what are our affections do we savour the things of the Flesh or of the Spirit what are our secret and strongest propensions are our Ends fleshly or spiritual I say go over these things again and again and there 's no question of it but that serious and frequent examination in a little time will fully clear up the thing to you Atwofold walking after the Flesh Onely to prevent mistakes let me tell you there is a twofold walking after the Flesh One more gross and manifest the Other more close and more indiscernable The first is when the Flesh breaks forth and openly vents it self in external and bodily lusts such as adultery uncleanness drunkenness gluttony c. this is * 2 Cor. 7.1 the filthiness of the flesh The Second is when the Flesh more secretly vents it self in internal heart-lusts such as are kept in and lie smothering in the Soul as pride self-love envy coveteousness c. this is the filthiness of the Spirit the Apostle gives a Catalogue of the actings of the Flesh in both of these respects Gal. 5.19 20 c. Now here 's the mistake of men they confine walking after the flesh to the first of these the latter being little regarded by them so that if they do not live in whoredome gross intemperance open profaneness bruitish sensuality they think all is well whereas they may be free from these gross practises and yet be walkers after the flesh The corrupt Nature hath other out-lets besides these and there may be Sins ulcers within when they do not externally show themselves O be not deceived you are not possibly so and so vitious in the outward conversation but if there be within in the Heart malice hatred envy uncharitableness self exalting inordinate affections to the world coveteousness these are enough to bring you within the compass of walking after the flesh * Invidentia vitium Diabolicum quo solus Diabolus reus est c. Non enim dicitur Diabolo ut damnetur adulterium commisisti furtum fecisti c. sed homini stanti lapsus invidisti Aug. de Disc Chri. cap. 1. Devils you 'l grant are bad enough 't is because of their envy pride c. for the grosser sins of the Flesh they are not liable to them * De Civitate Dei l. 14. c. 2. Austine proves that the Stoicks that strict Sect of Philosophers were as guilty of this upon their inward unmortified corruptions as the Epicureans themselves a more debauched and sensual sort of men if they be not wrong'd for as to Epicurus himself * Against whoÌ see Dr. Meric Casaubon of Incredulity par 1. p. 202. c. Laertius Gassendus c. give a quite other character of him Do I see one living a bruitish life wallowing in his filthy lusts laying the reynes upon the neck of his corruptions he 's drunk defiles his body lives in open wickedness c. I 'm sure this man walks after the flesh these are the works of the flesh which are manifest Gal. 5.19 every eye sees and every tongue cries shame
upon these courses Ah but there 's another who is free from these scandalous courses yet he is worldly revengeful envious proud haughty under the power of carthly affections full of evil desires this man now is a walker after the flesh as well as the former though not in so gross a manner Therefore do not please yourselves upon your being kept from the notorious and external eruptions of the corrupt Nature if yet inward and more refined corruptions have their full power and strength over you O how many persons of a civil unblameable conversation nay how many fair professing Hypocrites though no adulterers no drunkards c. will yet be judged at the Great Day to be walkers after the flesh 'Pray look inward any one allowed cherished unmortified Lust in the heart will spoil your walking before God though before Men it may seem to be blameless yea very spiritual Thirdly the main Vse will be for Counsel VSE 3. 1. To dehort from walking after the flesh 2. To exhort to walk after the spirit 1. First 1 Branch to dehort from walking after the Flesh do not walk after the flesh Particularly let not Flesh be your principle to act you in your course for what can be expected but evil practises from so evil a principle * Mat. 7.16 Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles how impure must those streams be which flow from so impure a fountain how bitter must that fruit be which grows upon so bitter a root So also let not Flesh be your Guide that you should chuse to be ordered and directed by it Will you chuse or follow a blind guide * Mat. 15.14 If the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch or will you follow a Guide that will lead you to Hell God forbid when you have the good Spirit of God and the good Word of God to lead you will you rather live under the leading and conduct of the flesh O have as little to do with its guidance as ever you can 't is not a thing that you must walk after but rather fly from for if you follow it 't will certainly carry you to those rocks and precipices which will endanger the dashing of you in pieces forever I know the best will not be wholly freed from this Flesh whilst they are here but let not any tamely give up themselves to it so as to be subject and obedient to it or to walk after it Let not sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lusts thereof Avoid it I beseech you in all the parts and limbs of it for 't is all naught there are the wills of the flesh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Eph. 2.3 the affections or passions of the flesh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gal. 5.24 Rom. 7.5 the works of the flesh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gal. 5.19 all these flow from one and the same spring onely they are several channels in which it runs Now I say avoid it in all as it works in the soul by its wills and affections as it works in the body by its grosser lusts do not in any thing comply with it or walk after it we must be always mortifying never allowedly gratifying this cursed flesh The Dehortation enforc'd by several Motives To enforce the Dehortation one would think the Motive in the Text should be strong enough if you do not walk after the flesh then you are in Christ and if you be in Christ you will not walk after the flesh for such do never so walk But besides this there are some Other Motives which have a great force and efficacy in them 1. Let it be considered that this walking after the flesh is directly contrary to your Baptismal dedication and obligation When you passed under that blessed Ordinance did you not then dedicate your selves to the Lord have you not since owned and acknowledged that dedication and shall persons so dedicated to the Lord walk after the flesh that would be like * Dan. 5.2 3 4. Belshazzar's making of himself drunk even out of the golden vessels which were dedicated to the service of God in the Temple There is upon your baptismal dedication a Sacredness upon your Souls and Bodies and yet shall they be made common and prostituted to the service of sin and lust this is not onely to rescind retract null your dedication but even to profane that which was consecrated to holy uses and ends When you were baptized did you not then stipulate and covenant to renounce the Flesh as well as the World and the Devil and notwithstanding this will you yet walk after it what an high breach of Covenant would that be and shall any break Covenant with God and * Ezek. 17.15 prosper If after Baptism you will be flesh-pleasers and flesh followers where will that answer of a good conscience be which the Apostle speaks of 1 Pet. 3.21 how will you be said * Rom. 6.3 to be baptized into Christ's death if the Flesh yet live in you and you in it And what a poor insignificative thing is the outward washing if heart and life continue under flesh pollutions * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost in V. 4. hujus Capitis Restringitur generalis Propositio contra cos qui in Baptismo omnia collocabant satis esse Christo per Baptismum insitum esse rectè credere in Ecclesiâ versari Sacramenta participare vitam Christanam dignam etiam requirâ docet vitam spiritualem non carnalem Conâz what will the sprinkling of baptismal water profit him who lies wallowing in fleshly lusts O think much of your solemn ingagement in Baptism and surely you will not be so obsequious and pliable to the motions of the flesh as hitherto you have been how ill doth the Christian-mark and title agree with a Pagan-life 2. Secondly I would desire you to consider what the Flesh is He that knows it and hath right apprehensions of it certainly will not walk after it In general let it promise or pretend what it will 't is an Enemy and shall we cherish an enemy in our bosome nay let him have the command and guidance of us First 't is God's enemy yea his inveterate implacable irreconcileable enemy the Sinner may be reconciled to God but Sin it self the Flesh the corrupt Nature never can 'T is observable Ver. 7. The wisdome of the Flesh the carnal mind we read it is enmity against God the Apostle sets it forth in the abstract to note the greatness of the enmity 't is more than if he had said 't is an enemy against God for enemies may but enmities cannot be reconciled and he speaks of the best of the Flesh too the very wisdome of the Flesh is enmity against God and see what a full proof he gives of it for saith he 't is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be O how evil a thing
is this Flesh Now shall that be your principle and guide which is God's Enemy will you agree with that which is at such variance with God and be subject to that which neither is nor can be subject to the Law of God Then Secondly Vide Najanz t. 2. in Carm. p. 93. describing the mischievous Effects of the Flesh 't is your enemy too I and the very worst enemy you have in all the world For was it not for this all your other enemies could never hurt you the Devil and the World without do all their mischief to Souls by the Flesh within Christ not having any of it was impenetrable against all the fiery darts of Satan Joh. 14 30. The Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me We cannot say so he hath a corrupt Nature in us and that he works upon and endangers us by This Flesh is the womb where all is conceiv'd and form'd the anvil upon which all is wrought 't is the false Judas that betrays us the close enemy within that is ready upon all occasions to open the gates to the Besieger was it not for this morbus mentis the morsus dentis could never hurt us And besides this relative consideration of the Flesh as it gives advantage to our other grand adversaries 't is in it self a very dangerous Enemy Partly in respect of its malice it carries on desperate aims and designs against the Sinner 't is full of mischievous intentions and those of an high nature too it aims at nothing below the ruin of the pretious Soul The Apostle speaking of one part of its working viz. by fleshly lusts tells you that those war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 how why not onely as they would take away the Souls order beauty strength peace comfort c. but as they strike at the very life and happiness of the Soul And the same is designed by this malitious Flesh in all its workings for they all tend to the everlasting destruction of the Soul O what a pernicious enemy is the Flesh Partly also in respect of its subtilty for which makes it the more formidable as 't is a malitious and desperate so 't is a cunning and subtil enemy How craftily doth it insinuate it self into us in order to the carrying on of its mischievous designs how cunningly by its blandishments and allurements doth it entice us unto evil Jam. 1.14 Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust there 's the force and power of it and enticed there 's the fraud and cunning of it How finely doth it represent some taking good to men in order to the alluring of them whilst it slily conceals the evil which should deter them It shewes the bait but hides the hook holds forth the milk but keeps close the hammer and the nail presents the apple but conceals the death here 's the Fleshes subtilty and O how many poor Souls are undone by it Their eye is upon the good which the Flesh promises they not at all regarding the evil which indeed it designs as you read of Amasa 2 Sam. 20.8 9. Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him but Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand O what a cunning deceiving enemy is the Flesh Rom. 7.11 Sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me Eph. 4.22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts in the Greek 't is lusts of deceipt ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they are made up of deceipt there 's nothing but meer deceipt in them The Apostle Tit. 3.3 says they were deceived how serving divers lusts and pleasures whoever serves Sin shall find at last he was sadly deceived by it Upon the whole then is Flesh a thing to be walked after will you trust your selves your souls your everlasting concerns in the hands of an enemy of such an enemy 3. Thirdly Consider what this walking after the Flesh is 1. 'T is sordid walking It carries in it a great abasement of the humane nature man is degraded by it and divested of that glory and excellency which God and Nature hath put upon him To be under the power of the Flesh and the lusts thereof especially such as are gross and lie in the sensual part how doth this turn the Man into a very Brute what 's the difference I pray you between a brute and a man who lives a brutish life onely this that of the two the Man is the worst for he hath Reason and Religion to direct him to a better course which the Brute hath not (a) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Arrian Epict. lib. 4. cap. 5. p. 391. Is it the shape only which makes the man without suitable actings to the nature To walk after the Flesh how base and unworthy is this for such a creature as Man who was once made after Gods own Image and who yet hath a noble spiritual and immortal Soul O how is this Soul depressed in its native excellencies by a carnal course by this 't is made an underling to the body and to make use of that proverbial allusion the Prince is forced to go on foot while the Beggar rides on horseback O that flesh-followers would often think of this This walking is not onely below the Christian but the Man too he that was made by God like Nebuchadnezzar when upon the throne he by living after the flesh makes himself like Nebuchadnezzar when (b) Dan. 4.32 33. grazing among the beasts Pray Sirs know your selves consider your Original whose (c) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Arrian Epict. lib. 2. cap. 8. p. 188. workmanship you are (d) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Idem l. 1. c. 3. â 91. that you are Soul as well as Body how highly your Maker hath advanced you and scorn to live below your selves 'T is happy Pride which makes men to disdain a sordid Life 2. 'T is foolish walking that which is the fruit of ignorance and onely suits with the state of ignorance 1 Pet. 1.14 Not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance 'T is both the effect and the evidence of ignorance it men were not strangely blinded and besotted they would never carry it towards the Flesh as they do But here 's the misery of it first the Flesh blinds and besots Sinners puts out their eyes as the * Judg. 16.21 Philistins did Sampson's and then they are at its beck and dispose Ah Sirs have ye no knowledge no wisdome are you under total darkness and gross infatuation are ye so foolish that you do not know what the Flesh is and whether it leads and yet will you walk after it when there is a spiritual heavenly holy course revealed to you will you yet chuse that which is opposite thereunto will you prefer the conduct of the Flesh before the conduct of the
to the Lord of Glory but 't is as much your duty to deal thus revengefully with the Flesh O let all cry out in the height of their hatred against it Let it be crucified why but what evil hath it done nay rather ask what evil hath it not done therefore cry out the more let it be crucified And indeed the crucifixion of our Natural Flesh in Christ without the crucifixion of moral and sinful Flesh in our selves will not profit us Paul saith he was crucified with Christ Gal. 2.20 how why in a spiritual and mystical sense so as to be dead to the Flesh and so as to live the spiritual life And the Apostle lays it upon this 1 Pet. 4.1 2 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God 'T is a Scripture somewhat dark but the strength of it lies thus Christ hath suffered for us and we in an analogical sense must be ready to suffer too this is the same mind here spoken of and Christ having suffered hath ceased from sin h. e. so as to dye for sin no more so saith the Apostle you too in your own persons must so dye to sin as no longer to live in it This is the being planted into the likeness of Christ's death Rom. 6.5 and you find the Apostle there in that Chapter from this very Topick the Death of Christ earnestly disuading persons from walking after the flesh I have done with the Motives to inforce the Dehortation What men are to do that they may not walk after the Flesh Before I go off from this Head something must be hinted by way of Direction What is to be done some may say that we may no longer walk after the Flesh I answer 1. Get out of the Flesh For being in the flesh is always attended with walking after the flesh as the State is always according to the Course so the Course is always according to the State if you be in the fleshly state your conversation will be a fleshly conversation Such as the man is such are the principles and such as the principles are such will the practises be also Therefore get out of the state of Nature in which the Flesh rules and carries a man whither it pleases and get into Christ persons out of Christ are all Flesh and thereupon will be wholly followers of the Flesh Spiritual walking discovers the Vnion but first the Union is the ground of spiritual walking that will certainly follow upon being in Christ but being in Christ must necessarily antecede it Till thou beest ingrafted into Christ no good fruit can grow upon thee he that is flesh must needs live and act flesh 2. Get the Spirit and walk after the Spirit 'T is the divine Spirit and the divine Nature from that Spirit which must dethrone and break the power of sinning and sinful Nature Till the Holy Spirit and grace come into the heart the Flesh lords and domineers in the life as you will hear more fully when I come to the second Verse The Apostle joins together Sensual and not having the Spirit Jud. 19. where the latter clause is not onely a further description of the persons spoken of but 't is also the assignation of the cause or reason of their being sensual viz. because they had not the Spirit Till the mighty Spirit of God comes into the Soul by saving illumination and overpowering influences to say efficaciously to a man * Isa 30.21 This is the way walk therein there may be convictions purposes resolutions to the contrary yet still there will be one way or other walking after the Flesh And so for Grace no sooner doth this take possession but the Walking is altered which it never is before to any purpose Prov. 2.10 When wisdom entereth into the heart c. discretion shall preserve thee c. to deliver thee from the way of the evil man c. who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness who rejoice to do evil c. Your way to be rid of the Flesh is to get the Spirit set a thousand Arguments the most effectual Considerations imaginable before the Sinner to draw him off from this fleshly walking till the regenerating sanctifying Spirit take hold of him they are all weak and ineffective I add Walk after the Spirit Every man will be walking there 's no standing still all will be in motion so long as they are in viâ and every mans Walking will be in one of these two ways either after the Flesh or after the Spirit for non datur tertium And these being contrary do mutually exclude each the other he that walks after the flesh cannot in sensu composito walk after the spirit and he that walks after the spirit cannot walk after the flesh therefore Gal. 5.16 Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh the Reason then upon which this Direction is grounded is strong and evident And let me tell you Principles you will and must have some or other which if they be not good they will be bad and so as to Guides Affections Propensions Ends these will be in every reasonable Soul from one cause or another So that if you be not spiritual you will be carnal for one of these two you must be as both you cannot be O let it be the Former that it may not be the Latter 3. Take heed of particular allowed fleshly acts for they make way for that general course which you are to shun Acts produce Habits as well as Habits do produce Acts particular acts of sin especially if allowed and repeated end in a course of sin If you gratifie the flesh in some things it will grow upon you as sad experience proves the Gangrene or Leprosie at the first begins with some particular member but if it be let alone in a little time it diffuses it self over the whole body and so 't is here as to sin A little leaven leavens the whole lump 'T is true as hath been observ'd the Apostle here fixes his Character upon the Course and not upon single acts but he that allows himself in them will not stay there in time hee 'l fall into a wicked and fleshly Course 4. Timely suppress the first risings of the flesh it gains by delays O as soon as the corrupt Nature begins to stir and show it self see that you fall upon it presently make speedy and vigorous resistance to it if you give the Enemy time hee 'l grow stronger and the Conquest will be the more difficult You read Jam. 1.15 of the conceiving of Lust ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Vide Stobaeum in Eclog. Serm. 3. p. 9. when Lust hath conceived
it bringeth forth Sin now Sin must be taken at the first conception as soon as the temptation offers it self and begins to allure and tickle by something that it presents so that the Heart inclines to a closure with it now fall on presently and parlie no longer This brat of Babylon must be dasht in pieces in its very infancy 't is good to kill the Cockatrice in the very egg to quench the fire at the first smotherings of it within or else it will quickly flame forth in the life even to the making the conversation carnal Be very watchful over the initial suggestions of the Flesh and fall upon the timely exercise of mortification upon the first motions of sin say Sathan Flesh * Mat. 16.23 get thee behind me thou art an offence to me But I must not further expatiate upon these things So much for the disuasive part of this Vse against walking after the flesh 2 Branch of the Vse to exhort to Walking after the Spirit I go on to the persuasive part wherein I would most earnestly exhort you to walk after the Spirit I will be but short upon this because that which I have already spoken hath a great tendency to the promoting of it for the truth is whilst I have been disuading you from walking after the Flesh I have in effect been persuading you to walk after the Spirit in beating you off from that I have been drawing you on to this You have heard what it is so to walk what now remains but that you would all endeavour to put it in practise and O that this might be your way and course Let others live as they please let it be your fixed resolution that you will live the holy spiritual heavenly life True there are but few who do thus walk the World is but a great Exchange wherein the Spirits Walk is very thin whilst the Fleshes Walk is full and crowded but 't is better to be with the Few in the way of the Spirit than with the Many in the way of the Flesh And I desire you to lay it to heart have not you your selves too long walked after the flesh is it not high time for you to think of another Course 1 Pet. 4.3 The time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in Lasciviousness Lusts Excess of Wine c. When will ye walk in newness of life as the expression is Rom. 6.4 when shall the renewing and the renewed Spirit command govern act guide you in your whole conversation when will you so walk that you your selves and others too may know by the spiritualness of your deportment that you are indeed in Christ Jesus * The exhortation to walking after the Spirit pressed by some Motives Here consider in opposition to what was said of the former walking but three things 1. This is excellent Walking The spiritual life is the excellent life * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Arist Eth. lib. 10. cap. 7. this speaks somewhat more than what is of man there is something divine and supernatural in it To be acted by to live under the conduct and guidance of the blessed Spirit to have affections propensions ends all holy this is truely great This is the Life which is most agreeable to the humane Nature not onely as consider'd in its primitive unstained glory and excellency but as 't is now under its sad ruins and decays O how unbecoming how ill doth a vitious Conversation comport even with that Reason natural Light and those broken excellencies which are yet left in Man Man is not so low but that by complying with sensual Lusts he yet acts below himself nay so far as he puts on the Sinner he puts off the Man where he un-Saints himself he un-Mans himself Sensuality and wickedness carry in them a contradiction to his very Being nothing so well suits with that as a pious religious heavenly course Further the fleshly life is a base sordid life but the spiritual life is a raised noble life So much as the Spirit is above the Flesh the Soul above the Body so much is the * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Arist ibid. p. 138. spiritual life above the sensual or carnal life The life which I am urging upon you is the very life of God himself for the Apostle speaks Eph. 4.18 of some mens being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them by which life of God he means in part the holiness of God or that holy life which God lives the holy liver then he not being alienated from Gods holiness lives the life of God he acts in * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Plato in Thaeaet conformity though under a vast disproportion to the great God must there not then needs be unspeakable glory and excellency in Spiritual Walking The more one lives the fleshly life the more he resembles the Beast the more one lives the spiritual life the more he resembles God the Creature is not so much debased and depressed by the One but he-is as much advanc'd and dignified by the Other Saints may be censured and misjudged by the world but in truth they come the nearest and are most like to God that they might be judged according to men in the Flesh but live according to God in the Spirit 1 Pet. 4.6 I do but allude to these words for I know in their first and proper sense they point to another thing than that which I cite them for Gods people are judged as if they lived according to men walking in or after the Flesh as others do but 't is not so they walk in or after the Spirit and so live according to God what a great thing is this for poor creatures to live according to God! who would not so live And this too is the Life of the blessed ones in Heaven take the glorified Saints how do they walk not after the Flesh I assure you for they have no such Flesh to walk after they are wholly freed from the sinning and sinful Nature are perfectly renewed and sanctified and accordingly they act All in them or from them is divine and spiritual there 's nothing that they do but what flows from a gracious principle all their thoughts and affections are swallowed up in God their love joy delight are unmixtly spiritual the pleasures of the Flesh are nothing to them they have not the least inclination to the least evil the great thing they mind and rejoyce in is the Glory of God O what an holy spiritual life do the Saints live in heaven Must not the same life then needs be excellent in the Saints here so far forth as they can reach it in their imperfect state Surely none can undervalue or think low of it but onely they who are altogether ignorant of and strangers to it A Child of God would not for a thousand worlds live any other
one do the imagination of his evil heart or as 't is Jer. 6.16 Stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths where is the good way the way of the Spirit and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls but they said we will not walk therein Do you walk after the Flesh and resolve to do so still then 't is sad indeed but I would fain hope better of you 'Pray be intreated to read the Motives again which have been set before you and in your most calm thoughts to pause and dwell upon the things which have been spoken Shall I need to add any thing further in telling you that all your walkings yea every step you take is known to God Job 21.4 Job 34.21 Psal 139.3 Psal 119.168 that God judges of every man here and hereafter will judge every man at the Great Day according to his walking Eccles 11.9 2 Cor. 5.10 Eccles 12.14 that Death will come with a dreadful aspect where the life hath been carual and sinful that in the way of the Flesh you are in danger of treading upon Serpents Vipers Adders Scorpions every âââp you take that by this Course you * Psa 16.11 forsake the path of life and for a little flesh-pleasing put your selves into the broad way to everlasting damnation how much might I yet say upon this account but enough and enough hath been already said if God will but set it home upon the Conscience The Lord hedge up your ways with thorns and make a wall that you may not find the paths of the Flesh and thereupon may resolve to get into the paths of the Spirit for surely it will be better then than now it is I allude to Hos 2.6 7 VSE 4. To those that do walk after the Spirit Three things urged upon them There is one Vse more and that shall be directed to them who do walk after the Spirit Three things to such 1. First I would with the greatest earnestness stir up such to be highly thankful to God Are any of you through grace made spiritual and do you live the spiritual life have you received the Spirit and do you also walk after the Spirit what cause have you to bless God! yea what thankfulness can be high enough to him who hath brought you to this Why do you not walk just as others do why is not the Flesh as powerful as predominant in you as 't is in others why does not the very worst of the Flesh prevail over you why are not you Atheists Scoffers at Religion Drunkards Adulterers open and notorious Sinners surely all must be resolved into the discriminating grace of God that and that onely hath made the difference Time was when your walking was bad enough when you were as carnal as any and very tamely lacquey'd it after every base lust is not God to be admir'd upon that blessed change which he hath wrought in you Eph. 2.1 2 3. You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world c. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us when we were dead in Sins hath quickened us together with Christ Tit. 3.3 For we our selves also were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures See also Col. 3.7 1 Pet. 4.3 O what a sad course do the best follow before conversion and as to your selves if God by his distinguishing and almighty grace had not seized upon you as you began with that course so you had continued in it to this very day O let the Lord be forever magnified who hath delivered you from fleshly walking and brought you over to that which is spiritual and heavenly And this must the rather be done because you now have so clear so convincing an evidence of your being in Christ is not that a great thing The blessedness of this Vnion with Christ hath been fully set before you 't is all yours you not walking after the Flesh but after the Spirit Surely though you cannot in your praises reach so great mercy yet you should go as far as ever you can 2. Secondly such are to be exhorted to walk yet less and less after the Flesh and yet more and more after the Spirit For this walking admits of degrees there are none in the present state so freed from the Flesh and the fleshly conversation but that yet they may be more freed from it and so too there are none who have so much of the Spirit and walk so much after the Spirit but that yet they may be more spiritual in their walking 'T is mercy that 't is so well as to the main but surely it may yet be better Saints are you so universally acted by the Spirit of God and the sanctified Nature as you might be O do you so constantly live under the guidance and conduct of the Spirit as you might and should is he your guide no sooner to show you the right way but presently and * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Arrian Epict. lib. 2. cap. 7. p. 186. readily you engage therein are all your affections so pure and heavenly as God requires are there not many strong inclinations to evil yet remaining in you are your Ends in all things so sublime and spiritual as the Gospel commands Ah! something is yet wanting there is yet room for growth you have not yet arrived at perfection as the Apostle speaks of himself Not as though I had already attained c Phil. 3.11 O that every day you might rise higher and higher in heavenly walking that the Flesh might decrease and the Spirit increase the carnal part like the house of Saul might still be going down and the spiritual part like the house of David might still be getting up that Heart and Life might be refin'd and spiritualiz'd yet more and more I beseech you do not stay where you are but still be * Phil. 3.14 pressing forward Walking 'tis motus progressivus so it should be in your walking after the Spirit as there is a going from strength to strength Psal 84.7 from faith to faith Rom. 1.17 so there should be also from spiritualness to spiritualness And Walking 't is motus uniformis are you so steady so eaven and uniform in your walkings as you ought In a * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Socrat. statue or piece of Art all the several parts are uniform and proportionable or else it loses in its exactness and curiosity and should it not be so too in the Spiritual Life but I 'le onely keep to the Metaphor of the cavenness of the Christians Walking O the many crooked wandring extravagant stops which you
take Sometimes you are in the way of the Spirit then presently in the way of the Flesh you do not make straight-paths as the Apostle advises Heb. 12.13 how do your partial closures and compliances with the carnal part too often intercept the light of God's countenance interrupt your communion with him and cause a damp in all your inward peace as you know by reason of this it sometimes was with David himself when will you walk in the path of Holiness so as not to turn to the right hand or to the left as the Word enjoins see Prov. 4.27 Deut. 5.32 Again is your Spiritual walking so visible as it should be so as to convince the world that there is such a life such a course as hath been described Truly men question whether there be such a thing because you who pretend to it come so short of it when you speak act just as others are as wordly vain passionate selfish revengeful as others who will believe that there is in reality any such walking after the Spirit or that there is more in it than meer fancy and pretence How did Pauls Spirit rise in him upon the surmises and censures of some who * 2 Cor. 10.2 thought of him as though he walked according to the Flesh and can you as to your selves noâ onely bear such censures but which is much worse give too just occasion for them Further let me ask you doth this Holy walking intermingle it self with your whole conversation even in your natural and civil actions do you walk after the Spirit when you * 1 Cor. 10.31 eat and drink is your eye upon the glory of God in common actions have you special and peculiar aimes and principles the very animal life which you live in the Flesh do you live by the Faith of the Son of God as Paul did Gal. 2.20 'T is a great mistake to limit this walking after the Spirit to actions materially spiritual or to the positive duties of Religion No at all times in all actions you are so to walk doing all from a spiritual Principle by a spiritual Rule to a spiritual End 'T is one thing to be employ'd in some acts that are spiritual and another thing to be spiritual in all acts the fleshly Walker may do the First but Saints must endeavour after the Last At your Tables in your Shops in your civil Converses you may and ought to live the heavenly life as well as in hearing the Word Prayer and such religious Duties A carnal man sometimes engages in spiritual things and yet even then he doth not walk after the Spirit and a Child of God sometimes is engaged in common things Civil and Natural and yet even then he walks after the Spirit viz. as he intermingles grace with all he doth Now is it thus with you are you holy spiritual in all manner of conversation in every winding and turn of the life as the Apostle exhorts 1 Pet. 1.15 And once more let me ask you and 'pray call your own Souls to account about it is there not some one or other secret by-path of the Flesh which you walk in this holy David prayed against Psal 139.24 See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Upon the whole I fear there is need to press this upon you to walk yet more and more after the Spirit and we beseech and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more 1 Thes 4.1 3. Thirdly are you such who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit O rejoice in this and take the comfort of it Here 's sufficient ground of assurance that there is no condemnation to you that you are in Christ Jesus and is not that matter of rejoicing You are within the Character here given of such who are in Christ therefore you are in him and being in him must it not needs be well with you And if you look into the following Verses there is yet more comfort for you they tell you that God sent his Son to condemn Sin to fulfil the Law and all for such spiritual Walkers as you are for upon them the Character is repeated again Ah you 'l say if it was thus with us we would desire no higher comfort in the world but we fear 't is otherwise we cannot find that we come up to this description and therefore cannot apply the happiness annexed to it And why so why because there is so much of Flesh in us O there is a very sinful carnal and sensual part in us yea this often prevails and breaks forth in our conversation upon which we cannot but judge that we walk after the Flesh rather than after the Spirit Now to this I answer Nothing more certain than that Flesh is in you and will be so whilst you are in the Flesh you must carry it with you to your very grave the Body of sin and the other Body must both be buried together you 'le never be wholly rid of a sinning Nature and a carnal part till you be in heaven And 't is true too this Flesh doth and will sometimes prevail over you though the seldomer the better yet this doth not amount to walking after the Flesh or to the nullifying of the walking after the Spirit Paul himself complained of the Flesh yea of the strength and power of it yet for all that he says here v. 4. we walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit though it was so with him yet his state was good and his course good too we must thus speak for the comfort of burd'ned Souls though Enemies without take occasion from hence to revile and Sinners amongst our selves to presume It would be (a) Desiderium tuum tale debet esse ad Deum ut omnino non fit ipsa concupiscentia cui resistââe oporteat Resistis enim non consentiendo vincis sed mâlius est hostem non habere quam vincere Aug. Serm. de Tem. 45. happy if you might wholly be freed from a corrupt Nature but that is rather to be desired than hoped for in this life Yet here is this to support you though that may carry the day as to some particular acts yet the bent of the heart is for God and as to the general course the renewed part is uppermost The Flesh sometimes is too hard for you but you do not (b) Nulla condemnatio iis qui sunt in Chisto Jeâu nonenim damnatur nisi qui concupiscentiaâ carnis consentit ad malum Aug. contra duas Ep. Pelag. lâb 1. c. 10. Vide plura in Aug. in Psal â 18. coâc 3. consent to it it hath not the full allowance and approbation of the Will you do not give up your selves in a willing subjection to it what it doth 't is from meer force and strength you cry our
as a free Denizon of it who doth so little know how to value such a priviledge Go thy way therefore and be a slave again since thou knowest not how to carry it as becomes one that is free Now I say if God should deal thus with any of you would it not be sad true he will never wholly reverse what he hath done in you and for you but thus far he may go he may let corruption at some times and in some acts prevail over you and he may wholly deprive you of the sense and comfort of your spiritual liberty and would not these be bad enough To walk suitably to it Let me under this Head press another thing upon you viz. to walk suitably to this your freedom wherein doth that consist why in this in being holy and very holy If you so be this will suit with the deliverance from the Law of Sin which you have upon regeneration and which you must therefore be because 't is one great end of God in doing that for you Luk. 1.74 75. That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life 'T is observable how God ushers in the Ten Commandements with his delivering the people of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage thereby to lay the greater obligation upon them to obey and keep those Commandements Exod. 20.2 I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage then the several Commandements follow And as to that particular Command of keeping the Sabbath you find God enforcing of it with this Argument only Deut. 5.15 Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt c. O how holy how obedient should they be whom God hath brought out of the state of spiritual bondage the obligation rising higher from this deliverance than from the former Christians you should be very holy partly from a principle of gratitude partly because now the life of holiness is made more easie and facil if you be not so now the power of Sin is broken in you it must be from your sloth or something worse * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Oec Some observe upon the latter-Clause of the preceding Verse who walk not after the flesh c. that now under the Gospel 't is much more easie to live the heavenly life than it was formerly under the Law so that say they if men do not live that Life it must be charg'd meerly upon their own negligence so here I say persons being delivered from the Reign of Sin to them now 't is much more possible nay easie to be holy in their walkings than sometimes it was and therefore if they do not so walk 't is meerly from their idleness and sinful neglects Sirs now the holy Life is made practicable to you what an engagement doth this lay upon you to live it The Apostle here according to that Connexion of the Words which some pitch upon brings in freedom from the Law of Sin as the ground of not walking c. therefore they who are in Christ do not follow the sinful and carnal but the holy and spiritual course because they are freed from Sins power I 'm sure as to the thing 't is the duty of such so to walk upon this account Let me add a third Consideration regenerate persons upon this must be very holy that there may be some proportion 'twixt Nature as renewed in the way of Holiness and Nature as depraved in the way of Sin 'pray observe it so long as depraved Nature was upon the throne you were very sinful therefore now when renewed Nature is upon the throne you should be very holy I do not from hence plead for an equality that I very well know is not possible and the reason is because corrupt nature before Conversion was entire not broken or weakened by any contrary habit or principle but 't is not so with the renewed Nature after Conversion for that hath Sin mingled with it striving against it making opposition to it therefore men cannot be so entirely good after grace as they were entirely evil before grace yet I may and I do plead from hence for some proportion whilst Sin ruled you you were very sinful therefore now Christ and Grace rule you you should be very holy So the Apostle argues Rom. 6.19 20. As you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness For when ye were servants to sin ye were free from righteousness therefore which though it be not express'd yet 't is imply'd proportionably now when you are the servants of righteousness you should be free from sin Upon this threefold Consideration such as are made free from the Law of Sin should be holy Against Sins actual and partial dominion Now that I may be somewhat more particular about this Sin being that which is opposite to Holiness and much of the nature of holiness lying in refraining from sin and also the dominion of any particular sin very ill agreeing with deliverance from the Law thereof therefore in both of these respects I would caution all regenerate persons against it but 't is the latter only that I shall speak a few words unto Where I would be very earnest with you who have passed under the regenerating work of the Spirit to take heed even of the actual and partial dominion of Sin and there is great need of this admonition for though upon regeneration you are secur'd from its Habitual and Vniversal dominion yet as to some particular Sin and some particular evil acts it may have that which looks too much like dominion though strictly and properly it be not so Here therefore I desire you to be very careful that you do not suffer any one sin to reign in you for how would this consist with your being made free from the Law of Sin since as hath been said the power of any one sin and subjection thereunto if it be full and free plenary and voluntary doth as certainly prove its dominion as the power of many nay of all ô take heed that this and that sin do not rule or be too high in you 'T was Davids prayer Psal 19.13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression he goes further and takes in all Psal 119.133 Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me Saints are not so freed from the Law of Sin by the Spirit but that there is need of daily prayer and that there be all endeavours and care on their part against it and their care must reach even to this that not any single iniquity may have dominion over them
is fond of his vassalage and loves Sins government better than Christs ô the Commands of it suit better with him than the Commands of an holy God so that upon the whole matter he is peremptorily resolved to adhere to it against whatever shall oppose it 5. Sins strength is not only very great in it self but it hath also those additional advantages which render it as to any finite power invincible therefore 't is set forth by the strong man and by the strong man armed too Luk. 11.21 't is ingarrison'd in the heart which of all places is the most inaccessible it hath its ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã strong holds in which 't is fortified 2 Cor. 10.4 6. Sin is very resolute for and in the maintaining of what it hath it hath a power and 't will keep it 't will fight it out to the last and dye rather than yield all the persuasives in the world signifie nothing to it if the Spirit of God will gain the Soul he must gain it as Souldiers do strong Towns which refuse to surrender unciatim to borrow the Comedians word inch by inch 7. Sin and the Sinner are under a * Isa 28.15 Covenant they have engaged as it were to live and dye together now to dissolve and break this engagement is no easie matter 8. Satan sets in with it and upon all occasions gives it all the help he can as Allies and Confederates use to do he says to Sin what Joab once did to Abisha 2 Sam. 10.11 If the Syrians be too strong for me then thou shalt help me but if the Children of Ammon be too strong for thee then I will come and help thee if he can hinder it Sins kingdom shall never be demolish'd no not in any one Soul Now put all these things together and it will appear that the power of the Spirit is highly necessary to deliver from the power of Sin yea that nothing below the Almighty strength of this Almighty Spirit can free a Soul from its dominion who but he who is God could subdue and conquer such an enemy as this is Of the sufficiency of the Spirits power to make free from the Law of Sin 2. Secondly there 's the sufficiency of the Spirits power as he is every way able to produce the effect we are speaking of 'T is indeed a great thing to break the yoke of Sin to pull the Crown off from its head to conquer it notwithstanding all the things which have been alledged yet as great a thing as it is this great Spirit is able to do it if he once engage in the work 't is enough the power of an Almighty God must needs be above the power of what is but finite and limited as was said but now As Christ is able to save * Heb. 7.25 to the utmost from Sins guilt so the Spirit also is able to save to the utmost from Sins power let it be never so high and lofty if this Spirit take it in hand I 'le warrant you it shall be brought down God once said to Paul My grace is sufficient for thee 2 Cor. 12.9 't is meant chiefly of strengthening and supporting grace now as that grace is sufficient to bear up under the heaviest afflictions so this sanctifying sin-subduing sin-mortifying grace is sufficient to bring down the strongest corruptions All things considered we may stand and wonder at the rescuing of a Soul out of Sins thraldome ô the bringing of Sin under that but just now was so high is a strange and wonderful thing but if we consider the strength of that person who is employed about it the wonder is at an end as 't was said upon another account Zech. 8.6 If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days should it also be marvellous in mine eyes saith the Lord of Hosts Jer. 32.27 Behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there any thing too hard for me this is applicable to the Spirit in the personal consideration of God We alas must cry out as David once of the Sons of Zeruiah Sin is too hard for us we cannot get it down but 't is not too hard for God and his Spirit Though it hath its strong holds he takes them or batters them all down with ease it captivates the Sinner but the Spirit captivates it 2 Cor 10.4 5. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ ô the boundless infinite power of the Spirit nothing no not Sin it self even when 't is at the highest can stand before him that which all the Creatures in heaven and in earth cannot do that he can do omnipotentissimâ facilitate as * Epist 107. ad Vitalem Austine phrases it Who is sufficient for these things why he and none but he who hath illimited and infinite power Of the efficacious workings of the Spirit in this Effect 3. Thirdly There 's the efficacy of the Spirits power or the effectual working of the Spirit in the freeing of a person from the Law of Sin When this great Agent comes to bring about this freedom how doth he act Answ efficaciously and irresistibly I mean he puts forth such a power as that the work is certainly done He doth not onely in a Moral way advise counsel * Vid. Twiss Vind. Grat. l. 1. par 2. sect 16. p. 160. c. Digress 6. p. 163 c. With many others who every where write upon this Argument persuade the Sinner to cast off Sins bondage but he in order thereunto puts forth an insuperable and irresistible strength upon him and so goes thorough with the work he conquers all opposition both from without and from within so as that it shall not be victorious and in spite of all makes the Soul free he works herein omnipotentèr indeclinabilitèr insuperabilitèr as that great Champion of Effectual Grace expresses it Further when he comes about this or any other saving act he doth not leave the Sinners Will in suspense pendulous in aequilibrio hanging like a pair of Scales even and not going down on either side but in a way congruous to its liberty he overcomes and determins it for God against Sin so as that it shall neither hesitate nor make any successful * Deo volenti salvum facere nul um humanum resistit arbitrium Aug. de Corrept Grat. c. 14. Vide Jansen August t. 3. l. 2 c. 2â Habertus de Grat. l. 2. c. 16. Vid. etiam celeberrimum Doct. Ward de Grat disct p. 24 c. resistance to his Grace I am be ore I was well aware of it fallen upon a nice and much controverted Point viz. the efficacy of Divine Grace in its special operations a thing
improvement of it Was Christ sent and did God thus send him what doth this great act of God call for from us I 'le tell you in a few things 1. It calls upon us greatly to admire God Use 1. God to be admired for his sending of Christ O how should all our souls be drawn forth and elevated in the adoring of God for his sending of Christ What rich Mines of Grace have we in these few words God sent his own Son Here 's the greatest thing that ever God did or ever will do 't was much that he should make a World but what 's the making of a World to the sending of a Son The Apostle in the Text seems to ascend step by step and to crowd together variety of great and glorious things that he might the more heighten God's Love and draw up the hearts of Believers to the admiration of it For 1. here is Sending 2. God sending 3. God sending a Son 4. His own Son 5. The sending of this Son in our flesh Yea 6. in the likeness of sinful flesh Yea 7. in that Flesh to offer up himself as a Sacrifice for sin 8. Doing this for this End that sin might be condemned and that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us 9. Doing this too when the Sinners Case was desperate as to the Law is not here maguum in parvo and doth not the Apostle thrust things together heaping one thing upon another that he might the better set off and aggrandize the Love of God There 's enough in any One of them to make you stand and wonder but when you have them conjunct and all set before you in their proper emphasis and import how should you be affected and wrought upon to admire the Grace of God! The truth is take all together and you have here a representation of that Low Mercy Goodness which was too great and bigg for any but a God If you read no further than the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh there man is utterly lost but if you go on to God 's sending of his Son c. there the day of Salvation begins to dawn there 's an effectual remedy for a desperate malady now the case is altered O let the blessed God be therefore for ever magnify'd and adored 2. More particularly The Love of God the Father to be admired this calls upon you to admire the Love of God the Father and alwayes to entertain good thoughts of him they are distinct Heads however let me put them together I would not too curiously divide or distinguish betwixt the Sacred Persons in their several Acts much less would I set them in competition or prefer one before another as if we were more beholden to the One than to the Other As they center in the same common Essence 't is the same Love and the same gracious actings in all but yet they being personally distinct and they having those acts which are proper to them as so distinguished so they have their special and peculiar Love And 't is very good for us to understand what is immediately done by the Father what by the Son what by the Spirit which we must the rather endeavour after because the Scripture usually I do not say alwayes apply's this effect to the First that to the Second and another to the Third Person I am at present only to speak to the acts of the Father wherein he hath display'd that Love which is proper to him which if you please to look into as the Scripture sets them forth you will find your selves under a strong obligation to admire him as personally so considered For 'pray observe who did from all eternity predestinate elect choose you was it not God the Father Predestinating Love is the Father's Love Eph. 1.3 4 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world c. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will After this came Redeeming Love and had the Father no hand in that Love nay had not He the first and the chief hand therein For did not he find out the ransom Job 33.24 I have found a ransom did not he contrive and lay the whole model and platform of Redemption in his eternal purpose and ordination therefore 't is said Isa 53.10 The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand that great Work resolves it self into the Will and pleasure of the Father as the first and principal Cause of it Christ as Mediator is brought in but as subordinate to him as being but the ministerial and executive agent in redemption for 't is but in his hands that the pleasure of the Lord should prosper Who chose sent called Christ to that Work and fitted him for it but the Father as you have heard So also who assisted and strengthened him in it but the Father Isa 42.1 Behold my servant whom I uphold of which upholding and strengthening Grace by the Father Christ assured himself beforehand as you read Isa 50. 7 9. and it was accordingly made good to him as you read Matth. 4.11 Luke 22.43 Then again who rewarded Christ when he had finished his Work but the Father therefore to him Christ pray'd for this Joh. 17.4 5. I have glorified thee on the earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do And now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was And now Christ hath made the purchase who doth authoritatively collate upon persons the blessings purchased but the Father Rom. 8.33 It is God that justifieth 2 Cor. 5.18 All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ c. Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom Who is it that works in Sinners their meetness for heaven but the Father Col. 1.12 Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Who is it that reveals the great mysteries of the Gospel but the Father Matth. 11.25 I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes Who bestows and gives the Spirit but the Father Joh. 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth And to shut up this who secures and keeps in a state of grace but the Father Joh. 10.29 My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's band Now Christians may
of God You find in Scripture that saving Faith is described by its special reference to Christ as standing in this relation so Gal. 2.20 The life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me why doth the Apostle thus express it by the Faith of the Son of God I answer partly because Christ the Son of God is the efficient and * Heb. 12.2 author of faith partly because this Son is the great Object of faith and partly because Faith in its essential act doth very much eye Christ as thus related to the Father for 't is a believing or relying upon him as the Son of God 'T is very usual in the Gospel where it speaks of believing to mention Christ with it as standing in this relation 1 Joh. 3.23 This is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 5.13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him as the only begotten Son should not perish but have everlasting life O what a person is Gods own Son for Sinners to believe on what an all-sufficient Saviour how able to * Heb. 7.25 save to the utmost must he needs be who is God and Man the Son of God and the Son of Man And indeed 't is not enough barely to believe on Christ but there must be such a believing on him as may in some measure be answerable to this his relation is he God's own Son at what a rate should we believe what a faith should we act upon him what great things should we expect for him and from him can any thing be too high for our faith when we have the proper natural Son of God in our eye as its basis and foundation Saints should have their faith raised not only upon the encouragement of the Promises but also upon the consideration of Christ's Person as he is so near and dear to God I have formerly observed how our Apostle in the Text rises higher and higher in the setting forth of the Love of God he sayes God sent there was Love he sent his own Son there was more Love this own Son he sent in the likeness of sinful flesh there was yet more Love and this he did for this end that he might for sin condemn sin in the Flesh c. there was the very top and zenith of Love Now as there is a rise in these things in the setting off the Love of God so there is also a rise in them in their several engagements and encouragements to us to believe in Christ and to believe in him yet more and more firmly and fiducially he was sent therefore we must believe he was and is God's own Son therefore we must the rather and the more strongly believe he took our flesh here 's an higher argument for an higher faith in that flesh he condemned sin performed all that the Law commanded suffered all that the Law threatned what a faith doth this call for Now if notwithstanding all this it shall yet be either no believing or but faint-believing both will be sad though in a great disparity for the faint-believing is unanswerable to what is reveal'd and uncomfortable to the Saint but the no-believing is damnable to the Sinner 3. Branch of the Exhortation To honour Christ 3. Thirdly is Christ God's own Son how then should all honour and adore him certainly upon this Sonship the highest yea even divine adoration it self is due to him Is he a Son such a Son the Son of such a Father the greatness of his Person arising from that high and near relation wherein he stands to God calls for the highest respect reverence veneration which Angels or Men can possibly give unto him Besides this 't is the absolute Will of the Father that all should * Joh. 5.23 honour his Son even as they honour himself for he having the same Nature and Essence with the Father the Father will have him have the same honour which he himself hath which whosoever deny's to him reflects dishonour upon the Father who will not bear any thing derogatory to the glory of his Son 'T is a known * Nicephor lib. 12. cap. 9. Sozom. l. 7. c. 6. story that of the carriage of Amphilochius to the Emperour Theodosius he had petitioned the Emperour to be severe against the Arrians to discountenance and suppress them because in their Opinions they did so much disparage the Son of God but could not prevail whereupon he made use of this device coming one day into the presence of the Emperour and of his Son Arcadius who now ruled joyntly with his Father he made his humble obeysance to the Emperour himself and shewed him all reverence but as for his Son he passed him by shewed him no respect at all rather dealt derisorily with him stroking him upon his head and saying to him in a way of contempt Salve tu Fili The Emperour upon this was much offended sharply reproves Amphilochius for his affront to his Son c. whereupon the good man vindicates his carriage plainly telling the Emperour he had given reverence enough to his Son And now the Emperour was more incens'd commands him with great indignation to be thrust out of his presence c. which whilst some was doing Amphilochius turn'd himself to the Emperour and said thus O Emperour thou being but a man canst not bear the contempt or disparagement of thy Son how dost thou think the great God can bear that contempt of his Son which the Arrians cast upon him the Emperour was much affected at this begg'd the Bishop's pardon commended his ingeny and did that now which he refus'd to do before The inference is undenyable if great Men stand so much upon the giving of all honour and due observance to their Sons much more will the Great God stand upon the giving of all due Honour and Reverence to his own and only Son O therefore let Christ be highly adored and honoured by you If you ask me how I answer every honouring of him is not sufficient but it must be such as may suit with his infinite Majesty and Greatness you must conceive of him as God as the Natural and eternal Son of God and according to that honour which is due to him as such so you must honour him The Apostle speaks of some * Rom. 1.21 who when they knew God they did not glorifie him as God so some pretend to give some glory to Christ but they do not glorifie him as God O this is that which you must come up to to adore and reverence Christ in such a manner
upon Heart and Life So as 1. To be humble 2. Not to give way to Sin 3. Especially not to those sins which do more directly disparage and debase the Humane Nature 4. To love God and Christ 5. To be willing to do to suffer to be abased for Christ 6. To labour after a participation of the Divine Nature 7. To be highly thankful both for the Thing it self and also for the revelation of it Use 3. Of Comfort As 1. Christ in Flesh must needs be un effectual way for promoting God's Glory and the Sinners Good 2. In this God hath given out a very high demonstration of his Love 3. By this all the Promises are seal'd and all the great things of Faith and Hope made sure and credible Particularly 1. The Mystical Union 2. Communion with God Christ's special presence the inhabitation of the Spirit 3. The Communications of Grace from God 4. Our Sonship to God 5. The Resurrection of our Bodies 6. The Future Glory 4. God is now knowable and accessible 5. The Humane Nature highly dignify'd and advanc'd 6. Christ upon this is the more compassionate 7. There are few troubles of Conscience wherein this may not afford matter of ease and relief The Fourth General in the Words THis branch of the Words contains a Fourth Head in it which comes next to be opened Our Apostle having spoken of God's sending his own Son he goes on to shew in what manner he sent him and as to that he saith God sent him in the likeness of sinful flesh Here 's nothing in the Text but Wonders but the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the great things of God! the further we go the deeper the Waters are and still new matter offers it self to heighten our admiration 't was wonderful that God should send such a Son but that he should send such a Son in such a manner in Flesh yea in the likeness of sinful Flesh this is yet more wonderful O Christian stay alittle pause upon these Words get thy thoughts up thy heart elevated in the contemplation of what is here set before thee and then read one Why this Branch is added to what goes before In my entrance upon them it may be enquired why the Apostle is so particular and so express in this matter * Nonne satis erat dicere mittens Filium suum Hoc ipso verbo declaratum non fuisset istud magnum mysterium scituque dignissimum quomodo videlicet peccatum peccati damnavit Omnipotens similitudine âarnis peccati peccatores à peccato liberans c. Corn. Mussus had it not been enough for him to have said God sent his own Son and so to have broke off but he must also add that God sent him in the likeness c To which I answer there was great reason for this amplification for the Apostle being here treating of such great mysteries of such high and glorious discoveries of the Wisdom Grace Love of God towards lost Sinners he thought in these he could not be too full or too express and he being to set down in a little room the whole model and platform of mans Salvation the good Spirit of God directed him to put in enough both for the setting forth of God's admirable Love Mercy c. and also for the encouragement of the Believers Faith with respect to the certainty compleatness and fulness of his Salvation Now Christ's incarnation and abasement in Man's Nature being so pertinent and proper and so necessary as to both of these ends therefore our Apostle will not pass that over without a particular mentioning of it And elsewhere you find him when he had spoken of Christ's mission presently to subjoyn Christ's incarnation also as Gal. 4.4 When the fulness of time was come God sent his Son made of a woman c. 'T was not only God's sending of Christ but his so sending of him viz. in Flesh yea in the likeness of sinful Flesh which puts such an emphasis and accent upon his own Grace and which doth give such full assurance to poor Creatures that they shall be effectually redeem'd and sav'd Upon these Considerations therefore besides the admirableness of the thing in it self Paul when he is upon such an Argument might very well superadde this to what preceded and he 's not satisfied with the once mentioning of it in the general but he repeats it and more particularly shows what use God made of Christ's Flesh or what good did by that redound to us for sin he condemned sin in the Flesh that is in the flesh of Christ The Explication of the Words For the clearing up the true meaning of the Words and the vindicating of them from those false interpretations which some of the old Hereticks put upon them I will lay down a Few Particulars 1. First that Flesh as here used concerning Christ carry's a quite other sense in it than what it did when it was spoken of before You had it Vers 1. Who walk not after the Flesh c. in this Verse what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh in which sense as 't is there used it occurs in many following Verses Now Flesh in these places is taken in a very different notion from Flesh in this for in them 't is taken morally and accidentally but here where Christ is concern'd in it 't is taken Physically and substantially in them it notes Man's nature as corrupted but here the very being and substance of the Humane nature or the verity of the Humane nature it self abstracted from any such adjunct and so 't is twice taken in this Verse 2. That Flesh in this application is not to be understood in its more narrow and limited sense but in its more general and comprehensive sense Here 's a double Synecdoche in the word as it signifies 1. the whole Body 2. the whole Man or the whole nature of man Flesh in its strict acceptation is but a part of the body and the body but a part of the Man but so you are not here to take it for Christ had a perfect entire compleat body and every thing as well as meer Flesh which is proper to a body for instance he had blood as well as Flesh therefore both are named Heb. 2.14 He also took part of the same i.e. of Flesh and blood and he had bones as well as flesh Luke 24.39 A Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have Further Christ was not only clothed with Flesh as that is limited but to one part of Man but he assumed the * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cyrill Alexandr in Joh. p. 95. whole Nature of Man he had a Soul as well as a Body which two are the essential constitutive parts of Man What more common in Scripture than by Flesh to set forth Man in his whole entire humane Nature See Gen. 6.12 Psal 65.2 Isa 40.5 Joel 2.28 Luk. 3.6 Rom. 3.20 Joh. 17.2
the world hath he appeared c. nor only as manifested 1 Joh. 1.2 1 Joh. 3.5 8. 1 Tim. 3.16 nor only as taking Flesh which expression to some might be more doubtful and general as Heb. 2.14 16. but to put this out of all question it says he was made flesh Joh. 1.14 which must be more than a bare appearance or manifestation in imaginary and phantastick Flesh 'T was enough for * Nullus unquam Angelus ideo descendit ut crucisigeretur c. Si nunquam ejusmodi fuit causa Angelorum corporandorum habes causam cur non acceperint carnem Non venerant mori ideo nec nasci At vero Christus mori missus nasci quoque necessario habuit ut mori posset Tertull. de Carne Christi p. 363. Angels when God had only some particular and ordinary message to send them upon to assume an external shape and then lay it down again but when Christ is to be born to converse in the world a considerable time to die to make satisfaction in that Nature in which the offence had been committed here must be more than a Spectrum an apparition here must be real Flesh And indeed the former Old-Testament apparitions were but as so many â Vide Irenaum advers Haeres lib. 4. c. 37. praeludium's of Christ's real incarnation in all these he did but praeludere humanitati suae as Tertullian phraseth it 5. Therefore as to the letter of the Words when 't is said Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful Flesh this likeness is to be link'd not with Flesh but with sinful Flesh He had true real very Flesh but he had only in appearance and likeness sinful Flesh he had not a putative imaginary body but as to sin though there was something like to that in his outward state and condition yet 't was but like to it there was no such thing in truth and reality inhering in that Nature which he assumed This is that plain genuine interpretation of the Words against the old Heretical pervertings of them which the * Non in similitudine Carnis quasi Caro non esset Caro sed in similitudine Carnis quia Caro erat sed peccati Caro non erat Aug. Vide Serm. 3. 6. de verbis Apostoli In similitudine Carnis peccati fuisse Christum ait non quod similitudinem Carnis accepit quasi imaginem Corporis non veritatem sed similitudinem Carnis peccatricis vult intelligi quod ipsa non peccatrix Caro Christi ejus suit par cujus erat peccatum genere non vitio Adae c. Tertull. de Carne Christi p. 372. Similitudo ad peccati titulum pertinet non ad substantiae mendacium c. Idem adv Marci lib. 5. cap. 14. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Basil Ep. 65. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Chrysost in loc ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Theodoret. Misit Deus c. ut in verâ carnis susceptione agnosceretur veritas non fuisse peccati quantum ad corpus veritas intelligeretur quantum ad peccatum similitudo peccati Cassian de Incarn Dom. lib. 4. Orthodox Antient and Modern put upon them the truth of which I shall endeavour to make out in what will follow at present I need say no more about it Two Propositions raised from the Words These things being thus premised the whole matter will fall into these two Propositions 1. That Christ was sent in Flesh 2. That he was sent in the likeness yet but in the likeness of sinful Flesh Two very weighty and important Truths therefore I hope the opening and confirming of them will not be judged tedious or unnecessary Of the First Proposition wherein the verity of Christ's Flesh is proved I begin with the First where I shall consider the Flesh in which Christ was sent 1. in its more strict 2. in its more large notion More strictly as it relates to the verity of Christ's incarnation and the reality of his body more largely as it relates to the verity of his whole manhood which as hath been already said is made up and constituted of something more than Flesh But before I enter upon either of these Heads I cannot but bewail and O that I could do it with the most inward and most intense sadness of Spirit that unworthy wretched usage which our blessed Lord JESUS hath all along met withal ever since he was reveal'd to the world He hath but two Natures and how hath he been impugned opposed struck at in both first Some attempted to undermine his Godhead then Others succeeded who attempted to undermine his Manhood 'T is very sad to consider that he who is both God and Man if several men might have had their Will should have been long before this neither God nor Man but a very nothing Ebion first comes upon the Stage and he denies him to be God then come Marcion Manes c. and they deny him to be Man the Arrian ungods him and the Manichee unmans him what will they leave us of him who is our All How was the Primitive Church fain to dispute argue contend to their utmost and all little enough for the defence of these Natures of Christ and God be blessed for their excellent zeal in such fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith 't is pity the Churches zeal should ever run in any other Channel But Christ must be opposed some way or other for he is set for a sign which shall be spoken against Luk. 2.34 the present Contests of the world are now against him chiefly with respect to his Offices but the past Contests were against him chiefly with respect to his Natures I have according to my poor ability vindicated his Natural and eternal Sonship and consequently his Godhead I am now to vindicate the truth of his Incarnation and Manhood This the forementioned Hereticks peremptorily deny'd as appears by the * Athanas tom 1. de Incarn Christi Tertull. de Praescrip advers Haeret. c. 46. Haer. 3. de Carne Christi advers Marcion against whom he writes five Books Epiphan tom 2. lib. 1. Haer. 24. 80. tom 3. Haer. 42. August tom 4. p. 925. c. Cyrill Alexandr tom 5. p. 678. c. Antients who wrote against them they asserted that Christ had no â ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ignat. hence they were called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Valentinus carnem Christi putativam introduxit Tertull. de came Christi They say Christ did but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Theophylact expresses it true Flesh 't was only the likeness of Flesh which he appeared in that his body was only a Phantastick imaginary Body And this pestilent Opinion they did in part ground upon the Words which we have at present before us but as to them by the giving of their true sense this weapon has been rescued out of the Enemies hand And some
â ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est ipsa Caro etiamsi non cum peccato c. Missus ergo Filius Dei ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. in carne non peccatrice eâdem tamen quae in nobis peccârat five pollutâ non in ipso sed in nobis Naturam Peccati h.e. Peocatorum Dei Filius suscepit puram quidem sed ut nostram quae peccârat expiaret Cum notissimo Hebraismo ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã res ipsa dicatur ut cum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ipse Homo dicitur non video cur non ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã vera sit âaro cum peccati non ab eo dicatur qui assumsit atque hoc ipso expiavit sed ab eo qui peccando corrupit Heins Expositors the more to weaken the Objection of the Adversaries as grounded upon this Text tell us that the likeness here of sinful Flesh is the sameness of sinful Flesh that Christ took that very Flesh which was and is sinful not that it was so in him but that it is so in us that he assum'd that very Flesh which in man is defil'd by sin yet not as defiled but as true Flesh As when 't is said concerning him that he was in the * Phil. 2.6 7 8. form of God in the form of a Servant in the likeness and fashion of man ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 't is the same word with that in the Text the meaning is that Christ was truly God truly a Servant truly Man and as 't is said concerning Adam * Gen. 5.3 he begat a Son in his own likeness that is he begat a Son who was as truly a man and as truly a Sinner as himself so Christ was sent in the likeness c. viz. in just such Flesh or in the very self same Flesh which man hath made in himself sinful and therefore passible and mortal Now though I cannot deny the truth of this Exposition as thus stated nor that it may very well be grounded upon parallel places yet because to some at the first hearing it may seem somewhat harsh I rather incline to that which was laid down before in the opening of the Words 't was the same flesh in Christ and in us in its Physical consideration but it being morally considered it was but the likeness of sinful Flesh But to come to that which I propounded let us consider Flesh in its strict acceptation as it relates to the fleshly and bodily part so I 'le lay down two things about it 1. That Christ was indeed sent in flesh was really incarnate and did verily take flesh upon him And what one thing is there in the whole Gospel wherein 't is plain and positive if it be not so in this Joh. 1.14 And the Word was made Flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 Without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God manifested in the flesh Heb. 2.14 16. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil For verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham Rom. 1.3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh Rom. 9.5 Whose are the Fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen Hence he 's said to be made of a woman Gal. 4.4 many such * See the strength of these with other Texts drawn forth and vindicated against Objections by Mr. Tombes in a little Treatise called Emmannel or God-man Sect. 15 16 c. to the end of the Book places might be produced to prove that Christ really assumed Flesh but these may suffice Christ's Flesh was organiz'd And this Flesh wherein Christ was sent was organiz'd and form'd into a perfect body the Apostle doth not only call it his Flesh but the body of his flesh Col. 1.22 In the body of his flesh through death c. Heb. 10.5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a Body hast thou prepared me I Pet. 1 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree c. Our Saviour did not assume a confus'd indigested and unshapen mass or lump of flesh that was not his incarnation but he assumed Flesh cast into the very mould and form of our bodies having the same several parts members lineaments the same proportion which they have 2. I adde not as a distinct Head from the former but only that I may more distinctly speak to it then as yet I have done Of the Verity of Christ's Body that as Christ was indeed sent in Flesh so the flesh in which he was sent was Flesh indeed He saith * Joh. 6.55 My flesh is meat indeed and I say his Flesh was flesh indeed as true real proper very flesh as that is which any of us carry about with us 't was as was said before but the likeness of sinful flesh but 't was the reality of physical or substantial Flesh * Vide Aquin. 3. p. Qu. 5. Art 1. Christ's body was no Spectrum or Phantasm no putative body as if it had no being but what was in appearance and from imagination but as real as solid a body as ever any was therefore the Apostle in the * Col. 1.22 fore-cited place calls it a body of Flesh a body to shew the organization of it and a body of flesh to shew the reality of it in opposition to all aerial and imaginary bodies It had all the essential properties of a true body such as are organicalness extension local presence confinement circumscription penetrability visibility palpability and the like Luke 24.39 * Quomodo hanc vocem interpretaris Marcion c. Ecce fallit decipit c. Ergo jam Christum non de coelo deferre debueras sed de aliquo circulatoriò caetu nec salutis Pontificem sed spectaculi artificem c. Tertull. de Carne Christi p. 362. Behold my hands and my feet that it is I my self handle me and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have 1 Joh. 1.1 That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life c. He had also those natural â Esuriit sub Diabolo sitiit sub Samaritide lacrymatus est supra Lazarum trepidavit ad mortem sanguinem fudit postremò haec sunt opinor signa coelestia Idem ibid. p. 367. affections passions infirmities which are proper to a body as hunger Matth. 4.2 When he had fasted forty dayes and forty nights he was afterwards an hungred thirst Joh. 4.7 Joh. 19.28 I thirst Sleep Matth.
no satisfaction without flesh no suffering therefore Christ must be incarnate Look as he must be * Suscipitur à virtute infirmitas a majestate humilitas âut quod nostris remediis congruebat unus atque idem Dei hominum Mediator mori ex uno resurgere possit ex altero Nisi enim esset verus Deus non adferret remedium nisi esset verus Homo non praeberet exemplum Leo de Nativ Quum mortem nec solus Deus sentire nec solus Homo superareposset Humanam Naturam cum Divinâ sociavit ut alterius imbecillitatem morti subjiceret ad expianda peccata alterius virtute luctam cum morte suscipiens nobis victoriam acquireret Calvin Instit l. 2. cap. 12. c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. vide Epiphan adv Haer. l. 2. t. 2. p. 748. more than Man that he may be able so to suffer that his Sufferings may be meritorious that he may go through with his Work and conquer all enemies difficulties discouragements whatsoever all which could not have been done by a meet man so he must be Man that he may be in a capacity to suffer die and obey for these are no work for one who is only God A God only cannot suffer a Man only cannot merit God cannot obey Man is bound to obey whereupon his Obedience will be but matter of debt and therefore not meritorious wherefore Christ that he might obey and suffer he was Man and that he might merit by his Obedience and Suffering he was God-man just such a Person did the work of Redemption call for The 3d Reason why Christ was sent in Flesh because this was the best and fittest way in order to the carrying on of God's designs 3. Christ must be made Flesh because as was said before concerning his sending this was the best the fittest the most convenient way that God could pitch upon in order to the bringing about of his great designs To make it the * De Necessitate si quaeritur non simplex quidem absoluta fuit sed manavit ex coelesti decreto unde pendebat hominum salus caeterum quod nobis optimum erat statuit clementissimus Pater Calvin Instit lib. 2. cap. 12. Licet Deus solo nutu voluntatis abolere potuisset peccatum convenientius tamen ei visum fuit si hâc justitiae viâ procederet ad destruendum regnum peccati Estius in loc Poterat Deus suam incomprehensibitem misericordiae largitatem patefacere condonando noxam humano generi absque ullo actu perfectae satisfactionis c. Vide Soto in Rom. 8.3 Aquin. Sum. 3. P. Qu. 1. Art 2. necessary way especially with respect to satisfaction that to some possibly may seem too high but surely none will deny but that this was the fittest and most convenient way and had it not been so the wise God would have taken some other way rather than it But did he design to advance his own glory and the Sinners good to give out the highest manifestation and utmost advancement of all his Attributes to promote and ascertain Pardon Justification Salvation all Grace to Believers what way could have been thought of so proper so effectual as this of Christ's coming in our Flesh If God will punish sin was it not meet that he should punish it in that Nature in which it had been committed what more congruous than since Man had been the sinner that Man should be the sufferer By man we fell God will therefore in wisdom so order it that by man too we shall rise again that in the same Nature wherein the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the wound had been given the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the cure and remedy shall be provided also as * Cyrill Alexandr Comment in Joh. P. 95. one expresses it 1 Cor. 15.21 For since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned The Humane Nature was to be redeem'd therefore 't was fit that that Nature should be assum'd that was * Nascitur ut ipsam quam prius homo vitiaverat Naturam melioraret August de temp Serm. 20. p. 613. c. Et quia ea natura pro nobis plecti debuit quae peccaverat quaeque erat redimenda Thes Salmur de Christo Mediat p. 244. Quoniam justitia Lex Dei ita flagitabant ut Caro humana quae peccaverat eadem pro peccato lueret Pareus in loc Homo qui debuit Homo qui solvit c. Bern. Ep. ad Innocent corrupted and spoyl'd in us therefore it was expedient that Christ to heal this Nature should take it upon himself pure unstained and uncorrupted in short Satan had foil'd and baffled the first Adam in this Nature wherefore in it Christ the second Adam will foil and baffle him to Man was the Law given by Man was the Law broken therefore by Man also shall the Law be fulfilled So much for the Grounds and Reasons of Christ's Incarnation Hitherto I have insisted upon what is more plain and easte and have only in a more general way spoken to some things that concern the Incarnation and Manhood of Christ Seven Propositions for the due stating and opening of Christ's Incarnation I must now endeavour more particularly to open some other things about them which are of a more mysterious and abstruse Nature I 'le reduce all to these Seven Propositions 1. Prop. Christ who did exist as the Son of God before was incarnate 1. That the Lord Jesus who antecedently to his incarnation was the Son of God and as such had a praevious existence even he was incarnate and made Flesh Here the â Socin in Explic. cap. 1. Joh. in Disput de Nat. Christi Smalcius Homil. in 1. Joh. Hom. 8. Refut thes Grawer in refut thes Franzii Crellius de uno Deo Patre lib. 2. sect 2. cap. 5. p. 562. Ostorod Instit cap. 17. Catech. Racov. p. 89. SOCINIANS again make their opposition for though they acknowledge Christ's Flesh and Manhood they had not need to deny him that it being all they grant him yet that he as praeexisting in the Essence of God and in the relation of God's Natural Son did assume the Humane Nature and unite it to the Divine in one Person this they will by no means acknowledge nay this they fiercely and vehemently oppose With what vile reflections and opprobrious speeches do they load this great Article of our Faith as thus stated * Disp de Nat. Christi p. 10. Humanationem merum humani ingenii suisse commentum p. 3. stupenda Dei metamorphosis Socinus is pleas'd to call it merum humani ingenii commentum a meer fiction of the wit of man â Smalcius refut thes Franziu de Person Christi p. 67. quod
Adam's loins too for his genealogie is carried up to Adam Luk. 3. yet he not descending from him in the ordinary fleshly way his Person was exempted from the guilt of his sin and his Nature from the general depravation 3. Christ was actually Holy there was nothing but holiness in whatever he did all his actings inward and outward did exactly correspond with the Nature and Will of his Father he never was guilty of the least sin in thought word or deed sin was neither contracted nor * Eandem assumsit Naturam Chriâtus sed in ea non peccaviâ Ambros committed by him Grace and Holiness were advanced in him to the highest pitch according to the utmost capacity of the Humane Nature without the least mixture of what is contrary thereunto in a word he liv'd in his whole course a most holy innocent spotless sinless life as the Scriptures which have been alledged do abundantly testifie The Grounds of Christ's Holiness and Sanctity This sanctity and sinlessness of Christ's Humane Nature was necessary upon a double account 1. To fit it for the personal union with his Divine Nature Can it be imagin'd that ever the Lord Jesus would take a Nature tainted with sin and so nearly unite it to himself when the Divine Nature stood at so great a distance from sin can we without blasphemy think that it would assume the Humane Nature had it been sinful into so close an union as that both should make but one person O such a thing was not possible God can take a sinning if repenting Creature into his bosom but he cannot take a sinning Nature into his Person Christ might condescend to take flesh yet be God but he could not have taken sinful flesh and yet be God the humane nature simply considered was not inconsistent with his Godhead but that Nature if sinful was 2. This was necessary in respect of Christ's Office and undertaking for our good In order to which as he must be man so he must be man perfectly holy and righteous for he that is a sinner himself cannot be a Saviour to other sinners then 't would be Physician heal thy self or Saviour save thy self all that such a one could do would be little enough for himself Christ was both Priest and Sacrifice with respect to both he must be without sin as Priest for if sin had been chargeable upon him he must then have offer'd for himself and so have been in the same condition with the Priests under the Law which the Apostle shews he was not Heb. 7.26 27. As Sacrifice too for whatever was offer'd up to God it was to have no blemish in it In allusion to which the Apostle calls him a Lamb without blemish and without spot 1 Pet. 1.19 answerably to the Paschal Lamb Exod. 12.5 and to the two Lambs in the fire-offering Numb 28.3 and he 's said to offer himself without spot to God Heb. 9.14 How could Christ have taken off guilt from us had he had it lying upon himself or how could he have made us righteous had he not been righteous himself therefore 2 Cor. 5.21 He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him and Isa 53.11 By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many mark it Christ being a righteous Person himself so he comes to justifie and make others righteous so 1 Joh. 3.5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin the connexion is observeable * Si esset in illo peccatum auferendum esset illi non ipse auferret August he that will take away sin from others must have no sin in himself Christ coming for that end therefore in him there was no sin Three things as â one observes from the words were requisite to him that should be the Mediator he must be God he must be Man * Piscat he he must be perfectly and unmixtly holy all these three qualifications you have in the Text Christ was God's own Son there 's his Godhead he was sent in flesh there 's his Manhood he was sent but in the likeness of sinful flesh there 's his purity and holiness Having done with the Explicatory part Use 1. Information I come now to what is Applicatory Where in the first place passing by other things these two we are mainly informed of 1. Of the excellency of the Gospel and Christian Religion 2. Of the excellency of Christ's Flesh or Manhood Of the excellency of the Gospel and Christian Religion 1. First that great Truth which I have been upon informs us of the excellency of the Gospel and Christian Religion The more raised and mysterious the things are which the one reveals and the other believes the more excellent must both of them needs be for this is a Principle grounded upon Reason and strengthned by the Consent of all who pretend to Religion whether it be true or false What more common amongst men when they would argue for the excellency either of that from which they fetch their Religion or of their Religion it self than to cry up the mysteries and to tell us what high sublime mysterious things are contained in them These make a great impression upon mens minds and strongly induce them to believe that whatever hath in it such mysteries must certainly be of God and have a divine Original therefore Heathens themselves as well as Christians have much pleas'd themselves with this and have been great pretenders to such and such mysteries thereby to gain credit and reputation to their way Now let us apply this Principle or common test to the Gospel-revelation and the Christian Religion and then I 'm sure their excellency above all other pretended Revelations and Religions will be evident For look into all those admired and rare Secrets those high and raised mysteries which they who know not the Gospel did so much cry up and magnifie and do but compare them with this one mystery God 's own Son sent in flesh alas what trifles what shallow contemptible ridiculous things are they in comparison of it A God incarnate shames all the little mysteries of the Pagan Religion if so good a title may be given to so bad a thing they all vanish before this and are not able to stand in competition with it Now where is this profound mystery revealed but in the Gospel and where is that revelation believed but in the Christian Religion therefore how excellent must both needs be upon this account The Heathens knew nothing at all of this they dreamt of Men being made Gods but that he who was truly God should be made truly Man this they were altogether ignorant of in all their Religion there was no such mystery The Apostle cryes out 1 Tim. 3.16 Without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God manifested in the flesh c. his design in these
liv'd to see this and yet shall we doubt of the thing surely that would be sad The Ratriarchs and they who lived under the Law had but some dimmer discoveries of it here and there an obscure promise and that was all to them for a long time this was reveal'd but in types and shadows And it was too a great way off from them yet they saw the promises afar off and were persuaded of them as the Apostle tells us Heb. 11.13 and now when Christ is come when the thing is done shall we be doubting and questioning in our selves about it when our light is so clear shall our faith yet be weak Our Lord 's coming in Flesh to redeem Man was that great thing held forth in the Scriptures of the Old-Testament and they are full of it observe that passage Heb. 10.5 5 6 7. Wherefore when he cometh into the world be saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared me in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure Then said I Lo I come in the Volume of the Book it is written of me to do thy will O God what doth Christ mean by the volume of the book I answer the whole body of the Old-Testament-Scriptures this was not written only in this or that particular Text but you have it all along interwoven into the body of those Scriptures now when the whole stream and current of the Scripture runs to this very thing shall we yet give but a languid assent about it Especially when we have the New-Testament-revelation superadded to the former the New Testament I say which gives us so full an account as to matter of fact in reference to the Conception Nativity Life Death of Christ which shews us how this and that Prophesie pointing to his Incarnation was fulfill'd which asserts it over and over again telling us expresly that the Word was made Flesh God was manifested in the Flesh c. shall we notwithstanding all this yet stagger in our faith about the truth of Christ's being sent in flesh O believe it and believe it steadily so as to look upon it as a thing without controversie Satan hath all along more or less made his assaults upon Christians in this as well as in other matters and no question he 'l do the same to you if it be possible to undermine and hinder your firm assent to it but let him not prevail Firmly to adhere to Christ as sent in flesh 2. But under this branch of Exhortation I am to urge not only firmness of assent but also firmness of adherence I mean this you must believe that Christ was sent in flesh so as to cleave and stick to him as sent in Flesh There are some amongst us whom therefore I cannot but look upon as most sadly deluded and most dangerously erring in the very Fundamentals of the Christian Religion who make little of a Christ in this notion they are all for a Christ within them but as to a Christ without them or a Christ in flesh as born of the Virgin Mary crucify'd at Jerusalem c. I say a Christ thus stated they decry and disregard O that from what I have heard and read I had not too just occasion for this charge T is highly necessary therefore that I should say something to antidote you against this venome that under the pretence of a Christ within you do not lose or overlook a Christ without In a sober sense we are for a Christ within as much as any viz. as he is formed in the Soul at the new birth Gal. 4.19 as he is united to and dwells in believers Col. 1.27 Rom. 8.10 but yet 't is a Christ without as incarnate whom we rely upon for life and salvation as he is so considered we eye him in the great acts of faith and ground all our hope and confidence upon him I have * p. 310. before told you that a Christ as formed in the heart is necessary to justification and salvation for he saves none but those who have this inward work but yet 't is a Christ as formed in the Virgins womb and as dying upon the Cross who is the proper efficient meritorious procuring Cause of Justification and Salvation These two must by no means be parted yet their efficiency or causal influence upon Sinners good is very different for by the one mercy is procur'd by the other 't is only apply'd the impetration is by the Christ without the application only is by the Christ within And therefore though you are to put an high value upon the latter and to endeavour to make sure of it as the way and condition of receiving benefit by Christ yet you are to know that 't is the former by which all is merited and therefore there the great stress of your Faith must lie 't is a Christ as taking flesh and dying in flesh that you must stick unto Matth. 1.21 She shall bring forth a Son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Christ the Son of Mary was to save 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners c. the Apostle layes the meriting of Salvation upon a Christ without as coming into the world and not as coming into the heart he who died upon the Cross was slain suffer'd at Jerusalem hee 's the person whom God hath exalted to be Prince and Saviour Acts 5.30 31. The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins surely where persons have not forfeited the very principles of Christianity this is a thing which needs no proof Indeed Christ in the Spirit will very little profit those who disregard him in the flesh But no more of this Paul hath a passage which I would a little open 2 Cor. 5.16 Henceforth saith he know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more how know Christ no more after the flesh what doth he mean by this did he cast off all respects to him all relyance upon him as considered in his Flesh O no! all that he aims at is this he knew Christ no more after the flesh that is so as to have any further converse with him in a fleshly way he did not expect again to eat and drink with him as sometimes the Apostles had done all that external converse was now at an end Or he means that he did not look for any fleshly advantages by him as worldly honor preferment riches c. Or again that he did not know him as in the state of his former abasement and humiliation so the word flesh is sometimes taken more restrainedly
his invention and contrivance and his only the wisest Creatures in the world had they united all their wisdom could never have thought of such a way for the redeeming of lost man In so desperate a case God himself to speak after the manner of men was fain to set his own wisdom on work to find out a remedy and this was that which he found out and pitched upon O the infinite unsearchable incomprehensible Wisdom of God! The Apostle speaks of the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10 of the manifold wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 of his abounding in all wisdom and prudence Eph. 1.8 what may these expressions refer to but to God's deep and most wise designs and methods display'd in the work of man's redemption by a Christ incarnate And which was a great demonstration of his Wisdom see how the remedy was suited to the malady Man at first would be as God and that ruin'd him therefore now God shall be as Man and that shall restore him Man gave the wound and Man shall heal that wound O the wisdom of God! 2. His Power for Christ as he was the Wisdom of God so also the Power of God 1 Cor. 1.24 and as he was so in other respects so eminently in that which I am upon 'T was an act of mighty power for God so nearly to unite the Godhead and the Manhood the bringing of two Natures so distant together in one Person must needs be the product of infinite power For God to make something out of nothing that speaks the greatness of his Power but for God to be made Man there being in some respects a greater distance betwixt the Godhead and the Manhood than 'twixt Something and Nothing this speaks a greater power 'T is much that Soul and Body two such different Beings should be so conjoyn'd as to make a Man that such disagreeing Elements should be reconcil'd in corpore mixto but what are these to the joyning of the Godhead and Manhood in one hypostasis 3. His Justice Is sin committed the holy Law broken doth the Creature lye under guilt God stands upon the vindication of his Honour the making good of his threatnings the satisfaction of his Justice Satisfaction he will have and in that Nature too in which the offence had been committed and because the Creature was altogether unable to make it in order thereunto God will have his own Son to take flesh that he may be in a capacity to obey do suffer what Justice required and when this Son had so assum'd flesh God fell upon him charg'd him with the guilt of all Believers exacted of him that punishment which was due to them would not spare him in the least or ' bate him any thing O the severity and impartiality of God's Justice 4. His Mercy Goodness and Love And doth not this Attribute shine forth as brightly in our Saviour's being made flesh as any of the former Here was the tender mercy of our God Luk. 1.78 God's so loving of the world Joh. 3.16 the great manifestation of his Love 1 Joh. 4.9 his glorious grace and the riches of his grace Eph. 1.6 7. Did ever God give the world such a demonstration of his Love and Grace as in the Incarnation of his Son O matchless infinite unlimited Love and Grace He had done exceeding well for Man as he made him at first for he put him into a very good state stamp'd his own Image upon him made him above all other Creatures to be his favourite but he foolishly sin'd and fell from God and thereby lost all his happiness Well! what did God now do did he let Man alone shut up his bowels against him fall upon him with his utmost wrath did he say Nay since 't is thus let him even rise as he hath fallen since he would be so foolish as for a trifle to break with me let him rot and die and perish for ever I 'le do no more for him O no! not such a word or thought did pass from the gracious God towards his miserable Creature He pitied undone man found out help for him yea sent his own Son to restore him and how did he send this Son why in Flesh but in what Flesh surely it shall be altogether glorious flesh such as shall be of a quite other Nature than that is which we poor mortals have I so it was in some respects but in others but just like to sinful flesh put all this together and was not here Love God will have sin to be punished but then the punishment shall be laid upon his own Son and the sinner himself shall be acquitted O the heighth of Justice and yet O the heighth of Mercy too There 's more of Mercy in God's sending Christ and sending him in this way than there would have been in his absolute pardoning of sin without any sending or any satisfaction because alwayes the more costly a mercy is the more there is of Mercy in that mercy And meer pardon nay Salvation it self have not so much of Mercy and Love in them as what was in Christ's assuming our Nature for as to the first 't is more for a King to put himself into the Traytor 's stead and himself to make satisfaction for his Offence than just to pardon him and as to the second in Salvation there is our advancement but in Christ's Incarnation there was his abasement now 't is more for such a Person as Christ to be abased than 't is for such a Creature as Man to be advanced All which being consider'd what an obligation doth there lie upon us to get our hearts rais'd up unto and drawn out in the highest admiration of God's Mercy God the Son to be admired 't is shewn here also how or wherein Secondly God the Son or Christ himself the Person who was incarnate he too is greatly to be admired with respect 1. to his Love 2. to his Holiness 3. to his Power 1. For his Love which indeed was superlative and admirable transcending the reach of the highest finite capacity Christ knew what our flesh was how much it was below him to take it * Te propter vitamque tuam sum Virginis alvum Ingressus sum factus Homo c. Lactant. de Benefic Christi yet for our good he readily condescended to it and was willing to debase and depress himself if he might but advance and exalt us here was the mirror of Love The greatness of his Person speaks the greatness of his Love * Phil. 2.6 7 8. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation c. what a Person was Christ before his Incarnation what a fall was here thereby for such a Person * Jacet in pannis qui regnat in coelis Mundum implens in praecepi jacens Sidera regens ubera lambens c. Conditor Mariae natus ex Mariâ Filius David
of the hands of your enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of your life Luk. 1.74 75. Partly too because upon Christ's sending in the flesh you have so full a demonstration of the evil of sin how hateful it was to God c. for it having got into the world nothing could expiate it unless God's own Son will take flesh yea and suffer and die in that flesh and so bring about the expiation of it O what an evil is sin Now notwithstanding and after all this will you yet love it and live in the commission of it what will this be but in effect to say you regard not what Christ was or did that you desire as far as in you lies to make this his great act the taking of flesh to be insignificant and to no purpose as also to declare to the world by your practises that you have quite other thoughts of sin than what God himself hath Especially they must shun those sins which do most disparage and debase the Humane Nature 3. Of all sins be sure you shun those which do most directly disparage and debase the Humane Nature such as drunkenness intemperance bodily uncleanness c. what a sad thing is it that ever such things should be done where there is such a Nature When Christ hath assum'd that Nature and by assuming it hath so dignified and advanc'd it nay when he hath so highly glorify'd it as to carry it up with him to Heaven and there to sit with it at the right hand of God shall we by such and such sinful courses the gratifying of such base lusts * Agnosce O Christiane dignitatem tuam divinae consors factus Naturae noli in veterem vilitatem degeneri conversatione redire Leo de Nativ dishonour and disparage it God forbid Sinners let me intreat you when ever the temptation comes to excite you to those Evils which in special do entrench upon the glory of the Humane Nature as to drink to excess to defile your bodies by fleshly lusts c. do but seriously think with your selves that you are Men and shall such carry it as beasts that your Saviour hath just such a body as you have and doth he abuse it by the committing of such Evils that he hath your Nature and doth he so and so sin in it that he hath restor'd it as 't is in himself to its pristine glory and will you as 't is in your selves keep it as vile as ever surely if such who are drown'd in sensuality did but seriously think of this they would abandon their base lusts rather than by them debase their excellent Nature They must love God and Christ 4. Love God and Christ yea love them strongly ardently to a very intense degree of love * 1 Joh. 4.16 God is Love he hath made it appear so in his sending of Christ in flesh therefore he deserves love he hath sufficiently acted and declared his love to you how will you act and declare your love to him c. he loved and * Joh. 3.16 so loved you will you not â Si amare pigebat saltem reamare non pigeat August de Catech. Rud. return love for love I and so love him too to the utmost of your capacity What will fire the cold heart with love to God if this will not do it viz. his sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh he that knows and considers this certainly he cannot but be full of divine Love And then Love Christ was he willing to put on your rags to cloath himself with your flesh did he take your Nature and that too under those circumstances which have been mentioned doing this not for himself but wholly for your good was he pleas'd so far to condescend as to become one of you nay to put himself not only into your Nature but also into your stead he might have been a Man and yet not a Surety O let him have your Love your most hearty and cordial Love pray let it be your greatest grief that you have no more love for him who deserves so much alas 't is but a drop when it should be an Ocean but a poor spark when it should be a vehement flame And I would have you to love Christ who is incarnate as well as because he was incarnate what an alluring attracting object of Love is Christ God-man God loves him as he is in our flesh the Angels love him as in our flesh the glorify'd Saints love him too in that notion will not you also love him as he is so considered Christ in our Nature is a Person very amiable what is there in mear man to draw our love to him which is not in Christ God and Man with great advantage he indeed is the Deliciae humani generis * Psal 45.2 fairer than the children of men the â Cant. 5.10 chiefest amongst ten thousand â 16. altogether lovely those excellencies which are but scattered in us do all like lines in the Centre concur in him A Christ incarnate is the love of heaven let him be the love of earth too 5. So love Christ as to be willing nay ambitious to do to suffer Be ambitious to do and suffer for Christ to be abased for him O Sirs what shall we * Deus Homo factus est quid facturus est Homo propter quem Deus factus est Homo August tom 3. p. 1070. do for him who hath done such inexpressible things for us shall we be loth to take his Cross who was so willing to take our Nature he had but the likeness of sinful flesh and yet how willingly and patiently did he suffer we have the reality of sinful flesh shall we hang off from suffering or be impatient under it what abasement can be too much for the sons of men when the Son of God was thus abased what service can be too mean for us when Christ stooped to the form of a Servant He that knows how much Christ's love was above him will never think any work or service to be below him 6. As Christ was pleas'd to partake with you in your Nature Labour after the participation of the divine Nature so let it be your desire and endeavour to partake with him in his I mean that which the Apostle speaks of when he saith that by these you might be partakers of the divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 even man in such a sense is capable of this and therefore should pursue after it 'T was part of Christ's humiliation to take our Humane Nature but 't is our highest exaltation to be brought under the participation of his divine Nature of which though we cannot be partakers as he was of the former for then we should be properly and formally deify'd which is high blasphemy yet in the fruits and effects of it and in regard
it self was a most wicked act there had been to believers no remission no expiation as Death was destroy'd by Death so Sin by Sin it condemned Christ but by so doing it was condemn'd it self So much for the first reading of the Words 2. Secondly the Preposition is rendred by For and that rendring of it our Translators according to other * Propter peccatum V. Syr. Propter ipsoân peccatum Tremell Versions and the general current of Interpreters follow and for sin condemned sin c. If we take it so the Words then may carry a threefold sense in them 1. That Sin was the procuring meritorious Cause of all that which God the Father did in a way of severity upon and against Christ He condemned sin in Christ's Flesh fell very severely upon him testify'd great anger and displeasure against him inflicted sharp and dreadful punishments upon him why did such a Father so deal with such a Son what might be the cause that a person so innocent should suffer as he did why 't was Sin not his but ours which brought all this upon him ãâã had it not been for that God had never sent his Son in Flesh into the world and then have punished him in that Flesh as he did Christ might thank Sin for all his sufferings and lay all the Evils which he sustain'd in Soul and Body at its doors that set his Father against him that laid the foundation of all his sorrows that brew'd that bitter cup which he was to drink that was the meritorious cause of all the miseries that ever befel him 't was for sin that God so condemned sin in his Flesh The Preposition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is sometimes used in this sense so Joh. 10.33 For a good work we stone thee not but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for blasphemy and because that thou being a man makest thy self equal with God 1 Pet. 3.18 For Christ also hath once suffered ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for sins c. which is as much as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gal. 1.4 Heb. 10.12 2. The for sin may be taken finally Wherefore did God thus condemn sin in his Son's Flesh wherefore was it with Christ as it was O 't was for sin namely that he might take it away acquit the Sinner from its guilt make satisfaction for it over-rule it in all its plea's and power quite destroy it God would deal with Sin in the person of his own Son he having submitted to take the guilt of it upon himself that thereby he might give a through dispatch to it and throughly rid believers of its hurtfulness 1 Joh. 3.5 And ye know that he was manifected to take away our sins and in him is no sin Vers 8. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil In this final notion ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is taken Matth. 26.28.1 Cor. 15.3 3. It may be understood Materially with respect to Christ's being a Sacrifice for Sin For Sin God condemned Sin how why as Christ submitting to be a Sin-offering was and did that by which this effect was produc'd According to this Interpretation we must reade the words as is noted in the margent thus * Phrasi Hobraeâ peccatum vocat Sacrificium pro peccato Franz Schola Sacrif disp 7. th 56. By a Sacrifice for sin God condemned sin whatever there is ãâã this condemning of sin and there is abundance in it 't was all brought about by that Sin-offering or Sacrifice which Christ in his flesh offered up to God 't was cut off expiated disabled as to its destructive and damning nature c. all this was effected by Christ's being a Sacrifice So that the words are Elliptical there being in them something cut off and left out which must be supply'd by the inserting or adding of by a Sacrifice or some other such word Which Ellipsis is very usual and common in Holy Writ especially when 't is treating of Sacrifices Levit. 10.17 Wherefore have ye not eaten the Sin-offering so we reade it but in the Hebrew 'tis only the Sin in the holy place c. 't would be tedious to cite the very many places of this nature which do occur in * Levit. 4.3.29.33 5.6 7.9.11 9.22 12.6 8. 14.13 16.16 that Book Ifa 53.10 When thou shalt make his Soul sin we fill it up by an offering for sin Hos 4.8 They eat up the Sin of my people that is the Sacrifices which were to be offer'd up for the people Ezek. 45.19 The Priest shall take of the blood of the Sin we reade it of the Sin-offering * Sicut hostias quae pro peccato offerebant in Lege peccati nomine vocabant cum ipsae delicta nescirent sic Christi caro quae pro peccati nostris oblata est peccati nomen accepit Hieron See Grotius de Sat. Christi c. 1. p. 16. Nothing more usual in the Old Testament than to make the words Chattaath and Ascham to be expressive both of Sin and of the Sacrifice too by which that Sin was to be expiated answerably to which is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã us'd in the New 2 Cor. 5.21 He that knew no sin was made sin c. that is a Sacrifice for sin An Ellipsis like to this in the Text you have Heb. 10.6 In burnt Offerings and for Sin thou hadst no pleasure where Sacrifices is left out but must be put in so here in the words which I am upon This now is that Interpretation which is most * Per hostiam carnis suae quam obtulit pro peccante damnavit peccatum in carne suâ Orig. Hostiâ pro peccato damnavit peccatum in Carne Melanch Per hostiam pro peccato Christum Deus abolevit peccatum in hominibus Vatabl. Sed quid fi mittens filium c. vult dicere quidem hostiam pro peccato five ut esset hostia pro peccato Drus Ego adduci nequeo ut nomen Peccati alio sensu hic positum esse existimem quam pro expiatrice victima quae ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã dicitur Hebraeis ficuti Graeci ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã vocunt Sacrificium cui maledictio injungitur Calv. For Sin that he might be a Sacrifice for Sin Dr. Ham. To be a propitiatory Sacrifice for Sin Deod To the same purpose P. Martyr Heming Piscat Vorst Lud. de Dieu c. whom I need not cite yet Beza will not admit of this exposition Praepositio ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nullâ ratione potest hanc interpretationem admittere neque nunc Apostolus agit de Christi morte nostrorum peccatorum expiatione sed de Christi incarnatione naturae nostrae corruptione per eam sublata Beza generally pitch'd upon which seems best to correspond with other parallel Texts and with the Matter and Scope of this which we have in hand and therefore that only I shall iusist upon and indded the two former
nobis est umbraculum Sacrificio suo apud Deum nos reconciliavit Zarnov de Sat. Christi p. 38. accomplishment of them 2. That he is also a true and real Sacrifice for was there reality in the Type and shall there not be the same with advantage in the Anti-type or shall they be shadows of a shadow shall there be such a shell and no kernel such a bone and no marrow in it But to go on In the old Sacrifices there were these Six things Six things in the Old Sacrifices all of which are to be found in Christs Sacrifice 1. The Person who did institute ordain and appoint the use of them who was God himself whose institution of them though it be not express'd in the Scriptures yet it may very strongly be inferr'd from them 2. The Person unto whom they were offered and he also was God himself 3. The Persons offering viz. the Priests to whom by divine appointment this work was committed and it was a great part of their work and one great end of their Office For every high Priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things partaining to God that he may offer both Gifts and Sacrifices for sins Heb. 5.1 4. The Matter of the Sacrifice or the thing offered which was very various according to what God was pleas'd to specifie and appoint Oxen Bulls Heifers Sheep Rams Goats c. 5. The Oblation it self when the Beast was slain it was to be offered up and then part of the blood thereof was to be carried into the Holy of Holy's there to be presented before the Lord and the main stress of the * See Dr. Stillingfl against Crellius ch 5. p. 451. expiation lay not upon the representation which followed after but upon the mactation and solemn oblation of the Sacrifice 6. The Altar upon which all was to be offer'd Now answerably and in correspondency to all these 1. God instituted appointed ordained Christ to be the Sacrifice it was his will and ordination that his Son should offer up himself a propitiatory or expiatory Sacrifice Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself c. 1 Pet. 1.20 Who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world c. It was as much the appointment of God that Christ the true Sacrifice should die be slain offered up as that under the Law any of those Sacrifices should be so used and as from all eternity he decreed and appointed Christ to be the Sacrifice so in time he fitted and prepared him for his being so therefore saith Christ * Heb. 10.5 But a body hast thou prepared me without which he could not have been a Sacrifice 2. Christ offered up himself to God He had to do * Grot. de Sat. Christi c. 10. p. 121. with God as he stood in the quality and respect of a Sacrifice for this was a part of his Priestly Office which primarily refers to God as King and Prophet he hath to do with us but as Priest he had to do with God that he might propitiate and atone him So 't was with the Aaronical Priests they were ordained for men in things pertaining to God Heb. 5.1 and surely so it must be too with the great Priest whom they did typifie Heb. 2.17 that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God The Apostle speaks it expresly and hath given himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour 3. Here was the Person offering and that was Christ himself he as Mediator as God-Man was the Priest to offer up himself They under the Law had variety of Sacrifices and variety of Priests we under the Gospel have but one Sacrifice and one Priest who first offered up himself and now continues in another way to offer up our duties and services to God 4. As Christ was the Priest offering so he was the Sacrifice offered for he was both which was unusual and extraordinary The Levitical Priests and the Sacrifices which they offered were distinct they were not bound to offer themselves but our Lord Jesus was * Ut quoniam quatuor considerantur in omni Sacrificio cui offeratur à quo offeratur quid offeratur pro quibus offeratur idem ipse unus verúsque Mediator per Sacrificium pacis reconcilians nos unum cum illo maneret cui offerebatur unum in se faceret pro quibus offerebatur unus ipse esset qui offerebat quod offerebat August de Trinit Utrum Christus simul fâerit Sacerdos Hostia Aquin. in 3. p. Qu. 22. Art 2. Priest and Sacrifice too in his Person he was the Offerer in his humane Nature he was the thing offered 'T was necessary that he should offer something For every high Priest is ordained to offer gifts and Sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man have also somewhat to offer Heb. 8.3 what then did he offer such things as had been offered before the blood of bulls and goats no he offered his own blood Heb. 9.12 his own body Heb. 10. 4 5 6 7 10. through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all that very body which was so miraculously framed with which he liv'd here on earth which he carried up with him afterwards to heaven that very body I say he freely offered up upon the Cross as a Sacrifice to God His Soul comes in too but that 's himself Isa 53.10 When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin His whole self in his whole Humane Nature was the matter of this Sacrifice Eph. 5.2 and hath given himself for us an offering c. Heb. 1.3 when he had by himself purged our sins Heb. 9.14 who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God So Heb. 7.27 The Text saith for sin God condemned sin in the flesh by which flesh the Apostle understands the whole Manhood of Christ and that was the Sacrifice for sin by which Sin was condemned 5. There was Christ's formal and proper oblation performed upon the Cross by and upon which the sins of Believers were to be expiated That there was in Christ an oblation none deny but that this was done at his Death or here on earth and was expiatory in that sense which we put upon it both of these are vehemently deny'd by the SOCINIANS but I shall have occasion to vindicate both by and by 6. In Christ's Sacrifice there was an Altar too namely his Godhead The Altar sanctify'd the gift Matth. 23.19 so 't was here the Deity of Christ did not only sustain and strengthen his Humane Nature in his being a Sacrifice therein but it also gave merit and efficacy to his Sacrifice for how did that come to be so meritorious and effectual for the good of Sinners but from this
appease or assuage the anger of one that is incens'd so it s taken Gen. 32.20 I will saith Jacob concerning his brother Esau appease him with the present that goeth before me so 2 Sam. 21.3 it signifies also to â Psal 32.1 cover to â Psal 49.7 8. redeem c. but this of atoning or pacifying is most usual Now in order to this atoning God appointed Sacrifices the shedding of whose blood was to make an atonement saith the Lord here and he goes over it again for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the Soul All along in the several kinds of Sacrifices it runs it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him the Priest shall make an atonement for them c. this alwayes comes in as the great end or effect of the Law-Sacrifices Whence they are said to be of a sweet savour unto the Lord not only because of their pleasingness to God but also because they made him propitious to and well-pleased with such as had offended him so Levit. 1.9 13 17. 'T is the same word but sometimes 't is rendred by reconciling as Levit. 6.30 No Sin-offering_ to reconcile withal in the holy place Levit. 8.15 to make reconciliation upon it We find when at any time in some particular judgments the anger of God did break forth either against the people or against particular persons presently they betook themselves to Sacrifices thereby to atone and propitiate him Numb 16.46 And Moses said unto Aaron take a Censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and put on incense and go quickly unto the Congregation and make an atonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the plague is begun 2 Sam. 24 25. And David built there an Altar unto the Lord and offered Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings so the Lord was intreated for the Land and the plague was staid from Israel As to the other End or Effect viz. Expiation that also belong'd to Sacrifices they had a power or virtue in them to cleanse and purifie from Sins guilt to procure pardon and remission whence they were called Expiatory and had it not been for this effect they could not have passed under that denomination A full proof of it you have in that one Sacrifice the Heifer which was to be offered for the cleansing of the people when murder had been committed but the acter of it was conceal'd Deut. 21.7 8. And they shall answer and say Our hands have not shed this blood neither have our eyes seen it Be merciful O Lord unto thy people Israel and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israels charge and the blood shall be forgiven them So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from amongst you c. was not here expiation and wherein did that lie but in the putting away of the guilt of innocent blood and in the obtaining of pardon for 't is said and the blood shall be forgiven them This is that which is set forth by cleansing from sin Levit. 16.30 For on that day shall the Priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sin before the Lord Numb 3.5 for blood defileth the band and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it The Apostle sets it forth by purifying of the flesh Heb. 9.13 by which he means the taking away of that ceremonial ritual or civil guilt which any did lie under And he puts it out of all doubt that expiation in the old Sacrifices did not point to the abolition of Sins power but to the ablation of Sins guilt for having said that * Heb. 9.22 almost all things are by the Law purged with blood he tells you what he meant by that purging adding without shedding of blood is no remission or expiation of sins guilt and this is the notion which alwayes he drives at in that Epistle in those several words which he there uses viz. sanctifying purifying purging c. Indeed this was the * Vide Essen Tri. Crucis l. 1. sect 4. c. 8. p. 6. chief and most proper effect of Sacrifices other things might be done by them but this was the main therefore it so often comes in upon this account And the Priest shall make an atonement for them and it shall be forgiven them Levit. 4.20 so Vers 26. 31 35. * Causa cur noluerit Deus alteri Sacrificari quam sibi ea potissimum videtur quod Sacrificia imprimis fierent ad expiandâ peccata solus verò Deus jus habeat ea condonandi Vossius de Idol l. 1. p. 977. And this might be one Reason why God prohibited the offering of Sacrifices to any but to himself because the end of them being the forgiveness of sin and none being able to reach that end but himself therefore none should be sacrific'd unto but himself Four things laid down concerning Atonement and Expiation by Sacrifices For the better understanding of this double Effect of the Law-Sacrifices I desire four things may be considered 1. That the atonement and expiation effected by those Sacrifices must be conceived of as done by them in that notion which was proper to them as Sacrifices None can deny but that they did atone and expiate but how did they so do there 's the question I answer this was done by them as they were substituted in the place of Offenders and were slain in their stead and for their sake other accounts I know by some are given of this but that now set down is the true as appears by what hath been already spoken under the two foregoing Heads 2. That this atoning and expiating virtue was not limited only to the Sacrifices us'd at the anniversary great Expiation but it belong'd to the other Sacrifices For instance to Burnt-offerings I take in those that were made use of before the giving of the Law about Sacrifices see Job 1.5 42.8 after the giving of the Law to Free-will-offerings Levit. 1.3 4 c. to the Meat-offering and Drink-offering Levit. 2. per tot Levit. 23.13 Numb 15.7 10 13 14. to the Peace-offering Levit. 3.15 16. to the Sin-offering and Trespass-offering Levit. 4.6 to the Ram which was therefore call'd the Ram of atonement Numb 5.8 there 's no end of such instances 3. That yet the atonement and expiation proper to those Sacrifices is to be limited according to the bounds which God himself was pleas'd to set for 't was but in such cases and for such sins wherein he did admit of them in order to these effects of which more by and by 4. That these effects were not produc'd by any inherent or innate virtue in the Sacrifices themselves but only as they were instituted by God and as they derived efficacy from the Sacrifice to come Christ himself Take away these two things and what could these Sacrifices have done
what could there be in them to pacisie an angry God or to to purifie a guilty Sinner what was the blood of a Beast as considered in it self to expiate the sin of a Man The Apostle plainly tells us Heb. 10.4 It is not possible that the blood of Bulls and Goats should take away sin therefore he sayes there was no perfection by the Levitical Priesthood Heb. 7.11 and the Law made nothing perfect Heb. 7.19 in which were offered gifts and Sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the Conscience Heb. 9.9 So that whatever virtue those Sacrifices had further than the taking away of civil guilt ritual uncleanness securing from Church and State-penalties it wholly depended upon the institution of God and the merit of Christ The brazen Serpent heal'd such as were stung yet not from any intrinsick power in it self but only as God was pleas'd to give that power and efficacy to it and so 't was here in the case of the old Sacrifices These four things I have laid down both to clear up the Sacrifices themselves and also because they are of great use to set us right in our conceptions about Christ the great Sacrifice which must be opened by them Answerably now to these two great Ends and Effects of the Mosaical Sacrifices the same were designed to be done and were actually done by the Lord Jesus when he offered up himself to God upon the Cross whereby he also 1. atoned God 2. expiated the sin of the Elect. As God was angry and offended with the Sinner so Christ by his death procur'd atonement pacification reconciliation as the Sinner lay under guilt so Christ brought about the purgation or expiation of his guilt both of these were done by him and that too not only really but in a much higher way than what was done by the old Sacrifices therefore he was a true proper expiatory Sacrifice yea the most eminent expiatory Sacrifice Of atonement and reconciliation by Christs Sacrifice 1. For atonement or reconciliation By Adams Fall a sad breach had been made 'twixt God and Man Sin had greatly incens'd the holy God against his sinful Creatures nay there was a mutual and reciprocal enmity contracted between them Things being in this dismal state the blessed Jesus interpos'd himself in order to the appeasing of an offended God and the reconciling of him and the Sinner the two parties that were at variance For the effecting of which he did not only as a bare Internuntius treat with both or only offer up prayers to the one in which respect Moses atoned God Exod. 34.10 11 12 13 14. and intreaties to the other 2 Cor. 5.20 and so proceed by some verbal interposures but when nothing else would do it he was willing even to lay down his own Life to die as a Sacrifice upon the Cross by this means to bring God and Man together again in amity and love By which death of Christ the offended God was perfectly atoned and reconciled to the Sinner so as that now upon the satisfaction made to him therein he could without any injury to his Justice and Holiness receive the Sinner into his favour and not inflict upon him that wrath and punishment which he had made himself obnoxious unto this is the true notion of atonement and reconciliation by Christ and all that we * Non statuimus Deum irato propriè factum esse propitium sed Christi Satisfactione causas irae divinae obliteratas esse ut salvâ justistiâ suâ possit gratiam exhibere Essenïus p. 253. mean by it But that this was thus done by him what one thing is there in all the matters of Faith wherein the Gospel is more clear and full 1 Joh. 2.2 And he is the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood c. Rom. 5.10 11. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement 2 Cor. 5.18 19. All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself Col. 1.20 21. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself c. And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath be reconciled in the body of his flesh through death So Eph. 2.13 14 c. Isa 53.6 the chastisement of our peace was upon him i. e. by his penal sufferings our peace was made with God 'T is true which our * Socin de Servâ p. 1. c. 8. Adversanies would fain improve to their purpose that all along in these Scriptures the reconciliation is said to be on Mans part as if Sinners were reconcil'd to God not God to them but there 's a special reason for that viz. * Baxters Life of Faith p. 189. because they were the first in the breach they fell out with God before he fell out with them as also because the averseness to reconciliation is on their part wherefore if they be willing to be reconcil'd to God and are actually reconciled to him there 's no question of it but that he is willing to be reconciled to them and is so actually Some would have the reconciliation as on God's part to be spoken of Heb. 2.17 that he might be a merciful and faithful high Priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people where ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is according to the Hebrew Enallage as much as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as * De Satisf p. 93. Grotius well observes Howerver supposing that this Text doth not so expresly hold forth the thing yet there is enough in those convincing Reasons Arguments and Consequences which the Word elsewhere affords to prove the reconciliation to be mutual as is fully proved by divers Which reconciliation you see was accomplished by Jesus Christ yea by his death and blood so that he exactly answers to the first effect of the Jewish Sacrifices Of the Expiation of Sin by Christ's Sacrifice 2. The for the Second the expiation of sin that also was done with great advantage by Christ his death carried indeed a Sin-expiating virtue in it and was most truly of an expiatory nature Let us a little look into the Scripture see what it saith about this and that we shall find not only to assert the thing but so to assert it as withal to set down and determine the nature and true notion of it I mean this
great Sacrifice which is now fully revealed to us and actually exhibited for us they had variety and multiplicity of them we have all in one theirs were costly and burdensom ours costs us nothing but thankful application theirs of themselves could only cleanse from ritual and civil guilt ours from all guilt whatsoever they had the blood of Beasts we the blood of God's own Son One of the * Vide Alting Shiloh l. 5. c. 17. In hoc Sacrificio vertitur omnis ratio variatio faederis c. great differences 'twixt the Covenant of Grace as then and as now dispensed lies in the difference of the Sacrifices to them it was testified and ratified by the blood of ordinary Creatures to us 't is so by the blood of Christ compare Exod. 24.8 with Matth. 26.28 Surely we have the advantage over them God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect as 't is Heb. 11.40 O what degree of thankfulness can be high enough for that knowledge of interest in benefit by Christ's Sacrifice which we now have under the Gospel above what they had who liv'd under the Jewish Sacrifice And if our state be better than theirs how much more is it better than the state of the poor Gentiles As to Jews and Christians 't is happiness and happiness compar'd together but as to Gentiles and Christians 't is happiness and misery the Jews had their Sacrifices from God himself to whom they were offered and by whom they were owned but in the Pagan Sacrifices there were none of these they were neither instituted by God nor directed to him therefore it could not be expected that ever they should be blessed by him And besides this there was nothing of Christ in their Sacrifices Men-Sacrifices they had but as to the Sacrifice of Christ God-Man that they knew nothing of without which what could all their Sacrifices signifie for the purging away of guilt They had great variety of them some blind notions of expiation purgation atonement by them but alas not being offered to the true God nor back'd with the true and only propitiatory Sacrifice of Christ they were all in vain They us'd to twit Christians with their want of * Origen contra Ceisum l. 8. Temples Altars Sacrifices c. but we can easily answer them we have all in Christ whose one Sacrifice upon the Cross was more than all their Hecatombs and Sacrifices whatsoever we may be the objects of their derision but surely they should be the objects of our compassion and whilst we pity them let us be highly * See the Grounds of this fully set forth by Stuckius de Sacrif f. 154. c. in his Antithesis Ethnicismi Christianismi thankful for our selves that ever this one only perfect Sacrifice was made known to us as well as offered for us Of the excellency of Christ's Priesthood and Sacrifice 6. Sixthly we may from hence take notice of the excellency of Christ's Priesthood and Sacrifice I put them together because they do mutually prove the excellency each of the other his Priesthood must needs be excellent because he offered up such an excellent Sacrifice and his Sacrifice must needs be excellent because it was offered by such an excellent Priest The setting forth of the excellency of both is the main scope and business of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews that full and most Evangelical Commentary upon the Levitical Sacrifices but he reduces the latter under the former proving the glory and excellency of the Priesthood of Christ from the excellency of his Sacrifice Indeed in the making out of that he makes use of several other Mediums or Arguments as 1. the greatness and dignity of Christ's Person Heb. 4.14 2. the extraordinariness of his Call Heb. 5.4 5. 3. the preheminence of the Order according to which he was Priest above the Aaronical order he being Priest after the order of MELCHISEDECH Heb. 5.6.10 Chap. 6.20 4. his oneness and singleness in this office Heb. 7 23 24. 5. his solemn inauguration into it Heb. 7.20 21. 6. its perpetuity and everlastingness Heb. 5.6 Heb. 7.16 24. 7. the excellency of the Sanctuary where 't is discharg'd Heb. 8.1 c. Heb. 9.11 12 24. 8. the betterness of the Covenant to which it refers Heb. 8.6 c. All these Heads the Apostle doth distinctly insist upon but that Medium or Argument which he is most large upon to prove the excellency of Christ's Priesthood is the excellency of his Sacrifice above all the Law-Sacrifices and that he makes out 1. from the matter of it The Priests under the Law offered such and such things only not themselves but Christ offered himself they the blood of Creatures he his own blood Heb. 9.12 Neither by the blood of Goats and Calves but by his own blood he entred in once into the holy place c. Vers 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself c. Vers 23. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these i.e. the blood of beasts but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these Heb. 1.3 When he had by himself purged our sins so Heb. 7.27 9.26 2. From the virtue and efficacy of it The Law-Sacrifices were weak and unprofitable could make nothing perfect Heb. 7.18 19. could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the Conscience they only sanctified as to the purifying of the flesh Heb. 9.9 13. It is not possible that the blood of Bulls and of Goats should take away sins Heb. 10.4 But Christ by his Sacrifice hath obtained eternal redemption Heb. 9.12 that reaches the Conscience to purge it from dead works c. Heb. 9.14 3. Those Sacrifices being thus weak were many and often to be repeated but this of Christ having such an efficacy in it was but one and but once offered never any more to be repeated Heb. 7.27 Who needeth not daily as those high Priests to offer up Sacrifice for this he did once when he offered up himself Heb. 9.12 by his own blood he entred in once into the holy place 25. c. Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high Priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself Heb. 10.1 c. The Law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those Sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect For then would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more Conscience of sins c. to these now
the Apostle opposes Christ's Sacrifice Vers 5 6 c. and of that he saith Vers 10. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all Vers 11 12. And every Priest standeth daily ministring and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins But this man after he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God Vers 14. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified The HEATHENS had their Sacrifices which they call'd * Succidaneae dictae si permis hostiis litatum non erat aliae post easdem ductae hostiae caedebantur quae quasi prioribus jam caesis luendi piaculi gratia subdebantur succedebant Gyrald Synt. 17. p. 465. Saubert de Sacrif c. 19. p. 477. Hostiae succedaneae which they offered up to their GODS in case those which they had offered before did not succeed the Lord Jesus by his one Sacrifice did so effectually do what he designed and the Sinner needed as that there is no room for or need of any hostia succedanea 4. The Apostle makes it out from the sanctity of Christ's Person and the perfection of his Sacrifice The Law-Priests offered first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people Heb. 7.27 they ought as for the people so also for themselves to offer for sins Heb. 5.3 the High Priest went once every year into the second Tabernacle not without blood which he offered for * Levit. 16.11 himself and for the errors of the people Heb. 9.7 But now as to Christ he was holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 he had no sin of his own to expiate by his Sacrifice he was made sin but yet he knew no sin 2 Cor. 5.21 Under the Law both Priest and Sacrifice were to be perfect i. e. without any open and external blemish as to the first reade Levit. 21.17 to the end as to the second God gave several precepts about it the Paschal Lamb was to be without blemish Exod. 12.5 the oblation for Vows and for Free-will-offerings the Sacrifice of Peace-offerings were to be without blemish perfect otherwise they should not be accepted Levit. 22.18 to 25. so the red Heifer was to be without spot and wherein there was no blemish Numb 19.2 so the Firstlings of the Cattle Deut. 15.21 and all Sacrifices whatsoever Deut 17.1 And this the * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Athen. Deipn l. 15. c. 5. c. quas cum immolabant nisi purae integraeque fuissent minus proficere putabant Gyrald p. 491. HEATHENS themselves made conscience of in their Sacrifices In correspondency to all this in a moral and spiritual sense our Lord's Sacrifice was perfect without the least blemish he offered himself without spot to God Heb. 9.14 he was a Lamb without blemish and without spot 1 Pet. 1.19 5. The excellency of Christ's Sacrifice appears from the great effects of it he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself Heb. 9.26 so that there is no more offering for sin Heb. 10.18 being made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 by this Sacrifice sin was condemned abolished expiated God appeased the Law satisfied â Heb. 9.12 eternal redemption obtained O what an excellent Sacrifice was Christ's Sacrifice and consequently what an excellent Priesthood was Christ's Priesthood Of the Evil of Sin 7. Seventhly was Christ a Sacrifice for sin in order to the condemning of it and could it be condemn'd by nothing short of that hence we are informed that Sin is a very evil thing and of a very heinous nature Had it not been a notorious and capital Offender would God have condemn'd and thus condemn'd it would he so severely have punished it in the flesh of his own Son must even this Son be offered up upon the Cross as a Sacrifice for the expiation of it O what a cursed heinous thing is sin that had made such a breach between God and his Creatures that Christ must die or else no reconciliation that had so highly struck at the Honour of the great God that nothing below the sharpest sufferings of his dearest Son could make Satisfaction for it its poison and venom was such that there was no cure for the Sinner into whom that poyson had got but only the precious blood of Christ himself God had such an hatred and abhorring of it as that for the * Grot. de Sat. Christi p. 67. testifying thereof even he whom he lov'd from all eternity must be made a â Gal. 3.13 Curse what a demonstration was this of the transcendency of the evil of Sin Would you take a full view thereof pray look upon it in and through this glass a sacrific'd Christ gives the clearest the fullest representation of sins hainousness True we may see much of that in Sins own Nature as 't is the transgression of God's most holy and most excellent Law as also in the threatnings which are denounc'd against it and further in the dreadful Effects of it both here and hereafter the loss of God's image and favour and eternal damnation is it not a very evil thing What a mischievous thing hath this sin been it cast the falling Angels out of Heaven into Hell and turn'd them into Devils it thrust Adam out of Paradise made God to be an enemy to him who but now was his favourite cut off the entail of happiness and instead thereof entail'd misery and a curse upon all his posterity it made God at once to drown a whole world it laid Sodom in ashes levell'd Jerusalem it-self to the ground caused God to forsake his own people the Jews c. 't would be endless to enumerate all the sad mischiefs of Sin Now I say in these things we may see much of the evil of it but not so much as what we see in the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Christ there there is the highest discovery and fullest representation of it He to be * Isa 53.3 a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief he to be bruised and broken yea and his Father to be â Isa 53.10 pleased in the bruising of him he in his own person to undergo the Laws penalty to tread the â Isa 63.3 winepress of the wrath of God he to be * Phil. 2.8 obedient to death even the death of the Cross he to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me he to be kill'd and slain and â Acts 5.30 hang'd upon a tree and all this for sin O what an excess of evil doth this hold forth to be in it Indeed that the poor Creatures should be so destroy'd in the Law-Sacrifices that so many millions of them they in themselves being harmless and innocent should die and be sacrific'd for mans sin this represents very much of
its cursed nature but yet that comes infinitely short of that representation thereof which we have in a dying crucify'd sacrific'd Christ the death of all those Sacrifices was nothing to the death of this one Sacrifice whereby Sin eminently appears in its own colours What a sad thing is it that men generally make so little a thing of it as though there was not much evil either in it or by it but in so doing how do their thoughts differ from God's thoughts for surely if he had not judg'd it to be very heinous he had never carried it towards his Son as he did I would desire Sinners to take their prospect of it through this medium of Christ's being a Sacrifice for it if any thing in the world will bring them to the sight of its malignity this will do it It pleases God to look upon believers through a dying Christ and so he loves them but could we but look upon Sin a thing never to be lov'd through a dying Christ how should we hate it Of the severity of God's Justice 8. Eightly this demonstrates also the severity impartiality terribleness of God's Justice By Christ's death and Sacrifice we have not only a declaration of the Justice of God in it-self in that he would not remit sin without blood for satisfaction Rom. 3.25 but a declaration also of the adjuncts and properties of his Justice viz. that 't is very severe impartial and terrible He was inflexibly set upon the punishment of sin such was his hatred of it and his respect to the honour of his Law that Sin shall not by any means escape his punishing hand and every punishment too shall not suffice but if shall be such as may fully answer the heinousness of the offence I and if his own Son shall interpose in the Sinners stead and take his guilt upon him and become his Surety even he be he never so dear to God must undergo the utmost punishment that ever he was capable of both for matter and degree God will fall upon him and * Rom. 8.32 not spare him no not in the least O how severe and impartial is his Justice Never was there such an instance or demonstration of these as in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus For pray consider what it was that he suffered besides all the sufferings of his Life at last he suffered death and that not a common or ordinary death but the very worst of deaths a death that had all ingredients into it to make it bitter wherein was all that bitterness which either the wrath of man or which was much worfe of God himself could sqeeze into it And though Christ foreseeing what this death was pray'd again and again that he might be * Joh. 12.27 saved from it that this â Mat. 26.39 42 44. cup might pass from him yet his Father was inexorable and would not hear him but die he must and so die too surely here was divine Justice under the highest severity and impartiality yet without the least mixture of injustice And when the thoughts and sense of this were upon Christ they made his â Mat. 26.38 Soul exceeding sorrowful cast him into most bitter agonies insomuch that * Luk. 22.44 he sweat as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground how dreadful and terrible is punitive Justice what a * Heb. 10.31 fearful thing is it to fall into the hands of the living God! this we see and know in our Saviours case O that we may never know and feel it in our own experience I might further infer from the premises 9. the unsearchable Wisdom of God 10. also his unconceiveable Love and Grave 11. the preciousness of Souls 12. the costliness of Salvation 13. the great dignity of Christ's person from which his Sacrifice deriv'd all its virâue efficacy but I must not speak to all that this vast Subject would lead me to So much for the Inferences drawn from the main Point 2. The next Vse shall be Exhortation Vse 2. Of Exhortation in which I would press some of those Duties which do best suit with the Truth before us hitherto I have chiefly been upon the informing of the judgment I now come to matters of practice Christ as a Sacrifice to be much studied and meditated upon 1. And first as Christ's Sonship and Incarnation of which before so his being a Sacrifice and thereby condemning sin should be very much the object of your study and meditation This you are to study that you may know more of it to meditate upon that you may draw out and improve what you already know about it for so I would at present distinguish betwixt these two supposing the one to be like the filling of the vessel the other like the drawing out of that vessel As to the first I would be earnest with you to be much in studying a sacrific'd crucify'd Christ if the knowledge of him as taking flesh is to be laboured after as you have heard it is surely the knowledge of him as dying in flesh and as condemning sin in his flesh is also to be laboured after In this Sacrifice of Christ you have the very mirror of the Grace of God the master-piece and highest elevation of his Love the glorious product of his infinite Wisdom the great basis and foundation of mans happiness should it not therefore with the greatest diligence be look'd into Our excellent Apostle determin'd to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. 2.2 the preaching of this was the great matter of his Ministry 1 Cor. 1.23 We preach Christ crucified and he makes the Gospel in its revelation mainly to point to this which therefore he calls ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the word of the Cross 1 Cor. 1.18 it being so how should the consideration hereof heighten our endeavours after a full and distinct knowledge of it God's own Son to be offered up as a Sacrifice for the sin of man O admirable and wonderful dispensation what a mystery is this how should all be prying into it Here we have Christ at his worst now the knowledge of him as at the worst is the best knowledge for Christians for they having their best by his worst the knowledge of him under that notion must needs be the best knowledge for them If Christ as a Sacrifice in the full import thereof was but better understood by Sinners O what benefit and advantage would thereby accrue to them how steddily would they believe how ardently would they love how patiently would they suffer how thankfully would they adore how chearfully would they walk should not these be prevailing inducements to such to labour after a fuller knowledge of him as so considered But in the enforcing of this duty let me not be mistaken 't is not a notional historical knowledge only of Christ as sacrific'd that I would have you to pursue after but I would state it
Pray look into the Text and see what pressing motives there are in it for this 1. Here 's Christ dying as a Sacrifice making his Soul an offering for sin Now Sinners shall that live in you or will you live in that which made your Saviour to die shall he die for sin and will you yet live in sin shall his death as to you be in * Ergo tu dignum te gere tali pretio ne veniat Christus qui te mundavit qui te redemit si te in peccato invenerit dicat tibi Quae utilitas in sanguine meo quid profeci tibi dum descerdo in corruptionem c. Ambros de Virgi vain will you continue sin upon the Throne when Christ was upon the Cross do you desire to have him there again crucified afresh as the Apostle speaks Heb. 6.6 would you renew his wounds and cause them to bleed again was it not enough for such a person to be once sacrific'd can you made even through his precious blood to the gratifying of your base lusts O dreadful I remember that passage of DAVID 2 Sam. 23.15 c. where you find him longing for the waters of Bethlehem Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the Well of Bethlehem which is by the gate upon this his earnest desire three of his mighty men brake through the Host of the Philistines and brought him some of this water but saith the story he would not drink thereof but poured it out unto the Lord why so O saith he be it far from me that I should do this is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives So here sometimes your desires and inclinations are strongly carried out to such and such sins but pray consider there 's blood in the case those sins cost Jesus Christ his blood he did not only jeopard but actually lose his life will you then meddle with them be they never so sweet or pleasing to the flesh I hope you will not I 'm sure you should not To strengthen this further pray consider what Christ's end or ends were in his being thus a Sacrifice they refer either to God or to you to God as he design'd to satisfie his Justice appease his Wrath vindicate his Honour c. to you as he design'd your Sanctification Holiness the abolition of Sins power c. I say the abolition of sins power for though the primary end and the most immediate effect of Christ's Sacrifice was the expiation of its guilt yet in subordination to this however in conjunction with it the breaking of its power and freedom from its evil acts were by him also aimed at therein Gal. 1.4 Who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father Tit. 2.14 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed Now was this one of Christ's great Ends in his sacrificing of himself and shall he not have it hath he accomplished his ends with respect to God and shall he not accomplish his ends with respect to you would you divide and compound with him to let him have half of what he design'd and purchas'd but no more would you separate between Justification and Sanctification that will not be allowed How smartly doth the Apostle argue for the death of sin from the death of Christ Rom. 6.3 to the 11. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin For be that is dead is freed from sin Now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him For in that he died he died unto sin oâe but in that he liveth he liveth unto God Sirs was Christ sacrific'd for sin I 'le tell you what we should now do let us sacrifice our sins for Christ there 's a great difference in the sense of the one and of the other yet take but that aright and both are true Christ was a blessed Person and he was sacrific'd out of love but Sin is a cursed thing which therefore must be sacrific'd out of hatred 't was pity that Christ should die 't is pity that sin should live He was sacrific'd for our sin that he might take that away which was injurious to us we must sacrifice our sins for him that we may take that away which is so injurious and offensive to him But to go on in the Text 2. God condemned sin there 's very much in this also to set us against sin in whatever notion the word condemning be taken did God condemn it and shall we approve of it hath he pass'd a sentence of death upon it and shall we yet be for the life of it as if we would reverse or contradict his sentence or hinder the execution of it did he look upon it as a traitor rebel capital offender and shall we look upon it as an harmless and innocent thing hath he in the death of his Son given out such a declaration of his hatred of it and shall we yet love it and like it and live in it Yea 3. God condemned sin in the flesh of Christ now shall it be judged punished abolished in Christ's Flesh and yet * Rom. 6.12 reign in ours shall he in his flesh suffer for it and we in ours commit it what an absurd incongruous thing would this be Upon the whole matter therefore how do we all stand engaged by the strongest obligations that are possible to be holy and not to sin let it be condemned in our flesh as in a different respect it was condemn'd in Christ's as God hath condemn'd it so as that we shall not die for it so let us condemn it so as not to live in it And in special whenever it shall come to tempt you to what is evil pray remember that Christ was made a Sacrifice for it and let it appear by your holy and circumspect walking that you have a due sense thereof and that you do not from thence fetch any encouragement to sin against God which was one of
the Gospel answers to the hyssop under the Law Well! after our Saviours being an offering for sin as we have nothing further to do but only through Grace enabling of us * Vid. Cameron Misc p. 529. to perform these Evangelical conditions so nothing less than that will serve our turn for a share and interest in the great effects and fruits thereof Frequent application to be made to this Sacrifice 6. Sixthly you are not to rest in some one single application of your selves or in the first application of your selves at your first believing to this great Sacrifice for expiation and remission but you are to repeat and renew it daily For though 't is true all the guilt of believers is removed thereby yet that is done in this method 't is removed as 't is contracted and as the benefit of it is accordingly drawn forth by the fresh applications of it O do not rest in what you did at your first Conversion but be you every day applying your selves to a sacrific'd Christ new guilt must have new pardons and daily sins call for daily expiations 'T is observable that Christ is set forth not only by the yearly expiatory Sacrifices or by those that were but seldom offered but also by the daily Sacrifices Joh. 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God c. We should not lie down in our beds at night before we have applyed our selves to a dying Christ for the cleansing of our persons from the guilt of the sins of the day past Yea we should never go to God in duty but we should revive upon our thoughts and make use of this Sacrifice Under the Law the blood was to be sprinkled even upon the Mercy-seat Levit. 16.14 God sits upon a Throne of Mercy but even that requires the blood of Christ no mercy from him no acceptance with him can be expected but upon the intervention of this Sacrifice God and Christ to be admired and adored upon this 7. Seventhly Upon this Sacrifice and what followed thereupon God and Christ are highly to be admired and adored by you This holy admiration hath been already again again press'd upon you under the foregoing gracious acts mention'd in the Text but surely that which is now before us doth as much deserve and call for it as they or any other whatsoever Is God to be admired because he sent his own Son because he sent this Son in flesh yea in the likeness of sinful flesh and is he not to be admired also for his making of him to be a Sacrifice for sin and for the condemning of sin in his flesh doubtless he is What Christ a Sacrifice a Sacrifice for such as we such great things brought about thereby O what matter is here to draw out admiration what so great so wonderful as this how much are the highest thoughts the most raised affections below the greatness of this mystery It hath my Brethren been largely set before you now I would ask How are your hearts affected with it 't is very sad if we can hear of such stupendious mercy and yet be but little wrought upon under the hearing of it Pray fancy to your selves what the Angels thought of this what frame they were in when they saw the Son of God hanging and dying upon the Cross as an expiatory Sacrifice Oh you may well suppose that it fill'd them with astonishment they were even amaz'd at this strange and wonderful spectacle never such wondring in Heaven as when the Lord Jesus was thus suffering on earth now shall that be little to you which was so great to them shall they thus admire and will you who were most concern'd in the thing and the greatest gainers by it be stupid and unaffected In Christ's being a Sacrifice God on his part hath display'd and advanc'd all his Attributes yea they by this have received their utmost advancement infinite Wisdom Justice Holiness Mercy could go no higher than a Christ crucifi'd and on your part by this your work is done your happiness being every way secur'd and your misery fully prevented by this you are reconcil'd to God and God to you condemning-sin is condemn'd it-self all its guilt expiated the righteousness of the Law fulfill'd c. by a strange and unthought-of method God hath fetch'd the greatest good out of the greatest evil by Christ's dying you live all which being considered is there not sufficient ground why you and all should admire and adore God And amongst other things pray in special admire his love his transcendent superlative matchless love what manner of love was this that God should give his Son to be a sacrifice for you 1 Joh. 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Had not Christ been a person infinitely dear to God the thing had not been so much but that he should devote him to be sacrific'd whom he so dearly lov'd there 's the incomprehensibleness of his love 'T is reported of the PHOENICIANS that in their Sacrifices they did not use to Sacrifice an enemy or a stranger but * Porphyr do Abstin l. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã some one that they had a special love for this I 'm sure was done by God in his giving of the Son of his love to be a Sacrifice for us therefore what admiration can be high enough for him When * Gen. 22.10 c. Abrahaham had the knife in his hand and was just going to offer his Son Isaac God stop'd his hand and provided a cheaper Sacrifice for him this was more than what he did for his own Son him he would have to be offered up and would admit of no other Sacrifice and when the hand of Justice was lifted up ready to destroy us then God to secure us interpos'd and found out a Sacrifice of propitiation not a Ram but his only begotten Son O the heights bredths lengths depths of his love And must not Christ be admired also surely yes was not his love too admirable as well as the Fathers Oh well might the Apostle say Gal. 2.20 Who loved me and gave himself for me Eph. 5.2 And walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Vers 25. as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it Rev. 1.5 Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood this was loving indeed When the * Joh. 11.36 JEWS saw Jesus weeping over LAZARVS they said Behold how he loved him but alas what was Christs weeping over him to his dying for us what was the shedding of a few tears to the shedding of his blood how may we come with a more emphatical Behold behold how he
shall it be condemn'd and you too shall Christ suffer the penalty due to it and you too O no! as God was just to punish it once so he is gracious and just too not to punish it twice What this condemning of sin is you have heard if you follow the word the comfort lies thus a condemnatory Sentence is by God upon Christ's account pass'd upon it he hath adjudg'd it to die for all the mischiefes done by it both against himself and against you too this cursed Tyrant this heinous Malefactor is under a sentence to be cut off that it may no longer either dishonour God or hurt you and should not you rejoyce in this who fears a condemn'd person what do the accusations of a condemn'd man signifie sin is a condemned thing fear it not If you leave the Word and come to the main import of it then the comfort lies thus the guilt of all your sins is fully done away and expiated by Christ's Sacrifice this Lamb of God as offered hath taken it all away his blood hath cleansed you from all sin your Scape-goat hath carried all your iniquities into the land of forgetfulness Oh your guilt was charg'd upon Christ and it shall not be charg'd upon you too you are to mourn over it but yet know he hath fully satisfied for it what would you have more You have in the former Verse the power of sin abolish'd by the Law of the Spirit in this the guilt of sin abolished by the Sacrifice of Christ O how compleat is your redemption the plaister is every way as large as the sore What holy triumphs may you now make over all which may seem to endanger you Rom. 8.34 Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that * Mortuum Caesarem quis metuat sed morte Christi quid efficacius Cyprian de dupl Martyrio died c. 4. Observe 't is Sin that was condemn'd The Apostle speaks of it in the lump and mass and so he saith 't is expiated Our Lord's Sacrifice did not take off the guilt of this or that particular sin but of all sin his expiation was totall and universal Under the Law-Sacrifices the blood was to be sprinkled * Levit. 16.19 seven times thereby to prefigure the thoroughness and perfection of the expiation of sin by Christ's Sacrifice 5. This is brought in as God's act God sent his own Son and for sin condemned sin He that was the persona laesa the injur'd person the just Judge against whom sin was committed and who therefore was to punish it he who is the supream and authoritative Agent in and about the great concerns of Souls he appointed Christ to be a Sacrifice owned and accepted his sacrifice and upon that acquits Sinners from all guilt Oh there 's much in this to encourage the drooping Christian Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth The Father cannot but be well-pleased with Christ's propitiatory Sacrifice since this was of himself Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation c. 6. This was done too in Christ's Flesh which also hath great sweetness in it 'T is added saith * Deodat inloc One for our further assurance to the end that we may not doubt of the forgiveness of our sins which are destroy'd in our proper Nature which the Son of God took upon him Had Christ done and suffered what he did in the Nature of Angels we might have question'd whether any good would thereby have accrued to us but all being done in * Addit Paulus in came quo certior sit nostra fiducia dum videmus peccatum in ipsâ Naturâ nostrâ fuisse devictum abolitum sic enim sequitur naturam nostram vere fieri participem ejus victoriae Calvin our Nature surely he did it for us and we shall reap the benefit thereof 7. To all this let me add one thing further and 't is a great one namely That by this Sacrifice of Christ you have not only the bare condemnation or expiation of sin but with that you also have a right and title unto and collation of all Gospel-blessings and priviledges whatsoever Was it only the taking off of guilt and the appeasing of divine wrath that would be very much but over and beyond these there is Christ's active fulfilling the Law being taken in a positive righteousness made over to you an interest in God's fatherly love the purchase of Heaven and in this sense we are for a redundancy of Christ's merit The benefits of Christ's Sacrifice to Believers are not only those which are privative such wherein they are freed from all evil but there are also those which are positive such wherein they are intitled to and instated in the possession of all good yea even of the heavenly blessedness it self Heb. 5.9 And being made perfect he became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 9.12 having obtained eternal redemption for us it comes in as the effect of Christ's blood and Sacrifice In his great undertaking to redeem and save Sinners we may suppose him to have two things in his eye the one was that he should have a people in the world the other was that through him this people should partake of all blessings requisite to their happiness now both of these were effected and secured by his Sacrifice As to the first that was made sure by this according to that promise or prediction Isa 53.10 11. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed c. He shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied in relyance upon which he himself said And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me Joh. 12.32 and that upon his death and Sacrifice he had a people and a numerous people too the Evangelical History doth abundantly testifie Then as to the second that also was promoted and secured by his Sacrifice inasmuch as thereby the Covenant of Grace the summary of all blessings was ratify'd and confirmed 'T was an * Et caesâ jungebant foedera portâ Virgil. See Mr. Medo on Mal. 1.11 ancient custom used amongst men at the sanction and ratification of their Covenants to make use of Sacrifices as we find Gen. 21.22 23 24 c. Jer. 34.18 Exod. 34.7 8. in allusion to which custom 't is said Psal 50.5 Gather my Saints together unto me those that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice Answerably now to this Christ by his Sacrifice confirm'd and ratify'd the Covenant of Grace 'twixt God and Believers wherefore he said This cup is the new Testament in my blood i.e. the seal and ratification of the new-Covenant Matth. 26.28 1 Cor. 11.25 and the Apostle doth in special insist upon this in Heb. 9.15 16 c. Well then by Christ's Sacrifice the blood of the Covenant as
to be Sinners so the best must cry out Vnclean unclean or as they are in Christ they being justified through the imputation of his righteousness and accepted in him as their Head and Surety and so who will deny them to be righteous He fulfilled the Law for them which obedience of his being reckoned to them in God's account and imputatively they may be said to be without sin there 's no ANTINOMISME in this if it be rightly understood yet as they are in themselves and as to what is inherent and done by them there is God knows too much of sin in them 'T is no absurdity for the same Subject under diverse considerations to be look'd upon as sinlesâ and yet as sinful * Cant. 1.5 I am black but comely O what a pure spotless righteous person is the Believer in respect of imputation and yet what an impure defiled sinful person is he in respect of inhering corruption As to the other part of the Objection I deny the Consequence may we not be righteous but upon this we must be as righteous as Christ himself was as the former I would be loth to deny so the latter I would be as loth to affirm It doth not follow if Christ's obedience and righteousness be imputed to us that therefore we must be as righteous as he was because it is made over to us not in the fulness and infiniteness of it but * Per justitiam Christi nobis imputatam non possumus dici absolutà sive omni modo justi c. sed eatenus nos justos factos aestimat Deus quatenus Legis Divinae transgressores extiterimus Ut in tantum ex illâ Christi justitiâ justi facti dicamur in quantum ex inobedientiâ nostrâ injusti constituti simus Bradsh de Justif c. 24. sect 27. only so far as our case and necessity doth require or not absolutely in the utmost extent and degree of it but in tantum quod hoc that we may be look'd upon as fulfillers of the Law and as partakers of that righteousness which we need and are capable of And pray wherein doth the imputation of Christ's passive obedience come short as to what is here charged upon the imputation of his active will not the Argument lie as much against that as against this For upon that 't is said the Law was fully satisfied and received from Christ in our stead its full accomplishment upon that we are look'd upon as having committed no evil and omitted no good that Christ's infinite merit and Satisfaction is ours c. wherefore may it not with equal strength be infer'd from the imputation of this that we are not Sinners and that we are righteous as Christ was as it may from the imputation of the other Obj. This makes Christ to have done that very thing for matter which we our selves should 10. Object that he paid that very debt of Obedience in kind and not in value only which the Law required and which we should have paid which if so and that that be reckoned to us we are then justified by Works and our righteousness is Legal rather than Evangelical Answ Answ I have had occasion in what went before to speak a little of the idem and tantundem as they refer to Christ's Sufferings in answer to that Question Whether he suffered the self-same penalty which the Law threatned and the Sinner himself should have endured or whether he suffered only that which was equivalent thereunto In the deciding of which I closed with the common determination that Christ's Sufferings for kind and substance were the same which the Law threatned but as to some certain Circumstances and Accidents they were but equivalent The same resolution I shall give concerning the idem and tantundem with respect to his active obedience as to the substantial duties required by the Moral Law to them in kind he submitted and to that very obedience which we were obliged unto so it was the idem But then there were some Circumstances arising from some special Considerations about his person which in other things made a difference with respect to which it was but the tantundem What all were bound to do in the great and indispensable duties of the Law as Holiness Love to God c. that Christ did but what some only are bound to do upon certain special obligations lying upon them as they stand in such and such relations as Magistrates Husbands c. that was not done by Christ in specie he not standing in those relations In the substantial duties of the Law and in those acts of obedience which were in general necessary Christ did just that which we should have done understand me that I speak of Legal not of Evangelical Obedience for though Christ did that for us which the Law demanded yet he did not do that for us which the Gospel demands but as to some particular duties of the Law proper to such persons in such circumstances those he not being under those circumstances did not do and yet there is no defect in his Obedience the want of this particular being supply'd and made up by his general Obedience The Text saith that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us now why may we not content our selves with this that Christ fulfilled the Laws righteousness without running of our selves upon perplexing debates about the idem and the tantundem The case in brief stands thus the Law must be obey'd in our selves we neither did nor could obey it our Surety therefore must do it for us he doing it for us his Obedience must be imputed to us this imputation must be of that very obedience which we were bound unto otherwise this not something else in the lieu of it being demanded by the Law we are yet debtors to the Law therefore it follows that Christ did the idem which we should have done For as he delivered us from the curse of the Law by bearing that very curse in his own person which we should have bore so he fulfilled the righteousness of the Law for us by comforming to that very righteousness in his own person which we should have come up to As to our justification by Works which is pleaded against this imputation to that I shall speak immediately in the Vse And thus I have with no small grief and trouble the Lord knows to see in this point differences amongst persons so godly so learned and as to my self that I should so unavoidably be concern'd in these unhappy Controversies gone over and answered the most material Objections that I have met with against the imputation of Christ's active Obedience I would not be so fond or weak as to hope that what I have said should have any influence upon those learned and judicious persons from whom I differ so as to alter their opinion they knew it all before and had it from others with great advantage and yet
* Isa 45.24 In the Lord we have righteousness When you had none of your own God provided another and a better for you Assignata est ei aliena justitia qui caruit suâ Bernard Epist 190. ad Innoc. Christ was * Delicta nostra sua delicta fecit ut justitiam suam nostram justitiam faceret August willing to be made sin that you might be made the righteousness of God in him You may with holy confidence say Law thou demandest much of me and that very justly and I cannot my self answer thee in these demands but there 's my Saviour my Surety he hath paid the full debt for me he hath in my room and place done and suffered all that thou canst require to his satisfaction I appeal a good appeal the Lord give you more and more of the comfort of it That which often causes a gracious Soul to be troubled is the consideration not only of the Laws penalty but also of the Laws purity Oh 't is a righteous Law and it calls for an exact doing righteousness in the Creature what will become of me who cannot answer it herein Now under this trouble the belief of the imputation of Christ's active obedience may be of great use And this is one reason why I would be the more loth to part with the imputation of that obedience because under troubles of Conscience it is so proper so necessary so soveraign a Cordial for many fainting Christians To shut up all Believers Christ's whole Obedience active and passive is yours what would you have more what can Sin or Satan or Conscience or the Law it self now object against you be humble and mourn in the sense of the imperfection of your own inherent righteousness yet withal rejoyce and glory in the fulness perfection everlastingness of that righteousness which is imputed to you 'T is a terrible word to Sinners the righteousness of the Law must be fulfilled on them 't is a comfortable word to the Saints the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in them ROM 8.4 Who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit CHAP. XV. Spiritual Walkers the Subjects of the foregoing Priviledge The Sixth Head in the Words viz. the Description of the persons to whom the priviledge belongs Some short Animadversions upon the Words The main Doctrine raised from them but not handled A brief Survey of these Four Verses and recapitulation of the principal matter in them The Conclusion of this Volume IN the opening of the matter which the Apostle is upon in this and in the preceding Verse I have taken notice of 1. The act it-self viz. the sending of Christ 2. The person whose act this was God sent c. 3. The person who was sent as he stands in a very near relation to God God sent his own Son c. 4. The way or manner in which this Son was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh 5. The great Ends of God in all this or the great Effects produced thereby namely the condemning of Sin c. and the fulfilling of the Laws righteousness in and for Believers These several Heads have all more or less been opened 6. The Apostle having appropriated the last End or Effect the fulfilling of the Laws righteousness to such a sort of persons that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us he goes on to describe those persons by their qualification and course they are such who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit This Description or Character we had before with respect to Vnion with Christ or exemption from condemnation there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Here 't is repeated with respect to Christs fulfilling of the Law and the imputation of that his Obedience who are the persons who have a share also in this and who shall be the better for it why such who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit As the mystical Vnion and freedom from condemnation so the imputation of Christ's righteousness is attended in every Subject that is a real partaker thereof with a spiritual and holy conversation These are different priviledges but for the evidence of them the Apostle makes use of the same character or description Who walk not after the flesh c. The words are not descriptive of the nature of the thing spoken of before as if the righteousness of the Law was fulfilled in Believers in their not walking after the flesh c. as * Pererius Disp 3. in c. 8. ad Rom. Some would have it but they are descriptive of the persons for whom and in whom that thing was done There 's a vast difference betwixt these two â Apostolus non affirmat justificationem Legis à nobis impleri sed in nobis nec quia incedimus secundum Spiritum ut haec causa sit sed ut hoc testimonio judicio intelligamus legis justificationem in nobis impleri qui secundum Spiritum incedimus Whittak contra Duraâm de Patad l. 8. fol. 203. our holiness is not the fulfilling of the Law but whoever is an holy man Christ's fulfilling of the Law is imputed to him and so he doth fulfil it In the bringing in of this description three things might be designed by the Apostle 1. To assert the happiness of all who live the spiritual life in them by Christ the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled * Ideo Apostolus admodum apposite c. Vide Bezam in loc Christus est illis justitia qui juxta Spiritum non juxta carnem ambulant Christus enim iis duntaxat justitia Legis satisfactio est qui crucifixo jam vetere homine Spiritui obtemperant h. e. solis fidelibus Zwingl 2. To stave off all others from laying claim to this grace none but holy livers can warrantably apply Christ's satisfying of the Law to themselves 3. To obviate all * Quia suam justitiam nullis communicat Christus nisi quos Spiritus sui vinculo sibi conjungit additur iterum regeneratio ne putetur Christus esse peccati minister sicuti proclive est multis ad carnis lasciviam rapere quicquid de paternâ Dei indulgentiâ traditur Calvin abuses of this precious Truth all mis-interpretations of it as also all â Vide Chrysost Oecum in loc security and carelesness in them who have an interest in the priviledge Hath Christ fulfilled the Law for us some from hence might be apt to infer then we may live as we list there 's nothing now for us to do no not so saith the Apostle for though Christ hath fully satisfied the Law yet all for whom he hath done this do and must walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Who walk not c. Faith being the proper and immediate condition of the imputation of Christ's righteousness or obedience to the Law why doth