The Gospel Method of Gods Saving Sinners, Discourse · Proposition 6
PROPOS. VI. Of Gods freedom to preſcribe the terms upon which ſinners ſhall be ſaved.
SInce all the communications of Grace and Mercy to the Creature, even to thoſe that Chriſt hath redeemed with his blood, are abſolutely free, and iſſue forth only according to the Prerogative of the Divine Will and Pleaſure, God may therefore give out, and apply the merits of his Sons obedience and ſufferings to whom, and in what way and method, and upon what terms he in wiſdom ſhall think meet. He that caſt the skirts of his love over the loſt Sons of Adam, when he ſaw them polluted in their own blood, might alſo, if he had pleaſed, have made it a time of love to the Apoſtate Angels, and have put them with Man (ſince Chriſts Merits were intrinſickly ſufficient for both) into the ſame Act of Grace and Indemnity. And he that hath choſen only ſome few to be Heirs of Glory, out of the common Maſs of Mankind, might likewiſe have extended the ſame mercy and favour to all the reſt. Judas as well as Paul might have been an Elect Veſſel to the Lord. Yea but one is taken and the other is left, to ſhew that God hath mercy upon whom he will have mercy, and that whom he will he hardneth, Rom. 9.18.
And as God freely makes choice of the perſons whom he will effectually pardon and ſave by his Son Jeſus Chriſt, ſo alſo of the mediums and ways in and by which this ſalvation ſhall be diſpenſed to them, Firſt only in a dark and myſterious Promiſe, ſo to Adam, Gen. 3.15. Then more explicitely by actual Covenant, ſo to Abraham, Gen. 17. After this by Types and Shadows, ſo to the Jews: And laſt of all by open and manifeſt Revelation, through the miniſtration of Chriſt and his Apoſtles, ſo to all under the Goſpel Diſpenſation, Heb. 1.1, 2. Thus Jeſus Chriſt, and in him ſalvation, is firſt promiſed, then typified, and then exhibited; and that firſt to the Jews only, but afterwards to the Gentiles alſo: And he ſurely that makes choice of whom he will, to be the Objects of Mercy, and freely determines in what way and order they ſhall have ſalvation diſpenſed to them; he cannot but be alike free to appoint the terms and conditions upon which they actually may be ſaved. He that hath power to appoint the End, muſt alſo have power to appoint the Means by which it may be obtained. God in this whole tranſaction is to be conſidered, not only as Lord and Governour, but as the offended party and our great Benefactor, and upon all theſe accounts the Right of preſcribing the terms upon which the guilty and condemned Creature ſhall be admitted to pardon and happineſs, properly and ſolely belongs to God. As he is abſolute Lord of all, ſo he may do whatſoever he pleaſeth with the Works of his own hands. And as he is rightful Governour over the World, ſo he may preſcribe what Laws he thinks meet for the due government of his Creature. And as pars laeſa, the party wronged and offended by Man, he may ſay upon what terms he will be reconciled to him: And as our great Benefactor, that deſigned and contrived the way of Mans pardon and ſalvation, by the death and ſufferings of his only begotten Son, he muſt diſpenſe theſe benefits according to the pleaſure of his own Will, Math. 20.15. To ſave a ſinner upon any terms is an act of Grace; but Grace is not Grace unleſs it be free. He that pardons an Offender, a Traytor, a Rebel, he may bring him to terms, before he pardon him; and he that diſpenſeth Crowns and Scepters to unworthy Perſons, Beggars, and Miſcreants, he may require homage and obſervance from them, without fear of rendring it no act of Grace.
The truth is, all that Jeſus Chriſt obtained, or can in reaſon be ſuppoſed to deſign by his undertaking to obtain, at the hands of his Father in the behalf of ſinners, was only this, that pardon and ſalvation might be diſpenſed to them, upon ſuch terms and in ſuch a way, as might be conſiſtent with the Honour of God, and moſt for the good and intereſt of the lapſed, yet reaſonable Creatures, whoſe perfection and happineſs lay in his likeneſs and conformity to his Maker.
That therefore which we are to conſider, is not ſo much what is the intrinſick worth and price of Chriſts blood, or how far it might have been available to the ſaving ſinners, but rather to what ends and purpoſes God hath accepted it, and in what way, and upon what Conditions 'tis made over to us, that it may become ours. God might by virtue of his Omnipotency have made many Worlds, and yet he hath made only one: and according to the judgment of ſome, he might by virtue of his abſolute Prerogative have pardoned the ſinner, without the death of his Son, and yet he would not do't without it. And poſſibly he might upon the account of his Sons undertaking, have ſaved ſinners by other means, and upon other terms than thoſe he hath now declared in the Goſpel, and yet theſe he hath only made choice of, as they by which they ſhall be ſaved. And therefore the actual determinations of his Will in this particular (which he hath fully made known to us by his Word) are the things which we are concerned to obſerve and attend to, if ever we expect to have any lot or portion in the Grace and Glory that Jeſus Chriſt hath purchaſed.