The Divine Will Considered in its Eternal Decrees and Holy Execution, Chapter 8 (2 of 3)

The Divine Will Considered in its Eternal Decrees and Holy Execution · Chapter 8 (2 of 3)

p. 228As to that of eternal Death I answer by two Distinctions.

1. In eternal Death we must distinguish between the Immensity of the Sufferings and the Duration; the Immensity is essential to it, but the Duration is but mor a in Esse and accidental. Christ suffered eternal Death as to the Immensity of his Sufferings, though not as to the Duration p. 229of them; he paid down the idem, as to Essentials of punishment, and the tantundem as to the Accidentals; what was wanting in the Duration of his Sufferings, was more than compensated by the Dignity of his Person: for it was far more for God to suffer for a moment, than for all Creatures to suffer to Eternity.

2. We must distinguish between punishment as it stands in the Law absolutely, and punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature, which cannot at once admit a punishment commensurate to its offence; and so must ever suffer, because it cannot satisfie to Eternity. Punishment as it stands in the Law absolutely, is Death; punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature, is eternal Death: the first was really suffered by Christ, and the second could not be justly exacted of him; for he paid down the whole sum of Sufferings all at once, and so swallowed up Death in victory.

As to that of the Worm; I answer, the Worm attends not Sin imputed but Sin inherent, 'tis bred out of the putrefaction of Conscience, and that putrefaction is from the in-being of Sin. Now Christ being withot spot, suffered punishment p. 230not as it follows Sin inherent, but as it follows Sin imputed; and so he suffered the same punishment (for the main) as was due to us.

3. Christ suffered this punishment in our stead, he died foreign, for us, Rom. 5. 8. and which is more emphatical, foreign, in stead of many, Matth. 20. 28. the Particle foreign doth sometimes in Scripture signifie only the utility or benefit of another, but foreign properly imports a Subrogation or Substitution of one in the Room of another; and so Christ as our Surety died in our room or stead. Hence the Apostle argues thus; If one died for all, foreign, then all died, 2 Cor. 5. 15. all died in the death of one, in as much as that one died as the Surety of all. Hence our Sins were condemned in his flesh, Rom. 8. 3. and so condemned there, that upon Gospel terms they are remitted to us. But unless he had stood in our room, divine Justice could neither have adjudged him to punishment, nor yet have admitted us to an absolution from Sin.

4. Suffering thus in our stead, he satisfied both God's vindictive Justice and minatory Law.

1. He satisfied God's vindictive Justice. p. 231God is a righteous God, a God that loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity; nay, he so perfectly hateth it, that his pure eyes cannot look upon it; and his righteous hands cannot but punish it, he will by no means clear the guilty, Exod. 34. 7. not unless his Justice be satisfied, for he is a righteous judge, 2 Tim. 4. 8. so righteous, that he cannot but do right, Gen. 18. 25. his judgment is righteous judgment, Rom. 3. 8. and every sin must have a righteous recompense, Heb. 2. 2. and no wonder, for Sin is an horrible Ataxy, and God will not inordinatum dimittere; the subjection of a rational Creature to its Creator is indispensable. God whilest God must be above, and the Creature whilest a Creature below; and this dependance so far as it is broken off by Sin, must be salved up by punishment, or else God loses his dominion over his Creature. This is that which the Apostle calls foreign, the righteousness of God, Rom. 1. 32. and this is so naturally in him, that the very Heathens knew it by the light of Nature. The Viper upon Paul's hand made the Barbarians cry out of a foreign, Acts 28. 4. Now what doth this vindictive Justice require? Not precisely that the Sinner himself p. 232should be punished, for then Redemption should be impossible; but that the Sin should be punished, and so it was in Christ; he for our debt was cast into Prison, and paid every farthing of it. The damned in Hell pay a little and a little, and can never satisfie, but he paid down the total sum of Sufferings all at once; they are always striving with God's wrath, but he wrastled with it and prevailed: Hence in Isai. 49. Ver. 3. he is called Israel a Prince with God. His Sufferings were so satisfactory to divine Justice, that the pains of death could not hold him, Acts 2. 24. neither could the Prison of Wrath detain him, Isai. 53. 8. and all because there was foreign, a redemption of transgressions, Heb. 9. 15. that is, a compensation or satisfaction made to divine Justice for them. I go to my Father (saith he) and ye shall see me no more, Joh. 16. 10. Justice did not stop him in his passage to Heaven; neither did his Father send him back again to mend his work. You shall see me no more, no more bleeding under the burthen of Sin, no more paying down sufferings to divine Justice, for all's discharged; and to assure us of it, God who received the sum, pawns Heaven and p. 233Earth in mortgage that he will forgive our Sins without any further satisfaction, Jer. 31. 34, 35, 36. By all which it appears that Justice was fully satisfied.

But here 'twill be objected, That the innocent should suffer for the nocent is unjust, & that which is such cannot satisfie Justice.

I answer; 'Tis unjust if the innocent suffer compulsorily, but not if he suffer freely; 'tis unjust if the innocent sink under his sufferings, but not if he be able to bear them; 'tis unjust if there be no good in his sufferings commensurate to the evil, but not if the evil be exceeded by the subsequent good; 'tis unjust if the innocent stand in no relation to the nocent for whom he suffers, but not if he stand in relation to him. Suppose a natural relation; Saul's Sons were hanged up for Saul's sins, 2 Sam. 21. 9. Suppose a political relation; seventy thousand fall for David's sin, 2 Sam. 24. 15. which makes him cry out, Lo! I have sinned, but these sheep what have they done? Suppose a voluntary relation; Sureties must pay for their Principals, and that not only in Moneymatters but in Capital punishments: thus the foreign engaged life for life, which the Apostle seems to insinuate in that passage, p. 234Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die, Rom. 5. 7. and why then may not Christ who by all these ways is conjoin'd to us, naturally as a Man, legally as a Surety, and mystically as a Head, justly suffer for us? Especially seeing there was free Action in his Passion, victorious Strength under his Burthen, and the penal Evil crowned by such a grand Good as Redemption is, why may not he justly suffer for us? The Scriptures are positive in it, Christ died for the ungodly, Rom. 5. 6: the just for the unjust, 1 Pet. 3. 18. and one for all, 2 Cor. 5. 14. Wherefore if humane Reason will not subscribe, it fights against God himself.

2. He satisfied the Minatory Law; for this is no other than the voice of vindictive Justice uttering Death and a Curse against Sinners, and to satisfie this he died and died an accursed Death in their room. But you'l say, though he died for us, yet the Law is not satisfied, because it requires that the Sinner himself should die, thou shalt die the death, Gen. 2. 17. and cursed is he that doth not all the words of this Law, Deut. 27. 26. in which places [he and thou] relate to the person of the Sinner; and therefore though Vindictive Justice as in p. 235it self might have been satisfied with punishing Sin in another, yet the Minatory Law (which is the voice of Justice) cannot be satisfied, unless the punishment fall on the Sinner himself; and the reason is, because in this Minatory Law the Veracity of God is engaged, which it was not before; now Justice speaks out, which it did not before, and that which it speaks must be true. For answer whereunto,

1. Some (as the Learned Grotius) say, that here was Dispensatio Legis, quâ Legis manentis obligatio circa quasdam personas tollitur: But I take it, that God's Threatnings are indispensably Yea and Amen as well as his Promises; for albeit God doth not dare aliquod jus creaturae in his Threatnings, as he doth in his Promises, yet is he debitor sibi-ipsi in both, and not one jot or tittle of either can fail, because of his infinite Veracity; God will not call back his words of threatning, Isai. 31. 2. neither will he himself turn back from them, Jer. 4. 28. his words stand surely for evil, Jer. 44. 29. That Threatning that Nineveh should be destroyed, had a tacit Condition in it; which had it been expressed, the Threatning would have run thus: It shall be destroyed except it repent; therefore p. 236it repenting, there was a remotion of the Judgment, according to the tenour of the Threatning, but no dispensatio Juris at all. Wherefore

2. I answer that here God did interpret his Law foreign in an equitable way; equity is nothing else but foreign a filling up of a general Law by a benign interpretation in that part which was not precisely determinate. The divine sanction was, the sinner shall die; but it was not precisely determinate, that he should die in his own person; for then God's unalterable truth should have barred out a Surety: neither was it precisely determinate, that he should die in his Surety; for then the threatning should originally have been a promise, and a promise unto sin, such as God never made: But the sanction was general, the sinner shall die, and two interpretations lay before God; the first, that the sinner shall die in his own person; the latter, that he shall die in his surety; the first is foreign, just severity; the latter is foreign condescending mercy; in the first there is more of the sound of the law-letter; in the latter more of the sounding of the Law-givers bowels; p. 237the first is much like the first delivery of the Law with thundrings and lightnings and devouring fire, Exod. 19. 16, 17, 18. the latter is like the second delivery of it with a Proclamation of grace and goodness and pardoning mercy for thousands, Exod. 34. 6, 7. Now these two interpretations lying before God, he as the Supreme Lawgiver in order to redemption interpreted his Law according to a merciful equity, the sinner shall die, that is, in his surety Christ. Oh the immense love of the Father and the Son! the Fathers love fills up the Law by a gracious interpretation, and then the Sons love fulfils it by a perfect satisfaction; mercy and truth are met together, mercy in a favourable construction of the Law, and truth in the evident veracity of the Law-giver; the person of the sinner may be saved, and yet the truth of the threatning is salved, through Christ's satisfaction, foreign we are abrogated from the Law, Rom. 7. 6. and yet we do not foreign abrogate the Law, but establish it, Rom. 3. 31. because it is fulfilled in Christ. Neither doth this equitable interpretation suppose any defect in the divine Law, as it doth in humane Laws; for humane Laws p. 238are made general for want of providence in men to forsee all particular cases which fall out; but this Law was made general out of the perfection of providence in God, that there might be room for a surety to come in and satisfie it. But you'l say, if God interpret the threatning in such an equitable way, the sinner shall die in his surety, then no sinner is in a state of wrath here, nor can be condemned in hell hereafter; for both these issue out from the first interpretation, thou shalt die in thine own person, and that is now waved by the Judge. I answer, that God doth not totally and absolutely either wave the first rigorous interpretation; for the elect are under wrath till they believe and repent, and the reprobate not believing and repenting are cast into hell, and both by virtue of the first interpretation; but he waves the first and makes the second interpretation in order to redemption, and only so far forth as redemption requires it: Now what doth that require? It requires that all that embrace Christ should be saved from the death in the threatning, and therefore thus far the first interpretation is waved and the second takes place; but it requires not, that any p. 239person should either be out of a state of wrath before faith, or be saved without faith, and therefore the equitable interpretation doth not go thus far, and so far as that goeth not, the rigorous interpretation takes place, because pro tanto it is consistent with redemption; redemption is the end, and the all-wise God measures and proportions out the equitable interpretation in such a way as serves unto it, and the rigorous interpretation in such a way as stands with it. In a word, according to this equitable interprepretation, Christ hath so satisfied the threatning, as that all believers shall be saved from it; yet this satisfaction hinders not, but that the rigorous interpretation should abide upon unbelievers whilst such; for whilst such, they embrace not that satisfaction, and therefore are justly cursed by the Law till they receive the Gospel.

Fifthly, God's vindictive Justice and minatory Law being thus satisfied, he becomes reconciled. There are two degrees of reconciliation; the first is that whereby God is ready to receive men into grace and favour if they believe; the second is that whereby God is actually reconciled to them upon their believing. The Apostle p. 240mentions both these, Col. 1. 20, 21. for first he tells us, ver. 20. That God did reconcile all things to himself by the blood of his Cross, and then it follows, ver. 21. Yet now hath he reconciled you, you O believing Colossians! All were reconciled in the first degree, and believers in the second; the first was done all at once upon the Cross, and the second is yet now a doing, and so will be till the Believers are all come in; therefore the Apostle says, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, 2 Cor. 5. 19. Reconciling, which imports a continued Act, a carrying on the work of Reconciliation from one degree to another by particular applications. Now both these degrees of Reconciliation are wrought by the Death of Christ; the first was wrought by it ipso facto, without it God would have breathed out nothing but wrath, but through it he is ready to forgive, Psal. 86. 5. As full of mercy as he is, he could not forgive in a way opposite either to his Justice, which in its nature calls for satisfaction for Sin, or to his Truth which in the Law pronounces death on the Sinner; but Justice and Truth being satisfied by Christ's death, he is ready to forgive. The mercy-seat was covered p. 241with a cloud of incense, Levit. 16. 13. and the reason there rendred is very remarkable, lest he that was before it should die. What, die before the Mercy-seat? Yes, even there, unless the Merits of Christ be as a Cloud round about it. Mercy as of it self alone would not save us, but every Sinner must have died before it, had it not been surrounded with the Incense of Christ's Merits. God out of Christ is a consuming Fire to Sinners, but in Christ he is reconciling them to himself. The second is wrought by Christ's death as applied by Faith; therefore 'tis called propitiation through faith in his blood, Rom. 3. 25. and both these were typified by the sprinkling of the blood of the Sacrifice under the Law. That blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat, Levit. 16. 15. prefiguring the first degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death in it self; and it was sprinkled on the people, Exod. 24. 8. prefiguring the second degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death as applied to us by Faith. But you'l say, If God be first angry, and then reconciled, and reconciled by degrees, there must be a change in God and his Will, which cannot be admitted.

I answer, that Reconciliation is not an p. 242immanent Act but a transient, not so properly abiding in God, as passing from him upon the Creature: As when the Scripture saith, the Wrath of God at such a time was kindled or arose, 'tis not meant that the Will of God was novelly inflamed, but that the flame of wrath then broke forth in transient effects from thence; so when it saith, God is reconciled, it imports not a cooling alteration in the Will of God, but a gracious effluxion of Love breaking out from thence. As in punishment wrath goes out from the Lord against sinners, Num. 16. 46. and is upon them, 2 Chron. 29. 8. So in reconciliation Love goes out from the Lord towards Believers and is upon them; so that the change is not in God but in the Creature. Proportionably to the nature of Reconciliation as a transient Act, Christ reconcileth us unto God, not by making a new Will in God, but by doing his Will; for so he himself saith, when he came about the work, Loe! I come to do thy will O God. God's Will as to this point may be considered under a double notion; either as naturally pregnant with Vindictive Justice, and decretively issuing out the Minatory Law, both requiring that Sin (if committed) should p. 243be punished; or else as decreeing within it self the way and manner how this Justice & Law should be satisfied by a Surety in order to the Redemption of sinners. Now Christ perfectly fulfilled God's Will in all these respects; in him our Sins were punished according to the exaction of Justice, and the equitable interpretation of the Law, and that in such a way as was preordained by God's Will for our Redemption. This Will being thus satisfied, God is truly reconciled, not only (as the Socinian would have it) we reconciled to him, but he to us: and this appears in three things.

1. In that Sin is not objected before God's Will as it would have been, had not Christ satisfied; it would have been objected before it, as that just cause for which God might, nay, according to the naturality of his Justice and veracity of his Law must have punished us Sinners to all Eternity: But now it is not so objected before it; for albeit there be an intrinsecal and inseparable desert of wrath in the nature of it, yet now its obligation or redundancy upon the Sinner appears not, because expiated in the Surety: this the Apostle calls the reconciling of sin, Heb. 2. 17. Without Christ's death Sin like a fury p. 244would have cried and clamoured for wrath and vengeance to be poured down on the Sinner, but through his death Sin as one reconciled hath nothing to say against him, but that he may have Life and Salvation on Gospel-terms.

2. In that the effects of wrath do not issue out from God's Will against the Sinner as they would have done. God who is infinite Holiness and essential Rectitude cannot but hate Sin, and in this hatred there is nothing less than a velle punire; and from thence condign punishment must have poured down upon the Sinner, if it had not by the Will of God been derived upon the Surety; but being derived thither, that righteous Will is satisfied, and the merited Wrath comes not forth against the Sinner, but instead thereof

3. Effects of Love break forth from God's Will towards him; Grace appears to all men, Tit. 2. 11. to all men in a gracious Reconciliability, and to Believers in actual Reconciliation; Believers are actually accepted or ingratiated in the beloved, Eph. 1. 6. and so shall all others as soon as they become Believers. Thus God is truly reconciled, yet without any change in his Will; only Sin doth not cry to that p. 245Will against the Sinner, punishment doth not break out of that Will upon him, and Grace beams and sparkles out of that Will towards him; whilest in all these his Will remains unchangeable. Hence in Scripture we are rather said to be reconciled to God than God to us; not (as the Socinian would have it) because we only are reconciled to God, and not God to us; but because God is reconciled to us in such a way, as is not alterative, but perfective and completive of his unchangeable Will.

Thus Christ bore our Sins and God's Wrath, in a way so satisfactory to God's Justice and Law; that thereby God is reconciled to us, and we are redeemed from Sin and Wrath. But here I am obviated by an Objection.

If there be such a compensatory Price paid for Sin, where is free Remission? Free Remission cannot stand with plenary Satisfaction; what is fully paid cannot be at all remitted.

I answer; It cannot, if there be a solution by the Debtor, but it may, if there be a satisfaction by a Surety; it cannot, if that Surety were of the Debtors own providing, but it may, if he were of the Creditour's p. 246procuring; it cannot, if the Suretie's paiment be irrecusable, but it may, if the Creditor's acceptance be free; it cannot, if the remission were to the same person who makes satisfaction, but it may, if one person make satisfaction and another find remission. And thus it is in this case; our debts were paid to God, but by a Surety Jesus Christ, and this Surety was of God's own sending, and that his payment went for ours was of God's own Grace: and hence it comes to pass that God hath full satisfaction, and we free remission, and this without any repugnancy; for Christ who satisfied had no remission, foreign, Rom. 8. 32. God did not spare or bate him a farthing, and we who are remitted make no satisfaction; all our Tears, Prayers, Sorrows, Services pay not a mite to divine Justice. Why should corrupt Reason mutter as if Satisfaction and Remission, which are matches in Scripture, were inconsistencies in Nature? What saith God, Levit. 4. 31. the Priest shall make an atonement, there's satisfaction, and it shall be forgiven, there's remission? What saith the great Apostle, Rom. 3. 24. We are justified freely by his grace, there's remission, through the redemption that is in Christ, there's p. 247satisfaction? Take both in three words, foreign, God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you, Eph. 4. 32. for Christ's sake, there's satisfaction, hath forgiven you, there's remission, and free remission; for 'tis not only foreign, a dismission or discharge of Sin, but 'tis foreign, a dismission or discharge of it in a gracious way. In Christ our Surety there was foreign, Rom. 3. 25. but towards us there was foreign, Tit. 2. 11. Christ may say, totum exsolvi, and God may say, totum remisi; there was nothing forgiven to Christ, for he paid all, but there was all forgiven to us, for we paid nothing.

Thus this Price is Redemptive from the Guilt of Sin and Wrath of God; but this is not all.

2. This Price is Redemptive from the stain of Sin, the power of Sin and the tyranny of Satan, and that by procuring the holy Spirit for us; We are saved by the renewing of the holy Ghost, and that is shed on us through Jesus Christ, Tit. 3. 5, 6. and where it is shed, there it redeems.

1. From the stain of Sin; Sin is the dross or rust of the Soul, Isai. 1. 22. but the Spirit refines and purifies from it; Sin is the p. 248wrinkle of the old man, Eph. 5. 27. but the Spirit smooths and removes it. Christ came by water and blood, 1 Joh. 5. 6. and the water sprung out of the blood; the Spirit is that clean water, Ezek. 36. 25. which fetcheth out the spots and stains of Sin, and that healing water coming out from the side of the Temple, even the pierced side of Christ, Ezek. 47. 1. which by degrees cures all the Ulcers and Plague-sores of the heart. The Corinthians were all over mire and dirt, but they were washed in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. 6. 11. the Spirit washed them, and washed them in the name of Jesus, that is, for his Merits sake. The Soul in sinning runs to the Cabul of the Creature, dirtying and fouling it self; but the Spirit brings it back again to the holy one, and as it approaches nearer and nearer to him the macula peccati goes off, and the nitor animae appears.

2. It redeems from the power of Sin. Sin merited Christ's Crucifixion, and Christ's Crucifixion merited the Crucifixion of Sin; and upon this account out comes the holy Spirit and nullifies the Law of Sin, batters down the strong holds of it, plucks up the very Throne of it, and p. 249crucifies the old Man with all his members, by outward restriction nailing his hands and his feet, and by inward circumcision cutting and piercing into his heart, and from thence gradually letting out his vital blood, even the love of Sin; hence his motions wax feeble, his members weak, his natural heat of original lust spent and exhausted, and his whole body drooping and languishing to his dying day; and all this by a secret virtue from Christ's death. We are planted together foreign, saith the Apostle, Rom. 6. 5. he saith not foreign, in the conformity, but foreign, in the conformation of his death, because his death procured that conformity in us. Hence Sin doth not reign in us as a Prince upon his Throne, but die as a man upon the Cross; Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ.

3. It redeems from the tyranny of Satan. Christ in his own person spoiled principalities and powers on the cross, Col. 2. 15. and Christ by his Spirit spoils them in the hearts of men; Satan hath his Palace there, but Christ hath bought him out, and the Spirit will cast him out; Satan would keep on our chains, but Christ dissolves them, p. 2501 Joh. 3. 8. As he by his Spirit enlightens, off go the chains of the Mind; as he converts, off go the chains of the Will; as he spiritualizes, off go the chains of the Affections; and as he sprinkles his blood upon us, off goes the weighty Guilt of all these: Satan would keep us within the Prison, but Christ comes with an Habeas Animam, translating us from the power of darkness into his own kingdom, Col. 1. 13. a Region of Grace and Light, where Satan the Ruler of Sin and Darkness cannot have the Victory; because Christ the Wisdom and Power of God fights against Him who is (as I may so say) the wisdom and power of Sin. Hence he falls as lightning from heaven, Luke 10. 18. falls and breaks his Serpents head, even his design against poor souls; the ruine of Souls is a heaven to him, and in falling short of that, he falls as it were from heaven. The Prince of this world shall be cast out, saith Christ, Joh. 12. 31. and he adds as a reason, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me, Ver. 32. Lifted up upon the Cross, he purchased the Spirit, and lifted up into Heaven he sends down the Spirit, which draws men out of Satans World into Christ's, where the Gates of Hell can never p. 251prevail. The God of peace bruises Satan underfoot, Rom. 16. 20. the Apostle saith not, the God of Mercy or Power shall do it, but the God of Peace; because, unless Peace had been made through the blood of the Cross, Satan would have kept us in everlasting Chains. But now Justice being satisfied, the Spirit comes forth with a Quo jure; first rescuing the Captive-soul, and then treading down Satan under its feet. Thanks be unto God for this victory also through Jesus Christ.

Thus this Price is redemptive from Evil, but

2. This Price is procurative of Good. Infinity is a boundless Ocean, and may run over in effects as far as it pleaseth; infinite Power might have run over in making millions of Worlds more, and infinite Mercy might have run over in saving millions of Sinners more. The Price of Redemption hath a kind of Infinity in it; no wonder then, if after remotion of Evils, it run over by its transcendent excess of Value in the procuration of Good; such was the glorious redundance and supereffluence of its Merit, that it paid divine Justice to the last mite, and over and besides made a purchase of three Worlds; I mean p. 252the lower World of Nature, the middle World of Grace, and the upper World of Glory.

1. As to the World of Nature, Christ procured two things.

1. The Standing of it.

2. The Deliverance of it.

1. The Standing of it, and that in a threefold respect.

1. The Standing of it in Being. Sin filled it with so much spiritual stench and rottenness, that the Power of the holy One would not have endured to have been there supporting and bearing it up in Being, if the Death of Christ had not been foreign, a sweet-smelling savour, Eph. 5. 2. to perfume and sweeten it; the World was as it were new founded by the Cross, or else Sin, that abomination of desolation, would have dashed it down about the Sinners Ears; Justice (if unsatisfied) would not have spared so much as the Stage whereon Sin was acted, but hurled it down into its first Nullity. Christ upholdeth all things by the word of his power, Heb. 1. 3. Before Sins entry they stood merely by the word of his Power, but since they stand not without the blood of his Cross. Redemption is the great Buttress p. 253of Creation; as it rears up the little World after its fall, so it keeps up the great World from falling.

2. The Standing of it in Order. When the Prophet describes God's Judgments, he speaks as if the old Chaos were come again; Loe! the earth was without form and void, Jer. 4. 23. All the Orders and Harmonies in Nature were at first set by the Wisdom of God, and afterwards cemented by the Blood of God, or else Sin would have unframed all. By Christ all things consist, Col. 1. 17. not only subsist in their Beings, but consist in their Orders.

3. The Standing of it in its Usefulness to us. Sin was the blast and forfeiture, but Christ is the Purchaser and heir of all things, Heb. 1. 2. and in and through him all are as it were new-given to us. We became such wretches by Sin, that the Earth would not have bore our persons, if Christ had not bore our iniquities? the Sun in the Firmament would not have lighted the material World, if the Sun of Righteousness had not appeared in the spiritual; these lower Heavens would not have spun out a day for us, if Christ had not purchased the upper ones of Glory; the Blood of Creatures should never p. 254have been shed for the life of our Bodies, if the Blood of God had not been poured out for the Life of our Souls. Under the Law, before Harvest began the Passeover was killed; at Harvest a Sheaf of the first-fruits was brought to the Priest to be offered to God; and after Harvest there was the Feast of Tabernacles to bless God for the Fruits of the Earth, which by the Jews was kept with Booths and Hosannahs. Had not Christ our Passeover been sacrificed for us, there would have been no Harvest of Creature-blessings at all; and now that there is one, the praise of every Sheaf must be brought to Christ the high-priest of good things, and in and through him offered up to God: therefore there is a spiritual feast of tabernacles under the Gospel, Zach. 14. 16. Whilest we sit under the Booths of the Creature, we must sing Hosannahs to the Son of God, who tabernacled in our flesh, and in it merited all comforts for us. Every bough of Nature hangs upon his Cross, every crum of Bread swims in his Blood, every Grape of blessing grows on his Crown of Thorns, and all the sweetness in Nature streams out of his Vinegar and Gall. A right-born Christian is the best Philosopher; for he sees the Sun of p. 255Righteousness in the Luminaries of Heaven, the waterings of Christ's Blood in the fruits of the Earth, the Word incarnate in Creature-nourishment, and the Riches of Christ in all the Riches of Nature. All are ours, and we are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

2. Christ by this Price procured the Deliverance of it. God made the House of the World for Man, and whilest there is Sin in the Inhabitant, the Curse-mark is on the House; the Heavens wax old as if there were Mothes in them, the Stars have their malignant Aspects, the Earth hath its Thorns and Thistles, and the whole Creation groans and travels with an universal Vanity; the Sun groans out his light on the Workers of darkness, the Air groans with Vollies of Oaths and Blasphemies, and the Earth groans forth its Corn and Wine into the lap of the Riotous; and as Sin grows heavier, so the Creaturegroans wax lowder every day. But at last in and through Christ, there shall be foreign, a restitution of all things, Acts 3. 21. the Balm of his Blood will perfectly heal all the stabs and wounds in the Body of Nature; the groaning and traveling Creature shall be delivered from the p. 256bondage of Corruption, Rom. 8. 21. there shall be new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, 2 Pet. 3. 13. and all the steps and traces of the old Curse shall be razed out of the World.

Thus Christ hath purchased the World of Nature; but this (as appears by the Purchaser's own foreign, Matth. 6. 33.) is not the main bargain, but the casting in or overplus thereof; therefore

2. Christ by this Price purchased the World of Grace. Grace may be considered two ways; either as it is in the Map or Charter of the Gospel, or as it is in the Subject or receptacle of the Heart; and both ways 'tis Christ's purchase.

1. Grace in the Map or Charter is the Covenant of Grace, comprized in the Promises, called the Covenant of Promise, Eph. 2. 12. In this Covenant there are Promises reaching down as low as the World of Nature, and Promises reaching up as high as the World of Glory; and betwixt these two run the Promises which water the World of Grace, and these are either Promises of Grace such as those, I will give an heart to know me, Jer. 24. 7. I will circumcise the heart to love me, Deut. 30. 6. I will put my laws into their minds and write p. 257them in their hearts, Heb. 8. 10. I will give a new heart and a new spirit; I will take away th… stony heart, and give an heart of flesh, Ezek. 36. 26. or else they are Promises to Grace, such as those, God will justifie the believer, Rom. 3. 26. beautifie the meek with salvation, Psal. 149. 4. dwell in a broken heart, Isai. 57. 15. comfort the mourners, fill the hungry, and be seen of the pure in heart, Matth. 5. 4, 6, 8. Now all these Promises are the purchase of Christ, and the whole Covenant made up of them is the New-testament in his blood, 1 Cor. 11. 25. Without his satisfactory Blood there would have been no room for Promises, no, not for the least twinkling of a Promise to the sons of men; for unsatisfied Justice would have hurried all to Hell. All the Promises issue out to us in and through Christ, the Rivers of Life gushed out of the true Rock, the Gospel-wine run forth from the true Vine; if God meet us and commune with us in words of Grace, we must thank the true Propitiatory, or Mercyseat for every syllable.

2. Grace in the proper Seat or Receptacle of it is Christ's purchase; and this I shall make out

1. In general; Christ purchased the p. 258Spirit of all Grace. There is a double Oblation of Christ; a personal Oblation on the Cross, and that is Moritum Spiritûs; and a doctrinal Oblation in the Gospel, and that is Ministerium Spiritûs; and so the holy Ghost is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, Tit. 3. 6. Christ ascended up on high that he might fill things, Eph. 4. 10. One would have thought that his descent should rather have done it; but he ascended up in the glory of his Merits, he carried up all the Purchase-money to his Fathers house, and from thence the Spirit came pouring down upon men; some droppings of it were before, but then it was richly poured out; it came down in cloven fiery tongues and a rushing mighty wind, Acts 2. 2, 3. Tongues to utter magnalia Dei, and above all, the master-piece of Redemption, and cloven tongues to utter them to all Nations in their own Language, and fiery tongues to enlighten and enflame the Auditors hearts with the knowledge and love of Christ, and a mighty rushing wind to blow home that fire strongly and insuperably in a thorough Conversion; and all this was shed forth from Christ, Ver. 33. Never any Tongue truly preached Christ, but by a secret p. 259touch from him; never any holy fire kindled on the heart, but by a coal from his Altar; never any gales of Grace on the Soul, but from the breathings of his Spirit: not one drop of his Blood is spiritless, but full fraught and flowing with the Spirit of Life.

2. In particular; and so Christ hath purchased three things.

1. The Radical Grace of Faith.

2. All other Graces of the Spirit.

3. All the Crowns of these Graces.

1. Christ hath purchased the Grace of Faith; the Apostle is express in it, To you it is given, foreign, for Christ's sake not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, Phil. 1. 29. the Apostle evidently points out the merits of Christ as the spring of Faith, and Faith persevering unto suffering. And in another place he saith, we joy in God through Jesus Christ, foreign, by whom we have now received the atonement, Rom. 5. 11. he doth not only say, that by and through him the Atonement was made but that by and through him the Atonement is received; and what is this receiving of the Atonement but Faith it self? That therefore is part of Christ's Purchase. These express places might suffice p. 260us; but because the Remonstrants oppose this Truth, I shall propose two Quaeries unto them.

1. Is not Faith comprized within the Covenant of Grace? Let's come to the Touch-stone; Is it not written there, I will give an heart to know me, and is not Faith a justifying knowledge, a sight of the just One, and a beam or dawning of eternal life? Is it not written there, I will take away the heart of stone, and is not Unbelief a part of that stone? doth it not directly resist the Blood and Righteousness of Christ? and can there be a worse Stone than this? Is it not written there, I will give a new heart, and is not Unbelief the heart and life of the old Man, and Faith of the new? Is it not written there, I will put my Spirit within you, and is not the Spirit a spirit of faith, and faith a fruit of the Spirit? is not Unbelief of our Spirit, and Faith of Gods? Is it not written there, I will circumcise the heart, and is not Unbelief flesh? God saith, there is life in his Son, and the Unbeliever saith, No, and does what in him lies to make God a lyar, and can there be any filthier or rottenner flesh in the old man than this? and unless this be cut off, can there be a true Circumcision? p. 261By all this it clearly appears that Faith is within the Covenant, and if so, is not the whole Covenant Sanctio à sanguine, the New-testament in Christ's blood? Is not he the Mediator and purchaser of the whole? Are not all the Promises Yea and Amen in him? Who dares distinguish and say, Christ purchased part of the Promises and not all? he purchased notional knowledge and not justifying, he breaks the stone in the heart, all but that which opposes his own Blood and Righteousness, the old man is crucified with Christ, all but his heart and life of Unbelief, the Spirit of Grace flows out from Christ, all but the Spirit of Faith, the circumcision of Christ, Col. 2. 11. (so called because it is procured by the Merits, and produced by the Spirit of Christ) cuts off the flesh of the heart, all but that of Unbelief which upbraids God with a lye; who dares thus tear in sunder the Covenant, mangle the Promises, dimidiate Christ and divide the Spirit by unscriptural distinctions? Such shuffling is unworthy of Christians. Wherefore I conclude my first Quaere thus; Faith is within the Covenant, and the Covenant is Christ's purchase; therefore Faith is such also.

p. 2622. Is not Faith a Grace of the Spirit? It seals to the Gospel, sanctifies the heart, works by Love, waits by Patience, overcomes the visible World, and sensibly presentiates the invisible; for shame let it be a Grace, and if so, it must be Christ's purchase. The Spirit never effected that Grace in fallen Man which Christ never merited. As every Creature in the World is of God's making, so every Grace in the Church is of Christ's meriting: He that saith, Yonder is a precious Stone but 'tis not of God's making, blasphemes the Creator; and he that saith, Yonder is a precious Faith but 'tis not of Christ's meriting, does no less to the Redeemer. But further; Is not Faith the Grace of Union with Christ? Doth not Christ dwell in the heart by faith? Is not Faith the Mother-grace of all? First Faith gives a touch to Christ, and then Love is enflamed with him, Joy triumphs in him, and Obedience follows him. Where do all the rivers of living water flow but in the Believers belly, Joh. 7. 38? What holds all the starry Graces of the Church but foreign, the firmament of faith, as the Apostle calls it, Col. 2. 5? Now will it not grate thine ears, O Christian, to hear that the Spirit p. 263of Holiness is from Christ, but not the Spirit of Faith; all the starry Graces are Christ's but the Firmament of Faith is our own; we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ, but not with the Mother-grace which broods and teems out all the rest, not with the Grace of Union which lies nearest to Christ eating his flesh and drinking his blood; that Faith which is nearest to the Merits of Christ in its Union, is furthest off from them in its Origination. What is this but to darken the Sun of Righteousness, damm up the Well of Salvation, and trample the Blood of the Covenant under foot? at which every sober Christian cannot but tremble. Therefore I conclude my second Quaere thus; Faith is a prime and excellent Grace, wrought by the Spirit and purchased by the Merits of Christ.

2. Christ hath purchased all other Graces; for all Graces are the fruits of the Spirit, and the Spirit is shed on us through Christ. But in stead of proving, let me parly with the Saints. Speak, O ye excellent ones, whence came your lovely Meekness, your undissembled Love, your untired Patience, your holy Unction, your melting Compassions, your broken Hearts, your p. 264repentant Tears, your Law-engraven Spirits, and all your sweet-smelling Perfumes of Grace? Speak for the Glory of Christ. Methinks I hear them all with one consent cry out, Thus, O thus it is; all our Meekness came from the Lamb, our Love from the beloved one, our Patience from the Captain-sufferer, our Unction from the Christ of God, our Compassions from the bowels of Christ, our broken Hearts from a broken Christ, our repentant Tears from his bleeding Wounds, our Law-engravings are the Epistle of Christ, and all our sweetsmelling Graces are the powders of the merchant, Cant. 3. 6. even of Jesus Christ who bought them all with his sweetest Blood. The Church is the House of God made up of lively stones, floored with Humility, roofed with Knowledge, cemented with Charity, warmed with the fire of Zeal, and filled with the spiritual Glory of heavenly Graces; but Christ is the chief corner-stone which bears up all: all the Churches Humility is from Christ's foreign or self-emptying, all our Knowledge from Christ the Sun of righteousness, all its Charity from the Hyperbole of his love, all its Zeal is from a coal of his Altar, and all the spiritual Glory which fills it, comes by the p. 265way of the East, Ezek. 43. 2. even from Jesus Christ who is foreign, the East or day-spring of all graces, Luk. 1. 78.

3. Christ hath purchased all the Crowns of these Graces, I mean such as are set on the Saints head in this life; the Believers shall be justified, but 'tis by the righteous Christ; the Meek shall be beautified with Salvation, but 'tis because of the Lamb; the broken Heart shall have God dwelling in it, but 'tis for the Merits of a broken Christ; the Mourners shall be comforted, but 'tis by the consolation in Christ; the Hungry shall be filled, but 'tis from the fulness of Christ; the pure in Heart shall see God, but 'tis through Christ the brightness of his Glory: all the Crowns of Grace must be cast down at the feet of Jesus Christ the great Purchaser of them.

Thus Christ hath bought the World of Grace; but yet we are not at the top of the Purchase: For

3. Christ hath purchased the World of Glory; that is the none-such, the World of Worlds, to which all Natures Glories are but a shadow, and the Churches Graces but a Portal; there are Plenitudes of Joy, Crowns of Life, Weights of Glory, Treasures of Bliss and Oceans of Sweetness, p. 266and all of Christ's purchasing: All the Mansions of Glory are of his preparing; Joh. 14. 2. all the Wine in Heaven is for his marriage-supper, Revel. 19. 9. his Blood is the Key to open the holy of holies, Heb. 10. 19. the pure River of Life clear as Crystal issues out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, even out of Gods Grace and Christs Merit, Rev. 22. 1. Christ on the Cross purchased a Heaven for us, Christ in the Gospel proffers it unto us, and Christ in the heart gives us an actual hope thereof. Had it not been for Christ, we could never have entred into such a place as Heaven, where the Walls are Pearls, the Rivers Pleasures, the Hills Frankincense, the Air Purity, and the Light, Life, Love and all in all God himself. Now Christ did not only purchase Heaven for us, but purchased it in a way completive of the Law. The old Promise of the Law was, Do this and live, and that seemed quite blasted and withered by our sins; but Christ by his perfect Obedience made it revive and bud again with life. God would not give eternal life, but upon a Do this; and Christ fulfilled all Righteousness for us, and by that Righteousness we come to have foreign, justification of life, Rom. 5. 18. such p. 267a Justification as is crowned with eternal Life.

But you'l say, that old Do this required Obedience in our own persons; and therefore Christ could not fulfil it in our stead, and so purchase life for us.

I answer, that God did here also interpret his Law in an equitable way; the divine Sanction [Do this] on which Life did depend, was not precisely determinate that we must do it in our own persons, for then a Sureties obedience should have been totally excluded; neither was it precisely determinate that we should do it in our Surety; for there was a Do this in the state of Innocency where there was no need of a Surety; but the Sanction was general, Do this, and two interpretations lay before God; the first that it should be done in our own persons, the second that it should be done in our Surety; the first a rigorous and literal, the second an equitable and merciful interpretation. Now these two interpretations lying before God, he as supreme Law-giver takes the equitable interpretation; had he taken the rigorous one, there would have been no room for a Surety, nor life for the Sinner; but in rich mercy he takes the equitable p. 268one, and so through a Surety's Obedience eternal Life is purchased for us. These two interpretations of the Law seem to me to be figured out by the double making of the Tables; the Law in the rigorous interpretation is like the first Tables which were broken: For as the Law was first written in those Tables, so the rigorous interpretation firstly rises out of the Letter of the Law; and as those first Tables were broken, so Sin made such a breach upon the Law, that the Apostle puts a foreign upon it, Rom. 8. 3. it could not give life according to the rigorous interpretation. And the Law in the equitable interpretation is like the second Tables which were put into the Ark: for as those Tables were kept inviolate in the Ark, so the Law was kept inviolate in the equitable interpretation; and as the Mercy-seat covered the Tables in the Ark, and from the Mercyseat so covering them God manifested his presence; so Christ, the true foreign or mercy-seat, did by his perfect Obedience cover the Law all over, and in and through him so covering it God manifests his presence, not only his back-parts on Earth but his face in Heaven. Thus by the admirable Wisdom of God Heaven was purchased, p. 269and yet the Law established, the Do this turned upon the Surety, and the promised Life made good to us Sinners.

But you'l object further, If the Law be thus interpreted in an equitable way, viz. to be done by a Surety, then it is not so much as a Rule of life to us; for that issues out of the first interpretation, viz. the doing of it in our own persons.

I answer, that still the Law is a Rule of life to us; and the reason is, because God doth not wave the rigorous and take the equitable interpretation totally and absolutely, but in order to Redemption, and so far only as Redemption requires it. Now what doth that require? It requires that the Obedience of a Surety should be admitted for the impletion of the Law; and therefore thus far the rigorous interpretation is waved, and the equitable takes place. But it requires not that the redeemed ones should be exempted from the Law as a Rule; and therefore the equitable interpretation doth not go thus far; and so far as that goes not, the rigorous one takes place; because pro tanto it is consistent with Redemption. Hence it comes to pass that Christ as our Surety fulfilled the Law for us, and yet still the Law p. 270is a Rule of life to us; Christ is the end of the Law to the believer, and yet the Believer is foreign, under the Law to Christ, 1 Cor. 9. 21.

Thus this Price is redemptive from Evil and procurative of Good, but the Crown of all is yet behind.

3. It is a Price sufficient for both the former. There is a double Sufficiency, Sufficientia nuda, and Sufficientia ordinata; the first consists in the intrinsecal value of the thing, the thing in value transcending or at least equalizing the thing to be redeemed; the second consists in the Will of the Payer and Receiver, the one intentionally paying and the other intentionally accepting that thing as a Price of Redemption: the first is that radical Sufficiency whereby the thing may possibly become a Price; the second is that formal Sufficiency whereby the thing doth actually become a Price. Let the thing be in it self of never so vast a value, the former without the latter doth not constitute it a Price. Now the glorious price of our Redemption hath both these Sufficiencies in it.

1. It hath Sufficientiam nudam; the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ p. 271have intrinsecal value enough to equalize, nay infinitely superexcede all our Debts, and over and besides to purchase three Worlds for us; and the reason is because his Deity poured out a kind of Infinity into his Doings and Sufferings. The Righteousness which he fulfilled was the righteousness of God, Rom. 1. 17. the Blood which he shed was the blood of God, Rom. 20. 28. & the Life which he laid down was, the life of God, 1 Joh. 3. 16. And what nakedness cannot the Righteousness of God cover? What debts cannot the Blood of God pay for? And what Worlds cannot the Life of God purchase? Remember, O poor trembling Soul, remember, he that was pierced for thee was Jehovah, he that was smitten for thee was the man God's fellow, and he that obeyed for thee was in the form of God. O what manner of Actions and Passions were those wherein the Law-giver stood under his own Law, and the Creator suffered in his own World? How was his Obedience elevated into Infinity, and transfigured into glory by his Godhead? What a Mass of sweet-smelling Merits must that be into which the Deity it self transfused Riches and Odours? This may be one reason why Christ is stiled the heir of all things, Heb. 1. 2. p. 272though he be the Purchaser of all, yet he is Heir of all; because he received his divine Nature from his Father, and that divine Nature stamped an infinite value upon the Purchase-money which bought all. May I shadow it out by an imperfect Similitude: A Son receives vast sums from his Father, and with them purchases an estate in Lands to himself; that Son is the Purchaser of those Lands in respect of his own payment of the Money, and yet in a sence he is Heir to them in respect of his receipt of the Money from his Father; So the Eternal Son of God is the Purchaser of all, for he paid down his own Blood and Righteousness as the Price; and yet he is Heir of all, for that Price had its value from the divine Nature, and that divine Nature was received from his Father in the Eternal Generation. There is no doubt then (as long as Christ is God) but that his Obedience hath value enough in it self.

2. It hath Sufficientiam ordinatam, and this appears

1. By the Will of Christ who paid down the Price.

2. By the Will of God who received it; both their Wills concentre in the work of Redemption, and the counsel of peace is between them both, Zach. 6. 13.

p. 2731. It appears by the Will of Christ: when he paid down his Obedience, what was his meaning? Surely not a tittle of his Obedience was irrationally done, nor a drop of his Blood irrationally shed; what then was his meaning in it? Was it not to dissolve the Chains of Sin, open the Prison of Wrath, and spoil and triumph over the bloody Jaylor Satan? Was it not to procure the standing of the Body of Nature, the shedding down of the Spirit of Grace, and the opening a door to Heaven and eternal Life? These were the things on which the divine and humane Will of Christ were both set: his divine Will was set upon them; for before the foundations of the World, even in his joyous Eternity with his Father, his delights were with the sons of men, Prov. 8. 31. and when the World was up, he appeared to Abraham in a humane shape, and to Moses to usher in a temporal Redemption; the first as a praeludium to his Incarnation, and the latter as a praeludium to our Redemption, and both as a demonstration that the work of Salvation was in his Heart. And afterwards in the days of his flesh, his humane Will never parted from his divine, but in a rape of Love always run upon Redemption; p. 274this he sought for in a long circuit of Obedience, and sought with a foreign till it was finished; this he sought for in his bloody Agony, and when his humane Will as Nature shrunk back from the Cup of Wrath, yet the same Will as Reason kissed and drunk it off to the bottom in order to Redemption; this he ardently pursued after through Cross-tortures and Soul-travels, and rather than fail of it, he would for a time be forsaken even of God himself; and when he cried out, I thirst, his greatest thirst of all was after this, and could never be quenched till he came to a consummatum est. Thus stood the mind of Christ in the business.

2. It appears by the Will of God, and that in two things.

1. God decreed this Price to be paid for the ends aforesaid.

2. God accepted it being paid for the ends aforesaid.

1. God decreed this Price to be paid; Christ did not glorifie himself in making himself an high-priest or surety; but he that said unto him, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, Heb. 5. 5. Christ's Person was begotten out of the Substance of God, and his Office as it were begotten out of p. 275the Will of God, God eternally ordained him to that Office, 1 Pet. 1. 20. and in the fulness of time called him to it, Heb. 5. 10. and for more assurance, superadded his Seal to his Call, Joh. 6. 27. and his Oath to both, Heb. 7. 21. and all to shew forth his immutable purpose touching the same. Christ was booked down for a Redeemer in the eternal Volumes, and slain above in the Decree long before he was slain below in time. Infinite Love impregnated the divine Will with the Decree of Redemption, and that Decree sent forth our Redeemer, and put a foreign upon his righteousness, Matth. 3. 15. a foreign upon the cup of wrath, Joh. 12. 27. and a foreign upon his death and sufferings, Matth. 16. 21. and all this that the mystery of Redemption, hid from ages in the will of God, Col. 1. 26. might come abroad into the World; When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, Gal. 4. 4, 5. O what a fair window is here opened into God's heart! Redemption was decreed, and therefore God sent forth his Son; the time was decreed, and therefore he sent him forth in the fulness of time; and the Price was decreed, and therefore p. 276he sent him forth made of a woman, made under the Law, that is, to take a humane Nature, and pay it down in all Obedience as the Price of our Redemption.

2. As God decreed this Price to be paid, so he accepted it being paid, and this includes in it two things.

1. That this Price was paid to him.

2. That this Price was accepted by him.

1. This Price was paid to him; Christ offered himself to God, Heb. 9. 14. Whether we consider this Price as redemptive from evil, or as procurative of good, both ways it was paid to God; as redemptive from evil it was paid to him as a righteous Lawgiver and Judge, and as procurative of good it was paid to him as a great Remunerator and faithful Promiser. God is the Law-giver against whose Laws we rebelled, and God is the Judge who for our rebellions against his Law, foreign, shut us all up in prison, Rom. 11. 32. there we lay foreign, under the judgment of God, Rom. 3. 19. and his wrath abode upon us, Joh. 3. 36. therefore this Price as redemptive from evil was paid to God as the Law-giver and Judge. That Socinian cavil, That if this were a proper p. 277Redemption, the Price should be paid to Sin and Satan, because we are redeemed from them, is but a mere trifle; for God is the supreme Law-giver and Judge, he only hath the Keys of Death and Hell; strictly and properly Sinners are Prisoners only to him, Satan is but as the Jaylor or Under-officer, acting under the authority of this Judge; the Guilt of Sin is but as the Chains or Fetters, binding under the Justice of this Law-giver; and who ever read or heard of a Price of Redemption paid to the Jaylor or Fetters? and yet upon the payment thereof the Captive is delivered from them both. Hence it is that our Saviour Christ was both Mercator and Bellator, Mercator as to God to whom he paid the Price, and Bellator as against Satan whom he conquered; and both these the Apostle expresses together, He blotted out the hand-writing, nailing it to his cross, and spoiled Principalities and powers triumphing over them in it, Col. 2. 14, 15. He paid God the Price and not Satan, he spoiled and triumphed over Satan, and not over God. Again; as this Price as redemptive from evil was paid to God as a Law-giver and Judge, so this Price as procurative of good was paid to God as p. 278the great Remunerator and faithful Promiser. God is a great Remunerator, for he rewards according to the condecency of his goodness; and a faithful Promiser, for he will not suffer one jot or tittle of his Promises to fall to the ground; he engaged himself to Christ, that his blood should be returned in all good things, he gave him the Promise of a seed, and to raise it up, the Promise of his Spirit, and to crown it, the Promise of eternal life; he bound himself by express compact to make him a light to the Gentiles, a covenant to the people, and salvation to the ends of the earth, Isai. 49. 6, 8. Wherefore this Price as procurative of good was paid to God as a Remunerator and Promiser.

2. As this Price was paid to God, so it was accepted by him for the ends aforesaid. Indeed simply and abstractively from his own Decree he was not bound to accept of this price (though of an immense and infinite value) as for us; I say, as for us; for he might have stood upon the rigour of the Law, Do this and live, transgress this and die in thine own person; the Tables of the Law might never have been put into the Ark, nor covered with a Mercy-seat; but this is the joy of our p. 279Faith, that he hath accepted it. When Christ was baptized, there was a Voice from Heaven, This is my beloved Son, foreign, in whom I am well-pleased, Mat. 3. 17. Duo grata vocabula, silius & dilectus, saith an Ancient, and that sweet word foreign makes up the third. When Christ was sacrificed, there was a sweet smell to God, Eph. 5. 2. God cries out, I have found a ransom, Joh 33. 24. and Christ, It is finished, Joh. 19. 30. Afterwards when he came into the Grave, off flew the bands of Death, Acts 24. 24. as a pregnant evidence that Justice was satisfied; he was taken from prison and from judgment, Isai. 53. 8. because all was paid; God's Power raised him up, and God's Justice could say nothing against it. And when he was risen from the dead, he raises up the Faith of his Disciples, Why do thoughts arise in your hearts? saith he, Luk. 24. 38. Do you doubt whether I am he who paid down the Price of Redemption? Behold! my hands and my feet; fossus est saccus, & manavit pretium orbis, the Sack of my Humanity was broke, and out run the Price of Redemption. Do you scruple whether that Price were accepted of God or not? Lo! here are the returns of it, I'le breath the holy Ghost upon you, I'le p. 280betrust the Gospel with you, go preach it to every creature, make the World know, that Redemption, Remission, Grace, Peace, Sanctity, Salvation are the returns of my Blood. And afterwards just at his parting he blessed them and ascended up into heaven; he blessed them, to shew that the Curse was gone, and ascended up into heaven to possess the purchase of Glory, and being there, he sate down at God's right hand; his work was now done, and therefore he sate down, and his work was now accepted, and therefore he sate down at God's right hand; there he received gifts for men, and from thence he gave them out again; he gave out what he received, and received what he purchased. Christ's Sacrifice was so sweet a favour to God, that the Minister, who preaches it, is a sweet savour to him, 2 Cor. 2. 15. and the Believer who accepts it is accepted of him, Eph. 1. 6. nay, so far accepted, that he becomes a Priest, Revel. 1. 6. and his good works pleasing sacrifices, Heb. 13. 16. his prayers are turned into odours, Revel. 5. 8. and his charity into a sweet smell, Phil. 4. 18. and all this by a perfuming touch from Christ's Merits. In a word; all the Proclamations of Mercy in the Scripture, all the Pardons p. 281of sin in the Conscience, all the Influences of Grace on the Heart, and all the Openings of Heaven in the Promises are as so many pregnant proofs unto us, that God accepted the Price.

Thus having shewed what manner of Price this is, viz. redemptive from Evil, procurative of Good, and sufficient for both, I pass on to the last Question.

3. For whom was this Price paid? and this I shall cleave asunder into two Quaeries.

1. Whether Christ died for all men?

2. Whether he died equally for all men?

In both which, whilest I name the Death of Christ only according to the usual language of Divines, I comprehend his whole Obedience Active and Passive, whereof his Death was the complement and extreme Act.

1. As to the first Quaere, Whether Christ died for all men? I answer affirmatively, that he did; and here I shall do two things.

1. I shall lay down the Reasons of my Opinion.

2. I shall answer the Objections made against it; and in both it will appear how far, or in what sence I assert that Christ died for all men.

1. I shall lay down my Reasons for it, and these are drawn

p. 2821. From the Will of God as the Fountain of Redemption.

2. From the Covenant of Grace as the Charter of it, and the Promises comprized therein.

3. From the Ministers Commission who publish it.

4. From certain blessings which are the fruits of it.

5. From the Unbelief of men which is the denial of it.

6. From the fulness and glorious Redundance of Merit in Christ's Death which paid for it.

7. From the large and general Expressions in Scripture concerning the same.

1. I argue from the Will of God. God's Will of salvation as the fontal Cause thereof, and Christ's Death as the meritorious Cause thereof are of equal latitude; God's Will of Salvation doth not extend beyond Christ's Death; for then he should intend to save some extra Christum: Neither doth Christ's Death extend beyond God's Will of Salvation, for then he should die for some whom God would upon no terms save; but these two are exactly coextensive. Hence 'tis observable, that when the p. 283Apostle speaks of Christ's Love to the Church, he speaks also of his giving himself for it, Eph. 5. 25. and when he saith God will have all men to be saved, 1 Tim. 2. 4. he saith withal, Christ gave himself a ransom for all, Ver. 6. Therefore there cannot be a truer Measure of the extent of Christ's Death, than God's Will of Salvation, out of which the same did issue; so far forth as that Will of Salvation extends to all men, so far forth the Death of Christ doth extend to all men. Now then how far doth God will the Salvation of all? Surely thus far, that if they believe they shall be saved: No Divine can deny it, especially seeing Christ himself hath laid it down so positively, This is the will of him that sent me (saith he) that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, Joh. 6. 40. Wherefore if God will the Salvation of all men thus far, that if they believe they shall be saved; then Christ died for all men thus far, that if they believe they shall be saved. But you'l say that Promise, Whosoever believes shall be saved, is but Voluntas signi and not Voluntas beneplaciti, which is the adequate Measure of Christ's Death. Unto which I answer; If that Promise be Voluntas signi, p. 284what doth it signifie? What but God's Will? What Will but that good pleasure of his, that whosoever believes shall be saved? How else is the Sign of the true God a true Sign? Whence is that universal connexion betwixt Faith & Salvation? Is it not a plain efflux or product from the Decree of God? Doth not that evidently import a Decree, that whosoever believes shall be saved? Surely it cannot be a false Sign; wherefore so far God's Will of Salvation extends to all men, and consequently so far Christ's Death extends to them.

2. I argue from the Covenant of Grace, and the Promises comprized therein. Christ is the Mediatour of the Covenant, and the Covenant is the New-testament in his blood; Christ's Death doth not extend beyond the Covenant, for then there should be less in the Charter than in the Purchase; neither doth the Covenant extend beyond Christ's Death, for then there should be more in the Charter than in the Purchase: but both these run parallel in extent. Therefore so far forth as the Covenant extends to all men, so far forth the Death of Christ extends to all men. Now then for the extent of the Covenant; Are not those Promises [Whosoever believes shall be p. 285saved; whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely] with the like, a part of the Covenant? and are they not extensive to all men? Both are as plain as if they were written with a Sun-beam: Wherefore so far doth Christ's Death extend to all men, as the Covenant in any part thereof doth extend unto them. Moreover; these general Promises undeniably extend to all men, and in that extent are infallibly true; they are all faithful sayings, and words of truth, and their truth is sealed up by Christ's Blood; wherefore as these Promises extend to all men, so the Death of Christ (in which they are founded) doth extend to all men. If Christ did no way die for all men, which way shall the truth of these general Promises be made out? Whosoever will may take the water of life. What, though Christ never bought it for him? Whosoever believes, shall be saved. What, though there were no foreign, no Price paid for him? Surely the Gospel knows no Water of Life but what Christ purchased, nor no way of Salvation but by a foreign, or Price paid. But you'l say, that albeit Christ died not for all men, yet are those general Promises very true, and that because their truth is p. 286founded. upon the Sufficiency of Christ's Death, which hath worth enough in it to redeem millions of Worlds. I answer, there is a double Sufficiency, Sufficientia nuda consisting in the intrinsecal value of the thing, and Sufficientia ordinata consisting in the intentional paying and receiving that thing as a Price of Redemption; the first is that radical Sufficiency, whereby the thing may possibly become a Price; the second is that formal sufficiency, whereby the thing doth actually become a Price. Let a thing be of never so vast a value in it self, 'tis no Price at all, unless it be paid for that end, and being paid, 'tis a Price for no more than those only for whom it was so paid; because the intrinsecal worth how great soever doth not constitute it a Price. Hence it is clear, that if Christ's Death (though of immense value) had been paid for none, it had been no Price at all; and if it were paid but for some, it was no Price for the rest for whom it was not paid. These things premised, if Christ no way died for all men, how can those Promises stand true? All men, if they believe, shall be saved; saved, but how? Shall they be saved by a foreign or Price of Redemption? there was none at all paid for p. 287them; the immense value of Christ's death doth not make it a Price as to them for whom he died not; or shall they be saved without a foreign or Price? God's unsatisfied Justice cannot suffer it, his Minatory Law cannot bear it, neither doth the Gospel know any such way of Salvation; take it either way, the truth of those Promises cannot be vindicated, unless we say, that Christ died for all men. But you'l yet reply, that albeit Christ died not for all, yet is the Promise true; because Christ's death is not only sufficient for all in it self, but it was willed by God to be so. I answer, God willed it to be so, but how? Did he will that it should be paid for all men, and so be a sufficient Price for them? then Christ died for all men; or did he will that it should not be paid for all men, but only be sufficient for them in its intrinsecal value? then still it is no Price at all as to them, and consequently either they may be saved without a Price, which is contrary to the Current of the Gospel; or else they cannot be saved at all, which is contrary to the truth of the Promise. If it be yet further demanded, To what purpose is it to argue which way Reprobates shall be saved, seeing none of them ever p. 288did or will believe? Let the Apostle answer, What if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect? God forbid; yea, let God be true, but every man a liar, Rom. 3. 3, 4. And again, If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful and cannot deny himself, 2 Tim. 2. 13. No Reprobate ever did or will believe, yet the Promise must be true, and true antecedently to the Faith or Unbelief of men; true, because it is the Promise of God, and antecedently true, because else it could not be the Object of Faith. Wherefore I conclude that Christ died for all men so far, as to found the truth of the general Promises, which extend to all men.