only with other things which the following Tract insists on These he had oft in his own place preached and long endeavoured to make our Ministry hateful to his Hearers yet that I was silent under But serious Thoughts of the Design and Tendency of his open Attempt at Pinners-Hall forced me in my next Turns in that Lecture to preach the Principal Heads of the following Sermons which I enlarged in four Discourses at my own place Yet I had that regard to Peace that as I forbear all Indecent Reflections so I took no notice that any one asserted what I determine against and had never published them except that he had Printed his and that with the Scandalous Name he intends us to be called hereafter by viz. Semi-Socinian Sober Men justly cry out against these Debates but I appeal to their Consciences where the Blame must be laid Can we be Faithful to Christ to our Ministry to Souls that need our help or to our own Name as Ministers if we lye down with these Calumnies and Misrepresentations Though did they only plead for their own Whimsies I should for Peace disregard them but to make it their daily work to Prejudice the People against the Faithfulest Ministry and run them into Confusion of Mind for a Factions sake calls I think for an Industrious Opposition If you ask what in us is it they so exclaim against I answer It 's 1. That though we own Christ's Righteousness is truly imputed to us yet we deny that God esteems us to have done and suffered what Christ did 2. Though we own that God requires nothing of us to be a meriting legal Righteousness or Atonement for Sin yet we say that God in a way of governing Grace requires some Duty to be performed on Man's part to which he enableth us whereupon he applies to us the Beneficial Effects and Fruits of Christ's Righteousness according to the respective Gospel Promises and thereby incourageth us to those Duties governs our Fears and Hopes And that 's the Heart of the Controversie for they think no Duty as a Duty is ordained a means to any Benefit They own no Law but the Law of Works which admitted nothing short of perfect sinless Obedience And because we cannot perform that as the Meriting Condition of Life in the Adjustment of Iustice therefore Men must do nothing as a Condition of enjoying any Benefits in Christ's Right by the Adjustment of Grace in a way of Authority Since we cannot be wholly Sinless it 's all as one whether we are Sincere or no. 3. We own that it is Faith alone is the receiving Condition of Iustification yea I add That it 's the only express'd Condition of the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness in order to Pardon but all is in vain because we say that Repentance is necessary to our actual Pardon Mr. M. falsly pretends that their Notions are the Truth in the Churches Possession since the Reformation But I have proved the contrary by many Quotations in my Defence of Gospel-Truth and the very Iâ—dicious and Learned Apology of the Subscribers of my Book hath added a greater Number I will of Hundreds I could produce give two Testimonies Mr. Perkins 's Order and Causes of Salvation c. Cap. 36. Quest. Whether is Justifying Faith commanded in the Law Ans. It is commanded in the Law of Faith namely the Gospel but not in the Law of Works that is in the Moral Law Rom. 3.27 The Reasons are these 1. That which the Law revealeth not that it commandeth not but the Law is so far from revealing Justifying Faith that it never knew it 2. Adam had fully before his Fall written in his Heart the Moral Law yet had he not Justifying Faith which apprehended Christ. He then proceeds to answer the Objections against the Gospel being a Law Mr. Anth. Burgess in his Doctrine of Justification Part 1. P. 161. denies that Repentance is in a Man as a Sign only that God hath Pardoned But saith We must go further and say it 's the Means and Way which God hath appointed antecedently to Pardon so that where this goeth before the other followeth after This he proves by six Arguments and the Book was Printed at the Desire of the London Synod Calvin oft owneth the Gospel to be a Law and in his Commentaries on Jonas Cap. 3.10 P. 359. saith Forgiveness is Free and yet as oft as God proposeth Forgiveness to Sinners this Condition is still added therewith viz. That they Repent He gives the Reasons of it and calls it a Law by which God so commands Repentance in order to Pardon though not as a Cause of Pardon I have in this Book endeavoured to put the Doctrine of Iustification in a plain Light though I wonder why our Brethren still say I mean what is quite contrary to what I say I suppose it 's because they have so long thought and represented some of our Principles contrary to what they be that they cannot think it possible that they should be what indeed they are or at least they will suspect us Fools and Lyars rather than seem to own that they could be so long mistaken I request therefore that if Mr. M. will reply to me he would cite my words fully and give the Page as I have done for hitherto my own words would have put their Calumnies to Shame Him while God spares me I will attend to He saith That he is not far from the place where the Weary are at Rest and the Wicked cease from Troubling I wish him Repentance of the Wound he hath injustly given so many fitter to serve their Generation than him or me and whilst he is spared which I desire for Service may be long that he may be less unwearied in hindring and breaking that Blessed Union which promised so much Good though I am sorry he boasts of his own Quietness whilst he createth Broils and Disquiet to so many some known to us both he 'll meet in Glory who were comforted by the above Consideration whilst less able to bear up under his Assaults than by Grace I have been long strengthened to do Nevertheless whilst Conscience binds me to some Sharpness against his Attempt to destroy so many Ministers as to what 's more valuable than their Lives I do from my Heart forgive him and would rejoyce to find him convinced of his Mistake and Misrepresentation of our Principles that we might peaceably concur in promoting the Kingdom of Christ and our common Good and not be the Scorn of such as Glory in our Weakness Reader It 's worth thy notice that there is more Safety in our way than in the contrary for we trust in Christ's only Righteousness for all those Things and Vses it is appointed to even for Satisfaction to Iustice the Pardon of all our Sins and Defects the Acceptance of our Persons and all Performances the Merit of all Good yea and our Legal and Prolegal Righteousness renouncing every Grace and Work
〈◊〉 tâ—â—â— all hâ—ve 〈…〉 4 Pro. That the Glory of Governing Justice might not suffer by the saving of Sinners there must be a Satisfaction for the Offence they committed and a Meritorious Price for the good to be dispensed to them Gods Government must not be Arraigned before Angels or Men as weak Nor would the Justice of God seem an approver of Rebellion by admitting Sin to pass unpunished nor admit such an occasion of Disobedience to his Government By Satisfaction I mean that which fully vindicates the Reputative Glory of Justice so injur'd by Sin and secures the ends of Government By Merit I intend that which Governing Justice adjudged proportionable to the Benefit to be conferred on the Sinners 5 Pro. Sinners being utterly incapable for this God our Lawgiver did Ordain and Admit Christ with his Consent to be the Redeemer and Saviour of lost Sinners by making Satisfaction for Sin and Meriting the forfeited Blessings and much greater for them Hâ—b 3.2 he was appointed This was an act of the Lawgiver as above the Law but it was not by the Law of Works Yea God dispensed with the Law of Works in admittiâ—g Christs Sufferings and Obedience to be Satisfactory and Meritorious for Offendors That Law knew no vicarious Obedience or Punishment The Soul that Sins must Diâ— â—â—d nâ—â— another for it was the Language of the Law Divine Grace and Sovereignty â—erâ— exert themselves to answer the Eâ—ds of the Law by substituting a Saviour of lost Souls 6 Pro. It was in the Covenant of Redemption wherein it was adjusted and agreed what should be thus Satisfactory and Meritorious and so effectual to save Sinners Is. 53.10 11 12. Ps. 40.6 7 8. Zeâ—h 6.13 Ioh. 17.4 The Parties in this Covenant are the Father and Spirit on the one part and the Son on the other Whatever Christ suffered in time and all the Obedience he yielded were terms proposed to him and accepted by him In that Volume were Recorded what his Work and Rewards were to be and of the later the Salvation of his Members is a part What he herein submitted to he became obliged as an act of Faithfulness to perform Whatever was herein promised him he had a right to receive and did accordingly Claim By this Compact he agreed to be a Subject and Servant and hence the Law of Mediation did Commence as Binding By this Compact his Obedience and Sufferings became a Satisfaction that otherwise had been Uneffectual Satisfaction imports a Refuseableness antecedently to an Agreement And hence we may perceive that though what Christ paid was a â—ull equivalent yet it was not in all things the same in kind as Man was obliged to True Justice took care that all was inserted into this Covenant as Christs Work which was necessary to the Reparation of its Glory And hence the great Essentials of the Law of Works were inserted as Articles to be performed by Christ viz. Sinless Obedience aâ— a Man which is the Sum of the Precept and Death the substance of the Threatning and these to be done and suffered in the Human Nature Nevertheless some things in the Threat were incompetent to him as Spiritual Death the Hatred of God c. Many Precepts were not agreeable to his Circumstances all which were omitted Nay many things which the Law of Works never injoyn'd on Men were necessary to be done by the Redeemer and therefore were superadded From this Covenant ariseth the immediate Obligation of Christ to all his Obedience as well as the Rule and Measure of it And from this his Title to all the Reward much of which the premiant Sanction of the Law of Works never contained and could never give a right to No doubt that in this Covenant were adjusted the terms of the application of Redemption to Men which the Gospel Covenant doth enjoyn which I suppose the Assembly mean when they join the Covenant of Redemption and the Gospel Covenant together and say it was made with Christ as the second Adam But they cannot intend that Christ obliged himself to perform Personally all the Terms of the application of his purchased Benefits to us as he did the Terms of the Impetration of those Benefits He bound not himself to Repent and Believe for us tho' he did to Die for us yea and as Surety of the Gospel Covenant he engaged that the Elect should Repent Believe and Persevere But yet the Benefits should be applied to Men upon their Personal Believing and they are required by the Gospel so to Believe and become themselves federating parties in the Gospel Covenant This runs throughout the Assemblies Confession and Catechisms As when they say Faith is required by the Covenant as a Condition to Interest us in Christ large Catechism Q. 32. And they say Q. 153. That we may escape the Wrath and Curse of God due to us by reason of the Transgression of the Law God requireth of us Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus and the diligent use of outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the Benefits of his Mediation You have the same in the lesser Catechism And they oft tell us of Promises made to Graces c. by which and much more its plain that Conditions are required of Men. 7 Pro. Satisfaction being to be made for innumerable Sins committed and not only forfeited â—â—essings but even greater to be Merited and that for many the Obedience of Christ must exceed what the Law of Works injoyned on Mankind as the condition of its Reward What was necessary from every single Man for himself could not by Legal Justice be sufficient from one Man for all others that omitted it Now the Law required Obedience to its Precepts from every single Man That could not Merit the Reward for Sinners which was but necessary to an Innocent Mans Title to the Reward But what the Law requir'd was necessary to Innocent Mans obtaining the Reward though he had not Sinned before That which was by Governing Justice adjudged but proportionable to a less Reward could not Merie a greater Reward But whatever the Law of Works required was but proportioned to its lesser Rewards Lesser I call them though I allow them to be an Eternal Felicity in another World yet these were not Union with Christ nor such a degree of Conformity to his Glory c. much less did they include the Rewards promised to Christ for his Obedience as a Name above every Name all Iudgment and Authority with many more all which are the Reward of Christs Obedience As to Expiation of Sin by Punishment for Reconciliation with the offended God the Law enjoins no such Duty nor hinted such a thing It s Threatning was Eternal Death As Eternal Eternity was an ingredient into the Misery of every Sinner and can be removed by nothing but the Law-givers dispensing therewith upon Considerations equally Vindicating the Glory of Justice as this Eternity of Sinners Torments would do And it must be equivalent
not only to the Eternal Woe of one Offender but at least of all those Sinners who escape it Consider these and the like Things and see if the Law of Works which all Men were perfectly to Obey did injoyn all that Obedience which Christ was to yield as the condition of his Reward of which Manâ— Salvation is but part especially when it s a Reward adjusted by strict Governing Justice abating nothing of the Meriting Price thereof I mention these Things to let you see the danger of confining Christs Obedience to the idem of what the Law injoyned on Man or promised to him Alass we should be infinite Loosers thereby we could expect at best no moâ—e Happiness than what the Law of Works promised Nay I think a Pâ—â—demption of Sinners in a way of Justice would be more exceptionable than some Persons think who dare much because they see too little A Suretiship of Christs confined to what the Covenant of Works includes would be an uncomfortable Doctrine But the Obedience of Christ was not only super-equivalent to all that Man was to do by the Law but equal to all the Reward promised in the Covenant of Redemption The Dignity of his Person the Things he did and suffered and the Intenâ—ness of his Obedience His Unobligedness to do or suffer these but on the accoâ—â—t of Glorifying God by satisfying for Sin and opening a way for exerting Grace to Sinners with many more concur to Aggrandize his Obedience Of this more elsewhere Obj. Will not the Dignity of his Person let in all Happiness to us by a Suretiship in the meer Covenant of Works Ans. No but yeâ— I ask Where doth the Law of Works require this Dignity in the Person Obeying Or How can it put such a value on what it requir'd not And how can it impure that Dignity to us which it never exacted And if it could Where are many of those fore-mentioned Rewards promised in its Sanction and if they be not so included How can that Covenant conveyâ—â— Right to them God hath better contrived for his own Glory and for our Good for which we should for ever Praise and Adore him He hath taken the Essentials of the Law into the Covenant of Redemption and added these to other superadded Articles Promising Christ a Seed and their utmost Felicity as also Rewards to himself in the Humane Nature if he performed these Articles These Christ undertook and performed to a title And what Christ hereby acquired he is dispencing in a Gospel way of Grace and yet of Government and Blessed be his Name he is our Surety that we shall not violate the Terms of the Gospel Covenant and a Witness for God that we shall obtain the good promised in the said Covenant 8 Pro. Our Redeemer did fully vindicate the Glory of Governing Justice from the injury offered by Sin and caused his Government by his Obedience to appear venerable notwithstanding all the Forgiveness and Blessings which Grace should bestow in Christs Right upon any Sinners Forgiveness is a Mercy which the Devil foresaw not and besides according to Gods Methods with himself he could hardly suspect it possible because he knew God would nâ—â— reflect on his own Justice or Purity nor prostitute his Glory as a Governor nor hazard the ends of Government by Pardoning Delinquents He therefore tempted Man with confidence of his final Ruin if persuaded to Trangress A Satisfaction by an equivalent he understood not But infinite Wisdom Triumphed over Satans Wiles and spoiled his Glorying over his Captive Prey God â—â—â—ds a way of Forgiveness without Tempting any to offend the more and appeareth exactly just whilst yet he shews as much Pardoning Mercy as the Offendors needed yea makes Sin appear more Awful and his Government more Sacred by the Satisfaction on which he Pardoned than in the Punishment of all that had Transgressed Rom. 3.26 To declare at this time his Righteousness that he might be Iust and the Iustifier of him which believeth in Iesus In v. 25. The Apostle had affirmed That the Pardon of Sins committed before Christs coming was on the account of Christs Propitiation as well as of those since He adds That in the Propitiation whereby any Sins were remitted God appeared Righteous whilst he Pardoned though he justifies the Believer yet he appears Gloriously just in that Propitiation whereupon he justifies 9 Pro. The Lord Jesus thus Glorified God as he satisâ—ied and Merited by perfectly Obeying the Will of God and by the whole of his Humiliation especially in offering up himself an Atoning Sacrifice by Death upon the Cross. His Active and Passive Obedience concurred in the whole of Redemption 1. He perfectly Obeyed the Will of God Whatever was adjusted as his Duty he performed He made the Authority of the Law-giver manifest and exemplified the perfect Purity of the Law He was habitually Holy without defect and blemish and actively Obedient to the extent and spirituality of the Precept Heb. 7.26 He was Holy harmless and undefiled separate from Sinners He fulfilled all Righteousness Mat. 3.15 not refusing Obedience to the Institution Ministred by Iohn the Baptist He fulfilled the Moral Law yea observed the Ceremonial Law and filled up every Relation wherein he stood He not only did what we are to do but whatever act of Obedience was consistent with his Circumstances He pleaded no Exemption because of his Dignity nor waved any thing as too mean or difficult An accurate observance of the Divine Will ran as a constant Line through his whole Life according to the various opportunities presented to him And every Act of his Obedience was filled with that Love Zeal and Alacrity as might prescribe Instruction to the highest Angels and convince them how just meet good and excellent a thing the profoundest Obedience is when God in Flesh was thus Observant Thus he made the Law honourable and thereby the Lawgiver Is. 42.21 2. He was Humbled and suffered the utmost punishment which Justice required and God proposed for the expiation of Sin He was Incarnate and therein emptied himself Phil. 2.7 He was a Man of Sorrows as if they made up his Constitution and was acquainted with Grief even with the inwards of it as his Familiar Is. 53.3 He endured reproach so as to cry out they have broken my Heart Ps. 65.20 So low was he brought as to express his Estate by those Words I am a Worm and no Man Ps. 22.6 He was beholding to others for Necessaries Luc. 8.3 which seems felt by him in the commoness of that passage with him it s more Blessed to give than to receive Acts 20.35 He received Comfort by the Ministry of Angels Matt. 4.11 Luc. 22.43 How oft was he Blasphemed Mock'd by Men grieved by his Followers and deserted by his Friends His Blood was often shed at Circumcision when Stoned Whipp'd Crowned with Thorns Crucified and at last his Heart Blood let out Iohn 19.34 Oh! the direful Agony which so amazed him Forced
and not destroy the Sinner and be as glorious in forgiving as in punishing To him the satisfaction was made and by him accepted Heb. 10.7 And hence the Sinner is not free as soon as the satisfaction was made but it's when and on what terms the Law-giver and Sponsor would adjust yea and the release comes to the Sinner as a forgiving Act. Exh. Adore the Wisdom and Grace of God Oh! what Grace that would transfer the punishment What Wisdom that contrived a way to place it so that God should be satisfied and yet his Grace be free The Sinner saved and yet not tempted to Rebel The Sufferer repaid in Glory suited to what he did and endured The Redeemed kept Humble as Pardoned tho' the Pardon was granted on a valuable Price The Gift so bestowed as to exert Authority and necessitate Diligence And yet nothing done on the Receivers part to purchase the Gift or to Rob Grace of its Glory it s comprehensively expressed Eph. 1.7 8. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence 5 Prop. The righteousness of Christ in all respects is perfect and compleat yet Christ's Righteousness is variously denominated from those different respects However variously we conceive thereof it s every way perfect it 's chargeable with no defect nor subject to any challenge 1. It 's perfect if you consider it as a meer conformity to the preceptive part of the Moral Law in which respect it 's the same as Holiness He was holy harmless and undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 He was habitually Holy above Adam yea above Angels none so full of grace and truth as he Joh. 1.14 No Mind so filled with light in actu primo even from the very â—â—nning no Heart so inlaid with the Divine Image and enflamed with Love as his he had the Spirit without measure Ioh. 3.34 He had no taint of evil in his Constitution in the Womb he was that Holy thing Luk. 2.35 And when the Tempter assaulted him with the most Skilful violence he had nothing in him Ioh. 14.30 He super-eminently obeyed to an Iota all that was required of him or competent to his Person and this without any defect in the manner and to the utmost extent of the Precept Thus compleatly Holy was Christ which Holiness went into the matter of his Righteousness and is often called so he gave God his utmost due as a Holy Law-giver 2. It was a perfect Righteousness as the performed condition of the Reward promised him in the Covenant of Redemption Whatever was promised to Christ either for himself or Members was promised upon certain conditions some of which were a due undergoing of the bitterest Sufferings threatned in the Law of Works others were included in that of his Active Obedience A Penal Sanction in case of his failure had no room in the Law of Mediation because of the impossibility of his Non-performance and therefore a right to Impunity is of as little concern but Christ's Active and Passive Obedience became formally a compleat Righteousness as what he did and suffered was an exact fulfilling of the condition of the Reward in the Sanction He took our Nature he made his Soul an Offering for Sin he Honouâ— the Law he Glorified God he did all the â—â—rk which was given him to do and drunk the Dregs of the Cup which was appointed him to Drink He fulfilled all Righteousness Mat. 3.15 Even all that for which he was to be Exalted or his Seed made Happy nothing was omitted by him or abated to him 3. This Righteousness of Christ as the performed condition of the Reward was a Federal Righteousness above what was to be Man's Righteousness by the Law of Works which could not be but that the conditions consented to by Christ in the Covenant of Redemption were other and greater than what were required of Adam by the Covenant of Works I shall give you a few of many instances of Conditions appointed to Christ in the Covenant of Redemption above what the Law of Works required The Law of Works did not require the Person Obeying or Suffering to be the Eternal Son of God in our Nature but the Covenant of Redemption required this should I Name no more this would fully prove the point But I add The Law of Works did not exact an Obedience above what Innocent Adam was able to perform but the Covenant of Redemption did this And Christ so obeyed in our Nature not needlessly as must fill the Angels with admiration to see themselves outdone The Covenant of Works did not exact Punishment even to Death from the same Person as still yielded perfect Obedience but the Covenant of Redemption did this The Law of Works did not require or appoint a vicarious Punishment or Obedience from a Sponsor for others but limited both to the Persons originally subject to the Law whereas the Covenant of Redemption appointed this The Law of Works did not command the Sufferings of any as a Reconciling Propitiation but the Law of Mediation did this My reason for that is The Law of Works did by its Threats denounce Vengeance against Sin But this was not by a Precept upon Obedience whereto the Sufferer could Merit Peace and Reconciliation whereas the Law of Mediation appointed Christs Death for a Propitiatory Offering and in Dying he yielded the highest Act of Obedience to a Precept Ioh. 14.31 And this to make Reconciliation Heb. 2.17 Col. 1.20 The Covenant of Works did as a condition of Impunity and Reward injoin Obedience to no Law but that which Adam was under viz. the Law of Works and the Positive one Prohibiting the Eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil But the Covenant of Redemption required Obedience to the Ceremonial Law c. The Law of Works appointed no more Obedience than Governing Justice as such had suited to the Rewards of that Covenant But as the Covenant of Redemption had far higher Rewards so it ordained suitable conditions The Law of Works appointed no Obedience after Sin as a Meritorious condition of obtaining forfeited Benefits but the Covenant of Redemption did this We may easily perceive that the conditions prescribed to our Redeemer much differ'd from those the Law of Works required and since Christ fulfilled all these his federal Righteousness exceeds that which the Law of Works prescribed If you ask why Christ's Righteousness must thus exceed what the Law of Works ordained I Answer It 's because it's a greater thing to Redeem an Offender than to continue an Innocent Persons Right to Impunity And it 's more to Purchase greater Blessings for one that hath forfeited all good than it is to continue lesser Blessings tho' with some addition to one that hath not forfeited Yea and Reconciliation is more difficult than maintaining Peace before any Enmity 4. Christs Righteousness was perfect as it was his
as free from Condemnation as if they had never sinned and accepted and entitled to eternal Glory as if they had kept the whole Law Rom. 8.1 There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit These are in that State wherein the Curse is restrained from arresting them Yea they are Heirs joynt heirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 the Gospel-Covenant is their Charter of right which is secured by the Death of Christ the Oath of God and Sacramental Seals The Death of Christ is to be considered not only as what purchased the Covenant-Blessings of which I have spoken before but also as what ratifies the Covenant to our Faith by Death its irrevocable as a Testament and it must be sure or the Lord of Glory had never died to secure the ends of it his Death is too great a thing to admit a doubt of the certainty of that Charter by which the Effects of that Death are granted Christians being thus free and thus accepted and entitled proclaims them Righteous Exh. Be comforted notwithstanding your Faults and Weaknesses whilst your Hearts are upright in God's Covenant What is not a just Challenge to the Sincerity of thy Faith ought not to make thee conclude thy self Accursed or quit thy hopes of Glory Failings may cause Mournings that we are so Imperfect when they ought not to perplex us as if we were in a lost Condition The same Mouth that delivered the Curse against Sinners in the Law hath published Forgiveness and applied Redemption to Believers though Sinners by the Gospel Gal. 3.13 14. If your Faults be objected Christ hath answered them If the Weakness of Graces be objected Christ hath made up that If the Greatness of Gospel-Benefits be objected it 's Christ hath purchased them and they are bestowed not for thy Graces but for Christ's Obedience though it be to such as even thou art if a sincere Penitent that they are given for the Gospel-Rule doth only appoint the Persons who receive the Benefits but not ordain us to make the Satisfaction for the Sin to be pardoned or to purchase the Glory to be received Wilt thou not let Christ appoint his own Legatees to his own Bequeathments and rejoyce in the Gifts whilst thou art the Person to whom he declares they belong If he had promised Heaven to a meer Sinner as such thou oughtest as a Sinner to expect it with Joy But he hath promised it to all believing Saints however imperfect and must not thou with Comfort look for it and not quit thy hopes till thou cease to be a believing Saint Yea he hath ministred further to thy Joy That he will influence thy Soul by his Warnings against Apostasie by Sacraments and by constant Supplies so that thou shalt Persevere 10 Pro. Christians become thus Righteous upon believing by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them in their Justification and by the continuance of this Imputation they remain Righteous Upon our first believing we are justified Rom. 3.29 and there is a constant Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to the Believers for his continued Justification Did Men cease to be Believers God would cease to impute the Righteousness of Christ to them Did God cease to impute Christ's Righteousness Men would cease to be justified and did we cease to be justified we should be subject to Condemnation But blessed be God he will cause the true Believer to persevere in Faith and so he shall remain in a justified State God will preserve the Habit of Faith enable him to frequent Acts of Faith and still prevent damning Infidelity he will keep thee from a prevailing distrust and rejection of Christ as a Saviour Luke 22.32 and from reigning Disobedience to him as thy Lord. I shall explain this great Truth of Justification by the imputed Righteousness of Christ which may be conceived of according to the following Heads 1. There is a making us Righteous as it is a giving a Believer a right to Pardon Absolution from the Curse Adoption and Acceptance which is by imputing the Righteousness of Christ to the Believer We must be made Righteous before a just God can pronounce us so or deal with us as such there must be a right to Pardon e're God will Pardon this right to Pardon is given by God's imputing to us the Righteousness of Christ and the effect of that imputing Act seems to be the first Consideration in the Change made in our State as justified For the better apprehending of this you may remember I have before informed you that Christ's Righteousness may be considered 1 As the full Performance of the Conditions of the Covenant of Redemption which included a full Conformity to the Law of Works yea and morâ— 2 An adjudged Right to the promised Reward for his performance of those Conditions Now both these are imputed to the Believer in this first Consideration Of giving a Believer a right to Pardon c. 1. The Righteousness of Christ as it was the Performance of the Conditions of our Salvation is mediately imputed to the Believer God adjudgeth that what Christ did and suffered for the actual Remission of Sinners was really done and suffered for us it belongs to us we are the designed Objects of that actual Remission to procure which for us that Obedience was rendred Iohn 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting Life Here we see that God gave his Son to do and suffer what he did that Believers thereby might not Perish but eternally Live Now by Grace beinâ— Believers that we may have a right not uâ— Perish but Live we have what the Son â— given did and suffered reckoned and accounteâ— to us God looks on what Christ did as donâ— for us and esteems us Believers them whom his Son did that for and therefore by his gracious Ordination we are the very Persons thaâ— have a right to Pardon of those Sins for whicâ— we were liable to Perish and excluded from Life I say Christ's very Performance of the Conditions is imputed mediately in this manner If one give me my Liberty which he voluntarily purchased for me at a dear Rate he mediately gives me what he paid for my Ransom though immediately I receive my Liberty and a right thereto whereas the redeeming Price was paid to my Detainer in whose hands I was Captive So it was to God that Christ made Satisfaction and yielded the Meriting Price yet it is applied and reckoned so to the Believer that he receives the same Blessings thereby as if himself had rendred it because it was for his Title to those Benefits that it was rendred by Christ. Yea by this Imputation it becomes his Security for all saving Benefits and pleadable with God by him with respect to what is purchased for Believers thereby as if he had endured and performed the things Christ did Since God
all the Elect by causing them to Believe and that he would bring each of the Elect to Eternal Glory in a way of Faith and Holiness of which before But you must not hence infer that Christ engaged to repent for us or Believe in himself for us which to do would suppose him a sinner and to need a Mediatour He was a real Sponsor engaging to do all that belonged to him 3. Christ accordingly died in our Nature and that not only for our good but in our stead nostro loco We were liable to Die he stept in and Died that we might not Die who otherwise might have Died but now Live by his Dying for us He was a proper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he gave his Life for ours yea and this to vindicate the Glory of God in exempting us from Death He also Obeyed for us not indeed to exempt us from Obeying for by it we are brought to Obey instead of Rebelling not only to be a holy Offering and Example But that the want of our perfect Obedience might not exclude us from Acceptance and Heaven and that by his Obedience and Sufferings he might acquire for all his Members a Title to Happiness in his Right and not to be merited by any Work or Obedience of their own That the Lord Jesus did suffer properly in our stead is plain in Scripture Mark 10.45 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ransom for or instead of many Compare Matt. 2.22 it 's said 1 Tim. 2.6 he gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ransom in the room of all He was typified in the Sacrifices whose Lives were given up instead of theirs for whom they were offered and he is oft called a Sacrifice Neither is it to be doubted but he actively obeyed in our stead in the sense above given yea and hath excluded also the Necessity and Place of our Obedience for the Impetration of any Saving Benefits Thus far the Word of God directs us to call Christ either Surety Sponsor Representative c. 2. The thing that I deny is That Christ by his Obedience made Atonement or merited for us as a proper Pecuniary Surety in the Law of Works The thing is far otherwise for Christ suffered and obeyed as a Principal and Sole Undertaker and not as a Surety that supposed us Principals in that Undertaking He bound himself to God to give his Life by dying in our stead to save ours but he never was bound in one Bond with us that he should do so I shall give you a few Reasons of many 1 R. God never proposed it to fallen Sinners to make Atonement for their Sins and by Merit recover eternal Life which they had forfeited Where is the Law or Covenant whereby God proposed this to Sinners as their Duty and a way for their recovery By the Law of Works it was impossible and a Contradiction The Gospel condemns a Thought of it as contrary to the whole Scope of it The Compact between the Father and Son was not a Law or Covenant proposed to Sinners for their Performance of the Conditions thereof Now a Money-Surety is bound to no more than the Principal is bound to do If I am not obliged to pay a Hundred Pounds neither is my Surety bound to pay a Hundred Pounds Obj. You 'll say by the Law we were bound to obey the Law perfectly or to die for it Ans. Yes To obey was your Duty to die was the Penalty if you disobey'd But 1. You were not bound to die though you obey'd perfectly but Christ was bound to obey and Suffer though he obey'd 2. Were you bound when you did Sin and suffer the Penalty to obey afresh in a way of Merit of forfeited Blessings But Christ suffered and yet obey'd to Merit forfeited Blessings and more 3. Were you bound to suffer as your Duty and that in a way of Propitiation to reconcile the offended God by it as an Act of Obedience Yet Christ engaged in this manner 4. Were you bound by the Law that the Son of God should assume your Flesh and therein obey and suffer Yet thereupon depends the Satisfaction and Merit of the Obedience yielded thence is the Value of the Acts done and Sufferings endured ◠it were not a Payment without that for Dying and Obeying too would not serve to Save Sinners if it were not the Son of God in our Nature did both This goes into the Price and Payment Could Men have done it it had been no Payment supposing but one Sin before So that in this very respect Christ was bound to redeem you by paying a Million in the value of his Person and the same Actions and Passion as done and suffered by you would not have been one Penny in value and is he but your pecuniary proper Surety when he is bound for a Million and you not for a Penny as in Redemption Work 5. You are supposed fallen and the Covenant of Works broken e're Christ undertakes to pay any thing And can the Bond be the same when the Parties are changed the Conditions so changed on both parts even the Creditors and Debtors too the former granting other things the latter paying greater things the first in the Rewards the latter in the Duties Is it the same Bond and you Principals when transacted without your Privity your Consent not given the Terms not exacted from you and unless to reproach you not possible to be proposed to you God knew you and himself too well to propose to you that if you will make your Souls an Offering for Sin and perfectly keep my Law I will then receive you again into Favour Yet this would change the Bond Or if you would be thought Principals in the Covenant of Redemption it must thus be proposed to you If you will procure and send the Son of God to take your Flesh and die and obey the Law for you then I will be reconciled to you Had he been thus in your disposal and he had done it at your disposal you might claim at the rate as some do But though God gave his Son and his Son gave himself to redeem you yet you never gave him no nor were engaged to give him as the Condition of your Recovery These and many other Considerations should lead us to conclude that Redemption Work was proposed only to Christ in the Covenant of Redemption and that he was Principal and Sole Undertaker as well as the Sole Performer and of the People there was none with him Isa. 63.3 He alone undertook to satisfie Justice that we might be redeemed he alone engaged the whole Impetration Work and to find the Merit of our Happiness Though part of his Obedience was that we were obliged to do yet not for Redemption at all nevertheless his Obligation to do it was not as our Money-Surety but by a voluntary Sponsion he entred into a Bond that depended not upon our Consent or Performance and by which we have no Claim but at
paying Obj. He being given by God to be our Surety and not appointed by us to die God may suspend giving us the Benefits of his Death until we Believe Ans. If God made him a strict Money-Surety with us in the Law of Innocence he either did change the Law or precluded himself from a Right of suspending the Benefits at least the Restauration of his Image and Freedom from the Reign of Sin the Curse and Wrath of God till we Believe for the Law is changed if it say thou shalt be Free from the Dominion of Sin and the Guilt thereof but not till thou Believe in Christ though thou hast already legally performed all the legal Conditions If it be not changed it immediately entitles to the Reward and must be violated if at least any Punishment lie upon the perfect Performer of the Conditions for it 's a punishing us after the Debt is legally paid by us Now though there is hardly a Truth more plain in the Word of God than that The Wrath of God abides still upon all Vnbelievers notwithstanding Christ's Death yet you see how this Notion of Money-Suretiship shakes it I might instance others as we ought not to confess our Sins nor pray for Forgiveness God afflicts only from Sin but not for Sin at all God will Judge and Justifie us only by the Law of Works and we are Saved by that Law If God charge us with Sin we may charge him with Unrighteousness David was as acceptable to God whilst he murthered Vriah as when he obeyed God most God requires nothing from us to escape his Wrath and Curse for Sin we must not propose any Benefit to our selves by any Duty or acting of Grace nor are we the better a Jot by them These and the like spring from this very Opinion That we satisfied the Law fully and perfectly obeyed it in Christ as a pecuniary Surety with us in that Law To say nothing of the advantage the Socinians have thereby These things may Caution us in our Conceptions especially when the considering of Christ as a Pecuniary Surety of the Law of Works paying Debts to a Creditor is not necessary to any one Gospel End neither the Glory of Christ the Government of God the Salvation of the Elect the Spiritual Comfort of Believers or promoting of Holiness All which are more clearly subserved by this word as Surety of the New Covenant joined with other words frequently used by the Holy Ghost as Mediator Redeemer Saviour Ransomer and the whole Oeconomy of Redemption plainly stated thereby 5 R. Christ's being a strict Money-Surety would be a very great loss to us If he be our Surety in the Covenant of Works then we can have no Claim to any Benefit but what the Covenant of works promiseth whereby we shall lose Union with Christ the in-dwelling Spirit and whatever degree of Glory is to be expected by Christ above what Adam was to enjoy in case he had not fallen of which I have spoken before The reason is if I have a Surety in a Bond wherein I have certain Immunities upon paying a Sum of Money if my Surety pay that Money I can thereby have a Right to no more Immunities than that Bond contains 6 R. Christ where he is called a Surety was a Surety of the better Testament and therefore not of the Law of Works which enjoined Obedience and inflicted Death on sinners Heb. 7.22 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes rendred Testament sometimes Covenant and well it might be rendred a Legal Disposition But call it which you will this Testament or Covenant of which Christ is Surety here cannot be the Covenant of Works It was not the Covenant that obliged us to die for Sin or perfectly Obey in a way of Merit that here he is called Surety of Is the Law of Works that better Covenant or Testament Or must Christ be a Surety for us in the Covenant of Works because he is Surety of the better Covenant which is not the Covenant of Works If you doubt whether this better Covenant be not the Covenant of Works consider the whole Context This better Covenant is opposed to the Iewish Covenant as the Priesthood of Christ is opposed to the Levitical Priesthood which Priesthood of Christ the Apostle proved to be higher and better than the Levitical by many Arguments As Christ was a Priest after the Order of Melchisedeck who was greater than Abram or Levi He succeeded the Levitical Priesthood as it was unable to attain the great Ends of Priesthood His Priesthood is unchangeable because he ever lives and those Priests were Mortal Christ was made Priest by an Oath they without an Oath And to add no more Christ was Surety of a better Testament which is again expressed Heb. 8.6 He is the Mediator of a better Covenant or Testament and ver 7. If the first Covenant had been faultless there had been no place for a second The better Covenant or Testament in Chap. 8.6 must be the same as this better Testament or Covenant in this Chap. 7.22 the word there and here is the same And there you have a full Account what this better Covenant is It 's the New Covenant wherein forgiveness of sin among other Blessings is promised Heb. 8.9 to 13. At most it's the Covenant of Grace as in the last Edition Of which Covenant but on different Accounts Christ is called the Mediator the Surety the Testator And the betterness of this Edition of the Covenant is founded on the betterness of Christ's Priesthood who by his Blood purchased it with all its Benefits confirmed it by his Death and by his intercession secures the great ends of it q. d. By how much he had a better Priesthood By so much he was made a Surety of a better Testament Heb. 7.22 and repeats it Heb. 8.6 He hath obtained a more excellent Ministry By how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which was established upon better Promises Was this the Covenant of Works Surely no for the Law of Works pronounced the Curse this the Blessing The Law of Works bindeth guilt this Assures us that God will be merciful to our unrighteousness and our sins and iniquities he 'll remember no more The Law of Works is a killing Letter By this Covenant of which Christ is Surety God writes his Law in our Hearts and is to us a God and we to him a People Yea â—â—rseverance is secured Our Lord Jesus is a Surety of this blessed and better Covenant he will see it kept by all the parties he undertakes to have its Ends accomplished and it fulfilled Believers shall persevere New Testament Saints shall generally have freer Access to God Fear and Know God more and be Holier than Old Testament Saints Yea I grant all the Elect shall be brought into this Covenant and be saved by it As Mediator of this Covenant he died for the Redemption of Transgressions even those under the
Righteousness who chuse that word They think that because a Principal may be said in Law to pay to the Creditor the very same Money as the Surety pays and in Law equally with the Surety therefore all Sinners for whom Christ Died and Obeyed did then Equally Die and Obey as Christ himself or as others wheâ— they believe God doth account that they Died and Obeyed Equally with Christ and in Law Sense they fully answered the Law of Works and they are Justified by that very Law being truly and legally Innocent by the Satisfaction they have made and Obedience they as one Legal Person with Christ yielded And so they are Righteous as Christ not in Similitude but in Equality But though I grant that the Righteousness of Christ's for which we are Justified be a Righteousness adequate to the Law yea supra-legal as well as in substance truly Legal yet I deny that to be a Suretiship Righteousness in a sense that can infer us Equally Righteous as Christ. 1 R. I have fully proved that Christ was not a Money-Surety with Sinners or Believers in the Law of Works though he Died in their stead and his Death secured their Release and Happiness because the Law-giver in the Covenant of Redemption admitted and promised this and the Gospel doth proclaim this and assure Christians that they shall be treated as Believers yea and as if themselves had Obeyed and Satisfied viz. As to all the Blessings promised to Believers But all this doth not infer that we paid the Price of Heaven that we Legally endured the Wrath of God there 's no Suretiship that amounts to this and therefore no Suretiship Righteousness that connotes it Christ was not our Money-Surety in the Law of Works in performing the Law of Redemption and therefore we cannot be said to do and suffer what Christ did Equally with him nor consequently to be as Righteous as he in Equality Obj. Christ was made under the Law to Redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons Gal. 4.4 5. Ans. 1. I might shew how the Context doth confine to the following sense viz. Christ was made under the Jewish Law as delivered Four Hundred Years after the Promise which could not give Life nor the Spirit under which Law the Jewish Believers were shut up and it their Schoolmaster and they as Servants in Bondage under the Elements of this World i. e. The Ceremonies and far from the designed Liberty of adopted Sons But Christ was made under this Law to Redeem and Rescue those Jewish Believers from this Bondage and to bring the Gentiles as well as they and at one instant with them to the Gospel Freedom and Liberty called the adoption of Sons even a Liberty from the Jewish Yoak and Bondage which many were still fond of Consult Chap. 3. and 4. In this sense it 's not the Law of Innocency as a proper Covenant of Works that 's meant by the Law under which Christ was made The Law of Innocency or Works had not in it these Ceremonies Ordinances and the like 2. I grant that Christ in taking our Nature became a Servant and subject to the Law of Innocency to its Precepts and its Punishments as a Mediator according to the Terms adjusted in the Covenant of Redemption 3. But how follows it that because he obliged himself in the Covenant of Redemption that he would be in our Nature subject to the Law for our Redemption that therefore he was such a Surety in what he did as that we Legally did what he did and that in the Estimate and Sentence of that Law as a Law of Works It 's so far from concluding this that it concludes the contrary we did it not because he did it he did it to Redeem us we were to do it to prevent the need of Redemption and had we done it there had been no room for his doing of it And Obeying alone would have serv'd our turn before Sin and neither our obeying nor suffering have served the turn after Sin Further 4. Christ did not then become a Surety or Undertaker to Die for us by being made under the Law but he was made under the Law because he had undertaken to Die for us His very being made under the Law of Works was but a performance of a previous Engagement to to the Law-giver this being one Article in the Covenant of Redemption That he should take our Nature be a Servant under the Law and make his Soul an Offering for Sin Heb. 10.9 Isa. 53. Can any infer then that because Christ was made under the Law in performance of his Prior Engagement to Redeem lost Sinners to which Engagement these Sinners were never obliged that therefore these Sinners did truly do and suffer whatever Christ did and suffered to Redeem and Save them It 's true but for Sinners and the Law and Divine Justice Christ needed not to enter into any Obligation that he would be under the Law and Die for Sinners and Obey to make the Law Honourable But what is this to make us Principals in that Bond whereby hâ— became obliged to come under the Law and Die for us The Law is Honoured and Justice Satisfied but not by us though for us because he stood alone obliged by his Bond to Honour the Law and Satisfie Justice It was not from any Obligation the Law of Works had upon him that he become obliged to be a Subject or if he became a Subject that he must Die whilst he was an Innocent Person Nor was it the Law of Works that gave him a right to his Reward if he should Obey and Die this Law never promised his Death would be a Ransom for all and he be Glorious as a Redeemer the Law of Works hath nothing of this Christ had to do with a higher Law before he submitted to this A Law wherein he was Principal transacting without us though for our Recovery I 'll give you an instance There is a Law made that he that Commits High Treason shall Die a Thousand Persons Commit High Treason in various degrees and are Condemned But the Law-giver or absolute Supreme Ruler makes a Law that if such a great Monarch will become his Subject and Die to Expiate this Treason those Condemn'd Traitors shall be forgiven and released in such a time and way as is agreed between the Law-giver and this Monarch This Monarch becomes a Subject and Dieth to Expiate the Treason and deliver the Traitors Now here the Law-giver is satisfied the End of the Law is answered the Monarch Dies in the stead and place of the Traitors and they in a fit time and way are released But yet they cannot be said to Die nor pay a Ransom for their Lives much less to say that they paid as much as the Monarch 2 R. We did not equally with Christ perform the Legal Conditions of Redemption otherwise we equally vindicated the Honour of Divine Justice as Christ did
Publick-spiritedness Godliness Integrity and whatever makes a Gospel-spirit and the Image of Christ upon a Man to say nothing of Humility good Nature Freedom from Envy and Malice c. Yea God blessed him more to the real Conversion of Souls than a hundred Mr. Mather's notwithstanding his charging him with rejecting the Counsel of God against himself P. 10. And to hold pernicious Soul-destroying Errors for it 's him whose Words he puts in a broken Light P. 46. 4. He very oddly evades the Charge of the Assembly Confess Chap. 26. A. 3. viz. This Communion which the Saints have with Christ doth not make them in any wise Partakers of the Substance of his God-Head or to be equal with Christ in any respect either of which to affirm is impious and blasphemous This Place I cited but would not repeat the Words at Pinners Hall To this he tells us P. 76. This must be taken in a limited Sense c. for taken absolutely it will not hold Believers are Menequally with Christ c. Rep. True for he hath almost told us we are hail Fellows with Christ he was not humbled in being a Man nor is he dishonoured in our being as righteous as he He saith P. 7. Christ's Incarnation may as justly be said to be a Part of his Exaltation as of his Humiliation But though they intend not the being of a Man in what they so severely brand yet they mean nothing if they exclude what is so great a Perfetion of Christ as his Righteousness is when they fix Blasphemy on saying we are equal with Christ in any respect they must think his Righteousness such a Prerogative that who will equal Christ in this may next ask of him his Kingdom also and Mr. M. hath given us a Handle for that upon our very being as Righteous as Christ. For P. 25. He at large shews that Christ hath two Titles to Glory a natural one and an accumulated one viz. An acquired Title as our Surety and if you ask what Glory that is you 'll find P. 56. It 's that special Revenue of Glory and Praise which the Father who began his Son from Eternity and loving him with an infinite Love designed him Now then if Christ's Title to all his acquired Glory be his Suretiship Righteousness and as to that we are as Righteous as he in Equality what can hinder us not only to have that very same Title to Heaven and Glory as Christ hath as he is our Sponsor But I say what can hinder Believers Claim and Title to the very same high Throne in Heaven and the very same Degree of Glory as Christ as their Surety hath a Title to since Christ hath it For that very Righteousness which they have as much of as he himself and that God gives or rather payâ— them all of remunerative Justice and that they are one mystical Person with Christ all which this modest Author affirms P. 55. Reader â—â—â—ge is this no other Equality than in being Men as well as Christ 5. Though he talks so much of Suretiship Righteousness he gives an uncertain Sound of that Bond wherein Christ and Believers come into that legal Oneness 1. One while he was constituted a Surety in that Covenant between God and him P. 10. Thereby there was a legal Vnion and this Vnion was from everlasting and it was of supercreation Grace and perfected in the Transaction between God and Christ. P. 50 60. Reader know That I grant there was a Covenant of Redemption beforetime and that therein Christ undertook to redeem and save elect Sinners c. But yet I deny that by that Covenant Christ and the Elect were eternally one legal Person or that he is their Surety in such a Sense as will render them legally esteemed to do and suffer all that Christ did pursuant to that Covenant or that thereby they are as Righteous as he Thou wilt find my Arguments in this Book at present it 's enough to say we were never Principals in that Covenant and therefore Christ could not be such a Surety The thing insisted on in that Covenant was Redemption Work and the Salvation of Sinners as fallen but the redeeming and saving of Sinners or our selves as Sinners was never proposed to us as our Duty it was inconsistent and impossible to our State as fallen and with his Leave as it looks strange the Elect should have two legal Heads at once viz. Christ and Adam so if Christ and Men were eternally one legal Person I doubt it may as well be proved that Christ legally broke the Law in the Elect's breaking it as the Elect kept the Law in Christ's keeping it Well thus far here 's a Surety without a Principal and a Work or Debt which none was ever bound to but him that is called a Surety in a Sense that many must be said to do and pay as much as he 2. Another while Christ's Name was put into the original Bond in which we by the Law and Covenant of our Creation were bound P. 10. He told us before he was constituted a Surety in another Bond viz. The Eternal Compact if so then his Name is put into this Bond in performance of his antecedent Suretiship and not made a Surety by putting his Name in this Bond then it follows that what he doth pay of this Bond can be said to be paid by us no otherwise than according to the Nature of his Suretiship in the former Bond wherein we have seen he was principal and sole Undertaker I am glad by this that I need not argue with him that if Christ was a pecuniary proper Surety with us in the Covenant of Works then it was either absolutely or disjunctively if absolutely that he would keep it then we were not Parties at all engaged If disjunctively viz. That either we or he would keep it then it was never broken for he hath kept it and his Obedience without any Suffering sufficed to fulfill it c. But Mr. M. granting and that truly that Christ was constituted Surety in the Covenant of Redemption prevents my insisting on such things Only still note as I have elsewâ—ere proved that Christ being made under the Law which he means by putting his Name in the Bond was the Effect of Christ's Suretiship 3. Yet inconsistently enough P. 14. Christ was made our Surety his Name was not only put into the Covenant of Works but into it as a broken Covenant Here all is ruffled again and how shall we unriddle it He was but now constituted a Surety in the eternal Bond but he is here made a Surety in the broken Bond He that distinguished between assuming our Nature and being conceived no doubt will find some Difference between constituted a Surety and made a Surety for that he must do or he contradicts himself Well I grant that Christ came in our Nature to obey the Law we had broken and bear the Punishment we had deserved and answer the End of
89.19 There 's a way to rescue us out of the Pit wherein is no Water Zech. 9.11 and to release us from that Slavery which as to any thing in our power or purchase must have Eternally continued But what comfort doth it Minister to Sinners That the Gospel Proclaims a way to be made Righteous on its terms a way to be made Obedient to those terms and a certainty that many of us Apostates Forlorn Wretches shall infallibly be made Righteous in that way Nor doth it a little contribute to our Joy that it is by Christ's Obedience all this is effected this gives the strongest security and must infer the benefits to be exceeding glorious when the Price is so invaluable which was paid by him who is Wisdom it self Yea we since Christ's Resurrection have the advantage above the Old Testament Saints that we know more oâ— the Obedience and the Person rendring it than they did yea and that is finished Even all is actually done by him which the offended Law-giver exacted as Satisfactory for the Injury done to governing Justice by Sin or meritorious of our Blessedness and of our right to all saving Benefits Well might the Angel be the Herald of such News as Luke 2.10 11. I bring you good tidings of great Ioy which shall be to all People for unto you is born this Day a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Should I insist on every part of the Doctrine the Discourses would exceed the number I intend I shall therefore confine my self to what naturally fall under these Enquiries 1 Q. What is the Obedience of Christ by which many shall be made Righteous 2 Q. What is it to be made Righteous by the Obedience of Christ 1 Q. What is the Obedience of Christ by which many shall be made Righteous A. All that Christ did or suffered in Obedience to the Will of God for the Salvation of Sinners either in a way of Satisfaction or Merit It 's sum'd up in the Solemn Prayer for Believers Iohn 17.4 I have glorified thee on Earth I have finished the Work thou gavest me to do The Words indeed have the same anticipation as is in the Lord's Supper this is my Body broken for you thô he was not actually Crucified So here I have finished the Work i.e. I am just upon it and all was performed in a way of Obediential Subjection q.d. It 's what thou gavest me to do for the Display of thy Glory obscur'd by Sin and the maintaining that Glory in all the Blessings thy goodness inclined thee to bestow on Sinners The Word in my Text expressing Obedience is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and exactly answers to those Words of Christs Isa. 50.56 He hath opened mine Ear and I waâ— not Rebellious neither turned aâ—ay my Back I gave my Back to the Smiters I shall reduce to a few Propositions what I think Explicative of this point 1 Pro. God is essentially just Ps. 5.4 5. He hath no pleasure in Wickedness Jer. 51.56 Nah. 2.3 From the Essential Justice of God it is that there are Laws of Nature as well as Positive Laws Here the first necessity of Satisfaction for Sin or the certain punishment of Sinners have their rise thô it s ratified by the Veracity of God when threatnings are promulgated by him God admits no Violation hereof in any of his Ordinations but accommodates them thereto and provides for the Glory thereof in all the Revelations of his Will and Dispensations of his Providence 2 Pro. God was pleased eminently to reveal the Glory of his Governing Justice in the Covenant of Works with Innocent Man It 's true his Holiness appeared in the precept as a rule of maâ—ners and it was of goodness that God would expresly Covenant with Man by promising any reward for Obedience and encrease his Defence against Sin by pronouncing the threatning He might have left Man to that meer Light which Nature afforded and proceeded only according to that absolute Dominion which he had over Man as his Creatour and Owner But it pleased God to take on him the relation of a Governor to which he had a right from his Dominion As a Governor he Enacts the Law of Works and displays his Justice in Constituting the rule whereby he would Reward and Punish Justice held the Ballance in adjusting the Threatning and Reward or this Constitution were not a Law of Works but a Law of Grace yea Obedient Man had not been rewarded for his Obedience but for somewhat else which is contrary to Rom. 10. â— Moses describeth the Righteousness which is of the Law that the Man that doth these things shall live by them where he infers that a Man's Obedience had been his right to Life to which add Rom. 4.4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of Grace but of Debt The Reward would not only have been sure from the truth of God which Gospel Blessings are but due from the Covenant as formally Legal it was to be a Reward strictly Legal as being proportioned and connected by governing Justice which adjudged the Duty to be done would honour Justice and answer the ends of Government to the proportion of the Reward which was promised for that duty Were it not thus Governing Justice had no concern in the Law of Works as to the premiant part of the Sanction but must be confined to the punitive part alone It must adjust the Threatned Evil in case of Sin but not the Reward in case of Obedience Had Justice been so unconcerned in the rewards Divine goodness might even in that Law of Works have promised the Reward without requiring any duty as the Condition and consequently there were no absolute necessity of Christs's meriting glory for us his meer atonement for Sin being as much as would answer Governing Justice which did not adjust the reward but the threatning against Sin only whereas the reward was inserted and proportioned of meer free goodness This would also weaken the main argument for the necessity of the imputation of Christ's Active Obedience for our title to Glory for if Governing Justice made not Man's Obedience a meriting condition of Glory but that the Reward was of meer Grace in that Constitution It 's no Violation of Justice that we have Glory as pardoned Sinners thô Obedience be not imputed to us Let us then entertain thoughts of the Law becoming that account The Law is holy just and good Holy in its precepts and prohibitions Just in its Sanction and good in its use and tendency 3 Pro. Man by Sin injur'd the Relative or Reputative glory of Governing Justice and casâ— contempt on God's Government and thereby became Subject to the Câ—â—se forfeited all right to the Reward yea became utterly incapable of recovering that right by the Covenantâ— of Works Rom. 25 â— 8. Iudgment cam on all Men to Condemâ—â—on and Rom. 3.20.23 All 〈◊〉 sinned and â—â—me shoâ— of the glory of Godâ— Yea Rom. 5 12â— Dâ—atâ— passed 〈◊〉 all Men
first Testament viz. Before his Incarnation which were pardoned on the prospect of it And by his Death he purchased that his Called might receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance Heb. 9.15 As Testator he bequeaths and disposeth by and according to this Gospel Testament what he acquired by his Obedience even to a Bloody Death and by that Death this Testamentary Disposition is irrevocable As Surety he undertakes that his Testament which is also God's Covenant with us shall be fulfilled even on our parts and also unto us And this the Apostle directly applies to Christ's ever-living and interceding as what fitted him for it and whereby he executeth this Suretiship Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Heb. 7.24 25. Many Testaments are unfulfilled because the Testastor being Dead cannot see to the Execution of them and so the Legatees are wronged but Christ ever lives and attends to the fulfilling his Testament which is the same with God's Covenant with respect to whâ—â—â— as God's Covenant he still intercedes as well as ever lives You 'll find this Apostle Lodge the height of the Security of Christians against and from Condemnation upon this Intercession of Christ Rom. 8.34 Who is he that Condemneth it 's Christ that Died yea rather is risen again who is even at the Right Hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us He ascribes our Safety to his Living and Interceding rather and more than to his meer Dying for though by his Death he acquired and bequeathed Absolution c. for his Seed yet it 's by his Living again and Interceding he secures and sees his Seed possessed of that Absolution and all other Blessings And if we consider that this Covenant mentioneth here rather Benefits promised to his Seed than Conditions of any Benefits as required either of him or his Seed He seems to be pointed at here more directly a Surety to see God's Promises made good to his Seed than that their New Covenant Engagements shall be made good by his Seed though it 's a great Truth he is a Surety on our part that we shall keep Covenant or we should soon undo our selves I think then it 's past Contradiction That the Covenant Christ is Surety of in this place which is the only place he is called Surety is the Gospel Covenant and if so he can even as a Money Surety hereby be bound with us to no more than what we are engaged to do and suffer by this Gospel Covenant It 's true by the Covenant of Redemption he was engaged to suffer Death in the Humane Nature for Satisfaction and this in our place and also to Obey the whole Law and both for the Salvation of his Seed But in that Covenant he was Principal for God never obliged us to Redemption-Work either by our selves or by any other and therefore Christ herein is what the Civilians call ex promissor He is obliged alone though he acts for another But how strange is it that from Christ's being a Surety of the New Covenant or Testament Men should conclude that Christ is a Money-Surety of the Covenant of Works and as such paid all our Old Covenant Debts as Debts and that altogether in Kind and so as we are accounted to pay that Debt and merit Life by that very Covenant yea and damn all that will not say as they say though to say so makes either Christ's Obedience or his Suffering needless all Forgiveness impossible all Gospel-terms of Application of Christ's Merits Unjust a suspension of a Right to those â—enefits for any time Injurious a Right in Men to Equal Rewards with Christ Inviolable all remains of Displeasure on and the Reign of Sin in the unconverted Elect matter of just Complaint against God and a Claim to any greater Blessings than the Law of Works promised Impossible I might further argue this Point by other Considerations as its Inconsistency with Christ's being a Mediator he being a Party also with Christ's being a proper Redeemer of Sinners any more than of himself yea it excludes the True Gospel Imputation of Christ's Righteousness in our Justification upon Believing as having no Righteousness of Christ's given us for it was Legally in us as much as in him we having Legally performed the Conditions as much as him and so we need not look out of our selves for Righteousness though our Surety did the Acts from whence that Righteousness resulted yet the Law-Right was in us as well as in him with many other All that I aim at by insisting on this Point is to guide your thoughts to true apprehensions of the Doctrin of Satisfaction and secure you against the Vulgar Mistakes and Dangerous Notions that are gathered from the abusive straining of the word Surety Whereas if you consider God as Rector Sinners as Criminals Sin as a Crime making Sinners liable to the Curse according to the Law which Law must be Honoured in the Satisfaction of Justice and Vindication of Divine Government And the Lord Jesus on the Law-givers proposing it freely undertaking and promising in the Covenant of Redemption to submit to â—â—e Obligation of bearing the punishment due to and in the Stead of those Sinners this Punishment being to be endured in the Humane Nature and of equal Weight yea in many things of the same Kind with what they were to endure And the Law-givers promising to Christ for his enduring this Punishment and perfectly Obeying his Will a great and certain Number that should certainly Believe in him and that all Believing on him should in his Righteousness be Pardoned Adopted Sanctified and Eternally Saved in a way of Faith and persevering Holiness to his Glory And that Sinners should have an Offer of these Benefits on the Terms of the Gospel Covenant and the Benefits to be dispensed assuredly in that Gospel Way c. I say in this manner every thing is Consistent and with these Limitations the Terms Sponsor Mediator Surety and Redeemer are Proper and Consistent I proceed to the Second Point viz. To prove that we are not Equally Righteous as Christ and shall have occasion to shew we are not so as to his Suretiship Righteousness 1. We are not Equally Holy as Christ this is a Conformity to the Divine Image and Will and is called Righteousness Have we an Habitual Holiness in a measure comparable to his Or can we pretend to that Purity of Heart and Life or that exalted Obedience to the Will of God which he rendered Our Hearts must condemn such a Thought nay Angels dare not be Rivals with him therein much less can we whose Defects are so manifest and Defilements are so many Iob 40.4 He is our Example proposed but in what can we imitate him in Equality Mal. 11.29 2. It is not true that we performed the Conditions of Redemption and Life Equally with Christ. I suppose they mean this by Suretiship
the Law which we had frustrated But this will not make him such a Surety in this broken Bond as shall make us legally accounted to do all and suffer and answer all and be as righteous as he that did it though it be in his very Righteousness that we are saved notwithstanding we have failed in all this For I ask when he put his Name in this broken Bond Sure not before it was broken then he was Surety before Again when he did put his Name did he do it to the same very purpose as we were originally bound viz. that we might live by our Innocency and Obedience as our Righteousness No it was to redeem us from the Effects of our own Disobedience Did he engage that we should do and suffer what would be a Price of our Redemption and Salvation No he was to do it himself in his own legal Person I say legal because the divine Dignity of his Person gave the legal yea supralegal Value in God's Account to what he did and suffered for one meer Man's doing and suffering what the meer Law injoined would not have satisfied for Millions and the broken Bond it self did not require a divine Person 's obeying any more than the whole Bond did though the Attainment of its Ends did so Again if Christ's Suretiship was so limited within this broken Bond than as he was bound to do and suffer no more than it required so neither he nor we are entitled by that Obedience to any more than this broken Bond at first covenanted to give Yea further Mr. M. faith P. 57. The elect were constituted at first under another Head and under another Covenant which had nothing in it of Christ and his Righteousness either to be brought in for them or to be applied to them Reply But if Christ's Righteousness be no higher than that Covenant did require before it was broken the Righteousness of perfect Adam had been as great as Christ's And if the unbroken Covenant was the same as the broken Bond How should the unbroken Covenant neither have nor require any Righteousness of Christs and yet the broken Bond measure and limit Christ's Righteousness and Sentence us legally Righteous for it But if as Mr. M. saith the Covenant with Adam and the Elect was another Covenant from the broken-Bond then we are not under the Covenant requiring what at first it injoyned and being federating Parties only in the first and subjected to Penalty only by it as it 's broken Here 's no obedience-Obedience-work for a Surety nor place for a proper Surety in bearing the Penalties But I have elsewhere enlarged and therefore conclude That such Confusion about the Suretiship should abate Mens regard to his Censures against such as will not own he himself knows not what and proveth none sees how 6. I find after all that this Equality of Righteousness between Christ and us is not so much from Legal Union or Judicial Imputation but from a Coalescence of Believers into one mystical Person with Christ by Vital Union Thus p. 55. Between our believing and our being justified there comes in our Coalescing into one mystical Person with Christ by this Vital Vnion and our having his Righteousness upon us unto the Iustification of Life and so our being justified is not the next or immediate effect of our Believing c. Here indeed if I understand what one person is he may well argue we are as Righteous as Christ for we are Christified with Christ not in Name or on Account of his undertaking or his being the Head of the Church as his mystical Body But as being one mystical Person opposed to a Legal Person than by pointing at any Believer you may avoid the danger of Ioh. 8.24 If you believe not that I am he you shall die in your sins Mr. M. may rise higher than that we are as Rightâ—â—us as Christ and say we are as Holy as Christ as Honorable as Christ as Wise as Christ and so interpret his proof 1 Cor. 1.30 Nay are we not assumed into a Personal Union with the Eternal Word as the Humane Nature of Christ is which I think is unavoidable unless Christ hath more Persons than one Besides his being a legal Person which he opposeth this mystical Person to And that he means something like this hear him p. 60. It 's called a Vital Vnion because in effecting it there is a Vital Touch as I may say between Christ and us and a clasping each on other Compare this with P. 63. The Humane Nature of Christ leans on the Godhead in the Son and hath the Eternal Power of the Deity clasping about it and holding it in that Vnion c. The Eternal Power of the Godhead in Christ and not so much the strength of any created Principle of Grace in us holding our Hearts unto him and causing them for ever to live upon him Can you find much difference though he pretend a Disproportion The Awfulness of the Subject restrains me from exposing this affected Cant which is the only Gospel with these Men because its Mystery i. e. unintelligible Nonsence fitted to a Rosocrucian or Behemist It is not enough that Christ is the Author of all in us and the Securer of all promised Good to us and that he condescended to confirm this and comfort our Souls by such gracious Instances of a Mystical Union as that between Vine and Branches Head and Members Husband and Wife yea that the same Spirit dwells in Christ and us each of which inform and assure to us the Blessing designed to be signified thereby but not whatever our Profane Fancies may wrest a Metaphor or force an Expression to Must Men strain it to one Person whereby Christ's Prerogatives and our Vile Defects are in common to Christ and us Is this to let Christ in all things have the Preheminence Col. 1. 18. The Scriptures needed not so many Metaphors to represent to us the several Benefits we have by Union with Christ This one would have served for all yea far exceeded all only that one Person would consist but with few of them nay with none Head and Members do not make one Person but one Body yea one Spirit in Christ and us doth not make one Person unless you 'll make the Holy Ghost to be an animating Soul to the Body and so be the chief constitive part of the whole Person What will a deluded vain Fancy expose Men to at last Exceptions against some more Passages in Mr. M's Book I Have been already engaged to hint at some yet among many obnoxious enough let 's consider some more of his Stamina 1. That God hath ordained Christ to do all with God for the Elect and that he shall be aâ—â— from God to them c. All I say that in this ruined Condition they need to bring them to that heighth of Happiness c. P. 56 58. Reply If he had meant only that Christ was to do all with God in