The meritorious price of our redemption, iustification, &c. Cleering it from some common errors; and proving, Part I. 1. That Christ did not suffer for us those unutterable torments of Gods wrath, that commonly are called hell-torments, to redeem our soules from them. 2. That Christ did not bear our sins by Gods imputation, and therefore he did not bear the curse of the law for them. Part II. 3. That Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law (not by suffering the said curse for us, but) by a satisfactory price of attonement; viz. by paying or performing unto his father that invaluable precious thing of his mediatoriall obedience, wherof his mediatoriall sacrifice of attonement was the master-piece. 4. A sinners righteousnesse or justification is explained, and cleered from some common errors. / By William Pinchin, Gentleman, in New-England. Pynchon, William, 1590-1662. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A91417 of text R205855 in the English Short Title Catalog. Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 467KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 86 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2018 A91417 Wing P4311 Thomason E606_3 ESTC R205855 99865103

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 Early English books online text creation partnership. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 2, no. A91417) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 117340) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 93:E606[3]) The meritorious price of our redemption, iustification, &c. Cleering it from some common errors; and proving, Part I. 1. That Christ did not suffer for us those unutterable torments of Gods wrath, that commonly are called hell-torments, to redeem our soules from them. 2. That Christ did not bear our sins by Gods imputation, and therefore he did not bear the curse of the law for them. Part II. 3. That Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law (not by suffering the said curse for us, but) by a satisfactory price of attonement; viz. by paying or performing unto his father that invaluable precious thing of his mediatoriall obedience, wherof his mediatoriall sacrifice of attonement was the master-piece. 4. A sinners righteousnesse or justification is explained, and cleered from some common errors. / By William Pinchin, Gentleman, in New-England. Pynchon, William, 1590-1662. [12], 158 p. Printed by J.M. for George Whittington, and James Moxon, and are to be sold at the blue Anchor in Corn-hill neer the Royall Exchange, London : 1650. Errata on p. 12. Part I (items 1 and 2) and Part II (items 3 and 4) are bracketed on the titlepage. Annotation on Thomason copy: "June 2d". Reproduction of the original in the British Library.

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 eng Redemption -- Early works to 1800. eebo The meritorious price of our redemption, iustification, e.t.c.c. :$bCleering it from some common errors; and proving, Part I. 1. That Christ did not s Pynchon, William, 1590-1662. 1650 171 84593 542 2 0 0 0 0 64.31 D The rate of 64.31 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the D category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2014-07 Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2014-09 Sampled and proofread 2014-09 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2015-03 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion

THE MERITORIOUS PRICE OF Our Redemption , Iustification , &c.

Cleering it from some common Errors ; And proving , Part I. 1. That Christ did not suffer for us those unutterable torments of Gods wrath , that commonly are called Hell-torments , to redeem our soules from them . 2. That Christ did not bear our sins by Gods imputation , and therefore he did not bear the curse of the Law for them . Part II . 3. That Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law ( not by suffering the said curse for us , but ) by a satisfactory price of attonement ; viz. by paying or performing unto his Father that invaluable precious thing of his Mediatoriall obedience , wherof his Mediatoriall Sacrifice of attonement was the master-piece . 4. A sinners righteousnesse or justification is explained , and cleered from some common Errors .

By William Pinchin , Gentleman , in New-England .

The Mediator saith thus to his Father in Psal . 40.8 , 10.

I delight to do thy will O my God , yea thy Law is within my heart : ( viz. ) I delight to do thy will , or Law , as a Mediator .

I have not hid thy righteousnesse within my heart , I have declared thy faithfulnesse , and thy salvation : Namely , I have not hid thy righteousnesse , or thy way of making sinners righteous , but have declared it by the performance of my Mediatoriall Sacrifice of attonement , as the procuring cause of thy attonement , to the great Congregation for their everlasting righteousnesse .

LONDON , Printed by J. M. for George Whittington , and James Moxon , and are to be sold at the blue Anchor in Corn-hill neer the Royall Exchange . 1650.

Grace and Peace to the wise and conscionable Reader .

I Have laboured in this Dialogue to explicate the meritorious price of our Redemption , Justification and Adoption , and to clear it from some common Errors , hoping that others who are better learned , will take occasion by this Dialogue to do it more thoroughly .

I find variety of opinions touching the point of Christs satisfaction for our Redemption , and Justification : namely , what it was that he did or suffer'd to satisfie Gods wrath for our Redemption and Justification .

1. Some hold that Christ did satisfie Gods Justice for our Redemption from the curse of the Law , by bearing the said curse for us : and they stick not to affirm it in these terms : The curse of the Law : The wrath of God : The torments of Hell : The pains of the Damned : The second Death , &c.

2. Others will not indure such harsh terms , as some of these are , and yet they affirm that Christ did suffer the wrath of God for our Redemption , namely , so much of it as was eq●ivalent to the punishment of the sins of the Elect : See Mr. Iacob upon Christs sufferings , pa. 33.

3. Others do affirm that Christ did not suffer that kind of wrath which the damned do suffer , but that kind of wrath only which the Elect do suffer in this life ; but yet in a far greater measure , and thus Mr. Ainsworth did at last explain his apprehensions in a letter to my self ( having had two or three turns in writing , not long before his death . )

Such jarring there is among Divines , about the kind of sufferings which they say Christ bare for our Redemption .

4. Others disagree about the part of Christs human nature , that did bear the wrath of God for our Redemption : for some affirme that Christ suffered the wrath of God in his soul only , and not in his body : 2. Others affirm that he suffered the wrath of God in his body , as well as in his soul , to redeem our bodies from Gods wrath , as well as our souls .

5. Others do not agree about the time when Christ did first begin to suffer the wrath of God ; nor how long he bare it ere it ceased , neither do they clear it ; whether it continued constant upon him without any intermission , from the first time that the wrath of God did seize upon him , untill his death , or untill his Resurrection .

These things are not cleared by those Divines that hold that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law , by suffering the said curse for us .

But I have laboured in this Treatise to prove that Christ did not suffer any degree of Gods wrath at all for us , but that all his sufferings were inflicted upon him from the rage and enmity of the old Serpent and his wicked instruments , being all comprised under this one sentence , Thou shalt pierce him in the footsoals , Gen. 3.15 . And yet I grant also that God had a hand in all his sufferings , because Satan and his instruments could inflict no other punishments upon Christ , but according to Gods determinate Counsell ( but not from his Anger ) Act. 2.23 . Act. 4.27 , 28. God gave leave to Satan that was now in the Serpent when he tempted Eve , to go into the Scribes and Pharisees , to accuse and condemn the seed of the woman as a wicked Malefactor : But in Gods intent , all that Satan and his instruments did , was but to try the obedience of the Mediator , Ebr. 5.8 . or els to prove the verity of his human nature , Ebr. 2.11 .

These things are of high and necessary consequence to be cleared : For ,

1. By this means we shall attain to the right understanding of the meritorious price of our Redemption .

2. By this means sundry Scriptures will be cleared from wrong interpretations .

3. By this means divers substantiall points of Divinity will be cleared from severall grosse mistakes .

4. By this means several stumbling blocks of offence wil be taken away , first from the Papists , and secondly from the poore Jews .

1. From the Papists , for they ( especially the malicious Jesuites ) do often upbraid us for ascribing unto Christ such passions and perturbations of soul from the sense of his Fathers wrath , as cannot be ( say they , and I think truly ) without sin : Gregory Martin the Jesuite doth often deride us with great scorn and disdain , for ascribing unto Christ such perturbations of soul as did arise from the sense of Gods wrath : and the Rhemists in their Annotations upon the New-Testament do the like in severall places .

And yet they do also greatly misse of the right understanding of the meritorious price of our Redemption ▪ For 1. they joyn their own merits with the merits of Christ , as necessary to the purchasing of their Redemption .

2. They do most superstitiously look at the grosse substance of Christs flesh and blood , and at his bodily pains and stripes which he suffered from Satan and his instruments as a Malefactor , as the meritorious price of their Redemption .

3. They do most grossely hold that the soul of Christ went down into the lowest hell to perfect their Redemption , for they make four hells , or four stories in hell : In the first of which they place the souls of all the holy men that died before the coming of Christ : In the second they place the souls of all those children that die without Baptism : In the third they place the souls of all those that suffer the pains of Purgatory , and in the fourth hell , which is the lowest of all , they place the souls of the damned ; and then they propound this question , Into which of these places did the soule of Christ descend after his death ? They answer thus , That Christ descended into all these parts of hell to triumph over Satan , and to deliver the souls of the Fathers , and to comfort others as their Advocate and Redeemer : see Bellarmine in his Christian Doctrine .

But in all these tenents of theirs , they misse most grossely of the true meritorious price of their Redemption ; for they do never explicate wherein the efficacy of his mediatoriall sacrifice of Attonement doth lie : they never shew how his death was a mediatoriall death , by the actuall and joynt concurrence of both his natures , which mediatoriall death of his must be considered as the only procuring cause of his Fathers Attonement , for our full Redemption , Justification , and Adoption .

2. There is the like need to clear the meritorious price of our Redemption , for the poor Jews sake : For , as Mr. Broughton doth often affirm , they do greatly stumble at these two positions of ours ; first in that we do make Christ to stand before God as a guilty sinner , by his imputing all our sins to him ; and secondly they stumble at this , in that we do make the Messiah to redeem us from the curse of the Law , by bearing the said curse for us .

But the Ebrew Doctors do in a jesting and scoffing manner say unto us , That every Fox shall pay his own skin to the Flayer : See W●ems on the Jew , p. 318. and yet woe and alas ! the poor Jews are lamentably blinded about the meritorious price of our Redemption : For ,

1. Though som of the Ebrew Doctors have affirmed , that the Messiah should suffer death for their Redemption , and that his sufferings should be marvellous great , yet I cannot perceive that they do look upon the death of Christ in a right construction , because they do not look upon it as a mediatoriall death actuated by his own power , even by the joynt concurrence of both his natures .

2. The most of the Jews ( except a few ) do hold that the Messiah shall never suffer any kind of death at all : The Jews in generall were once perswaded for a time , that one Rabbi Akibah was the King Christ : yea both himself , and all the wise men of that age thought he had been Christ the King untill he was killed for his iniquities , and when he was kil'd , then they knew he was not so . See Ains . on Deut . 8.19 . By this testimony of theirs it is evident that the Jews in generall did hold that their Messiah should never die at all : and in our Saviours daies , when he told the Jews that he must be put to death , and that the hour was come in which the Son of Man should be glorified , John . 12.23 , 32. then the Jews did stumble at this Doctrine , and said , We have heard out of the Law that Christ abideth for ever , How then sayest thou that the Son of Man must be lifted up ? v. 34. From hence it is evident , that the Jews in generall did hold that the Messiah should not redeem his people by suffering any kind of death at all : but their common tenent was , that the Messiah should redeem them from the Nations of the world by outward power , as a stately King and Conqueror , and in this carnall sense , they did ordinarily understand that spirituall promise made unto David , in 2 Sam . 7.13 . I will establish the Throne of his Kingdom for ever . This eternall Throne the Jewes ( except a few ) do understand it of the outward pompous Kingdom of the Messiah ; yea the very Apostles themselves for a good while together , understood not the spirituall nature of the Kingdome of the Messiah , Mar. 9.9 , 10. Luke 24.20 , 21.

Ther●fore it follows from the premises ; that the Jews as long as they are ignorant of the spirituall nature of the Kingdome of Christ , cannot understand the true meritorious price of their Redemption ; for the Messiah must break the Devills headplot , not by his outward power as a stately King and Conqueror , but by his mediatoriall sacrifice of Attonement .

Therefore for the poor Jews sakes , we ought as much as may be to clear up the true meritorious price of our Redemption .

The Apostle Paul did not differ from the Scribes , but in two points mainly ; the first was concerning the death of Christ ; the second was concerning his Resurrection : See Acts 17.3 . Acts 26.23 . 1 Cor . 15.3 . and according to those tenents , Pauls preaching had a differing effect upon the Jews in their Synagogues : some were perswaded by Pauls preaching to imbrace those tenents , but others resisted and raised up persecution against him for this Doctrine : and in his Epistle to the Ebrews in generall , he doth labour might and main to prove that Christ was God , and that in his human nature he was to die to make his soul a sacrifice of Attonement by the power of his divine nature ; that so through death , he might destroy him that had the power of death , that is the Devill , Heb . 2.

In like sort when Stephen was convented before the great Councell of Jerusalem , he affirm'd before them all that he did then see Jesus Christ whom they had crucified , now living and sitting at the right hand of God , Acts 7.56 . But the Judges of the great Sanhedrin stopped their ears at this Doctrine of Stephen , and the common multitude did so detest this Doctrine of his death and Resurrection , that in a confused uproar and rage they took him from the Councell and stoned him to death .

Hence it is evident that the Jews in generall did hold , that the Messiah should neither die nor rise again by the power of his divine nature : and they do also greatly stumble at our common Doctrine of Imputation , because by it we make the Messiah more odious to God ( in their apprehensions ) then any leper can be to us .

But ah and alas ! as the poor Jews will not acknowledge that their Messiah must die , to make his soul a mediatoriall sacrifice of Attonement for their Redemption .

So many of them are so far blinded by Satan , that they deny his divine nature , and so in effect they deny him to be a Mediator : The Lord in mercy open their eyes to see him whom they have crucified ( not only as a base malefactor , but ) as an obedient Mediator , with mourning and and bleeding hearts : and the Lord in mercy help us to remove all errors from our Doctrine , and to make the path of our Religion plain before them . Amen , even so , Amen .

Thine in the Lord ever . W. P.
This Argument was thus framed by M. Henry Smith a godly Preacher , neer thirty yeers since , in my presence .

THat which the Scripture doth no where affirm , Christ to have suffered for our redemption , That Christ hath not suffered .

But the Scripture doth no where affirm that Christ hath suffered the infinite wrath of God for our redemption :

Therefore Christ hath not suffered the infinite wrath of God for our redemption .

The Proposition I take for granted , because every article of our faith is set down in the Scripture , and what ever is not proved by Scripture I am not bound to believe .

The Assumption is thus proved .

If the Scripture doth any where affirm that Christ hath suffered the infinite wrath of God for our redemption , then it doth affirm it in some of those places that are chiefly-alledged by Divines for that purpose ; as in Esa . 53.6 . Gal. 3.13 . 2 Cor . 5.21 . Psal . 22.1 . &c.

But the Scripture doth not affirm it in any of those places :

Therefore it doth no where affirm it .

Your first place is Esa . 53.6 . whence the conclusion must be this .

He that had the iniquity of us all laid upon him , did suffer the infinite wrath of God .

But Christ had the iniquity of us all laid upon him :

Therefore Christ did suffer the infinite wrath of God .

I answer by denying your Proposition , which must be well proved before I can assent to the Conclusion .

Your second place is Gal. 3.13 . whence the conclusion must be this .

He that was made a curse for us , suffered the infinite wrath of God .

Christ was made a curse for us :

Therefore Christ did suffer the infinite wrath of God .

I answer by denying your Proposition as abovesaid .

Your third place is 2 Cor . 5.21 . whence the Conclusion must be this .

He that was made sin for us did suffer the infinite wrath of God .

Christ was made sin for us :

Therefore Christ did suffer the infinite wrath of God .

I answer by denying your Proposition : And so I shall deny your Proposition of all the other places .

All these Scriptures & many more I have expounded in this ensuing Discourse .

A Table of Sundry Scriptures expounded in this Dialogue . Gen. 2.17 . Gen. 3.15 . Gen. 12.3 . Gen. 15.6 . Exo . 20.2 , 3 , 4 , 7 , 8. Exo . 28.38 . Lev . 1.4 . Lev . 1.5 . Lev . 10.17 . Lev . 16.10 , 21 , 22. Deut . 21.22 Job 7.21 . Psal . 22.1 . &c. to v. 22. Psal . 25.18 . Psal . 32.1 . Psal . 40.9 . Psal . 40.12 . Psal . 55.3 . Psal . 69.5 . Psal . 102.27 Esa . 50.5 , 6. Esa . 53.4 , 5 , 6 , 10 , 11 , 12. Jer . 23.6 . Dan . 9.24 . Mat . 3.14 . Mat . 4.11 . Mat . 8.29 . Mat . 22.40 . Mat . 26.37 . Mar. 10.39 . Mar. 14.33 . Mar. 15.37 . Luk . 12.50 . Luk . 22.19 , 43 , 44. Joh . 6.63 . Acts 20.28 . Rom. 3.21 , to 26. Rom. 4.3 , 25. Rom. 5.11 , 12 , 16 , 17 , 19 Rom. 8.3 , 4. 1 Cor . 1.30 1 Cor . 15.29 2 Cor . 5.21 Eph. 5.2 . Gal. 3.13 . Heb . 5.7 . Heb . 7.8 . Heb . 9.26 , 28. 1 Pet . 2.24 . 1 Joh . 1.7 .
A Table of some principal Matters handled in this Dialogue . A Adoption Explained . 150 Each person in Trinity is our Father in th● act of our spiritual generation and Adoption . 148 The Fathers atonement described , comprehending under it Justification and Adoption . 116 Christ was the altar in his Divine nature , upon which he odered his humane nature as a mediatoriall sacrifice of Atonement . 95. 102 B Bearing of sin and sorrow by Christ , hath divers ●ences in scripture . 16. 25 The blood o● Christ was not shed for the wh●le world , but for the elect only . 87 One d●o●●f he blood of Christ is not sufficient to ●ede●m the whole world . 90 ●●e true fo●c● of the blood of Christ lies in his actuall ●●uring out of his own soule by hi● own priestly nature , for by that means only hi● death became a mediatoriall sacrifice of Atonement . 92. 142. D The cursed death that fell upon Adam for his disobedient Eating must be unde●stood p●imarily of the spiri●uall death of his pure nature in corrupt and sinfull qualities . 6 The death of Christ was of a far differing natur● from the death of all the fallen Sons of Adam . 9 The body of Christ after he was dead and laid in his grave could not see corruption , because his God head did still reside in his dead body as well as in his departed soul . 10 The holy Ghost both in Hebrew and Greek doth make the death of Christ to be both active and passive , wherein doubtless a great mistery is couched 90 The death of Christ may be called either an active or a passive death in severall respects . 99 The Iews were said to put Christ to death because they endeavoured to do it . 100 The death of the mediator was a miraculous death . 99 F True Godly fear doth make a man exceeding carefull to do every duty that may please God , and to avoid every sin that may offend God . 53 H Christs descending into hel expounded . 74. A Description of the Torments of hell . 75 The divels are not in hell Torments as yet . 76 A description of the tearm second death . 76 A description of the second part of the torments of hell . 77 An Examination of Christs sufferings with the Torments of hell . 78. Hell to●ments are confined to the proper place of hel , therefore none can suffer the torments of hell in this life . 80 Hell place is on high before the throne of the Lamb , therefore it cannot be in the middle or in the center of the earth . 80 I 1. God cannot in justice impute our sin to our innocent Saviour . 13 2. Christ could not have bin the immaculate Lamb of God , if he had born the guilt of our sins by Gods imputation . 14 3. God doth still impute our sins to Christ in Heavens , as much as ever he did impute them to him when he was alive here upon earth . 14. 38 4. The Father doth impute our sins to himself as much as ever he did impute them to Christ . 14. 30 5. Christ did impute our sins to himself as much as ever the Father did . 15 42 6. God● Imputation of sin to an inocent is an unparalleld Kind of imputation , therefore it may well be suspected to be but a human invention . 15 Sin is often put for false imputations of sin from wicked men . 24 The Lord laid a●l our sins upon Christ as upon our Pri●●● and sacrifice . 28 To bea● in●quity and to make atonement for i●iquity is all one . 28 The common doctrine of imputation is built upon such literall phrases as doth beget many absu●d consequences . 33. 35 79 Imposi●ion of h●nds with confession of sin upon the head of the sin offering , cannot be a type of ●od , in pu ing our sins to Ch●ist , that action doth only signifie the owners faith or depend●nce . 34 God made Christ to be sin for us when he o●dained him to make his soul a mediatorial sac●●fice for our sins . 40 2 God cannot in justice justifie any man by impu●ing to him Christs active obed●ence to the law of works . 106 God never intended to justifie any man by the law of works , therefore not by Christs obedience imputed . 107 The impu●at●on of ou Saviours legal obedienc● is altoge●h●r insufficient to make a ●inner righ●eou● f●om his originall sin . 108 If God ●●pu●ed Christs leg●ll ob●dience to sinners for thei● justifica●ion , then Ch●●st made his oblation in va●● . 1●8 The common Do●trine of im●u●ation may well be que●●ion●d , because divines cannot agree about ●he right s●ati●g of it . 109 Christ● m●diatorial obedience is often mistaken by the common Doct●ine of Im●utation . 116 ●ustification or the true nature of a sinners righteousnesse dothly formally in the Fa●hers merciful atonemen● and fo●givenesse . 1●8 Abrahams fai●h was im●uted to him for righteousnesse , because he received the fathers atonement by it , which was his full and perfect righteousnesse 126 Why a sinners righ●eousnesse is called Gods righteousnesse . 129 Fa●●h is no● a sinners ● j●stice or righteousness instead of ●he righ●eous●●sse of th● law , but as it apprehends the ●●●h●●s Atonement . 103 Ho● the law taught sinners to ge● j●stice or righteousnesse by saith 131 Why sacrifices of atonement are called sacrifices of righ●eousn●sse . 117 3. Chris●s ●assiv● obedience is not a sinners righteousnes●e ●y Gods impu●●tion . 134 Each ●erson in t●inity is a ●●nne●s righ●eousnesse , ●●cause they do all , c●ncu● to m ke a sinner just o● righteous in several ●espects . 135 M The tearm Moral law is ill applyed to the ten commandments as a general ti●le , because the ten commandm●n s do contain in them rules of faith in Ch●ist as well as moral rules 103 O Christs Mediatorial Obedience , is that rich thing of price which he paid and performed to his Father for our redemp●ion 83 The merit of Christs mediatorial obedience doth more then countervaile the demerit of Adams disob●dience . 84. The true force & ●fficacy of the merit of Christs obedience , ●ay in his Priestly offering u● hi● own soul in sacrifice to God . 92. 95 , 96. 102. 38. A discourse touching Christs obedience to the moral Law , whether it were done for our ju●tifica●ion or no , by Gods imputation . 103 It is necessary to make a distinction between Christs legal and mediatorial obed●e●ce 110 P Christ is a Priest for ever according to his Divine Nature . 92. 95 The Levitical Priests were typical Media●ors 139 R Redemption is made by a thing of rich price 83 God doth not rest in sacrifices , Sabbath , and Temple , but as they are typical signes of his resting in the M●diator . 152 S The sufferings of Christ controver●ed stated 2 The healing virtue of Christs stripes lay not in his patient bearing ●hem , but in his active mediatorial obedie●ce which was tryed th●ough stripes and sufferings . 23 Christs suffered both as a malefactor and as a medaitor at one and the same time . 24. 64. 71. 99 Christ suffered much pain in his mind with the ●hought of his dea●h , long before the time o● his death came . 44. Christ as he was true man stood in need of the ministry of Ang●ls to co●fort him against the fear of d●a●h and against other temp●ations also . 51 There is good reason why Christ did shew more fear of death , then many Martyrs have done . 52 Chirst in the dayes of his flesh did often & earnestly pray to his Fa●h●r to be delivered from his natural fear of dea●h when he came to make his oblation , leas● it should spoil the efficacy of his oblation , and he was heard because of his Godly fear . 54 The Master peice ●f all Ch●ists prayers was to be s●ved from his natural fear of death when h● came to m●ke his oblation . 56 Ch●ist was not forsaken of God in anger ●hen he suffered death upon the crosse . 57 There is much uncertain●y among Divines what to affirm , whether Christ suffered the wrath of God in his soul only , or in his bod● also for our redemption . 73 An examination of Christs sufferings with the to●ments of hell . 78 Hell torments are confined to ●he proper place of hell , therefore none can suffer the torments of hell in this life . 80 Christ did not suffe● the to●ments of hell for our sins , because it is contrary to the r●le of God● justice to punish an ●nnocent with e●ernal dea●h for the ●●ns of others . 81 T When we come to the Lords table , we must by fai●h look more at his mediatorial oblation then at his pa●●ive death . 97 Christ did actually breake his own body in peices , when he by his own power did actually sepera●e his soul from his body , and also he d●d actually pour out his own life bloud , when he by his own power did pour out his soul to death . 102 V Our natural union with Adam must carefully be distinguished from personal unity . 144 And our spiritual union with Christ must carefully be distinguished from personal unity with Christ . 146 2. Our spiritual union with Christ is not compleated till we have faith to apprehend him and hold him . 147 3. Adoption is not communicated to any from the Father until we be spiritu●lly united unto the mediator by faith , but as soon as we are united to the media●or by faith , we are united to his Father as to our Fath●r . 147
ERRATA .

IN page 5 line 13 but is redundant : l. ib . Gen. 2. r . Gen 3. p. 8. l. 2. that , r . thus : l. 34. corruption r . conc●●tion : p. 8 l. 4 unbelieving , r . believing : p. 38. l. 15. with , ● which : p. 40. the . r . this : ● . 57. l. 1. suffer , r . fo●sake : l. 11. expounded , r . pro●osed : p. 60 l. 22. by Christ r to Christ : ● . 63. l. 24. Ps. 1. r Ps. 7. l. 21. r . know not , p. 65. l. 16. ●frer for sin , insert these word● , but Christ was not subject to de●th as it was inflicted by God upon man for sin ; p. 68. l. 19 but , r because ; p. 74. l. 15. Eze . r . Isa p. 77. l. 19. end , r . judgement ; p. 8. l. 3. be , r . see : p. 81. l. 18 insert , as some blind Papists and Protestants do affirm , l. ib . them there , r . the thief ; l. 21 re●koned , r reunited ; p. 75 l 25. ever r . either ; p. 86. l. 14. obligation , r . oblation ; p. 90 l. 36. after death , add as a Mediato● , p. 92. quotat . ult . Heb . r . H. Br. in melch . p 93. l. 26. being , r . spirit , l. 36. every , r . any : p. 99. l. 26. Isa . 12. r . Isa . ●3 12. p. 101. l. 32. add further before evident : p : 10● . l. ●3 . the r . his ; p. 103. l. 27. published , r . promised : p. 106. l. 17. promises , r premises : p. 113. l. 19. one ●ere : l. 30. spiritual● special : p. 115. l 36. both , r . which ; p. 119. l. 38. after atonement , in●ert which makes a sinner sinless or just : p. 123. l. 7. his r . this : p. 124. l. 19. after bis , add de●th : p. 126. l. 10. af●●r him , insert , the true manner ; p. 127 , l. 25. after sense , add only : l. 32. after no , a●d ( saith the Apostle ) 136. l. 29 after must he , add , considered : 137. l. 32. at r . as : p. 141. l. 21. present , r . prosecute ; p. 142. l 29. or , r for ; l. 38 Mediatorial , r . Mediatorially : p. 144. in the margent r uni●●●● union : p. 151 l. 81. ●u● : And therefore the Father doth send the comforter in Christs name . J●hn 14. 26. The Son do●h send the comforter from the Father as the procuring cause of it ; John 1● 26. And thus all the works both of the son for us , and the holy Ghost in us , do pr●ceed efficiently from the fr●e-grace of God the Father , Eph. 1.5 . p. 151. l. 24. comprehended , r . comprehending .

In p. 102. this maginal note is omitted : The cross on w● ch Ch●ist was c●ucified wa n●t the Altar , no more then the Roman Souldiers were the Priests to make his ●oul a Sacrif●ce .

The Meritorious Price of Mans Redemption , Reconciliation , Justification , &c. Cleering it from some common Errors .

And Proving 1. That Christ did not suffer for us those un-utterable Torments of Gods Wrath , which commonly are called Hell-Torments , to redeem our Souls from them . 2. That Christ did not bear our Sins by Gods Imputation , and therefore he did not bear the Curse of the Law for them .

PART I.

The Discourse is acted between a Trades-man , and A Divine .

TRADESMAN .

WEll met Reverend Sir ; I have long desired to see you , that I might confer with you about the Meritorious Price of Mans Redemption , namely , What it was that either Christ did or suffered to satisfie Gods Wrath for Mans Redemption , Reconciliation , &c. for I perceive there is a great difference among Divines about the kind of satisfaction that Christ made to his Father for Mans Redemption ; and it doth not a little trouble me that you should differ in so weighty a point from the most Divines .

Divine ,

If my difference from the most Divines be agreeable to the Scriptures rightly expounded , then I hope there is no just ●ffence given on my part ; neither do I desire any man to believe me further then I bring the Word of God rightly expounded for my Warrant : Therefore I pray you ( with religious Fear and Reverence ) put me to the Tryal , and propound your Objections against me .

Trades .

If I be not mistaken , you hold that Christ did not Redeem us by his sufferings .

Divine ,

This word Suffering is a doubtful term , because you do not explain your meaning ; and therefore before that you and I do proceed any further , we must explain one anothers meaning , for it is needful in all Controversies , that each side should know what each other do grant , and what they hold differing : Therefore in the first place before we proceed any further , I will tell you what I hold touching the meritorious price of our Redemption .

The point in Controversie about Christs Sufferings , stated . First , I hold that Jesus Christ our Mediator did pay the full price of our Redemption to his Father by the merit of his Mediatorial Obedience , which ( according to Gods determinate Counsel ) was tryed through sufferings , inflicted upon his body as upon a Malefactor , by Sathan and his Instruments .

I put as much weight , virtue , and efficacy in Christs Mediatorial Obedience so tryed , as they do that plead most for our Redemption by his suffering of Gods wrath for us .

They place the price of our Redemption in his suffering of Gods wrath for us in full weight and measure , as it is due to our sins by the curse of the Law .

I place the price of our Redemption in the merit of his Mediatorial Obedience , whereof his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement was the Master-piece .

I agree with others in this , that Divine wrath is fully satisfied for the sins of all the Elect by the merit of Christs Mediatorial Obedience : I differ from others in this , namely , in the manner of his satisfaction .

I say , That Christ did not satisfie Gods wrath for our sins by suffering the extremity of his Wrath , neither did he suffer the torments of hell neither in his body , nor in his soul , nor any degree of Gods wrath at all .

Secondly , Though I say that Christ did not suffer his Fathers Wrath , neither in whole , nor in part , yet I affirm that he suffered all things that his Father did appoint him to suffer , in all circumstances , just according to the predictions of all the Prophets , even to the nodding of the head , and the spitting in the face , as these Scriptures do testifie .

1. Peter told the Jews , That they had killed the Prince of Life , as God before had shewed by the mouth of all his Prophets ; That Christ should suffer , and he fulfilled it : So Acts. 3.17 , 18.

2. Christ did expresly tell his Disciples , That he must go to Jerusalem , and suffer many things of the Elders , and chief Priests , and Scribes , and be killed , and raised again the third day , Mat . 16.21 .

3. After his Resurrection , he said to the two Disciples , O Fools , and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken ; ought not Christ to have suffered these things , and to enter in his Glory ? Luke 24.25 , 26. and in verse 44 , and 46 , he said thus to all his Disciples ; These are the words which I spake unto you , That all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law of Moses , in the Prophets , and in the Psalms concerning me : Thus it is written , and thus it behoved Christ to suffer , and to rise again from the dead on the third day .

4. Paul told the men of Antioch , That the Rulers of the Jews condemned him , because they knew not the voices of the Prophets concerning him ; and therefore , though they found no cause of death in him , they desired Pilate that he should be slain : and when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him , they took him down from the Tree , and laid him in a Sepulcher : Acts 13.27 , 28 , 29. Mark the phrase , They fulfilled All things that were written of him : If they fulfilled all his sufferings , then it was not Gods wrath , but mans wrath that he suffered .

5. The Lord told Adam , not only that the Promised Seed should break the Divels Head-plot , but also that the Divel should crucifie him , and pierce him in the Foot-soals ; Gen. 3.15 . The Divel did it by his Instruments , the Scribes and Pharises , by Pilate , and the Roman Souldiers .

●rom all these Scriptures , I hold it necessary that Christ should suffer all things that were written of him , for the Tr●al of his Mediatorial Obedience ; but yet I say also , that no Prophet did ever speak any thing that Christ should suffer the Wrath of God ; that is an addition from Mans Brain .

Therefore those Divin●s must needs speak erroneously , that affirm that Christ did suffer the Wrath of God , as it is due to our sins , the Curse of the Law , the Torments of Hell , the pains of the Damned , the second Death , and many such like , to redeem us from them .

These terms I reject , as not agreeable to the Divine Melody of the holy Scriptures .

Thus I have briefly told you what I affirm , and what I deny ; now therefore I pray you to produce your Arguments and Objections against me : I desire to see how you can prove that Christ did suffer the Wrath of God for our Redemption .

Trades .

I will fetch my first Proof from the immutability of the first Curse annexed to the breach of the first Law of Prohibition : The Law of Prohibition runs thus , Of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil , thou shalt not eat . The Curse annexed follows ,

Gen. 2.17 . In Gen. 2.17 . In the day thou eatest thereof , thou shalt dy the death . This is a Definitive sentence , and it is doubled in the Hebrew for certainty sake ; In dying , thou shalt dy : That is to say , Thou shalt certainly dy the death , even death Eternal in hell , unless thy Redeemer do suffer the said Curse for thee , to redeem thee from it .

Divine ,

I pray you shew me how you do gather from this Text that our Redeemer was necessitated to suffer this Curse to Redeem fallen man from it : Let me see how you can infer your Argument to prove it .

Trades .

My Argument lies thus ; In the day thou eatest thereof , in dying , thou shalt dy ; that is to say , Thou Adam , in thine own Person , and Thou in thy Posterity , or else Thou in thy Redeemer , there is no escaping from this definitive cursed Death ; If Adam did but once eat of the Forbidden Fruit , either he must dy eternally , or else his Redeemer must suffer the said cursed death in his steed .

Divine ,

Your Exposition of this Text is true in part , but in part I dislike it ; You say well that the term Thou , is thou in thine own Person , and thou in thy Posterity ; thus far I approve of your exposition : But whereas you extend the term Thou unto the Redeemer , this last clause I dislike , for the Death and Curse here threatned , cannot extend it self unto the Redeemer in the manner of his working out our Redemption .

This Text doth not comprehend Jesus Christ within the compass of it : for 1. This Text is a part of that Covenant only that God made with Adam and his Posterity ; respecting the keeping or losing of that happiness which they had by Creation . This Text doth not comprehend wi●hin the compasse of it any part of that Covevant which God made with the Mediator , respecting mans Redemption : they are two differing Covenants , and both of them cannot be contained within the compasse of this Text . Any man may say from this Text , That God doth herein declare unto Adam the rule of his justice upon him and his posterity , in case he disobeyed , by ea●ing the forbidden fruit , they must certainly dy the death . But none can truly gather from this Text , what was the rule of his justice and mercy in mans Redemption by Christ : this must be fetched from some other Scriptures : but either from Gen. 2.15 . or from the like Scriptures ● this Text in Gen. 2.17 . doth not tell us that Christ should redeem us , in the day that Adam should dy : the Redeemer , and the way of Redemption , was wholy hid from Adam for that present .

Secondly , If the death here threatned do concern Adam only and his posterity , ( with whom the Covenant for life or death was made , in case he did eat of the forbidden fruit ) then it cannot respect Christ , because he is not to be held as one of the fallen sons of Adams posteritie ; for he was conceived by the Holy Ghost , and not by natural generation , as all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam are : therefore the Mediator cannot be included within this death here threatned to fallen Adam .

Thirdly , God laid down this rule of his justice to Adam , in the time of his innocency , before he had any need of the knowledge of the Mediator : therefore why should the Mediator be comprehended within this term Thou , or any thing of mans Redemption by Christ .

Fourthly , The nature of the cursed death here threatned , is such , that it is altogether unpossible that the Mediator could suffer it for our Redemption , and therefore the Mediator cannot possibly be included within this word [ Thou ] in this Text ?

Trades .

If you can make it appear by good consequence , that the Mediator could not suffer that kind of cursed death that is here threatned in this Text , then I shall easily acknowledge that my interpretation is not sound : therefore I pray you let me hear your Reason why it was not possible for the Mediator to suffer the said cursed death for our Redemption .

Divine .

For your better understanding of the true nature of that death that is here threatned , I will observe two things ,

First , I will explain unto you what kind of cursed death it is , that of necessity must primarily be meant in this Text .

Secondly , I will branch out this cursed death in all the consequences of it ; and then I will apply all to Christ : by which application you may the better be able to discern whether Christ could suffer the cursed death that is meant in Gen. 2.17 . or No.

First , I will explain unto you the particular kind of cursed death that God threatned to fall upon Adam , as soon as he had eaten the forbidden fruit ; and that must be understood of a Spiritual death principally ; for the curse runs thus , In the day thou eatest thereof , thou shalt dy the death . That is to say in the very self same natural day , in which thou dost eat of the forbidden fruit , in dying thou shalt dy : and what death else can it be that fell upon Adam in the very same natural day in which he eat the forbidden fruit , but a Spiritual death ? it cannot be understood of the death of Adams body , for his body lived nine hundred and thirty years after this day , Gen. 5.5 . besides , the death of Adams body was threatned to fall upon him after this day , ( in Gen. 3.19 . ) either as another distinct curse , or else as a branch of the former death which might be repented after his fall .

Secondly , Neither can the death here threatned be understood primarily of eternal death in Hell , as you would have it ; for that death cannot fal upon any man til after this life is ended : that death doth not agree to the circumstance of time expressed in the Text .

The cursed death that fell upon Adam for his disobedient eating , must be understood primarily of the spiritual death of his pure nature , in corrupt and sinful qualities . Thirdly , Therefore it follows , that the kind of death that was threatned to fall upon Adam in the very self same natural day in which he did eat the forbidden fruit , must be understood primarily of a Spiritual death , or of the death of his pure nature in corruption and sin .

At the first , Adam was created after Gods image , Gen. 1.27 . full of natural puritie and uprightness , Ephes . 4.24 . which would have kept his body alive and in Gods favour for ever , if he had not eaten of the forbidden fruit ; but as soon as ever he had but eaten of the forbidden fruit , he became dead in corruption and sin , Ephes . 2.2 . and then it might be said of Adam in the day of his eating , as it was said of the Church of Sardis , Thou hast a Name that thou livest , but thou art dead , Rev. 3.1 . Adam was still alive corporally , but he was dead spiritually .

Mr Calvine in Gen. 2.17 . demandeth what kind of death it was that God threatned to fall upon Adam in this Text : he answereth to this purpose : It seemeth to me ( saith he ) that we must fetch the definition thereof from the contrary : Consider ( saith he ) from what life Adam fell ; At the first ( saith he ) he was created in every part of his body and soul with pure qualities , after the image of God : therefore on the contrary ( saith he ) by dying the death , is meant , that he should be emptied of all the image of God , and possessed with corrupt qualities , as soon as ever he did but eat of the forbidden fruit .

So then , by the judgement of Mr Calvin , the death that fell upon Adam , in the day of his disobedient eating , must be understood of the spiritual death of Adams pure nature in corrupt and sinful qualities : and none of Adams posteritie that are begotten by natural generation can be exempted from this spiritual death , no not the very Elect , they are dead in corruption and sin , as well the Reprobates , as soon as ever they have life in the Womb .

And it is further evident by certain other circumstances that did befall Adam in the day of his transgression , that the kind of death which was threatned to fall upon Adam in the very day of his disobedient eating must needs be understood of a spiritual death primarily .

1. He was ashamed . 2. He was afraid . And 3. He did hide himself from Gods presence , Gen. 3.7 , 8 , 9 , 10.

First , He was ashamed . Because he was now stripped naked of Gods image , for he was now deprived of his pure qualities which he had by Creation , and instead thereof he was now possessed with other shameful and corrupt qualities , both in his body and in his soul .

Secondly , He was afraid of Gods wrath , for now the terrors of a guilty conscience fell upon him , for his sinful eating .

Thirdly , He did now hide himself from God , because he did now find himself to be out of Gods favour , until it pleased God of his free grace to renew his favour towards him , by the free promise of a mediator , to break the Devils head-plot by his mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement , thereby procuring Gods Atonement .

For as by one man sin entered into the world , ( namely the mother-sin , by Adams sinful eating ) and death by sin , So ( a spiritual ) death passed over all men , in whom ( that is to say , in whose loyns all men have sinned , Rom. 5.12 . and that Adam by his one sin in eating the forbidden fruit , procured not only his own spiritual death ; but also he did thereby procure an Hereditary sinful nature to all his posterity , and that corruption of our nature is now called The Law of death , and the body of death , Rom. 7.23 , 24. because it fell upon Adam and his posteritie for his transgressing of the first law of prohibition , by his bodily eating of the forbidden fruit : and in this respect also the Apostles are said to preach to the dead in sin , 1 Pet . 4.6 . Col. 2.13 .

So then , from all the premises I may well conclude , that the kind of death which God threatned to execute upon Adam in the very day of his sinful eating , was a spiritual death , or it may be called the death of his pure nature in corruption and sin ; and this Spiritual death may well be called The first death , or the original death , because it was the original cause of all other deaths and curses whatsoever ; and truly unlesse we can get into the Mediator by Faith , before our souls be separated from our bodies , this first death will bring us unto the second death at last .

This exposition of Gen. 2.17 . I conceive to be full , fair and clear : Secondly , I come now in the next place ( according to my promise ) to apply this cursed Spiritual death together , with all other cursed deaths unto Christ , that so you may thereby the better see whether it be not altogether unpossible for our Mediator to suffer the said Curses of the Law in our stead for our Redemption there-from or no .

First , Did Christ suffer the curse of the first spiritual death that was threatned to Adam , for hi● sinful eating of the forbidden fruit ; then truly he was dead in corruption and sin , as Adam and all his posterity were ? This is a blasphemous inference , ( and yet you cannot avoid it by the common doctrine of imputation ) but the Holy Scriptures do often testifie that Christ was pure in nature , and without the least tincture of sin , either in his corruption or life . He was conceived by the Holy Ghost , without sin , Luk . 1.35 . and all his life long , there was no sin found in him , 1 Pet . 2.22 , 23. Heb . 4.15 . Ioh . 8.46 . therefore seeing he was altogether sinless● , both in nature and life , it was altogether unpossible for him to suffer that kind of cursed death that was threatned to fall upon Adam in the day of his sinful eating ; and therefore it follows by necessary consequence , that he not did redeem us from that cursed death , by suffering that cursed death in our stead . 2. Hence it follows also by necessary consequence , that God the Father hath found out some other way where by he takes satisfaction for the sins of all the Elect , and not by inflicting this cursed spiritual death upon our Mediator for our Redemption .

Secondly , If there be good and necessary Reason ( as there is ) to exempt our Mediator from suffering the first cursed Spiritual death : Then there is as good reason to exempt him also from suffering any other curse of the Law whatsoever .

Examine the Particulars .

First , Consider the first degree of our bodily death , and that is Diseases , and deadly dangers , which God doth usually inflict upon the fallen sons of Adam , for sin : Did Christ bear these diseases and bodily infirmities , upon his own body , to redeem us from them ? By the common Doctrine of Imputation you must affirm it ; and yet many absurd consequences will follow , if it be affirmed , as plain experience doth shew us : for when Christ healed all that were sick of sundry kinds of infirmities , he did not take their diseases , and lay them upon his own body ; he did not take the leprosie from the Lepers , and lay it upon his own Body : he did not take the unclean spirits from them that were possessed , and put them into his own Body ; but he bare them ; that is to say , he bare them away from the sick , by the power of his Godhead , as I have expounded , Esai 53.4 . and Mat . 8.17 .

Secondly , Another curse of the Law which all the fallen sons of Adam do ly under , is Death natural . Now consider , Whether did Christ suffer this bodily death in our stead , to redeem our bodies or No ? I say No , it is a grosse conceit to think so : and though the Apostle doth say , that God appointed Christ to dy once , as he appointed all men once to dy , The death of Christ was of a far differing nature from the death of all the fallen Sons of Adam . Heb . 9.27 , 28. yet the Apostle doth not mean that God appointed Christ to dy such a kind of natural death as he hath appointed to all the fallen sons of Adam : there is a wide difference : for God hath appointed all the fallen sons of Adam , to dy once , by the justice of that curse that was laid upon Adam for sin ; so that they cannot by their natural power withstand it : But the death of Christ was not inflicted upon him by the justice of that curse , as I have opened the matter in Psal . 22.15 . because he dyed not as a fallen son of Adam , but voluntarily as a Mediator , for he had a power in nature to withstand it , and therefore his death was not a forced passive death , but a voluntary Mediatorial death , according to his own voluntary Covenant with his Father , for Mans Redemption . I grant notwithstanding , that Christ was a Patient aswell as an Agent , in his death ; because he suffered many wounds in his Body , from the violence of Tyrants , by means whereof he shed much blood ; but yet for all that he dyed not of those wounds , I mean his Soul was not separated from his Body by the violence of those wounds , as the Souls of the two Theeves were that were crucified with him : for our Saviour before his sufferings told his Disciples That no man could take away his life from him , till himself pleased to lay it down , by his own will , desire and power , according as he had covenanted with his Father . Ioh . 10.17 , 18.

And it is farther evident , that the manner of Christs death was far differing from that kind of natural death that God hath inflicted as a curse upon all the fallen sons of Adam , because none of the fallen Sons of Adam have any power in nature to withstand the power of death ; much lesse have they any power in nature to raise up their dead bodies again after death : But our blessed Mediator had a power in himself , not only to lay down his life when he pleased ; but he had a power also in himself to take it up again , when he pleased , Ioh . 10.18 . Therefore I may well conclude , that the death of Christ was far different from the death of all the fallen sons of Adam ; and therefore he did not redeem us from the curse of our bodily death , by bearing it in our stead .

Thirdly , There is another curse annexed to the death of our bodies , and that is the putrifaction of our bodies after death , Gen. 3.19 . Dust thou art , and to dust thou shalt return : this Text implies both the death of the body by sicknesse , and the putrifaction of the body also after death . The body of Christ after death could not see corruption in his grave , because his Godhead did still reside both in his dead body , and in his departed Soul . Now examine whether Christ did redeem us from this particular curse by bearing it in our stead ? The Apostle denies it in plain words , saying , Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy one to see corruption . Act. 2.27 . in this Text there is a reason given , why the body of Christ could not see corruption , after his Soul was separated from it ; namely , because it was the Holy Habitation of his Godhead ; but our sinful bodies after the Soul is departed , are but a corrupt masse of putrified earth ; and therefore immediately after our Souls are departed , our bodies begin to purge and putrifie ; but the body of Christ had his Divine nature in it , when his Soul was separated from it : for his body had its subsistance , not only from his Soul ( as our sinful bodies have from our Souls ) but from his Godhead also : yea not only his dead body , but his Soul also , after it was separated from his body , had their subsistance and dependance on his Godhead , by vertue of personal union . Col. 2.9 . Yea his Godhead did still reside substantially or essentially in his dead body , when it was in his grave , as well as in his Soul , when it was in Paradise .

Therefore I may well conclude , that it was not possible for the Mediator to suffer this cursed p●ece of death for us , without destroying his personal union : for if his body had seen corruption , it could not have been called the Holy one of God , that could see no corruption .

Fourthly , There is yet another cursed death , which all the fallen sons of Adam are subject to by nature , and that is death eternal ; this Death is the wages of Sin , as well as the rest , Rom. 6.26 . and this death is called the second death , because it is never executed upon any , till after this life is ended , Rev. 2.11 . Rev. 20.6 . Now examine , whether did Christ redeem us from this cursed death , by suffering the same for us , or No ? I say No : and my Reasons are these ,

First , If he had redeemed us from this cursed death , by suffering the same for us ; then by the same reason he must have suffered all the other curses of the Law , to redeem us from them , as well as from this cursed death : but I have shewed an utter impossibility for that , immediately before .

Secondly , If Christ hath redeemed us from death eternal , by suffering the said death for us , then he did descend locally into the very place of Hell it self , to suffer it there ; for no man can suffer death eternal in this life : no man can suffer the second death till after this life is ended . All the deaths that the fallen sons of Adam do suffer in this life , being put together , may be called the first death , because they are inflicted upon mens souls and bodies in this life ; but death eternal is not inflicted upon mens souls and bodies till after this life is ended ; and therefore it is fitly called the second death : and therefore our Saviour could not suffer it while he was alive , neither in the Garden , nor upon the Crosse .

Trades .

I confesse , as you have opened the first cursed death , in Gen. 2.17 . both in the root and in the branches thereof , I dare not maintain what I have formerly affirmed : and yet I am not satisfied in the point in question : Therefore I pray give me leave to alledge the Reasons and Arguments which I find cited by sundry learned men , to prove that Christ did redeem us by suffering the curse of the Law for us .

Learned Divines affirm that Christ hath born the curse of the Law two manner of ways , for our Redemption .

First , ( say they ) He bare the guilt of our sins , both original and actual , by Gods imputation .

Secondly , They say also , that he bare the wrath of God in due proportion to the curse of the Law , not by imputation only , but really in our stead , for our freedom and redemption therefrom . And these assertions they prove from several Scriptures , and especially from Gods definitive sentence , in Gen. 2.17 .

Divine .

I pray let me see how you can infer from Gen. 2.17 . that Christ did bear Adams sin by imputation ; and his cursed death really : and before you go about to make your inference , consider advisedly , 1. What Adams sin was . And 2. What was the true nature of that cursed death that was inflicted upon him for his sin , and then I beleeve you will soon see into what grosse absurdities the common doctrine of Imputation will lead you .

First , I say , Consider Adams sin , what it was , and you will find it to be his disobedient eating of the forbidden fruit , contrary to Gods expresse prohibition , in Gen. 2.17 .

Secondly , Consider also what was the true nature of that cursed death that was inflicted upon Adam for his sinfull eating , and that was the present Spiritual death of his pure nature , in corruption and sin ; if so , then you may well tremble at the inference : for if Christ bare Adams sin , by Gods imputation and his curse really , then you make Christ to bear his Spiritual curse , and then you make him to be dead in corruption and sin , and then he had more need to get a Mediator to save him , then to be a Mediator to save others . Such wofull inferences as this will often follow upon the common Doctrine of Imputation .

Trades .

It is strange to me that you should deny the common received Doctrine of Imputation : I pray let me see what other grounds you have against it , besides the former inference .

Divine .

I have divers other Reasons against it , and I suppose more then I can think on at this time . First , Consider the true force of the word impute , in the natural signification thereof , 1. God cannot in Iustice impute our sins to our innocent Saviour and then I beleeve you will acknowledge that it cannot stand with the justice of God to impute our sins to our innocent Saviour . For ,

To impute sin to any , is to account them for guilty sinners : and to impute the guilt of other mens sins to any , is to account them guilty of other mens sins by participation : but in case there be no participation with other men in their sins , then it cannot stand with justice to impute other mens sins to them . Shimei said thus unto David , Let not my Lord impute iniquitie unto me , neither remember that I did perversly . 2 Sam . 19.19 . By this speech of Shimei it is evident , that to impute sin to any , is to charge them with sin , and to remember it , and to reckon it up against them : but many times men do unjustly impute sin to others , either upon bare surmises , or out of a malicious intent against them : but God is the righteous Judge of all the world , therefore he cannot chuse but do right , when he doth impute sin to any , Gen. 18. Rom. 3.4 . We are sure ( saith the Apostle ) that the judgement of God is according to Truth . Rom. 2.2 . He doth never impute sin to any , but according to the exact rule of Justice , reckoning up and remembring both the number and the nature of every sin : if he impute blood to any , he doth it upon certain grounds of knowledge and truth ; therefore that man shall certainly be cut off , Lev . 17.4 .

Secondly , Not to impute sin to any , is to acquit them from the guilt of Sin , as Shimeis speech to David doth declare , Let not my Lord ( saith he ) impute iniquitie to me , neither remember that I did perversly . By this speech he intreated David to forgive his sin , and to blot it out of his remembrance , and so consequently to make him sinlesse , by his Atonement and forgivenesse : and so David doth also explain the matter , saying , Blessed is the man to whom the Lord doth not impute sin . Rom. 4.8 . His meaning in the affirmative must needs ly thus , Blessed is the man with whom God the Father is reconciled by his merciful pardon and forgivenesse . And thus the Apostle doth also explain the matter , saying , God was in Christ , reconciling the World to himself ( or making Atonement between the World and himself ) not imputing their sins to them . 2 Cor . 5.19 .

Therefore it follows by necessary consequence , that seeing to impute sin to any , is to make them guilty of sin , God cannot in justice impute our sins to our innocent Saviour , and if he should so do he should be as unjust as the Jews were .

● . Christ could not have bin the immaculate Lamb of God , if he had born the guilt of our sins by Gods impu●ation . Secondly , If our Mediator had stood as a guilty sinner before God , by his imputing of our sins to him , then he could not have been a fit person in Gods esteem to do the office of a Mediator for our Redemption : who will accept of such a Mediator as he doth account to be vild , by the imputation of sin ? Ddoubtlesse if God had but once imputed our sins to Christ , he could not have accepted him as the immaculate Lamb of God , but he would have esteemed him as a Lamb full of blemishes , and then Satan would have found somewhat against him , and have accused him to God , as an unfit person to do the office of a Mediator : but our Saviour doth testifie that Satan could not find any thing against him : and his Father did testifie that he was his welbeloved Son , in whom he was well pleased . Therefore it follows by good consequence , that Christ did not stand as a guilty sinn●r before God , by his imputing of our sins to him : and therefore it doth also follow by as good consequence , that God could not in justice inflict the curse of the Law upon him for our Redemption .

3. God doth still impute our sins to Christ in Heaven , as much as ever he did when he was alive upon the Earth . Thirdly , I will hereafter shew you when I come to open the Type of the two goats , in Lev . 16. that you may with as good reason affirm that God the Father doth still impute our sins to Christ now he sits at the right hand of God in glory , as affirm that he did impute our sins to him , when he was alive here upon the earth : the one follows from as good consequence from the common Doctrine of Imputation , as the other .

4. The Father doth impute our sins to himself , as much as ever he did impute them to Christ . Fourthly , I will also hereafter shew you in opening the Hebrew phrase , in Psal . 25.18 . and in Psal . 32.1 . that the Father doth lay all our sins upon himself , by imputation , as much as ever he did lay them upon Christ by imputation : but he doth not lay our sins upon himself by imputation , therefore not upon Christ by imputation .

Fifthly , I will also hereafter shew you in opening the Hebrew phrase in Esai . 53.10 . that Christ did make his own Soul a trespasse or a guilt , by imputing all our Trespasses to himself , 5. Christ did impute all our sins to himself , as much as ever the Father did . as much as ever the Father made him a Trespasse , by imputing all our trespasses to him : and that Christ made himself sin , as much as ever the Father made him sin : for he finished trespasse , and ended sin , Dan. 9.24 .

Sixthly , The common Doctrine of imputation , is I know not what kind of imputation ; it is such a strange kind of imputation that it differs from all the several sorts of imputing sin to any that ever I can meet with all in all the Scripture , and therefore it may well be suspected to be but a device of Satan , to darken the truth of the most needful doctrine of a Sinners justification .

First , I find that man doth impute sin to man , sometimes justly , 6. Gods imputing of sin to an innocent is an unparalleld kind of imputation , and therefore it may well be suspected to be but a humain invention . and sometimes unjustly ; but alwaies with an intent to make such persons to be guilty of sin . See 1 Sam . 22.15 .

Secondly , The Jews and Romans did impute sin to Christ , upon pretended grounds of guiltinesse , and thereupon they did punish him really , as a guilty malefactor .

Thirdly , God doth impute sin to man , but he doth ever do it upon certain grounds of guiltinesse : I cannot find that ever God did impute sin to an innocent ; such a Tenent hath been gathered from certain figurative expressions of Scripture , by some Godly learned , but upon due search , I find they are deceaved , and many other Godly persons have been deceaved by them , because they have taken such expositions upon trust from them : But it is more agreeable to the mind of God that every Godly Christian should with their own eys search into the true scope of those figurative expressions : It is the duty of every wise Christian to search out the mistical sense of such like phrases , as well as the literal ; then they might soon have seen how such phrases have been wrested , to maintain an old received Error , which God never intended , by such figurative expressions . If those figurative phrases had been well understood at the first , doubtlesse the doctrine of Gods imputing our sins to Christ had never been broached . Take heed therefore how you do father such a kind of imputation upon God the Father , towards the Mediator , as he never exercised towards any other man , lest he impute sin to you for it .

Trades .

I confesse , I cannot for the present object any further against your interpretation of the Original Curse , in Gen. 2.17 . and yet I am not satisfied in the point in question : Therefore I will propound another Scripture to your consideration , to prove that Christ bare our sins by imputation , and our punishments really ; as it is received and interpreted by a learned Divine .

See M. Iacob , in his Treatise of Christs sufferings . In Esai 53.4 . He bare our iniquities , and sustained our sorrows . He saith not only , that he sustained Sorrows , but [ our ] Sorrows : yea the Text hath it more significantly [ our very ] Sorrows ; or our Sorrows themselves ; that is to say , those very Sorrows that else we should have born .

Divine ,

I do much wonder at the learned Author , that he should so grosly mistake the true scope of this Text , seeing the Evangelist Matthew hath so fully expounded it to his hand , in a quite contrary sense ; and his exposition is beyond all exception .

The term of Bearing sin and sorrows , hath divers senses in Scripture . The coherence of Matthew in opening this place of Esai , lies thus : After that Iesus had cured Peters wives mother of her Fever , Mat . 8.14 . then in vers . 17. they brought unto him many that were possessed with Devils ; and he cast out the spirits with his Word ; and healed all that were sick : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the Prophet : He took our infirmities , and bare our sicknesses . Christ bare our iniquities when he bare away our diseases by his divine Power . But here it may be considered how Christ did bear our infirmities and sicknesses ; whether did he take them from the sick , and lay them upon his own body , or how did he bear them ? The answer is , that he did not bear them from the sick , as a Porter bears a burden , by laying them upon his own body , but he bare them away from the sick , by his divine Power , in curing their infirmities . And this action of Christ is alledged by Matthew , as a proof of the Divine nature , dwelling in the humain nature of Christ : for in asmuch as he was able to bear away their sorrows and diseases by a word speaking , M. Iacob was much to be blamed , that translated 〈◇〉 iniquities , which signifies no more than morbus infirmitas , to maintain a groundless fancy of his own head , that Christ bare our iniquities by imputation . which no other man was able to do , it did evidently prove that he had a Divine nature dwelling in his humain nature .

Therefore though your Author make such a great florish about the signification of the Hebrew word , as if he saw further into the meaning of it than the Evangelist Matthew did , affirming that Christ bare our iniquities by imputation , and our sorrows ( namely Hell sorrows ) * really , yet it is evident that he doth grosly mistake the meaning of the Ho y Ghost , if Matthews exposition be of any credit ; yea he doth grosly mistake the meaning of the word Iniquities , and of the word Sorrows , and of the word Bearing .

Trades .

Sir , in my apprehensions Matthew doth not undertake to expound the full meaning of Esay , for E●ay makes mention of iniquities , as well as of sorrows ; but Matthew makes no mention that Christ bare our iniquities ; therefore it may still be concluded from Esay , that Christ bare our iniquities by Gods imputation : if so , then he must of necessity bear our sorrows , namely the wrath of God , as it is due to our iniquities , for our redemption there-from .

Divine .

Although your Author doth translate the Hebrew word in Esay , by the word Iniquities , yet the Holy Ghost by the Evangelist Matthew doth translate it Infirmities ; and sundry other learned men do also translate it Infirmities , Maladies , Diseases , &c. But what need is there to alledge the testimony of learned Translators , seeing the Holy Ghost in Matthew doth so translate it to our hands : and truly me thinks your Author should not be more learned than the Holy Ghost .

I grant notwithstanding , that the word in Esay , doth signifie Iniquities , as your Author doth translate it ; but yet the sense of the word must not be wrested , to maintain the common doctrine of Imputation , as your Author doth intend it : but in this place the word Iniquities must be taken figuratively , for the punishment of our Iniquities , by infirmities and sicknesses ; and so Matthew doth expresse the meaning to be : and so Iob doth open the Hebrew word to mean , Iob . 5.6 . Iohn 5.14 . Christ bare our iniquities when he bare our infirmities and sicknesses which God had inflicted upon many pe●sons for their iniquities , but yet he did not take the leprosie from the lepers , and bear it upon his own body , as a Porter bears a burden ; but he bare it away from the sick , by the power of his Godhead : and thus Christ bare our iniquities , according to the true meaning of Esay and Matthew , compared together .

Trades .

Sir it seemeth strange to me that you should make Esay to speak nothing at all , neither of Christ bearing our iniquites by Gods imputation , nor of his bearing our sorrows , from the wrath of God really ; seeing it is not my Author alone , but sundry other learned Divines , that do so expound this Text . But I desire you for my better satisfaction , to make your exposition good from the coherence .

Divine .

I will endeavour to satisfie your desire : The coherence of this Text must be fetched from chap. 52.13 . as Tremelius doth well observe : There the Prophet speaks of the most excellent service of the Mediator , which he should most wisely and prudently accomplish for our Redemption : then in chap. 53. he begins to tell us , that the knowledge thereof shall be published abroad in the world , by the report of the Gospel : but in vers . 1. the Prophet breaks out into admiration , at the strange unbeleef of most of the Jews that would not imbrace the report of this glad tydings : and thereupon the Prophet doth enquire into the reason of their unbeleef : and the first reason was , because they held the person of the mediator to be but basely descended , verse 1.2 . they held him to be no better than a bare and base man ; without any such form or beauty as they expected should be in their Messiah : for they expected that their Messiah should come among them , like a glorious conquering King ; and therefore because his birth , breeding , and parentage , was so poor and obscure , they despised him as a poor shoot from a dry decayed stock : and in this respect the Jews said in scorn , Is not this the Carpenter ? Mark 6.3 . and Is not this the Carpenters Son ? Mat . 13.55 . and in scorn they said , that they knew not whence he was ; Iohn 9.24 . and in scorn they asked him where he had his Learning ? Iohn 7.15 . In these and such like respects , they were ashamed to acknowledge him to be their Messiah ; and therefore they refused to beleeve on him , Iohn . 12.37 .

But the truth is , if their eys had been in their heads , they might have seen that he was descended of the right Kingly line of David , and that he was the next apparent heir to the Crown , if Tyrants had given him his right , according to the common Law of Nations , as it is evident by his Genealogy from Ioseph his reputed Father , in Mat . 1. and by his mother Maries Genealogie , in Luke 3. But at this time his parents durst not openly manifest their Kingly right , for fear of Tyrants , they kept their descent only in private records , for the latter part of their Genealogie , in Matth . 1. and in Luk . 3. is not cited from the publick Scripture Records , as the first part is : and in this regard Christs parents might well say to their faithful friends and kindreds , as it is said in Esai 3.7 . Make me no Prince of the People , for there is no bread nor clothing in my house : for now ●he Tabernacle or Family of David was fallen into decay , as Amos foretold it should ( Amos 9.11 . ) Therefore seeing there was no outward form of Kingly Majesty in him , ( as they expected should be in their Messiah ) they set him at naught .

And therefore it was now high time for the Prophet to shew forth the true worth and dignity of his person , in this fourth verse ; not from his Kingly descent , from Davids loyns , but from the dignitie of his Godhead , which he did cleerly manifest unto them , by bearing away their infirmities from them , which God had inflicted on them for their iniquities . So then , the first part of this verse , ( I mean so much as you have cited ) speaks nothing at all of the sufferings of Christ ; much lesse of his sufferings from Gods wrath . But yet the latter part of this fourth verse doth speak of the sufferings of Christ , though nothing at all of his sufferings from Gods wrath for our sins . The last clause of this fourth verse runs thus , yet we esteemed him stricken , smitten of God , and afflicted . That is to say , though the glory of his Godhead did shine in our eys , by his miraculous cures , yet we in our posteritie , ( the Scribes and Pharisees ) did esteem him no better than a grosse Impostor , and therefore we put him to death , as a vild malefactor ; and then we judged him to be smitten and stricken of God , for his deserved faults . And this interpretation is further confirmed by the next verse .

Trades .

I must needs acknowledge that you have given me good satisfaction in the interpretation of this fourth verse : but yet I am not satisfied in the point in question : therefore I will propound the next verse also , to your consideration . The text runs thus , in Esa . 53.5 . He was wounded for our transgressions , He was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and by his stripes we are healed .

From this Text sundry learned Divines do conclude , that Christ was wounded and bruised with the wrath of God , for our sins .

Divine .

These words ( I confesse ) do plainly prove , that Christ did bear divers wounds , bruises , and stripes , for our peace and healing ; but yet the text doth not say that he bare these wounds , bruises and stripes , from Gods wrath , for our sins , as you would have it .

But for your better understanding of the true scope and drift of this Text , I will propound and answer three questions .

1. Who did wound him , and bruise him ? 2. Where did he bear those wounds , bruises and stripes ? 3. For what end was he wounded ?

1. To the first question , who did wound him , bruise him , and stripe him ? The answer is , It was Satan , by his instruments , according to Gods prediction , in Gen. 3.15 . Thou shalt pierce him in the footsoals : that is to say , Thou Satan shalt put the promised seed to death as a wicked malefactor , by thy instruments , the Scribes , Pharisees , and the Roman Souldiers : thou shalt pierce his hands and feet , by nailing them to the Crosse , Act. 4.27 , 28. All this was done according to the determinate councel of God , and in that respect God may be said to wound him ; but yet God did not wound him as an angry judge , for our sins , as you would have it ; but for the tryal of his Mediatorial obedience ; and therefore he is said to learn obedience by the things that he suffered . Heb . 5.8 .

2. The second question is this , Where did Christ bear these wounds , bruises , and stripes , whether in his body , or in his Soul , or in both ?

The answer is , that he bare them in his body only , and not in his Soul : his Soul was not capable of bearing wounds , bruises , and stripes : Satan could not wound his Soul , but yet he did wound his body , by stirring up the wicked Jews and Romans to wound , bruise and stripe him in his Body : and this Paul affirmeth , saying , That the Iews fulfilled all his sufferings , just as it was foretold by all the Prophets . Act. 13.27.29 . if so , then the wounds , bruises and stripes here spoken of , cannot be understood of inward wounds , bruises and stripes , from Gods wrath , for our sins : as you would have it .

Secondly , Peter doth teach us to expound this Text , of Christs Bodily sufferings only : His words run thus , He bare our sins in his body on the Tree : ( 1 Pet . 2.24 . ) That is to say , He bare our punishments , ( for such punishments after the Hebrew phrase are called Sin , ) when he suffered as a sinful malefactor , upon the Tree . If Peters phrase ( he bare our sins in his Body , on the Tree , ) had meant any thing of his bearing our sins , by Gods imputation , or of his bearing of Gods wrath for our sins ; as you would have it ; then truly his case of sufferings had not been a sit example to have been applyed to the case of those beleeving servants , that suffered unjust bodily punishments , from their cruel Heathen Masters : the Apostle doth exhort those beleeving Servants to patient suffering , from the example of Christ , who did no sin , neither was there any guile found in his mouth : and when he suffered , he threatned not , but committed his case to him that judgeth righteously . Why did Christ commit his case to him that judgeth righteously ? surely , because he suffered unjustly from the hands of wicked men , if he had suffered the wrath of God for our sins ; this appeal to God for justice against himself had not bin sutable .

Therefore by the judgement of the Apostle Peter , the wounds , bruises , and stripes , which Christ suffered , were not inflicted upon his Soul , from Gods wrath , for our sins ; but upon his body only from the unjust wrath of Satan and his instruments .

The third question is this : For what end was Christ wounded bruised and striped ?

Answer . The end is expressed in the latter part of the Text , by a double phrase . First , It was for the Chastisement of our Peace . And secondly , It was for our healing . Both these phrases are Synonina , and expresse one and the same end of Christs sufferings .

1. First , He was wounded by Satan and his instruments ; but yet it was done by Gods appointment , as a chastisement upon him , for our Peace : in the matter of his chastisement God aimed at the tryal of his Mediatorial obedience : for Christ learned obedience by that which he suffered , Heb . 5.8 . Secondly , It was for our Peace , for when his Mediatorial oblation was found perfect through tryals ; it became the meritorious procuring cause of the Fathers atonement ; which was for our peace : he was made perfect ( through sufferings ) and so he became the Author ( or procurer ) of eternal salvation to all that obey him , ( by beleeving in him , ) Heb . 5.9 . God appointed Satan by his Instruments , to wound him , bruise him , and stripe him , as a malefactor , and to do his worst , to make him shrink , if he could , from the exact performance of his Mediatorial oblation : and in this respect , the Lord delighted to bruise him , and to put him to griefe , when he made his Soul an offering for sin , Esai . 53.10 . This was the end of Gods chastisement ; but Satans end was quite contrary , for he wounded him to make him grudge at his sufferings , and to make him unwiling to dy , that so he might spoile the perfection of his Mediatorial obedience . The like wicked end he had , in wounding the body of Iob ; God aimed at the tryal of Iobs Faith and patience ; but Satan aimed to bring him unto a sinful distemper , by his sufferings , that so he might provoke him to curse God ; and that thereby he might provoke God to punish Iob more deeply .

Secondly , Gods end in suffering Satan and his instruments to wound and stripe our blessed Mediator , was that by his stripes we might be healed : Stripes properly taken do not heal , but wound the flesh : but as stripes are as a Synecdoche of his sufferings , for the tryal of his Mediatorial obedience ; so they have a healing vertue ; for when God had tryed his obedience , and found it perfect and intire , lacking nothing ; then he became the Author , or the Meritorious procuring cause of Gods atonement for our healing ; for by his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement ( tryed through sufferings , ) he procured his Fathers Atonement for our pardon , or for our Healing ; for pardon and forgivenesse doth heal our sinful Souls ; as David doth expresse it , in Psal . 41.14 . and in Psal . 103.3 . This healing of the Soul is also ascribed to the Mediator , as well as to the Father ; namely , as he is the Meritorious procuring cause of the Fathers Atonement ; and therefore Matthew doth tell us , that Christ did not only heal mens bodies , but forgive sins ; Mat . 9.2.6 . and healing in Mat . 13.15 . is expounded to be forgiving of sins , in Mark 4.12 . and Christ saith thus to his people , I am Iehovah , that healeth thee , Exod . 15.26 . and he came to his people with healing in his wings : Mal . 4.2 . Psal . 147.3 . Ezek . 34.16 . Esai . 33.24 . And thus we are healed by his stripes ; namely by the perfection of his Mediatorial obedience , ( which was found perfect through sufferings , ) he procured his Fathers Atonement for our healing : and thus Christ himself doth open the perfection of his obedience , through sufferings , in Esai . 50.5 , 6. The Lord hath opened mine Ear ( to attend my Fathers will , through all my sufferings and tryals , ) And I was not rebellious , nor turned away back ( namely , I did not grudge at the sharpnesse , nor at the shamefulnesse of my wounds and stripes , ) I gave my back to the smiters , and my cheeks to the nippers , ( not only as an outward Patient , but as an inward Agent : I freely gave my self to be tryed by stripes , in all ready obedience to my Fathers will , without the least inward unwilingness to have any part of my appointed sufferings abated . Our Saviour did twise give his back to the smiters , 1. in Mat . 26.67 . and 2. in Mat . 27.26 . H● might if he would , have escaped out of their hands , he had power to do it , but he would not do it , because he minded not the ease of his flesh , but that he might do his Fathers will ; for as his Father delighted to break him with stripes , &c. for the tryal of his Mediatorial obedience , Esai . 53.10 . so the Son delighted to learn obedience , by that which he suffered ; and so being found perfect , ( through afflictions ) he became the Meritorious Author of eternal Salvation , to all that obey him , by beleeving in him , Heb . 5.8 , 9. He gave his back to the smiters , not only as a patient malefactor , but also as an active Mediator ; he did in all points order his affections to do Gods will through all his sufferings : and so the healing vertue of his stripes , proceeded not from his bare passive obedience , but from his active Mediatorial obedience , which was wrapped up , and conjoyned with his patient passive sufferings , as I have expounded the matter more at larg● , in Gal. 3.13 .

But I think it necessary to give you a word of caution more , touching this phrase , By his stripes we are healed . The healing vertue of Christs stripes lies not in his patient bearing them : but in his active Mediatorial obedience , which was tryed through stripes and sufferings . Take heed of the error of the Papists , for they do attribute a healing vertue to his bodily stripes inflicted upon him by the Jews , as a patient malefactor ; take heed of this literal sense ; for as the flesh of Christ doth not profit us , Ioh . 6.63 . so in like sort no outward pain that was inflicted upon his flesh , ( simply considered ) doth heal our Souls : the healing vertue lies in another ingredient , ( which our Saviour did mingle together , with his outward sufferings ) and that was his inward active Mediatorial obedience , in doing Gods will in and through all his sufferings : his Godhead did carry on his humain nature , with such an inward active power of obedience , to his Fathers will , through all his sufferings , that he delighted to give his back to the smiters , and his cheeks to the nippers ; without the least turning away back , or without any the least natural unwillingnesse to make his oblation : and truly if this ingredient of his divine nature , concurring with his humain natue in the active power of his obedience to his Fathers will had been wanting , all his sufferings ( which he suffered as a meer patient ) could not have profited us for our Redemption : for no other obedience is Mediatorial for our Redemption , but that which proceeded from the joynt concurrence of both his natures : his flesh , or humain actions alone considered , cannot profit us ; therefore not his Blood , nor his Crosse , nor his Stripes , can heal us , alone considered ; as the blind Papists do superstitiously affirm . They ( out of their blind devotion ) adore these things as the meritorious cause of their salvation ; they adore the nails , and the woodden Crosse whereon our Lord was crucified as a malefactor : and they pretend it is out of love to Christ ; but they might do well to consider whether it be the property of a dutiful child to love the knife of the murderer that killed his Father .

But I will leave them to their blind devotion , and speak a little more of the healing vertue of his stripes .

I hold it necessary often to remember this distinction ; namely , that Christ suffered both as a malefactor , Christ suffered both as a malefactor , and as a Mediator , at one and the same time . and as a Mediator , at one and the same time : he did not only patiently suffer others to scourge him , ( for many blessed Martyrs have done as much as that ) but he did more than patiently suffer ; for he delighted to give his back to the smiters , and he delighted to give his Soul to God ( in the time of his sufferings ) as a Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement , for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement to poor sinners , Esai . 53.10 . Iohn 10.18 . This kind of obedience I call his Mediatorial obedience : and yet it was performed in the time of his passive obedience : and thus by his Mediatorial obedience through death , and through stripes , he hath destroyed him that had the power of death , that is the Devil . Heb . 2.14 .

Trades .

I confesse I dare not deny your interpretation , neither of Esay , nor of Peter ; and yet I am not fully satisfied touching that phrase of Peter , how Christ bare our sins in his body , on the Tree : I pray you therefore open that phrase a little more fully .

Divine .

You know that the Rul●rs of the Jews did account our Saviour as a notorious sinner , and that therefore they did instigate Pilate to punish him as a sinner , in his body , on the Tree : 1 Pet . 2.24 . and in this sense he bare our sins ; namely the punishment of sin , in his body on the Tree : for he was crucified as a sinful malefactor , and sin is often put for the outward punishment of sin , as in Psal . 49.5 . and in Psal . 31.10 . My strength faileth me because of mine iniquitie : Sin is often put for outward bodily punishments which God or man d●th inflict on men , for sin . the Geneva reads it thus , My strength faileth me because of my pain ; or because of the punishment of mine iniquitie . So in 2 Kin . 7.9 . Sin will come upon us : that is , we shall b● punished for our sins . So in Psal . 46.6 . They search out iniquities ; that is to say , wicked Tyrants d● search out the Godly , whom they count as the cheef of sinners , that they may punish them for their supposed iniquities , such as they please to lay to their charge . So in Gen. 19.15 . Lot was bidden to fly out of Sodom , that he might not be destroyed in the iniquity or in the punishment of the Citie : And Aaron and his sons must not omit any of their Priestly garments in the time of their administration , least they bear Iniquity , and dy . Exod . 28.43 . Yea Sin and Iniquitie is frequently put for the outward punishment of sin and iniquitie , either from Gods justice , or from mans justice , as all these places do witnes , Lev . 5.17 . Lev . 10.17 . Lev . 20.17.19 , 20. Num . 5.31 . Numb . 12.11 . Ezek . 4.4 , 5. Zach. 14.19 . Gen. 4.7 . Also in sundry other Scripture the term Sin is put for the punishment of sin , by outward reproaches , wounds , bruises , stripes , and death , which God or man doth inflict upon men for their sins : and in this sense Peter means that Christ bare our sins in his Body on the Tree ; when he was punished and crucified as a Sinful malefactor .

But now seeing I am upon the phrase of Bearing Sin , I will shew you how Christ did bear our sins divers ways , in several senses .

First , He bare our sins , Christ bare our sins sundry kind of ways . and carried our sorrows when he bare away our diseases ( as they were the effects of sin ) by the power of his Godhead ; as I have expounded , Esa . 53.4 .

Secondly , Christ bare our sins , as our Priest and Sacrifice , by making Atonement with his Father , for our sins ; as I have expounded , Esa . 53.6 .

Thirdly , Christ bare our sins , as a Porter bears a burden , when he bare our punishments , which we inflicted upon him for sin , in his body on the Tree : as I have exp●unded , 2 Pet . ● . 24 .

Fourthly , Christ bare our sins when he did patiently bear our sinful imputations : and this is proved by the complaint of Christ , in Psal . 40.12 . Innumerable troubles have compassed me about : Sin is often put for false imputations of sin from wicked men . my sins have taken such hold upon me , that I am not able to look up ; they are more in number than the hairs of my head ; therefore my heart faileth me . In these words Christ doth not complain against his Father for his imputing of our sins to him ( as the common doctrine of Imputation doth make the stream of Interpreters to speak for if Christ had but grudged against his Fathers dealing with him , The holy Chost speaks this Psalm in the person of Christ . See Luther in Gal. 3.13 . and Ans. on this Psalm . but in the least measure ; he had spoiled the efficacy of his Mediatorial obedience . These words of Christ are a complaint indeed , but he doth not complain against Gods dealing , but against the dealing of the wicked Scribes and Pharisees , because they compasse him about with innumerable false accusations and imputations of sin ; so that he was not able to look up , he was not able to justifie himself before Pilate , because he was a corrupt Judge , and favoured his false accusers : and this interpretation needs not seem strange to any that do but seriously compare with consideration , verse 11. and verse 14. with this 12 verse , and that do but compare together the manifold tumultuous accusations and imputations of Sin that the generality of the Jews did lay against our Saviour , both before Pilate , and before the multitude , at sundry times .

The like instance we have in Psal . 55.3 . where Divid doth complain against his malignant adversaries , because they brought iniquity upon him , and did furiously hate him : The Geneva note upon the word Iniquity , is this , They have defamed me , as a wicked person ; namely , by devising false and sinful imputations against me ; they took them for true reports , and thereupon , they grew inraged , and did furiously hate him ; and thus David bare sin ; by bearing patiently their false accusations and imputations of sin .

There is yet another Scripture that doth evidently prove that Christ bare our sins , by bearing the false imputations of sin , from the malignant Jews , in Psal . 69.5 . O God thou knowest my foolishnesse , and my guiltinesses are not hid from thee . In these words our Saviour doth not complain to his Father of his hard dealing with him , by imputing all our sins to him ; but he complains to God against the malignant Jews , because they did lay many false and sinful imputations to his charge ; for by foolishnesse , and guiltinesses , in the plural number , is meant sin and wickednesse in abundance : when one accusation could not prevail , they multiplyed their accusations one after another .

The common doctrine of imputation makes this Query : How did Christ complain to God of his foolishnesse , and guiltinesses ; seeing he was in himself free from all sin ? They answer it thus , That Christ doth here complain to God , of the heavy load of sin , that he had put upon him , by imputing the sins of all the Elect unto him ; and thus they make Christ to grudge against his Father , which if it were true , would have spoiled the efficacy of his Mediatorial obedience : Therefore I reject this interpretation , as not consonant to the mind and meaning of the holy Ghost .

Secondly , I answer more directly thus , that Christ doth here complain to his Father against the malignant Jews , because they did most unjustly lay many false and grievous imputations of sin to his charge ; yea , through this whole Psalm , our Savior doth complain to God against the malignant Jews , for imputing so many sinful crimes to his charge ; and in the fift verse he doth appeal to God to judge in the case , saying , O God , thou knowest my foolishnes , and my guiltinesses ; if any such be as my malignant Adversaries do charge me withal : and this appeal is like to that which David makes in Psal 7.3 . O Lord my God , if I have done this thing , if there be any wickedness in my hands ; then &c. and in this very sense Christ saith , O God , Thou knowest my wickedness , whether I am a Blasphemer , or an Impostor , or a Traytor against Caesar , as my malignant Adversaries do charge me .

And thus Christ bare our sins , by bearing patiently our false Imputations of sin ; But he doth not complain against God for loading him with our sins by his imputation ; neither the phrase , nor the coherence will accord to that sense .

Trades .

Sir , I dare not gainsay any of your Interpretations hitherto , and yet I am not satisfied in the point in question : and therefore I desire to propound the next verse to your consideration ; In Isa . 53.6 . All we like sheep have gone astray , we have turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all . King James Translation doth render the last clause thus , The Lord hath made the iniquity of us all to meet upon him ; namely , by imputing all our sins to him ; and so consequently . The Lord did impose upon him all our deserved punishments .

Divine ,

I see that the common Doctrine of Imputation is very strongly fastned in your mind , and therefore you do readily take the advantage of every word that hath but any shew of a literal sense that way , though in the true sense of the place it looks a quite contrary way .

But for the better understanding of this Text , I will propound two questions .

1. Whose sins did the Lord lay upon Christ ?

2. After what manner , and for what end did the Lord lay all our sins and iniquities upon Christ ?

To the first question I answer thus . That the Lord laid all the iniquities of all the Elect only upon Christ ; They are the lost sheep that are here spoken of : and this exposition the Apostle Peter do●h make of this place , 1 Pet . 2.24 . he tels unbelieving servants , that before their conversion they were gone astray like lost sheep , but now saith he , by your conversion to the Faith , you are returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls : So then , it is the iniquities of the elected Believers only that the Lord laid upon Christ .

The second question is this , after w●at manner and for what end did the Lord lay their iniquities upon Christ ?

First , I answer Negatively , not by Imputation .

Secondly , I answer affirmatively , That the true manner how the Lord did lay all our iniquities upon Christ , was in the very same manner as the Lord laid the sins of all Isra●l upon the Priest and Sacrifice , and no otherwise .

The Lord laid all our sins upon Christ , as upon our Priest and Sacrifice . 1. The Lord did lay all our iniquities upon Christ , as upon our Priest ; and this was typified in the Law , where the Lord appointed the High Priest to bear the iniquity of all the holy things of the sons of Israel : And how must he bear their iniquities ? The answer is by his Priestly appearing before Jehovah with his Priestly apparel , and especially with his golden plate upon his forehead , wherein was engraven Holiness to Jehovah : Exod . 28.38 . and herein the High Priest was a lively Type of the Priestly Nature of Christ , namely of his Divine Nature ( which was engraven in his Human Nature , Heb . 1.3 . ) by which he did sanctifie himself , Ioh . 17.19 . when he went into the h●ly Place of Heaven to appear before God for our Atonement , Heb . 9.14 . as the high Priest did with his golden Plate when he went to make Atonement for all Israel in the holy Place .

Secondly , The Lord laid all our Iniquities upon Christ as upon our Priest ; and this was typified by the Lords laying of all the sins of all the Congregation of Israel upon the Priests by their eating of the peoples Sin-offering in the holy Place , for the Lord gave it to them to Bear the Iniquity of the Congregation , and to make Atonement for them before Jehovah , To bear Iniquity and to make Atonement for Iniquity , is all one . Lev . 10.17 . Two things are observable in this verse ; 1. The manner how the Lord did lay the Iniquity of all the Congregation upon the Priests , and that was by eating the Peoples Sin-offering ( as Mediators ) in the holy Place . 2. The end why they did eat the Peoples Sin-offering in the holy Place , was to make Atonement for them before Jehovah : The former part of the verse saith , That the Peoples Sin-offering was given to the Priests ( namely , by the Lords appointment ) that they should Bear the Iniquity of the Congregation : and the latter pa●t of the verse sheweth the manner how they did bear the Iniquity of the Congregation ; and that was , by making Atonement for them ; and their Atonement was made assoon as ever they had eaten the Peoples Sin offering in the holy place . So then , by this Scripture it is evident , That to Bear Iniquity , and to make Atonement for Iniquity , is all one .

Secondly , The Lord laid all our sins upon Christ , as upon our Sacrifice ; and this is elegantly expressed by Isaiah , He poured out his Soul to death , and bare the sin of many , and made Intercession for Transgressors : Isa . 53.12 . All these three terms are Synonima , and they are all joyned together in this Text , to declare unto us the true manner how the Lord did lay all our Iniquities upon Christs Sacrifice . 1. He poured out his soul to death , as the bloud of the Sacrifice was poured out upon the Altar in great plenty ; and 2. He bare the sin of many , namely , by his Mediatorial Sacrifice ; for thereby he procured his Fathers Atonement , and so he bare away their sins from them . And 3. He made intercession for Transgressors ; for he by his own bloud entred into the holy Place , to make intercession for Transgressors , Heb . 9.12.14 . Heb . 12.24 . namely , for all the Elect , who are Transgressors by Nature and Life , and have need of a Mediator to make Atonement for them by his Sacrifice of Atonement .

Thirdly , God laid all our sins upon Christ , as upon our Sacrifice of Atonement ; and in this sense the Apostle Paul doth explain the true nature of the Levitical bearing of sin , in Heb . 9.26 . Christ appeared to put away ( or to bear away ) Sin : This was the end of his coming into the World ; and then in v. 28. Christ was once offered ( namely as our Sacrifice of Atonement ) to bear the sins of the many : This was the means by which he obtained his end : So then , by Paul's exposition of the Levitical bearing , Christ bare our sins ( not by his Fathers imputation , but ) by procuring his Fathers Atonement for us , both as he was our Priest and Sacrifice .

Fourthly , If you will build the common Doctrine of Imputation upon this phrase , The Lord laid all our Iniquities upon Christ , then by the same phrase you must affirm , That the Father laid all our sins upon himself , by imputing the guilt of all our sins to himself ; for the Father is said to bear our sins as well as Christ ; for David prayed thus to the Father , ●he Father doth ●… ear our sins by ●… mputation , as much as ever ●… hrist bare them ●… y Imputation . in Psal . 25.18 . Bear all my sins : so the Hebrew is . So then , the Father doth bear our sins as well as the Son : The Son bears our sins Mediatorially , by his Sacrifice of Atonement , namely , as it was the meritorious procuring cause of his Fathers Atonement ; but the Father doth bear away our sins by his Atonement , Pardon , and Forgiveness , and thereby a sinner is made formally just : and thus David meant when he prayed to the Father to bear all his sins , namely , to bear away the guilt of them from him , by his free pardon and merciful forgiveness : and as soon as ever a sinner hath obtained the Fathers bearing of his sins , he is formally just , and so he is in a blessed condition : and so David doth explane the matter in Psal . 32.1 . Blessed is the man whose Transgression is born : ( So the Hebrew is ) namely , whose Transgression is born away by the Fathers Atonement and Forgiveness : and the Apostle Paul doth so expound the Hebrew Word in Rom. 4.7 . Blessed is the man whose Transgression is forgiven : So then by this comparing of Davids Hebrew word with Pauls Greek word , it follows , that the Father bears our sins from us by his Atonement , that is to say , his Forgiveness : and this Interpretation is also confirmed by other Scriptures ; David said , I will confess my Transgressions to the Lord , and thou barest the Iniquity of my sin : Psal . 32.5 . and Job doth thus expostulate with the Father , Why dost thou not bear my Trespass , and pass over mine Iniquity ? So the Hebrew is in Iob 7.21 . and David said , I beseech thee , O Lord , Bear away the Iniquity of thy servant : 2 Sam . 24.10 . And the godly Converts in Hosea pray thus , Take away ( lift up , or bear away ) all Iniquity : Hos . 14.2 . that is to say , Pardon or Forgive our Iniquities ; not only as a Judge when he forgives or acquits a Malefactor , but as a Father forgives his children , and receives them into favor ; and therefore the godly Converts in the next words say thus , Receive us graciously , or do us good ; and indeed when the Father doth bear away our sins , by his atonement , he doth mercifully forgive them , and receive them at the same time into favour , as his adopted children : and therefore Moses doth describe the nature of Gods pardon and forgivenesse , thus ; I●hovah is long suffering , and much in mercy ; bearing Iniquitie and Trespasse . Numb . 14.8 . and then in verse 19 ; he prayeth thus , Bear I beseech thee , the iniquitie of this People , according to the greatnesse of thy mercy : and in Ezod . 32.31 . he prays thus , If thou wilt bear their sin , &c. and in Gen. 50.17 . Iosephs brethren said thus to Ioseph , I pray thee bear now the Trespasse of thy brethren , and their sin : Ioseph had pardoned and bore away their sin before ; but now they desire a further assurance of ●is full Atonement : In like sort God said to Cain thus , If thou do well , is there not Bearing ? that is to say , Is there not a bearing away of thy sin , by my merciful Atonement ? Gen. 4.7 . Nasa , the Hebrew word to Bear , is used for bearing away , as in Exod . 10.19 . He took away the Locu●ts , and cast them into the Red sea , there remained not one : and so doth the Father bear away our sins , by his forgivenesse .

And it is further evident , that the Fathers bearing of Sin , is a term of his merciful and Fatherly Atonement , by Psal . 32.1 . for there David doth describe the true nature of the Fathers Atonement , to poor beleeving sinners , by three terms , which are all Synonima .

1. Bessed is the man whose transgression is born . 2. Blessed is the man whose sin is covered . 3. Blessed is the man , whose iniquity is not imputed .

All these thre terms may thus be opened .

First , Blessed is the man whose sins are born away , or forgiven ; ( namely ) by Gods merciful Atonement , as the Apostle doth expound it , in Rom. 4.7 .

Secondly , Blessed is the man whose sins are covered ; namely , by the Fathers merciful Atonement : for that person that covers sin in this Text , must not be understood of the Mediators covering , but of the Fathers covering , and of the Fathers bearing of sin away : in like sort in other places of Scripture , the Godly do pray to the Father , mercifully to cover their sins , or to free them from their sins ; both expressions are joyned together in Psal . 79.9 . rid us free , and mercifully cover our sins , and our trespasses ; thou wilt mercifully cover them , or expiate them , by thy pardoning mercy , Psal . 65.4 . Again , Thou hast forgiven the iniquitie of thy people ; thou hast coved all their sins . Selah . Psal . 85.2 . In this Text the Prophet doth open and expound the Fathers covering to be nothing else but his mercyful forgivenesse . Again , God being compassionate , did mercifully cover their iniquity ; that is to say , he did mercifully forgive their Iniquity , Psal . 78.38 . On the contrary , when the enemies of Gods people grew implacable , in their malicious designes , the Godly did thus imprecate the wrath of God upon them ; saying , Cover not their iniquitie , nor let their sin be blotted out . Neh . 4.5 . Psal 69.27 . therefore it follows by good consequence from the premises , that whensoever the Father doth cover any mans sins , he doth blot them out of his remembrance , by his merciful Atonement , pardon , and forgivenesse .

The Mediator also doth cover sin ; namely as a Mediator , by procuring the Fathers pardon and forgivenesse ; for by his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement , he procured his Fathers Atonement ; and in that respect he is called the propitiation for our sins , 1 Ioh . 2.2 . and in that respect also , the burnt offerings , Sin offerings , and trespasse offerings , ( being types of Christs sacrifice of Atonement ) are said to cover sin ; namely , by procuring the Fathers Atonement . Exod . 29.36 . Lev . 1.4 . Lev . 4.20 . Lev . 5.6.10.13 . And so Iacob , by a guift of Atonement , did cover Esaus face ; that is to say , He did procure Esaus Atonement , Gen. 32.20 . And the mercy seat that covered the Ark , is called The covering mercy seat , Exod . 25.17 . but the 70. translate it the propitiatory covering : which term the Apostle doth apply to Christs Sacrifice of Atonement ; saying , Whom God hath fore-ordained to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood , Rom. 3.25 . But as I said ●re-while , David speaks not of the Mediators covering , but of the Fathers covering of sin , by his merciful Atonement , which is the only formal cause of a sinners justice or Iustification , for it is God the Father that doth justifie poor beleeving sinners . Rom. 8.33 .

Thirdly , Blessed is the man whose iniquity is not imputed , namely by the Fathers legal justice : A malefactor that is legally acquitted from his sin , by the Judge , ( it may be for want of due proof ) hath no sin imputed to him legally : but yet the Iudge may still suspect him to be a sinner ; therefore the Iudges Atonement or Reconciliation towards such a sinner , doth much differ from God the Fathers non-Imputation of sin ; for whensoever God the Father doth not impute sin to any , he doth fully acquit such sinners , not only as a Iudge , but also as a reconciled Father : 2 Cor . 5.18 , 19. and therefore they must needs be fully blessed , whose iniquities are not imputed by the Father .

All these 3 tearms are Synonima and they do all sweetly expound each other , and they do all set out the true manner , how sinners are made just and blessed , namely , when their sins are borne away , Covered and not imputed by the Fathers mercifull Attonement , pardon and forgiveness .

But now I will againe returne unto that phraise in Esa . 53.6 .

How the Lord laid all our iniquities upon Christ ; namely , not as the common doctrine of imputation teacheth , The common doctirn of imputation is built upon such words and phrases as beget many absurd consequences . from the phrase of the Lords laying our iniquities upon Christ , for then this absurd consequence will presently follow ; that the Father must lay all our sins upon himselfe by imputation , as well as upon Christ by imputation , for the Father doth beare our sins as well as Christ . 2 ly . If God the Father was angry with the mediator because he did beare our sins , then God the Father must be angry with himselfe , because he in like sort doth beare our sins : such absurb consequences as these , the common doctrin of imputation doth often fall into . The word 〈◇〉 which is translated in ver . 6. hath laid upon , is translated in the 12. ver . of this 53. chap. hath made intercession & therefore the verb signifying both incurere fecit et - intercessit is too weak a foundation for the doctrine of imputation , and of Christ suffering Gods wrath .

Trads .

I do not take this phrase of the Lords laying our iniquities upon Christ , from that kind of bearing sin , which was performed by the Priests and Sacrifice , as you do , but from an other Leviticall practice , namely , from the imposition of hands upon the head of their sacrifices ; every owner must impose both his hands upon the head of his sin-offering , and so make confession of his sins , upon the head of his sin-offering : this imposition of hands , did typifie the Lords laying our sins upon Christ , by imputation , and so Godly expositers do understand it ; see Exod . 29.10 . Levit . 1.4.4.29 . Lev . 8.14 . Levit . 16.12 , 21.

Divine ,

You do exceeding grosly mistake the meaning of this imposition ; for first A private mans imposition upon the head of his sin offering , can not in reason represent Gods act , I cannot see how a private mans imposition , can represent Gods imputing of all the sins of all the Elect unto Christ . Secondly , neiether can that imposition of hands which was done by the Elders of Israel upon the head of the publique sin-offering , represent Gods act in his imputing all the sins of all the Elect to Christ , Levit . 4.13 , 14 , 15. for the Elders action doth represent the Churches action , and not Gods action . Thirdly , neither can that imposition of hands which was done by the Priest , Levit . 4.3 . nor by the High Priest in Lev . 16.21 . represent God the Fathers action , for the Priests and High Priests , were types of Christs Priestly nature , and not of the Father ; therefore , their imposition could not represent the Fathers action , in his imputing our sins to Christ .

Trades .

What then I pray you did this imposition of hands , with confession of sin , upon the head of the sin offering signifie ?

Imposition of hands with confession of sin upon the head of the sin offering , can not be a type of Gods imputing our sins to Christ , but it signifies the owners faith of dependance . It signified the owners faith of dependance , upon his Sacrifice of Atonement , for the procuring of the Fathers Atonement for all those sins that he had confessed and repented of ; for no mans sin-offering was accepted of God , except he made confession of his particular sins unto God , Levit . 5.5 , 6. which confession of sin was ever joyned with a promise to forsake sin , Pro . 28.13 . Psal . 51.20 , 21. and the Ebrew Doctors do also say , that Atonement is not made for any man untill they confesse , and turne away from doing the like againe for ever , see Ains . in Levit . 5.5 . and in Num . 5.7 . Atonement is not made for sins past , without particular confession , and without a promise of forsakeing the same sins for time to come ; and therefore the practise of the Ceremoniall Law , was to renew their sacrifices of Atonement , as they renewed their sins .

Secondly , No mans sin-offering was accepted upon the Altar , unless he imposed both his hands , and leaned with all his might upon the head of his sin offering : and this imposition , was to typifie and to testifie his faith of dependance in resting and leaning upon Christs Sacrifice of Atonement , as the meritorious procureing cause of the Fathers Atonement : And in this sense the Apostle doth teach us to understand this imposition of hands ; Let us draw neer with a true heart to him and with fulness of faith , Heb . 10.22 . that is to say , with the faith of full dependance , leaning upon Christs mediatoriall sacrifice of Atonement , for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement ; and the Ebrew Doctors do thus expound this imposition of h nds , with confession of sin upon the head of the Sacrifice , They say that neither reconciliation doth in Levit . 16. nor the sin offering nor the trespasse offering , do make Atonement for any , but for them that repent and beleeve in their Atonement : See Ains . in Levit . 4.4 . and in Levit . 1.4 . and what other sacrifice of Atonement can any man beleeve in and depend upon , but the Sacrifice of Christ , who made his Soule a sacrifice of Atonement for all our sins .

And because Cain wanted this faith of dependance , therefore his Sacrifice made no Atonement for him ; but on the contrarie , it was evill in Gods sight , 1 Iohn 3.12 . and therefore God did reject it , Gen. 4.5 . But Abel offered a greater sacrifice then Cain , Heb . 11.4 . because it was offered with faith of dependance upon the mediatoriall sacrifice of Christ , as the procuring cause of his Fathers Atonement ; and the true nature of faith is defined by resting or leaning upon , as in Pro . 3.5 . Esa 50.10 . as the house doth leane upon the foundation , Esa . 28.16 . Esa . 10.20 .

Trades .

Your exposition of this Leviticall imposition , is different from the exposition of sundry learned men , who do expound it of laying our sins upon Christ by Gods imputation .

Divin

If you will make this imposition of hands upon the head of the sin offering to represent Gods laying of all the sins of the Elect upon Christ by imputation , then the same act of imposition upon the head of their Sacrifices of praise , The common doctrine of imputation is built upon such phrases as doth beget many absurd conscequences . must have the same signification ; for every owner must impose both his hands with all his might upon their Sacrifices of praise ( as well as upon the head of their sin offerings ) Levit . 3.2 . but they did not impose hands upon the head of their Sacrifices of praise , with confession of sin , but with the confession of such particular mercies as they had received from God : see Ains . in Levit 3.2 . Therefore that act of imposing hands upon the head of their Sacrifices of praise , cannot signifie Gods laying of our sins upon Christ by imputation ; but it must needes signifie the laying of our persons by our faith of dependance upon the Sacrifice of Christ , for the procuring of Gods favourable acceptation , as well when we make confession of particular mercies , as when we make confession of particular sins .

And I will now give you some considerable Arguments , why the act of imposing hands upon the head of their Sacrifices , did signifie the owners faith of dependance upon Christ .

First , They imposed hands and leaned with all their might upon their burnt-offerings , Levit . 1.4 . and this they did with prayer and supplicati●n to the Lord , for such mercies as they wanted , Iob . 40.8 . 1 Sam . 13.12 . Ezra 6.9 , 10. Secondly , they imposed hands and leaned with all their might , upon their sin-offerings Levit . 4. and then they confessed their sins . Thirdly , They impose hands upon their sacrifices of praise Levit . 3.2 , 8.13 . and then they made confession of such mercies as they had received : therefore this act of imposition , must needes represent their faith of dependance in resting and leaning upon the mediatoriall Sacrifice of Christ , as the procuring cause of Gods favourable Atonement and acceptance , and in this respect the Father doth testifie his acceptation of all the Elect that depend upon the mediator by faith , saying , Behold my servant whom I have chosen , my beloved in whom my soule is well pleased : in him shall the Heathen trust : Mat . 12.18.21 . that is to say , in his mediatoriall person and Sacrifice , shall the Heathen trust , or depend for their acceptance .

Secondly , Wh●n our Saviour ascended into Heaven , he gave his Disciples power to cure diseases , by imposing their hands upon the sick , Mark 16.18 . but our Saviour did not meane that they should cure sick persons by the bare act of laying their hands upon the sick , but by their faith especially , which they testified by the act of laying on their hands .

Thirdly , When Peter and Iohn came to Samaria , they prayed for certain beleevers , that they might receive the Holy Ghost , namely , that they might receive miraculous faith , and other such like gifts of the Holy Ghost , Acts 8.15.17 . Acts 19.6 . and after prayer as soone as they did but lay their hands upon them , they received the Holy Ghost : and many other signes and wonders were wrought amongst the people by the hands of the Apostles , that is to say , by their miraculous faith , represented by the laying on of their hands ; but if any did impose hands upon the sick without miraculous faith , they could not by that action worke miracles .

Fourthly , When Ananias was commanded to recover Paules sight , he laid his hands upon his eyes and said , brother Saul receive thy sight , Acts 9.17 . and so Paul to represent his faith in the power of Christ , did lay his hands upon the father of Publius , and so did recover him , Acts 28.8 .

Hence I reason thus , if laying on of hands was used in the primative Church , as a signe of their miraculous faith , then why may not the same act of laying on of hands upon the head of their sacrifices , signifie their faith of dependance upon the Sacrifice of Christ , as the procuring cause of the Fathers A●onement , and truly when faith of dep●ndance is joyned with Sacrifices , or with prayers to God , then God is highly well pleased , with such sacrifices and with such prayers , 2 Chro . 13.18 . 2 Chro . 16.7 , 8. 2. Kings 18.21 , 22. Fiftly , The action of the hands in holy duties , is often used to represent the faith of the Godly .

As for example , When Moses lift up his hands in prayer against the Amalakites , it is said that his hands were faith , Exod . 17.12 . that is to say , were steady , for they were made steady by Aaron and Hur , as a signe of his faith which was steady , in the expectation of Gods assistance against the Amalakites . Againe , the lifting up of hands in prayer hath been often used as a signe of the faith of expectance : when the soules of Gods people have expected to receive such and such mercies from God , they have lift up their hands to receive what they pray for : In thy name saith David , will I lift up my hands Psal . 63.5 . and let the lifting up of my hands be acceptable as evening Sacrifice , Psal . 141.2 .

And as soone as Ezra had ended his prayer , all the people said amen , amen , with lifting up their hands by that action , they testified their faith of dependance , upon the mediator , for the receiving of what they had prayed for , Nehe . 8.6 .

Sixtly , when Moses deprecated , that God would take away his Plagues from Pharaoh , he spread abroad his hands to signifie his faith in God for t●e averting of those judgements from Pharaoh , Exod . 9.29.33 . but spreading abroad the hands without faith , will worke no miracles .

Seventhly , The lifting up of hands was commanded to be used by the Priests , as a priestly action , when they blessed the people in the Temple , immediately after the dayly morning Sacrifice , Num . 6.23 . and in Levit . 9.22 . Aaron lift up his hands toward the people and blessed them : In like manner after the reading of the Law , in their Synagogues , if any Priests were present , they lift up their hands and blesse the people ; and this gesture they used to signifie their faith of expectance , that God would certainly blesse those that did truly seeke his face in his Ordinances : In like sort when our Lord Christ had fulfilled his ministerie here upon earth , he lifted up his hands and blessed his Disciples , Luk . 24.50 .

These severall gestures of the hands , did all represent the faith of the acter , and therefore we are warned to bring ●ean hands and a pure heart unto Gods worship , that is to say , such a clean heart , as purified by faith , Acts 15. and such cleare hands as are also purified by faith , Psal . 24.4 . Psal . 26 6. 1 Tim . 2.8 .

From all these considerations laid together , it is evident that the act of laying on of hands with all their might , upon the head of their sacrifices , was to signifie the fulnesse of their faith of dependance upon the mediatoriall Sacrifice of Christ , as the procuring cause of his Fathers Atonement , which comprehends under it , his mercifull pardon for our justification , and his favourable acceptation of our persons , with his adoption .

Eightly , If you will make the act of laying on of hands upon the head of the sin offering , to signifie Gods laying our sins upon Christ by imputation . Then the same act of laying on of hands with confession of sin upon the head of the scape goat , must also signifie that God did impute our sins to Christ , as well after he was escaped from death by his resurrection and ascension , as when he made his oblation here upon earth ; for the High Priest in the name of all Israel did impose his hands , ChrIst doth still beare our sins in Heaven , as much as ever he did here upon earth . and confesse the sins of all the congregation , upon the head of the live scape goat , as well as upon the head of the goat that was slain for a sin offering : The High Priest cast lots upon these two goates , the one was to be kild for a sin offering of the whole Church , and then the High Priest in the name of the whole Church , did impose both his hands upon the head of this sin offering , as it may be certainly proved by Lev . 4.15 .

Secondly , The High Priest also in the name of the whole Church , did impose both his hands upon the head of the live scape goat , and so sent him away alive into the wildernesse , Levit . 16.7 . &c. these two goats signified the death and resurrection of Christ : the goat that was kild for a sin offering , signified his death , and the live scape goat signified the escaping of Christ from death , by his resurrection , and so bearing away the sins of all the Elect from them by his resurrection , ascension and intercession for them in Heaven , and it is evident that these two goats did typifie the death and resurrection of Christ , for he was put to death concerning the flesh , but he was quickned by the spirit , 1 Pet . 3.18 . and Paul opens it thus , He powred out his soule to death for our sins , and rose againe for our justification , Rom. 4.25 . so I r●ad the text , because Pauls Greek is borrowed from the 70. in Esa . 53.12 . where the Hebrew is , powred out .

The High Priest did impose both his hands upon the head of the live scape goat , and confessed over him all the iniquities of the Sons of Israel , and all their trespasses , and all their sins , and put them upon the head of the live scape goat , and sent him away by a fit man into the wildernesse , and so the live goat Buck did beare upon him all their iniquities , Levit . 16.10.21 , 22. Lev 16.10.21 , 22. and thus by the doctrine of imputation , Christ is gone as a guilty sinner into Heaven .

But the Hebrew Doctors did not understand this imposition of hands , with confession of sin , of Gods imputation , but they understood it to be as a typicall signe of their faith of dependance upon Christs Sacrifice of Atonement ; and so much the prayer of the High Priest doth import , for when he imposed his hands upon the head of the live scape goat , he said , O Lord , make Atonement now for the sins , and for the iniquities , and for the trespasses of thy people Israel , see Ains . in Levit . 16.21 . and thus the Lord laid upon him the iniquitie of us all ; or as King James translation hath it , the Lord made the iniquity of us all to meet upon him ; namely the iniquities of the whole Church .

From this act of laying on of hands upon the head of each of these two goats ; I reason thus .

If the High Priests laying on of hands upon the head of the sin-offering , did represent Gods laying the sins of all the Elect upon Christ by imputation , when he made his soul a Mediatoriall sacrifice of Atonement for our sins : Then the same action of the High Priest done upon the head of the live scape goat , did also represent the Lords laying the sins of all the Elect upon Christ by imputation , when hee ascended into heaven to make intercession for them .

2. If Gods imputing of all the sins of the Elect to Christ , was the cause of Gods extream wrath upon him , when hee made his soul a sacrifice for sinne here on earth : then by the same reason Christ doth still bear the wrath of God for our sins in heaven ; for Christ doth still bear our sins in heaven , as much as ever he bare them here upon earth . And thus by the common doctrine of imputation ( which is built upon this phrase of Bearing sin ) you cannot avoid the blasphemous consequence .

Trades .

I confesse I am not able to gain-say any of your Interpretations hitherto , and yet I am not satisfied in the point in question : and therefore I desire to propound another Scripture to your consideration , which is much alledged by Divines to prove the common Doctrine of Imputation .

In 2 Cor . 5.21 . 2 Cor . 5.21 . God made him to be sin for us , which knew no sinne .

How else did God make him to be sin for us , but by imputing the sins of all the Elect to him .

Divine .

God made Christ to be sin for us when he ordained him to give his soul as a mediatorial sacrifice for our sins . If this Text be rightly expounded , it will not prove any such matter as you alledge it for : for this phrase , he was made sin for us , must not be taken in the proper literall sense , but in a metaphoricall sense : for it is borrowed from the Leviticall Law , where the sacrifices for sinne are often called Sin in the Hebrew Text , though our English Translations have added by way of Exposition the word Sacrifice : as for example , in Exod . 29.14.36 . the Hebrew saith thus , It is a sin ; but we translate it thus , it is a sin-offering : we adde the word offering to the word sin , as the Hebrew Text also sometimes doth : but most usually the Hebrew Text doth call it a sin and no more , as in Lev . 4.3.8.21.24.25.29.32.33.34 . & 5.9.11 . & 6.17.25.30 . & 7.7.37 . & 8.14 . & 9.7 , 8.10.22 . & 12.6 . & 14.13.31 . & 15.15 . & 16.3.5.9.25.27 . & Lev . 23.19 . & Numb . 6.11.16 . & Numb . 7.16 . & 8.12 . & Numb . 15.24 , 25. & Numb . 18.9 . & Numb . 28.22 . in all these and in sundry other places , the sin-offering is called a sin in the Hebrew Text , and this Hebraisme Paul followeth in 2 Cor . 5.21 . saying , God made him to be sin for us .

The Apostle never meant that God made him to be sin for us , by a Judiciall imputing of our sins unto him , as Judges doe , when they impute sin and inflict punishment upon malefactors : but the word made , and the word sin must have another sense .

1. The word made is a word of Election and Ordination : God made him to be sin , that is say , he ordained him to be our Mediator , namely , as he ordained him to be our Priest and Sacrifice , that so he might make his soul a sin-offering for our atonement .

Christ saith thus , Burnt-offering and Sin thou hast not required , Ps. 40.6 . Christ cals the sin-offering , nothing but sin , but the Apostle in Greek doth expound it thus [ For sin ] Heb . 10.6 . hee joynes the particle For to the word sin , and thereby he doth teach us , that the sin-offering was not made sin by imposition of hands and by confession of sin upon the head of it : the particle For is not sutable to that sense , therefore seeing the Apostle doth explain the word sin by the particle For , I may well conclude that Christ was not made sin for us by Gods imputation , but he was made sin for us , that is to say , A sacrifice for our sins : and so the Hebrew Text doth sometimes explain it self , by joyning the word for to the word sin , as in Lev . 6.26 . and in Lev . 9.15 . The Priest did offer it [ For sin . ]

2. This phrase he was made sin for us , is further opened by another Leviticall instance taken from the water of purification , which is called sin in Hebrew , in Numb . 19.9 . but it was not called sinne in respect of any sinfull quality that was imputed to it , neither was it called sin , because it was imployed to any sinfull use : but it was therefore called sin-water , because it was the water of purification from sin , and because it sanctified the unclean , Numb . 8.7 . and because it figured the bloud of Christ which purgeth the conscience from sin , Heb . 9.13 , 14.

3. This phrase he was made sin for us , is further opened by another Leviticall phrase taken from the money that was provided to buy rhe publike sacrifices withall ; That mony was called sinmony , and Trespass-mony , not because it was sinfully gotten , or sinfully imployed , but because it was imployed to buy the publike sacrifices for sin , and the publike sacrifices for trespass-offerings for the whole Church , 2 Kings 12.16 . Nehem . 10.32 , 33. and in this sense God made Christ to be sin for all his true Israel , not by imputing their sins to him , but by electing and ordaining him to be a sin-offering and a trespass-offering , and a whole burnt-offering of atonement , He is the Lamb of God that doth bear away the sins of the world , John 1.29 . 1 Joh . 3.5 . namely , by his Mediatoriall sacrifice of Atonement .

4. If you will stand to the common doctrine of imputation , and still say that God made Christ to be sin for us , Christ did impute all our sins and trespasses to himself as much as ever the Father did . by imputing all our sins to him : then from the same kind of phrase , you must hold that Christ made himselfe a Trespass for us , by imputing all our Trespasses to himself : for Esay doth tell us that he made himself A Trespasse , or a guilt for us : so the Hebrew Text speaks in Es. 53.10 .

And if Christ made himself a Trespasse for us , by imputing all our trespasses to himselfe , then he must likewise inflict upon himself all the curses of the Law that are due to us for our trespasses : this absurd consequence you cannot avoid by the common doctrine of imputation , because it is raised upon the like phrase of speaking : and thus you make Christ to be his own self accuser and executioner .

But the truth is , Christ did no otherwise make himself a Trespass or a guilt for us , but as he made himself a Trespass-offering for our sins , he is called a Trespass answerable to the sacrifices of the Law , which are sometimes called A Sin , and sometimes A Trespass : see Ains . in Lev . 5.6 . and in Lev . 6. and in Lev . 7.38 . &c. Thus Paul and Isa . do sweetly agree in their L●vitical phrases : Isa . saith that Christ made himself A Trespass for us , and Paul saith , that God made Christ to be sinne for us : therefore the exposition of both must be framed from the same Leviticall Typicall sense and meaning .

Trades .

I confess I am not able to contradict your interpretations hitherto , and yet I am not satisfied in the point in question : therefore I will propound some other Scriptures to your consideration out of the Evangelists , which are usually alledged to prove that Christ bare the wrath of God for our Redemption , as it is due to our sins from the curse of the Law .

Mat . 26.37 Matthew saith , That Christ was sorrowfull and grievously troubled .

Mar. 14.33 . Luk . 22.43 , 44. Mark saith , That he was sore afraid and amazed .

Luke saith , That Christ was in an Agony : and most Divines doe affirm , that this Agony was not caused from his striving with the terrours of death , but it was caused by the infinite wrath of God , which lay much more heavier upon him then the terrors of death : and they enforce this assertion with a threefold Reason .

1. They say that his Agony was so great that it made him sweat great drops of bloud , which trickled down from his body to the ground .

2. They say that his Agony was so great , that God was fain to send an Angel from heaven to support him under it .

Luke doth set down the appearance of this Angel before his Agony : But Mr. Calvin doth affirm that his Agony went before , and that it was the true cause why God sent an Angel to comfort him .

3. They say , that if Christ had made all this adoe against a meer bodily death , he should have shewed himself to be more fearfull of death then many Martyrs have done ; for many Martyrs have died with more courage and lesse feare of death a great deal , and it is not credible that Christ would shew more fear of death then many Martyrs have done , but that something else was the cause of it , namely Gods wrath .

Divine .

I will by degrees examine the interpretation of all these Scriptures , Matthew saith , That he was grievously troubled , and Mark saith , That he was sore afraid : Hence you infer , that Christ could not be thus troubled and thus afraid at a meer bodily death ; Therefore you conclude , that he was thus troubled and afraid at the wrath of God inflicted upon his soul for our sins .

This interpretation is taken upon trust from other Expositors : but however , I conceive you will see reason by and by to think that Christ made all this adoe against a meer bodily death only .

1. Doe but consider what a horrid thing to true humane nature the death of the body is , and then consider that Christ had a true Humane Nature like unto all other men , except in the point of sin : and therefore why should not he be troubled with the fear of death , asmuch as his Humane Nature could bear without sin .

2. Doe but consider that all mankind ought to desire and endevour to preserve their naturall lives as much as in them lies in the use of means , in obedience to the sixth Commandment : and therefore seeing Christ as he was true Man could not prevent his death by the use of means , he was bound to be troubled with the fear of death asmuch as any other man .

From these two considerations wee may easily collect what was the true cause why Christ was so much pained in his minde with the fear of death , Christ was much pained in his minde with the thought of his death , long before the time of his death came . not only in the night before his death , but at other times also , even long before the time of his death came . I have a Baptism ( saith Christ ) to be baptised withall , and how I am pained ( or distressed , as a woman in travel ) untill it bee ended , Luke 12.50 .

But Matthew and Mark in the places cited , speak onely of those sorrows which fell upon him in the night before his death ; Matthew saith , he began to be grievously troubled , that is to say , he began afresh to be troubled , with the neerer approach of his death then formerly : M. Calvin in his Harmony upon these words , speaketh to this effect : We have seen ( saith he ) our Lord wrestling with the feare of death before : but now ( saith he ) hee buckl●th his hands with the temptation : Matthew cals it the Beginning of sorrow , because the pains of death were now approaching : his naturall fear of death lay hid before , but now it doth bewray it self , and the most inward affections of nature lay themselves open : God had already exercised his Son with some tast of death before , but now hee woundeth deeper by the approach of death , and striketh with an unwonted fear .

And in another place M. Calvin saith thus : When Jesus saw Mary and the Jews weep for the death of Lazarus , he wept also and groaned in spirit , and troubled himself , Jo . 11.33.35 . upon these words M. Calvin asketh this question : How doth this groaning and perturbation agree to the Sonne of God ? In my judgement ( saith hee ) it is plain , that when the Son of God did put upon him our flesh , he did also willingly take upon him human affections , that so he might not differ from his brethren in any thing , sin only excepted : and by this means saith he , the glory of Christ is no whit impaired , seeing that his submission was onely voluntary , whereby it came to passe that he was like unto us in the affections of his soul : and by this he proved himself to be our brother , that so we might know that we have such a Mediatour as is touched with our infirmities , and is ready to help us in that which he felt in himself .

And when Jesus groaned again , v. 38. M. Calvin saith , that 't is no marvell that he groaned again : for the violent tyranny of death ( which he was to overcome ) was present now before his eyes .

By these sentences out of M. Calvin wee may see that Christ was deeply touched with the fear of death , for he wept and groaned in spirit , and troubled himself with sorrow for the death of Lazarus : I cannot apprehend that he was afraid of the wrath of God for our sins in the night before his death , for then he could not have said as he did : I have set the Lord alwayes before mine eyes , he is at my right hand therfore I shall not be moved : Ps. 16.8 . I cannot apprehend that his troubled feare did exceed the bounds of true naturall fear .

Mr. Calvin sait● that we must distinguish between the infirmities of our Saviours flesh , and our infirmities : for in us ( saith he ) there is no affection without sinne , because all men doe exceed the measure of a right moderation , but Christ ( saith he ) was so troubled with sorrow and fear , that he never murmured against God , but remained stedfast to the rule of temperanee : Hee was pure without all spot , and therefore his affections were pure and unspotted , and yet his affections did witnesse his true humane infirmity ; And therefore as much as true humane nature could bear , he was stricken with the fear of death : and in Iohn 11.33 . he saith thus , Mens affections they are corrupted two manner of wayes .

1. They are carried with a troublesome motion , because they are not ordered according to the Rule of modesty .

2. They doe not always arise from a lawfull cause , or at least they are not referred to a lawfull end .

But at the first it was otherwise , for when God created Adam he gave him affections that were dutifull to reason , and inasmuch as they are now disorderly , it is an accidentall fault : But the affections ( saith he ) that were in Christ were without any disorder , because they were framed wholly to obey Gods will : so that if you confer his passions with ours , they will differ no lesse then cleer water from filthy puddle .

These sentences of M. Calvin , may advise us how we doe attribute such a kinde of fear to Christ as might disorder his pure naturall affections , which doubtlesse would have fallen upon him , if he had undergone the pain of losse for our sins , such as the damned doe feel in hell , as the common doctrine of imputation doth teach .

I apprehend that the quality of our Saviours troubled fear which he suffered the night before his death , did arise onely from his naturall fear of death : and if he had died without any manifest fear of death , it would have occasioned wofull Heresies , yea although Christ was so carefull as he was , to give such evident proof of the truth of his humane nature as he did , yet sundry Heretiques have risen up that have denied the truth of his Humane Nature , affirming that he took no flesh of the Virgin Mary , but that his body was from heaven of a heavenly nature ; it was necessary therefore that he should be stricken with the fear of death as much as his true Humane Nature could bear without sin , as M. Calvin doth well observe .

Secondly , If the qualitie of his troubled feare of death which he expressed to his Disciples , in the night before his death , had arisen from the sense of his Fathers wrath inflicted upon him for our sins , then you must also say that he suffered his Fathers wrath for our sins , 6. dayes before this , for 6. dayes before this , he said to his Disciples , I have a baptisme to be baptized withall , and how am I pained , ( or distressed in mind as a woman in travell ) untill it be ended , Luk . 12.50 . in this speech our Saviour doth express as much distress of mind , as he did in that place of Matthew and Mark , which you have cited , and yet I know no Expositer that did ever collect such a tenent from this place of Luke .

Thirdly , Our Saviour doth explaine the qualitie of those sorrows which he suffered at the time of his death , unto the two Sons of Zebedeus : He tels them they must drink of his cup , and be baptized with his baptisme , Mark , 10.39 . He tels them that they must be conformable to the qualitie and kind of his sufferings , though perhaps there might be some difference in the degree of their sufferings , and he doth explain the kind of their sufferings , by a two fold expression ?

First , He tels them that they must drink of his cup , that is to say , of the same bitter portion of death , for the term cup is often used for a measure or portion ; somtimes it is put for a measure or portion of joy and comfort , as in Psal . 16.5 . and in Psal . 23 , 5. and somtimes it is put for a measure or portion of punishment , or affliction , as in Psal . 11.6 . Psal . 75.8 . Isa . 51.17 . Ier . 25.15.17.28 . and this cup is filled somtimes from the Lords hand , and somtimes from mans hand : But in the present case , between Christ and the Sons of Zebedeus , the cup or portion wherein they must parallel each other , is persecutions and death from the hand of wicked Tyrants ; yea somtimes the Godly do not only drink a cup , but a full cup of bitter affliction , Psal . 73.10 . yea a very great measure , called in Hebrew , Shalish , of three , which is a third part of the greatest measure , four times as big as the usuall cup to drink in : see Ains . in Psal . 80.6 .

Secondly , He tels them that they must be baptized with his baptisme , that is to say , they must be put to death by the malice of tyrants , as he must be , and this is expressed by the metaphor of baptising : for baptising is a diving , or drowning of the whole body under water , Lev 26.10.21 , 22 , and therfore Christ ordained baptising to be used of his people as a typicall signe of drowning and mortifying the body of sin in his blood : But baptizing by tyrants , was used to drown mens bodies by death , and therfore Christ saith , I am entred into the deep waters Ps. 69.2.15 . Ps. 88.16 . and in this very sence the Apostle saith , ; Else what shall they do that are baptized for dead ( namely , that are baptized with death as Martyrs are ) If the dead rise not at all , why are they then baptized for dead ? 1 Cor . 15.29 . Godly Martyrs would never be baptized with death , if the hope of a better resurrection did not animate their spirits to suffer death for the truths sake , being thereby conformable to the death of Christ , as Paul doth intimate in Phi . 3.10 , 11.

By these two expressions , which are synonima or equivalent , our Savior doth inform the two Sons of Zebede what the true nature of his sufferings should be , namely , no other but such only as they should one day suffer from the hands of tyrants : therefore the troubled feare which Matthew and Mark do ascribe unto Christ a little before his apprehension , must be understood of his naturall feare of death , and not of his Fathers wrath , and so consequently , all the sufferings of Christ were from mans wrath and malice , incited by the Devill ( with Gods allowance ) but not from Gods wrath : his soule was not touched with any suffering ( from Gods wrath at all ) except by way of sympathy from his bodily sufferings onely .

Trades .

I conceive you are greatly mistaken to say that Christ did so much trouble himself with the fear of his naturall death onely , seeing Luke doth affirm that his troubled feare , caused him to sweat drops of blood , I think no naturall feare of death could have caused such an agony : Therfore doubtless his troubled feare was caused by the feeling of his Fathers wrath , which now had seised upon his soule for our sinnes .

Divine ,

If the circumstances of his Agony be well weighed , it will appeare that it did not proceed from his Fathers wrath , but from his naturall fear of death only : The text runs thus : Being in an Agony , his sweat was as it were great drops of blood , and in another place Luke doth tell us , That the remembrance of his death , did breed a great pain in his minde , long before the time of his death came , even like the pains of a woman in travel ; and such kind of pains in the mind might well be called sweating paines ; and as he was true Man he must be touched with the fear of death in a very great measure , as the Prophets did foretell in Ps. 22. and in Psal . 69. therefore it was necessary that he should be stricken with the fear of death as much as his true Humane Nature could beare without sin , as I noted ere while from M. Calvin .

2. Adde to these pains of his minde , his earnest prayer to be delivered from his naturall fear of death , for he must fully and wholly overcome his naturall fear of death before he could make his oblation ; and therefore he did pray often and earnestly with strong crying and tears to be delivered from the fear of death , and such prayers may well be called sweating prayers .

These two things concurring together in our Saviour , might well cause a violent sweat over all his body ▪ with great drops like drops of blood .

The feare of death doth often cause men to sweat ; and earnest prayer doth often cause men to sweat .

Hence I reason thus : If the naturall fear of death , and the striving of the spirit in earnest wrestling prayer , may cause men to sweat , then it might cause our Saviours Humane Nature to sweat much more , 1. because he must be stricken with the fear of death as much as his true Humane Nature could bear without sinne to fulfill the predictions of all the Prophets ; and 2. because he could pray above measure , more earnestly then any man , because hee had the spirit of prayer above measure , therefore he might and did so strive in prayer with God for power to overcome his naturall fear of death , in which respects it might well cause him to sweat great drops like drops of blood ; so then Christ had two things to doe at this time : the one as he was true Man , and the other as he was the Mediatour : 1. as he was true Man , he must be touched with the fear of death as much as his true Humane Nature could bear without sin ; and secondly , as he was Mediator , he must fully and wholly overcome his naturall feare of death by prayer , before he could make his oblation : for by mutuall covenant with his Father , his oblation must be an active Mediatoriall oblation , he must lay downe his own life by his own active will , desire and power , without the least naturall unwillingness to die , John 10.17 , 18. so that if there had remained in him but the least naturall unwillingnesse to die when he made his oblation , the efficacy of his oblation had been lost : therefore there was a necessity for him to pray , and to strive in prayer untill hee overcame it , as I shall further explaine the matter by and by in Heb . 5.7 .

No marvell then , that our Saviour fell into such an Agony in the night before his death , seeing it was not an easie thing to alter the property of nature from a desire to live , to a desire to die , and that not for his own ends or benefit , but for the sake of the Elect onely ; and all this he must perform in exact obedience to his Fathers will ; he must observe the due time of every action , the manner , the place , and the persons , and all other circumstances to fulfill every circumstance just as the Prophets had foretold , nothing must fail , if he had but failed in the least circumstance , he had failed in all , and his Humane Nature could not be exact in all these circumstances without the concurrence of his Divine Nature .

In all these respects his naturall feare of death could not chuse but be very often in his minde , and as often to put him into pain till he had overcome it .

2. Though it be very rare among men to sweat blood , and yet live after it , yet I conceive it is not beyond the power of Humane Nature so to doe : M. Foxe in his Booke of Martyrs reporteth from other Histories , that one Scanderbeg was in such an Agony when he was fighting against the Turks , See M. Fox in his Acts and Monuments Tom . 1. p. 973. That the blood hath been seen to burst out of his lips with very eagernesse of spirit onely ; and I have heard also from credible persons , That Alexander the Great did sweat blood in the couragious defence of himselfe and others in a desperate assault : and it is not unknown unto many that divers years since there was a sweating sicknesse or a violent sweating Feaver , that caused many persons to sweat out of their bodies a bloody humor , and yet many of them did recover and live many years after . But if their sweating blood had been a sign of Gods wrath upon their souls ( as you say it was in Christ ) then I think they could not have lived any longer by the strength of nature .

3. Doe but consider a little more seriously what a horrid thing to nature the approach of death is : see in how many horrid expressions David doth describe it , in Psal . 116.3 . and in Psal . 18.4 , 5. and in Psal . 55.4 , 5. in this last place David saith thus , My heart is sore pained within me , and the terrors of death are fallen upon me , fearfulness and trembling are faln upon me , and horror hath overwhelmed me : he saith , that his heart was sore pained ( namely , as the pains of a woman in travel ) and in v. 5. horror hath overwhelmed me , namely , with an amazed quaking , as it often fals out when the human senses are smitten with sudden fear , and so our Saviour was pained in his minde with the thought of his death a long time before the time of his death came : and therefore it must needs affect him the deeper when the time of his death was at hand .

Suppose that Adam in his innocency had grapled with the fear of death , would it not have wrought a strange mutation in his naturall affections ? and would it not have wrought a strange paine in his minde ? doubtlesse it would , and like enough it would have caused a violent sweat over all his body ; no marvell then , if it wrought such a sweating Agony upon our Saviours pure Nature .

4. It is no strange new doctrine to make the naturall feare of death to be the cause of Christs Agony , seeing other learned men doe affirm it : Christopher Carlile in his Treatise of Christs descent into hell , p. 46. saith thus : Was not Christ extreamly afflicted , when he for fear of death sweat drops in quantity as thick as drops of blood ? and Jo : Frith a godly Martyr saith thus in his Answer to Sir Tho : Moore B. 2. Christ did not onely weep , but he feared so sore , that he sweat drops like drops of blood running down upon the earth , which was more then to weep : now ( saith he ) if I should ask you , why Christ feared and sweat so sore ? what would you answer me ? was it for fear of the pains of purgatory ? hee that shall so answer , is worthy to be laughed to scorn : wherefore then was it ? verily even for feare of death , as it appeareth plainly by his prayer , for he prayed to his Father , saying , If it be possible , let this Cup passe from me : what Cup was it that Christ would have to passe from him ? Surely , it was no other Cup but such as the two sonnes of Zebedeus must drink of : Mark 10.38 , 39. and what cup must they drinke of , but the bitter Cup of their naturall death ; therefore the Cup which Christ drank of , was nothing else but the bitter Cup of death .

Trades .

I confesse that your interpretation of the cause of Christs Agony , doth make me doubt of my interpretation , and yet I am not satisfied in the point in question , because it is further objected that Christs Agony was so extream , that his Father was fain to send an Angel to strengthen him , which M. Calvin thinks was not sent till after he was in an Agony , and in all likelihood God would not have sent an Angel to support him against the fear of his bodily death , therefore it was to support him under the sense of his Fathers wrath .

Divine .

It passeth my understanding to finde out how an Angel could support our Saviour under the sense of his Fathers wrath ; can Angels appease Gods wrath ? or can Angels support a mans soul to bear it ? it is absurd to think so : God will not afford the least drop of water to cool any mans tongue that is tormented in the flames of his wrath : therefore that cannot be the reason why God sent an Angel to comfort him .

But on the contrary it is evident , that God doth often use to comfort his people against the fear of death by the Ministery of Angels : as for example , when Esau came to destroy Jacob , God sent an Angel to comfort him , Christ as he wa● true Man , so he stood in need of the Ministery of Angels to comfort him against the fear of death and against other temptations also . Gen. 32. and when Daniel was cast into the Lions den to be devoured , God sent an Angel to comfort him , Dan. 6. and he sent his Angel to deliver Peter out of prison when his death was determined : why then should not God send an Angel to comfort the Man Christ against the fear of death , seeing as he was true Man , he stood in need of comfort against the fear of death .

2. The Lord had bound himself by promise to support the Mediator under all his temptations by the Ministery of Angels , as in Ps. 91.11 , 12. Hee shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways ; They shall bear thee up in their hands , lest thou dash thy foot against a stone . Therefore the Fathers sending of an Angel to comfort his Son in his Agony , was not an evidence that his Father was angry with him for our sins , but it was a sure evidence to him that his Father was highly well pleased with him even in the time of his Agony ; and therefore also he sent an Angel to comfort him even in the view or knowledge of his Disciples , that they might take notice of the love of the Father to his Sonne in the time of his Agony , and that they might leave it upon record to the Church of God to the worlds end : it is likely that God sent this Angel to assure him that his prayer was heard , and to assure him that his naturall fear of death should be wholly taken from him before he made his soul a sacrifice for sin .

3. It is one chief part of the office of Angels to attend upon the Mediator both at his Birth , Baptisme and Death ; God hath ordained them to attend upon Christ and upon all his members , especially in the time of their saddest trials and temptations ; and therfore in the time of Christs threefold temptation , the Angels came and ministred to him , Mat . 4.11 . and this ministery of Angels in the time of his threefold temptation , was a sure argument not of his Fathers wrath , but of his Fathers love , The Angels of God must ascend and descend upon the Son of Man , John 1.51 .

Trades .

Sir me thinks the naturall fear of death should not put our Saviour into such an Agony , for many Martyrs have gone through the fears and pains of death with more courage and lesse fear of death a great deal .

Divine .

I have given you I think sufficient reasons formerly to prove that the fear of death was the cause of his Agony , There is good reason why Christ should shew more fear of death then many Martyrs have done . and good reasons there are why Christ should be more afraid of death then many Martyrs have been , namely , for the clear manifestation of the truth of his Humane Nature , and also for the accomplishment of the predictions that went before touching his sufferings : But if he would he could have shewed lesse fear of death , and more true valour then ever any Martyrs have done , as it is evident by his walking in the midst of the fiery furnace with the three Noble Martyrs in Babylon : But then his death would not have been so usefull to his children , which for feare of death are all their life time subject to bondage .

Trades .

Sir , I must needs acknowledge that I cannot contradict any of your expositions hitherto : but yet I am not satisfied in the point in question ; and therefore I will propound another place of Scripture to your consideration , which is much cited by Divines to prove that Christs troubled fear in the night before his death was from the sense of his Fathers wrath for our sins .

In Heb . 5.7 . Christ in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able save him from death : And he was heard in that which he feared .

Dr. Fulk doth maintain Beza for expounding this word Fear to mean the fear of astonishment at the feeling of Gods wrath for our sins , See Dr. Fulk in his defence of our English Translation , p. 247. which lay infinitely more heavy upon his soul thou any torments did upon his body .

Divine .

I reverence your Authours , but yet I must tell you that there are other learned and godly Divines , that are contrary to them in the interpretation of this word Fear .

King James Translators doe read it thus in the margine : Hee was heard , because of his piety : and M. Tyndall , and M. Overdale translate it thus , He was heard for his Reverence : and the Geneva in other places translate the same Greek word [ godly ] fear : as in Luke 2.25 . Simeon feared God , and in Act. 8.2 . Those that buried Stephen , are called Religious men fearing God , and in Heb . 12.28 . they translate the same Greek word godly fear , Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear : and in this very sense must the Greek word bee translated in Heb . 5.7 . He was heard because of his godly Fear , or because of his Reverence , or pious Fear .

The Greek word doth properly signifie such a Fear as makes a man exceeding wary and heedfull how he toucheth any thing that may hurt him : it signifies such a wary fear , True godly fear doth make a soul carefull to doe every duty that may please God , and wary to shun the least sin that may offend God . as men have of the apple of their eye ; they are exceeding carefull that not so much as a little mote may hurt it . This kind of wary and tender feare is proper to godlinesse : true godly persons will be very wary , not onely how they may doe every thing that may please God , but also how they may avoyd every thing that may offend the tender ey of God , Iob . 1.1 . and such a wary Godly fear was in Christ , ( and therefore he is called the Holy one of God , Ps. 16.10 . ) he feared to offend God , lest there should remain in him but the lest naturall unwillingnesse to die , when he came to make his oblation , and therefore he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares , unto him that was able to save him from death : and he was heard because of his godly fear . And by this Greek word , the 70. translate , the Hebrew word Chasid , which signifies a gracious Saint , or one that is Pious , Merciful , and full of Godly fear and care , Mi. 7.2 . Pro . 2.8 . and by this Greek word the 70 express the Godly fear of the Rubenites Ios . 22.24 . & in Le . 15.31 . Ye shal religiously separate the Sons of Israel , the 70 say , ye shall make them wary ; so M. Ains . doth render the Greek word from the 70.

Secondly , I come now to explain the very thing it selfe , from which Christ prayed to be saved , and that was , that he might be delivered from death , and this petition was the Masterpiece of all his prayers .

But for the better understanding of the very thing it self , that he did so often and so earnestly pray to be delivered from , wee must consider him with a twofold respect : first as he was true man , and secondly as he was our Mediator . First as he was true man , he prayed to be saved from death conditionally : If it be possible , let this cup pass from me . Mat . 26.39 .

Secondly , We must consider him in this Text , as he was our Mediator ; and so he prayed to be saved from death absolutely , namely , to be saved from his naturall feare of death , when hee came to make his oblation , Christ in the dayes of his flesh did often and earnestly pray to his Father to be delivered from his naturall feare of death , when he came to make his oblation , lest it should spoyle the efficacy of his oblation , and he was heard because of his Godly fear . for he knew well enough , that if there had remained in him but the least naturall unwillingness to die , when he came to make his oblation , it would have spoyled the Mediatoriall efficacie of his oblation , for he had from Eternity Covenanted with his Father , to give his soule ( by his own active power ) as a Mediatoriall Sacrifice of Atonement for our sins ; Ioh . 10.17.18 . therefore he must not die a passive death , by the power of man , but he must die as a Mediator , by the actuall and joynt concurrence of both his natures , no man must or could force his soule out of his body , by all the torments they could devise , but he must separate his own soule from his own body , by the joynt concurrence of both his natures ; and truely , if there had remained in him but the least naturall unwillingnesse to die , at the time of his oblation , it would have appeared one way or other , for the Lord did try him at his death , with sundry harsh and sharp tryals , for hee gave Satan liberty to instigate the Iewes and Romans against him , and with lyon-like cru●ltie , to naile his hands and feet to the Cross , where he aboad in great torments , three full houres together , but in all that time Satan could not finde any thing against him to blemish his oblati●n w●●hall , and God could not finde any thing against him , because he testified his full acceptance by miracles at his death ; and thereupon , the Centurion said , truely this man was the son of God ; Christ , made his oblation in exact obedience to Gods will , both for matter , manner and time ; and therefore as soone as the just appoynted hour● ( which was foretold by Daniel ) was come ; he did but say , Father Into thy hands I commend my spirit ; and at that very instant he breathed out his soule , by the power of his God-head , Heb . 9.14 . and this Mediatorial action of his , was the highest degree of obedience , that the Father required , or that the Son could performe for mans Atonement and Redemption ; his obedience in his death , was not legall , but Mediatoriall obedience , neither was his death , a bare humane death , but it was a Mediatorial death ; it was the death and obedience of God-man : if he had died a passive death , it had been but a humane death , and if he had performed no other obedience but legall obedience , it had been but humane obedience , and then it could not have been meritorious for the procuring of Gods Atonement for our Redemption , justification and adoption .

But the death of Christ was Mediatorial , and therefore it was very often in his minde , and in his speech long before the time of his death came , as it may appeare by his often telling of it to his Disciples , as in Mat . 16.21 . and in Mat . 17.22 , 23. and in Mat . 20.18 , 19.24 . and in Mat . 21.38 . see also in Mar. 8.31 , 32. Ma. 9.10.12 . Luk . 9.22.31 . Luk . 12.50 . Luk . 17.25 . Luk . 22.15 . Ioh . 12.27 . by these Scriptures it is evident , The Masterpiece of all Christs prayers was to be saved from his naturall feare of death , when he came to make his oblation . that Christ did often speake of his death to his Disciples . : therefore seeing this action of his , was so often in his minde and mouth , he could not chuse but make it the Masterpiece of all his prayers , and doubtless in this respect chiefly , he spent whole nights in prayer , Luk . 6.12 . Luk . 21.37 . Yea he spent 40. dayes together in fasting and prayer ; when he did first enter publiquely into his Mediators office , then he prayed for power and strength to do the office of the Mediator , and therefore it is no question but he did then pray in a speciall manner to be delivered from his naturall unwillingnesse to die , when he came to make his oblation ; for if there had remained in him but the least naturall unwillingnesse to die at the time of his oblation , it would have spoyled the efficacie of his Mediatorial oblation .

Secondly , He prayed also to be delivered from the dominion of death , after he had made his oblation , and God heard him , and delivered him by his Resurrection on the third day , Act. 2.24.27 .

Therefore , seeing Christ was so deepely possessed with this Godly feare , lest he should offend God by his naturall unwillingnesse to die , it must needs banish far from him that horrid feare of Gods wrath which your Authors say this word feare doth signifie : I confess I cannot but wonder that such learned men should expound the word feare , in this text , to meane such a dreadfull feare as they must needs feele that lie under the sense of Gods wrath .

Secondly , Neither doth the word feare in this text , signifie such an amazed naturall fear of death , as that other word fear doth signifie in Mar. 14.33 . which word I have expounded , to signifie our Saviors troubled naturall feare of death , and no more .

But I think I have said sufficient already , to prove that this word fear in Heb . 5.7 . must be understood of Christs Godly , tender , warie feare , lest he should offend God by his naturall unwillingness to die , when he came to make his oblation ; and therefore it caused him in the dayes of his flesh , to offer up many prayers and supplications , with strong cryings and teares unto him that was able to save him from death ( namely , from his naturall sear of death ) and he was heard because of his Godly fear .

Trades .

Sir , I cannot for the present gainesay your Exposition of this Text , and yet I am not satisfied in the poynt in question ; and therefore I will alledg another Scripture , which is much cited by Divines , to prove that Christ did suffer the wrath of God for our sinnes .

In Psal . 22.1 . My God , my God , why hast thou forsaken mte ?

Most Interpreters conclude from this Text , that God did suffer his Son in Anger , because he had imputed to him all our sins .

Divine .

Many Divines I confesse , do make such an Exposition upon the word forsaken , in this text , as you do , but yet other Divines do differ from them .

Mr. Braughton saith , My God my God , Christ was not forsaken of God in anger when he suffered ●●th upon the Cross . sheweth that Christ was not forsaken of God , but that God was still his hope . Secondly , saith he , The word sorsaken is not in the text , but why dost thou leave me , but namely , why dost thou leave me to the griefs following , from the malice of the Iewes , as they are expressed in the body of the Psalme . Thirdly saith he , None ever expounded one matter , and made his amplification of another .

But Ps 22. hath amplification of griefes caused by men , and not from Gods anger . Therefore the proposition in Ver . 1. is not a complaint to God , that he sorsooke his soule in anger for our sins .

M. Robert Wilmot also in his Treatise upon the Articles of Christ descent into Hell , sheweth at large , that the tearm forsaken , is not so proper in this place , as the tearme leave : and he doth parallel it with the word leave , in Ps. 16.10 .

M. Ainsworth saith that this Hebrew word in Ps. 22.1 . which we translate Forsaken , may be translated , why leavest thou me , and saith M. Ainsworth in a Letter to my selfe , There is no material difference betweene leaving and forsaking , so as the meaning be kept sound , for as God did never forsake his Son , Ioh . 16 , 32. so God did never leave his Son , Ioh . 7.29 . Ps. 16.8 . But especially , God did not forsake his Son in anger , when he performed the highest act of obedience that ever God required , or that the Son could performe when he made his soule a Mediatoriall Sacrifice of Atonement , yea , Christ himselfe doth testifie that his Father did not forsake him then , but on the contrarie , that he did then stand at his right hand to assist him , that he might not be moved Ps. 16.8 . Ps. 109.31 . Ps. 42.6 . Esa . 50.7.10 . yea , he doth testifie that he did alshayes , abide in his Fathers love , because he did alwaies keepe his Commandements , Ioh . 15.10 .

Therefore it followes by good consequence , that Christ doth not complaine in Ps. 22. that God had forsaken him in anger for our sins : But our Saviours complaint must run thus , why hast thou left me into the hands of my Malignant adversaries , to be used as a notorious malefactor ? It is not so fit a phrase to say , Why hast thou forsaken me into the hands of my malignant adversaries ? as to say , Why hast thou left me me into the hands of my malignant adversaries .

God forsakes the damned totally and penally , because there is no place of repentance left open to them : but he did not so forsake his Sonne , neither did he forsake his Son by any inward desertion , as hee doth sometimes forsake his own people for the triall of their grace : But he left his Son only outwardly when he left him into the hands of Tyrants to be punished as a malefactor without any due triall of his cause .

Therefore the complaint of Christ lies fair and round thus : Why hast thou left me in my righteous cause unto the will of my malignant adversaries to be condemned and put to death as a wicked malefactor : formerly they sought daily to take me in the Temple , but they could not apprehend me , because thou didst stand by me in my just cause ; But now the howre and power of darknesse is come upon me , because thou hast left me into their hands , Luke 22.53 . For now thou hast given the Devil leave to enter into Judas to betray me , and into the Scribes and Pharisees to apprehend me , and to accuse me to Pilate with sundry grosse and false imputations : Now thou hast left me also into the hands of the Roman Deputy to condemne me , and to crucifie me with Lion-like rage , as if I were a grosse Malefactor , without any legall proof of those things which my Malignant adversaries the Jewes doe lay unto my charge .

And after this manner that blessed Martyr John Hus did expostulate his cause with God , for he maintained the truth of the Gospel : and yet God left him ( as he did Daniel ) unto the will of his malignant adversaries , namely , unto the will of the Popish Councell of Constance , so that he could not obtain so much justice at their hands as to have his cause duly tried ; they accused him for an H●retique , and yet they refused to make proof of any particular Heresie against him , and at last they condemned him to bee burnt for an Heretique ; See his Formall Appeal in Fox Tom . 1. p. ●5 . In this case he appealed to Iesus Christ for justice , saying , My God , My God , why hast thou forsaken me ? but doubtlesse , if Iohn Hus had thought that Iesus Christ had forsaken his soul in anger , when he used that phras● , he would never have died a Martyr . Therefore his meaning by that speech was no more but to expostulate his case with Christ , why he left him into their mercilesse hands in so good a cause , seeing he could not obtaine so much common justice as to have his cause duly tried .

Another godly Martyr and Preacher at Burdeaux : Amond de Laroy by name , being examined with extream tortures for the truth of the Gospel , fainted away in the time of his torments , but as soon as he came to himself again , he said , Lord , Lord , why hast thou forsaken me ? Ex Fox Tom . 2. p. 130.

And truly if God had not forsaken Iohn Huz in his good cause , his precious faith and constant perseverance , had not been so well known and manifested , for the glory of God , for the witnessing of the truth , and for the good example of others , neither had the tyranny of Antichrist been so much detected , nor so much abhorred of the Bohemians , as it was by their unjust proceedings against him .

And for such like holy ends as these , God forsook David in a good cause : see Ps. 43.2 . & Ps. 74.1 . & Ps. 44.23 , 24. & Ps. 13.1 , 2. and in Ps. 42.9 . David doth there complain to God , saying , My God , my Rock , why hast thou forgotten me ? why goe I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy ? and just after this sort must the complaint of Christ be understood in Ps. 22.1 . Why hast thou left me in my righteous cause to be condemned against law and justice , I know no evill in my hands , neither can my malignant adversaries justly and legally prove those sinnes against me which they lay to my charge , and yet they bear others in hand that I suffer death justly , and therefore in a scoffing manner they say , If thou bee the Sonne of God come down from the Crosse , Mat . 27.40.42 . he saved others , himselfe hee cannot save , if God will have him , let him delivor him ; and then after all these reproachfull speeches , Christ burst out into this speech , My God , my God , why hast thou left me , Mat . 27.46 .

Christ was forsaken in his good cause , not onely by his Father for holy ends , but also by his own dear Disciples ; but they did not forsake him in the inward affections of their souls , they forsooke him onely outwardly through humane infirmity for a time ; and thus C●rist was left alone in a good cause , as a sparrow upon the house top , as an Owl in Desart , and as a Pellican in the wildernesse , Psa . 102.

And Christopher Carlisle upon the Article of Christs descent into Hell , maketh this interrogation in pa. 46. did not Christ upon the Crosse say , Lord , Lord , why hast thou forsaken me ? was n●t death a great terror to him ? In this speech he makes the word Forsaken to signifie Gods forsaking of his Son no otherwise but as he ●●lt him into the hands of wicked men to be condemned to death : and in all his Treatise he hath not one word about sussering of his Fathers wrath : and yet he makes use of Ps. 22.1 . and he doth also make use of M. Calvins judgement in other points t●ough he doth differ from him in his Exposition of Ps. 22.1 .

Trades .

Sir I pray you shew me the drift of Psalm 22.

Divine .

Your request is good and necessary , for by this means you may the better see how Christ was forsaken of God : First , th●r●fore take notice of this one thing as a foundation rule to the right understanding of this Psalm .

That the Holy Ghost hath indited this Psalm by the Prophet David in the Person of Christ : if so , then all the words of this Psalm must have relation to the Person of Christ .

This appears evidently , first , by the Title , and secondly , by severall passages in the Psalm , which are applied by Christ in the New Testament .

See H. Bro in Lords Family , F. 4. & A 4. and in Reg . of Cons . pa 80. also see Ams in Ps. 22.1 . 1. The Title , by some of the Hebrew Doctors is translated The Morning Star : and so Christ doth style himself in Rev. 22.16 . I am the Bright , and the Morning Star : and in Rev. 22.28 . Hee doth promise to give to all victorious Christians , The Morning Star , and in Numb . 24.17 . Christ was Prophetically styled The Star of Jacob : and at his Birth a strange Blazing Star did demonstrate the same , Mat . 2.2.7.9 . so then in Rev. 22.16 . C rist doth Thalmudise .

Others of the Hebrew D●ctors translate it , The force and strength of the morning : but this Translation may well accord with the former : for as the Morning Star is called the Sonne of the Morning , Esay 14.12 . so it may as well be called The Force or Strength of the Morning ; for as a mans first-born son is counted the chiefest of his strength , Gen , 49.3 . so the Morning Starre is the first-born son of the morning , and therefore it may also be called The Strength of the Morning .

Others translate it The Hind of the Morning : and this Translation also may well accord with the former , for a Hinde is called in Hebrew Aijeleth , that is to say , Prowest or Fortitude , but why a Hinde is called The Hinde of the Morning , I cannot finde out , except it be by way of allusion to the Morning Star , which may as fitly b● called the Hinde of the morning , as the ( first begotten ) Son ( or strength ) of the morning .

2. It is evident that this Psalm is all spoken in the Person of Christ , because the New Testament doth apply sundry passages of this Psalm unto Christ , as these places of Scripture doe witness , Mat . 27.46.43.35.39 . John 19.23 , 24. Iohn 20.25.27 . Heb . 2.12 .

The Psalm it self hath two principall parts .

The first part is from V. 1. to V. 21. In all which verses Christ doth complain to his Father of his unjust usage from his malignant adversaries .

The second part of this Psalm is from V. 22. to the end of the Psalm , wherein the glory of the Mediator is described by the Gospel , namely , the efficacy of his Death and Resurrection is published by the Gospel to all the world , and by means thereof he obtained a name above every name , That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow , as the Apostle Paul doth expound v. 29. in Phil . 2.10 .

V. 1. My God , my God : This tearm My God , my God , doth set forth t●e property of Gods mercy t● his people , as in Psalm 118.28 . The Lord is El , or , The Lord is my God that giveth light unto us : and Christ doth comfort Mary Magdalen with this title of affiance in God : my God , and your God , Jo● . 20.17 . and when Thomas had overcome his unbeleef , he expresseth the force of his faith by doubling the tearm of his affiance , saying , My Lord , and my God , Joh . 20.28 . Therefore seeing Christ in this place doth double the tearm of his affiance in God , saying , My God , my God , it proves evidently that God had not forsaken his soul in anger for our sinnes , but that God was still his Hope , and that ●e would at last turn all his sufferings but unto the triall of his perfect obedience .

V. 1. Why hast thou left me : namely , in my good cause to be condemned and crucified : or else these words may be taken as an expostulating prayer , I pray thee leave me not in a good cause , but at last justifie me in my cause by my Resurrection , and by revenging my unjust usage upon my malignant adversaries , as it is implied in the second part of this Psalm , and as God had promised to doe for him in Ps. 89.23 . the like imprecation Christ makes upon his implacable enemies , Ps. 109.28 , 29. see also Mat . 21.40 . & Mat . 22.7 . and thus God justified the cause of Daniel , and the cause of David against Nabal , 1 Sam . 25.39 . and the cause of Iohn Huz ( at last ) by revenging him upon his enemies , as the victories of the Bohemians against them doe witness to all posterities , and God doth promise to plead against those that plead against his people , Isa . 49.25 .

V. 1. Why art thou so far from my help , and from the words of my roaring ? why doest thou leave me unto the will of my malignant adversaries ? not withstand my prayers and my righteous cause ?

V. 2. O God I cry in the day time , and thou hearest not , and in the night season , and there is no silence to me .

The diligence and perseverance of Christ in prayer to be delivered from the power of his malignant adversaries took effect : for though he died , yet he died not by their power , and God did hear him because hee stood at his right hand to assist him , that so hee might not be moved from his stedfast obedience by any temptations whatsoever , as I have expounded Heb . 5.7 . see also his perseverance , and how he spent whole nights in prayer , Luke 6.12 . Luke 21.37 . John 17.

V. 3. Thou sittest , O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel , namely , thou sittest as a King upon thy Throne of Justice , therefore I appeal to thee for justice against my malignant adversaries , as Psal . 47.8 . Judge thou my cause , for I commit my cause to thee that judgest righteously , 1 Pet . 2.23 . Ps. 9.7 . Deliver mee also from the power of my malignant adversaries , namely , by my Resurrection at last , and so thou shalt inhabit the praises of all thy true Israel .

V. 6. But I am a worm and no man : namely , I am no better esteemed of my malignant adversaries then a base worme : they think if I had been their true Messiah , that I would never have lived so poor a life , nor died so base a death , Isa . 53.2 .

V. 7. All that see me laugh me to scorn , they shoot out the lip , they shake the head : thus the Jews scoffed our Saviour when he was crucified , Mat . 27.39 .

V. 8. He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him : with these words the Jews did ironically skoffe our Saviour when hee was crucified , Mat . 27.43 . the like scoffing behaviour is also expressed in Ps. 109.25 .

V. 9 , 10. Thou art he that tookest me out of the womb , when there was no midwife in the Inne to help me : and thou didst also save my life from Herod , by warning my parents to fly into Aegypt : therefore deliver me still from the dominion of death by my Resurrection .

V. 11. Be not far from me , for trouble is neer , and there is not a helper , for even my own Disciples have through humane infirmity forsaken me in my just cause .

V. 12. Many Buls have compassed me : that is to say , my malignant adversaries the Iewes doe use me in their fury like the fierce Buls of Bashan , and so the Prophets foretold that they should bee like them in their fierce qualities , Deut. 32.15 . Amos 4.1 . Hos . 4.16 .

V. 13. They have gaped upon me with their mouth like a ravening and roaring lion : that is to say , my malignant adversaries are like the ravening lions in their behaviours towards me , whose fierce nature is described in Ps. 1.2 . and in Ps. 17.12 . and in Iob 4.

V. 14. I am poured out like water : my malignant adversaries have used their endevours to shed out my life like water on the ground , that it may never be gathered up again , they know that I have power to lay down my life , and power to take it up again .

All my bones are out of joynt : by their cruell racking and straining my body upon the Crosse .

My heart is melted in the midst of my bowels : that is to say , the evill spirit that is in my malignant adversaries , and their tortures , doe make my humane affections to melt in the midst of my bowels .

My strength is dried up like a potsheard , through the anguish of my torments .

My tongue cleaveth to my jawes , through vehement ●●●rs●●●ssing from my tormentors : see Iob 19.18 .

V. 15. Thou hast brought me into the dust of death : here it may justly be enquired , whether God brought Christ into the dust of Death , after the manner of other malefactors , or how ? The answer is , that God did not so bring Christ into the dust of death , as he doth other men , namely , not so as death is laid upon man for sin , Gen. 3.19 .

God appointed Christ to die a double kinde of death : namely , as a Malefactor , and as a Mediator at one and the same time . But for the better understanding of the true difference , I will distinguish upon the death of Christ : for God appointed him to die a double kind of death ; first , as a Malefactor ; and secondly , as a Mediator : and all this at one and the same time .

First , he died as a Malefactor by Gods determinate counsel and decree : he gave the devill leave to enter into Iudas to betray him , and into the Scribes and Pharisees , and Pontius Pilate to condemn him , and to doe what they could to put him to death , and in that respect God may be truly said to bring him into the dust of death , Gen. 3.15 . Acts 2.23 . Acts 4.28 .

Secondly , notwithstanding all this , Christ died as a Mediator : and therefore his death was not really finished by those torments which he suffered as a Malefactor , for as he was our Mediatour he separated his own soul from his body by the power of his Godhead , Heb . 9.14 .

All the Tyrants in the world , could not separate his soule from his body , ( Ioh . 19.11 . ) no not by all the tortures they could devise , till himselfe pleased to actuate his own death , by the joynt concurrence of both his natures , Ioh . 10.18 . This thing considered , there must needs be an exceeding wide difference betweene the death of Christ , and the death of the two Malefactors that were crucified with him : for though they were crucified all al●ke by the hand of man , yet they did not die all alike death , for the two Malefactors died of those torments that were inflict●d upon their bodies , and so God brought them into the dust of death , according to the propper meaning of that curse that was inflicted upon Adam for sin , Gen. 3.19 . But the death of Christ , namely , the separation of his soul from his body was done , not by his torments , but by his own active power , even by the joynt concurrence of both his Natures : Nebuchadnezzar could not by all his power separate the souls of the three Noble Martyrs from their bodies in the fiery furnace till Christ pleased , for hee was with them in the midst of the fire to preserve their souls in their bodies , until the time that he had appointed ; neither could the hungry Lyons destroy Daniel's body till God pleased ; neither could the Divel by all that he could do , separate Job's soul from his body , though he had leave to poison his body with a pestilent inflamation , which broke out into grievous Biles over all his body , from the crown of his head , to the soals of his feet ; I say , notwithstanding all this , the Divel could not separate Iob's soul from his body , because God had reserved Iob's life in his own power ; Iob 2.6 . neither could the Sea drown Ionah , nor the Whale take away his life , because God had appointed to save his life , as a type of the Burial and Resurrection of Christ , Mat . 12.40 . The souls of all these persons could not be separate from their bodies by the power of any Tyrants , till Gods appointed time was come , and yet all these were sinners , and therefore they were subject to death , as it was a curse inflicted by God upon man for sin , because he was without sin ; and therefore his death must be considered as it was Mediatorial , Active and Voluntary : and yet in some sense he also dyed a passive death , for he suffered the sores of death as the two Malefactors did , and in this last sense it is that Christ saith in this Text , Thou hast brought me into the dust of death : Thou didst it , because thou didst give Sathan leave to do it ; and Sathan did it , because he did stir up his Instruments to do it ; and his Instruments the Scribes and Pharisees did it , because they did endeavor to do it ; for what wicked men endeavor to do , they are often said to do , as is declared at large in the second part : and what God did foretel should be done by Sathan to the seed of the Woman , he may be said to do it ; Gen. 3.15 . see also Ainsw . in Gen. 49.7 . and in Gen. 48.22 .

V. 16. Dogs have compassed me , the Assembly of the wicked have enclosed me .

The high Priests and Rulers of Israel , together with Pilat and the Roman Souldiers , did assemble themselves like so many dogs to worry our Saviour to death , Mat . 20.18 , 19. Acts. 4.25 , 26 , 27. and you may see the rancorous disposition of dogs in Iob 30.1 . Prov. 26.11 . Mat . 7.6 . Phil . 3.2 . Rev. 22.15 . Psal . 59.7.15 .

They have Lion-like pierced my Hands and my Feet : In the Original there is a double reading in the margent CAARI [ like a Lion ] and in the Text CARu [ They digged or pierced ; namely , as a Lion ] And the Massorites Bible doth follow both readings [ They did bite as a Lion . ] I agree with M. Ainsworth and M. Broughton , that both readings are alike the work of the holy Ghost , because somtimes the holy Ghost doth annex both readings together ; as in Luke 4. and from that example Translators may well joyn both readings together , especially where no uncouthness of phrase is put into the Translation , as in this Text they may sute well together ; and therefore I joyn them together thus , They have Lion-like pierced . This piercing is borrowed from Gen. 3.15 . where God fore-told that the feet or foot-soals of the seed of the Woman should be pierced ; but David in this Psalm doth foretel , that his hands should be pierced as well as his feet ; and the manner also is here expressed , namely , that it should be done with Lion-like cruelty ; David did not think one word sufficient to set out the rage of the Scribes and Pharisees , and therefore he doth couple two words together to express it ; see with what violence and eagerness of spirit the Scribes and Pharises did persecute our Savior , to have his body rent and torn by crucifying , in Mat . 27.18.35 . it was done with Lion-like cruelty .

V. 18. They parted his Garments among them , and cast lots upon his Vesture : and this they did , because his coat was without seam , Mat . 27.35 . Iohn 19.23 , 24.

V. 19 , 20 , 21. Be not far from me , O Lord , my strength , but hasten to help me : Deliver my soul from the sword , and my darling from the power of these Dogs , and save me from the Lions , and from the horns of these Unicorns : Answer thou me ;

that is to say , Hear , and Deliver me , as Psal . 3.6 . Psal . 38.17 . namely , by delivering my soul out of the hands of all my malignant Adversaries by my resurrection , and by revenging my unjust usage upon them .

V. 22. I will declare thy Name to my Brethren , in the midst of the Congregation ( namely , of thy elect Church ) I will praise thee : See also Psal . 109.31 . Acts 2.25 .

Thus have I shewed unto you the dependance of the first part of this Psalm , by which you may see how the scope of this Psalm doth set out the sufferings of Christ to proceed not from Gods wrath , but from mans wrath only : neither do I find any thing of Gods wrath , either in this , or in any other Psalm : and yet Christ doth make as doleful complaint to God of his sufferings , both in this Psalm , and in Psalm 69. as any can be found in all the Bible : Therefore if he had suffered any thing from Gods wrath at all , how could David in these Psalmes have past it over without any mention of it ?

Trades .

Sir , I cannot contradict your Exposition of this Psalm , and yet I am not satisfied in the point in question , and therefore I will propound another Scripture to your consideration , which is much cited by Divines , to prove that Christ bare the Curse of the Law for our Redemption : In Gal. 3.13 .

Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law , being made a Curse for us ; as it is written , Cursed is every one that hangs upon a Tree .

In these words it seems to me that Christ bare the curse of the Law , even the eternal curse , because he bare our sins by Gods imputation , and the hanging on the Tree was a typical signe of it .

Divine ,

For your better understanding of this Scripture , you must first observe the Apostles drift in this Epistle , which chiefly is to prove , that we are justified by faith only , without the works of the Law : which he proves by many Arguments ; but in this Text he proves it thus , By the Law ( saith he ) we are cursed , as it is written in Deut. 27.26 . Cursed is every one that continues not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them ; and from this curse no corrupt son of Adam is able by his own works to free himself .

But saith the Apostle ( in v. 13. ) Christ hath ( freed us , or ) Redeem'd us from the Curse of the Law , when he was made a Curse for us ; as it is written ( in Deut. 21.23 . ) Cursed is every one that is hanged upon a Tree .

In this Text the Apostle speaks of a two-fold curse .

1. He speaks of the Eternal Curse , in v. 10. 2. He speaks of an outward temporary Curse in v. 13. such as all men do suffer that are hanged upon a Tree .

The Apostle brings in this latter curse in a Rhetorical manner only ; saying thus , Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law ( namely from the eternal curse , at the very self same time ) when he was made ( not that curse , but ) a Curse for us ; according to Deut. 21.23 .

Trades .

Sir , I conceive you do not fully express the meaning of that Curse in Deut. 21.23 . for there it is said , that he that is hanged is the Curse ( not of man , but ) of God : And that rare learned Divine Martin Luther in Gal. 3.13 . saith , That although these two sentences , He was made a Curse for us , and He was made Sin for us , may well be expounded after this manner , He was made a Curse , that is to say , a Sacrifice for the Curse , and Sin , that is to say , a Sacrifice for Sin ; yet in my judgement ( saith he ) it is better to keep the proper signification of the words , because there is greater force and vehemency therein : and in the conclusion he affirmeth , That Christ bare all our sins by imputation , and that he bare the Curse of the Law really for us ; and in respect of bearing our sins by Imputation , he saith , that Christ was the greatest sinner in the World , namely , the greatest Thief , Whoremaster , Blasphemer , &c.

Divine ,

I confess that Dr Luther was a rare Instrument in the Church of God in his days , and he hath expounded the Epistle to the Galatians better than many others ; but yet I believe he is far from the Apostles meaning in this matter ; and it seemeth to me that he had some doubt also about his exposition : But he thinketh that the latter curse may well be expounded of his Sacrifice for the curse ( and yet that exposition is not right neither ) for this latter curse is no other than an outward temporary curse ; for the Text in Deut. 21.22 . runs thus , If there be in a man a sin worthy of death , and thou hang him upon a Tree , &c. then he that is hanged is the curse of God : What curse of God is it that is meant ? I answer , That may be discerned by taking notice of what kind of persons , and for what kind of sins this curse of God doth fall upon any .

First , Take n●tice of the kind of persons that are here said to be the Curse of God ; and the Text describes them thus ; namely , He that is put to death as a Malefactor by the Magistrate .

Secondly , Take notice of the kind of sins that are said to des●rve his curse of hanging upon a Tree ; and they are described by this general term ; A sin worthy of death , namely , of this death , of hanging upon a Tree : Hence it is evident , that not every sin that deserved death [ by Thou , the Sanhedrin ] is here meant , but such sins onely are meant as deserved a double death [ by Thou , the Sanhedrin ] namely such sins as deserv●d 1. Stoning to death , and 2. such as deserved the Hanging up of their bodies upon a Tree , after they were stoned to death .

M. Calvin in Deut . 21.23 . saith , That the hanging of Christ upon a Tree was not after the manner that is here spoken of , for such as were stoned to death among the Iews , were also hanged up upon a Gibbet after they were dead ; and although they were not strangled nor beheaded , but overwhelmed with stones , yet were their bodies taken and hanged up afterwards , that all others might take example at them .

And M. Goodwin in Moses Rites , doth from the Hebrew Doctors , reckon up the particular sins for which men were first stoned to death , and after hanged , to be eighteen in number .

And M. Ainsworth doth also say , That the Hebrew Doctors do not understand this hanging , of being put to death by hanging , but of hanging a man up after he was stoned to death ; which was done for the greater detestation of such hainous malefactors : And he reckons up eighteen particular capital offences ( from the Hebrew Doctors ) that were first punished by stoning to death , and after that by hanging up their dead bodies upon a Tree .

And the rebellious son in Deut. 21.21 . is brought as an instance of this double punishment ; he was first stoned to death , and then he was hanged up upon a Tree after he was stoned to death : and from this particular instance Moses doth infer in v. 22. that if there be in a man ( that is to say , in any other man besides the rebellious Son ) a sin ( that is to say , any other capital sin ) that is worthy of death , ( namely , of this double kind of death ) and Thou ( the high Sanhedrin ) do hang him upon a Tree ( that is to say , after he is first stoned to death ) Thou shalt not let his Carcass remain all night upon the Tree , ( that is to say , not at all in the night ) but thou shalt surely bury him in the same day , at the going down of the Sun ; and the reason is added , because he is the Curse of God ; namely , because such sinners are more eminently cursed of God than other malefactors , because they were punished with the heaviest kind of death that the Judges of Israel did use to inflict upon any malefactors .

But in some capital cases God dispensed with this Law ; as for example , Rechab and Baanah were by Davids commandment first slain , and then their hands and feet ( which were the Instruments of their Treason ) were hanged up many days together , for the greater detestation of such like Traytors ; 2 Sam . 4.11 , 12. And so were those sons of Belial served , in Numb . 25.4 . first the bodies of the chiefest of them were slain , and then their dead bodies were hanged up to appease the Lords wrath : And Achan was first stoned to death , and afterwards his dead body was condemned to be burned , and all that he had . Iosh . 7.25 .

Having thus opened the true nature of the Curse in Deut. 21. let us now examine in what sense the Apostle doth apply it to the death of our Savior ; for I confess there is some likeness , and yet I say also , that there is a great deal of difference .

First , Every kind of death is the curse of God for sin , Gen. 3.19 . But such kind of sinners as are put to death by the Magistrate for capital sins , are more eminently cursed than those that dy by sickness ; and therefore , the greater punishment they suffer from the Magistrate , the greater outward curse they suffer .

Trades .

I grant that the hanging upon a Tree in Moses , was but an outward curse , but yet it was a type of that Eternal curse which Christ must suffer when he was hanged upon the Tree for our Redemption ; and so much the Apostle Paul doth aym at in Gal. 3.13 .

Divine ,

I think I have sufficiently proved that God did not appoint the hanging upon a Tree to be a type of the Eternal Curse , for if it had bin appointed by God to be a type of the Eternal Curse , then every one that is now hanged upon a Tree , should be eternally cursed , and then divers godly Martyrs that were crucified as Christ was , are eternally cursed , and then the penitent thief was eternally cursed .

But if the circumstances of the Text be well marked , they will tell you plainly that this hanging upon a Tree cannot be a Type of the Eternal Curse : For

First , This Law of Moses must not be understood of puting any man to death by hanging , but of hanging a dead body upon a Tree after it was first put to death by stoning : But Christ was crucified , or hanged upon a Tree not after he was dead , but whiles he was alive .

Secondly , This Hanging in Moses was done by the Judicial Law , and by the Civil Magistrates , and not by the Ceremonial Law , nor by the Priests .

Thirdly , This Hanging in Moses was commanded to be practised by the Magistrates of the Jews Common-wealth ; But the death which Christ suffered , was a Roman kind of death ; for Christ was not condemned to death by the Scribes and Pharises , but by Pilat the Roman Deputy . Iohn 18.31 .

The Jews had no power in their hands at that time to put any man to death , for if they had had the power of life and death in their own hands at that time , they would first have stoned our Savior to death , because they made him guilty of Blasphemy and Witchcraft , Iohn 19.7 . Iohn 10.33 . which sins were punished by stoning to death by Moses Law . But the Jews own Writers do testifie that the Romans had taken away the power of Life and Death from them before this time , namely forty yeers before the Destruction of Jerusalem , which was about two yeers before the death of Christ ; That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled , signifying what death he should dy ; John 8.32 . For Jesus had told his Disciples in Matth . 10.19 . That the Priests and Scribes should deliver him to the Gentiles , to mock , and to scourge , and to crucifie him : and just so it fell out , for the Scribes and Pharises could not condemn him to death , therefore they delivered him to Pilat the Roman Deputy , to be condemned and crucified ; and then the Roman Souldiers took him , and led him to the Cross ; they did mock him , and crown him with thorns , they whipt him with whips , and nayled him to the Cross . This kind of Roman death was used by them for the punishment of notorious malefactors , especially for the punishment of thieves , and fugitive slaves ; as M. Goodwin noteth in his Roman Antiq . lib . 3. c . 4.

In these particulars you see there was a great difference between the Roman Crucifying , and the Hanging upon a Tree among the Jews .

And yet there was some likeness in this kind of death , for both Jews and Romans did hang the basest Malefactors upon a Tree , for a signe of their greater infamy , and so consequently , for a signe of their greater outward curse .

Hence I reason thus , when the Romans did put Christ to that kind of death which they used to inflict upon their base fugitive slaves , they made him cursed in his death in the highest degree they could .

And yet at that very self same time Christ did redeem us from the Curse of the Law , even from the Eternal Curse , Christ dyed both as a Malefactor and as a Mediator at one and the same time . because Christ dyed not only as a malefactor by the power of the Roman Souldiers , but he dyed also as a Mediator by his own Mediatorial power : In the Jews account he dyed as a malefactor only , but in Gods account he dyed as a Mediator only ; In the Jews account he dyed a passive death as a malefactor , by the power of man , but in Gods account he dyed by the active power of his own God-head , even by the joynt concurrence of both his Natures ; In the Jews account he dyed a common cursed death , as the other malefactors did that were crucified with him , but in Gods account he dyed a supernatural death , even by the power of his own God-head ; In the Jews account his death was vile and base , but in Gods account it was the highest degree of obedience that the Mediator could perform for mans Redemption ; and therefore it was accepted of God as a Meditorial Sacrifice of Atonement , and as the meritorious procuring cause of Gods Atonement to all the Elect , for their full Redemption , Justification , &c. This act of Christ was no corruptible thing , but it was an everliving act of Mediatorial obedience , it was no legal obedience , nor was it any humane act of obedience , as all legal obedience must be ; but it was a super-natural act of obedience , it was no less than a Mediatorial oblation ; and therefore it was the meritorious procuring cause of our Redemption from the Curse of the Law , even at that very same time when Christ was made a Curse for us , by Hanging as a Malefactor upon a Tree . The Jews made no other account but that they had put Christ to death ( by those Torments which the Roman Souldiers did inflict upon him ) as a malefactor ; but yet notwithstanding they were greatly deceived , for he shed his own bloud ; I mean , he did separate his own soul from his own body by his own active power ; and therefore as soon as the just appointed hour was come wherein God had appointed him to make his own oblation , He did but say , Father , Into thy hands I commend my Spirit , and at that very instant he yeilded up his soul into the hands of God , as a Mediatorial Sacrifice for our Redemption from the Curse of the Law .

Therefore the Tree on which Christ was crucified as a Malefactor , cannot be the Altar ; neither were the Roman Souldiers the Priests by whom this Mediatorial Sacrifice was offered up to God ; But it was his own God-head that was the Priest , and his own God-head was the Altar by which he offered up his soul to God as a mediatorial sacrifice , for the procuring of our Redemption from the curse of the Law .

Trades .

Sir , I acknowledge that you have given me good satisfaction touching the curse which Christ suffered in his body upon the Tree , but yet I am not satisfied in the point in question ; for good Divines do affirm , that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law , not by his bodily , but by his soul sufferings onely , which God inflicted upon his soul when his body was crucified upon the Tree .

Divine .

This kind of reasoning is very absurd , for as Mr. Broughton well observeth , if Christ suffered the wrath of God in his soul , only to redeem our souls , and not in his body , to redeem our bodys , then our bodies are not yet redeemed .

But if you will make Christ to be a perfect Redeemer , then you must make him to redeem our bodies as wel as our souls : therefore if Christ suffered the wrath of God in his soul , to redeem our souls from the eternal curse , he must also suffer the wrath of God in his body , to redeem our bodys from the eternal curse , or else our bodies must still continue under the eternal curse , though our souls be redeemed by his soul sufferings : Is not this to make Christ an imperfect Redeemer : and to leave a doubting conscience in a labyrinth of doubts and Queries ?

The truth is , I find much uncertainty among Divines what to affirm in this point : for first , There is much uncertainty among Divines what to affirm , whether Christ suffered the wrath of God in his soul only , or in his body also for our Redemption . some do affirm that Christ suffered the wrath of God in his soul only . Secondly , others affirm that he suffered the wrath of God in his body as well as in his soul , to redeem our bodies from Gods wrath as well as our souls .

Ursinus ▪ doth plainly deny that Christ suffered the paines of the damned in his body : in Catech . p. 513. printed 1611. these paines ( saith he ) he suffered not in his body ; for the sufferings of his body were only external : therefore ( saith he ) he suffered these paines in his soul : and yet in the same Catech . p. 487. he affirms that Christ suffered the wrath of God both in his body and in his soul , to deliver our souls and bodies from eternal damnation .

The like contradiction may be shewed in sundry other Authors , Polanus divides the sufferings of Christ into outward and inward , and he applies his suffering of Hell torments to his inward soul sufferings only : see his substance of Religion , p. 141. 144. and Bastingius doth the like p. 160. and what do these contradictions argue else , but that they were in a great uncertainty in their own minds , how to explicate the true meritorious price of our Redemption .

Trades .

I confess I am at a loss what to thinke , that none of all those Scriptures should hit , which I have alledged , and which many learned Divines do alledge , as the most principall Scriptures to prove that Christ did suffer the wrath of God for our Redemption .

Divine .

We see but in part , and know but in part ; God hath some truth to bring to light in every age : the common doctrine of imputation hath much obscur'd the meritorious price of our Redemption and Justification ; so that some Scholars do alledge some Scriptures to prove that Christ suffered the wrath of God , and yet they speak nothing at all of any part of his suffering , as Ezek . 63.3 . I have troden the wine-press of Gods wrath alone ; but they greatly mistake the meaning of this text , for this text speaketh nothing at all of any part of Christs sufferings , neither from Gods wrath , nor from mans wrath : it speaks only of the tryumphant victories of Christ over his and his Churches enemies : others alledge , Rev. 19.15 . which hath no more affinity with Christs suffering then the former . Others alledge the Article of Christ descent into Hell to prove that Christ suffered the torments of hell in his soul for our redemption : But the truth is , that Article speaks only of his souls passage from his body to Haides , which hath a double lot ( when it is applyed to souls departed ) a place of joy , A true exsposition of the Article he descended into hell , and a place of torment ; so that all souls ( both good and bad ) go to Haides assoon as they are seperated from the body : the bad do go to the place of torment in Haides , and the good do go to the place of pleasure in Haides : therefore seeing Christ was a good man , even the Holy one of God , he must needs go to the place of pleasure in Haides , even to the paradise ▪ Luke 23.43 . and that Haides doth comprehend under it a double lot ( as great Britaine doth comprehend England and Scotland ) is evident by the use of the Greek word in sundry greek Authors : and according to this sense Mr. Robert Wilmot hath expounded this Article , wherein he doth also approve of the judgement of Mr. Broughton in his exposition upon this Article .

Trades .

I confess I am at a loss what to thinke touching the point of Christs sufferings ; whether he suffered the Torments of Hell for our Redemption or no : and therefore for my better satisfaction I desire you to describe unto me the Torments of Hell ; for by that meanes I conceive I shall be the better able to judge whether Christ did suffer the Torments of Hell for our Redemption or not .

Divine .

I do much approve your motion , and therefore I will labor to satisfie your desire .

The Torments of hell are usually divided into two parts . A description of the torments of hell .

1. Into the pain of loss . 2. Into the pain of sense .

1. The pain of loss , is the privation of Gods favour by an everlasting seperation : This is the first part of the Torments of hell which is death Eternal ; for as the favour of God through Christ is the fountain of life , because it is the beginning of life eternal : Psal . 33.5 . so on the contrary , to be totally seperated from Gods favour by an eternal seperation , must needs be the beginning of hell Torments or of death eternal ; for he that is once seperated totally from the favour of God , is at the same time seperated from all other comforts , he is seperated from the company of millions of Angels , and from the general assembly of the first born that are written in Heaven and from the spirits of just men made perfect , and from Jesus Christ the mediator of the New Testament , whose blood speaks mightier things than the blood of Abel , Hebr . 12.22 , 23. and this pain of loss is accounted the heaviest part of the Torments of hell , by all divines

But yet I think it needful to give you a word of caution , that you do not mistake my meaning in this description of the first part of the Torments of hell ; for I do not mean that every loss of Gods favour is to be accounted as a part of the Torments of hell for then many of Gods deer children should often suffer the Torments of Hell in this life ; neither do I mean that Reprobates ( though they be totally and for ever seperated from the favour of God in Christ ) do suffer this part of the Torments of hell in this life ; for as long as they live in this life , they do participate of many common favours from God ; therefore as long as they live in this life , God doth not forsake them with such a total forsaking as he doth after this life : God forsakes wicked men in this life but in part only , he doth not leave wicked men in this life to be as wicked as they would be ; but as long as they live in this life , he doth put a bridle upon their corruptions , and by his restraining grace doth keep them in , so that they cannot be as wicked as else they would be ; and this is no smal favor of God which he doth vouchsafe to reprobates as long as they live in this world : yea the very devils themselves as long as they live in this world ( being Spirits ) in the aire , are not so forsaken of God as they shal be at the day of judgement ; for as yet they are not in hell , but in this aire , and therefore they have not their full torments as yet ; and so much the very devils themselves did acknowledge to Christ , The devils are not in hell torments as yet . saying , art thou come to torment us before the time ? Mat . 8.29 . Mat . 8.29 . this speech implies a prayer : I pray thee torment us not to the full , for the time of our full torment is not yet till the day of judgement be come .

Hence I may well conclude ; that the pain of loss which the damned do suffer in hell , is of a far more terrible nature then any wicked man can feel or apprehend in this life : but how terrible it is , I am not able fully to describe ; but in general I may well call it a total seperation from Gods favour without any limitation of time : and it is cal'd an Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord , 2 Thes . 1.9 .

And yet this pain of loss may be a little further explained , by opening the tearm second death , which may be in part described by comparing it to the first death , A description of the tearme second death . which I have at large described to be our spiritual death , or a loss of the life of our first pure nature ; or , I may call it a death in corrupt and sinful qualities , as I have opened Gen. 2.17 . yea all other miseries which fall upon us in this life , even till our bodies be rotten in the grave , I call them altogether the first death , because they do all befal us in this world : therefore on the contrary the second death must needs imply a deeper degree of corrupt and sinful qualities then did befal us under the first death ; for though Adam and his posterity became dead in corrupt and sinful qualities assoon as ever he had but eaten of the forbiden fruit , yet the Lord in mercy did mingle some restraining grace with those corrupt and sinful qualities , so that the very reprobates cannot be so bad as they would as long as they live in this life : but assoon as they do but once come into the very place of hell it self , they shall have their full torment of the Second death , and then doubtless God will utterly take from them all restraining grace , so that they shall have full liberty to exercise their corrupt and sinful qualities , they may sin as much as they will , without any mixture of restraining grace , and then their liberty of sining shall fill up the measure of their torments to the full ; then they shall hate God with a total and an endless hatred , and God will hate them with a total and an endless seperation from his favour : Mr. Broughton speaking of the torments of the damned saith , that their hatred against God is the greatest part of their punishment ; neither can they moderate their hatred against God and his Will ( as the reprobates do in this life ) because God denies them the help of his restraining grace , they hate God because of his justice and holiness , therefore they shall be tormented with the gnawing worm of an accusing conscience , which shall never dy ; Esay 66.24 . and thus the very tearm second death doth plainly tell us , that it is such a degree of death as surpasseth all the deaths of this life , and that the full measure of it cannot be inflicted upon any man till this life is ended , and then their end shall be without mercy . Jam . 2.13 .

The Second part of the torments of hell : is the pain of sense , or the sense of all torturing torments ;

1. Inflicted upon the soules of all reprobates assoon as they dy ; A description of the Second part of the torments of hell . and secondly upon their bodies also at the day of judgement . Rev. 20.14 . Rev. 21.8 . No tongue can fully describe the true extent of these torments , yet we may guess at the extremity of them by these particular Scripture phrases .

1. The Lord is said to prepare a fire for them ; Mat . 25.41 . and this fire is fierce and vehement , for the pile thereof is fire , and much wood ; and the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it , Esay 30.33 . and Daniel saw the sour persecuting Monarchies tormented in a River of fire before the Throne of God , Dan . 7.10 . and John describes the pain of sense upon the damned by a lake of fire , which is the second death . Rev. 20.14 .

2. The torments of hell are aggravated , because they are said to be endless or eternal , 2 Pet . 2.6 . Iude v. 7. Mat . 25.41 . and the smoak of their torments is said to ascend for evermore , Rev. 14.10 , 11. neither have they any hope of forgiveness . Mat . 12.32 . and therefore they continued under the Torment of desperation for ever , neither have they any rest day or night . Revel . 14.10 , 11.

3. They have no means to help them out of their misery , for the mediator is become their angry judge , and the good Angels do cast them into the place of their Torments , and there they are shut up as in a prison , 1 Peter 3.19 . being fast bound hand and foot therein , Matthew 22.13 . and the Lord hath set a gulf of seperation between them and the blessed in heaven , Luke 16. therefore is it not possible they should ever get out thence .

4. They have none to pitty them in their torments with the least drop of water to cool● their tongues , Luke 16 :

5. As Gods Rejection is the principal efficient cause of their damnation , so Jesus Christ the mediator is the principal instrumental cause thereof ; because they b●lieved not in him , that was promised to be the seed of the woman , to break the devils head-plot , therefore he doth pour out his wrath upon them for ever , Psa . 2.12 . Luke 19.27 . Rev. 6.16 , 17. with Rev. 14.10 . John 3.18.36 . And thus in some measure I have unfolded unto you the torments of hell , which also are sometimes called the Second death .

Now come we to examine the particulars , and whether Christ did suffer these Torments of Hell for our Redemption .

1. Did Christ suffer the Second death ? was he spiritually dead in corrupt and sinful qualities , without any restraining grace ? and did God leave him to the liberty of those corrupt and sinful qualities to hate and blaspheme God for his justice and holiness , An Examination of Christ's sufferings with the Torments of hell . as the inseperable companions of Gods total seperation ? for these sinful qualities are inseperably joyned to them that suffer Hell torments , as the effect is to the cause ; did Christ suffer this pain of loss , when he said my God , my God , why hast thou forsaken me ?

2. Did Christ at any time feel the gnawing worm of an accusing conscience ? was he at any time under the torment of desperation ? truely , if he had at any time suffered the torments of hell , he must of necessity have suffered these things , for they are as neerly joyned to those that suffer the torments of H●ll , as the effect is to the cause .

3. Did Christ suffer the torments of hell in the proper place of hell ? seeing none can suffer the torments of hell as long as they live in this world ; none can suffer the Second death till after this life is ended .

4. Did Christ suffer the torments of hell in his body as well as in his soul , to redeem our bodies as well as our souls from the torments of Hell ?

5. How long did he suffer the torments of hell ? was it for ever ? or how long did he suffer them ? and when did the torments of hell first seize upon him ? and when was he freed from them ? or did he suffer the torments of hell at several times , or in several places , or but at one time or place only ?

6. Was he tormented without any forgiveness ? or did Abraham deny him the least drop of water to cool his tongue ?

7. Did Christ inflict the torments of hell upon his own humane nature ? was his Divine nature angry with his humane nature ? or did his Divine nature forsake his humane nature in anger ? as it must have done if he had suffered the torments of hell : if so , then he destroyed the personal union of his two natures , and then he made himself no Mediator , but a cursed damned sinner . The common Doctrine of imputation doth often run into many absurd consequences .

These and such like gross absurdities the common Doctrine of imputation will often fall into .

Trades .

Do you think that Christ did not suffer the torments of hell at all , neither in his body nor in his soul , nor any other torments equivalent to the torments of Hell , at one time or other , before he dyed for our redemption ?

Divine .

It is evid●nt to me that Christ did not suffer any part of the torments of Hell , neither in his body , nor in his soul , nor any other torments from G●ds wrath that were equivalent thereto ; neither could he suffer any part of the torments of hell as long as he lived in this world , because the very Devils as long as they live in this ayr do not suffer the torments of hell , as it is evident by their fearful crying out to Christ and saying , Art thou come to torment us before the time ? Mat . 8.29 . as long as they remaine in this world , in the aire ; they suffer but the first spiritual death of their pure nature in corrupt and sinful qualities : they shall not suffer the torments of hell until the great day of judgement , and then they shall be cast into the very place of hell it self , and then , and not till then , they shall be tormented with the torments of hell for ever and ever ; Hell torments are confined to the proper place of hell therefore none can suffer the Torments of hell in this life . for hell torments are confined to the proper place of hell .

Reason cannot be ( saith Mr. Broughton in a Manuscript ) how in this world a just soul could suffer Hell sorrowes : neither did any sillable from God ever glance that way : by natural light the Heathen may judge ( as Aratus , Menander , and Epimenides ) and for the words of the old Testament , When God hath spoken the heathen for Grammar and Logiek are good Iudges . and their proper sense , the Hebrew nation may judge ; and for the Greek Testament the Greeks from whom the language is taken : But neither Greeks nor Hebrews will give any whit of help to them who say that our Lord suffered the torments of hell , and such as contemn both , will not long find approbation .

Again the same Author in ano●her manu●cript saith thus : The sense of all the words in the Bible are plain , either by natural light : ( such as learn●d Poets do handle ) or else they are by Gods authority some where explained : But no wordes in all the Bible do express any thing that Christ suffered the wrath of God for our sins , therefore it is no small impiety for men , from general ( Metaphorical ) termes , to gather such a strange particular ; none that ever spake Greek ( Spirit or man ) gathered hell Torments for the just from Haides , or from any other Greek or Hebrew text .

Again the same Author affirmeth in Rev. 11.7 . that Hell place , and hell torments are not in this life .

And truely it seems to me that the holy Scriptures do confine hell torments to the proper place of hell it self , Hell place is on high before the Throne of the Lamb , therefore it cannot be in the midst or Center of the Earth , as some affirm . which is seated on high before the throne of the Lamb ; Rev. 14.10 . and Solomon doth tell us , that all mens souls ( both good and bad ) do ascend , Eccl. 3.21 . and the Hebrew Doctors do hold generally , that hell is above as well as heaven , and learned Mr. Richardson doth probably conjecture in his Philosophical Annotations on Gen. 1. that Hell place is seated within the Element of fire : and why may it not be so , seeing that place is next before the Throne of the Lamb , where Iohn doth place it ? Rev. 14.10 . and it is certaine by Luke's parable , that hell is seated neer unto heaven , or else the comparisons that Luke useth to describe their neerness were absurd . 1. He describes their neerness by two persons talking together , the one in Heaven place , and the other in hell place . 2. He describes their neerness by seeing each others case , Luke 16. and so doth Esay in ch . 66.24 .

Thirdly , Hence we may see the reason why Haides is put as a common name to both places : both places are usually cal'd Haides in sundry greek writers , as if they were but two regions in the same world of souls , one region for the godly , and the other for the wicked , where the godly and wicked may see each others condition , and talk together in their next adjacent parts , Luke 16.23 . Therefore hell place is not in the midst of the earth amongst the moles and wormes , as some blind Papists do affirm , but 't is on high , before the throne of the Lamb , and within the view of the glorified Saints .

But whether the Element of fire be the proper place of hell or no , I need not dispute that point , yet this conclusion doth arise from the premises that no man can suffer the torments of hell as long as they live in this world , therefore our Savior could not suffer the torments of hell in this world , as the common doctrine of imputation doth teach , neither did his soul go into the proper place of hell after death , to suffer the torments of hell for our redemption , for he told them there that he went that day to paradise : neither can any soul that goes to hell ever return any more into this world ; except at the day of judgement , and then every soul must come to be reckoned to its own body , that so both together may be cast into the lake of fire , which is the second death . Rev. 20.14 . Rev. 21.8 .

2. It is evident that Christ did not suffer the torments of hell in this world , Christ did not suffer the torments of hell for our sins because it is contrary to the rule of Gods Iustice to punish an inocent with eternal death , for the sins of others because there was no necessary use or end of such sufferings , for such sufferings are no way satisfactory to the justice of God for our sins ; for the rule of Gods justice doth require that soule only to dy which sins : the soule that sins shall dy : one man shall not dy for another mans sin , Ezek . 18. By this rule of justice God cannot inflict the torments of hell upon an innocent , to redeem a guilty person ; and as God doth ty himself to this rule of justice touching the everlasting state of mens souls ; so he doth appoint civil magistrates to observe this rule of justice touching the bodies of sinful malefactors , they may not punish an inocent for a guilty person , but that man only that sins must dy , as 2 Kings 14. doth expound the meaning of the Judicial law in Deu . 24.26 . I hold it a point of gross injustice for any Court of magistrates to torture an inocent person for the Redemption of a gross malefactor .

By this rule of justice the Son cannot dy eternally for the sin of his Father , Ezek . 18.20 , 21. Ier . 31 30. but the father must dy eternally for his own sin : and therefore God cannot in justice impute our sins to our innocent Savior , nor yet inflict the torments of Hell upon him for our sins : if God should do so , he should make himself as unjust in his proceedings against our innocent Savior , as the wicked Iews were when they imputed sin and inflicted punishment upon our innocent Savior , as if he had bin a sinful malefactor ; for they condemned him that was the holy one , and the just , and delivered a murderer , and so they made Christ a worse malefactor then Barrabas .

Trades .

You say that God cannot by the rule of his own justice punish an inocent for a guilty person : and yet God did punish many thousands of Davids inocent subjects for Davids sin in numbring the people .

Divine .

This case is different from the former , for the former case was propounded touching the eternal estate of mens souls : and in that case I said that God cannot in justice punish an inocent soul eternally for the sins of another man : But that instance is touching Gods dealing with mens bodies , In this case I grant that God may by the rule of his own justice punish the bodies of many inocent for another mans sin , and the reason is plain , because men in the world , both elect and reprobates are liable to Gods justice for their bodily death , Gen. 3.19 . And therefore God may call them to dy whensoever he pleaseth : thereupon sometimes it is his good will and pleasure to let men live long , and sometimes it is his good will and pleasure to call for their lives upon occasion of some provoking sin or other in some other man , and then it is his good will and pleasure to punish that provoking sin by the death of many thousands that had no hand in that sin : and in this sense God doth often punish the sin of the Father upon the children , and the sin of the Children upon the father , and the sin of the King upon his subjects : as in the case of David : he alone sinned in numbring the people : and thereupon , God was pleased to punish his sin with the death of many thousands of his good subjects , and yet God did no injustice to any man in so doing , because they were all indebted to his justice for their bodily death whensoever it pleased him to call for it .

But if any desire further satisfaction in this point , let them read in Gataker in Ieroboams Sons decease , and there they may have further satisfaction in this point .

And this distinction of the souls case from the bodies case , may sufficiently serve as an answer to Mr. Reynolds , who doth labour to justifie the imputation of our sins and punishment unto our inocent Savior in Psa . 110. p. 444 , 445.

Trades .

I dare not go about to prove by any more Arguments that Christ did bear our sins by Gods imputation : or that he bore the curse of the Law for our Redemption : I dare not justifie the common Doctrine of imputation any further .

But now I desire to enter upon a new discourse with you about the Meritorious price of our Redemption .

PART . II .

Wherein is proved , 1. That Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law ( not by suffering the said curse for us , but ) by a satisfactory price of Atonement , namely , by paying or performing unto his Father that invaluable precious thing of his Mediatorial Obedience , whereof his Mediatorial sacrifice of atonement was the master-piece . 2. A Sinners Righteousness or Justification is explained , and cleered from some common Errors .

TRADESMAN ,

WHat matter or thing was it that Christ paid or performed to his Father for our Redemption ? or after what manner did Christ Redeem us from the curse of the Law ?

Divine .

That which Christ did to Redeem us from the curse of the Law , was not by bearing the said curse really in our stead ; The thing of Price which Christ paid for our Redemption was his Mediatorial obedience . ( as the common doctrine of imputation doth teach ) but by procuring his Fathers Atonement by the invaluable price or performance of his own Mediatorial Obedience , whereof his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement was the finishing Master piece . This kind of Obedience was that rich thing of price , which the Father required and accepted as satisfactory for the procuring of his Atonement for our full Redemption , Justification , and Adoption .

And according to this Tenor , the Apostle Paul doth explain the matter ; he doth teach us to place the obedience to the Mediator in a direct opposition to the first disobedience of Adam ; The merit of Christs Mediatorial obedience dot ● more then counte●vail the demerit of Adams Disobedience . Rom. 5.19 . He makes the merit of Christs Mediatorial Obedience , to countervail the demerit of Adams disobedience ; for the disobedience of Adam was but the disobedience of a meer man , but the obedience of Christ was the obedience of God-Man : and in that respect God the Father was more highly pleased with the obedience of the Mediator , then he was displeased with the disobedience of Adam : If so , then there is no need that our blessed Mediator should pay both the price of his Mediatorial Obedience and also bear the curse of the Law really for our Redemption .

I never heard that ever any Turkish Tyrant did require such a double satisfaction of any redeemer for the redemption of Galley-slaves , I never heard that ever any Tyrant did require any redeemer to pay both the full price which they demanded for their redemption of their Galley-slaves , and to bear the punishment of their curse , slavery also in their stead : I think no cruel Tyrant did ever exact such a double satisfaction ; therefore I cannot chuse but wonder at the common doctrine of imputation , because it makes God the Father more ridged in the price of our redemption , then ever Turkish Tyrant was .

Nei her have I ever heard that ever any cruel creditor did require such a double satisfaction of any surety for the redemption of any debter , as to pay both his full debt , and yet to bear his imprisonment also : no creditor ever did or could by any law of justice exact such a double satisfaction of any surety for the redemption of his debter , why then doth the doctrine of imputation make God the Father to be a harder creditor in the point of satisfaction , then ●v●r any ridged creditor was among men ?

Trades .

I pray give me leave to replie for my better satisfaction , for redemption is not always done by a price , but sometimes it is done by exchange of one prisoner for another ; therefore , why may not Christ stand in our stead , and bear our curse for our Redemption ?

Divine .

I grant that the ways of redemption are rank'd into three sorts . 1. By exchange of one captive for another ; but we are not thus redeemed , for God did not give his Son into the hands of Sathan to redeem us from under the power of Sathan .

2. There is a redemption by force and strength : but this may be called a deliverance rather then a redemption ; but however , Christ did not thus redeem us from Gods wrath , for then Christ must be stronger then his Father ; but himself doth testifie , that his Father is greater or stronger then he , Iohn 14.28 . Therefore Christ did not redeem us from his Fathers wrath by force and strength : but yet after this sort he doth deliver us dayly from the power of Sathan , for he is stronger then that strong man Luke 11.22 .

3. Therefore , Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law , and so consequently from his Fathers wrath , by no other way or means but by that rich and unvaluable price or merit of his Mediatorial Obedience ; and this way of redemption is often taught and confirmed by the Holy Scriptures : as in , 1 Cor . 6.20 . Ye are bought with a price : Namely with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot , 1 Pet . 1.19 . it is called precious , because it was the blood of that person that was God as well as man ; and 2. it is called precious by the figure Metynomia , because it is put for all his Mediatorial Obedience , whereof his Mediatorial Sacrifice was the Master Piece ; for that act of his was the highest act of obediemce that ever God required , or that the Mediator could perform for our Atonement and redemption : and in this sense only we have Atonement , Rom . 5.11 . and redemption through his blood Eph. 1.7 . and in this sense he gave his life a ransome for the many ; Mat . 20.28 . and in this sense he gave himself to redeem us from all iniquity , and to clense us to himself : Titus 2.14 . the gross substance of that blood that was shed by the Romans in a passive manner , is not to be taken by it self , alone considered , for that precious price ; neither doth the gross substance of blood clense any , but defiles ; therefore we must take the blood of Christ by the figure Metynomia , for his Mediatorial Obedience whereof his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement was the Master piece : and in that sense it procures the Fathers Atonement , and in that sense it doth clense the soul fr●m sin ; for assoon as we have the Fathers Atonement , we are freed from the guilt of all sin : and in this sense the blood of Iesus Christ his Son , doth clense us from all sin 1 Iohn 1.7 . Rev. 1.5 . his sacrifice did procure his Fathers Atonement , because it was a Mediatorial Sacrifice , for he offered himself by his eternal spirit . Heb . 9.14 . In the Iews account Christ died only a passive death , but in Gods account he died a mediatorial active death ; and therefore it was accepted of God as a pleasing sacrifice , for the procuring of our Atonement and redemption : neither silver nor gold , or any other corruptible thing could procure our Atonement and redemption ; no other thing could procure it but the highest degree of obedience which the mediator could perform , which was his mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement : it was no legal obedience , nor any other human action that was a sufficient price for our redemption , but it was that precious thing or act of his Mediatorial Obedience in his obligation which was a super-natural obedience ; and therefore it was accepted of God the father as the meritorious procuring cause of our Atonement and red●mption : and so consequently it was that precious thing of price by which Christ did redeem us from the curse of the law , and from his Fathers wrath .

2. This way of our redemption was taught and typified by that price that all Israel gave for the redemption of their lives imediatly after their coming out of Egypt : the rich might not pass , nor the poor might not diminish from half a shekel : both must give a like price for their redemption : ( and these half shekels were after used to buy the dayly morning and evening sacrifices , which were publick sacrifice for the whole Church of Isra●l ) and this Redemption money was given yeer by yeer , because the law made nothing perfect at once : see Ains . on Exo . 30.15 . Neh . 10.32 , 33.

And this redemption money ( or part of it at least ) was called sin money , and Trespass money , 2 Kings 12.16 . because it was employed to buy the publick sin offerings , and trespass offerings as well as the dayly Burnt Offerings ; and it was imployed also to build the Sanctuary , or to repair the Temple , as I have formerly noted on Cor . 5.21 .

And this ceremony might teach them and us , that Christ should redeem us by making his soul a sin offering , and a trespass offering for the procuring of his Fathers atonement for our ful redemption .

3. It is evident by another Typical ceremony of redemption that Christ hath redeemed us by a price only ( and not by bearing the curse of the law for us ) for in Lev . 25.25.39.47 . it is said if any man through poverty be not able to redeem himself or his land from bondage , then his brother or his next kinsman must redeem them by a price of money or money-worth ; and not by going into his brothers poverty to suffer his misery in his stead : and in this sense Christ the antitype became man , that he might become our brother and neer kinsman in the flesh , that so by the right of brotherhood he might have a direct enterance to do the office of a redeemer for us by the rich and weighty price and merit of his Mediatorial Obedience , whereof his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement was the Master Piece , for that was the most precious thing that either God the Father could require , or that the mediator could perform for our Atonement and Redemption .

Trades .

You make the mediatorial sacrifice of Christ to be the only satisfactory price to Gods justice for our redemption : and in effect the Lutherans say as much , they set as high a price upon the blood of Christ as you do , for they commonly say that one drop of the blood of Christ is sufficient to redeem the whole world , and yet notwithstanding they do also say and affirm that Christ suffered the wrath of God according to the curse of the Law , for our redemption : and this suffering of Gods wrath they make to be as necessary for our redemption as his Mediatorial Sacrifice , therefore in their judgement and in the judgement of divers other Protestant writers , Christ hath redeemed us both these ways : Namely by paying unto God the price of his precious blood , and by bearing his Fathers wrath also in the same proportion as it is due to us from the Curse of the Law .

Divine .

There are two dangerous errors in this tenent of the Lutherans . 1. it is a most dangerous error to affirm that Christ hath redeemed the whole world . And 2. it is another error as dangerous as the former to say that one drop of the blood of Christ is sufficient to redeem the whole world .

1. It is a dangerous error to affirm that Christ hath redeemed the whole world , he never intended to redeem all Mankind in general , he never intended to redeem any but the Many : Christ did not shed his blood for the whole world , but for the Elect number only . he confirmed the promise or covenant only for the Many . Dan . 9.27 . And when he ordained his last supper to be one of the seals of this covenant , he said of the wine this is the blood of the new Testament or covenant which is shed for you and the many Mat . 26.28 . And was once offered ( namely as a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement ) to bear the sins of the many Heb . 9.28 . and he gave his life a ransom for the many ; Mat . 20.28 .

Trades .

These many may be understood of all mankind in general , for Paul saith thus , Through the offence of one the many were made finners Rom. 5.19 . That is to say all the world , for all mankind in General were made sinners through Adams fall .

Divine .

I grant that the term Many in some places of Scripture may be understood of mankind in general ; but yet not in the place that you have cited : I grant that all mankind in general are become sinners through Adam fall , but yet that text which you have cited aims only to prove , that the Elect number are made sinners through Adams fall , because the Apostle doth by and by after counterpoise many to many , saying , As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners , So by the Obedience of One , shall many be made righteous : Rom . 5.19 . Here the last term many must parallel the first term many : and this last term many cannot be understood of any others but of that many only that have the benefit of Christs Mediatorial obedience to cure their sinful condition that came by Adams dis-obedience .

In briefe therefore , the sense of the Apostle must ly thus : as by one mans disobedience the many ( that is to say the elect number were made sinners as well as the reprobates , Eph. 2.1 . Rom. 3.9 . ) So by the Obedience of ONE the many are made righteous : no reprobates can be included in this many , because they are not made righteous by the Mediatorial Obedience of Jesus Christ : but the many elected ones only : for by the Mediatorial Obedience of Jesus Christ , whereof his sacrifice of Atonement was the Master piece , he procured his Fathers Atonement to all the elect for their full righteousness , redemption , or freedome from the guilt of sin , and so consequently from the curse of the law , and from his Fathers wrath : and for these many onely and not for the rest of the world doth Christ make intercession to his Father ; Iohn 17.19 . Psa . 16 4. And for these only he did sanctifie himself Iohn 17.19 , 20.

Therefore this speech of the Lutherans whereby they labor to promote the doctrine of a general redemption , doth argue their great ignorance in the Articles of the Eternal Covenant which was made between the Father and the Son for mans Redemption .

But they labor to prove their tenent by several Scriptures , as by Iohn 1.19 . where Christ is said to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World ; also they alledge , 1 Iohn 2.2 . where Christ is said to be the propitiation for our sins , and not for ours only , but for the sins of the whole World : To these Scriptures I answer , that the word World must not be taken for the universal number of all mankind , but it must be taken for the World of Believers only , as the matter is explained by Iohn 3.16 . God so loved the World , that he gave his only begotten Son , that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting life : In this Text the word World is explained , to mean such only as believe in Christ ; and in verse 18. They that believe not in the only Son of God , are exempted from Righteousness and Redemption by Christ .

Again , they alledge that Christ dyed for all men in general , because it is said in 2 Cor . 5.15 . That Christ died for All : To this I Answer , that the word All in this Text , must be taken for all the Elect only , and no more ; it must be limitted to all of that sort of persons of which he speaks ; namely , to that All which live not to themselves , but unto him that dyed for them ; he never shed his bloud for such as live to themselves , but for such as live unto him that died for them : and this Interpretation is further cleered by another Scripture , in Iohn 1.16 . of his fulness we all receive ; that is to say , all we which do believe : So Christ healed all that were sick , Mat . 8.16 . that is to say , all the sick persons that were brought unto him : and therefore another Evangelist doth explain it thus , He healed many , Mar. 1.34 . and the word All is often put for many , as in Mat . 21.26 . Luk . 21.17 . Phil . 2.21 . Gen. 41.57 .

Therefore I may well conclude , that this Assertion of the Lutherans and Arminians is a dangerous Error , for by it they make every profane person believe , that they have as good a share in the bloud of Christ , as any of Gods people have , if they can but repent , intimating thereby that they may repent when they will .

Secondly , It is another most dangerous Error of the Lutherans , to ascribe the price of our Redemption to one drop of the corporeal bloud of Christ ; for it is a common saying among them , that one drop of the bloud of Christ is sufficient to redeem the whole world .

One drop of the Bloud of Christ is not sufficient to redeem the whole world . But if this speech of theirs be well examined , it will appear that one drop of the bloud of Christ was not sufficient to redeem the Elect ; much less was it sufficient to redeem the whole world in general : for Christ must by Gods appointment shed as much bloud as was sufficient to make his oblation withal : But one drop was not sufficient to make his Oblation ; Therefore one drop was not sufficient to redeem the Elect , much less was it sufficient to redeem the whole world : Christ knew well enough that the bloud of the burnt offering , and the bloud of the trespass offering , ( which was a type of his own bloud ) must be shed in such a large quantity , that the Altar must be filled with it round about , Lev . 1.5 . See also Ains . in Lev . 3.2 . this sprinkling must be made with such a large quantity of bloud , that the four corners of the Altar might be filled with it , Zach. 9.15 . The Original word doth signifie A pouring out with sprinkling : And the Hebrew Cannons tell us , that the Priests must endeavor to receive all the bloud in bowls , that there might be sufficient at twice sprinkling to ly thick upon all the four sides of the Altar ; as it is written in Lev . 1.5 . Round about the Altar : and the rest of the bloud that was left , the Sacrificers poured out at the bottom of the Altar ; Exod . 29.12 . and thence it was conveyed by spouts into the Brook Kidron : See Ains . in Lev . 4.7 . yea it was the Lords express commandment concerning all Sacrifices in general , to pour out the bloud ( namely by a large and liberal sprinkling ) upon the Altar of Jehovah , Deut . 12.17 . and Christ did fulfil this type when he poured out his soul to death , Isa . 53.12 . so the Hebrew is ; but Paul's Greek in Rom 4.25 . is taken from the seventy on this place , The holy Ghost in Hebrew and Greek doth make the death of Christ to be both active and passive wherein a great mystery is couched . which is passive ; He was delivered to death for our sins : and thus the holy Ghost in Hebrew and Greek doth make the death of Christ to be both Active and Passive , because in his death he died both actively and passively : for he suffered passively from man as a Malefactor , and yet he did actuate his own death , by seperating his soul from his body by his own active power , or by the joynt concurrence of both his Natures : and because he did freely pour out his soul to death , therefore his death was typified by a large quantity of bloud , which was sprinkled by the Priest upon the Altar . It was the practise of Idolaters also , to pour out the bloud of their Sacrifices ; but of such the Mediator saith , I will not pour out their poured out Oblations of bloud : that is to say , I will not make Atonement for them , by pouring out my bloud for them ; Psal . 16.4 , I am loth ( saith D. Hampton ) to believe that either the Father was so prodigal of his Sons life , or that the Son was so careless of his own bloud , see D. Hampton in his sermon on Rom. 10.4 . printed 1609. that he would have poured out all , if one drop would have served the turn .

Secondly , As the quantity of his bloud must answer the type of pouring out , so the quality and manner of shedding it , must answer to the Typical Sacrifice : First , no bloud was acceptable in sacrifice , but that which was of a clean beast : and secondly , No bloud was acceptable but that which was sprinkled by the Priest : It was not the bloud of Christ which was shed as a Malefactor , neither was it the bloud of Christ as it was shed by the Roman Souldiers , that was sufficient for our Redemption ; but it was the bloud of Christ who was the Lamb of God without spot : and secondly , it was the bloud of Christ that was poured or sprinkled by his Priestly Nature , namely , by his God-head , that God accepted as the meritorious procuring cause of his Atonement for our full Redemption : It was not the gross substance of his bloud that God the Father regarded , no otherwise but as it was a Metynomia of his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement ; for his material or corporeal bloud was spilt upon the ground , and it was soon dryed up , and God knows what is become of it now , but it was the meritorious efficacy of his bloud that he regarded , which I call his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement ; that bloud is never dried up , but it doth ever live to procure Gods Atonement for the full Redemption of all the Elect .

Therefore it must needs be a dangerous and a superstitious error of the Lutherans , to ascribe so much to one drop of the material bloud of Christ .

Trades .

I must needs acknowledge that you have given me good satisfaction touching this speech of the Lutherans and Arminians , I now see plainly that it hath bin an occasion to corrupt the minds of many touching the true meritorious price of our Redemption : I pray you therefore let me hear you speak a little more fully wherein the true meritorious efficacy of the bloud of Christ doth ly , for the procuring of the Fathers Atonement for our full Redemption .

Divine ,

The true meritorious efficacy of the bloud of Christ , lies not in this , that it was a part of the corporeal substance of the Lamb of God without spot ; nor in this , that he suffered his bloud to be shed by the Roman Souldiers in a passive manner of obedience ; but it lies in this , that it was shed by his own active Priestly power , by which means only it became a Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement : The true force and efficacy of the blood of Christ lies in this , that he did actually pou e out hs own soul to death by his own preistly power : by which meanes only it became a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement . and yet notwithstanding , though I do not place the efficacy of his bloud neither in the material substance of his bloud , nor in the passive shedding of it ; yet I do freely grant that both his material bloud , and the passive shedding of it , are often put by the figure Synecdoche , and by the figure Metynomia , for his Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement : as for example , in Eph. 1.7 . we have Redemption through his bloud ; This term bloud , must be understood with a grain of Salt , for the term bloud here , must be understood by the figure Metynomia , for the signe and token of his death ; and secondly , the term bloud and death in the passive action , is often put by the figure Synecdoche , for his active Mediatorial death ; because at one and the same time Christ died both as a Mediator actively , and as a malefactor passively ; as I have explained the matter in Gal. 3.13 . and in other places also ; therefore seing there is such a concatination of his active Mediatorial death with his passive death , they may well be put the one for the other interchangeably , because they were so interwoven together at the same time ; and in this respect the holy Scriptures do indifferently put the one for the other : this distinction I hope the wise will easily understand .

But for your better understanding of the meritorious efficacy of the bloud of Christ , consider two things , First , Consider what was the Priestly Nature of Christ ; and Secondly , Consider what was his Priestly Action .

First , His Priestly Nature was his Divine Nature ; for he is said to be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck , of whom it is witnessed , that HE liveth , or that HE ever liveth : Heb . 7.8 . This term HE , Christ is a preist for ever by his Divine nature see Heb . in melch . p. 34. & in Rev. 107. importeth the nature Ever-living ; and then it must needs mean his Divine Nature , for his Human Nature was dissolved by death : The like Emphasis is in the word HE , in Psal . 102.27 . Thou art HE , and thy yeers fail not ; The Apostle Paul doth expound this HE of the God-head of Christ , in Heb . 1.10.12 . In like sort the term HE runs in this sense , in the first promise made to Adam and Eve , HE shall break thy head , Gen. 3.15 . who else can HE be that shall break the Divels head plot , but that HE that is the Son of God ? And thus the Apostle John doth expound that HE , saying , For this cause [ HE ] the Son of God was made manifest , that HE might destroy the work of the Divel , or that he might break the Divels head-plot in pieces : 1 Iohn 3.8 . He is also called , The Son of God that shall shortly bruise Sathan under our feet , Rom. 16.20 . From all these places compared together , it is evident that Jesus Christ in his Divine Nature is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck .

But yet withal take notice , that the term HE in Gen. 3.15 . doth comprehend under it his Human Nature as well as his Divine ; yea it doth also comprehend under it the personal union of both his Natures . First , The term HE describes him to be true man , because he is called the seed of the Woman . S●condly , the term HE describes him to be true God , because he must break the Divels head-plot . Thirdly , the term HE is a Noun singular , and so it describes the Person of the Mediator to be individual , after that his two Natures were united by an Hypostatical union ; and so the Apostle cals this seed of the woman , or this seed of Abraham [ one ] which is Christ , Gal. 3.16 .

Secondly , Consider what was his Priestly action , and that was the sprinkling of his own bloud by his own Priestly Nature , that is to say , by his Divine Nature ; for he poured out his soul to death , Isa . 53.12 . namely , by the active power of his own Divine Priestly Nature ; for he offered himself by his Eternal Being or God-head , Heb . 9.14 . that is to say , he seperated his soul from his body by the power of his God-head , when he made his soul a Trespass offering for our sins ; Isa . 53.10 . if his bloud had bin sprinkled only passively by the hand of man , and not actively by the power of his Priestly Nature , it had made no Atonement : As for example , If the bloud of the typical sacrifice of Atonement had not bin sprinkled by a Priest , it had made no Atonement , because it was an action that did properly belong to the Priests office to sprinkle the bloud of every Sacrifice upon the Altar ; the Levites might not sprinkle the bloud of every sacrifice upon the Altar , the Priests only must do it : the Levites indeed might kill sacrifices , and receive the bloud in bouls , as Assistants to the Priests , but yet they might not sprinkle the bloud of any sacrifice upon the Altar ; God had reserved that action to be done by the Priests only , because it was one of the essential parts of the sacrifice : See Ains . on Lev . 1.5 . Maymony saith , That the action of sprinkling bloud upon the Altar , is a weighty matter , it is the root or principal of the Sacrifice ; See Ains . in Exod . 12.45 . as I noted it already ; and the manner of sprinkling must be done with a large and liberal quantity ; and therefore it is called pouring out , as I have formerly noted it in Lev . 1.5 . and this sprinkling with pouring ●ut did represent the death of the beast , and also it did typifie the death of the Mediator ; for the soul of the beast is in the bloud , and so also the soul or vital spirits of man is in his bloud , or with his bloud : and therefore a large quantity of bloud shed , must needs be a true evidence of death .

Secondly , Bloud was given or sprinkled upon the Altar to make Atonement for mens souls .

Thirdly , It pleased God in this respect to seperate bloud from the common use of food , as long as the partition wall of Ceremonies stood betwixt Jews and Gentiles .

Fourthly , Therefore the Lord did threaten the Jews , that if any of them did eat bloud , that soul should be cut off from among his people : Lev . 17.11.4 . Lev . 7.26 . But now the partition Wall is broken down , and both Jews and Gentiles may eat bloud and things strangled as lawfully as any other food .

And because this large and liberal sprinkling of bloud by the Priest upon the Altar did represent the death of the sacrifice , and typifie the death and sacrifice of Christ ; therefore bloud was much used as a purging type , for almost all things are by the Law purged with bloud ; Heb . 9.21 , 22. to signifie unto us , the purging nature of Christs sacrifice of Atonement : Material Bloud doth not purge , but defile ; but Mediatorial Bloud doth clense and purge away sin ; and therefore Christ made his oblation by the joynt concurrence of both his Natures in a Mediatorial way of obedience ; his Human Nature was the Lamb without spot , and his Divine Nature was both the Priest and the Altar whereby and whereon his human Nature was sacrificed and offered ; and by this means his death became a sacrifice of propitiation to procure Gods Atonement to all the true Israel of God ; and in this respect his death is called the sprinkling of the bloud of Christ , 1 Pet . 1.2 . which speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel , Heb . 12.24 .

And secondly , In this respect the Bloud of Christ is called the Bloud of God , Act. 20.28 . not only because his Human Nature was united to his Divine Nature ; for by the communication of properties that may be attributed to the person which is proper but to one Nature only : But secondly , It is called the Bloud of God in another respect ; namely , because he shed his Bloud by his own Priestly Nature ; that is to say , by the actual power of his Divine Nature ; for he offered himself by his Eternal Spirit , Heb . 9.14 . and poured out his soul to death : Isa . 53.12 . In like sort he is called Iehovah our righteousness : Ier . 23. Because his Mediatorial Obedience ( whereof his oblation was the Master-piece ) was actuated by Iehovah , that is to say , by his Divine Nature as well as by his Human .

So then , I may well conclude , Christ in his human nature was the Lamb of God without spot , and in his divine nature he was the Priest to offer it up to God as a Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement for our Redemption . that the death of Christ was a Mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement , because it was the Act of the Mediator in both his Natures : In his Human Nature he was the Lamb of God without spot ; and in his Divine Nature he was the Priest to offer up his Human nature to God , as a Mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement , for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement for the full Redemption of all the Elect .

But still remember my former caution , that you may understand my words with a grain of salt ; for when I say he did pour out his own Bloud by the active power of his own God-head , I mean that he by the active power of his God-head did pour out his soul , or seperate his soul from his body , when he made his soul a Trespass offering for our sins and trespasses ; Isa . 53.10.12 . Bloud is often put for the seperation of his Soul from his Body ; and so Isaiah doth explain it , He poured out his soul to death ; Isa . 53.12 . The Roman Souldiers did shed a part of his Bloud , but yet all that ever they could do unto him , could not seperate his soul from his Body , till himself pleased to do that by the power of his own God-head .

His Divine nature was the Altar upon which he sanctified his Human nature , and this was typified by the Levitical Altar , Christ in his divine nature was the Altar upon which he offered his human nature as a mediatorial sacrifice of atonement . which at the first was anointed and sanctified , that so it might sanctifie the sacrifice that was offered thereon , Exod . 27.1 . Numb . 7.1.88 . for assoon as the Altar was sanctified , it was called Holiness of Holinesses ; Exod . 29.37 . because it sanctified all the sacrifices that were thereon , Mat . 23.14 . This did teach and typifie unto us , that Christ was not only anointed and sanctified by the holy Ghost to be the mediator , but that he himself did also sanctifie his own humane nature , which he did offer up to God upon the Altar of his own God-head ; as a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savor to God for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement for our full . Redemption . Eph. 5.2 . Iohn 17.19 .

It was the holyness of his divine nature that gave the quickning power to the oblation of his humane nature . Iohn 6.63 . When Christ said to his Disciples he that eateth my flesh , and drinketh my blood , dwelleth in me , and I in him ; verse 56. then many of his Disciples understood his words in a literal and corporal sense ( as the Papists do , this is my body ) and thereupon they were offended and said unto him , this is a hard saying , who can hear it ? v. 60. that is to say , who can indure to hear of such a gross and carnal eating of thy body ? Thereupon Iesus explained his own mind and meaning thus : it is the spirit that quickneth , the flesh profiteth nothing ; the words that I speak unto you are spirit and life , Iohn 6.63 . In this answer our Saviour declareth two things . 1. That the gross and carnal substance of his flesh and blood , considered by it self alone , had no meritorious efficacy to procure our union with his person , or to procure our communion with him in his sacrifice of Atonement : neither his flesh , nor the actions of his flesh alone considered , can profit us ; and therefore his Legal obedience cannot profit us ; whether by way of merit , nor yet by way of imputation for our righteousness , because it is but a part of his flesh ; for legal obedience is but humane obedience , it cannot be accounted as Mediatorial Obedience .

2. Our Saviour in his answer declared wherein the true force and efficacy of his sacrifice did ly : namely in these two things . 1. In the personal union of his humane nature with his divine nature : 2. It lies in his priestly offering up of his humane nature by his divine nature . The flesh of Christ as it suffered death passively by the Roman Souldiers cannot profit us ; but as his God-head gave the quickning power to his oblation , so it doth profit us ; for by that meanes it became the meritorious procuring cause of his Farhers Atonement for our full Redemption .

Therefore when we come to the Lord Table to receive the bread and wine , as the signes of his body broken , and of his blood shed ; we must not do as the Papists do , we must not look at the gross substance of his body and blood , neither must we look at the shedding of it in a passive manner by the Iews and Romans ; When we come to the Lords table we must look more at his mediatorial oblation then at his passive death . but we must look upon the bread and wine by the figure Metynomia , as the signes or tokens of his Mediatorial death ; for he poured out his own soul to death by the active power of his God-head , as a Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement , even at the same time when his body was broken , and his blood shed in a passive manner by the Iews and Romans ; I say the death of Christ must be considered of all faithful receivers as a Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement , because it was performed by the actual power of his God-head , yea by the joint concurrence of both his natures : there was not the least unwillingness in his humane nature to dy , when he came to make his soul a trespass offering for our sins ; as I have expounded Hebr . 5.7 . neither did he dy a passive death , by the power of the Roman souldiers , as the Jews thought , and as the Papists and other carnal Protestants do think ; all the men and divels in the world could not put him to death by their power , I mean they could not seperate his soul from his body , till himself pleased to do it by his own priestly power , Iohn 10.17.18 . his soul was not seperated from his body by the sense of those pains which the Roman souldiers inflicted upon him , as the souls of the two thieves were that were crucified with him ; for Christ dyed neither sooner nor later then the very punctual hour in which God had appointed him to make his oblation ; for the Angel Gabriel was sent to tell Daniel at the time of the evening oblation , that from that very hour to the death of Christ , should be 490. yeers exactly cut out : Dan. 9.24 . and accordingly at the time of the evening sacrifice , Christ did but say , Father into thy hands I commend my spirit , and at that very instant he gave up the Ghost ; Mark 15.37 . And when the Centurion saw that he so cryed out and gave up the Ghost , he said , truly this man was the Son of God : Mark 15.39 . The Centurion did plainly see a manifest difference between the manner of Christs death and the death of the two thieves that were crucified with him ; for as yet they did still continue alive in their torments , till after the time that Ioseph of Arimathea had begged our Saviours dea● body of Pilate , at the Su●-set evening ( for Ioseph did not go to Pilate to beg our Saviours dead body until the evening was come , The natural evening is devided into two evenings , and these two parts are called the two evenings , the 1 begins at mid-day , and the other begins at sun-set : therefore there is not a third begining as some would have it . Mat . 27.57 . Mark 15.52 , 53. And that was at Sun-set ; it could not be when the first evening was come , for that was at mid-day , therefore it was the latter evening of which he speaks ; and that doth not begin till Sun-set , and then the two thieves were alive , and like enough they might have lived longer in their torments , if the Roman Souldiers had not broken their legs to hasten their death : but Christ was dead long before this , for he gave up the Ghost at the ninth hour , which was about 3 hours before the two thieves were killed ; and for that reason the Souldiers did not break his legs , because he had bin dead three hours before , and yet by the course of his nature he might have lived in his torments as long as the two thieves did , for the Roman Souldiers did crucifie all three alike : what then was the true reason why Christ died three hours before the two thieves ? had he less strength of nature to bear his torments then they ? or did the Roman Souldiers ad more torments upon his body then upon the two thieves ? or did the Fathers wrath kill him sooner then the two thieves , as some think ? surely none of all these things did hasten his death before the two thieves : but the only true reason was , because he did actuate his own death as a Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement ( at the just hour appointed by his Father ) by the joint concurrence of both his Natures : his human nature alone could not actuat his own death , because it is not in the power of any mans nature to dy when he will ( except he use some sinful violence against nature ) neither could his God-head make his soul a Mediatorial Sacrifice , till his human nature had accomplished two things . 1. Not till he had overcome his natural fear of death , which by strange crying and tears he obtained at last ; and 2. His Divine nature could not make his soul a Mediatorial Sacrifice , until his human nature did put out an active willingness to dy , for his death could never have bin a Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement unless he did actuat his own death by the joint concurrence of both his natures : and therefore that act of his obedience was the Master peice of all his obedience , it was the choisest thing that the Father required , or that the Mediator could perform , as the procuring cause of Gods Atonement for our full Redemption , Justification , and Adoption .

Trades .

You seem to make the death of Christ an active death only ; Is not this directly contrary to the very letter of the Scripture ? seing the Scripture doth often testifie that the death of Christ was a passive death ; Peter saith , That he was put to death concerning the flesh , 1 Pet . 3.18 . and that he was crucified and slain , Acts 2.32 . and that they kill'd the Lord of life , Acts 3.15 . 1 Thes . 2.15 . Jam . 5.6 . Therefore how can you affirm that he dyed an active death only ?

Divine .

I have already shewed you that Christ died a two-fold death , for he died both as a Malefactor , The death of Christ may be called either an ●ctive or a passive death in se●●●●l ●●sp●cts . and as a Mediator at one and the same time ; a● a Malefactor he died a passive death , but 〈◇〉 he was a Mediator , he died an active death : and the Scripture doth often speak of both these deaths , somtimes joyntly , and somtime , severally ; when the Scripture doth mention his passive death , th●n it saith that he was put to death , killd , and slain : But secondly , t●● Scripture doth somtimes speak joyntly of his passive and of his ●ediatorial death together in one sentence as in Rom. 8.13 . and in Gal. 3.13 . Which scripture I have opened at large in the first ●●r● . And so when Christ ordained his last supper , he took the brea● , and brake it , and said , this is my body which is given for you ; that i● to say , which I have given to be broken for you ▪ Luke 22.19 . compared with 1 Cor . 11.24 . Both actively and p●●s●vely ; ●or as Christ brake the bread , so he brake his own body , because he ●●d seperate his own soul from his body ; so likewise he said of ●●e 〈◇〉 this is the cup of the new Testament which is sh●●●●●r ●ou ▪ 〈◇〉 to say , which I have given to be shed for you : Luk● 2● . ●● , actively and passively as aforesaid ; so Isa . 12. with Rom. 4. ●5 .

3. The scripture doth sometimes speak of his m●d●●●ri●l ●e●●h only : as in Isa . 53.10 . he gave his soul to be a●l Trespass 〈…〉 for our sins , and he offered himself by his eternal spirit : He●● . 9.14 . and he laid down his own life , John 10.17 , 18. And he sanc●●fi●● himself , Iohn 17.19 .

Therefore seeing the holy Scriptures do teach us to observe this distinction upon the dea●h of Christ , it is necessary that all Gods people should take notice of it , and ingrave it in their minds and memories .

When I speak of the death of Christ as a malefactor , then the Scribes and pharisees must b● considered as the wicked instrumen●s thereof : but yet this must be remembred also , that I do not mean that they by their torments did seperate his soul from his body ; in that sense they did not put him to death , ( himself only did seperate his own soul from his body , by the power of his God-head ) but they put him to death , because they inflicted the sores of death upon his body ; they did that to him which they thought sufficient to put him to death : and men are often said to do that which they endeavour to do : As for example Abraham is said to offer his only son , because he endeavoured to do it : The Iews are said to put Christ to death because they endeavoured to do it . Hebr . 11.17 . And Haman is said , to lay his hands upon the Iews , because he endeavoured to do it : Ester 8.7 . And Amaleck is said to lay his hand upon the throne of Iah , because he endeavoured to do it : Exo . 17.16 . And Saul is said to smite Davids life to the ground , because he endeavoured to do it : Psa . 143.3 . And the Magitians are said to make lice miraculously , as Moses did , because they endeavoured to do it ; but yet the text saith that they could not do it , Ex. 8.18 . And the Israelites are said to go up to the top of the mountain , because they endeavoured to do it ; Num . 14.40 . As the matter is explained in Deu . 1.41 . In like sort men are said to do that which they command others to do ; 2 Sam . 12.9 . Num . 19.3 . and in this sense it is said that the Iews did kill and slay the Lord of life , because they endeavoured to do it , by stiring up Pilate to condemn him ; and to crucifie him , and in the conclusion , they verily thought that they had kil'd him , because they crucified him and tormented him with sores of death , as the two thieves were ; but the truth is , they wre deceived , for he was not a bare and base man , as the two thieves were , and therefore they could not seperate his soul from his body by all the torments the divel could devise , ( for he was stronger then Satan ) till himself pleased to actuate his own death by his own Priestly nature , as a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement , by the joint concurrence of both his natures ; in this last sense Christ dyed as a mediator only ; he did actuate his own death as a mediator at the very same time when the Iews put him to death as a malefactor , he laid down his own life by the same power by which he took it up again ; Iohn 10.17 , 18. And how else did he raise himself up out of his grave , but by the joint concurrence of both his natures ? therefore he must needs actuate his own death by the joint concurrence of both his Natures . See a further answer to this in Ps. 22.15 .

By this distinction imprinted upon the mind and memory , a man may easily see the reason why the death of Christ is sometimes called a passive death , and sometimes an active death .

Yea his mediatorial death may wel be called a miraculous death , The death of the Mediator was a miraculos death . it was no less miraculos then the raising of the dead body of Lazarus was : for when Christ went about to raise the dead body of Lazarus he did but cry out to Lazarus with a loud voice , saying come forth ; and at that very instant he came out of the grave : Iohn 11.43 . In like manner when the just appointed hour was come wherein the Father had appointed the mediator to make his soul a sacrifice for sin , he did but cry out to his Father with a loud voice , saying , Father into thy hands I commend my spirit ; and at that very instant he breathed out his soul into the hands of God .

Christ dyed not by degrees ( saith Mr. Nichols in his Day-star ) as his Saints do : his senses did not decay ; no pangs of death took hold upon him ; but in perfect sense , Patience , and Obedience both of body and of soul , he by his infinite power did voluntarily resign his spirit ( as he was praying ) into the hands of his Father , without any trembling or strugling , or without any shew of sense of his pains .

And Austin saith thus : who can sleep ( saith he ) when he will , as Christ dyed when he would ? who can lay aside his Garment , so as Christ layed aside his flesh ? who can leave his place , so as Christ left his life ? his life was not forced from him by any imposed punishment , but he did voluntarily render it up to God as a Mediatorial Sacrifice : in his life time he was often touched with the fear of death , but by his strong crying unto God with dayly prayers and tears , he obtained power against his natural fear o● death before he came to make his oblation ; as I have expounded Heb . 5.7 .

And it is further evident that his death was miraculous , by the speech of the Centurion , for when he saw that Christ did but cry out and give up the Ghost , at the same instant he said , truly this man was the Son of God ; Mark 15.39 .

Again it is evident that his death was miraculous , because at that instant when he breathed out his soul into the hands of God , the vail of the temple ( which typified his human nature ) rent it self in twain from the top to the bottom ; and at that time also the graves of the Saints did open themselves , and many of the dead Saints did arise : Mat . 27.51 . These miracles declar'd that now the true Holy of Holies did seperate his s●ul from his body , and so entered into heaven with his own blood , having found Eternal redemption for us , Heb . 9.12 .

Hence we may learn , that the doctrine of the Papists and Lutherans in their Transubstantiation , and in Ctheir onsubstantiation , is very erroneous ; for they place the meritorious price of their redemption in the gross substance of Christs flesh and bloud , and in the passive shedding of it upon the cross by the Romans ; and they also do make the wooden cross on which Christ was crucified as a malefactor , to be the Altar ; they may as wel make the Roman souldiers to be the priests that did offer up his human nature in sacrifice to God for our redemption : O woful blindness , that they should thus corrupt the meritorious price of our Atonement and redemption !

But I have formerly confuted this carnal and superstitious doctrine : I have formerly proved that the God-head of Christ was the Altar , and that the God-head of Christ was the priest whereby he made his mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement : I have shewed that neither the substance of Christs flesh , nor the substance of his bloud , nor the passive action of sheding it by the Roman souldiers , could make his death to be a mediatorial sacrifice : and so our Saviour told the Iews when they understood him of eating the substance of his flesh , and of drinking the substance of his bloud ; he told them plainly , that it was not his flesh nor his bloud , but the Spirit or God-head that gave the quickning vertue to his flesh and bloud : Iohn 6.63 . It is a gross conceit to think that the substance of bloud can clense any mans soul , for the gross substance of bloud doth defile , and in that respect it was counted unclean : Lev . 6.26 .

But the clensing vertue of his bloud lies in his own mediatorial sheding of it , for though he did not break his own body , and pour out his own bloud with nails and spear as the Roman souldiers did , Christ did actually breake his own body in pieces , when he did seperate his soul from his body ▪ and he did actually pour out his own life when he poured out his soul to death . yet he brake his own body in pieces , by seperating his own soul from his body by the power of his divine nature : and then he did actually shed his own bloud , when he did pour out his own soul to death ; Is. 53.12 . as a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement , for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement for our full redemption , justification ▪ and Adoption : and in this sense only the bloud of Christ doth purge us ; Tit . 2.14 . And clense us ; 1 Iohn 1.7 . and wash us from our sins . Rev. 1.

A Discourse touching the Obedeience of Christ to the Moral Law : whether it were done for our Justification or no , by way of Imputation . TRADESMAN ,

HItherto you have spoken abundantly touching the efficacy of Christs Mediatorial Obedience : A discourse touching the obedience of Christ to the moral law whether it were done for our Iustification or no , by way of Imputation . But yet you have said nothing touching the efficacy of his active Obedience to the Moral Law : And yet you know that sundry learned Divines do teach and affirm , that his obedience to the Moral law was done for us , and that the Father in that respect doth impute it to us , as if it had bin done by us , for our full Atonement and Iustification in his sight .

Divine .

Before I can speak any thing touching Christs Obedience to the moral law : I must first understand what you mean by this term the moral law .

Trades .

By the term Moral law , I mean the decalogue or ten Commandments : and I call it the Moral law , because every one of those ten commandments were engraven in our nature in the time of Adams innocency .

Divine .

I did imagin that you did take the term Moral law in this sense , but in my apprehension in this sense the term Moral law is very ill applyed to the ten Commandments , The term moral law is ill applied to the ten commandments as a general title , because the ten commandments do contain in them rules of faith in C●r●st ●s well as moral rules . because it makes most men look at no further matter in the ten Commandments , but at moral duties only ; or it makes them look no further but at Sanctified walking in relation to Moral duties .

But the truth is , they are greatly deceived , for the ten Commandments do require faith in Christ as wel as moral duties : but faith in Christ was not engraven in Adams nature in the time of his innocency , he knew nothing concerning saith in Christ til after his fal , therefore the ten Commandments ( in the full latitude of them ) were not given to Adam in his innocency , they were not given till after Christ was published to be the seed of the woman , to break the Divels head-plot . Therefore the ten Commandments do require faith in Christ as well as moral duties .

Mr. Broughton saith that the two Tables doth co●tai● i●●h●m all wisdome both of faith and manners : and in ●●●t● 〈…〉 saith that there is no precept in all the Bible , but it must come within the compass of one or other of the ten commandments , and in this sense our Saivor affirmed to the Scribes that there are but two great Commandments in the Law , ( which are the first Table and the Second ) and that on these two commandments do hang the whole Law and the Prophets , Mat . 22.40 . Hence I reason thus , if the whole Law and the Prophets do hang upon the ten Commandments , as the general heads of all that is contained within the Law and Prophets , then the ten commandments must needs containe in them rules of faith in Christ as wel as moral duties .

And this is further evident by the preface of the ten commandments which runs thus , I am Iehovah thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt , hence it may be demanded who that Iehovah was that brought them out of the Land of Egypt ? whether was it the Father , or the Son , or the Holy Ghost ? the answer is , that though the term Iehovah be common to all the three persons , yet in this place it must be applyed to Iesus Christ especially ( not excluding the other persons ) he is often called Iehovah , as Mat . 4.7 . doth expound Deu . 6.16 . and HE is that Iehovah that brought them out of Egypt : He it was that first appeared to Moses in the Bush , and that sent Moses unto Pharoah with miraculous power to bring his people out of Egypt , Ex. 3.2 . At the first he is called the Angel of Iehovah , ( the Father ) v. 2. But in v. 6. He is called , the God of Abraham ; and after this he was called the Angel of Gods presence that went before his people in the wilderness ; Ex. 23.20 . and he is also called the Angel that brought them out of Egypt ; Num . 20.16 . Ex. 14.19 . He is that Angel that spake to Moses in mount Sinai , Acts 7.38 . and he is also called Iehovah , that went before them in a pillar of a cloud by day , and in a pillar of fire by night : Ex. 13.21 . And the Hebrew Doctors do acknowledge that their Redemption from Egypt was by the hand of the Angel the Redeemer , with the power of the great God ; as it is said in Ex. 32.11 . see also Ains . in Ex. 12.17 .

From all these places compared together , it is evident that Christ was that Iehovah that brought them out of the Land of Egypt , and that gave them the ten commandments on Mount Sinai ; and so the Apostle Paul saith , that it was HE that spake unto them , whose voice then sh●ok the Earth , Heb . 12.25 , 26.

Therefore it was Christ that gave the first Commandment saying , Thou shalt have none other Gods but me , Ex. 20.3 . That is to say , thou shalt have none other Gods but the Trinity , and no other Mediator but me alone to be thy Redeemer and Saviour : for there is no other name given under heaven by which we can saved : Acts 4.12 .

In like sort Christ in the 2 Commandment doth require obedience to all his outward worship , and in speciall to all his Levitical worship , for that was the present outward worship which he commanded at mount Sinai , immediatly after he had given them the ten commandments : and the observation of that worship is especially called the Law of Works ( though the ten commandments must also be included ) but the right application of the typical signification of the levitical worship to the soul , is called the Law of Faith , or the Gospel part of the Law , for all their levitical worship was given on purpose to guide their souls to Christ ; therefore faith in Christ must needs be comprised typically under the second commandment : the Tabernacle , the Ark , the Altar , and the Sacrifices , whose blood was sprinkled upon the Altar by the Priest , did teach and typifie how the mediator should make our Atonement by his Mediatorial Sacrifice , all this and much more is comprised under that outward worship , which is command●d by the second Commandment .

The 3 Commandment doth teach holy Reverence to the person of the mediator , because it commandeth reverence to his sanctuary , where his divine nature did reside in the cloud of his presence upon the Mercy-seat : Lev . 19.30 .

4. Faith in Christ is also typically comprehended under the 4 Commandment , for the Sabbath was not ordained til after Adams fall , nor till he was convinced of his sin , nor til the seed of the woman was promised to break the Divels head-plot ; for Adam fell in the very same sixt day in which he was created , and in that very day the Lord did effectually convince him of his miserable condition by his disobediont eating of the forbidden fruit : and in that day also the Lord in great Mercy did set before him an effectual remedy , by promising to him that the seed of the woman should break the divels head-plot : and so through the mighty operation of God , Adam and Eve , were inabled to believe their Atonement through the mediation of the promised seed ; and so by that meanes Adam and Eve that were before dead in corruption and sin , were made alive again through grace ; and so the whole creation was made new , perfected and finished by the Redemption in the evening of the sixt day , and then on the seventh day God rested from all his works , because he rested in the Mediator for the perfecting of the creation by the redemption of the promised seed , and he commanded Adam to rest on that day both bodily and spiritually . 1. Bodily , from all bodily labor , that so he might spend the whole day in Gods outward worship ; 2. That he might rest spiritually , by causing his faith to rest upon the promised seed for his ful redemption : and thus God ordained the first Sabbath that ever was , to be observ'd both as a sanctified sign of resting on Christ , and also as a Sanctified time to be wholy spent in Gods worship , and as a help to us to meditate on our redemption by the promised seed .

Hence it follows by good and necessary consequence from the promises .

1. That the ten commandments do containe in them rules of Faith in Christ as well as moral rules .

2. Hence it is evident that the term moral law , is not a sutable title for the ten commandments ; because it doth not sufficiently comprehend under it the scope of the ten commandments , which every general title ought to do .

The Title which our saviour puts upon them is , the two great Commandments on which the whole Law and Prophets do hang : But the most usual fit title is the Ten commandments .

Trades .

I do now percieve that the term moral law is not a very suteable Title to be put upon the ten Commandments : neither doth it fully express my own mind and meaning : for when I spake of the obedience of Christ to the moral law , I meant it of his obedience to the whole law of works : which obedience of his was done for us to this very end , that God the Father might impute it to us as our our righteousness in his sight .

Divine .

I cannot see how the Common Doctrine of imputation can stand with Gods justice : God cannot in justice impute our Saviours legal obedience to us , for our justice , righteousness or justificati●n .

1. Because it is point blank against the conditions of the Legal covenant so to do ; God cannot in justice Iustifie any man by the Imputation of Christs active Obedience . for the legal promise of Eternal life is not made over to us upon condition of Christs personal performance , bu● upon condition of our own personal performance : I say the law binds every singular person to perform exact obedience by his own natural power , without any help from any surety whatsoever , or without any supernatural help of faith : for the Condition of the legal promise runs thus : the man that doth these things shall live thereby , Lev . 8.5 . Eze . 20.11 . Namely that man that doth personally observe the whole law by his own natureal power shall live thereby : and thus the Apostle Paul doth explain the meaning of the Legal condition in Gal. 3.12 . The law is not of faith , but the man that doth them shal live in them ; he doth plainly exclude faith and such like supernatural helps , as being no part of the condition of the legal promise , therefore it requires every singular person to perform it by his own natural power ; and this is further evident by the curse that is added to every one that continues not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them , Gal. 3.10 . The curse of the law runs thus , if any singular person doth faile but once in the course of his life , though it be but in the least circumstance , he must by the justice of the law be eternally cursed : he and no other for him must dy eternally : therefore he and no other for him must keep the whole law if ever he doth look to be justified in Gods sight by legal righteousness : and therefore it follows by good consequence , that God cannot in justice justifie any man by imputing to him Christs legal obedience for his justice .

2. God never intended to Iustify any man by the law of Works therefore not by Christs legal obedience imputed to us for our righteousness . It is evident that God never propounded the law of works to the fallen sons Adam , with any intent at all that ever any of the fallen sons of Adam should seek for justification and Atonement in Gods sight by legal obedience , but Gods intent was directly contrary , for when he propounded the legal promise of life eternal to the fallen sons of Adam , he did propound it upon condition of their own personal obedience , to allure them thereby to search into their own natural unrighteousness by this perfect rule of legal righteousness , which being laid to a mans corrupt nature and waies , will discover to each man ( as in a glass ) his own unjust and crooked nature and waies ; for the corrupt nature of man is directly contrary to every branch of the ten c●mmandments ; and in this respect the Apostle doth tell us , that the law of works is too weake a means ( namely in respect of our corrupt flesh ) to bring any man to life and salvation ; Rom. 8.3 . Rom. 7.14 . And therefore when God gave the law of works to the fallen sons of Adam , he intended it to be the Minister ( not of life but ) of death 2 Cor . 3.7 . 1 Cor 15.56 . Rom. 3.20 . Rom. 4.15 . Rom. 7.7.13 . Rom. 5.20 . Therefore by this law of life God intended cheifly to make the soules of the fallen sons of Adam to be sensible of their own spiritual death in corruption and sin , thereby to provoke our souls to seeke for life some other way , namely by the mediati●n of the Mediator promised , neither doth the ceremonial part of this law of workes clense any mans conscience from the guilt of his sin , though the Iews did thereby clense themselves to the purifying of their flesh , Heb . 9.9 . Therefore it followes by good consequence , that God did never intend to justifie any corrupt son of Adam by legal obedience done by his own person , nor yet by our Saviours legal obedience imputed as the formal cause of a sinners justice or righteousness .

The Imputation of our Saviours legal obedience is altogether insufficient to make a sinner righteous from his original sin . 3. God cannot in justice justifie a sinner by our Saviours legal obedience imputed , because legal obedience is altogether insufficient to justifie a corrupt son of Adam from his original sin ; for our corrupt and sinful nature did not fall upon us for the breach of any of Moses laws , but for the breach of another law of workes which God gave unto Adam in his innocency ( by way of prohibition ) in the day thou eatest thereof , thou shalt dy the death , Gen. 2.17 . Therefore God cannot in justice impute our Saviors legal obedience to any corrupt son of Adam for his ful and perfect righteousness , because it is altogether insufficient to make a sinner righteous from his original sin .

If God imputed Christs legal obedience to sinners for their justification , then Christ made his obla●ion in vain . 4. If Christs legal obedience imputed were sufficient to justifie a sinner from all kind of sin both original and actual , then Christ made his oblation in vain ; for it had been altogether needless for him to give his soul as a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement for the procuring of our justice in Gods sight , if his legal righteousness performed by his life had bin sufficient to justifie us from all sin in Gods sight , for if righteousness could have come to sinners by the law , then Christ dyed in vain . Gal. 2.21 .

5. Christs legal obedience was but the work of his flesh or of his humane nature , therefore it could not be the procuring cause of Gods Atonement for our justification ; Christs legal obedience was but the work of his flesh or his human nature therefore it was not meritorious for our justification if it could be supposed that it had bin imputed to us . for no obedience is meritorious , but that obedience which was mediatorial : I never heard that the Father required the Mediator to perform legal obedience as a proper condition of his mediators office , nay our saviour himself doth testifie , that his flesh ( alone considered ) doth not profit us to life and salvation , Iohn 6.63 . Therefore not his legal obedience , for that was but the work of his fl●sh or humane nature , and therefore it could not be meritorious to procure Gods Atonement for sinners righteousness .

Many such like absurdities as these the common doctrine of imputation doth lead men into .

6. There is great jarring among Divines about the right stating of the doctrine of Imputation . The common Doctrine of imputation may well be questioned because divines cannot agree in the right stating of it .

First , Some affirm that God the Father doth impute Christs legal obedience to sinners as their obedience for their ful and perfect justification .

Secondly , Others do affirm that Christs legal obedience imputed , is not sufficient of it self to make a sinner perfectly righteous ; and therefore they affirm that God doth impute another kind of Christs righteousness to sinners for their full justification , namely the purity of his nature in his conception and birth , to justifie us from our original sin .

Thirdly , Others go further in the point of imputation , for they do affirm that God doth impute another kind of Christs righteousness to sinners for their full justification , namely his passive obedience , and so by necessary consequence they do make sinners to be their own mediators , because they do make Christs mediatorial obedience to be a sinners obedience by Gods imputation : but I have confuted this kind of imputation in a particular discourse about it in the close of this Treatise .

Many such like absurd consequences as these , do often follow at the heels of the common doctrine of imputation : but against , all these ways of imputation , I may well frame this Argument .

The Actions of Christs obedience , neither active nor passive , can be made ours by Gods imputation , no more then our sinful actions can be made his by Gods imputation .

But our sinful actions cannot be made his by Gods Imputation as I have at large proved in the opening of Gen. 2.17 .

Therefore neither can the actions of Christs active or passive obedience be made ours by Gods Imputation .

If God do make sinners righteous by the active obedience of Christ imputed , then Christ must perform all manner of acts of obedience for us that God doth require of us , or else God cannot in justice make us perfectly righteous by the active obedience of Christ imputed .

But Christ did not perform all manner of acts of obedience for us that God doth require of us , because he was never married , &c. and yet we have as much need to be made rig●teous in such like actions as in any .

Therefore God cannot in justice make us perfectly righteous by the actions of Christs active obedience imputed .

Trades .

I will not reply to your Arguments as yet , because I desire some further satisfaction touching that distinction which you make between Christs Legal and Mediatorial Obedience : Was it not the Will of God that our Mediator should fulfil all Righteousness for the procuring of our Redemption and Iustification ? It is a necessary thing to distinguish between Christs legal & Mediatorial Obedience . Why then should not his legal obedience be a part of his mediatorial obedience ?

Divine ,

It is a necessary thing to observe a right difference between Christs Legal and Mediatorial Obedience , which I have in part distinguished already ; but for your further satisfaction , I will again distinguish b●tw●en them : I grant that God required the Mediator to fulfil all rig●teousness , but yet his obedience to the Law of Works , and his obedience to the Law of Mediatorship , must be considered as done for several ends and uses .

First , God appointed ●he Mediator to fulfil the Law of Works , I mean so much of it a● sell within the compass of his human course of life , not as a proper condition belonging to the Law of Mediator-ship ( as Mediator ) but as true man only , for he was bound to observe the Law of Works as he was true man , as much as any other Jew by a native right , as the Apostle sheweth in Gal. 4.4 . and the Law of Works doth require every Jew to observe it by his own natural power , without any supernatural help from God ; therefore Christs legal ●bedience cannot be accounted as a part of his mediatorial obedience ; for nothing can be accounted as a part of his mediatorial obedi●nce , but that which he did actuate by the joynt concurrence of both his natures .

Secondly , Though I do make his Legal Obedience to be no more but human obedience , yet I grant that he was thereby qualified and fitted to make his soul a mediatorial Sacrifice ; for he could not have bin the Lamb of God without spot , if he had not bin exact in the performance of so much legal obedience as fell within the compass of his human course of life ; See Heb . 7.26 .

Thirdly , The rewards which his Father did promise unto him for his Mediatorial Obedience , do far exceed the rewards which he doth promise to legal obedience ; for I cannot find that ever the Father did promise to reward any mans legal Obedience with such special rewards as he doth promise unto Christs mediatorial obedience ; I will give thee the ends of the earth for thy possession , Ps. 2. and He shall see his seed and prolong his days , when he shall make his soul a Trespass offering : Isa . 53.10 . These and many such like rewards are promised to the Mediator , not for his legal , but mediatorial Obedience ; th●refore we must not confound his legal obedience and his mediatorial obedience together , as the common doctrine of imputation doth very often .

Fourthly , Christ was n●t bound to fulfil personal obedience to every branch of the Law of works ( for he had not wife and children to instruct , &c. ) but he was bound to fulfil every branch and circumstance of the law of Mediatorship , he must not be wanting in the least circumstance thereof ; if he had bin wanting in the least circumstance , he had bin wanting in all .

M. Calvin observeth rightly , See Calv . Insti● . l. 2. c . 14. that some of the actions of Christ were proper to his God-head only , and some of his actions were proper to his human nature only , and some of his actions were common to both his Natures : and this observation ( saith M. Calvin ) shall do us no small service to assoyl many doubts , if the Reader can but fitly apply it .

It is absurd to affirm that all the Acts of Christs Obedience were Mediatorial , because his person consisted of two Natures ; for then his natural actions should be mediatorial as well as any other ; you may as well say that all the actions of the Son and of the holy Ghost are the actions of the Father , because they are united into one God-head , as say that the acts of Christs legal obedience were mediatorial , because his person consisted of two natures ; but as the actions of each person in Trinity must often be distinguished from each other in the manner of their working , so must the acts of Christs obedience be distinguished , either according to his divine nature , or according to his human nature , or according to the personal union of both his natures ; for sometimes his natures do work severally , and sometimes jointly .

As for example , all the actions of Christ from his birth until he began to be thirty years of age , must be considered but as natural , or but as legal acts of obedience ; for till he began to be thirty yeers of age , he lived a private life with his Parents , and was subject to them , and learned the Trade of a Carpenter of his Father Joseph ; and in that respect he was som●times called the Carpenter , and sometimes the Carpenters son : in all which space he was obedient to his parents as a good son , and he was obedient to the Law of Works as a godly Jew , being circumcised ; and walked in all the ordinances of Moses without reproofe ; but I cannot see how any of these actions can be properly called Mediatorial obedience .

But Secondly when he began to be 30 yeers of age , he did then begin to declare himself to be the mediator ; for when he was baptized of John in Iordan , the holy Ghost did light upon him in a visible manner , before all Iohns auditory , and then the Father by his voice from heaven declared that he was the mediator in whom he was wel pleased and immediatly upon this he was led aside from thence ( by the holy Spirit ) into the wilderness to be tempted and tryed by the divel , whether he would be a faithful Mediator or no : and he continued in the wild●rness in fasting and prayer for forty dayes together , that he might be able by his Mediatorial obedience to breake the divels head-plot in peices : and after this the Father did again anoint him by the Holy Ghost in the time of his transfiguration , for the better inabling him to accomplish his mediatorial oblation at Jerusalem ; Luke 9.31 . and after he was installed into the mediators office at his baptism , he did freely and frequently fall to preaching in their Synagogues , which was the act of his human nature , but yet it was often accompanied with the miracles of his God-head ; and this was done to declare his person to be the person of the mediator , and therefore he did not only heal the sick , but also he forgave sins .

This was the progress of the mediator after that he was publikely installed into his office at his baptism , when he began to be thirty yeers of age .

Thirdly , In the upshot of his life , as soon as he had fulfilled all things that were written of him , he sanctified himself , and finished his oblation by the joint concurrence of both his natures : and this was the Master-peice of all his mediatorial obedience .

Having thus distinguished the actions of the mediator according to each of his natures , or according to the personal union of both his natures , we may and must rank his acts of obedience accordingly ; his obedience to the law of Works must be ranked among the actions of his humane nature , and his obedience to the law of mediator-ship must be ranked among his mediatorial actions which he performed by the personal union of both his natures , and by this rule of distinction , I can find no other place for his legal obedience but among his humane acts of obedience ; for as he was true man he was made unto the law of Works as much as any other Jew was , and therefore he must observe it by his human power .

Trades .

You said one while , that Christ did no mediatorial acts of obedience until he began to be thirty yeers of age : how can that be seeing he was born a Mediator ?

Divine .

I did not expresly say that Christ did no mediatorial acts of obedience , until he began to be thirty yeers of age , for I make no question but he did offer up many mediatorial prayers of intercess●on to his Father for the elect in that space , but he did no publike acts of a mediator in all that space : I grant that he took upon him our human nature into the personal union of the mediator in the womb of the Virgin , as soon as ever he was conceived by the holy Ghost , and I grant also that some few Godly persons had the knowledge thereof in the time of his infancy by spiritual Revelation , as Mary , Symeon , Anna , and a few others .

But he did not publikely take upon him to do the office of a mediator until the Father did publikely instal him into the mediators office when he began to be thirty yeers of age , and then as he was baptized before all Iohns auditory , th● holy Ghost did light upon him in the visible shape of a Dove , and then the Father testified by an audible voice that he was his beloved son in whom he was well pleased .

It may be you think ( as many others do ) that Christ began to pay the price of our redemption from the very first beginning of his incarnation , for many affirm that he was conceived by the holy Ghost without any original sin , that so he might thereby justifie us from our original sin ; which opinion I have confuted : but the open History of the Evangelists do speak nothing at all of any of his mediatorial actions till he was publikely installed into the office of the mediator at Iohns baptism ; and truly his abstaining so long from the doing of any publike mediatorial action , was not without a divine mistery ; for the Priests in the Law might not enter into their office to do the publike actions of a Priest , until they began to be thirty yeers of age Num 4.47 . In like sort the Father did not instal the mediator to do the publike office of the mediator , until that very age ; and then the Father did anoint him with the holy Ghost ; Mat . 3.15 , 16 , 17. By means whereof he received power and strength to do the office of the mediator without any turning away back Acts 10 38. As it was foretold by the Prophet Esay , c . 61.2 , 3. Esay 11.2 , 3.

When Christ began to be thirty yeers of age he was publikely installed into the mediators office by the joint consent of all the Trinity . Yea when Christ began to be thirty yeers of age , he was publikely installed into the mediators office by the joint consent of all the Trinity : and so our Saviour doth explain the matter unto Iohn , saying : Thus our desire is ( or thus it becometh us ) to fulfil all righteousness Mat . 3.14 .

Trades .

Do you take this word [ Our ] to mean the Trinity , seeing most interpreters do understand it only of the joint desire of Iohn and Christ , Christ said thus unto Iohn , it is our desire to fulfil all righteousness ?

Divine .

These two terms , first our desire , secondly our fulfilling all righteousness , had need to be explained .

First the term Us , or our desire , cannot be meant of the joint desire of Iohn with Christs desire , for it is plain by the text that Iohn did not desire to baptize Christ according to Christs desire ; because he earnestly put him back and forbade him at the present : therefore the term our desire must have relation to some others , namely to the joint desire of all the Trinity ; for it was now the joint desire of all the Trinity to instal the Mediator publikely into his office : and the Father had foretold Iohn how he should know the person that should be installed to baptize with the holy Ghost and fire ; saying , upon whom thou shalt see the spirit come down and tarry still upon him , that is he which baptizeth with the holy Ghost : Iohn 1.33 . by this foretelling , Iohn might easily understand Christ to mean the Trinity by the term our .

And it is further evident that it was the desire of all the Trinity to instal the mediator publikely before all Iohns Auditory then present . First because the holy Ghost did light upon him in the visible shape of a Dove , and secondly , because the Son came and stood forth before all that Auditory and accepted that office ; and thirdly , because the Father by his voice from heaven did openly testifie that he was his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased .

The second word of the latter sentence to be explained is this , what is meant by the word Righteousness which all the Trinity did now desire to fulfil ? The answer is , that they desired to fulfil all that Righteousness which appertained to the Mediators person and office , at this time they desired to fulfil that part of righteousness which appertained to his publike instalment ; for he might not do the office of the Mediator till he was publikely installed .

From the time of his birth hitherto , he did not heal infirmitys , nor forgive sins , neither did he prove his person to be the person of the Mediator by any miracles of his God-head : but as soon as he was publikely installed , then he left his dwelling at Nazareth , and removed his dwelling to Capernaum , for there he must first begin to shew forth the light of his person and office to them of Galilee , to fulfil that light which Esay foretold should arise in Galilee , Mat . 4.13 , 14. And from that time forth he did openly declare himself to be the Mediator ; saying , the spirit of the Lord is upon me , and he hath anointed me ; Luke 4.18 . Psa . 45. And so he did for three yeers and a halfe together prove himself to be the Mediator by the works of his God-head ; and at last he finished his mediatorial oblation as the Master-peice of all his obedience , and then God did more especially declare him to be the Holy of Holies , by the manner of his death , which was miraculous , and exceeding pleasing in the sight of God for the procuring of his Atonement for all believing sinners .

Trades .

Sir I desire now to return again to the efficacy of Christs legal obedience , both hath a great influence into the true form of our justification through Gods imputation : and so saith the Apostle Paul that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us , Rom. 8.4 . How else can the righteousness of the law be fulfilled in us but by the Fathers imputing of the Mediators legal obedience to us as our Obedience for our justice or Justification ?

Divine .

Christs mediatorial obedience is often mistaken by the common doctrine of imputation , and it is often confounded with his legal obedience . You do greatly mistake the Apostles meaning in this text , for the Apostle doth not in this place speak of that part of legal obedience which God requires of every man that lookes to be justified thereby , but in this place he speaks only of that part of righteousness which the Gospel part of the law taught and typified by their sacrifices of Atonement , which Sacrifices are called Sacrifices of Righteousness , because they taught and typified how Sinners might attain unto Gods Atonement for their full and perfect righteousness ; namely they taught Sinners how they might obtain the Fathers Atonement by the Mediators sacrifice of Atonement for their ful and perfect righteousness ; and this righteousness of the law is in other places of the New Testament called Gods righteousness : the context will not suffer it to be meant of legal Righteousness by the works of the Law ; for the former verse runs thus God sent his son in the Similitude of sinful flesh , and for sin condemned sin in the flesh . v. 3.

Rom. 8.3 , 4. Did Christ condemn sin in the flesh by his legal obedience ? no , but by his mediatorial obedience only : which may the bettter be discerned by answering these two Questions .

Question , 1. How did God send his Son in the Similitude of sinful flesh ?

Answer God sent him in the Similitude of a sinner , or of sinful flesh , by ordaining him to suffer as a Sinful mal●factor in the flesh ; for when God promis●d to Adam that the seed of the woman should break the Divels head-plot , then he did also tell the divel in the Serpent , thou shalt pierce him in the foot-soals : Gen 3.15 . that is to say , thou Sathan by thy instruments shalt crucifie the seed of the woman as a sinful malefactor ; and in this sense God sent his Son in the similitude of sinful flesh .

Question 2. How did God send him for sin ? and how did he condemne sin in the flesh ?

Answer God sent him for sin , when he sent him to make his soul a sacrifice of atonement for sin , as I have opened the phrase at large in 2 Cor . 5.21 . In the first part .

And he condemned sin in the flesh , when he made his flesh or human nature a sacrifice of Atonement for sin ; for by that means he procured his Fathers Atonement to all believing Sinners : and therefore there is no condemnation to such sinners . v. 1.

In briefe the meaning of the Apostle lies thus , when God sent his Son to dy as a malefactor in the Similitude of sinful flesh , Christ did at the same time condemn sin , because he did at the same time dy as a mediator and made his soul a mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement for sin ; and so he procured his Fathers Atonement to poor sinners : and by this means he condemned sin in the flesh , and made sinners sinless , that is to say righteous .

But this distinction of the double death of Christ I have opened more at large in Gal. 3.13 . and in Luke 22.19 . and in Ps. 22.15 .

Then in v. 4. the Apostle makes application of all this unto us that are in Christ , saying , How sinners are made righteous by the righteousness of the Law . that the righteousness of the law ( namely that righteousness which was taught and typified in the Law by their sacrifices of Atonement ) might be fulfilled in us : for the burnt offerings , Sin offerings , and Trespass offerings , did teach and typify to poor believing sinners how they must be made righteous , namely by Gods Atonement ; which must be obtained and procured by Christ media●orial Sacrifice of Atonement ; there is no other way or means to make a sinner righteous but this way ; and in this sense the ceremonial law taught sinners ( except wilful sinners ) how they might be made righteous or sinless : and therefore as soon as ever any sinner had accomplished his sacrifice of Atonement he was by the Law accounted a righteous person in Gods sight , and such persons might freely come to the Sanctuary , and feast there before Iehovah with rejoycing and with acceptance ,

And in this very sense all sacrifices of Atonement are called sacrifices of Righteousnes ; as in Deut. 33.19 . Psal . 4.5 . Ps. 51.19 . Why sacrifices of atonement are called sacrifices of Righteousness . But these sacrifices of Righteousness were but shaddows of good things to come : Heb . 10.1 . For the Law made nothing perfect , but the bringing in of a better hope , by which we draw nigh to God , Heb . 7.19 . Therefore whensoever any sinner did bring his sacrifice of Righteousness before God , he was thereby directed , how to stir up his faith of dependance upon Christs sacrifice of Atonement , for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement for his full and perfect righteousness : and in this sense Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth : Rom. 10.4 . namely , as his mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement was typified by their legal sacrifices , as the procuring cause of his Fathers Atonement , which is a sinners righteousness : And thus Christ himself doth expound the meritorious efficacy of his sacrifice of Atonement , saying thus to his Father , In Burnt Offe●ings and Sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure : Then said I , Lo I come , In the volume of thy book it is written of me , that I should do thy Will O God : He taketh away the first , that he might establish the second : Heb . 10.8 , 9. namely , he taketh away all Legal Sacrifices of Righteousness , that he might establish his own Mediatorial Sacrifice of Righteousness ; for his sacrifice doth make sinners righteous ; namely as it is the meritorious procuring cause of the Fathers Atonement ( which is a sinners everlasting righteousness ) By which Will ( of the Father in sending Christ to be our Sacrifice of Atonement ) we are sanctified ( or made perfectly righteous or sinless ) through the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once for all : Iustification or the true nature of a sinners righteousness doth ly in the Fathers merciful Atonement and forgivnes● . Heb . 10.5 , 6. So then , the righteousness of the Law that is fulfilled in us , is no other righteousness but the Fathers merciful Atonement , Pardon , and Forgiveness , procued by Christs mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement .

And thus I think I have fully explained the true nature of a sinners righteousness , justice , or Justification ; which I have described to be nothing else but the Fathers merciful Atonement , pardon , and forgiveness , so that I may more fi●ly call a sinners righteousness a merciful justice or righteousness put upon poor believing sinners by Gods Fatherly pardon and Forgiveness , then a strict legal passive righteousness imputed to us from Christs legal obedience , as our actual righteousness ; as the Common doctrine of imputation doth teach .

The Hebrew word Tsedec , which we translate Iustice or righteousness , is often Translated into Greek by the 70. Mercy , Charity , or Almes And in this sense you shall often find it translated by the 70. very sutable to the true scope of the text ; as in Psa . 24.5 . Psa . 33.5 . Ps. 103.6 . Is. 1.27 . Dan . 4.27 . Dan . 9 7.16 . Deu . 24.13 . And in other plac●s also ; for God doth promise unto repentant sinners , that Iudgement shall return unto justice ; that is to say , unto mercy through his merciful Atonement and pardon Psa . 94.15 .

And indeed the righteousness which God the Father bestowed upon poor believing sinners in making them sinless by his Atonement , is an example of the highest degree of Mercy , Charity , or Almes , that the world can afford ; it is a high degree of mercy in man to do justice to the oppressed , Ps. 82.3 . Ier . 22.3 . Iob 29.12 , 13. but it is a far higher degree of mercy in God to reconcile himself to his enemies , and to make sinners just and innocent by his merciful Atonement ; and in this sense Peter Martyr cals Gods Righteousness or Justice , Gods Mercy ; Rom . 3.21 . and in this sense the Apostle saith , that God had appointed a day in which he will judge the world in Righteousness , Act. 17.31 . tha●● saith M. Broughton , He hath appointed a day in which he will favor the world in mercy , and he doth exemplifie his meaning how God doth judge the world in righteousness or in mercy , by Ps. 98.9 . and 146.7 , 8. Gods justice to believing sinners is his mercy , but his justice to unbelievers is his wrath ; and his justice is innumerable waies administred , Ps. 71.15 . and 40.5 . Elihu telleth Iob , that the Almighty is king of strength , and that we cannot alwaies find out the reason of his corrections , but yet saith he , God doth what he doth out of judgement , and out of plenty of justice , Iob 37.2 . M. Broughton on this place saith , that Gods justice to poor humbled sinners , is his mercy : and in ch . 33.23 . Elihu telleth Iob , that if a messenger or teacher one of a thousand be sent to such as ly under Gods afflicting hand to teach them their righteousness ( M. Broughton cals it Gods mercy ) that is to say , to teach them how they may be made righteous or sinless , by Gods merciful Atonement received by faith , then God wil have mercy upon such righteous persons and spare them from descending into the pit , saying , I have found a ransom , namely , I have sound satisfaction in Christs sacrifice of Atonement , which is the ransom of poor believing sinners from Gods displeasure ; and then in v. 26. he shall pray to the puissant , and he shall accept him , and he shall see his face with joy , and he shall restore to man his justice , that is to say , he shall restore to such persons his merciful Atonement , which for the present was hid from their conscience by sin : The Geneva note on v. 26. saith , that God will forgive him his sin , and accept him as just : and the Geneva note on Ps. 130.3 . is excellent , and speaketh thus , He declareth that we cannot be just before God , but by forgiveness of sins , for Gods forgiveness is a part of his merciful Atonement : and Elihu telleth Iob in c . 36. 6 , 7. that God yeildeth right to the poor , and with-holdeth not his eyes from the just : M. Broughton calleth it Gods defence and mercy to the poor in spirit : and they are called just , because of their faith in Gods merciful Atonement ; and thus the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous when they cry , Ps. 34 , 15. and doth judge them , Ps. 68.5 .

Hence it is evident that Gods merciful Atonement , Pardon , and Forgiveness communicated to poor b●lieving sinners , must needs be the formal cause of a sinners righteousness ; and in this resp●ct God is stiled a God of pardons , being gracious and merciful : Neh . 9.17 . keeping mercy for thousands of them that fear him , forgiving iniquity , trespass , and 〈◇〉 : Exod . 34.7 . and therefore assoon as the godly do fall into sin , they do pray unto God to be merciful to their iniquities , Ps. 103. Mic. 7.18 . Ps. 51 , 1. Ps. 86.3.5.13.15 , 16. that is to say , they do pray for the renual of his merciful Atonement ; and in this respect they do hope and trust in his mercy , Ps. 13.5 . Ps. 33. 18.22 . Ps. 52.8 . Ps. 147.11 . and they do also fear him for his mercy , Ps. 130.4.7 . and God is called the Father of mercies , 2 Cor . 1.3 . so much pitying poor believing sinners ( who are called vessels of mercy , Rom . 9.23 . ) that he doth affect them with bowels of tender mercy : Luk . 1.78 . and it is further evident that Gods justice towards poor believing sinners is nothing else but his merciful atonement , because his justice and mercy is often coupled together as terms Synonima , as in Ps. 36.10.56 . Ps. 85.10 . and indeed I cannot see any other way how a sinner can be made just by the justice of God , but by Gods merciful Atonement ; and in this respect the Apostle saith , that the free gift is of many offences to justification , Rom. 5.16 . and in v. 17. he cals his free forgiveness , the gift of justice or righteousness ; he doth make Gods free and merciful forgiveness , and a sinners righteousness to be all one ; so then a sinners righteousness is nothing else but his being made sinless or guiltless by the Fathers merciful Atonement ; and this is confirmed by the several terms of Gods merciful Atonement in pardoning and forgiving sin , blotting out and covering sin , bearing and taking away of sin , purging and clensing of sinners , passing over and not imputing sin , and many such like t●rms there are of Gods merciful Atonement : all which do plainly declare that a sinners righteousness is nothing else but his being made sinless by Gods merciful Atonement ; and the voice of Gods people when they pray for Gods Atonement runs thus purge me , purifie me from sin , or make me sinless , so the Hebrew phrase speaketh ; Ps. 51.7 . Ex. 29.36 . Num , 8.21 . Num . 19.12 . Therefore once again I will describe a sinners righteousness thus ,

The justice or righteousness of a sinner doth ( not ly in his own righteous nature , nor in his own just actions , nor yet in the righteousness of Christ imputed ; but it doth ) ly only in the Fathers mercyful Atonement , pardon and forgiveness : procured by the mediators sacrifice of Atonement : and conveyed by the Father through the Mediator to every believing sinner as soon as they are in the Mediator by faith .

This doctrine of a sinners righteousness hath ever bin well known and witnessed among the godly in all ages , from the beginning of the world .

1. It is witnessed by the practise of all sacrifices of Atonement before the Law .

2. It is witnessed by the practise of all sacrifices of Atonement under the Law .

3. It is witnessed by the doctrine of the Prophets .

4. It is witnessed by the doctrine of the New Testament .

And it never was so much obscur'd as it hath bin of late days by the common doctrine of Imputation .

1. It is evident that our first parents were wel acquainted with the doctrine of a sinners justification by Gods Atooement , for as soon as ever God had told them that the seed of the woman should breake the divels head-plot , he explained unto them , the manner how the seed of the woman should do it , namely by his mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement , which was represented to Adam by the death of some cleane beast or beasts which God but at with fire from heaven , ( and with the skins of those beasts he appointed our first Parents to cloath themselves ) by this means he taught them how the promised seed should make his soul a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement , for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement to make their souls sinless : that is to say righteous ; and this mediatorial way of Atonement by the promised seed they believed , and thereupon they were made sinless , that is to say perfectly just or righteous .

2. After the flood when Noah offered a sacrifice of atonement , Jehovah smelled a smell of rest ; Gen. 8.21 . Hence it is evident that God had no rest in the workes of Creation neither before the flood nor after the flood , until he rested in the media●or , and in his mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement ; for Adam fell in the day of his creation , and then God ordained and promised that the seed of the woman should break the divels head plot , and then God rested on the seventh day , because he had now ●ound out a mediator that should perfect the creation by a redemption : and to that resting of God in the p●omised seed , the sweet smell of rest which God smelt in Noahs sacrifice did look , the word rest implies that now Gods spirit was quieted , and that he did rest satisfied and well pleased in the sacrifice of Christ , which was thereby typified : confer to this Eph. 52. The Fathers by faith saw Christ Sacrifice .

By this meanes Noah knew and believed that he was made righteous or sinless by Gods mercyfull Atonement , procu●ed by Christs Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement .

Yea doubtless all the Fathers could not choose bu● know that Cains person was rejected , because he wa●ted faith in Gods Atonement through the mediators sacrifice of Atonement ; and that Abel was righteous in Gods sight , because he had ●aith in G●ds Atonement : and by that means he offered his sacrifice in righteousness : Mal . 3.3 . that is to sa● , in faith .

3. When God called Abraham from his idolatrous kindred 1. From Ur of the Chaldees ; and 2. From Charan to go into the Land of Canaan ( which was 430. y●ers before the law was given at mount Sinai , and 2083. yeers after the promise to Adam ) God was pleased to rene● his promis● of the promised seed to Abraham , saying , in thee ( that is to say in thy seed Christ ) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed . Gen. 12.1.3 .

Abraham was twise called , 1. he was called to the Faith , in Gen. 11.31 . at Ur , with Acts 7.2 . and Nehe . 9.7 . Therefore he was a justified person in Gods sight at that time , for the God of glory Jesus Christ appeared to him while he dwelt at Ur of the Chaldees ; Acts. 7.2 . No doubt but Jesus Christ did then tell him in what a miserable lost condition he was , and how he should be the seed of the woman that should breake the divels head-plot by his sacrifice of Atonement , and how he should thereby procure his Fathers Atonement to all poor broken-hearted sinners ; all which Abraham believed , and so his sins were done away by Gods Atonement , which he received by his faith ; and so he was made perfectly just and righteous in Gods sight .

But Secondly , in Gen. 12. God was pleased to call Abraham again from Charan , to go into the Land of Canaan ; and then he did promise that the promised seed should come out of his loins in speciall . Gen. 12.3 . Thereupon Abrahams faith was increased and his former justification confirmed by a fresh act of faith : and when God made his promise , he preached the Gospel to Abraham Gal . 3.8.16 . if so , then he expounded to him the person of the mediator in both his natures , and how he should in due time dy for the ungodly , and so make his foul a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement for the procuring of Gods Atonement to al beleiving sinn●rs in al the nations of the world ; for such only are the children of Abraham by promise , that imbrace the promised seed by faith as Abraham di● : Gal. 3.29 . Rom. 9.8 .

And this doct●ine of a sinners justification he represented to Abraham by sacrifi●e either before he came into the Land of Canaa● , or else a● soon as ever he came into the Land of Canaan , Gen. 12.7 . for he Apo●tle doth tell us , that the covenant of God in Christ was confirmed to Abraham : Gal. 3.17 . How else was it confirmed but by sacrifice first , and af●erwards by cicumcision , as the seal of that righteousness which ●e had by his faith in G d the Fa●hers Atonement procured by that sacrifice of Atonement that was to be made by the promised e●d in the fulness of ●ime Rom. 4.11 . he had no other righteousne s to rej●ice in but the forgiven●●s of his sins through the Fathers Atonement , which he received through the Mediator , and did appr●p●iate it to himself by faith .

2. The doct●ine o● a sinners ju●tification or rig●teousn●ss was abundantly taught under t●e law by t●eir sacrifices of A●onement , namely by their burnt offerings , sin off●rings , and ●re p●ss offerings , in Lev . 1. Lev . 4. Lev . 5. &c. as I have explained their use above .

3. The Doctrine of a sinners Justification or rig●te●usness by the Fathers Atonement is taught and explained by ●he p●ophets .

1. The Prophet David saith t●us in the pers●n of C●rist , I have preached thy righteousness to the great congregation Ps. 40.9 . what righteousness was it that he by himself and by his o●ficers preached to the Church of the first born ? was it his legal righteousness made theirs by his Fathers imputation ? no , the text denys that , and saith that it was such a righteousness as he obtained by his sacrifice of Atonement saying , sacrifice and offering thou didest not desire , &c. Then said I , lo I come , I delight to do thy will O my God ; Ps. 40.8 . by the doing of which will ( saith Paul ) we are sanctified from sin or made perfectly righteous : for by the Mediators sacrifice of Atonement , Gods Atonement is procured ; which is a sinners full and perfect righteousness , and as soon as Christ had obtained this righteousness of God for sinners , then said he in v. 9. I have preached thy righteousness to the great congregation ; Christ Preached not his own righteousness , but Gods righteousness to the great congregation .

2. The Prophet Daniel doth emphatically express the true nature of a sinners righteousness in the words of the Angel Gabriel , who was sent unto him to declare two things unto him ; the first was , the exact time of Christs death which he knew not before : the second was the efficacy of his death , which he knew before : namely that the Messiah by his should finish Trespass , and end sins ; and make reconciliation for unrighteousness and bring in everlasting righteousness Dan . 9.24 . Vid . Mr Broughton .

But for your better understanding of the Ang●l Gabriels meaning , two qu●stions may be fi●ly moved and answered : 1. How did Christ by his death finish Trespass , and end Sins ? Answ . By making his own soul a Trespass and a Sin-offering : by that means he finished the ceremonial use of all Trespass offerings , and ended the ceremonial use of all sin offerings : and this he accomplished by his death just 490 yeers after the Angel Gabriel had done this message to Daniel : He took away the first sacrifices of the Law , and established his own sacrifice in the place of them for ever . Heb . 10.8 , 9.

Secondly , How did Christ bring in everlasting Righteousness ? Answ . By the same way and means by which he made reconciliation for unri●hteousness ; and how must he make reconciliation for unrighteousness ? The Angel Gabriel told Daniel , that he should do it by finishing all Trespass offerings , and by ending all Sin offerings , when he made his own soul a Burnt offering and a Sin offering once for all . Heb . 10.5 . This was the direct way and means whereby the Messiah made reconciliation for unrighteousness , and whereby he brought in eternal righteousnes to all believing sinners .

Or thus , Christ purchased or procured such a righteousness of his Father for sinners , as shall last to all eternity , by the same way and means by which he purchased their eternal redemption . But he did not purchase their redemp●ion and freedom from sin by his active legal obedience , but by his active mediatorial obedience , when he made his soul a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement to poor sinners : compare Heb . 9.12.14 . with this Text of Dan . 9.24 . therefore Christ purchased and procured such a righteousness for sinners as shall last to all eternity , by no other way or means but by his mediatorial sacrifice of atonement ; and ther●fore his Fathers Atonement is a sinners righteousness to all eternity , and so it cannot fail . Isa . 54.14 . and 51.6.8 .

Thirdly , The new Testament doth also bear witness to this doctrine ; 1. Paul the Apostle doth tell us in Rom. 8.4 . that the righteousness of the Law ( namely that righteousness which was taught and typified by the sacrifices of the Law ) might be fulfilled in us , that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit : as I have explained this Text a little before .

Secondly , The Apostle Paul doth in another place confirm this doctrine , saying , God made him to be sin for us ( that is to say , God ordained him to be a sacrifice of Atonement for our sins ) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him ; that is to say , that we might be made righteous or sinless by Gods Atonement , which a sinner receives assoon as he is in him , namely assoon as he is in Christ by faith , for all spiritual blessings do c●me from the Father through the mediator , and are received by faith .

Trades .

You said ere while that Christs Sacrifice of Atonement could procure no other righteousness for sinners but the Fathers Atonement ▪ and therefore you say , that Gods Atonement is often called Gods righteousness ; but Moses and Paul do both affirm that God imputed Abrahams Faith to him for righteousness , Gen. 15.6 . Rom. 4.3 . Now if Abrahams faith was his righteousness , then the Fathers Atonement was not only his righteousness .

Divine ,

God imputed Abrahams faith to him for righteousnes , not barely because he believed that the promised seed should proceed out of his loyns , for our Savior reproved the woman that said unto him , Blessed is the womb that bare thee ; Yea rather ( saith Christ ) blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it , Luke 11.47 . Hence it may be gathered , that it is possible that Abraham might have believed the tru●h of Gods promise concerning Christ to come out of his loyns , and yet have wanted saving faith .

Abrahams faith was imputed to him for righteousness because by it he did receive the Fathers atonement for his full and perfect righteousness . Therefore that faith which Abraham had , and which God imputed to him fo● righteousn●ss , was such a faith as did enable him to receive Gods Fatherly Atonem●nt in and through the m●diation of that seed that was promised to come out of his loyns ; for doubtless when God made the promise of the mediat●r to come out of his loyns , he did open and declare unto him how that promised mediator should procure his Fatherly Atonement for Abrahams Righteousn●ss ; for God is said to preach t●e Gospel unto Abraham , Gal , 3.8.16 . &c. therefore God did open and declare unto Abraham the true nature both of the person and office of the Mediator , in the very same tenor as he had declared the first promise in Gen. 3. unto him at his first conversion in Gen. 11.31 . compared with Acts 7.2 , 3. with Neh . 9.7 . and God doth test●fie of Abraham when he renewed the said promise unto him , that he did obey his voice , and keep his charge , his commandments , his statutes , and his laws , Gen. 26.5 . and that he would teach his children and his houshold after him , to keep the way of the Lord , namely , the way of true Religi●n as well as Justice : therefore God had fully instructed Abraham in the way of salvation , by the seed that was promised to come out of his loyns : Yea I do verily believe that as often as ever G●d did make any promise to the Fathers , concerning Christ to come out of their loyns ( from Adam to the Virgin Mary ) he did at the same time preach and declare unto them t●e true nature both of the P●rson and Office of the Media or , how and after what manner he should redeem his people from the guilt of all their sins : and in this sense Zechariah doth blesse the Lord God of Israel , because he had now sent the Seed of the woman ( that had bin s● often promised to the Father ) to visit and redeem his people ▪ according as he had spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets ever since the world began ; Luk . 1.68.70 . from this testimony of Zechariah , it is plain that all the holy Prophets from the beginning of the world ( even from Adam to the Virgin Mary ) did preach and teach from God how the promi●ed seed should redeem his people ; they were all preachers of justice or righteousness as well as Noah , 2 Pet . 2.5 . and therefore of old time they had not only Prophets , but divers other learned men also , that did every Sabbath preach the Gospel in every City , that is to say , in every Synagogue or School , which were plentifully erected in every City ; Acts 15.21 . compared with Heb . 4.2 . and with Gal. 3.8 . and 1 Pet . 3.19 . Acts 10.43.35 .

Secondly , This doctrine of a sinners justification and redemption by the promised seed , was daily and familiarly explained unto them by several sacrifices of Atonement , by which they saw ( as in a glass ) how the Mediator by his sacrifice of Atonement should procure his Fathers Atonement for their full and perfect redemption and justification .

And thus after this manner Abraham and all the Fathers and faithful ( from Adam to the Virgin Mary ) knew as well as we do now ( and I think better also , because the common doctrine of imputation did not blind their eys as it doth ours ) how Christ should make his s●ul a mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement for the procuring of his Fathers Atonement for the justification of their own persons , and for the justification of all the Elect in general . And because Abraham believed all this , both in Gen. 11.31 . and again in Gen. 12. therefore God imputed that Faith to him for righteousness ; for by that faith he apprehended and rec●ived the Fathers Atonemen● , and applyed it to his own soul as an effectual remedy to acquit him from the guilt of all his sins ; and so by that means he became sinless , that is to say , just and righteous in Gods sight .

And in this sense the Apostle Paul doth prove that Abrahams Faith was accounted to him for righteousnes , by a testimony taken from David in Ps. 32. saying , even as David also describeth the blessedness of that man unto whom God imputeth Righteousnes without works , saying , Blessed are they whose iniquities are Forgiven , and whose sins are covered : Blessed is the man to whom the Lord doth not impute sin : Came this blessednes upon the Circumcision only ? No , it comes upon any other Country-men as well as upon the Circumcision , if they have but faith as Abraham had to apprehend and receive the Fathers atonement ; by which means their sins are forgiven , covered , and not imputed .

What other reason can any man else render why the Apostle should interlace this testimony in this place , but to describe unto us the true manner how Abrahams faith did make him rig●te●us , namely because by his faith he did apprehend and receive the Fathers atonement , by which his sins were forgiven , covered , and not imputed .

And thus after this sort the Apostle doth bring in forgiveness of sins , as an effect of justifying faith ; for faith is the only instrument of the Spirit , by which sinners come to be united to the Mediator , in and through whose mediation they apprehend and receive the Fathers atonement , pardon , and forgiveness , for their full and perfect justification .

This was the only true reason why God imputed Abrahams faith to him for righteousness , namely , because he believed in Gods atonement through the mediation of the seed promised .

And it is further evident that this doctrine of a sinners righteousness by faith , was taught and preached by all the Prophets , as Peter affirmeth ; for all the Prophets ( saith he ) do witnes that through the name of Christ whosoever believeth in him shall receive remissi - of their sins : Acts 10.43.35 . that is to say , they shall receive remission of their sins for their justification by the Fathers atonement , procured by Christs sacrifice of atonement .

From all the premises I conclude , that a sinner is justified by faith , no otherwise but as faith is that grace of the spirit whereby a sinner is enabled to apprehend and receive the Fathers merciful atonement by which their sins are forgiven , covered , and not imputed : and because Abraham did thus apprehend and receive the Fathers atonement by faith , through the mediation of the seed promised , therefore God did impute that faith to him for his righteousness .

And to this Tenor the Apostle Paul doth explain the use of faith in the point of a sinners Justification , in Phil . 3.9 . and in Rom. 10.4.6.10 . with the heart ( saith he ) man believeth unto righteousness ; he doth not say that faith is a sinners righteousness , but that by it a sinner believeth unto righteousness .

And in this sense all sacrifices of atonement are called sacrifices of righteousness , not only as they are the procuring cause of the Fathers atonement for a sinners righteousness , but al●o because they must be offered in righteousness ; Mal . 3 , 3. that is to say in faith , because poor believing sinners do by faith receive the Fathers atonement for their ful and perfect righteousness .

On the contrary , when Christ doth imprecate his impl●cable enemies , he saith in Psa . 109.27 . let them not come into thy justice ; that is to say , let them not have faith to receive thy mercyful Atonement for their justification : the like curse is in Iohn 12.39 , 40.

And it is further evident that faith doth no otherwise justifie a sinner but as it is that grace or instrument of the spirit whereby a sinner is inabled to apprehend and receive the Fathers atonement , by the Apostles discourse in Rom. 3.21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25. all which verses I will briefly expound unto you .

The Apostle in these words doth teach us the true nature of a sinners justification .

1. He cals it the righteousness of God ▪ he doth not cal it the righteousness of Christ , but the righteousness of God the Father : A sinner right●ousnes is called God● righteousness ▪ and why . because the formal cause and finishing act of a sinners righteousnes or justification doth come down from God the Father upon all believing sinners : a sinner cannot be made righteous by the works of the Law , as the former verse doth conclude , for by the law men come to know themselves to be sinners : and they that are once sinner● , are for ever sinners in themselves : therefore if ever sinners can be made righteous , they must be made righteous by such a kind of righteousness as it pleaseth God the Father to bestow upon them , and that can be no other righteousness but a passive righteousness , proceeding from Gods merciful atonement , pardon , and forgiveness : I have declared thy righteousness to the great congregation : saith Christ to his Father . in Ps. 40.9 , 10. he cals a sinners righteousness God the Fathers righteousness : in the former verses he speaks of his own mediatorial sacrifice of atonement for the procuring of his Fathers atonement to all the great congregation ; and then in verse 9. he professeth his readyness to declare the true nature of his righteousness to the great congregation : and a sinners righteousness is very often called Gods righteousness , as in Rom. 1.17 . Rom. 3.5.21 , 22. &c. Rom . 10.3 . Psa . 71.2.15 , 16.19.24 . God there calls it his righteousness ; and in Psa . 119.142 . Yea all their righteousness is of me saith the Lord : Is. 54.17 . And when God sent the mediator of this righteousnes into the world , he saith that righteousness did look down from heaven Ps. 85.11 . and yet also this righteousness of God is sometimes called a sinners righteousness , because God the Father doth make it to be a sinners own righteousness as soon as they can get faith to apprehend it and apply it to their own souls , as the next verse doth declare .

But yet the Apostle doth further describe this righteousness of God in 21. verse , by two other circumstances 1. N●gatively 2. Affirmatively . 1. Negatively , he saith that this righteousness is without the workes of the Law ; he doth plainly affirm that the works of the Law have no influence at all in the point of a sinners justice or justification .

2. He doth affirm that this righteousness of God whereby sinners are made righteous , is such a righteousness as is witnessed by the Law and by the Prophets .

1. It is witnessed by the Law ; namely by that part of the Law which did teach and typifie unto sinners how they might be made sinless by Gods Atonement , through their sacrifices of atonement , as the procuring cause thereof : as I have opened the matter more at large already .

2. This doctrine of a sinners righteousness by Gods merciful atonement , is witnessed by the Prophets , as I have already declared in verse 22. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith in Iesus Christ unto all , and upon all that do believe : for their is no difference .

In these words the Apostle doth declare the instrumental cause or meanes how and after what manner the righteousness of God doth come to be a sinners righteousness ; namely by faith in Iesus Christ . 2. He declares the extent of this righteousnes ( in the next clause ) unto all , and upon all that do believe , whether they be Iews or Gentils .

He doth not say that faith is their righteousness : but that the righteousness of God is theirs by faith : with the heart man believeth unto righteousness . Rom. 10.10 . Faith is the way , or it is the instrumental meanes whereby sinners do receive Gods mercyful atonement for their full and perfect righteousness ; for as soon as a poor humbled sinner doth believe in Christ , and in his mediatorial sacrifice of atonement , he cannot chuse but believe in the Fathers mercyful atonement , Pardon , and Forgiveness , which is a sinners ful and perfect righteousness .

Faith it self is not a sinners righteousness : and therefore it cannot be accounted a sinners righteousness instead of the righteousness of the law , as some would have it : for if faith were a sinners righteousness no otherwise but in the place or stead of the righteousness of the law , Faith is not a sinners righteousnes instead of the righteousnes of the Law : but it is a sinners right●ousn●s instrumentally because it is that grace of the spirit by which sinners do apprehend and receive the Father● atonement for their ful and perfect righteousnes then faith could not justifie a sinner any further then the law would do ; if it could be supposed that a sinner could by any means attain to the righteousness of the law : and then truly faith would be but a poor righteousness to cover a sinners nakedness ; for if a sinner could keep the whole law in every circumstance of it from his birth to his death , yet it could not be sufficient to justifie him from his original sin : Therefore it is not a well seasoned speech to say , that God hath ordained faith to be a sinners righteousness instead of the righteousness of the law : and yet I do also grant that the law taught sinners how they might be made righteous by faith , therefore I will briefly explain the manner how .

The true manner how the law taught sinners to get righteousness by faith .

When a poor humbled sinner brought his sacrifice of atonement to the priest to be offered for him upon the Altar : he must lay both his hands withall his might upon the head of his sacrifice of atonement : this kind of imposition was ordained by God , to teach and typifie unto sinners how they must by faith rest and depend upon the sacrifice of Christ , as the only meritorious procuring cause of the Fathers atonement for their full and perfect righteousness .

And no mans sacrifice of Atonement did make atonement for him without this imposition , as I have explained the matter in the first part ; this act of imposition was a necessary typical action , for it did typify unto sinners , that if they desired to obtain the Fathers atonement , they must receive it and apply it to their own souls by their faith of dependance upon the mediators sacrifice of atonement , as the meritorious procuring cause thereof : And thus after this sort the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ was witnessed by the law .

V. 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ : in the words the the Apostle laies down the efficient cause of a sinners righteousness or justification , by setting down the principal efficient cause of the meritorious procuring cause of our justification , through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ .

It was the free grace and mercy of God in himself that moved him to ordain Iesus Christ to be the meritorious procuring cause of our redemption : and therefore also it must needs proceed from his free grace in himself that he doth justifie sinners , or make them sinless by his mercyful atonement , pardon and forgivenes .

And thus it pleaseth the Father ( of his free grace ) to reconcile all things to himself ( even ) by Iesus Christ Col , 1.20 .

V. 25. Whom God hath fore-ordained to be a propitiation ( or a sacrifice of Atonement ) through faith in his bloud : by his bloud is meant his sacrifice of Atonement , and by faith in his bloud is meant that grace or instrument of the spirit whereby sinners do rest upon Christs sacrifice of Atonement as the procuring cause of Gods atonement for their justification : the Apostle explaines the matter by another sentence in Rom. 5.11 . by whom we have received the Atonement : the Apostle doth imply three things in this sentence . 1. That Christ is the mediator by whom sinners do receive . 2. that the main thing which they do receive by him , is the Fathers Atonement . 3. That the means or instrument by which they do receive the Fathers atonement , is the grace of faith ; that is the only hand by which the spirit doth inable sinners to receive the Fathers atonement for their full and perfect justification .

V. 25. To declare his rghteousness by passing over sin● that are past , through the forbearance of God .

1. God declared his righteousnes towards sinners by ordaining Iesus Christ to be a propitiation . 2. By ordaining the grace of faith as the instrument of the spirit whereby poor sinners might be inabled to believe in the mediators propitiatory sacrifice , and to receive through him the Fathers atonements for their righteousnes : 3. By passing over sins that are past : this phrase may well allude to Gods atonement when he sent his Angel to pass over the Israelites houses through the bloud of the Paschal Lamb , which was sprinkled upon their door posts for the procuring of Gods atonement , that so Gods destroying Angel might not kill them , as he did the Egyptians ,

And in this sense Nathan the Prophet said unto penitent David : the Lord hath also passed over thy sins , thou shalt not dy : 2 Sam . 12.13 . And thus God passed over his sins that were past , through the forbearance of God : and this title of Gods forbearance or long suffering , is one of the attributes of his atonement to poor believing sinners , in Ex. 34.6 . and in this sense also David prayed unto the Father ; saying , I beseech thee O Lord , pass over the iniquity of thy servant , for I have done very foolishly : 2 Sam . 24.10 . 1 Chr. 21.8 . and thus Iob prayed to the Father saying , why dost thou not bear my transgression , and pass over mine iniquity ? Iob 7.21

Hence it may be concluded , that Gods atonement doth properly respect sins that are past ; and therefore as often as Gods people do fall into sin , they must labor to renew their atonement with God : God will have his people to labor for his atonement every day , because they fall into sin every day : and therefore justified persons have need of new justice to their consciences every day ; Ps. 130.3 , 4. and 143.2 . and 51.2.7 . And then the work of righteousness shall be peace , and the effect of righteousness , quietness and assurance for ever : Isa . 32.17 . Rom. 5.1 .

And sundry uses of consolation do belong to all justified persons , First they are blessed , Ps. 32.1 , 2. Secondly , they must rejoyce in that condition , Ps. 32.11 . Thirdly , there is a reward due to such after their hard tryals , Jam . 3.18 . Fourthly , the Lord upholdeth them , Ps. 37.25 . Fiftly , they shall inherit the heavenly Canaan , Ps. 37.29 . Sixtly , the Lord will bless them with favorable acceptation , Ps. 5.12 . Seventhly the Lord will hear them when they cry , Ps. 34.15 . Eightly , blessed are they that hunger and thirst after this righteousness , for they shall be filled . Mat . 5.6 .

And now for a conclusion I will sum up the doctrine of Justification into six heads :

First , The Subject matter of Justification is , Believing sinners of all sorts , both Iews and Gentiles all the world over .

Secondly , The Formal cause of Justification , or of a Sinners Righteousness is , The Fathers Atonement , Pardon , and Forgivenesse .

Thirdly , The meritorious procuring cause of the Fathers atonement for a sinners Justification is , Christs Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement .

Fourthly , The next Instrumental means by which a sinner doth receive and apprehend the Fathers Atonement for his Justification is , Faith in Christ .

Fiftly , The only efficient cause of all the former Causes and Effects is , Gods free grace and mercy in himself .

Sixtly , The End of all is , The glory of Gods free grace and mercy in the believing sinners Justification and Salvation .

New Objections .

Trades .

There doth yet remain some new Objections against your way of Iustification , which I desire to propound unto your consideration out of M. John Forbes his Treatise of Iustification , which was printed at Middelburgh 1616.

He affirmeth that sinners are justified or made righteous by the passive obedience of Christ in his death and satisfaction ; which Obedience ( saith he ) God doth impute unto sinners for their righteousnes , as truly and as fully as if every believing sinner had done the same in his own person ; and this he proves by many Arguments .

Divine ,

I pray you produce some of his Arguments , that they may be tryed and examined whether there be any weight of truth in them or no .

Trades .

Christ in his passive obedience is not a sinners righteousness by Gods imputation He affirmeth in chap. 23. That nothing can be a sinners righteousness , but that only which is made of God to be a sinners righteousness : But ( saith he ) nothing is made of God to be a sinners righteousness but Iesus Christ alone and his righteousness : and this he proves by 1 Cor . 1.30 . where Christ is said to be made of God unto us , Wisdom , Righteousness , &c. and in Jer . 23.6 . He is called Iehovah our Righteousnes , with other places more . Therefore nothing else can be a sinners righteousnes but Christ and his obedience .

Divine ,

The Apostle saith , that Christ was made of God unto us righteousnes , But how ? not as the Doctrine of Imputation speaketh ; but thus , God made him to be our righteousnes in a Mediatorial way , by ordaining him to be the only meritorious procuring cause of his atonement , which is a sinners only righteousnes : Christ is not a sinners righteousnes any otherwise but in a mediatorial way only , as I have often warned .

Christ is called Iehovah our Righteousness ; but still it must be understood in a mediatorial way , and no otherwise :

Each person in Trinity doth make a sinner righteous , becaus● they do all concur to make a sinner righteous in several respects . First He is called Iehovah , because of his divine nature .

Secondly He is said to be Our Righteousnes , because he did procure his Fathers atonement for our righteousnes , by his mediatorial sacrifice of atonement ; for his sacrifice was a mediatorial sacrifice of atonement , because ●e did offer his humane nature by Iehovah , that is to say , by his Eternal Spirit or God head . Heb . 9.14 .

And thus Christ is our righteousness in one respect , the Father in another , and the holy Ghost in another : each Person is a sinners righteousnes in several respects .

First , Christ is called Iehovah our Righteousnes , becaus● he was made or appointed by God to be the Mediator of our righteou●nes , By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie the many : He is called Gods righteous servant , Isa . 53.11 . because he knew ●ow to do the service of a Mediator for the procuring of our righteousnes ; and therefore the next clause saith , he shall bear their iniquities : so then the manner how Christ should justifie the many was , by bearing their iniquities : and how else did he bear their iniquities , but by his sacrifice of Atonement ; for by that means he did procure Gods atonement , whereby they are made sinless , that is to say , just and righteous ; and in this sense Christ is said to justifie us with his bloud , Rom. 5.9 . that is to say , by his sacrifice of atonement ; for thereby he did procure his Fathers atonement , which is a sinners righteousness or justification . So also Christ is called Melchisedec , that is to say , King of righteousnes , and King of Peace ; Heb . 7.2 . but still it must be understood in a mediatorial way ; ●or the Son of man came not to be served ( like an ambitious king ) but to serve ( like a mediatorial king ) and to give up his life a ransom for the many : Mat . 20.28 . therefore his righteous●es cannot be the formal cause of a sinners righteousness , it is but the procuring cause of the Fathers atonement , which is the only formal cause of a sinners righteousnes .

Secondly , The Father is a sinners righteousness , 1. Efficiently , 2. Formally . 1. Efficiently , because it was his own free grace in himself that moved him to ordain a mediator to procure his atonement , Rom. 3.24 . Secondly his atonement so procured must needs be the formal cause of a sinners full and p●rfect righteousness ; and in this respect a sinners righteousnes is called the Fathers gift of righteousness , Rom. 5.17 . and in v. 16. it is called the free gift of many offences to justification ; and thus sinners by the free gift of many offences through Gods fatherly atonement , pardon , and forgivenes , are made sinless , that is to say , just and righteous in Gods sight : All their righteousnes is of me saith the Lord , Isa . 54.17 .

Thirdly , The holy Ghost also doth make sinners ri●hteous instrumentally , by fi●ting , preparing , and qualifying sinners for the Fathers atonement by quickning their souls with the lively grace of faith ; by which grace sinners are enabled to go to the mediator for union and communion , by which grace also sinners are enabled to apprehend and receive the Fathers atonement , which he doth offer and tender unto all poor believing sinners in and through the mediator , as soon as the holy G●ost hath united sinners unto the mediator by faith ; and thu● the Father doth meet a believing sinner with his atonement in the Mediator ; and the believing sinner doth also meet with the Fathers merciful atonement in the mediator ; and all this was thus contrived by Gods free grace in himself : It was his free grace to ordain a Mediator , and it was his free grace to ordain the holy Ghost to beget faith in sinners , and by that faith to bring them to the Mediator , that so in him they might receive Gods Fatherly atonement for their full and perfect righteousness ; and in this respect faith is called the operation of God , Col. 2.12 . and the working of his mighty power , Eph. 1.18 , 19. no sinner can come to the Father but by the Mediator , and no sinner can come to the Mediator exc●pt the Father draw him by his Spirit , Iohn 6.44 , 45. The Fathers free grace in himself is the efficient cause of all these effects .

Trades .

The former Author doth alledge another Argument , That only must be our righteousnes which filleth all in all things ,

But Christ only filleth all in all things , Col. 3.11 . and God the Father is to be blessed for filling us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Eph. 1.3 . Therefore with righteousnes in him .

Divine ,

These places of Scripture do prove no more but this , That Christ is the only Mediator , in whom , by whom , and through whom the Father doth bless us with all spiritual blessings : The Father of his free grace ordained the Mediator to be a propitiation : Rom. 3.25 . therefore Christ must be considered but as a propitiatory sacrifice of atonement for the procuring of his Fathers atonement to poor believing sinners for their righteousnes : Therefore the Fathers Atonement only ( and not Christs obedience ) must be the formal cause of a sinners righteousnes .

Trades .

The former Author doth also alledge this Argument , Nothing can be the matter of our righteousnes which is not the matter of our redemption ; for we are justified saith the Apostle , freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ Rom. 3 , 24. Redemption is in this place interpreted to be remission of sins , which in effect is righteousness . Eph. 1.7 . Col. 1.14 .

Divine ,

It is well that your Author will grant remission of sins to be righteousnes in effect ; if remission of sins be a sinner● righteousness ; then ( I pray ) consider whose act it is to forgive sins formally : I have already proved it to be the fathers act to forgive sins formally , and not Christs ; he doth forgive sins no otherwise but as a Mediator , by procuring his Fathers pardon and forgiveness : Christ indeed is called the Redeemer that shall come from Zion , because he is the only procurer of our redemption ; but it is the Father only that must grant our full redemption from all sin , as the formal cause of our redemption and justification , or else poor sinners can never be redeemed from sin , or made righteous any other way .

The like answer I shall return to all his other arguments that he hath laid down in ch . 23. namely , that Christ is but the Mediator , or the meritorious procuring cause of a sinners righteousness : the full forming or stating of a sinner in a righteous condition , is by the Fathers Atonement only .

Trades .

My said author saith in chap. 24. that no other obedience of Christ , is a sinners righteousness , but his passive obedience only : he doth ty the matter of our Redemption and Iustification , exactly and only to his bloody Sacrifice , and not to his Priest-hood ; he doth distinguish between Christ as he is our sacrifice , and as he is our Priest , and then he doth limit the matter of our righteousness to his bloody sacrifice in his human nature only , and doth exclude him as he is our Priest from being any part of our righteousness , yea he doth ty the matter of our righteousness ( namely that thing by which a sinner is made righteous ) so exactly to his death and blood shed , that he will not have any other part of his obedience which he did either before or after his bloody sacrifice , to be any part of a sinners righteousness .

Divine .

Although your author doth labour to confute the common Doctrine of imputation by Christs active obedience to the law of works , yet he doth labor to maintain the same doctrine of imputation of Christs passive obedience , which is as much erronious from the truth at the other : your author doth affirm that sinners are made righteous by the passive obedience of Christ imputed , but he is put to his shifts to declare it , by a distinction between Christ as he was our Lamb for sacrifice in his human nature , and as he was our priest in his divine nature , for else he did foresee that he should run into an exceeding gross absurdity if he had made any action of Christs God-head or Priestly nature to have bin a sinners righteousnes by imputation , therefore to avoid that absurdity , he doth place a sinners righteousnes in his passive obedience only , which Christ suffered in his human nature and which he thinks God doth impute to sinners as their passive obedience , as if every beleeving sinner had done the same in his own person for his full satisfaction and perfect righteousnes .

But I have often declared that Christ is a sinners righteousnes , no otherwise but as he is the mediatorial procuring cause of his Fathers At●nement , wher●by sinners are made sinless , that is to say , formally just and righteous : they that will draw in Christ as the formal cause of a sinners righteousnes , do in effect make him the principall efficient also , and so by that means they make the Father of an inferior consideration to the Son in the point of a sinners Righteousnes and Redemption , which is a great error .

2. His distinction between Christ as he was our Lamb for sacrifice in his human nature , and as he is our Priest in his divine nature , is very ill applyed , because he makes Christs passive obedience to be meritorious and satisfactory , excluding him as he is our Priest : But the truth is , his Priestly nature and action must not be seperated from his Passive action in his Human nature , they were united as one in the making of his mediatorial sacrifice : therefore I will take occasion hereby once again to declare unto you the efficacy of Christs mediatorial oblation in both his natures , both as he was the Lamb of God , and as he was the Priest .

First , It was a chief part of Christs mediatorial obedience , in that he did assume and take the seed of the woman into the unity of his God-head ; by which action he declared himself to be the Mediator .

Christ is the meritorious procuring cause of his Fathers atonement to poor sinners not only as he is our sacrifice but also as he is our Priest Secondly , Hence it follows , that his passive obedience in his human nature , could not have bin accounted or accepted of God as a mediatorial oblation , if it had not bin offered by his divine Priestly nature ; Therefore whole Christ in both his natures must be considered in his oblation as the meritorious procuring cause of his Fathers Atonement , not only as he was the Lamb for sacrifice , but also as he was our Priest ; and this is evident by comparing the type with the anti-type .

First , The high Priest under the Law was a type of the Priestly nature of Christ , and by his Priestly appearing before Iehovah , he made daily atonement for all Israel , namely by appearing before Iehovah in his Priestly Habit , for he came before Iehovah with a golden plate upon his fore-head , wherein was engraven Holiness to Iehovah , that so by that means he might Bear away the iniquity of the holy things of the Sons of Israel , and procure their favorable acceptation before Iehovah : Exod . 28.36 , 37 , 38. Hence it is evident , that the high Pri●st by his Priestly appearing before Iehovah , did procure Gods favorable atonement for all Israel ; and this did typifie t●at Iesus Christ by the holiness of his God-head ( which was his Priestly nature , and which was engraven in his Human nature , Heb . 1.3 . ) did bear the iniquities ; that is to say , did make atonement for the iniquities of all Gods true Israel , as well by his Godhead , as by his bloudy sacrifice in his Human nature .

2. All the Priests in general were types of the Priestly nature of Christ , and these Pri●sts in general do procure atonement for all Gods people , not only by the bloud of the peoples sacrifice , but also by their Priestly appearing and communi●n with God in his Sanctuary ; as for example , they made atonement for the people by two sorts of sin-offerings .

By the one sort they made atonement for the people with the bloud of their sin-offering , and by the other sort they made atonement for the people without bloud ; for none of the bloud ther●of was carryed into the holy place ; Lev . 6.30 . but the Priests did make atonement for the people only by their Priestly appearing and by their Priestly eating it before Iehovah , Lev . 6.25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29. for the Priests by their Priestly appearing and eating it before Iehovah in the holy place , did bear or take away the peoples , sins : See Ains . in Lev . 10.17 , 18. Solomon Jarcy saith , That the Priests were they that did eat , and the Owners were they that had the Atonement . And thus the Priests were ordained to be mediators between God and the People . They were ordained by God , The Levitticall priests were mediators . and yet they were taken from among men , that they might be touched with their infirmities , Heb . 5.1.4 . therefore the Priests had an interest in both parties ; they were for God to the people , and they were for the people to God ; for a mediator is not a mediator of one , but he must mediate between two parties : Therefore the Priests must eat the peoples sin-offering in the holy place , to signifie their double interest and communion with both parties , both with God and with the people ; for eating with any signifies communion , as it is demonstrated by Peters vision of eating , he heard a voice from heaven saying , Arise Peter , kill and eat ; namely , kill and eat such beasts and fowls at were counted unclean by the Law ; which was done to signifie unto him , that he must go to Cornelius house and family , who was an unclean Heathen , and have familiar converse and communion with him by eating , see Acts 10.13 , 14 , 15.28 . Hence I infer , that when the Priests did eat the peoples sin-offering in the holy place , they had communion both with Iehovah and with the people in eating their sacrifice , and so they were mediators for the peoples atonement ; and this must needs typifie the double interest of the Mediator , which he had in his Priestly nature both with God and with all the Elect , for the procuring of Gods atonement for them .

Thirdly , Christ by his Priestly prayers , or mediatorial prayers , procured Gods Atonement for all the Elect ( even before his death ) as well as by his bloudy oblation ; and this was typified by the sweet Incense which the Priests must burn dayly both morning and Evening upon the golden Altar , Exod . 30.1.8.36 . The golden Altar was a type of the divine nature of the mediator , and the sweet Incense burned thereon by the Priests every day , did typifie his daily mediatorial prayers , as well before as after his death ; by which means ( among others ) he procured his Fathers atonement for his Elect Israel . Once a yeer the high Priest made atonement upon the horns of the golden Altar of Incense with the bloud of the sin-offering of Atonements ; Exod . 30.10 . but all the rest of the yeer the Priests in general made atonement upon the golden Altar with sweet Incense only , without the bloud of any sacrifice of atonement .

And when the Lords anger was poured out upon the murmuring Israelites , Moses bid Aaron take fire from the Altar , and put Incense thereon , and run quickly into the Congregation , to make atonement for them , and Aaron did so , and made atonement for them . Num . 16.46 . Chazkuni on this place saith , That the Incense caused death when it was not in the hand of the Priest , but it gave life when it was in the hand of the Priest ; for the Priests were anointed and ordained for that service , and so was not Korah and his company , he was a chief Levite , but he was not a Priest , and therefore he might not burne incense ; for it did properly belong to the Priests office to put incense ( before Iehovah ) in thy nostril ( or in thine anger ) Deut . 33.10 . so then , it is evident that Aarons incense did stay the plague as well as the blood of Davids burnt-offerings did ; 2 Sam . 24.5 . and as well as the Paschal Lamb did ; Ex. 12.23 . He . 11.28 .

From these tyipcal resemblances we may learn , that Christ our Mediator did procure his fathers Atonement for all the Elect , by more acts of his mediatorial obedience then one , even by his priestly prayers , as well as by the blood of his oblation ; in the daies of his flesh he did often perfume the nostrils of his Father with the sweet incense of his Priestly or mediatorial prayers ; Ioh . 17. and himself expressed the efficacy of his mediatorial prayers for Peters atonement ; saying thus to Peter , thou wilt deny me thrice ; but I have prayed for thee , that thy faith fail not . Luke . 22.32

4. The living Scape-goat made atonement for the whole church without shedding of any bloud , as well as the Goat that was slain for the peoples sin offering did by the bloud thereof : Lev . 16.10.21 , 22. This living Scape-goat did typifie the escaping of Christ from death by the power of his divine nature ; it signified also his ascending into heaven , that he might there present the worke of our atonement by his continual intercession ; for none of Gods people have the full fruition of Gods atonement , till they come both body and soul into heaven it self : Rom. 8.23 .

From all the premises , I think I may well conclude , that your Author is in a great error , to ascribe the whole matter of a sinners righteousness to Christs bloody sacrifice only : neither was his bloody sacrifice the only procuring cause of his Fathers atonement , but his priestly nature must concur thereto , he made his oblation by his divine nature as wel as by his human ; & therfore that action was the Master-peice of his mediatorial obedience , as I have often declared .

Trades .

My said Author doth labor to prove by another very likely argument , that the bloudy death of Christ in his humane nature is the only matter of a sinners righteousness : for in 1 Iohn 1.7 . it is said that the bloud of Jesus Christ his Son doth clense us from all sin . Hence he doth frame this argument , if the bloud of Iesus Christ doth clense us from all sin , then it is a needless thing to ad any thing else to it as the matter of our righteousness ; for whatsoever doth clense us from all sin , must needs accomplish our full righteousness ; &c.

Divine .

The●e words of the Apostle Iohn must not be taken litterally , but in a sign a ive sen●e , 1. by t●e fi●ure Synecdoche & secondly by the figure Me●ynomia , fir t the ●loud of Iesus Christ doth clense us from all sin , The blood of Chirst by the figure Synecdoche doth clense us from all sin . by the figure Synecdoche ; or the Apostle doth not say tha● his bloud alone without any thing else doth clense us from all sin ( as your Author would have him speak ) but he names his bloud as a Synecdoche of his death , or as a Synecdoche of his mediatorial obedience which at last he sealed with his bloud , when he made his soul a mediatorial sacrifice ; and usually the holy scripture doth name one part of a thing for all the parts that are of the same kind ; as we may see in the ten commandments , one principal head is named for all the branches that are of the same kind ; yea sometimes contrary things do suffer together ; and in that case any one of those actions may by the figure Synecdoche be named for the other ; as for example , Christ dyed both as a malefactor and as a mediator at one and the same time ; by the figure Synecdoche any one of these actions may be named for the other : and in this s●nse the wooden cross on which he suffered as a malefactor , & his strips which were inflicted upon him as a malefactor , may by the figure Synecdoche he named for his active mediatorial obedience , because at the self same time he did not only obey as a patient sufferer , but as an active mediator also : and in this very sense his bloud which was shed passively , may be put by the figure Synecdoche for the seperation of his soul from his body which he did actuate by the pow●r of his own God-head : and in this last sense only the bloud of Iesus Christ doth clense us from all sin , namely as it was shed in a mediatorial way , or in that s●nse it was the procuring cause of the Fathers atonement which doth fully clense us from all sin .

2. His bloud is often named by the figure Metynomia as a visible token of his death : but still his death ( I mean the seperation of his soul from his body ) must be considered as it was his own active mediatorial death , or as it was his own mediatorial oblation , ( all the Tyrants in the world could never have seperated his soul from his body till himself pleased to do it by his own active power ) and in this sense as his bloud was a Metynomia of his death , doth clense us from all sin : but still it must be understood mediatorial , for the passive action was not the formal cause of his oblation . But I wil yet a little further shew you the insufficiency of your argument by a like instance : Isaiah sai●h , that by his stripes we are healed : from hence I will draw this argument .

If the very stripes of Iesus Christ do heal us , then it is an needless thing to ad any thing else to them as the matter of our righteousnes ; for whatsoever doth heal our souls , must needs accomplish all righteousnes .

But the stripes of Christ do heal us , Is. 53.6 . Therefore &c.

And from this consequence another consequence doth follow it close at the heels , namely this , if his stripes do heal us , then his death and oblation was needless .

The like argument may be drawn from the wooden cross whereon Christ suffered as a malefactor ; Paul saith , that Christ hath reconciled us to God by his cross : Eph 2.16 . therefore nothing else is the matter of our reconciliation but the wooden cross on which Christ was crucified .

He placeth the matter ( I suppose he means the Form ) of a sinners righteousnes in Christs passive obedience imputed to sinners as their obedience for their justification , if he had but placed it in the Fathers atonement , then he might better have framed his argument thus : if the Fathers atonement doth clense us from all sin , then it is a needless thing to ad any thing else to it as the formal cause of our righteousnes ; for whatsoever doth clense us from all sin , must needs accomplish our full righteousnes . He might as wel attribute our justification to the resurrection of Christ as to his death , for the Apostle saith that Christ dyed for our sins and rose again for our justification : but th● Apostle must not so he understood as if he applyed two distinct blessings unto this twofold action of Christ : but the Apostle must be understood thus , namely that Christ dyed and rose again as a mediator for the procuring of the pardon of our sins from his Father , which is a poor believing sinners justification : and in this sense only Christ dyed for our sins , and rose again for our justification : Rom. 4.25 . his death had not bin mediatorial , if he had not rose again by his own power ; and so it became meritorious to procure his Fathers atonement and pardon , which is a sinners justification .

Trades .

My former Author doth yet labor to prove by another argument that Christs passive obedience is by Gods imputation made a sinners righteousness ; by comparing our union with the first Adam in his disobedience , to our union with the second Adam in his passive obedience .

We are one ( saith he ) with the first Adam by a natural union , and by that union we did all with him , and in him , disobey Gods commandment in eating the forbidden fruit , and by reason of our natural union with him , God imputed his sinful eating to all men , as if they had eaten it in their own persons .

Even so ( saith he ) are we one with the Second Adam by a spiritual union compleated by our faith : and by vertue of that union , we did all with him , and in him , satisfie the justice of God in his passive obedience ; for by reason of our spiritual union with him , God doth impute his passive obedience to all believers as their obedience : see ch . 24. and also the conclusion of his book .

Divine .

Our natural union with Adam must be dictinguished from union . I grant that all mankind are one with Adam by a natural union , as proceeding from the same root and fountain of nature ; but I fear your Author doth stretch our natural union with Adam unto a personal union ( I mean he doth so by consequence ) to the end that he might make Adams personal action to be ours by imputation .

Eve was taken out of Adams side , and there was a natural union , and presently after she was married to Adam , and so there was a matrimonial union ; but yet for all this , she was not united as one person with Adam , they still remained two distinct persons , and therefore their personal actions must needs be distinguished .

As for example , in the case of eating the forbidden fruit ; Eves act in eating the forbidden fruit , was her own personal disobedience ; and Adam had not bin made a sinner by it ( if he had forborn eating ) notwithstanding his natural and matrimonial union with her : on the contrary , Adams act in eating the forbidden fruit was his own personal act of disobedience , and Eve could not have bin corrupted thereby if she had not disobeyed in her own person , notwithstanding her natural and matrimonial union with Adam : But as soon as both had eaten , both were under the curse of the law by their own personall disobediences ; and according to the curse of the law , they both became dead in corruption and sin ; and thereby they procured not only a corrupt nature to themselves , but to all their posterity ; and in this respect the Apostle doth compare the efficacy of Christs mediatorial obedience , to the efficacy of Adams disobedience ; Rom. 5.19 .

Adams disobedience had this effect ; that it procured a corrupt and sinful nature to himself and to all his posterity , which otherwise had continued righteous and sinless .

In like sort Christs mediatorial obedience had this effect , that it procured Gods Fatherly atonement and acceptance of all his posterity or seed that should be born of the same promise ; Gen. 3.15 . for Christ is the father of all the elect , by procuring their new birth , or by procuring their acceptation in the adoption of sons : By one man ( saith the Apostle ) sin entred into the world , and death by sin , and so death passed over all men , in whom all men have sinned : that is saith the common doctrine of Imputa●ion , in whose person all men have sinned , in eating the forbidd●n fruit ( by imputation ) as Adam did : this exposition I do not like ; but the true meaning of the Apostle lies thus .

By one man sin entred into the world ( namely by Adams sin of disobedience , in eating the forbidden fruit sin entered into the world ) and death by sin , ( namely that spiritual death in corruption and sin which fell upon Adam and his posterity for his sin in eating the forbidden fruit ) and so death ( namely the said spiritual death ) passed over all men ; in whom all men have sinned ; that is to say , in whose loines all men have sinned ( by receiving from his loines his corrupt nature , which is sin ) not whose act of disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit , all men have sinned in eating the forbidden fruit , for then we must have bin united to Adam as one person with him ; but in whom , or in whose loines , all men have sinned , for we drew a corrupt nature from Adams loines which is both sin in it self , and also it is the punishment of Adams sinful eating : and in this sense David doth acknowledge , that he was conceived or warmed in sin ; Ps. 51. and this sin and corruption dwelleth in us ; Rom. 7.17 .

I confess that the doctrine of spiritual union with Christ by faith is a most comfortable doctrine to all true believers , provided we do not corrupt the right m●aning of it by the common doctrine of imputation , as many do , and as your Au●hor doth in particular , for in p. 47. he cals our spiritual union our unity with Christ , and in pa. 53. ( he saith ) that we are made the sons of God , by being one in unity with the son of God ; by which unity alone ( saith he ) we are made the sons of God : and in other places he often cals our spiritual union our unity with Christ .

Our spiritual union with Christ must carefully be distinguished and differenced from unity with Christ . This phrase I do not like , for though all believers are one mystical body with Christ by faith , yet they are not one with him in the personal unity of both his natures : but your Author in effect doth affirm that all believers are one with Christ in the personal unity of both his natures ; for he affirmeth , that a believing sinner is made righteous in Gods sight by the passive obedience of Christ , which ( saith he ) God doth impute to all believers as their righteousnes : but it passeth my understanding to conceive how God in justice can Impute the act of Christs mediatorial sacrifice of atonement to us as our act , unless he do first make us one with Christ in the personal unity of both his natures , ( which is a gross absurdity to affirm ) for Christ did actuate his oblation by his eternal spirit ; and how can the action of the eternal spirit be imputed to us as our act : I see not ? neither can I see how any of the actions of Christ can be imputed to believers as their actions .

You may as well say that the actions of the head ought to be imputed to the hand , or to the foot , as their proper actions ; as say the mediatorial actions of Christ are imputed to each several member of his mystical body ; I acknowledge that the actions which are done by the head , are done for the good and benefit of each several member of the body , by reason of their natural union with the head , as fully and as effectually as if every member could have done the very same actings of the head .

In like sort our blessed Mediator ( as he is the mystical head of al believers in the covenant of grace ) did take care to do all and every act of mediatorial obedience that might procure his Fathers atonement , for the good and benefit of every member of his mystical body , as fully and effectually as if every member could have performed those acts of mediatorial obedience themselves : and in this sense God doth impute the efficacy of al Christs mediatorial obedience to all believers as the only meritorious price for the procuring of his Fathers atonement for them : which atonement of the Father doth comprehend under it our full redemption and freedome from sin , which is a sinners full and perfect justification ; and also it doth comprehend under it , Gods favourable accepting of believing sinners unto the adoption of Sons .

2. Our spiritual union with Christ is not compleat without faith . This also must be remembred as another sure foundation to the form of our spiritual union with Christ that the holy spirit doth not unite any soul to Christ , until it hath first wrought in that soul the grace of actual believing : he that believeth not on the son shall not see life ; Iohn 3.18.36 . Christ doth first procure the spirit of his Father , and then he doth take hold on a poor soul by that spirit , and thereby he doth inable that soul to take hold on him again by faith , and so the union is made up ; for as there can be no good marriage union made between man and woman but by mutual giving and taking each other , so in like sort there can be no true spiritual marriage union made between Christ and the souls of the el●ct , but by giving and taking each other : Christ doth first take hold of them by his spirit , and at the same time he doth inable them to believe , by which faith he doth inable them to take hold on him again , and then the union is made up : Iohn 15.4 , 5. so then , the only grace of the spirit whereby our union with Christ is formed and made compleat , is the grace of faith ; Then , and not till then , a soul hath a true personal right and interest in the Fathers atonement , which doth comprehend under it our Redemption , Justification , and Adoption .

3. Adoption is never communicated to any by the Father untill we be spiritual united to the mediator by faith . And then by that union he doth bring us to be united to his Father as to our father : nam●ly it doth bring us to receive the grace of adoption . This also must be remembred as another necessary consideration in the point of our spiritual union , namely that our union with the Mediator by faith doth bring us in a familiar way to be united to his Father as to our father ; for we cannot come to the Father by any other way or meanes but by the Mediator ; Io . 14.6 . for Christ as mediator , is Gods son by ordination ; and in that respect he is often called Gods Son and Gods Servant , and so faithful servants are often called children and sons : and his service was meritorious to procure God atonement for our Adoption as well as for our Justification .

Therefore whensoever the Father doth actually adopt any to be his Children , he doth it by his spirit through the Mediator ; and by that spirit he doth inable them to express their Child-like union , by crying unto him Abba , Father ; Rom . 8.15 . and in this sort the Apostle Iohn . doth teach us to extend our union unto the Father , saying , hereby we knw that we dwell in him , because he hath given us of his spirit , 1 John 4.13 . so then , as soon as ever a believing sinner is united to Christ by faith , he is at the same instant united to his Father also by the spirit of adoption : and thus we come in a familiar way to be united first to the Mediator , and then to his Father as to our father , which is the highest degree of happiness that ever any poor sinner can think on .

Trades .

You make our union with the Father to begin first in the Mediator , but the Apostle James doth tell us , that the Father doth beget us of his own good will ; James 1.18 . Hence I infer that the Father doth unite us immediately to himself by Adoption , even from Eternity , for he that begets , and they that are begotten of him , are immediatly united .

Divine

The Father begets none ( neither from eternity nor in time ) without his mean , that is to say , without the Mediator , nor yet without the holy Spirit ; and therefore in that respect the holy Spirit is called the seed of God . Each person in Trinity is our father in the act of our spiritual generation 1 John 3.9 .

Hence I infer , that all the persons in Trinity may be truely caled our Father in the act of our spiritual generation , though in a differing manner .

1. God the Father is our Father efficiently , and in that sense the Apostle Iames saith , that of his own good will he begat us by the word of truth ; his meaning is , that the Fathers good will and pleasure was the only efficient cause of our adoption , by ordaining the word of truth as the effectual instrument thereof .

2. The mediator is our Father in the act of our spiritual generation , because he is the meritorious procuring cause of our new birth ; and in this respect he is called our everlasting Father : Isa . 9.6 . because he did from everlasting covenant with his Father to make his soul a mediatorial sacrifice of atonement for the procuring of his Fathers atonement to all the elect , not only for the pardon of their sins , but also for their favorable acceptation ; that is to say , for their receiving into the favour of children by adoption ; and in this sense Christ is called our everlasting Father : namely because he was ordained by the Father to be the procuring cause of our adoption .

The Father from eternity propounded the conditions of his good wil and pleasure to the mediator to this effect : if thou wilt become the seed of the woman , and if thou wilt break the divels headplot by giving thy soul a sacrifice for sin , then ( I will reward thee for it ) I will prolong thy dayes and thou shalt see thy seed ; Is. 53.10 . Ps. 22.30 . Ps. 45.16 . Ps. 89.4 . In all these places the elect are called the seed or the children of Christ the mediator , namely because God gave them to Christ ; Heb . 2.13 . or elected them unto the adoption of sons in and through the mediator : for he ordained Christ to be the Meritorious procuring cause of their Adoption , Ep. 1.4 , 5.

Christ submits to these conditions and saith , sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not have , but a body hast thou prepared me : then said I , lo I come to do thy will O God ; by the doing of which will we are sanctified ( or freed from sin , and so made fit to be the children of God ) by the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once for all , Heb . 10. Ps. 40. Hence it is evident that Christ is our Father , because by his sacrifice of atonement he hath procured his Fathers atonement for our Redemption , Justification , and Adoption ; and therefore Moses makes this interrogation , is not he thy Father that hath bought thee ? Deu . 32.6 . Isa . 64.8 .

3. The holy Spirit is our Father also in the first act of our spiritual generation , because he is the principal instrumental cause of our new birth , and therefore he may well be called our Father ; for if Paul might truly call himself a Father of souls , because he was a sub-ordinate instrument in their new birth ; 1 Cor . 4.15 . Then much more may the holy spirit be called our Father , because he is the principal instrumental cause of our new birth : and in this respect our new birth is attributed to water and the spirit ; Iohn 3.5.6.8 . that is to say , to the word and spirit .

Hence also we may see the reason why our Saviour taught us to pray ( not to any one person in the Trinity severally , but ) to all the Trinity jointly under the name Father , saying , when ye pray say , O our Father which art in heaven . Mat . 6.9 .

2. Hence we may learn that none can make an effectual prayer except he pray to all the Trinity ; namely to the Father through the Mediator , by the holy Ghost ; to pray to any one person alone is idolatry : and thus each person in Trinity is our Father , and therefore all the Trinity must have a hand in our regeneration or adoption .

3. Hence we may also see the reason why the Father doth not unite a soul to himself immediately by his spiri● in the first act of our new birth ; namely , because he begets not by himself alone , but by and through his means , that is to say by and through the mediator : Eph. 2.18 . we cannot come unto God any other way but through the mediator ; Iohn 14.6 . He doth bring us unto God ; Heb . 2.10 . none else can be saved but those that come unto God by him ; Heb . 7.25 . Therefore Christ the mediator is the only meritorious procuring cause of Gods favourable acceptation , receiving us into the favor of sons .

The point of adoption exp●ained in six heades . And now for brevity sake I will explain the point of Adoption in six Heades .

1. The subject matter of Gods Adoption , is reconciled sinners , Eph. 2.16.18 . 2 Cor . 5.18 , 19. Rom. 5.10 . Col. 1.20 .

2. The meritorious procuring cause of our adoption , is Christs mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement : for by his sacrifice of atonement he hath procured his Fathers atonement , which doth comprehend under it , not only Gods pardoning mercy for our justification , but his Fatherly acceptance , by which he doth receive sinners unto the adoption of sons , Gal. 4.4 , 5. Heb . 2.10 . together with all the other places above cited .

( But your Author denies this , and saith in chap. 19. That adoption doth neither depend upon , nor flow from the death of Christ ; but from his personall property of being the Son of God : this assertion doth directly cross the very scope of that scripture , in Gal. 4.5 . which makes the death of Christ to be the mediatorial procuring cause of the fathers adoption , yea Christ is the mediatorial procuring cause and way of conveyance of every spiritual blessing that the Father bestows upon us . Eph. 1.3 . )

3. The formal cause of our adoption , must needs proceed from the Fathers merciful Atonement in receiving sinners into favour , this is the second part of Gods atonement ( but your Author in chap. 9. doth greatly blame another learned man , for the dividing the Fathers atonement into Iustification and adoption : he might as well blame our Saviour for dividing the whole law into two great commandments , as blame him for that division ; and I think I have already sufficiently justified that division , and yet once more I will do it by and by , in opening the Fathers atonement )

4. The instrumentall means whereby we receive adoption from the Father , is faith in and through the mediator ; and under this instrument of faith , I do comprehend both the word and the spirit ; for we cannot be born a new from the death of sin to the life of faith , but by water and the spirit , that is to say , by the word and spirit ; Ioh . 3.5 , 6.8 . Ioh . 1.12 . Iam . 1.18 . Gal. 3.26 . Ioh . 11.25 , 26.

5. The efficient cause of all former causes , is the free grace of God in himself ; Eph. 1.5 . It was his free grace to ordain a mediator to procure our atonement and adoption , and it is his free grace to elect a certain number of the fallen Sons of Adam to adoption in and through the mediator , as the only way by whom believing sinners must have access to the Father ; Eph. 2.18 . Ioh . 14.6 . and also it was the free grace of God to ordain the holy spirit to proceed from the Father and the Son , to work the grace of faith in all the Elect , whereby they might receive the fathers adoption in and through the mediator ; for the holy spirit doth proceed from the Father efficiently , and from the mediator as the procuring cause of it , and therefore the Father doth send the comforter in Christs name ; Ioh . 14.26 . and of it Ioh . 15.26 . the son doth send the comforter from the father as the procuring cause ; and thus all the works , both of the son of us , and of the holy Ghost in us , do proceed efficiently from the free grace of God the Father , Eph. 1.15 .

6. The end of all these causes and effects , is the glory of Gods free grace in our adoption and salvation .

The Fathers Atonement described , comprehended under its Justification , and Adoption .

These two parts of the Fathers atonement or reconciliation are evident by the effects which all the sacrifices of Atonement under the law did procure to poor believing sinners ( for all sacrifices of atonement under the law did typifie Christs sacrifice of atonement ) and they procured the fathers atonement , which hath a three fold effect towards poor believing sinners .

1. All sacrifices of Atonement in generall were ordained to procure a savor of r●st unto Iehovah , namely to procure a Savor of rest to God the father .

2. The sin offerings ( which were sacrifices of atonement ) were ordained by God to procure Gods mercifull pardon and forgiveness to poor believing sinn●rs , by which means only sinners are made sinless ; that is to say , just and righteous in Gods sight .

3. The burnt offerings ( which also were sacrifices of Atonement ) were ordained by God to procure his favorable acceptation towards poor believing sinners , by receiving them into special favour as adopted sons .

I will begin with the first principall effect of the mediators sacrifice of atonement in procuring the Fathers atonement ; and that i● , God doth not rest neither in Sabbath sacrifice● nor Temple , but a● they are typic●l Sign●s of ●i●●es●ing in the Mediator . Gods rest and sweet content in the mediator , and in his mediatorial sacrifice ; nothing in the whole world can be found wherein God can be said to rest , untill he did first rest in the mediator , and in his mediatoriall sacrifice : God cannot be said to rest neither in the creation , nor in the first s●venth day after the creation , untill he found rest in the mediator ; in all things the mediator must have the preheminence ; Col. 1.17 , 18 , 19. in the sixt day of the creation , as soon as God had made man and woman after his own image , God saw every thing that he had made , and lo it was very good : Gen. 1.31 . but presently after Satan by his subtil head-plot did draw them both into the sin of disobedient eating , whereby they became dead in corrupt and sinfull qualities , and so the glory of all Gods creation was spoiled ; and then God was displeased , grieved , and burthened with their sin , & the evil consequence of it : ( for al sin is a grievous burden to God ; Amos 2.13 . Es. 1.14 . Col. 2.23 . ) And in this regard God could not rest neither in the works of the creation , nor in the first seventh day , until of his great mercy he had manifested his secret counsell from eternity , which was to perfect his creation by the mediator : and for the effecting of this thing to Adam , God was pleased to convince Adam of his sin , and thereby made him see his miserable lost condition ; and then he was pleased to promise unto him that the seed of the woman should break the devils ▪ head plot : & he did also teach him the manner how the seed of the woman should break the devils head-plot ; namly by teaching him how to offer a Lamb in sacrifice , as a type of that sacrifice of Atonement which Christ the Lamb of God should one day make in the fullness of time ( for he was typically slain from the beginning of the world ; Rev. 13.8 . )

All this was done upon the sixt day , and then G●d rested the seventh day from all his works , because in the evening of the sixt day , he had declared the Mediator by whom he did finish the creation : namely by a price of redemption , which was performed by his mediatorial sacrifice of atonement : this was the only true reason of Gods rest in the first seventh day after the Creation .

2. This also was the only true reason why God commanded Adam and his posterity to rest every seventh day from all their bodyly labours , namely first , that it might be a typical sign to them of their resting , and of Gods resting in Christ ; and sec●ndly that it might be spent as a sanctified time of rest in the meditation of their redemption by Christ .

And according to this Te●or the Hebrew doctors have a true and a common saying that God rested not until he made his Son heir of all : this ( and not the visible works of creation barely considered ) was the true reason why God kept the first Sabbath that ever was as a day of rest , namely because it was the first day wherein God rested from all his works which he had created , perfected , and established by the Mediator ; Gen. 2.3 . for the visible creation did not continue perfect one whole day in Adams innocency , as I have explained the matter more at large in my treatise upon the sanctified use of the Sabbath .

3. This also was the only true reason why all sacrifices of atonement were ordained to procure a savor of r●st unto Jehovah .

1. The burnt offerings they were ordained to procure a savor of rest unto Jehovah ; Exo . 22.18.25.41 . Lev . 1.9 . Num . 28.6.8 .

2. The sin offerings were ordained to procure a savor of rest unt● Jehovah ; Lev . 4.31 . Yea all offerings in general were ordained to procure a savor of rest unto Iehovah ; Lev . 17.6 . Num . 15.3 . but the seventy translate it a sw●et savor of rest ; which phrase the Apostle Paul doth fo●low , saying , Christ hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God , for a smell of sweet savor . Ep. 5.2 . But the smel of flesh and fat tha● is broyled in the fire is not a very sweet savor in the nostrils of man : therefore we must not conceive that the sweetness of Christs sacrifice doth ly in his passive sufferings but in his mediatorial ob●dience , when he did by his own power actually give up his soul to God as a mediatorial sacrifice , by the joint c●ncurrence of both his natures : this mediatorial act of his did make his death to be the most sweet mediatorial sacrifice that ever God could desire , or that the mediator could perform , for the procuring of Gods rest and sweet content : ( the phrase of sweet smel is borrowed from men who use to be delighted with sweet savors ; Isa . 3.24 . Cant . 1.2 . ) and in this respect as soon as ever the Father had installed the Mediator into his office , he declared his sweet rest and content in the Mediator , saying this is my well beloved Son in whom I delight ; Mat 3.17 . on the contrary , when God rejecteth a people for their sins he saith , I will not smel the smel o● your sacrifices of rest : Lev . 26.31 .

4. From hence also we may see the true reason why the tabernacle and Temple ( which did typifie the humane nature of Christ ) were called Gods rest , Psa . 132.8.14 . 2 Chr. 6.41 . not because he needed a house of stone to rest in , for both Esay and Steven do tel us there is no house that any man can build with stone or wood that can properly be called the place of Gods rest ; Isa . 66.1 . Act. 7.49 . but they were only called Gods rest typically , namely to typifie Gods rest in the Mediator : In him God delighteth to dwell for ever , for he is the only procuring cause of his atonement to poor believing sinners ; which atonement of his hath a double effect , namely forgiveness of sins , and receiving into favour .

The first effect of the Fathers atonement thus procured by Christs mediatorial sacrifice towards poor believing sinners is his mercyful pardon and forgiveness .

This was typified and promised to all sacrifices of atonement under the Law , first , it was typified and promised to the sin offerings : they were ordained to procure Gods mercyful pardon and forgiveness to the owners ; Lev . 4.20.26.31.35 . Secondly the burnt offerings ; and thirdly the Trespass offerings were ordained to procure Gods mercyful pardon and forgiveness to poor believing sinners : Lev . 5.10.13.16.18 . Lev . 6.7 . Lev . 19.22 . Num . 15.25 , 26. and See Ains . in Ps. 25.11 .

2. The true nature and extent of Gods mercyful forgiveness is of weighty consideration , for it is of a differing nature from legal forgiveness : for legal forgiveness doth no more but barely acquit a man of his fault and so leaves him : but Gods forgiveness is alwaies mixed with his Fatherly love and pitty ; as I have opened the nature of it in Ps. 25.18 . so that Gods forgiveness d●th comprehend under it his receiving of poor believing sinners into special grace and favor : and in this sense Moses pray'd thus to the Father , Pardon our iniquity and our sin , and take us for thine inheritance : Exod . 34.9 . If God did no more but acquit a sinner of the fault , and so leave him , it could not make a man blessed ; but Gods forgiveness doth make a man blessed , Ps. 32.1 . therefore his forgiven●ss is not only a bare acquittance of the fault , but it doth also comprehend under it his receiving of sinners into favor ; and yet I do also grant that his receiving of sinners into favor , must be distinguish●d as another part of Gods atonement , for cleerer light sake , into the full nature of his atonement .

Thirdly , This also must be remembred , that no other person in Trinity doth forgive sins formally but God the Father only , Mark 2.7 . Col. 2 , 13. he of his free grace did ordain the Mediator as the meritorious procuring cause of his forgiveness ; and therefore it is said that he doth forgive us all our sins for Christs sake , Eph. 4.32 . somtimes Christ is said to forgive sins ; Col. 3.13 . but stil we must understand his forgiveness to be in a mediatorial way , and not formally .

And according to Gods promise in the new Covenant , his forgiveness is of that nature , that it doth make a sinner p●rfectly just or righteous ; for the promise runs thus , I will be merciful to their u●righteousness : Heb . 8.12 . that is to say , I will make them perfectly righteous by my merciful pardon and forgiveness .

The second effect of the fathers atonement procured by the Mediators sacrifice of atonement ( as it was typified and promised in the law to th●ir sacrifices of atonement ) is Gods favorable acceptation in receiving poor sinners into special favor : First God ordained Burnt offerings , that poor believing sinners might find favorable acceptance into his presence ; Lev . 1.4 . Secondly , He ordained the sheaf of first fruits to be wav●d or offered before him for his favorable acc●ptation of the whole Church of Israel ; Lev . 23.11 . and in this respect they are styled , his first fruits , and his first born : Rom. 11.6 . Heb . 12.23 . Iam . 1.18 . Ier . 14.4 . Ier . 2.3 . Thirdly the High Preist ( who was a type of the Mediator ) did often present himself b●fore Iehovah with his Golden Plate upon his fore-head , whereon was Holyness to Iehovah : and this appearing of his before Iehovah was to procure his favourable acceptation of the whole Church of Israel ; Exo . 28.38 .

The Hebrew Ratson , which signifieth Gods favorable or gracious acceptation , is derived from a word signifying Accept , as the Apostle in He . 12.6 . doth expound Pr. 3.12 . and as Mat . 12 18. doth expound Isa . 42.1 . in whom he is well pleased or delighted ; See Ains . in Psa . 5.13 . and so in him God is well pleased with all believing sinners receiving them into the favor of Sons by adoption .

Fourthly , The godly did alwaies understand the Fathers atonement to comprehend under it his gracious favor to poor believing sinners , and th●refore Araunah said to David when he went to offer a burnt off●ring , the Lord thy God accept thee , 1 Sam . 22.23 . he knew we●l enough that burnt offerings were ordained not only to pacifie Gods anger by an acquittance of bare forgiveness , but also to procure his gracious acceptance of poor believing si●ners ; and therefore somtimes God did visibly manifest his gracious accep●ance of poor believing sinners , when he did burn their offerings into ashes , by sending a fire from heaven to consume them into ashes ; Ps. 20.4 . 1 King . 18.38 . Lev . 9.24 . and in this sense Manoahs wife doth interpret that miraculous fire that consumed their offering to signifie , she said thus to her husband , If the Lord would kill us , he would not have accepted a burnt offering at our hands ; Judg . 13.20.23 . she knew that God accepted them into favor , because he sent a fire from heaven to burn their sacrifice .

God doth not accept of unbelieving sinners , because they want faith in the Mediator , but ass●on as poor sinners is in the Mediator by faith , God doth smell a savor of rest in the Mediators sacrifice of Atonement , and so rec●ives them into special favor ; and therefore when the Lord did promise to accept his true Israel , he telleth them that they must be presented to him with their savor of rest in the height of his holy Mountain , Ezek . 20.40 , 41.

In like sort the Lord did promise to the flocks of Kedar and Nebaioh , that they should come with acceptance upon his Altar ( that is , with acceptance in Christ ) and then I will glorifie the house of my glory : Is. 60.7 . alluding hereby to his glorious cons●crating of Moses Tabernacle , and Solomons Temple ; then God did glorifie the house of his glory , because he did then burn their sacrifices with fire from heaven , d●claring thereby his gracious acceptance , Exod , 40.34 . 1 Kin . 8.10 . Lev . 9.23 , 24. see also Is. 56.7 . 1 Pet . 2.5 . Act. 10.35 .

Fiftly , The new Testament doth a●so explain Gods favorable acceptation thus , God hath made us accepted in his beloved , Eph. 1.6 . that is to say , God hath ordained the Mediator to be the procuring cause of our acceptance : and through him we have access by one spirit unto the Father , Eph. 1.18 . that is to say , through Christ we have access with acceptance unto the Father , Rom. 5.2 . and the Apostle Peter saith thus , Ye are built up a spiritual house , a holy Priesthood , to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ : 1 Pet . 2.5 . Mal . 3.3 , 4. Hence it is evident , that nothing else bu● Christ , and faith in Christ the Mediator , can make us acceptabl● to God ; not the bloud of Goats and Buls upon a thousand Mount●ins . Ps. 50. In like sort when Paul had received that liberal bless●●●●●om he Philippians , he doth call it a sweet smelling savor , a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing unto God , Phil . 4.18 . he tells th●m ●●●t t●eir gi●t to him was acceptable to God , because it was sent to Paul in and for the Name of Christ ; this is the only true r●ason why the Apostle doth call it a sweet smelling savor , and a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God : and this was the true reas●n also why God accepted of Iob's person and prayer for his thr●e friends that had provoked Gods anger by their deceitful and erroneous disputations ; namely , because he presented God with a burnt off●ring for them , that is to say , because he did by faith present God with Christs mediatoriall sacrifice of Atonement , typifi●d by his burnt-offerings ; Iob 42.8 , 9.

And because Gods people are apt to lose the sense of Gods love by their sinful abberrations , ●hey must often go unto God by prayer , & intreat him to turn his face , that is to say , to receive them again into his wonted favour , Ps. 69.16 . Ps. 25.16 . Ps. 67.1 . Num . 6.26 .

But on the contrary , when God doth rej●ct the persons of unbelieving and unrepentant sinners ; he saith to them thus , Your burnt offerings are not to favorable acceptation ; Ier . 6. ●0 . When they fast I will not hear their cry ; when they offer burnt offerings and oblations , I will not accept them to favor ; but will consume them by the sword , by the famine , and by the pestilence : Ier . 14.20.10 . Am. 5.22 .

And becau●e poor believing sinners do through corrup●ion of nature and Sathans temptations fall daily into sin , therefore God was pleased in great mercy to teach them how they might renew the assurance of these mercies to their souls , either by presenting the Lord with sacrifices of atonement as oft as their peace was broken , or else by presenting the Lord daily with renewed repentance and faith of dependance , or else by daily coming to the Lords Table there to behold Christs mediatorial sacrifice of Atonement as the procuring cause of Gods Atonement for the better assuring of their justification and Adoption ; and whereas I have often times in this treatise made Gods Atonement to comprehend under it our redemption from sin as wel as our justification and A●opti●n ; I would have you to take notice that I do not mean that Gods at moment doth contain under it redemption as another distinct p●●●● differing from justification ; but I make our redemption ●●d freedome from sin by the Fathers Atonement to be all one with our justification from sin .

The Fathers Atonement or reconciliation is the top mercy of all mercyes that makes a poor sinner happy .

But the truth is , a sinners Atonement must be considered as it is the work of all the Trinity .

1. The Father must be considered both as the efficient and as the formal cause of a sinners Atonement .

2. The mediator must be considered as the only meritorious procuring cause of the Fathers Atonement Rom. 5.10 .

3. The holy Ghost must be considered as the principall instrumentall cause of the Fathers Atonement , by working in sinners the grace of faith by which sinners are inabl●d to appr●hend and receive the fathers Atonement , for their ful redemp●ion , Iustification and Adoption ; which spirituall blessings they do receive into their souls as soon as ever they do beleive in Christ ,

But this work of the holy Ghost is diversly called or named in Scripture ; sometimes it is called effectuall vocation , sometimes it is called Regeneration , or our new birth , sometimes ●u● first Resurrection , namely from the death of sin , to the life of grace ; sometimes it is called our Repentance or Conversion , sometimes Beleiving ; sometimes our union with Christ : but no sinner can be united to Christ until he be turned from sin and drawn to Christ by faith , so then faith is the only grace of our union with Christ ,

Or thus , The Father must be considered as the efficient cause , the Son as the mediatoriall procuring cause , and the Holy Ghost as the principal instrumentall cause of all spirituall blessings that poor believing sinners do enjoy , Eph , 1.3 ,

To conclude , if thou hast gotten any spiritual blessing by any thing that I have said in this treatise , let God have all the glory : Amen .

FINSI