Moses under which they never were God sent forth his Son made of a woman Answer made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons Thus the Apostle Gal. 4. 4 5. The Son of God was made of a woman in his Incarnation made under the Law under the rule of it in his active obedience under the curse of it in his passive and the end of all was that he might redeem us that we who were captives under the wrath of God might be redeemed ones And further that we might receive the adoption of sons that we who were children of wrath might be sons of God and so heirs of eternal life and that it may be thus indeed that Christ's being under the Law his active and passive obedience may procure such a redemption and adoption such an exemption from wrath and title to heaven for us His obedience must be applyed to us and become ours which cannot be but by imputation But saith the Author 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 Jews But was not Christ a Redeemer of the Gentiles also Or is he not their Redeemer within this Text Yes surely observe the words of the Apostle To redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons The Apostle alters his phrase and turns them into we which takes in the Galatians into the adoption and by consequence into the redemption too and to make it more clear he alters his phrase again and turns we into ye in the next verse which hangs upon the former And because ye are sons vers 6. ye Galatians ye Gentiles are sons and ye Galatians ye Gentiles are redeemed ones within the Text Otherwise which is very strange the Apostle should argue from the Redemption of the Jews only to the Adoption of the Gentiles But to go on Christ saith the Author redeemed the Jews from the bondage of the Mosaical Law that is I suppose the Ceremonial Law and introduced a better Covenant the adoption of sons To which I answer Christ did indeed redeem from the bondage of Mosaical Rites and Ceremonies But is this all the Redemption within the Text If we stop here we fall in with the gloss of Socinus who understands only a freedom A jugo legis De servat part 2. cap. 24. ut Spiritûs servilis loeo filialem spiritum adipiscerentur The Redemption here is not to be restrained to a freedom from Mosaical Ceremonies only Christ was made under the whole Law and the Redemption which must be parallel to his being under the Law must not only be a Redemption from the Bondage of the Ceremonial Law but a Redemption from the curse of the Moral of which the Apostle had discoursed but a little before Gal. 3.13 Our Saviour was never made under the whole Law to redeem from a part of it only Again Redemption from the Ceremonial Law was peculiar to the Jews But the Redemption here spoken of reaches as far as the Gentiles also who as I before noted have a share in the Adoption of Sons as well as the Jews The Redemption here spoken of is not a part or piece of Redemption but Redemption in its fulness and excellency Christ by coming into the flesh introduceth a better Covenant that is the beams of Evangelical Light were purer and the effusions of the holy Spirit larger than before But still we must remember that the Covenant of Grace was for substance one and the same under both Testaments Under the Old Testament true Believers had the Law in their heart the Adoption of Sons the free Spirit and a true title to eternal Life And on the other hand under the New Testament unbelievers have the Law and Gospel too but in the Letter their bondage is far greater than that of beggarly Elements The unclean spirit dwells and works in them and the dreadful wrath of God abideth on them Christ's being under the Law saith the Author is his being such a person as should exactly answer all the Types and Figures of the Law Unto which I add His being under the Law is his being such a person as should exactly answer all the demands of the Moral Law in its mandatory and minatory parts I shall now examine what influence the Sacrifice of Christ's Death Mr. Sherlock 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 Christ's Life and the sacrifice of his Death for his sake entred into a new Covenant with mankind wherein he promses pardon of sin and eternal life to those who believe and obey the Gospel This is very plain with reference to Christ's death 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 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 Wool 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 of 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 with his Blood Christ is called a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 that is by a belief of his Gospel Hence the Scripture uses these phrases promiscuously To be justified by Faith and to be justified by the faith of Christ and to be justified by Christ and to be justified through Faith in his blood to be justified and saved by grace Nay by believing that Christ is the Son of God Joh. 20.31 And that God raised him from the dead Rom. 10.9 All which signifie the same thing that we are justified by believing and obeying the Gospel for faith or faith in Christ signifies such a firm belief of the Gospel as brings forth all fruits of obedience and the Grace of God is the Gospel of Christ expresly so called Tit. 2.11 As being the effect of Gods Grace and Faith in the Blood of Christ
Union and what better proof can be of it than that divine Life which issues from thence Our Saviour hath put it out of all doubt He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him Joh. 6.56 And in another place he tells them Abide in me and I in you Joh. 15.4 What can be more emphatical and expressive of our Mystical Union If such words do not signifie it what can We are said to be in him that is true even in Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 5.20 And Christ is said to be in us the hope of glory Col. 1.27 And how full are these Expressions This our Saviour prayed for in that solemn Prayer Joh. 17. As thou Father art in me and I in thee that they may be one in us This he promised At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Joh. 14.20 Surely that Union which is set forth by the Union of the Father and the Son in the blessed Trinity must be a mystical one The Bonds of this Union are no less pregnantly expressed touching the holy Spirit which as Bishop Davenant tells us is Primaria Commissura by which Christ and we touch the Scripture speaks negatively If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 that is he hath no Union or Communion with him and positively or affirmatively He that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 Joh. 4.13 Touching Faith which as the Learned Vsher saith is the Soul of all other Graces the Scripture teaches us that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith Eph. 3.17 and that Faith comes receives leans on puts on feeds on and in a word possesses Christ In one place Gal. 2.20 we have both these Bonds together I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me that is by his Spirit and I live by the faith of the Son of God these two Make up the Mystical Union The Name of this Union is also expresly in Scripture Fancy did not baptize it Mystical but the holy Ghost This is a great mystery to be members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Eph. 5.30 32. Nay The riches of the glory of the mystery is Christ in us the hope of Glory Col. 1.27 The ancient Fathers were no strangers to this Union that of Ignatius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epist ad Eph. points it out to us In the times of St Cyprian and Julius Bishop of Rome the Church in the Lord's Supper which is a divine Seal of this Union used over and above to note it out by mixing Water with the Wine Hence St. Cyprian saith Cypr. E. pist 63. Decret Julii in Concil Quando in calice vinum aquâ miscetur Christo populus adunatur credentium plebs ei in quem credidit copulatur conjungitur And Julius saith Si sit vinum tantùm est Christus sine populo si aqua sola populus sine Christo St. Hilary and St. Cyril of Alexandria compare our Union with Christ with that high Union which is between the Father and the Son St. Cyril upon John tells us as I have him quoted by the Noble Sadeel that Christus per fidem ingreditur in nos per Spiritum sanctum inhabitat St. Basil speaks of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an intellectual mouth in the inner Man by which we feed upon Christ the Bread of Life St. Chrysostom saith Hom. 11. in Ephes that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Spirit flowing from above which touches all the Members of Christ Diximus fratres saith St. Austin hoc Dominum commendasse in manducatione carnis suae potione sanguinis sui Tract 27. in Joh. ut in illo maneamus ipse in nobis maneamus autem in illo cùm sumus membra ejus manet ipse in nobis cùm sumus templum ejus And in another place De peccator Mer. cap. 31. Homines sancti fideles ejus siunt cum homine Christo unus Christus unus Christus caput corpus magna est mira dignatio Theophylact saith In Joh. 15. that a man is by Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 part of the Root united to the Lord and incorporated in him And to name no more generally those Sayings of the Fathers which the Papists plead for an oral Manducation of Christ are so many proofs of the Mystical Union The Schoolmen concurr in the same thing Aquinas saith that Christ and his Members are but una Persona mystica And Barthol Medina expresses it fully In 3. partem Thom. qu. 8. Cùm efficimur membra sub Capite Christo mirabili quâdam Spiritûs sancti operatione unimur transimus in Christum induimúsque illum deiformi quâdam insitione atque Vnione illi inserimur Modern Divines go the same way to name but a few Bishop Vsher saith Imman pag. 50. The Bond of this Mystical Vnion between Christ and us is on his part the quickning Spirit and on ours Faith Est inter Christum omnia Christi Membra continuitas quaedam ratione Spiritûs sancti qui plenissimè residens in Christo Capite In Col cap. 1. ver 18. unus idem numero ad omnia ejus membra diffunditur vivificans singula uniens universa so Bishop Davenant The Spirit knitteth us as really though mystically Life of Christ 457. unto Christ as his Sinews and Joynts do fasten the parts of his sacred Body together thus Bishop Reynolds But I shall shut up all with the Authority of our Church In the Lords Supper there is no vain Ceremony no bare Sign nor untrue Figure of a thing absent but the Table of the Lord the Bread and Cup of the Lord the Memory of Christ the Annunciation of his death the Communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord in a marvellous Incorporation 1. Hom. of the Sacrament which by the operation of the holy Ghost the very Bond of our conjunction with Christ is through Faith wrought in the Souls of the faithful the true Vnderstanding of this Fruition and Vnion between the Body and the Head between Believers and Christ the ancient Catholick Fathers perceiving themselves and commending to their people were not afraid to call this Supper the Salve of Immortality a Deifical Communion pledge of eternal health and food of immortality This Mystical Union we see is no Fancy no very great moments depend upon it Tota veraejustitiae salutis vitae participatio ex hâc pernecessariâ cum Christo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pendet saith the Learned Zanchy Without it how should Christ profit us which way should his blood wash or righteousness cover us What illapses of the holy spirit or vital influences of Grace could we look for in a state
united in respect of the Oneness between them This is plain saith the Author they are one by their Oneness I fear the Reader may think we are at Tittle-tattle How should they be one without Oneness or who would deny or cavil at it But the Doctor should have understood the Vnion first before he had come to the Bonds And hath not the Dr. in his Book set down the Properties of this Union Or what can better shew the Nature of it than the Bonds thereof But the Dr. in his design to prove an Vnion of Persons is bewildred and the Author will help him out Bewildred Not by any Arguments as yet however it is kindly meant for one who hath interlaced his Discourse with so many exceptions to very little purpose But Christ and Believers are not united by a natural Adhesion No who ever said so Doth not the Dr. make the Union and the Bonds of it both spiritual But the Author apprehends some strange Mystery in the business which now must be heard Dr. Owen tells us Mr. Sherlock That by the Graces of Christ's Person he doth not mean the glorious Excellencies of his Deity considered in it self abstracting from the Office which for us as God and Man he undertook nor the outward appearance of his Humane Nature neither when he converst here on earth nor yet now as exalted in Glory but the Graces of Christ's Person as he is vested with the Office of Mediation his spiritual Eminency Comeliness Beauty as anointed and appointed by the Father unto that great work of bringing home all his Elect into his bosom Now unless the Person of Christ as Mediator be distinct from his Person as God-man all this is idle talk for what personal Graces are there in Christ as Mediator which do not belong to him either as God or Man The peculiar Duties of that Office of Mediator are not personal Graces his Personal Graces fitted him for his Office but he hath no Personal Graces as Mediator which he hath not either as God or Man The Dr. tells us That Christ is white in his Deity and ruddy in his Humanity but these belong to his Divine and Humane Nature and that without regard to his Mediatory Office Again the Dr. tells us That Christ is excellent in his Deity and desirable in his Humanity This looks like a contradiction to what he said before but he hath a Salvo which delivers him both from contradiction and from sence that he doth not consider these Excellencies of his Deity or Humanity as abstracted from his Office of Mediator though he might if he pleased for these Excellencies would have belonged to him as God and Man whether he had been Mediator or not But what becomes of his distinction of the Graces of Christ's Person as Mediator from the Graces of his Person as God and Man When there are no personal Graces in Christ but what belong to his Deity or Humanity an then you can find no other Person to be the Subject of these personal Excellencies unless his Office of Mediation must go for a distinct Person which is a new kind of Heresie It was the saying of Nazianzen Answer That there is one Consideration of the Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dr. Owen being to speak of the Grace of Christ the Mediator did not consider the Excellencies of his Deity in it self or apart nor the Excellencies of his Humanity singly and by it self but the Excellencies of both Natures met in conjunction in the Person of the Glorious Mediator Jesus Christ This must be a distinct Consideration from the other or else what is the Hypostatical Union What the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Immanuel or Word incarnate What is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Communication of Properties celebrated by Divines How did God purchase his Church with his own blood Act. 20.28 Or lay down his life for us 1 Joh. 3.16 which way was the blessed Virgin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the ancient Council hath it What is the Grace of Unction or all those full Treasures of habitual Grace in the Humane Nature of Christ And what are the opera 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or operations of God-man the Great Mediatour who hath the Excellencies of both Natures in himself This Consideration being therefore a distinct one the Dr. shews that Christ was white in his Deity and ruddy in his Humanity which needed no more have been slighted than such allusions common in the ancient Fathers but the humour of exposing to scorn provokes to such things The Doctor doth not and I am sure will not own any such thing as that the Person of Christ as Mediator is distinct from his Person as God-man or that the Graces of Christ's Person as Mediator are dististinct from his Person as God-man But saith the Author What personal Graces are there in Christ as Mediator which do not belong to him either as God or Man To which I answer The Grace of Union was not peculiar to either Nature in Christ but common to both the Humane Nature in him was only assumed but the Divine and Humane were both united but saith the Author Those excellencies would have belonged to him as God and man whether he had been Mediator or not To which I shall only say That Christ should be God and man and yet not Mediator is such an extrascriptural conceit as I suppose never entred into the Doctors mind But what ever becomes of the distinction Mr. Sherlock there is a very deep fetch in it the observing of which will discover the whole mystery of the Person of Christ and our Vnion to him For these men consider that Christ saves as Mediator and not meerly considered as God or man they imagine that we receive Grace and Salvation from Christ's Person just as we do water from a Conduit or a Largess from a Prince that it flows to us from our Vnion to his Person and therefore they dress up the Person of the Mediator with all those personal Graces and Excellencies which may make him a fit Saviour that those who are united to his Person need not fear missing of Salvation hence they ransack all the boundless perfections of the Deity and what ever they can fancy as comfort to Sinners this is a personal Grace of the Mediator they consider the effects of his Mediation and what ever great things are spoken of his Gospel or Religion or Intercession these serve as personal Graces too that all our hopes may be built not on the Gospel-Covenant but on the Person of Christ so that the dispute now lies between the Person of Christ and his Gospel which must be the foundation of our hope which is the way to life and happiness To what purpose all this is I see not Answer Is not Christ God-man our Mediator Do we not receive Grace and Salvation from Christ's person And if we do is he
a conduit only and not rather a Sea or Ocean of Grace S. Chrysostome as I have him quoted by the Learned Jeans calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an infinite Sea adding Though all the Saints that are were or shall be did do or shall receive of his fulness yet will he never be emptied never the less full for all that and why should the Author utter such a word as dressing up of Christ The investiture of him with his sacred Office of Mediator is so far above a slight that it is no less than the work of infinite Love Wisdom and Power those whom the Author opposes ascribe nothing to Christ but what is founded on Scripture And for such as are united to Christ in truth I verily believe that they shall never fall short of Heaven and to keep them in the true way thither God puts his fear into their hearts that they shall not depart away from him but these men ransack all the boundless perfections of the Deity What is this for Must we not own that Christ is God and hath all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him Or may we be Christians without it but they would have us build all our hopes not on the Gospel but on the person of Christ And where do they utter any such word or syllable Or how could they do so To rest upon Christ and cast away the Evangelical warrant to stand for the great purchaser and despise or neglect the Charter is utterly impossible To make this appear consider Mr. Sherlock Dr. Owen tells us That Christ is fit to be a Saviour from the Grace of Union and if we would understand what this strange Grace of Vnion is It is the uniting the nature of God and man in one Person which makes him fit to be a Saviour to the uttermost he lays his hands upon God by partaking of his nature Zach. 13.7 And he lays his hands on us by partaking of our nature Hebr. 2.14 And becomes a Daysman or Umpire between both Now though this be a great truth that the Vnion of the Divine and Humane nature in Christ did excellently qualifie him for the Office of a Mediatour yet this is the unhappiest man in expressing and proving it that I have met with For what an untoward representation is this of Christs Mediation that he came to make peace by laying his hands on God and men as if he meant to part a fray or scuffle and he might as well have named Gen. 1.1 or Matth. 1.1 or any other Scripture for the proof of it Strange Grace of Vnion Answer No Divine is a stranger to the Gratia Vnionis Nay the Author himself confesses it to be a great truth but the strangeness is in the Doctor 's untoward expressing of it he being the unhappiest man therein that ever the Author met with Imman fol. 21. that is except Bishop Vsher whose words are these Christ the only fit Vmpire to take up this controversie was to lay his hand as well upon God the party so highly offended as upon man the party so basely offending But the Doctor might as well have named Matth. 1. or Gen. 1. for the proof The expression was taken from Job 9.33 And if that expression the man God's Fellow Zach. 13.7 do not prove Christ's Divinity and that other he took part of our flesh and blood Heb. 2.13 do not prove his Humanity what can do it From the Deity of Christ Mr. Sherlock the Doctor observes The endless bottomless boundless Grace that is in Christ it is not the Grace of a creature no not of the humane nature it self that can serve our turn if it could be conceived as separate from the Deity Surely so many thirsty guilty souls as every day drink deep and large draughts of Grace and Mercy from him would if I may so speak sink him to the very bottom nay it could afford no supply at all but only in a moral way and that is a very pitiful way indeed The condemned Pelagius would allow meer moral Grace Answer but if there be no more what means the drawing quickning renewing regenerating creating conquering Grace so signally set forth in Scripture Or how should poor lost lapsed corrupted man dead in Sins and Trespasses ever be raised up into the Divine life Meer suasion operates only as proposing an object and not as ingenerating a power or faculty and were there no other Grace how should the power of repenting and believing which are things far above the Sphere of Nature ever be produced Or which way should the acts of repenting and believing ever come forth without a power S. Austin is not content with meer suasory Grace but would have such an one Quâ Gloriae magnitudo non solùm promittitur De Grat. contr Pelag lib. 1. cap. 10. verum etià m creditur nec solùm revelatur Sapientia verum etiam amatur nec suadetur solùm omne bonum verùm persuadetur And a little after he tells Pelagius That he must confess such a Grace if he would be a Christian The Dr. tells us Mr. Sherlock That if all the world should set themselves to drink free Grace and Mercy and Pardon from the Wells of Salvation if they should set themselves to draw from one single Promise they would not be able to sink the Grace of the Promise of the Person of Christ he means saith the Author one hairs breadth The Infiniteness of Grace with respect to its Spring or Fountain will answer all objections what is our finite guilt before it Shew me the sinner that can spread his Iniquity to the dimensions of this Grace Here is Mercy enough for the greatest the oldest the stubbornest Transgressor c. Enough in all reason this what a comfort is it to sinners to have such a God for their Saviour whose Grace is bottomless and boundless and exceeds the largest dimensions of sin though there be a world of sin in them The Grace of the Promise saith the Dr. of the Person of Christ he means Answer saith the Author This is just to as much purpose as if the Author should tell us That the Grace of the Evangelical Charter and the Grace of Christ the great Purchaser cannot consist together which as yet I never found admitted among Divines The Infiniteness of Christ's Grace is a thing no more to be scrupled or plaid withal than the Verity of his Deity When the Emperor Constantine had unjustly and unnaturally dipt his hands in the blood of his Son Crispus Spondan Annal. and Nephew Licinius Junior the Pagan Flamins were nonplust and could tell of no way of Expiation for so horrible a Crime but the Christian Doctrine furnished him with one No sooner doth a man become Christian but he must own that the Grace of Christ is infinite and in a transcendent Excess above all the dimensions of sin that the oldest and greatest Transgressor may find
being not in any Son of Adam naturally so much Goodness the only reason according to the Author of divine Love as might attract the least crumb of Comfort on Earth or the least moments Reprieve from Hell But saith the Author Should he love a wicked man the Reason and Nature of his Love would change He cannot love a wicked man with a Love of Complacence but cannot he love him in Design or with a Love of Benevolence Then though as the Author tells us pag. 88. he did passionately desire and design the Happiness of Man yet he could not design to him being in a lapsed corrupt Estate a Christ or a Gospel or any the least Means of Salvation Goodness the only reason of Love being gone by the Fall nothing that is good could be intended to him The Author acknowledges that God loves Goodness in Men but whence came that Goodness Was it a Donative of Divine Love or not If so then he loved them before they were such if not then may we say with the Pelagians A Deo habemus quòd homines sumus à nobis ipsis quòd justi sumus though God be necessary to our Being yet he is not to our Goodness Tract 81. in Joh. as St. Austin observes I shall add no more to this having spoken before touching irresistible Grace Christ being God and Man Mr. Sherlock made him an endless bottomless Fountain of Grace to all that believe Thus the Dr. upon which the Author glosses This he was as God as we were told before and his Grace was never the more bottomless for becoming Man The design 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 His Grace was never the more bottomless for becoming Man Answer yet as God and Man he is the Fountain of all Grace to us and unless he had been Man there would have been no Communication of Grace to us The most Reverend Vsher upon that Text He that eateth my flesh Imman pag. 52. and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him saith Three things 1. That by the mystical and supernatural Vnion we are as truly conjoyned with him as meat and drink is with us 2. That this Conjunction is immediately made with his Humane Nature 3. That the Lamb slain that is Christ crucified hath by that death of his made his flesh broken and his blood poured out for us to be fit food for the spiritual nourishment of Souls and the very Well-spring from whence by the power of his Godhead all Life and Grace is derived to us To the same purpose speaks the Learned Zanchy To begin with the Fulness of Christ Mr. Sherlock and the first place wherein we meet with it is Joh. 1.16 And of his fulness we all received and grace for grace Now what is meant by this Fulness we may learn from ver 14. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth This Fulness which was in Christ is a Fulness of Grace and Truth and if we consult ver 17. we shall find that this Grace and Truth is opposed to the Law of Moses The Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ So that Grace and Truth signifie the Gospel which is a Covenant of Grace and is expresly called the Grace of God Tit. 2.11 and conteins the most clear and perspicuous Revelation of the Divine Will in opposition to the Types and Shadows under the Law is Truth in opposition to Types and Figures this is the Fulness we receive from Christ a perfect Revelation of the Divine Will concerning the Salvation of Mankind which conteins so many excellent Promises that it may be well be called Grace and prescribes such a plain and simple Religion so agreeable to the natural Nations of Good and Evil that it may well be called Truth This Fulness dwelt only in Christ and from him alone we receive it for none of the Prophets who were before him did so perfectly understand the Will of God as he did No man hath seen God at any time but the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him v. 18. No man ever before had so perfect a knowledge of the Will of God which is here called seeing God because sight gives the most perfect knowledge but the Son who understood all his most secret counsels hath perfectly declared the Will of the Father to us and hence that Fulness we receive from Christ is explained by Grace for Grace which signifies the abundance of Grace manifested in the Gospel St. Austin expounds it Pro Legis gratiâ quae praeteriit gratiam Evangelii accepimus permanentem but this seems to be a forced sence for the Law is no where called Grace but Grace is opposed to to the Law in the next verse But however this they agree in that by the fulness of Grace and Truth they understand the Gospel that perfect declaration which Christ hath made to the World This Fulness was first in the Person of Christ before he could communicate it to us yet it is not this Personal Fulness we are to attend to but the Fulness and Perfection of his Gospel from whence we must fetch the knowledge of the Divine Will Joh. 1.16 And of his fulness we all received and Grace for Grace Arswer Upon this Text the only Quaere is Whether by Fulness is meant the Fulness of Christ's Person or the Fulness of his Gospel I conceive here is clearly meant the Fulness of Christ's Person it is in the Text his fulness his who is God the Word ver 1. his who was in the beginning with God ver 2. his by whom all things were made ver 3. his who is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world ver 9 his who was made flesh and dwelt among us ver 14. None of these his's can be attributed to the Gospel but they are all proper to the Person of Christ his fulness therefore must signifie the Fulness of Christ's Person from whence all Grace is derived as Light is from the Sun and Sense from the Head All true Believers receive from him grace for grace that is say some Gratiam cumulatissimam abundant Grace or as others Grace answering to the Grace in Christ as the Child receives from his Parents Limb for Limb or the Glass from the Face Image for Image It is further to be noted that the words are we received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of his fulness Had the Fulness meant here been the Fulness of the Gospel the words would have been We re-received of his Fulness even the whole Gospel but because here was intended the Fulness of Christ's Person the words are We received of his fulness that is
Gen. 22.18 That is with all spiritual and eternal blessings in Christ It is not imaginable that God should suffer the Faith of so great a Believer as Abraham to hang in the thickets of carnal things when he had such spiritual Promises before his eyes our Saviour saith Abraham saw his day and rejoyced Joh. 8.56 He saw the day of his Incarnation and as some the day of his Passion How far God carried the eyes of his Faith I know not however he saw so much as put him into those joys and triumphs of Faith which pointed beyond this World to that Salvation which is the end and center of Faith To me it suffices to say that Abraham rested upon Christ for Salvation and then Christ's Righteousness though unknown to Abraham was imputed to him The Author saith That from in thy seed shall all nations be blessed to imputed righteousness is a train of thoughts beyond Mr. Hobs and yet Abraham discerning the Messiah in that Promise it may be absolved in two short words that the Messiah shall merit Spiritual Blessings for us and that that merit shall be applyed to us there being no other way of applying of what is anothers but by Faith on our part and Imputation on Gods The Author ask's the question Is there no possible way for God to bless the world but by imputed Righteousness I answer had not Christ dyed for us which involves an imputation nothing of blessing could have been expected the wrath of God would no more have spared us than it did lapsed Angels The Jews about Christ's coming thought only of a temporal Messiah the very Apostles for a time thought not of Christ's death but this was because they then lived in the dregs and darkness of the Jewish Church I suppose in former ages the Jews had another manner of Prospect of Christ and above others Abraham whose Faith stands in Scripture with a more than ordinary crown on it probably had so Now if you would know what the Faith of Abraham and if all good men in ancient times was Mr. Sherlock the Apostle to the Hebrews gives us a full account of it Heb. 11. that he discourses there of a justifying Faith that is such a Faith as renders men approved of God and which he will count for Highteousness appears from the tenour of this Chapter in the second verse he tells us That by this the elders obtained a good report that is the Fathers were approved and rewarded by God for the sake of this Faith as he shews particularly That Abel obtained witness that he was righteous ver 4. That Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God ver 5. That Noah became heir of righteousness which is by Faith ver 7. Now this justifying Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A firm and confident expectation of those things hoped for and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an argument of the being of those things which we do not see Faith is such a firm and stedfast perswasion of the truth of those things which are not evident to sense as makes us confidently hope for them the object of Faith must be unseen things and the nature of it consists in such a firm assent to those unseen things as produces some answerable effects in our lives This is the general notion of Faith by which the elders obtained a good report Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen Answer Heb. 11. This saith Erasmus is encomium fidei rather than definitio Dialectica However be it that justifying Faith is here meant Christ the marrow and center of the Covenant must be included in it Faith is the substance of things hoped for that is hoped for by vertue of the Promises and in a special signal way by vertue of the prime fundamental promise touching the Messiah which as we see Gen. 3.15 was delivered to Adam as an heavenly treasure more worth than a world and by him was no doubt handed down to his posterity not meerly in the bare words and letters of it for that protevangelium or first Promise of the Gospel was ministerium spiritûs but with such Divine Commentaries upon it as the illuminating spirit was pleased to give in to the heart of believing Adam Faith such is its excellent nature presentiates and makes to subsist the good things hoped for in such a lively manner as if they were actually at hand and before our eyes Nay as learned Pareus observes on the place it makes them subsist not only speculatively and assentively in the mind but fiducially in the heart Now by Faith in the Messiah the Elders had their divine Testimony Abel was righteous before God Enoch pleased God Noah was an heir of Righteousness all of them were Justified and accepted in their persons and holy walking The Author makes Faith to consist in a firm assent only without any thing more in the nature of it Thus the Romanists Thus Bellarmine proves it to be only assensum firmum 〈◊〉 certum ad ea omnia quae Deus credendae proponit And to that purpose among others quotes this Text Heb. 11. But I cannot find that this will down with Protestants Faith is set forth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confidence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a firm perswasion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fiducial liberty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a perswasion with full sails 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fiducial subsistence of things hoped for which expressions speak more than a naked assent Faith receives Christ puts on Christ feeds upon Christ such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was to the Fathers in the days of Moses that they did eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God even before his Incarnation 1 Cor. 10.3 4. Meer assent cannot do this Through faith we are justified and have peace with God Rom. 5.1 We have our hearts purified Act. 15.9 We have the Spirit of all grace Joh. 7.38 We quench the fiery darts of the Devil Eph. 6.16 We have a victory over the world 1 Joh. 5.4 We rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God Rom. 5.2 Nay not only in the hope of it but with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 as if we had a piece of heaven here below meer assent cannot reach such admirable effects Nay it may be in wicked men who have not the least mite of those Graces or Comforts Our Saviour hath excellently expressed the nature of true Faith Every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him hath eternal life Joh. 6.40 Here are two acts the one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to see the Son to assent that he is the Redeemer of the World the other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to believe on him by fiducial recumbency by which saith Bishop Davenant Dav. Det. 165. Vitam à vitae fonte haurimus in
the power of sin and that by the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Thus the Author to which I answer God sent his Son indeed into the world that we might be sanctified by his Spirit but that was not all he sent him that we might be justified by his Blood and Righteousness to which purpose it will be worth while to consider that place Rom. 8. The Apostle in the first verse sets forth believers men in Christ by two excellent things first by Justification There is no condemnation to them no though there be reliques of corruption in them as is imported in the seventh Chapter there is none and then by Sanctification which is in conjunction with the other they walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit And in the other verses he confirms both but inverso ordine first he confirms their Sanctification from the great Origen of it the holy Spirit The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death vers 2. The power of the holy Spirit hath subdued the power of sin and then he confirms their Justification from the sufferings of Christ with which his active obedience is to be taken in conjunction What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh vers 3. Their sins were condemned in the flesh of Christ there was an atonement made for them which certainly must relate to Justification from these sufferings of Christ with which his active obedience must be taken in conjunction the Apostle inferrs That the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us vers 4. The Law was not able to justifie us for want of a perfect obedience in us but God translated the impletion of the Law upon Christ Christ fulfilled all Righteousness for us Christ bore the wrath of God for us and these things being imputed unto us the Righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us But then the Apostle returns again to Sanctification and subjoyns Who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit assuring us that those who are justified by the imputed Righteousness of Christ are also Sanctified and led by his holy Spirit This I take to be the meaning of the place But let us hear our Church treating upon this place in conjunction with other Scriptures r. Hom. of Salvation St. Paul saith Rom. 3. We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ And Rom. 10. Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth And Rom. 8. That which was impossible by the Law in as much as it was weak by the flesh God sending his own Son in the similitude of sinful flesh by sin damned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us which walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit In these places the Apostle toucheth three things which must go together in our Justification upon Gods part his great mercy and grace upon Christ's parts justice that is the satisfaction of God's justice or the price of our redemption by the offering of his body and shedding of his Blood with fulfilling of the Law perfectly and throughly and upon our part true and lively Faith in the merits of Jesus Christ which yet is not ours but by Gods working in us So that in our Justification is not only Gods Mercy and Grace but also his Justice which the Apostle calleth the Justice of God and it consisteth in paying our ransom and fulfilling of the Law And so the Grace of God doth not shut out the Justice of God in our Justification but only shutteth out the justice of man that is to say the justice of our works as to be merits of deserving our justification And therefore St. Paul declareth here nothing upon the behalf of man concerning his justification but only a true lively Faith which nevertheless is the gift of God and not man's only work without God and yet that Faith doth not shut out Repentance Hope Love Dread and the fear of God to be joyned with Faith in every man that is justified but it shutteth them out from the office of justifying so that although they be all present in him that is justified yet they justifie not all together These are the excellent words of our Church worthy without flattery be it spoken to be written in Letters of Gold but much more in the hearts of all true Christians We see here that there is in justification nothing on the behalf of man but Faith only no internal Holiness Repentance Hope Love Fear of God are in the justified but shut out from the office of justifying God's Grace and Christ's Righteousness are the great causes of justification But saith the Author Is there here any mention of Christ's Righteousness or the imputation thereof I answer Our Church surely thought so and we have his passive Righteousness expressed vers 3. and where that is expressed the active is implied This is clear when the Scripture saith That we are made righteous by Christ's obedience Rom. 5.19 It doth include his blood also and when he saith That we are justified by his blood Rom. 5.9 It doth include his active obedience also so that the Scripture because it expresses justification by both and because it must be consistent with it self in expressing the one includes the other When therefore Rom. 8.3 his sufferings are expressed his active obedience is also included both therefore are intended and withall an imputation without which they cannot be profitable to us But saith the Author The Law could not do it that is the Law could not deliver from the power of sin I answer The Law could not do it of it self and without the Spirit of Christ but if that divine Spirit take the Law into its hand and write it in the heart I suppose there will be a New Creature But the Author saith That the righteousness of the Law may be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit vers 4. How can imputation come in here What pretty sence will this make of the Apostles argument I answer The sence is very clear the Righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us by Christ's Righteousness imputed to us and withall we to whom that is imputed walk after the Spirit the one is our Justification the other our Sanctification Both the Apostle proves to be in Believers and both consist very well together as appears from the first verse There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit The No condemnation appertains to Justification and the walking after the Spirit to Sanctification and both stand very well together As to what the Author saith afterwards That there was no reason to abrogate Moses ' s
Christ's Righteousness and Satisfaction to us he now in a legal notion looks upon both but as one person Now I have two things to say to this First I wonder why this should be called the union of Saints to Christ Or why Christ should be called only the Saints Surety The Apostle tells us that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 7.22 The Surety of a Testament or Covenant Now there is a vast difference between Christ's being the Saints surety and the surety of the Covenant for the Covenant respects both Saints and Sinners therefore is antecedent to our union to Christ as Saints and to be surety of the Covenant signifies no more but to confirm this Covenant and to undertake for the performance of it that all the promises of it shall be made good upon such terms as are annexed to them But to be a Surety for Saints as the Doctor explains it is to strike hands with God to put himself in their stead to do and suffer for them Now this notion is different from the notion of a Surety of a Covenant and so it wants some better proof But secondly suppose Christ had been called the Saints surety I doubt they are as much out in the Law of suretiship as they were before in the Laws of Marriage For first the prime end of suretiship among men is not that the Surety shall without more ado pay the debt but to give security to the Creditor that the debt shall be paid that is the Surety doth not make himself immediate Debtor but the Debtor is Debtor still and bound to pay the Debt and the Surety is liable only in case of his default It is a strange definition of suretiship That it is an absolute taking the debt upon our selves and an actual discharging the Debtor No man in his wits ever became surety for another when he knew before hand that if he did he must pay the debt but men become sureties upon reasonable assurance that they shall suffer no injury by it Therefore when Christ died for us he did not dye as our Surety but as our Sacrifice substituted in our room which is the Scripture notion of it and differs as much from the notion of a surety as paying the debt doth from being bound with another that it shall be paid Suppose secondly That Christ dyed for us as our Surety yet did Christ fulfill all Righteousness for us as our surety too Doth this also exactly answer the case of suretiship among men so as that there needs no illustration of it The Doctor was so wise that he would not assert this in the premisses but very craftily thrusts it into the conclusion That therefore God makes over our sins to Christ and Christ's Righteousness and satisfaction to us But was there ever such a surety heard of among men that one man should discharge all offices of piety virtue justice temperance instead of another If such a thing had ever been such a man ought not to have been called a surety but a proxy But humane Laws as many defects as there are in them never admitted of such proxies for these are personal duties which none can perform for us you may as well say that a man may live and be a man by proxy as discharge those duties which are necessarily entailed on his person by a proxy Proxies are allowable only in such cases where the material enquiry is whether the thing be done not who doth it but where the consideration of the person that doth it is essential to the action there is no place for a surety or proxy because it doth not satisfie the Law that the thing is done unless it be done by such a person Thus it is in all the duties of Piety and Religion every individual person is bound to do them Though there were never so many righteous men in the World there righteousness can avail none but themselves Nay the righteousness of God which is more than all the righteousness of men cannot make an unrighteous man righteous no external Relation can make the righteousness of another ours because it is personal righteousness that is required of us and the righteousness of another can never be our personal righteousness unless we become one person with him There is no other way to make the personal righteousness which is the Righteousness required of us but by a personal union to Christ by being christed with Christ as some speak how boldly soever yet very agreeable to these principles Christ is the Surety of the Covenant Heb. 7.22 Answer And he is our Surety also he undertook the satisfaction of our debts and therefore must be such Lo I come to do thy will O God saith he Heb. 10.7 Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices could not pay our debts The blood of Bulls and Goats could not take away sin as the Apostle there tells us Christ therefore undertook the doing of it he was substituted in our stead or room he gave his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 20.28 A price in the room or stead of many he gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 2.6 A counterprice or vicarious price for all he was our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Soul was in our Souls stead which could never have been unless as our Surety he had undertaken to satisfie for us The sins of us all met upon that holy immaculate one Isai 53.6 He was made sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 Sin by imputation who had not the least spot by inhesion and this could by no means have been unless he had undertaken satisfaction as our Surety St. Paul could never have been charged with the debt of Onesimus unless as his Surety neither could Christ have been charged with our sins unless he had been ours he was nor only charged with our sins but made actual satisfaction for them he paid that he never took he was wounded for our transgressions Isai 53.5 He gave himself for our sins Gal. 1.4 He made such satisfaction that he blotted the bond or hand-writing that was against us Col. 2.14 And these things he would never have done unless he had taken them upon himself as our Surety he saith of himself that he came to give his life a ransom for many Matth. 20.28 He came for that end as being bound by his suretiship so to do He was therefore our Surety as well as the Surety of the Covenant Nay it being plainly the divine pleasure that there should be no remission without shedding of blood that all pardoning mercy should issue out to us through a satisfaction unless he had been our Surety unless he had undertaken to satisfie for us he could not have been Surety of the Covenant he could not have secured the least Grace or Mercy to us more than to Devils for whom he would not be surety or make any satisfaction Now being our Surety he is one with us Conjunctione legali and so he is with all those for
Righteousness it suffices us that this Mystery is founded on the holy Scripture When the Romans would have no other Gods but what were approved of by the Senate Tertullian tells them Apud vos de humano arbitratu Divinitas pensitatur Apost cap. 5. nifi homini Deus placuerit Deus non erit But as long as we find Imputed Righteousness in Scripture we need not seek a Probatū est from humane laws or reason Let us now try Mr. Sherlock whether the Notion of a Mediator can do any better service than the Notion of a Surety Dr. Owen saith That Christ fulfilled all Righteousness as he was Mediator and that whatever he did as Mediator he did it for them whose Mediator he was and in whose stead and for whose good he executed the Office of a Mediator before God and hence is it that his complete and perfect Obedience to the Law is reckoned to us But that Christ fulfilled all Righteousness as he was Mediator must have good proof the Notion of a Mediator includes no such thing A Mediator is one who interposes between two differing parties but was it ever heard of yet that it was the Office of a Mediator to perform the Terms and Conditions himself Moses was the Mediator of the first Covenant Gal. 3.9 and his Office was to receive the Law from God and to deliver it to the people and to command them to observe the Rites and Sacrifices and Expiations which God had ordained but he was not to fulfil the Righteousness of the Law for the whole Congregation Thus Christ is now the Mediator of a better Covenant and his Office required that he should preach the Gospel which contains the Terms of peace between God and men and since God would not enter into Covenant with sinners without the intervention of a Sacrifice he dies too as a Sacrifice and Propitiation for the sins of the World and confirms and seals this new Covenant with his own Blood and being risen from the dead he executes this Office of Mediator with power and glory that is he intercedes for us according to the Terms and Conditions of the new Covenant to obtain the pardon of our sins and the assistance of the divine Grace to do the Will of God and all those other blessings that are promised But the Office of Mediator doth not oblige him to fulfil the Righteousness of the Covenant for us Christ is a Mediator but in a supereminent way a Mediator Answer but above all Peers or Parallels Hence the Apostle tells us that there is one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 One Mediator Moses was a Mediator too but because Christ was a Mediator in a peculiar and superexcellent manner there is but one Mediator Moses was an internuncial Mediator but Christ was a satisfying and atoning one Hence it appears that the Mediatorship of Christ must not be measured by the Mediatorship of Moses or any other person in the world but must be construed according to those singular Excellencies and Preeminencies which the Scripture attributes to it The Apostle tells us what a Mediator he was He gave his life a ransom for all and as I noted before where his Passive Obedience is expressed there the active is implyed Christ was a Mediator in that which he did for us and on our behalf and for us and on our behalf he fulfilled all Righteousness This is evident that of Christs which is imputed and applyed to us to justifie and make us Righteous before God was done for us and and on our behalf and such was his fulfilling all Righteousness Hence the Apostle tells us That by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life and by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Rom. 5.18 19. Moses was not to fulfill the righteousness of the Law for the people nor was he to dye as a propitiatory Sacrifice for them but Christ a more excellent Mediator did both for us Dr. Owen first tells of an habitual Righteousness of Christ Mr. Sherlock as Mediator in his humane Nature that this was the necessary effect of the Grace of Union that therby he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fit to do all that he did for us So that this is not imputed to us but was his own proper Righteousness But Secondly There is the actual obedience of Christ which was his willing performance of every thing that God by any Law did require besides the particular Law of the Mediator Let us then first consider the peculiar Law of the Mediator which he tells us respected himself meerly so that we have nothing to do with this neither and it contains all those acts and duties of his which were not for our imitation he instances in his obedience which he shewed in dying though St. John tells us that we must imitate him in this also must lay down our lives for the brethren as Christ dyed for us Joh. 1.3.16 And St. Paul tells us that we must be conformed to the Death and Resurrection of Christ Rom. 6. which sounds very like an imitation though in the next page he excepts the case of dying of his passive obedience and tells us that all the rest of his obedience to the Law of meditation is not imputed to us as though we had done it So that by the Law of meditation he understands whatever Christ was bound to do as our Mediator whatever was proper to his Mediatory office all this though sometimes when he better thinks of it he excepts dying is not imputed to us as though we had done it I hope we shall find something at last to be imputed to us and yet there is nothing left now But thirdly That which concerns him in a private capacity as a man subject to the Law And now whatever was required of us by virtue of any Law that he did and fulfilled And this is that actual obedience of Christ which he performed for us This is very strange that what he did as Mediator is not imputed to us But what he did not as our Mediator but as a man subject to Law that is imputed to us and reckoned as if we had done it by reason of his being our Mediator and it is as strange to the full that Christ should do whatever was required of us by virtue of any Law when he was neither Husband Wife Father Merchant Soldier Captain much less a Temporal Prince and how he should discharge the duties of those Relations for us when he was never in any of those Relations I leave to the subtilty of the School-men I know not of what moment this discourse is Answer only the Author would seem to wrap the Doctor up in obscurity but the Doctor hath expressed his mind in plain terms pag. 182. his words are these God sent Christ as a Mediator to do and suffer whatever the Law required at
is a belief of the Gospel which was confirmed by his death and believing that Christ is the Son of God the Messiah and Prophet whom God sent to reveil his will includes a general belief of the Gospel which he preached and believing that God raised him from the dead doth the same because his Resurrection was the last and great confirmation of the truth of the Gospel Hence the Apostles attribute such things to the Blood of Christ as are the proper immediate office of the Gospel-Covenant because the Blood of Christ is the Blood of the Covenant and therefore all the blessings of the Gospel are owing to it because the Gospel-Covenant was procured and confirmed by it Thus the Gentiles who were a far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ and the Gentiles and Jews were reconciled unto God in one body by the cross Eph. 2.14 15 16. That is the Gentiles were received into the fellowship of God's Church and the Jews and Gentiles united in one body Now this union of Jews and Gentiles is owing to the Gospel which takes away all marks of distinction and separation and gives them both an equal right to the blessing of the New Covenant This New Covenant belongs to all mankind there is now no distinction of persons Neither Jew nor Greek Barbarian Scythian bond nor free but Christ is all and in all No man is acceptable to God because he is a Jew or Greek but the only thing of any value is Faith in Christ or a belief of the Gospel which is indifferently offered to all Now this is attributed to the Blood of Christ and to his death because thereby Christ put an end to the Mosaical Covenant and sealed this New Covenant of Grace with Mankind as the Apostle explains himself in the following verses 17.18 c. That Christ having abolished the Law of Commandments by his death he came and preached peace that is the Gospel of peace to them who were a far off to the Gentiles and to them who were nigh to the Jews he abrogated the Mosaical Law That Law of Commandments contained in ordinances which was peculiar to the Jews and separated them from the rest of the World And he broke down the middle wall of partition which kept the uncircumcised Gentiles though Proselites at a distance from God as confining their worship to the outward court of the Temple which the Apostle seems to refer to in that phrase Them that were a far off And now by the Gospel he admits the Gentiles to as near an approach to God as the Jews As he adds For through him we have an access by one Spirit to the Father vers 18. The Author enquiring Answer what influence the obedience and death of Christ have upon our acceptance with God resolves it thus All that I can find in Scripture is that to this we owe the Covenant of Grace Christ's Blood is called the Blood of the Covenant because it did seal and confirm the Covenant I answer Christ's Blood did indeed seal and confirm the Covenant But is this the all of it Socinus will own as much as this comes to Sicuti alicujus animantis sanguine fuso foedera antiquitùs sanciebantur De servat l. 1. cap. 3. confirmabantur ita Christi silii sui sanguine foedus suum novum atque aeternum quod nobiscum per ipsum Christum pepigerat sancivit confirmavit Deus Thus he telling us too that it is therefore called Sanguis aeterni foederis To the same purpose speaks the Racovian Catechist with others of the same Tribe But the Scripture tells us more of the Blood of Christ That we are justified by his blood Rom. 5.9 But saith the Author we are said to be justified by his Blood that is by the Gospel-Covenant which was confirmed with his Blood This is a strange way of interpreting Scripture We are justified by his blood that is by the Gospel We may as well go on to verse 18. and say justification of life is by the righteousness of one that is by the Gospel And to verse 19. and say We are made righteous by the obedience of one that is by the Gospel And from thence we may go on at the same rate with other Scriptures as He hath washed us from our sins in his own blood Revel 1.5 that is in his own Gospel The blood of Jesus Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered up himself without spot to God shall purge your consciences from dead works Heb. 9.14 that is the Gospel shall do it This is my blood of the new Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Matth. 26.28 that is this is my New Testament of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of fins Rather than make such work with Scripture we were as good let the Blood of our dear Lord stand there as it ought in its justifying Glory We are justified by Christ's blood that is by the Gospel And is Christ's Blood the Gospel Or where in all the Scripture is the Blood of Christ so taken The Scripture rarely if ever speaks of being justified by the Gospel but it speaks much and often of being justified by Christ's Blood It cleanses us from all sin 1 Joh. 1.7 It purges the conscience Heb. 9.19 It was shed for the remission of sins Eph. 1.7 It washes us from our sins Rev. 1.5 And yet all this contrary to the express words and genius of Scripture must be understood not of the Blood of Christ but of the Gospel and why of the Gospel Because his Blood confirmed the Gospel And is justifying and confirming the Gospel all one Christ's Blood according to the Author confirmed the Covenant with all Mankind but all men are not justified When the Scripture speaks of Christs Blood and Death as confirmative of the Covenant or Gospel it speaks sometimes in general of all men Thus he died for all men 2 Cor. 5.15 Hee gave himself a ransom for all 1 Tim. 2.6 with many other places to the same purpose But when the Scripture speaks of Christ's Blood as justifying it speaks not in general of all but in particular of Believers only and yet if justify and confirming the Gospel were all one it might be as truly said that Christ justifies all as that he died for all The Gospel is the Charter of Justification but besides the Charter their must be a Righteousness to be the Matter of our Justification God never justifies any man without a Righteousness and what is it Is it the very Act of Faith Thus Socinus would have it De servat part 4. cap. 4. that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Credere is loco justitiae in the room of all Righteousness But I have before proved that Faith as an Act and absolutely in it self considered canot justifie us Or is it our inherent Graces This is the express Tenet of the Papists Thus Bellarmine would have
justifying Grace to be donum in Animainhaerens Renovation and Regeneration Against this our Protestant Divines have sufficiently testified Indeed no man who understands either himself and his own Errata's or the necessary distinction which is to be made between Justification and Sanctification can assert it And now nothing remains to be our Righteousness in Justification but the Obedience and atoning Blood of Christ and these cannot be applied to us and become ours but by Imputation By this it appears that the Blood of Christ doth not only confirm the Covenant but that it justifies us also And this further appears by the place quoted by the Author Moses sprinkled the blood on the book and on all the people Heb. 9.19 He did not only confirm the Covenant but sprinkled the People too this was the Type or Figure but Christ who is the Substance not only confirms the Covenant but sprinkles the hearts of Believers by his Blood Hence their hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience Heb. 10.22 and they have the sprinkling of the blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.2 But to go on The Scripture saith the Author uses these phrases promiscuously to be justified by Faith by Christ by Grace nay by believing that Christ is the Son of God or risen from the dead To which I answer All these concurr to the same Justification but not in the same manner Grace which is the inward impulsive Cause of Justification is not Christ or his Blood the Blood of Christ which is the Matter of our Righteousness is not Faith Faith which is the Hand to receive Christ and Grace is not the Gospel the Charter of Justification which contains the Evangelical Axioms such as those touching Christ's being the Son of God or touching his Resurrection from the dead are These are distinct things and not to be confounded As for that place Eph. 2.14 15 16. the Apostle speaks indeed of reconciling Jews and Gentiles but that is not all he speaks too of reconciling both to God ver 16. and of making them one new man in himself ver 15. which notes a further reconciliation than that among themselves even a conjunction with God and Christ according to our Saviours Prayer That they maybe one in us Joh. 17.21 Christ saith the Author abrogated the Mosaical Law I answer He did so as to Types and Ceremonials but the Moral Law which is immortalized by its intrinsecal Sanctity stands to this day and the Grace which was under the Old Testament was not abrogated but made more illustrious than it was before The Gentiles saith the Author were at a distance from God But if they had natural Faith and could by it please God the distance was less and more tolerable though they were but in the outward Court of the Temple nay though they were a thousand miles off from it they would do well enough in the other world Mr. Sherlock Thus the Jews are said to be redeemed from the curse of the Law by the accursed death of Christ upon the Cross Gal. 3.13 Because the death of Christ put an end to that Legal dispensation and sealed a new and better Covenant between God and Man and the Gentiles were redeemed from their vain conversation received from their fathers that is from those idolatrous and impure practices they were guilty of not with silver and gold but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ 1. Pet. 1.18 19. Now the Gentiles were delivered from their Idolatry by the preaching of the Gospel which is called their being redeemed by the blood of Christ because we owe this unspeakable blessing to his death Thus the Jews are redeemed from the curse of the Law by the accursed death of Christ Answer Gal. 3.13 so the Author and thus Socinus De Servat part 2. cap. 1. Ad Judaeos tantùm pertinet This belongs only to the Jews But the Curse which fell upon Christ was not a ceremonial one but a real such as put him into Agonies and a bloody Sweat neither were the Jews only redeemed from it but the Gentiles also what else was this to the Galatians who were Gentiles Were not the Gentiles also under the Curse and by nature children of wrath No doubt they were the Apostle saith That Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ ver 14. And surely he would not argue from the Redemption of the Jews only to the Benediction of the Gentiles but from what was common to both of them The Gentiles were redeemed from their vain conversation that is from their idolatrous practices with the blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 19. that is they were delivered by the preaching of the Gospel So the Author But when they were redeemed from their vain Conversation they were redeemed from the guilt of it and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this was not the Gospel but the precious Blood of Christ who was a Lamb without blemish and without spot Those men are injurious to the Blood of Christ Mr. Sherlock who attribute no more to it than a non-imputation of sin That by his death Christ Dr. Owen Com. 193. bearing and undergoing the punishment due to us paying the ransom due for us delivered us from the wrath and curse of God And thus by Christ's death all cause of quarrel is taken away But then this will not complete our acceptation the old quarrel may be laid aside and yet no new friendship begun we may be not sinners and yet not so far righteous as to have a right to the Kingdom of heaven So that the Blood of Christ only makes us innocent delivers us from guilt and punishment but if we will take the Doctor 's word for it it can give us no title to Glory this is owing to the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to the Obedience of his Life But you see the Scripture gives us a quite different account of it we are said to be justified and redeemed by the Blood of Christ nay We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the Blood of Jesus Heb. 10.19 which is an allusion to the high Priest's entring into the Holy of Holies which was a Type of Heaven with the blood of the Sacrifice Thus by the Blood of Christ we have admission into heaven it self though the Dr. says That the Blood of Christ makes us innocent but cannot give us a Title to Heaven The Scripture takes no notice of their artificial Methods That the guilt of sin is taken away by the death of Christ and that we are made righteous by his Righteousness But the Blood of Christ is said to justifie us and to give us admission into the holiest of all into heaven it self nay we are made righteous by the death of Christ too 2 Cor. 5.21 For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in
to say that which he cannot know and that against his own Soul and eternal Salvation Is there any such reprobation in Scripture as barrs out of Heaven such as by Faith venture upon Christ No surely Christ hath so far dyed for all men as to found for them that general promise whosoever believeth shall be saved This is a plain sure foundation for men to venture upon none that by Faith venture upon Christ shall be barred out of Heaven by any Decree of God because his Decree cannot clash with his Promise It is very irregular arguing to say I know not Gods Decree therefore I 'll neglect my duty St. Paul exhorts the Philippians to work out their Salvation with fear and trembling for it is God which worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure Phil. 2.12 13. Might the Philippians have said how do we know what Gods pleasure is or what he will work in us Why should we work at such a venture or at the pleasure of another No the fear and trembling in the Text was enough to keep them back from arguing at that rate Suppose now that there were no such thing as Election will there not be a paucity and an hard venture still Our Saviour tells us that few find the way to life Matth. 7.14 And God whose prescience is immutable eternally foresaw that it would be so and what must we do now May we deny the truth of Christs words or of Gods prescience Surely we ought not or may we argue thus Few enter into life why should I venture It s an hard venture and great odds against me May I now cry out Good God what Merchant adventurers are poor sinners Surely it doth not at all become me I must look upon the Rule in the Word and endeavour to do my duty Duties belong to us and issues to God But to pass on according to Mr. Shephard it seems assurance it self cannot secure us to which the bare recital of Mr. Shephards words will be answer enough they are these The Call of Christ is the ground by which we first believe It is a constant ground of Faith For if you come to Christ because you have assurance or because you feel such and such Graces and heavenly Impressions of Gods Spirit in you you may then many a day and year keep at a distance from Christ and lye without Christ for the feeling of Graces and assurance of favour are not constant His meaning is very plain the Call of Christ is the ground of our first believing and it is a constant ground if by after renewed acts of Faith we come to Christ because we have assurance we may many a day live without Christ for assurance is no constant thing as the Call is The Author I suppose took out a little out of Mr. Shephard not to interpret him but to sport with him Afterwards we have the Author concluding from Mr. Shephards particular Call That the general Call signifies nothing that there is no foundation for our Faith in Christ but this particular Call To which I answer The general promises of the Gospel signifie Gods will to save Believers and therefore are a sufficient foundation for a man to believe in Christ for Salvation a greater warrant we cannot have for it then Gods own Charter sealed with the Blood of his Son Jesus Christ But that which works this Faith in us is a special Call or internal Grace which shines into the heart and calls forth Faith into being But though we know not how to get into Christ Mr. Sherlock it would be some comfort to know that we are in him But this is as impossible as the other As the only foundation of our Faith in coming to Christ aocording to these mens notions is a special call of the Spirit So the only infallible assurance that we are in Christ is the testimony of the Spirit The spirit of adoption which teaches us to cry Abba Father And yet God doth not afford this Testimony to all but suffers many good Christians to walk in darkness and hides his face from them for no other reason but because they are desirous of it and would be quiet if they should know it this is somewhat hard measure But suppose you have or think you have this testimony of the Spirit how can you be sure that it is not a cheat and delusion the imposture of the Devil or of your own self-flattering imagination to satisfie this we are directed to marks Thus this infallible assurance from the testimony of the Spirit must in its last resolve be founded upon some Moral evidence As it is with the Church of Rome who after a great noise and cry of infallibility are at last forc'd to resolve their Faith into some Motives of credibility or to dance round in an endless circle Well what are the marks of our being in Christ You must enquire whether you have the Spirit of Christ And it is just as easie to know this as whether you be in Christ But are you true Believers Is your Faith of the right stamp is it wrought by the Almighty Power of God Or is it such an easie common presumptuous false faith as that which is in the generality of men This is as easie to know as any of the former For if there be such a false presumptuous faith as takes Christ when he does not belong to us and rests and relies on Christ only for pardon and salvation and yet shall never have Christ How shall we know whether our Faith be true and genuine such as will make Christ ours and the answer to this brings us to that great mark of Sanctification You must consider the effects of Faith Dr. Jacomb pag. 65. doth it purifie the Heart overcome the World work by Love are you new Creatures Is the state of your person changed from a Child of wrath to an Heir of Grace which is the thing to be proved Or is your nature changed Do you walk in newness of life Have you crucified the flesh with its lusts Do you bring forth fruit That is you must prove your justification by your sanctification your Faith by your Works I am glad it is no worse that good works and an holy life may at least put in for marks and evidences of a justified state though the truth is this is a meer complement to Holiness and as they order the matter an holy life can no more be a sign of a justified state than it can justifie us It would be some comfort to know Answer that we are in Christ But this is impossible Thus the Author Impossible Nothing plainer in Scripture we read of the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts 2 Cor. 1.12 The sealing of the holy Spirit of promise Eph. 1.13 The witness of the Spirit with our spirits that we are the children of God Rom. 8.16 But God doth not afford this testimony of the Spirit to all