Truths Triumph Over Trent, Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII. Of the nature and kinde of the vnion betweene Christ and the faithfull, and of the fruits and effects arising from the same.
VNion is a making of many into one. Now there are sundry kindes of vnion: there is a consubstantiall vnion (as Bernard cals it) in the diuinity; but this so transcendent, as it may be called rather vnity than vnion, and rather one than vnity. The Father, the Word, and the Spirit, these three are one, 1. Ioh. 5. 7. and Christ saith, I and the Father are one; not wnited, but one, Ioh. 10. 30. So that this vnion in the diuinity, duplicate page duplicate page this vnity, this one, hath no parallel. As Bernard saith, speaking of some other vnions: Haec omnia, quid ad illud summum, at que …ern. de consid. …. 5. cap. 8.(vt ita dicam) vnicè vnum, vbi vnitatem consubstantialitas facit? All other vnions, what are they to that one supreame, and (as I may so say) that onelyonly one, where consubstantiality makes the vnity? And, super Cantica, serm. 71. Singularis ac summa illa est vnitas, quae non vnitione constat, sed extat aeternitate: That is the most singular and excellent vnity, which consists not by vnition, but existeth by eternity. There is also a personall vnion, and that is of the two natures in Christ; which Bernard cals dignatiua vnitas, qua limus noster à Dei verbo …vnam assumptus est personam: a vouchsafing or gracious vnity, whereby the word of God vouchsafed to assume our slimie nature into the vnity of his person. There is a Sacramentall vnion between the signe, and the thing signified in the Sacraments. There is a naturall or animall vnion of the soule and body in man. There is an accidentall vnion betweene the mind and learning, found in a learned man. There is an artificiall vnion betweene the hand and the instrument; as when the work is predicated of, or denominated of them both ioyntly: as a carued worke implies both the hand and toole wherewith it was wrought. There is a morall vnion between two friends, as Dauid and Ionathan. There is a ciuill vnion between the Prince and the People. There is an vnion of dependency betweene the Creature and the Creator; for in him wee liue, and moue, and hauehave our being, Acts 17. 28. Finally (to passe by others) there is a spirituall and mysticall vnion betweene Christ and beleeuers: which is called spirituall, especially, from the principall efficient of it, the Spirit of God, and of Christ; as the Apostle declareth, 1. Cor. 12. 13. By one spirit are we all baptized into one mysticall body of Christ.
Now this spirituall vnion between Christ & the beleeuer, as it comes short of that first transcendent vnion in the sacred Trinity in vnity, so it doth as farre excell all those other vnions; yet so, as it seemeth to partake in some thing of them all. For first, concerning that stupendious and wondrous vnion in the diuine Hypostaces or Persons, our vnion with Christ is resembled to it: as Ioh. 17. 20. 21. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall beleeue on mee through their word; that they may all be one, as thou Father art in mee, and I in thee, that they also may be one in vsus. And, Ioh. 14. 20. At that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and you in mee, and I in you. Yea, Christ and his beleeuers are so vnited in one, in one mysticall body, as Christ and they are called one Christ, 1. Cor. 14. 12. So is Christ, that is, Christ and all his members; being there compared to one body compacted of many members: So is Christ, saith the Apostle. So then, as the Father is in the Sonne, and the Sonne in the Father, one God; so beleeuers are in Christ, and Christ in beleeuers, one Christ. So that the vnion betweene the Father and the Sonne, and betweene Christ and vsus, seemeth to be alike. It is somewhat like indeede, but nothing alike: for the Father and Christ are one; so is Christ and the beleeuer one, but yet in different respects. The Father and the Sonne are one, but essentially and naturally: Christ and the beleeuer are one, not essentially nor naturally, but are made so by grace, as Ioh. 17. 23. That they may be made perfect in one. So 2. Pet. 1. 4. We are made partakers of the diuine nature by gift. And as Bernard saith; Hanc vnitatem non tam essentiarum cohaerentia facit, Bern. super Cant. ser. 71.quam continentia voluntatum: This vnity is wrought, not so much by the coherency of essences, as by the correspondency and nearenesse of wils. And againe; Homini & Deo, sua cui que & natura, & substantia est, cum Patris Filij que constet penitu… esse vnam: In the vnion betweene God and man, each of them notwithstanding retaine their nature and substance proper to themselues; bu… the Father and the Sonne hauehave both one and the same substance. So that in our vnity with God in Christ, there is not confusio naturarum, sed voluntatum consensio: not a confusion of natures, but a consent of wils.
Secondly, this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer, is not an hypostaticall or personall vnion, such as is betweene the two natures in Christ; but it is mysticall onelyonly, and such as maketh the beleeuer in Christ, to be with him one Christ, yet not personally, but spiritually & mystically, as 1. Cor. 6. 17. He that is ioyned vntounto the Lord, is one spirit.
Thirdly, this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer, is not that Sacramentall vnion between the signe and the thing signified, sith the signe hath no benefit from the thing signified, nor is it any longer a signe, than in the Sacramentall vse and application to the beleeuing Communicant, and so the Sacramentall vnion ceaseth; yet as vntounto eueryevery faithfull receiuer, wheresoeuer the visible signe is administred, the inuisible grace signified is together exhibited, by vertue of the Sacramentall vnion, hauing dependance on Christs promise, and reference to the condition of faith in the Communicant: So such is the vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer, that wheresoeuer faith is, there also is Christ with all his graces present to the beleeuer; for hee dwels in our hearts by faith, Ephes. 3. 17.
Fourthly, this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer, is not naturall (or natiue, as Bernard cals it) as that betweene the soule and the body in man; because the one of them may be separated from the other by death; but Christ and the beleeuer are neuer separated, no not in death: for to me to liue, is Christ, and to dye is gaine, Phil. 1. 21. For who shall separate vsus from the louelove of Christ? Rom. 8. 35. & vers. 38. I am perswaded that neither death, nor life, &c. shall be able to separate vsus from the louelove of God, which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. But herein they agree; as the body hath no life but from the soule: so the soule of eueryevery faithfull man hath no life, but in and from Christ; as the Apostle saith, Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ: Neuerthelesse I liue, yet not I, but Christ liueth in mee, and the life which I now liue in the flesh, I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God, who loued mee, and gaue himselfe for me. And as the soule and the body make one naturall man, so Christ and the beleeuer make one spirituall and mysticall Christ; and all beleeuers, both of Iewes and Gentiles, are made one new man, not naturall, but supernaturall in him, Ephes. 2. 15.
Fiftly, this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer, is not an artificiall vnion, as that betweene the hand and the instrument of the Artificer; for the instrument is subiect to wearing, to breaking, and at length, to casting away, when there is no more vse of it: but we are so in the hand of Chris…, as we are preserued for euer; as Ioh. 10. 28. I giuegive vntounto them eternall life, and they shall neuer perish, neither shall any man plucke them out of my hand. yet herein it agreeth; that as the instrument can do nothing of it selfe, not moue, not work, without the hand of the Artificer: so we can do no good thing, without the hand of Christ mouing and directing vsus: as himselfe saith; Without mee ye can doe nothing: for heeIoh. 15. 5. Phil. 2. 13. worketh in vsus both to will and to worke, of his good pleasure. That as the Hatchet may not exalt it selfe against himEsa. 10. 15. that heweth with it, but yeelds the praise of the worke to his workeman; so saith eueryevery faithfull soule, as Esa. 26. 12. Lord,Esa. 26. 12. thou wilt ordaine peace for vsus: for thou also hast wrought all our workes in vsus, or for vsus.
Sixtly, this vnion betwixt Christ and eueryevery beleeuer, is not an accidentall vnion, as betweene a man and learning, whereby he becomes a learned man: for an accident may be both present and absent, without the destruction of the subiect; as a man may be learned or vnlearned, he may get learning, and lose it againe, and be a man still: but the learning of the holy Ghost, wherewith all the faithfull are inspired, cannot be missing, without destruction to the soule. He is no faithfull man that wanteth the knowledge of God in Christ, whom to know is eternall life, and not to know, is eternall death: for all the faithfull are taught of God, as Ier. 31. 33. & 34. verses. Yet herein doth our vnion with Christ resemble the accidentall vnion, because as no man is borne learned, or borne a Philosopher, but is made so by education and instruction; so no man is borne by nature the childe of God, the scholar of Christ: but in time becomes a Christian Philosopher, by the instruction of the Word of God, and the inspiration of the Spirit of God, whereby hee is made a faithfull man, and a Disciple of Christ.
Seuenthly, this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer, is not a morall vnion, such as is between friends; which though it be founded at the best vponupon vertue, yet it is no lesse mortall, than it is morall; for if thé friendship dye not, before the friend dye, yet death makes a separation: as Dauid lamented the death of his louing friend Ionathan, the memory of whom lasted for a while in Dauids kinde vsage of Mephibosheth Ionathans…. Sam. 9. sonne; but it soone cooled, vponupon a small occasion of Mephibosheths false seruant Ziba, who by belying his master2. Sam. 19. to Dauid, got halfe his masters inheritance from him, when himselfe deserued rather to hauehave beene punished for wronging his master, than so rewarded for his dissembling officiousnesse, in bringing a present to Dauid of his masters store: So friendship is very mortall, it dyes often in a mans life time, or seldome suruiues death. And therefore the Poet said well; Foelices ter & amplius, Quos irrupta tenet copula; Nec malis di…ulsus Horace.querimonijs, Suprema citiùs soluet amor die:
O happy, and thrice happy they
Whom loues knot holds inuiolate;
Nor loosened till lifes last day
By back-complaints begetting hate.
But the vnion betweene Christ and his faithfull ones, though it be somewhat like that betweene morall friends, but mortall men; as being betweene Christ and his friends, as he calleth his faithfull, Ioh. 15. 15. I hauehave called you friends, &c. yet this friendship between Christ and his, excelleth all other friendship. The Philosophers could say; Amicus est alter idem: A friend is another selfe. And, Animus est non vbi animat, sed vbi amat: The soule is not where it liueth, but where it loueth. And, Amicorum omnia sunt communia: Betweene friends all things are common. Now these in comparison, as they are in practice amongst men, are but in a manner meere sayings, nominals rather than realls: For as Salomon saith; Most menPro. 20. 6. will proclaime eueryevery one his own goodnes: but a faithfull man who can find? Salomon found one among a thousand, which I thinke was the Prophet, that told him freely of his folly. Such friends few can finde, especially such as Salomon was. But now whatsoeuer can be spoken in praise of friendship, is really true betweene Christ and the beleeuer, his faithfull man: for they are so mutually each of them alteridem, another selfe, as that they are indeed oneselfe. Their soules and spirits are so interchangeably in each other, as the spirit of Christ doth really liue in vsus, and our soules doe liue in him. Wee are in the Spirit, and the Spirit of Christ in vsus, Rom. 8. 9. And, Now I liue, saith the Apostle, yet not I, but ChristGal. 2. 20. liueth in mee, and the life which I now liue in the flesh, I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God, who loued mee, and gaue himselfe for mee. Here is true louelove indeede, where the soule is not where it liueth, but where it loueth. And between these friends all things are most freely common: He partakes of our flesh, we of his spirit: Hee of our nature, we of his grace: He of our infirmities, we of his perfections: He of our pouerty, we of his riches: yea, Hee of our sinnes, which hee bare vponupon the Tree, wee of his righteousnesse, the best Robe. He is called the sonne of man, we the Sonnes of God: He the Lord our righteousnesse, and we the Lord our righteousnesse: yea, He and we one Christ. O incomparable communion!1. Cor. 12. 12. O incomprehensible vnion! Neuer such an immediate intercourse and community betweene friends. And this, not for a day, or a yeare, or for terme of life; but for life without terme. For as Christs louelove to his is from euerlasting, so it is to euerlasting; it is without beginning, and therefore without ending, Ioh. 13. 1. So that of this louelove, betweene Christ and his faithfull friends and brethren, we may sing the Psalme of Dauid, the burthen whereof, is principally the louelove between Christ and his brethren: Behold, how good and how pleasantPsal. 13 …. it is, for brethren to dwell together in vnity! It is like the precious oyntment vponupon the head, that ran downe vponupon the beard, euen Aarons beard, and went downe to the skirts of his garments. As the deaw of Hermon, and as the deaw that descended vponupon the mountaines of Sion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, euen life for euermore. This Psalme is a mirrour and cleare type of that vnion and communion of grace betweene Christ and the faithfull. Behold therefore, it is Christ that maketh his faithfull ones to dwell together in vnitie, to bee of one minde in the house of God, Psalme 68. 6. He it is, that perswades Iaphet to dwell in the Tents of Sem: the Gentiles to become one Family with the Iew, vnderunder Christ, that one head, whose type was Aaron. From him our head, our high Priest, flowes downe the oyle of grace vponupon vsus, vntounto the skirts of his clothing, euen vponupon vsus, whose nakednesse hee hath couered with the skirts of the robes of his righteousnesse; of whose fulnesse wee hauehave all receiued, and grace for grace. His head is full of the dew of grace, distilling vponupon the barren Mountaines of his Sion, his Church and chosen, to poure a blessing vponupon it, and there to giuegive life for euermore. Such is the vnion betweene Christ & his faithfull ones, farre passing the louelove betweene dearest friends, euen that betweene Ionathan and Dauid, passing the louelove of women.
Eightly, nor is this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer, a ciuill vnion, such as is betweene the King and the Subiect: for alas! to what dis-vnion and diuision is this subiect too, especially where the Pope is Lord Paramount, whenas eyther his roaring Buls of excommunication, and deposition of Kings, or the poysoned steellettoes, or pistols of his all-daring brats, doe euen teare the head from the body, as too lamentable experience hath proued? True it is, that Christ is our King, and we his seruants, hee commands vsus, wee obey him, he is our Princely head, we his members: but his commandements are not grieuous, his yoke is easie, and his burden light. He hath lightened the burden, and sweetened the yoke vntounto vsus, by both hauing borne the grieuousnesse and bitternes of it himselfe alone, and for the remnant, hee both beares it with vsus, and giues vsus strength to beare it: yea, he hath so loued vsus, and so shed his louelove abroad in our hearts, by his holy Spirit giuen vntounto vsus, that as hee can neuer deny vsus the grace and protection of a louing Prince: so hee hath giuen vsus grace, neuer to deny him our most humble homage, and louing obedience. So that neuer was there such a strait bond betweene Prince and People, as betweene Christ and the Beleeuer.
Ninthly, this vnion betweene Christ and the Beleeuer is not a coniugall vnion, such as is betweene a man and his wife; although this be a mysticall resemblance, whereby Christ settethEphes. 5. forth his vnion with vsus. For, this Coniugall vnion suffereth dissolution, and death giues the Suruiuer libertie to marry a new mate. Not so with Christ and his Spouse. This is a band indissoluble. The marriage band is but during this life, it holds not in heauen; for there they neither marry, nor are giuen in marriage: but this with Christ suffereth no diuorse, but death is a degree to the full consummation of it.1 Cor. 6. 17. Also the man and the wife are but one flesh: but Christ and the beleeuer one spirit.
In a word, this vnion betweene Christ and the Beleeuer, is not the vnion of dependency, as between the Creature & the Creator: for this is common to all the Creatures, who hauehave their being, life, and sustentation in a dependency from the Creator: his raine showreth, and his sunne shineth vponupon the good and euill, vponupon the iust and the vniust indifferently. All depend and waite vponupon thee, saith Dauid, and thou giuestPsal. 104. them their meate in due season; when thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good; when thou withdrawestPsal. 145. their breath, they returne to their dust. But the vnion betweene Christ and his, although it be an vnion of dependency, wherein the Beleeuers eternall well-beeing hath a necessary dependance on Christ: yet this dependance is proper and peculiar to the faithfull, and not common with any other Creature, vnlesse with the elect Angels, who depend vponupon Christ for the perpetuation of their happinesse. So that the faithfull hauehave their dependance on Christ, not onelyonly as their Creator (being the eternall Word) common with other Creatures, but chiefly as their Redeemer and Sauiour, proper to them only; and that not only for the supply of things temporall, but much more of graces spirituall, and glory eternall.
Thus by shewing what kinde of vnion this between Christ and the Beleeuer is not, wee come to see the more cleerely what it is. The Scripture also setteth forth this vnion by sundry similitudes, especially foure: as, betweene a house…hes. 2. 20. 21. and the foundation; betweene the vine and the branches, or,…hn 15. 4. 5. …om. 11. 24. …hes. 5. 25. …hes. 4. 15. 16. the oliue roote and the tree; betweene the man and the wife; betweene the head and the members. What more neare? the foundation and building make one house; the vine and branches one tree; the man and wife one flesh; the head and members one body. So Christ and the beleeuer are one spirit. Being vnited to Iesus our head, hee becomes the Sauiour of vsus his body, Ephes. 5. 23. Beeing vnited to Christ, wee are annoynted with all his titles and graces: we are made Kings and Priests to God his Father. Beeing vnited to this foundation,…euel 1. 6. we become liuing stones, growing vp to an holy Temple in the Lord. Being vnited to this Vine, this Oliue, we partake of the sweetnesse of the one, and of the fatnesse of the other. Being vnited to this Spouse, wee are endowed with all his goods. Being vnited to this head, wee receiue the rich influence of spirituall life and motion, quickning eueryevery member: Yea, that which is the summe of all, wee put on Christ; hee becomes wholly ours, being made vntounto vsus of God, wisedome, and righteousnesse, and sanctification, and redemption, and all in all. Now true it is, that this vnion is not only internall, inuisible, reall, and peculiar to Gods elect, but also externall, visible, nominall, and common to all Christians. So that although all Christians in Common, as well Hypocrites and false Professors, as the sincere and faithfull, may claime a share in this vnion, so farre forth as it is externall and visible, as beeing wrought by externall and visible instruments, the Word and Sacraments, wherof all Christians are in common partakers: yet onelyonly the Elect and Faithfull are partakers of the internall and true reall vnion with Christ, as being wrought by a most powerfull Agent, the Spirit of Christ, and by a most actiue instrument, the Faith of Christ. So that Faith in the hand of Gods spirit, is the principall, yea, and sole immediate instrument and meane to vnite vsus vntounto Christ; euen as the spirit in man is the meane to vnite the body and soule together.