Propositions and Principles of Divinity Disputed, Section 43
PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE PASSION AND DEATH OF OVR LORD IESVS CHRIST. XLIII.
HAVING HANDLED THOSE THINGES which appertaine vntounto the conception and Natiuitie of Ieſus Chriſt our Sauiour: we are to come vntounto his Paſsion.
1 AS ſoone as the WORD, that aeternall Son of God, taking vponupon him mans fleſh, was brought foorth into this world, hee began euen then to performe the myſterie of our Saluation▪ Neither had it ſufficiently profited vsus, that Chriſt had onelyonly beene borne, vnleſſe alſo, hee had performed whatſoeuer was required to bee done, that wee ſhould be reconciled vntounto God.
2 The will of the Father conſiſted in theſe points: firſt, that in him, mans nature being perfect and pure from all ſinne, ſhould moſt holily, moſt perfectly, and moſt fully fulfill all the righteouſnes of the lawe: Secondly, that by the whole courſe of his life, hee ſhould take vponupon himſelfe the puniſhments due vntounto our ſinnes, and pay the ranſome of them by a full ſatisfaction.
3 Therefore, whereas in our beliefe, wee go preſentlie from his Natiuitie to the ſuffering of the Croſſe, thereby (ſetting down a part for the whole) is comprehended what ſoeuer Chriſt ſuffered, euen from the very moment of hys conception, vntounto the day that hee was deliuered into the hands of the Iudge; and that not without cauſe, ſeeing this was the laſt and eſpeciall act of the ſuffering of Chriſt for vsus.
4 By his paſsion in like ſort, we vnderſtand alſo al thoſe ſorts of injuries, wherewith the Euangeliſts doe write, that he was reproched, and his puniſhments agrauated.
5 In theſe ſufferings of Chriſt, we conſider three things eſpecially.
6 And firſt of al, both that fearful hatred of God, againſt euerie tranſgresſion of the law, which could in no wiſe bee appeaſed, but by a moſt perfect ſatisfaction.
7 And alſo that vnſpeakable louelove of God towards mā, who ſent that onelyonly begotten Son of his, that whoſoeuer ſhuld beleeue in him, ſhould not periſh, but hauehave euerlaſting life.
8 Next, wee are to conſider the inſtruments which the Lord vſed to effect ſo great a worke; and they were moſt euill: namelie, Sathan, the Prieſts, IVDAS and PILATE; (for who but ſuch as were moſt wicked, could finde in their heartes, to accuſe or condemne him that was moſt innocent) yet the LORDE vſed them in ſuch ſort, as by their meanes, he brought to paſſe that worke, which of all other the workes of God, was the moſt holy and the moſt admirable; that is, the redemption of his Elect: and as for the inſtruments, who ſinned not by compulſion, but wilfullie, and againſt their owne conſcience, hee allotted them vntounto moſt juſt condemnation.
9 Thirdly, we conſider the effects of that ſacrifice; namelie, the force of that moſt perfect obedience of his, euen vntounto the death of the Croſſe, whereby, we are clad with ſuch a righteouſnes, as the law of God requireth; and alſo, the moſt ful ſatisfaction for all our ſinnes, wrought by this oblation once offered; whence doth follow remisſion of ſins freelie, in reſpect of vsus.
Wherefore the Papiſts doe erre moſt foulie, who beſides the onelyonly Pasſion of Chriſt, go about to place their own merites, and the merites of Saints, as a needful ſupplie of the ſaide Pasſion, or as though Chriſt was therefore borne, that he might powre into vsus the force to merite aeternall life of our ſelues.
10 Nowe, ſeeing Chriſt was true man, that is, conſiſting of a true ſoule, and of a true bodie of a man; he had a body ſubject vntounto outward pasſions, and therfore, he bare moſt greeuous ſufferinges in his bodie, to the end, that hee might trulie deliuer vsus, euen in reſpect of our bodies.
11 Now, in reſpect of the ſoule, he was ſtrucken thorow with moſt vnſpeakable anguiſhes and torments: yea, hee ſuffered in his ſoule, the moſt horrible and fearefull burthen of Gods wrath, that he might deliuer our ſoules from the euerlaſting torments of Hell.
They therefore are to be condemned, who hauehave affirmed, that Chriſt, either did not ſuffer, as the Simonians or that hee did not trulie, but ſuppoſedly ſuffer, as the Marcionites and the Manichaees did.
12 The Diuinitie notwithſtanding, which was perſonally vnited vntounto the humanitie that was aſſumed, did not depart therefrom in the time of the pasſion; but it ſo farre with helde it ſelfe in not ſhewing the force thereof, vntill that his ſoule did vnſpeakablie apprehende and feele the wrath of God, then the which nothing can bee imagined more horrible; the burthen whereof, he had neuer bene able to ſuſtaine, vnleſſe at the laſt, he had bene ſtrengthened to gaine the victorie by the ſame Deitie of the word.
13 Ieſus Chriſt then, to ſpeake properly, ſuffered in his bodie and in his ſoule; yet notwithſtanding, we may trulie and Chriſtianlie ſay, that the Lorde of glory was crucified, dead, &c. not that the Deitie did ſuffer, (for the Diuinitie is imparible) but that this bodie and this ſoule, is the proper body and the proper ſoule of the WORD.
We doe deteſt therefore, both the open Eutychians, who as they confound the proprieties and the natures: ſo they hould, that the Deity did ſuffer; & alſo the cloſe and ſecret Eutychians, who are compelled in deede to confeſſe, that the Deitie did not ſuffer, but yet do hould, that the communicating of the proprieties of the Godhead and the Manhood, are reall; euen in reſpect of the natures them ſelues, and therefore, that the WORDE in reſpect of it ſelfe, did ſuffer ſome thing.
14 That baſe eſtate of the WORD, whereby he made himſelfe of no reputation, not in himſelfe, but in the fleſhe which was aſſumed, was eſpeciallie ſeene, as it were with the eies in his Pasſion, wherein the aeternall Sonne of God as wee may ſay, forgetting himſelfe, if I may ſo ſpeake, did haſten of his owne accord vntounto ſuch a puniſhment.
15 The condemnation of Chriſt vnderunder CAIPHAS and PONTIVS PILAT, which is a matter of no ſmall moment & conſideration, went before the puniſhment which he ſuffered: For when as we could not ſtand before the Tribunall ſeat of God, Chriſt appeared before the ſeat of the high Prieſt PONTIVS PILATE; yet was he by and by condemned to be hanged vponupon the Croſſe; the juſt for the vnjuſt, that he might ſet vsus free from the judgement of GOD the Father.
16 The kind of puniſhment wherevnto he was judged, was the Croſſe; then the which, there was nothing more ignominious, euen by the law of God, to the end we might know, that hee was not onelyonly dead, but alſo made a curſſe for vsus.
17 Chriſt therfore, being the true and the onelyonly Prieſt, performing the worke of the Mediatour-ſhippe, as all the ſhadowes of the lawe did prefigure him, carrying about with him that Tabernacle of his bodie, entred once into the holie place, where vppon the Altar of the Croſſe, hee once offered himſelfe a Sacrifice and a brunt offering vntounto his Father, by ſheadding his moſt precious bloode; hee I ſay, beeing the Prieſt, the Sacrifice, the verye redemption, ranſome, and propitiation, and euen all theſe thinges for euer.
Wee deteſt therefore with all our hearts that blaſphemie, whereby the Papiſts are not affraid to affirme, that Chriſt is as yet daily offered vntounto his Father, reallie and in deed for the quick and dead, by the ſacrificing Prieſt: then the which blaſphemie, nothing can bee more execrable.
18 Nowe Chriſt by his death, hath abolliſhed both the firſt and the ſecond death vntounto his Elect. The firſt death, not that he hath fully deſtroyed the ſame, but that he hath chaunged it in ſuch ſort, as it is no longer a puniſhment of ſinne, or an entry vntounto the other death, but a paſſage vntounto aeternall life.
19 The latter indeede, in reſpect that hee beeing dead, did altogeather put it vnderunder his feet, and openly triumph ouer the ſame: wherefore alſo wee are no longer to feare it.
20 By the death of Chriſt, wee vnderſtand the true ſeparation of his ſoule from his bodie: the which ſoule (as hauing it in his owne hands) when he had fulfilled al theſe things which were foreſpoken of the Prophets, concerning his ſatisfaction for vsus, and hauing performed all the ſolemnities of the true expiatorie ſacrifice; hee willinglie calling againe and againe with a great crie on his Father, gaue vp.
21 Yet was not the Diuinitie of Chriſt therefore ſeperated in his death, either from his bodie or from his ſoule; but it was alwaies perſonallie vnited vntounto both, in ſuch ſort, as that band of the perſonall vnion was neuer broken.
Wherefore ſome hauehave not taught aright, in giuing out that Chriſt by his death, ceaſed to be man.
22 Laſtlie, beſides all the fruites which wee drawe (as hath beene ſhewed) from the paſsion, croſſe and death of Chriſt, this is not the leaſt, that by the benefite and power of them our old man ſuffereth, is crucified, & quit broght to nothing with him.
Defended by ANTONIE THYSIVS a low countriman.