A Vindication, Instance 2
Inſtance 2. If Chriſt be a meer creature, then it is lawful and warrantable to believe in a meer creature; which is againſt the tenour of the whole Scripture: but it is commanded in reference unto Chriſt, Joh. 14. 1. and ſalvation is annexed to it, Joh. 3. 36.
Inſtance 3. If Chriſt be a meer creature, then faith in a meer creature can ſave man; which is abſurd and groſs, and contrary to the Scriptures: for, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteouſneſs, Rom. 4. 3. and ſo was ſaving.
Unto theſe he oppoſeth two Propoſitions, which the Scripture (as he ſaith) will warrant, and will ſuffice for an Anſwer.
1. That that faith which is needful to ſalvation, hath a double object; God, and the man Chriſt Jeſus, Joh. 14. 1. which (he ſaith) the Scripture that I have quoted bears witneſs to, as a truth.
2. That that faith which is needful to ſalvation, acts in a divers manner on God, and on the Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
Reply. 1. Neither the Scripture that I have quoted, nor any other, bears witneſs to this, That the man Jeſus Chriſt, as man, is the object of faith▪ The Perſon of Chriſt that is man, is the object of faith; but not as man. And the place that he cites in Joh. 3. 14, 15, proves it. The Son of man ſhall be lifted up, that whoever believes on him, &c. But there is in theſe words that which is called Idiomatum communicatio; viz. that which is ſpoken in the concrete of Chriſt according to one Nature, is transferred to another Natrue: And the verſe that immediately precedes, viz. verſe 13. declares thus much: It is ſaid that the Son of man is in heaven; which at that time when Chriſt ſpake thoſe words, was impoſſible, as Chriſt is the Son of man, becauſe Ubiquity, or being everywhere at the ſame time, is not compatible to any man, as man: but it was meant of the Perſon of Chriſt, who is called the Son of man, becauſe he was truely man; but according to the other nature that was in him, viz. the Godhead, according to which he was in heaven and on earth together, becauſe he fills both, as God. And Chriſt, that did put that denomination [Son of man] upon himſelf, in verſe 13. continues it, and under that title makes himſelf the object of faith: but there is a tranſlation of that which is proper to one nature, to another nature to which it is not proper: And indeed, Chriſt as Mediator is an object of faith; but it is not as he is man that he is the object, but as he is God: which is very clear, for theſe Reaſons:
1. It is Chriſt, as he is JEHOVAH, that is the object of faith, as it juſtifies and ſaves: Iſa. 45. 24. compared with Rom. 14. 10, 11. proves it: Believers are brought in profeſſing their faith in JEHOVAH, which is Chriſt: Surely, ſhall one ſay, in JEHOVAH have I righteouſneſs and ſtrength. 1 Tim. 3. 10. God manifeſted in fleſh, is believed on in the world: not Chriſt accordi…g to his Manhood.
2. It is Chriſt as he is all-ſufficient, and able to ſave to the utmoſt, that is the object of faith, Heb. 7. 25. 2 Tim. 1. 12. But Chriſt, as he is man, is not all-ſufficient, and able to ſave to the utmoſt, but as he is the Son of God, and God, Joh. 4. 25.
3. The man that truſteth in man, is accurſed by God's own ſentence, Jer. 17. 5. Therefore faith is not in Chriſt as he is man.
4. God hath teſtified that all life is in his Son, Joh. 5. 11. and faith muſt be where life is, and nowhere elſe; and therefore not in Chriſt as man: for the Son of God is not man, but God, as hath been abundantly proved before. And it is alſo ſaid, verſe 12, He that hath the Son, that is, hath received him by faith, Joh. 1. 12. hath life; and he that hath him not, hath not life. And they are preſſed to believe in the Son of God, v. 13. that they may have eternal life.
5. Chriſt himſelf ſaith, Ʋpon this rock, viz. this profeſſion of faith, that Chriſt is the Son of God, he will build his Church, Matth. 16. 16, 18. Therefore Chriſt is the object of faith as he is the Son of God, and not as he is man.
6. If Chriſt, as meer man, and nothing more, be the object of faith; then any other man or creature whom God ſends, and by whom God ſpeaks or acts, may be the object of divine faith; and ſo Moſes and the Prophets may be the object of faith; which is groſs.
2. Though God, viz. the Father, and Jeſus Chriſt, be two objects of divine Faith, yet it is not true in the ſence that he repreſents it in, viz. that they are two objects really diſtinct from one another; for the Father that ſent the Son Jeſus Chriſt, and the Son Jeſus Chriſt that was ſent, are not two diſtinct Gods, but one God; they are not two diſtinct Eſſences, though they be two diſtinct ſubſtſtences, or perſons; ſo the object eſſentially and really is but one: To this agrees the place which he quotes, Joh. 12. 44. He that beleeveth on me, beleeveth not on me, but on him that ſent me. An Expoſitor of note puts this ſence upon it: Not on me, that is, ſuch whom you take me to be, a man, and no more; but on me the Eternal God, and then ſame in Eſſence with him that ſent me. He puts another ſence upon it, ſaying, He that beleeves one, beleeves both, becauſe God appears merciful in the face of Chriſt, and Chriſt appears inſtrumental in the hand of God, Rom. 4. 24. and 10. 9. And ſo he makes Chriſt an inſtrument (who could not (as he ſaith) raiſe himſelf from the dead) the object of faith, concerning our Reſurrection and Salvation, which is groſs; for Chriſt is the object of our faith, as he is able to ſave, not himſelf onelyonly, but us, to the utmoſt. And though Chriſt be the Son conſidered as ſent, and as having taken fleſh, and as Mediator, and ſo is the object of faith; yet he is the ſame perſon as before he took Fleſh, and was Mediator, though under another conſideration; yet the taking of Fleſh hath not made him another perſon, much leſs another being; and ſtill he remains the ſame God with his Father.
And though as he is conſidered in Fleſh, and as Mediator, he be an intermediate object of faith, yet he is alſo the principal and ultimate object of faith, as he is the Eternal Son, and ſecond perſon in the Trinity; for the ſame perſon may be both the intermediate and the ultimate object of Faith, under a divers conſideration: this was one part of his emptying of himſelf; the Son became Mediator in Fleſh, and ſo the intermediate object of faith, who yet was, with the Father, the ultimate Object of it.
And Chriſt, though he had been Mediator, yet if he had not been God, he could not have been the intermediate Object of Faith, no more then Moſes was, who was Mediator; he was not the Object of Faith, nor could be, becauſe he was but a creature. Moſes was one by whom they beleeved on God, and ſo were the Prophets, and alſo the Apoſtles: Paul ſaith of himſelf and of Apollo, that they were Miniſters by whom the Corinthians beleeved, 1 Cor. 3. 5. Mediums or means by whom they were brought to faith in Chriſt and God; but Objects they were not, no not intermediate objects of their Faith; ſo Chriſt could have been but a means of faith in God, if he had been no more but a man, and had not been God.
The brazen Serpent, which was a Type of Chriſt, to which the promiſe was made, That whoever looked up to it, ſhould be healed, (and it was really ſo; they were healed, as God in the promiſe ſaid, Numb. 21. 8, 9.) was onelyonly a means by which they beleeved in God, being but a creature, and not an intermediate Object of Faith; they did not beleeve on it at all, but through it, on God; and ſo it muſt have been ſaid of Chriſt, had he been but a meer creature, had he been but onelyonly the man Jeſus Chriſt.
And though it cannot be denyed, but that whole Chriſt, as conſiſting of two natures, being God and man, is Mediator, and materially conſidered is the intermediate Object of Faith; yet not the whole of Chriſt is the formal cauſe of faith in Chriſt, but the Divinity or Godhead of Chriſt alone, is the formal cauſe, and reaſon, and ground of the faith of Chriſtians in Chriſt; for that is the Rock upon which the ſouls of Saints are built, and a firm, unſhaken, unmoveable Rock it is, and the gates of hell ſhall never prevail againſt Beleevers, whoſe faith doth bottom them upon this Rock.
But he ſaith, It is from Gods commandment, that faith in Chriſt is needful, Joh. 3. 23. And it is from Gods appointment, that faith in Chriſt is ſaving, Joh. 6. 40.
Rep. All faith that juſtifies and ſaves, as well that which hath God, viz. the Father for its Object, as that which hath Chriſt for its Object, is by Gods commandment and appointment juſtifying and ſaving: for the firſt Covenant was of Works; which men brake, and were under death by breaking it; and then came both the commandment of faith, and the promiſe of life, that was made to faith, Gal. 3. 8. The Scripture foreſeeing that God would juſtifie the heathen through faith, &c. God freely made choyce of faith, to ſave men by it, as well of that which reſpects himſelf, as that which reſpects Chriſt. I hope he will confeſs that it was by inſtitution that faith in him that ſent Chriſt, viz. the Father, is needful and is ſaving.
But if his meaning be, that no faith was due to Chriſt naturally, ſave what is due by vertue of appointment and commandment; It is utterly untrue, if extendeded to whole Chriſt; for Chriſt is the natural Eſſential Son of God; and look what faith was due to the Father, the ſame faith is due to Chriſt, as the Eternall Co-effential Son of God.
Or if this ſenſe be given to the words, that there was nothing but a Commandment, that could move or draw to faith in Chriſt, that is falſe alſo; for Nathanael was drawn to beleeve without any commandment, that came to him to that purpoſe, from thoſe beams of his Deity, which ſparkled upon him in thoſe words of his. Before Philip called thee, when thou waſt under the Fig-tree, I ſaw thee; And many others believed on him when they ſaw his Miracles; So that not the commandment onelyonly, but his own Almightineſs and Infinite Excellency, brought credit and gained faith to him.
The concluſion is this: Though it ſhould be granted, that Faith in the Father and faith in Chriſt do act in a divers manner (as indeed it muſt, Chriſt being conſidered as Mediator) yet it will not follow, that either in one manner or another Faith doth act upon a creature, but that ſtill the perſon is God that it acteth upon.
And it is to be obſerved, that he hath not invalidated that Scripture in Joh. 14. 1. but it ſtands in full force ſtill; for though he would have i… to be man Chriſt that is there ſpoken of, yet it cannot be for Chriſts Argument would not be good in that ſence; Ye beleeve in God, therefore beleeve in me a man: there is no good conſequence in it: But the Argument is good, Ye beleeve in God the Father, beleeve in me the Son alſo; for the Father and I are one, ver. 10. Beleeveſt thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, and that we are one God? Therefore ſeeing ye believed in the Father, believe in me alſo.
The fourth inſtance comes now next to be conſidered of, which is this: