be possest with the same love of vertue and goodness which appeared so eminently in him which is much to the same sense with that expression of Christs being formed in you Gal. 4. 19. My little Children of whom I travel in birth again till Christ be formed in you that is till you be thoroughly instructed in the Doctrine and Religion of Christ and are thereby moulded into his likeness and image Hence in the 1 Cor. 6. 17. the Apostle tells us He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit that is herein consists our Union to Christ that we have the same temper of mind which he had for there can be no Union betwixt Souls and Spirits without this that they are acted by the same Principles and love and chuse the same things bodies are united by an external adhesion of parts but Souls by an harmony and consent of wills This makes two one Spirit when there is a perfect likeness of disposition when they agree in the same designs as much as if the same Soul animated them both when we love God and men as our Saviour did when we are meek and humble and patient and contented as he was we are as closely united to him as if he dwelt in us and we in him as if we had but one Spirit in us both But Thirdly there is a closer Union still which results from this which consists in a mutual and reciprocal love When we are transformed into the image of Christ he loves us as being like to him and we love him too as partaking of his nature He loves us as the price of his blood as his own workmanship created to good works and we love him as our Redeemer and Saviour Now love is the great Cement of Union which unites interests and thereby does more firmly unite hearts hence when our Saviour had told his Disciples At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Joh. 14. 20. he explains the meaning of it in v. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him That is God and Christ and Christians are all united by a mutual and reciprocal love founded on a likeness of dispositions and actions on obedience to those Laws which are but a Copy of the Original Holiness of God and of the life of Christ. To the same purpose Christ prays for his Disciples Ioh. 17. 21. that they may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us Which refers to their agreement in doctrine and love Thus according to the Scripture phrase love makes us one with God and Christ and with each other Fourthly This Union is exprest in Scripture by resembling the Christian Church to Gods Temple wherein he dwells as formerly he did in the Temple at Ierusalem while that typical and ceremonial Worship was in force God was pleased to dwell in a Temple made with hands there he placed the Symbols of his Presence from thence he gave forth his Oracles there he received their Sacrifices and Oblations and returned an answer to their prayers But since Christ hath introduced a more manly and spiritual Worship God dwells no longer in a Temple of wood and stones by such visible signs of his presence as formerly he did but hath chosen the society of devout minds and pure souls for the place of his residence and abode Thus in the 1 Cor. 3. 16. Know you not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you and Chap. 6. vers 19. Know you not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and 2 Cor. 6. 16. Ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in or among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people To the same purpose we find in Rev. 21. 3. that after the description of the Holy City the New Ierusalem coming down from God out of Heaven which signifies the state of the Christian Church there was heard a great voice out of Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God Now all this must be expounded in allusion to the Temple at Ierusalem that as the Temple was the place of Gods peculiar presence with that people signifying that he was always ready at hand to assist them in their distress to supply their wants to defend them from their enemies to hear all the pious prayers they put up to him that is that he would be their God and they should be his people as the Apostle expounds it thus it is now with the Christian Church they are the only society of men whom God hath a peculiar regard for with whom he is always present whom he protects and defends by a vigilant and more particular providence whom he hath chosen for his peculiar people to dwell among them And as in the Temple God placed the Mercy-seat and the Cherubims as Emblems of his Majesty and Presence for which reason he is so often said to dwell betwixt the Cherubims so he hath now bestowed his holy Spirit on the Christian Church which is a surer pledge of his dwelling among them than those Types and Shadows were as the Apostle speaks Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you or among you that is this is a sufficient evidence that ye are the Temple of God in that God hath given his Spirit to dwell with you which primarily refers to those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit which God in that Age bestowed on the Christian Church this was the true Shecinah or divine glory resting on them for which reason he is called the Spirit of Glory 1 Pet. 4. 14 The Spirit of Glory and of God resteth on you that is that Spirit of God which is the visible manifestation of his glory in the Christian Church of which that visible glory which sometimes filled the Jewish Tabernacle was an Emblem Hence S. Paul tells us that the glory of the new Covevant which is the ministration of the Spirit which was confirmed by such miraculous and plentiful effusions of the holy Spirit did far exceed the glory of the first Covenant written and engraven in stones though that was so glorious that the Children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance 2 Cor. 3. 7 8. for this was a glorious manifestation of a divine Presence with the Church that God did indeed dwell with them and walk among them and though these extraordinary gifts are now ceased yet
IMPRIMATUR May 30. 1673. Sam. Parker A DISCOURSE Concerning the KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST AND Our Union and Communion with him c. By William Sherlock Rector of S t George Buttolph lane London LONDON Printed by I. M. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops-Head in St Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXIV THE PREFACE Christian Reader I Am conscious to my self of so honest a design in writing this Discourse that I am very very well armed against those various censures which are the usual reward of such Attempts for there is no such Sanctuary against the rudest clamours and the most unjust reproaches as a good Conscience I was heartily grieved to see so many well-disposed Persons abused with words and phrases which either signifie nothing or have a very ambiguous and doubtful or a very bad sense when I have observed that great zeal which some men have for the Worship of God I have often thought what great Instruments they might be of Gods glory were their zeal directed and governed with Knowledge and Iudgment and when I have observed how innocently and vertuously some of those men live who have espoused such Principles as naturally tend to make them bad I have thought what excellent Persons they might prove did they rightly understand so excellent a Religion as is published to the World in the Gospel of Christ such thoughts as these at first engaged me in this Work to rectifie those mistakes which will either make men bad or hinder and retard their progress in true goodness which is so pious and charitable a design as may at least plead my excuse though it should appear to be a mistaken zeal In the management of this Discourse I have carefully avoided all personal reflexions have not medled with the lives and actions of men which I am so charitable as to hope may be more orthodox than their judgments I have represented their opinions in their own words and am not conscious to my self that I have put any other sense upon their words than they intended and I cannot see what reason any man hath to take it ill that I repeat that which he himself thought fit to publish where they pretend to argue gravely I have examined their Arguments with all possible gravity and solemnity where they plainly toy and trifle I have so far complied with their humour as to smile sometimes though as modestly as any man can desire I have taken care not only to unteach men what was amiss but to explain and consirm the true notions of Religion lest any man should suspect that under a pretence of rectifying mistakes I designed to expose all Religion what men will account severe I cannot tell because the gentlest Arguments will appear severe to any man who is pinch't by them but I have given no hard words and have sometimes called things by softer names than they deserve on purpose to avoid the imputation of severity which is now the common artifice to teach men to despise and reproach what they cannot answer and if after all this I cannot escape without some hard names and hard censures I must be contented with my portion and indeed no man ought to expect better usage who considers that Mr. Baxter himself who hath deserved so well for his pious labours could not escape when he touch't upon their Darling Notions And now Christian Reader I shall beg no more of thee than to read this Discourse with an honest and unprejudiced mind and as I did not compose it without imploring the guidance and direction of God so I recommend it to thee with my hearty prayers that it may prove as useful as my intentions were honest and charitable Farewel THE CONTENTS THE Introduction concerning the various significations of the Name Christ in Scripture that it originally is the name of an Office but is used also to signifie the Person invested with this Office and the Gospel of Christ and the Church of Christ. Pag. 1. Of what use the consideration of Christs Person is in the Christian Religion 14 As first the greatness of his Person is a plain demonstration of Gods love to Mankind in that he gave his own Son for us 15 2. It gives great Reverence and Authority to his Gospel 17 3. It gives great Authority to his Example 18 4. This assures us of the infinite value of his Sacrifice and of the power of his Intercession 19 5. The Person of Christ is of no other consideration in the Christian Religion than as it hath an influence upon the great Ends of his Undertaking 21 Of the knowledge of Christ and the various ways whereby God hath manifested himself to the World 25 Dr. Owen's Notion of an acquaintance with Christs Person considered 38 How the Nature and Attributes of God may be learn't from an acquaintance with the Person of Christ. 42. And how we learn the knowledge of our selves with respect to sin 49. And to Righteousness 53. And our wisdom to walk with God 55 A new Scheme of Religion deduced from this acquaintance with Christs Person 57 How unsafe it is to found Religion on a pretended acquaintance with Christs Person which at most amounts to no more than uncertain conjectures or ambiguous and doubtful Reasonings 76 This way will serve other men as well as themselves and another Scheme of Religion from an acquaintance with Christ. 80 Of expounding Scripture by the sound of words 102 And by the Analogie of Faith 118 What is meant by our Union to Christ. 142 Those Metaphors which describe the Union betwixt Christ and Christians do primarily refer to the Christian Church 142 The Union of particular Christians to Christ is by means of their Union to the Christian Church 143 In what sense Christ calls himself a Vine 145 The Union betwixt Christ and the Christian Church is not natural but political 156 In what sense Christ is called a Shepherd Head and Husband 157. The reason of these Metaphors 159 This political Union is either only external and visible or true and real and what this external Union is 168 Wherein the real Union consists and concerning the subjection of our Souls and Spirits to Christ. 171 We are united to Christ by a participation of his Nature 172. And by a mutual and reciprocal Love 174 In what sense the Christian Church is called Gods Temple 175 This Union to Christ represented in the Sacraments of the New Testament 181 Fellowship and Communion with God and Christ in the Scripture-phrase signifie this political Union 186 The Lords Supper the only Act whereby our fellowship with God in this World is expressed 192 Of our Union to the Person of Christ 196 What is meant by the Person of Christ. 200 The Personal Excellencies of Christ considered 206 What is meant by the Fulness of Christ. 216 In what sense Christ is called our Life 228 Concerning the Personal Righteousness of Christ. 234 What is meant by the Lord our Righteousness 235 What is meant by the
Righteousness of Faith 245 What Abrahams Faith was whereby he was justified 247. Phil. 3. 8 9. considered 260 What St. Pauls Righteousness was while a Pharisee 261 In what sense the Apostle opposes the righteousness of the Law to the righteousness of Faith 264. And his own righteousness to the Righteousness of God 274 Concerning the Conjugal Relation betwixt Christ and Believers and whether this can intitle us to his Personal Excellencies Righteousness c. 281 Concerning the Legal Union and Christ's being the Saints Surety 287 Whether Christ fulfilled all Righteousness for us as our Mediator 296 What influence the obedience of Christs life and the Sacrifice of his death have upon our acceptance with God 320 That some men place our Union to Christ before holiness of life as appears from the whole progress of the Soul as they represent it to a closure with Christ. 337 That according to these Principles there is no certain way to get into Christ. 353. Nor any certain evidence of our being in Christ. 364 The Evidence of Sanctification considered 366 Concerning the Love of Christ to Believers 392 Concerning the Saints Love to Christ. 408 Errata Pag. 17. lin 22. for which was imitated by read which was an imitation of p. 52. l. 5. for truckle r. truck p. 62. l. 28. r. sense p. 65. l. 24. for thou r. then p. 76. l. 24 25. p. 77. l. 1. for guest r. ghest l. 21. r. Counsel p. 87. l. 5. r. Counsels p. 89. in the Margent for p. 19. r. 29. p. 95. l. 29. r. workings p. 97. l. 9. for the r. that p. 114. l. 8. for Lydo r. Lyaeo p. 118. l. 5. r. non-sense p. 126 l. 27. r. ghess p. 139. l. 8. r. in the government of our lives l. 15 r. sense p. 189. l. 10. for and that the r. and that this is the p. 225. l. 11. dele the p. 337. l. 16. r. did not continue there p. 383. l. 11. for zeal for God r. zeal for God THE INTRODUCTION CHAP. I. ALL errour hath some appearance of truth it being impossible to believe a plain and undisguised falshood but yet most men are so easie and credulous so impatient of severe inquiries or by assed by so many corrupt passions and interests that they are too often imposed on by very slight appearances And commonly the first and fundamental mistake is in a confusion of names in a doubtful and ambiguous use of words especially in matters of Religion which depend upon Revelation and must be judged by the publick and authentick Records of inspired men for it happens too often in this Case that men consider nothing but the sound of words and from thence form such uncouth Idaeas of Religion as are fitted to the meanness of their understandings or gratifie their natural Genius and disposition or are calculated to serve an interest And thus the Gospel of our Saviour is defaced and obscured by affected Mysteries and Paradoxes and senseless propositions and Christ himself who was the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image of his Person who in the most plain and perspicuous manner declared the will of God to us is represented with a thicker Vail upon his Face than Moses and the glory of the second Covenant is much more obscured with a mist of words than the first was with Types and Figures This will appear to any man who shall observe what strange interpretations are commonly made of those Texts of Scripture especially in St. Pauls Epistles wherein Christ is mentioned what absurd propositions are built on them what pernicious consequences drawn from them to defeat the great ends of Christs appearing in the flesh I always took it for granted that Christ and his Religion were very well agreed but if we believe some men there is as irreconcileable a difference between the Religion of Christs Person and of his Gospel as between the Law and Grace For the Gospel of Christ is as severe a despensation as the Law which dooms all men to Eternal misery who live not very innocent and vertuous Lives but the Person of Christ is all Grace a meer refuge and Sanctuary for the wicked and ungodly Surely here must be a mistake somewhere for I am still of the mind that the Person of Christ is not at odds with his Gospel and that the Person of Christ will save none whom his Gospel condemns or if Christ would save those whom his Gospel condemns viz. impenitent and incorrigible Sinners I cannot imagine how men should know this without a particular Revelation and I hope they do not mean this by the private testimony of the Spirit to work assurance in them And yet we can think of no other way since the Gospel is so silent in this matter But it is easie to observe where the mistake lies for some men where-ever they meet with the word Christ in Scripture always understand by it the Person of Christ and thus Faith in Christ and hope in Christ and the like Phrases are expounded of a siducial relyance and recumbency on the Person of Christ for Salvation in contra-distinction to obedience to his Laws which sets up a Religion of the Person of Christ in opposition to the Religion of his Gospel And therefore the best way of rectifying this mistake which sets the Person and the Gospel of Christ at such odds is to examine the various significations of this name Christ in Scripture which shall serve as an Introduction to what follows And first Christ is originally the name of an Office which the Jews call the Messias or one anointed by God for under the Law their Prophets Priests and Kings were invested in their several Offices by the Ceremony of anointing them with Oyl which was typical of that divine Unction the Holy Jesus received at his Baptism when the Spirit of God descended on him like a Dove All those legal Unctions were accomplisht in Iesus of Nazareth whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power Acts 10. Verse 38. which was his Consecration to the Mediatory Function and vertually contained all those Offices of Prophet Priest and King which are not properly distinct Offices in Christ but the several parts and different administrations of his Mediatory Kingdom His Preaching the Gospel which we commonly call his Prophetical Office was the exercise of his Regal Power and Authority in publishing his Laws and the conditions of Eternal Life Hence the Gospel is so often called the Kingdom of Heaven and our Saviour tells Pilate that he was born to be a King and the principal exercise of his Kingly Power in this World consists in bearing witness to the truth Iohn 18. 37. that is it was an Act of his Regal Power to Conquer errour and ignorance to destroy the Kingdom of darkness by the brightness of his appearing and to erect his Throne in the hearts and Consciences of men by the power and evidence of truth which is a true spiritual Kingdom
him that bear not fruit hence to distinguish all true Christians from such Hypocritical Professors he adds and I in you that is my words abide in you Ver. 7. if my Doctrines and Precepts take fast hold of your wills and affections they will make you fruitful in good works Thus you see that the Union of particular Christians to Christ consists in their Union to the Christian Church And hence it is that the Ancient Fathers interpret all those Metaphors which decypher the Union between Christ and Christians to signifie the entire love and Unity of Christians among themselves Thus St. Chrysost. expounds Eph. 2. 19 20 21. where the Apostle speaks of that spiritual building which is erected on the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Iesus Christ being the chief Corner Stone to signifie the Unity of the Church in all Ages that both the Jewish and Christian Church are united in Christ as the several parts of the building are kept together by the Corner Stone and St. Ambrose to the same purpose tells us duos populos in se suscepit salvator secit unum in Domino sicut lapis angularis duos parietes continet in unitate domûs sirmatos i. e. That Christ united two people in himself the Iew and Gentile and made them one in the Lord as the Corner Stone unites two Walls in a building and makes it but one House Which is the plain design of the place to prove that Christ hath taken away the enmity and distance which was between the Jew and Gentile and hath reconciled them both to God in one body by the Cross Ver. 16. Thus St. Chrysost. observes on 1 Cor. 3. 9. that the Apostle to disswade them from Schisms and Factions tells them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That they were Gods building and if they were Gods building they must not be torn asunder for then they are no longer a building and if they were Gods Husbandry they must not be divided from each other but they must be one enclosure hedged and walled in by Unity and agreement And adds let us therefore be built on Christ and cleave to him as to a foundation and as a branch to the Vine that there may be no distance between Christ and us to interrupt this Union for if there be we immediately perish for the branch draws nourishment and fatness from the Vine by its Union to it and the building stands firm by the strong adhesion of its parts Which plainly signifies that our Union to Christ consists in our Union to the Christian Church and when we divide and separate from the Church we are broken off from Christ as a branch is from the Vine we are then like a building whose stones fall asunder and destroy the whole fabrick Thus the same Father argues on Iohn 14. 21. to perswade Christians to Peace and Unity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. for he Christ unites us to each other by many examples and patterns of the closest Union He is the Head and we the body and the whole body by the Union of its several parts must be firmly united to the head He is the foundation we the building He the Vine We the branches He the Husband We his Spouse He the Shepherd We his Sheep He the way we those who are to walk in that way We are a Spiritual Temple and He it is who dwells in us He is the first born we his Brethren He the Heir we fellow Heirs with him He the life we those who live by him He the Resurrection we those who rise with him He the light and we are all enlightned by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All these metaphors describe the nearest and closest Union of Christians to each other and of all to Christ which will not admit of the least distance and separation so that according to the sense of this Holy man particular Christians are united to Christ by means of their Union to the Christian Church otherwise I cannot understand how our Union to Christ can be an argument to Unity and Concord among ourselves if we are immediately united to the Person of Christ without being first united to his Church Which I wish those men would seriously consider who boast so much of their Union to Christ and yet rend his Church into a thousand little factions tear the members of his body from each other and yet pretend to be united to the head make new enclosures in the Husbandry and Vineyard of God and when Christ hath broken down the middle Wall of Partition and made Jews and Gentiles but one Church do now erect more Partition Walls in the Christian than ever were in the Iewish Temple But we need not depend on Authority for the confirmation of this notion that the Union of particular Christians with Christ consists in their Union with the Christian Church for those Sacraments our Saviour hath Instituted as Symbols of our Union with him are a plain demonstration of it Our first undertaking of Christianity is represented in our Baptism wherein we make a publick profession of our Faith in Christ and it is sufficiently known that Baptism is the Sacrament of our admission into the Christian Church and if any one should deny this we have the Authority of St. Paul for the proof of it 1 Cor. 12 13. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body In which the Apostle seems to allude to Baptism which confers the same holy Spirit on us all and thereby makes us all members of that one body of Christ which is his Church but more expresly in Eph. 4. 4 5. There is one Body and one Spirit as you are called in one hope of your Calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism that is the Christian Baptism is but one and is a Sacrament of Union making us all the members of that one body of Christ this is called being Baptized into Christ i. e. admitted into the Christian Church by a publick profession of our Faith in Christ. Thus the Lords Supper is a Sacrament of Union and signifies that near Conjunction between Christ and the Christian Church and the mutual fellowship of one Christian with another hence the Apostle calls the Cup of Blessing the Communion of the blood of Christ and the Bread the Communion of the body of Christ for we being many are one bread and one body one body represented by this one bread for we are all partakers of that one bread 1 Cor. 10. 16 17. For the Intention of our Lord and Saviour in what he did and suffer'd for us was not meerly to reform and save some single Persons but to erect a Church and to combine all his Disciples into a publick Society to unite them by holy Mysteries and to engage them to a mutual discharge of all Christian offices whereby the whole body may edifie it self in love and therefore our Saviour does not owne any relation to particular men as
renounce the authority of our Head and Husband now as it is in an Army should any Captain revolt from his Prince the Souldiers under his Command are not bound to turn Rebels because their Leader is so or should a whole Troop or Regiment conspire in the Treason no particular Souldier is obliged to continue in the Company or submit to the Government of Rebels no more than he is obliged to be a Rebel the same reason holds good as to Christian Societies if any particular Church apostatize from the Faith of Christ we are then under the same necessity of deserting their Communion as we are of obeying the Laws and submitting to the Authority of our Lord and Master but nothing less than this can justifie a separation while the Church is subject to Christ we must be subject to the Church while the fundamental Laws of his spiritual Kingdom are observed and his Institutions reverenced and the great ends of his Religion advanced to separate from such a Church is to separate from the Body of Christ for our Union to Christ consists in a subjection to his Authority and it is plain that we disowne his Authority when we reject those who act by his Authority Now this Political Union betwixt Christ and his Church may be either only external and visible and so hypocrital Professors may be said to be united to Christ or true and real which imports the truth and sincerity of our obedience and subjection to our Lord and Master For since Christianity is become the Religion of Nations and is entailed on us by our Ancestors as part of our inheritance is received into the Laws and Constitutions of Kingdoms and made a great Instrument of Civil Government it is too often seen that many men undertake this Profession only as the Mode and Fashion of their Country to avoid singularity and to serve a worldly interest And thus the Christian Church is filled with Hypocrites and visible Professors who are great Strangers to the life and spirit of the Holy Iesus while some under the name of Christians practise all the villanies of the Heathen World and live in a publick defiance to the Laws of that Religion they pretend to owne others make a fair show of external conformity to the Laws and Constitutions of this spiritual Kingdom and conceal their impurities under some glorious and pompous form of Religion and pass for very good Christians when they are no better than disguised Hypocrites and this makes it necessary to distinguish between a meer external and real Union between those who do no more than make a visible profession of Christianity and those who are true and sincere Christians Earthly Princes can exact only an external conformity to their Laws because they can take no cognizance of the secret workings of mens minds and the end of their Government is attained in the preservation of publick peace and order But the spiritual Kingdom of our Lord is of another nature which requires not only an external and visible subjection to Christ our Head and Husband and a visible Union to the Christian Church but the homage and obedience of the Soul the government of our thoughts and passions the renovation of our minds and spirits We must be born again of Water and of the Spirit if we would enter into the Kingdom of God Ioh. 3. 5. That is before we can be the Disciples of Christ the Subjects of his spiritual Kingdom which is in Scripture called the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven we must be born of water must make a publick profession of our Faith in Christ and obedience to Him in our Baptism but this is not sufficient unless we be born of the Spirit too that is unless our minds and spirits become subject to Christ unless our Faith in Christ and subjection to Him be sincere and hearty do govern all the motions and desires of our Souls and make us really such as we pretend to be which is called Being born of the Spirit because all Christian Graces and Vertues are in Scripture attributed to the Spirit of God as the Author of them Hence the Apostle tells us that In Christ Iesus nothing availeth but a new Creature that is that none are true Subjects of Christ such as shall be rewarded by Him but those whose minds and spirits are transformed into the love of vertue and goodness Now as a visible Profession of Christianity is the Foundation of this external-political Union betwixt Christ and his Church so this new Nature is the Foundation of a real and spiritual Union and this the Scripture represents to us under several notions First by the subjection of our minds and spirits to Christ as our spiritual King when we put our Souls as well as Bodies under his Government and Conduct hence Christ is said to dwell in our hearts by faith Eph. 3. 17. that is to have the sole Command and Empire of our wills and affections to govern our hearts as a man does the house in which he dwells And thus all those Metaphors which signifie our subjection to Christ must be expounded of the subjection of our Souls and Spirits to Him as well as the outward conformity of our actions because Christ is a spiritual King who rules and governs hearts as earthly Princes govern the bodies of their Subjects our subjection to him ought to begin in the Soul in a sincere acknowledgment of his Power and Authority in a stedfast belief of his Doctrines and Revelations and in a chearful and willing obedience to his Laws such a subjection as a Wife ought to yield to her Husband and Members to their Head the effect of a free choice not a feigned or forced compliance Secondly By a participation of the same nature which is the necessary effect of the subjection of our minds to him for the Gospel of our Saviour is the truest image of his mind he transcribed his own nature into his Laws and therefore a sincere obedience to his Laws is a conformity to his Nature Hence is that exhortation That the same mind be in us which was in Christ Iesus Phil. 2. 5. and to be his Disciples is to learn of him who was meek and lowly in mind Matth. 11. 29. Hence also our Union to Christ is described by having the Spirit of Christ. Rom. 8. 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his that is unless he have the same temper and disposition of mind which Christ had which is called having the Spirit of Christ by an ordinary figure of the cause for the effect for all those vertues and graces wherein our conformity to Christ consists are called the fruits of the Spirit the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness righteousness and truth Eph. 5. 9. and therefore what the Apostle in that place calls having the Spirit of Christ in the next verse he expresses by if Christ be in you i. e. if you
after Christ. That is lest their minds be corrupted through Philosophical Speculations or Traditionary superstitions in worshiping Daemons and Angels c. which are inconsistent with the Gospel of Christ and owe their original only to the folly and superstition of Mankind And then he adds for in him that is in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily so that this must refer to that compleat and perfect Revelation of the Gospel which needs not be supplyed by the Philosophy or Traditions of men And to understand the Reason of this Phrase and the force of the Apostles argument we must consider that this is an allusion to Gods dwelling in the Temple at Ierusalem by Types and figures which were the Symbols of his presence for the Tabernacle or Temple was Gods House wherein he dwelt and the mercy seat and Cherubims c. were the Emblems of Gods presence there and this Symbolical presence of God in the Temple was very agreeable to that Symbolical and Ceremonial worship which he then instituted and commanded He dwelt among them by Types and figures and fore instituted a Typical and figurative Religion and this was an imperfect and obscure Declaration of himself to the World But now God hath sent his Son to Tabernacle among us Iohn 1. 14. the Deity it self now dwells in the Temple of Christs body not by Types and figures as formerly he dwelt in the Temple at Ierusalem but by a real and immediate presence and Union and therefore those Revelations which are made by Christ are answerable to the Inhabitation of the Godhead in him contain a true and perfect Declaration of Gods will in opposition to the imperfect Rudiments and obscure Types and figures of the Law So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or bodily is opposed to figurative and Typical and this is a plain demonstration of the perfection of the Gospel Revelation that the fulness of the Deity dwelt substantially in Christ and we need not doubt but that so excellent a Prophet as he was in whom the Deity it self inhabited hath perfectly revealed Gods will to us All the figures of the Temple were accomplisht in Christ's Person he was that in truth and reality which the Temple was a figure of God dwelling among us and his Religion answers the greatness of his Person The Godhead dwelt in him bodily not by Types and figures and his Religion is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too all truth and substance The Law was but a shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ Ver. 17. his Religion is Body truth and substance So that this place is exactly parallel with Iohn 1. 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tabernacled among us herein the figure of the Tabernacle was fulfilled that God dwelt in our flesh and the Revelations he made of God's will did agree with the manner of his appearance were full of Grace and truth not a Typical and figurative but a plain and perfect Declaration of Gods will And as the Evangelist tells us That of his fulness we have all received that we are perfectly instructed by him in the will of God so our Apostle adds here and ye are compleat in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filled in him you need no other Instructor but Christ who hath revealed as much of Gods will as is necessary for us to know So that this fulness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Christ does ultimately resolve it self into the perfection of the Gospel-Revelation for since the fulness of the Deity did inhabit in Christs Person we need not question but he was able to acquaint us with the whole mind and will of God and that he would do so The force of which Reason our Saviour himself takes notice of Iohn 3. 34 35. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God that is declareth his whole will to us for God giveth not the Spirit by measure to him It is not with him as it was with meaner Prophets who had only some particular Revelations of the Divine will but the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hands Thus the fulness of Christ you see signifies the excellency and perfection of the Gospel and in other places this fulness signifies the Church of Christ. Eph. 1. 22 23. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Where the Church is called the fulness of Christ which makes him as it were compleat and perfect for he cannot be a perfect Head without a Body hence the Church is called Christ. 1 Cor. 12. 12. For as the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ that is the Christian Church as it immediately follows for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Iews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and Beza tells us that this is the the reason of that phrase which so frequently occurs in the New Testament of being in Christ that is being members of the Christian Church Now the Church is called the Fulness of Christ with respect to its extent and universality that it is not confined to any particular Nation as the Jewish Church was but takes in Iews and Gentiles Bond and Free for this I take to be the meaning of Col. 1. 19. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell which words are commonly expounded to the same sense with Col. 2. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily but if we consult the Context we shall see reason for a different sense and Beza observes that some Expositors by his fulness in this place understand the Church for Vers. 18. the Apostle tells us that He is the head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first-born from the dead that in all things he might have the preheminence for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell where fulness must be expounded of the Church that it pleased God to unite his Church into Christ for the Apostle assigns this as the reason of Christs being the Head of the Church And if you would know why the Church is called Fulness and all fulness said to dwell in Christ the reason follows in 20 21. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross to reconcile all things by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven And you who were sometime alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled This is that fulness that dwells in Christ that he is made the Head of the Universal Church both in Heaven and Earth that Jews and Gentiles are now united in one
be a Fool though having none is the surest way not to be sensible of it and to take up his eternal rest in Christ and to be contented with Christ without Comfort and without Salvation And now I shall conclude this Section with a remarkable passage in the Sincere Convert whereby it will evidently appear what these men think of sanctification there we have an account what course some men take to secure their eternal happiness that when they find themselves tired and weary of themselves and hearing that only Christ can save them they go to Christ to remove those sins which tired and loaded them that he would enable them to do better than formerly if they get these sins subdued and removed and if they find power to do better then they hope to be saved here is the evidence of sanctification whereas as he adds thou maist be damned and go to the Devil at last though thou dost escape all the pollutions of the World and that not from thy self and thy own own strength but from the knowledge of Iesus Christ wo to you for ever if you die in this state with your sins mortified and subdued by Christ and the reason is because this is to come to Christ to suck juice from him to maintain his own Berries his own stock of Graces alas he is but the Ivy he is no member nor branch in this Tree and hence he never grows to be one with Christ. So that holiness and obedience is no evidence of our Union to Christ though we fetch strength from Christ to do his will we may only grasp about Christ all this while as the Ivy doth about the Oak but never be united to him and become one with him so that now we must return where we began and stick to the testimony of the Spirit without any external evidence that is to private Enthusiasms for sanctification can be no evidence of our Union to Christ. Good God! Into what mazes and Labyrinths do these men lead poor distressed Souls they can direct them to no certain way of getting into Christ nor how to know whether they are in Christ or not and now we may plainly see what friends these men are to a holy life they all agree that holiness is not antecedently necessary to our Union with Christ but they only pretend to make it a necessary mark and evidence of our Union and yet they will not allow it this priviledge neither to be a certain evidence of our Union to Christ it may prove us united to Christ as the Ivy is to the Oak not as a branch is united to the Vine and I hope this will justifie any mans zeal against such opinions as undermine the very foundations of Christianity The Gospel method of Salvation is very plain and easie those great Miracles our Saviour wrought and his Resurrection from the Dead are the foundation of our Faith a sufficient reason to believe that he came from God and declared his will to the World a publick profession of this Faith in our Baptism makes us the visible members of his body which is his Church and a sincere obedience to his Gospel makes a real Union between Christ and us and entitles us to all the promises of the Gospel and every man may as certainly know whether he be thus united to Christ as he can feel the motions of his own mind as he can know what he loves and hates and chuses and what the course of his life and actions are and there is no need of any revelation of any private testimony of the spirit to assure men of this no more than there is to assure them of any thing which is evident to their outward or inward senses The testimony of the Spirit concerns the general adoption of Christians for the Sons of God not to testifie to any particular man that he is a good Christian or in a state of Grace that is it is not a private but a publick testimony given to the whole Christian Church that Holy Spirit which God bestowed upon the Apostles and Primitive Christians which enabled them to work miracles and to speak Languages which they had never learnt and to Prophesie was a plain argument to all the World that God now owned the Christians not the Jews for his chosen and elect people for his Sons and Children for this was the great dispute of those days whether Jews or Christians were the Sons of God whether God now owned the Jewish or the Christian Religion and the Apostles decide this controversie by the testimony of the Spirit for God could not give a greater testimony to the Christian Church than the gift of the Holy Spirit for it was a plain argument that he owned them for his Sons when he bestowed the Spirit of his Son on them as the Apostle argues Gal. 3. 2. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith That is did God bestow his Spirit on you while ye were Jews or upon your Conversion to Christianity for if God bestowed his Spirit only on Christians this is a sufficient seal to the Christian Religion This is very plain and intelligible the testimony of the Spirit assures us that all Christians are the Sons of God and Heirs of his Promises and every mans own Conscience will tell him whether he be a Christian that is whether he heartily believe and obey the Gospel of Christ and herein consists our Union to Christ and fellowship with him let us then leave those other dim notions to men who can believe what no man can understand who despise every thing that can be understood as if it were no better than carnal reason CHAP. V. Concerning the Love of Christ to Believers SECT 1. I Have now finisht the greatest part of my design and shall discourse more briefly of what remains Next to our Union with Christ follows our Communion with him for though Communion and fellowship in the Scripture notion of those words signifie no more than what we call Union as I have already proved yet in these mens Divinity they are very different our Union to Christ is represented by our marriage to him our Communion with him by consequential conjugal affections the only thing I shall at present take notice of for a Conclusion of all is that mutual and reciprocal love which is betwixt Christ and Believers Christs love to Believers and the Believers love to Christ. First Christs love to Believers the Scripture doth very justly magnifie the love of Christ as the greatest example of goodness that was ever known in the World and the greatest expression of the love of Christ was his dying for us he is that good Shepherd who giveth his life for his Sheep Iohn 10. 11. and our Saviour himself tells us greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friend and therefore when the Apostle designed to mention the greatest
Golden Bucket whereas at other times they tell us that Faith may be a sore and blear-eyed Leah a shaking and Palsie hand weak and bending Legs and have all the infirmities that may be and be never the worse neither as to the purpose of justification so that Faith had need be a very humble Grace else it would take such language very ill from them Thus to give you but one instance more when these men are prest with those Scriptures that urge the necessity of good works and a holy life that without holiness no man shall see God that the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men That our acceptation with God depends upon a holy and vertuous life that God is no respector of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him That except our Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees those Immoral Hypocrites who plac't all their Righteousness in observing the Ceremonies of the Law without the purity of their hearts and lives we shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven That he who breaks one of the least of these Commandments and teacheth men so shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven that is shall have no Inheritance there and he that doth and teacheth them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven that is shall be greatly rewarded with many more of the like nature which assert the absolute necessity of a holy life and keeping the Commandments of God to entitle us to his love and favour and the rewards of the next life which perfectly overthrow their fundamental notion of justification by the righteousness of Christ the merits of whose death they say free us from the guilt of sin and that punishment which is due to it make us as perfectly Innocent as if we had never offended and the righteousness of his life imputed to us makes us righteous so as to deserve a reward gives us an actual title to glory Now any one who is not mightily acquainted with the Person of Christ would think it a very hard task to reconcile this Doctrine of Justification by the imputation of Christs Righteousness without any thing of our own with the necessity of a holy life which the Scripture doth so expresly assert But these men defie you if you charge them with destroying the necessity of a holy life And I wish with all my heart that whatever the consequence of their Doctrines is it may have no bad influence upon their lives For they tell us that this Universal Obedience and good works a very suspicious word which methinks these men should be afraid to name are indispensably necessary from the Soveraign appointment and will of God this is the will of God even our Sanctification It is the will of the Father and it is the will of the Son I have ordained you that you bring forth fruit John 15. 16. and the appointment of the Holy Ghost And then Holiness is one eminent and special end of the peculiar dispensation of Father Son and Spirit in the business of exalting the glory of God in our Salvation It is the end of the Fathers electing love he hath chosen us that we should be holy Eph. 1. 4. the end of the Sons redeeming love who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Titus 2. 14. and of the Spirits sanctifying love as any one would easily guess It is necessary to the glory of God to the glory of the Father to the glory of the Son and to the glory of the Holy Ghost whose Temple we are and are not these men now mightily injured in being charged with denying the necessity of a Holy Life who make it necessary upon so many accounts Is it not great pity they should be so abused But the truth is all this is not one syllable to the purpose for the question was about its necessity to Salvation and if we be justified and saved without it all this cannot prove any necessary obligation on us to the practice of it God hath appointed and commanded obedience but where is the sanction of this Law will he damn those who do not obey for their disobedience and will he save and reward those who do obey for their obedience not a word of this for this destroys our justification by the Righteousness of Christ only And if after all these commands God hath left it indifferent whether we obey or not I hope such commands cannot make obedience necessary The Father hath elected us to be holy and the Son redeemed us to be holy but will the Father elect and the Son redeem none but those who are holy and reject and reprobate all others doth this Election and Redemption suppose Holiness in us or is it without any regard to it For if we be elected and redeemed without any regard to our own being holy our Election and Redemption is secure whether we be holy or not and so this cannot make holiness necessary on our parts though it may be necessary on Gods part to make us holy but that is not our care Obedience and a holy life is for the glory of the Father the Son and holy Spirit how so when the necessity of Holiness is so destructive to free Grace which is the only glory God designs to advance by Christ. If this will not do yet Holiness is necessary to our honour for it makes us like to God Prophane men that they are as if the perfect Righteousness of Christ his beautiful Robes were not much more for our honour and did not make us more like to God than the rags and patches of our own Righteousness however if men prefer their lusts and interests before their honour the necessity of holiness ceases But it is for Peace What Peace I pray you Peace of Conscience Why then must we at last fetch our Peace and security from our own duties and graces Is not this to renounce Christ Miserable men that we are must we then set about correcting our lives amending our ways performing duties required and so follow after righteousness according to the Prescript of the law Why this is the course wherein many men continue long with much perplexity sometimes hoping oftner fearing sometimes ready to give quite over sometimes vowing to continue their Consciences being no ways satisfied nor righteousness in any measure obtained all their days After they have tired themselves perhaps in the largeness of their ways they come at length with fear and trembling and disappointment to the conclusion of the Apostle by the works of the Law no man is justified and with David cry that if God marks what is done amiss there is no standing before him And is this the way in which we must seek for Peace is this the way to enjoy Communion with
in for a share at least in being the Fountain of Grace though the Dr. is pleased to take no notice of him But how excellent is the Grace of Christs Person above the Grace of the Gospel For that is a bounded and limited thing it is a strait gate and narrow way that leadeth unto life there is no such boundless mercy as all the sins in the World cannot equal its dimensions as will save the greatest the oldest and the stubbornest transgressors Thus the Love of Christ is an eternal Love because his Divine Nature is eternal and it is an unchangeable Love because his Divine Nature is unchangeable and his love is fruitful for it being the love of God it must be effectual and fruitful in producing all the things which he willeth unto his Beloved he loves Life Grace Holiness into us he loves us into Covenant loves us into Heaven This is an excellent Love indeed which doth all for us and leaves nothing for us to do we owe this discovery see you to an Acquaintance with Christs Person or rather with his Divine Nature for the Gospel is very silent in this matter All that the Gospel tells us is that Christ loved sinners so as to dye for them and that he loves good men who believe and obey his Gospel so as to save them and that he continues to love them while they continue to be good but hates them when they return to their old vices and therefore I see there is great reason for sinners to fetch their comforts not from the Gospel but from the Person of Christ which as far excels the Gospel as the Gospel excels the Law But methinks this is a very odd way of arguing from the Divine Nature for if the love of Christ as God be so infinite eternal unchangeable fruitful I would willingly understand how sin and death and misery came into the World For if this Love be so eternal and unchangeable c. because the Divine Nature is so then it was always so for God always was what he is and that which is eternal could never be other than it is now and why could not this eternal and unchangeable and fruitful love as well preserve us from falling into sin and misery and death as Love Life and Holiness into us for it is a little odd first to love us into sin and death that then he may love us into Life and Holiness which indeed could not be if this Love of God were always so unchangeable and fruitful as this Author perswades us it is now for if this Love had always loved Life and Holiness into us I cannot conceive how it should happen that we should sin and dye Not that I deny that the Love of God is eternal unchangeable fruitful that is that God was always good and always continues good and manifesteth his love and goodness in such ways as are suitable to his Nature which is the fruitfulness of it but then the unchangeableness of Gods love doth not consist in being always determined to the same object but in that he always loves for the same reason that is that he always loves true vertue and goodness where-ever he sees it and never ceases to love any person till he ceases to be good and then the immutability of his Love is the reason why he loves no longer for should he love a wicked man the reason and nature of his Love would change And the fruitfulness of God's Love with respect to the Methods of his Grace and Providence doth not consist in producing what he loves by an omnipotent and irresistible power for then sin and death could never have entred into the World but he governs and doth good to his Creatures in such ways as are most suitable to their natures He governs reasonable Creatures by Principles of Reason as he doth the material World by the necessary Laws of Matter and bruit Creatures by the Instincts and Propensities of Nature From hence he proceeds to shew how desirable Christ is in his Humanity by reason of his freedom from all sin both Original and Actual and his fulness of Grace that all Grace was in him for the kinds thereof and all degrees of Grace for its perfection This indeed doth represent him as a very excellent Person a spotless Sacrifice and a great Example to the World but these personal perfections cannot pass out of his Person to become ours But then Thirdly you must consider That all these perfections of the Divine and Humane Nature are united in one Person and this made him fit to suffer and able to bear whaetever was due unto us which no Creature could do for if the weight of our sins had been laid upon a meer innocent Creature how would they have overwhelmed him and buried him for ever out of the presence of God No doubt the Sacrifice of Christ who was God-Man was of greater value than the Sacrifice of any meer Creature could be but I know not what this is to his purpose and do as little admire his Philosophy But his being God and Man made him an endless bottomless Fountain of Grace to all that believe This he was as God as we were told before and his Grace was never the more bottomless for becoming Man The design you see of all this is to make the Person of Christ the Fountain of all Grace from whence we must drink pardon and mercy as long as we need any and such mercy too as his Gospel is unacquainted with he hath a fulness of all Grace in himself and from thence we must receive the communications of it And this brings me to the second sort of the Personal Graces and Excellencies of Christ his fulness to save from the Grace of Communion or the free consequences of the Grace of Union As for this Grace of Communion as he is pleased to call it though it sounds a little harsh to be a Personal Grace and yet communicated whereby Christ communicates his fulness to Believers I shall reserve it for its proper place and shall at present only consider what this Personal fulness in Christ is which he calls all the furniture he received from the Father by the Unction of the Spirit for the work of our Salvation and near of kin to this is his third Personal Grace his Excellency to endear from his compleat suitableness to all the wants of the souls of men There is no man whatever this sounds like universal Redemption that hath any want in reference to the things of God but Christ will be unto him that which he wanteth is he dead Christ is life is he weak Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God hath he the sense of guilt upon him Christ is compleat Righteousness the Lord our Righteousness many poor Creatures are sensible of their wants but know not where their remedy lies Indeed whether it be life or light power or joy all is wrapt up in him Now
was all the Righteousness he had while he was a Pharisee and this he accounts dung and loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Iesus Christ our Lord i. e. for the sake of the Gospel which is the knowledge of Christ as you hear'd above which contains a more excellent and perfect Righteousness than the Law did and that he might win Christ i. e. that he might attain to an Evangelical Righteousness such as Christ was the Preacher and example of and that he might be found in him not having his own Righteousness which is of the law that at the last day he might appear to be a sound and sincere Christian whose righteousness does not consist only in some external observances or an external Conformity to Gods Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith i. e. that inward and vital principle of holiness that new nature which the Gospel of Christ requires of us and which this Christian Faith will work in us which is a Righteousness of Gods own chusing which he commands and which he will reward To confirm all this we must observe a double Antithesis in the words the Righteousness of the law is opposed to the Righteousness which is by the Faith of Christ and my own Righteousness opposed to the Righteousness of God now the surest way to understand the meaning of this is to consider how these phrases are used in Scripture The Righteousness of the law as you have already hear'd is an external Righteousness which consists in washings and purifications and Sacrifices or an external Conformity to the moral Law the Righteousness which is by the Faith of Christ is an Internal Righteousness which consists in the renovation of our minds and Spirits in the government of our thoughts and passions which is therefore called being born again and becoming new Creatures and rising again with Christ and putting off the old man and being renewed in the spirit of our minds and putting on the new man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness The meaning of all which phrases is that that Righteousness which God requires of us under the Gospel must be an inward principle of love and obedience which changes our natures and transforms us into the image of God as much as if we were born again and made new Creatures Hence St. Paul tells us that the reason why God sent Christ into the World in our nature to die as a Sacrifice for our sins and to confirm and seal the new Covenant with his blood was that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Rom. 8. 3 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the righteousness of the law that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Chrysostom expounds it that which the law was designed to work in them but was found too weak to effect it by reason of the greater power and prevalency of sin i. e. the inward holiness and purity of mind which was represented and signified by those external Ceremonies of Circumcision washing purifications and Sacrifices this was the design of the Gospel to work in us that internal holiness and purity which is the perfection and accomplishment of the Typical and Figurative Righteousness of the Law I know very well that this place is expounded of the imputation of Christs Righteousness that we fulfil the Righteousness of the Law not personally but imputatively but what reason can there be assigned for this besides that they will expound Scripture so which no man can help for is there any mention here of the Righteousness of Christ that he fulfilled all Righteousness for us and that his Righteousness is imputed to us and so we fulfil the Righteousness of the law in him And we ought to consider how consistent such an interpretation is with the Apostles design which is to show the great vertue and efficacy of the Gospel in delivering us from the power of sin which the law could not effect The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Iesus that divine and spiritual law which Christ hath given us which governs our minds and spirits and is the principal of a new spiritual life makes us free from the law of sin and death from the power and dominion of sin which is called a law and the law in our members warring against the law of our minds Rom. 7. 21 23. for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh what the law could not do i. e. govern our minds and passions deliver us from the law of sin and death from the Power and Dominion of our lusts this God effected by sending Christ into the World to publish the Gospel to us and to confirm all those great promises and threatnings contained in it with his own blood That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit how can imputation come in here What pretty sense would this make of the Apostles Argument The Law was too weak to make men throughly good to conquer their love to sin and to reform their hearts and lives and therefore God sent his Son into the World What for To give them better laws and more excellent promises and more powerful assistances to do good No by no means but to fulfil all righteousness for them that they may fulfil the righteousness of the law not by doing any thing themselves but by having all done for them by having this perfect Righteousness of Christ imputed to them there was no reason surely to abrogate the law of Moses for this end it might have continued in full force still and have been as available to Salvation as the Gospel is with the supplemental Righteousness of Christ But the weakness of the law which the Apostle complains of was not the want of an imputed Righteousness which might have been had as well under the Law as under the Gospel if God had pleased but a want of strength and power to subdue the sinful appetites of men it was weak through the flesh by reason of the greater prevalency of sensual lusts which the law could not conquer and therefore the Gospel of our Saviour must supply this defect not by an imputed Righteousness but by an addition of greater power to enable men to do that which is good to fulfil the external righteousness of the law by a sincere and spiritual obedience Much to the same purpose the Apostle discourses in Rom. 7. Ver. 4 5 6. Wherefore my Brethren you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ who put an end to that imperfect dispensation by his death that you should be marryed to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God for when we were in the flesh under that carnal and fleshly dispensation of the
were not reckon'd as done by us but because we do some things like them our dying to sin is a Conformity to the Death of Christ and our walking in newness of life is our Conformity to his Resurrection and the consideration of the Death and Resurrection of Christ is very powerful to engage us to die to sin and to rise into a new life and this is the true reason of these phrases not that Christ did all in our stead and therefore we are said to do it too but for a quite different reason because we must do something like it express the power and image of his Death and Resurrection in our lives To this purpose also he cites that Text in Gal. 4. 4 5. God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law and here he stops but I shall take confidence to add that we might receive the adoption of Sons now by being made under the Law he tells us is meant being disposed of in such a condition that he must yield subjection and obedience to the Law well suppose this and this was all to redeem us and therefore our Redemption is by the obedience of Christ imputed to us fairly argued but can his obedience to the Law contribute no otherways to our redemption but by being reckon'd as done by us but the truth is this us is not in the Text it is not to redeem us but to redeem them that were under the Law that is the Iews who were in bondage under the Mosaical Law from which Christ redeemed them by abrogating that Law and introducing a better Covenant the adoption of Sons for in this Epistle nay in this Chapter the Law is called a state of Servants and of an Heir under Age but the Gospel is the adoption of Sons puts us into such a free and manly state as that of an Heir at Age and therefore is called the Spirit of adoption Rom. 8. 15. So that the meaning of this Text is this that God hath now put an end to the dispensation of the Law which is called redeeming them that were under the Law in a state of servitude and bondage and hath established a better Covenant in the room of it which as much excells the Law as the adoption of Sons does the state of Servants and this God brought to pass by sending his Son into the World made of a Woman made under the Law for the understanding of which words we must consider what influence Christs appearing in the world had on the abrogation of the Law and that was that he accomplished all the Types and Figures of the Law in his own Person and when all these Types were fulfilled they grew out of date so that his being made under the Law most probably signifies his being made such a Person as should exactly answer all the Types and Figures of the Law and so put an end to it as of no further use Thus the Temple was Gods House wherein he dwelt but now the Shecinah or Divine Glory rested on Christ and the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily so that now there was no longer any need of a material Temple as a pledge of Gods peculiar presence among them the Priests and Sacrifices of the Law were Types of Christ and when that great high Priest came and offered that perfect Sacrifice of himself all legal Priests and Sacrifices were of no use Thus by his being made under the Law and accomplishing all the Types and Figures of it he put an end to all those beggarly Rudiments and delivered the Jews from the bondage of the Law for though the Gentiles too are redeemed by Christ yet they were not redeemed from the Law of Moses under which they never were Several other places he alledges to the same purpose but I have either already considered them or shall do in what follows but what I have now discoursed is enough to satisfie any impartial Inquirer how vain and precarious this Principle is which too many make the very Foundation of their Faith that Christ as Mediator fulfilled all Righteousness in their stead whose Mediator he was And now had I no other design than to expose the mistakes of other men I should need add no more till I saw this answered but I have a greater and better design viz. to explain and confirm the true notions of Religion in opposition to such mistakes and therefore having shewed you that there is no foundation in Reason or Scripture to fancy such an Union between Christ and Believers whether we consider it as a Conjugal Relation or Legal Union as he is our Surety or Mediator as should entitle Believers to the Personal Righteousness of Christ lest any man should suspect that the design of all this is to lessen the Grace of God or to disparage the Merits and Righteousness of Christ which God forbid any Christian should be guilty of I shall secondly examine what influence the Sacrifice of Christs death and the Righteousness of his life have upon our acceptance with God and all that I can find in Scripture about this is that to this we owe the Covenant of Grace that God being well pleased with the obedience of Christs life and the Sacrifice of his death for his sake entred into a new Covenant with Mankind wherein he promises pardon of sin and eternal life to those who belief and obey the Gospel This is very plain with reference to the death of Christ hence the Blood of Christ is called the Blood of the Covenant Heb. 10 29. and Christ is called the great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls through the blood of the everlasting Covenant Heb. 13. 20. and the blood of Christ is called the blood of Sprinkling which speaks better things than the blood of Abel Heb. 12. 24. which is an allusion to Moses his sprinkling the blood of the Sacrifice whereby he confirmed and ratified the Covenant between God and the Children of Israel Heb. 9. 19 20 21. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the Law when he had declared the terms of this Covenant to them he took the blood of Calves and Goats with water and Scarlet wooll and hysop and sprinkled both the book and all the people saying This is the blood of the Testament which God hath ordained to you Thus the blood of Christ is called the Blood of Sprinkling because by his blood God did seal and confirm the Covenant of Grace as the sprinkling the blood of beasts did confirm the Mosaical Covenant Hence we are said to be justified by the blood of Christ Rom. 5. 9. that is by the Gospel Covenant which was confirmed and ratified with his blood and Christ is called a Propitiation through faith in his blood that is by a belief of his Gospel Rom. 3. 25. Hence it is also that the Scripture uses these phrases promiscuously to be justified by