The Great Propitiation, Title page
The Great Propitiation; OR, CHRISTS SATISFACTION; AND Man's Juſtification by it upon his FAITH; that is, Belief of, and Obedience to the Goſpel.
Endeavoured to be made eaſily intelligible, and to appear rational and well accountable to ordinary Capacities; and ſo more lovely and amiable. In ſome Sermons preached, &c.
By JOSEPH TRƲMAN, B. D. late Miniſter near Nottingham.
The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarg'd.
LONDON, Printed by A. Maxwell, for K. Clavell, in Croſs-key Court in Little Britain, 1672.
The Great Propitiation, &c.
Rom. 3. 24, 25, 26.
Being juſtified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jeſus Chriſt: Whom God hath ſet forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteouſneſs for the remiſſion of ſins that are paſt, through the forbearance of God, To declare, I ſay, at this time, his righteouſneſs, that he might be juſt, and the juſtifier of him that believeth in Jeſus. foreign That is, of the faith of Jeſus, of the Chriſtian Faith.
MY Deſign here is, to make the Chriſtian Religion, in theſe great parts of it Chriſts Satisfaction and Mans Juſtification by it, plainly accountable, and ſo more amiable unto you.
I ſhall enter into the Body of this Diſcourſe, by theſe praeliminary ſteps.
1. God having created man a rational creature, capable of moral government, is, by immediate reſultancy, his King and Governour, and ſo giveth him a Law, which was not only a Law with a Commination, but a Covenant with a Promiſe of eternal Happineſs, upon perfect and perpetual Obedience; and, as a Law, threatned Death upon every Diſobedience. Curſed is he that continueth not in all things written in the law to do them.
2. Man loſeth all; becometh obnoxious to the Curſe: to ſuch a Curſe as might make us ſay with Moſes, We exceedingly fear and quake, when we hear, or ſpeak, or think of it.
3. What ſhould God now do? Should he pardon? Should he let go this hold of us? Should this horrible Threat and Sanction of the Law vaniſh into ſmoak? We would be apt indeed through ſelf-love to ſay, Yea, by all means pardon us, and do not inflict the Penalty. But could give no reaſon, but, Pardon us, right or wrong. But this is as if an offender ſhould ſay, The Law is juſt and equal, execute it therefore upon others, but ſpare me, it is I: as if a weak Mother ſhould ſay, when her Son is convict of Felony, Spare him, he is my Son. But theſe words are not dictates of Reaſon, but meerly of folly, ſelf-love, and intereſt. All mercy is not a vertue, but that which will conſiſt and comport with other perfections of Wiſdom and Righteouſneſs; otherwiſe it is a blemiſh, weakneſs, and fooliſh pity.
I grant here; The Truth of God would be no hinderance to this Pardon: For a Rector and Law-giver by meer threatning, by making a Law with an annexed Penalty, doth not in ſo doing part with his ſupra-legal Power, with his Power of diſpenſing with his Law, except he reveal that he will not in any caſe diſpenſe with it: For, Threatnings of themſelves do only conſtitute the dueneſs of puniſhment, and make the Offender obnoxious: Promiſes indeed give a right to the party to whom they are made: which the party promiſing cannot diſſolve, or take away without his conſent; and to break them, would be falſhood and unfaithfulneſs. If a Parent threaten to beat his Child if he commit ſuch an offence, he is ordinarily bound ſo to do; it would be …ickleneſs and a looſning of his Authority (which he is bound to keep up) to do otherwiſe; but he is not ſo bound, as to be guilty of untruth; if he do otherwiſe, you cannot ſay he lyed. Threatnings immediately and eſſentially do only conſtitute this, That the Rector ſhall have this authority over you, which he may at his pleaſure execute; and it would be to deſtroy government ordinarily▪ not to execute them, not to keep his laws ſacred and inviolable: But he that threatneth, may yet pardon, without being guilty of untruth; his truth doth not hinder, but other things. And we are ſure, God hath not executed this Law; elſe all offenders had utterly periſhed; for it threatned the offenders. And Truth doth as much oblige to inflict it on the offenders, as to inflict it at all. Now theſe things ordinarily hinder Governours from diſpenſing with their Laws; and ſo they would be hinderances unto God here from meerly pardoning.
1. Should God meerly pardon; This doth not become a Governour that hath made a Law in wiſdom; to do ſo, would be to caſt an imputation on himſelf of weakneſs, either in Power or Wiſdom: In Power, as if he was weak and unable to vindicate his injured Law: In his Wiſdom, as if he thought his Law unequal, or raſhly and unadviſedly made; and as if he thought his injured Law unworthy of a vindication. Meerly to pardon, would be to caſt di…t in his own face, and to proſtitute the honour of his Power, Wiſdom, and Holineſs, through fooliſh pity, as if his Law was not holy, juſt, and good.
2. Should God meerly pardon, it would be to weaken his rule and government over Angels and Men. To ſuffer m…n to trample on the Majeſty of God, without a vindication of his Honour, would be to encourage offenders by impunity. That Rector is guilty of violating the authority of his own Laws, that executeth not the threatned ſeverity of the Laws againſt offenders. And if God ſhould do thus, we might put the Apoſtle's queſtion, How ſhould God judg the world? How ſhould he then rule the Rom. 3. 5.world? Who but they would have ſaid, If God diſpenſe once ſo lightly vvith his threatnings, and vvithout a valuable ſatisfaction, why may he not do ſo again? and who will value his threats? To ask for this, That God would meerly pardon; would be to ask, That God would ceaſe to be King of the World; and he might ſay, as Solomon to Adonijah, Let him ask the kingdom alſo, as well as ask that which in honour I cannot grant. How could he maintain State, and Port, and Government in the World, if he make himſelf appear ſo facile and fickle. Thus you ſee reaſons why God ſhould not pardon and diſpenſe with his Law. Meer…y to pardon, would have been an intolerable foul blot and ſtain in the face of that his Government, wherein he deſigned to pleaſe himſelf in the diſplaying and contemplating the glory of his Attributes.
4. Should God therefore execute the Law according to the threat upon all offenders to all eternity; this indeed would be juſt and righteous, and plain without difficulty; and we muſt have ſaid, Thy ways, O Lord, are equal, for ours were unequal: But then theſe inconveniences had followed:
1. God would have loſt the glory of this Goſpel-Juſtice, this kind of Juſtice, this wiſe and ſtupendious Juſtice, of this Juſtice and Righteouſneſs in a Myſtery; the glory of being juſt and merciful, puniſhing the juſt for the unjuſt; of laying the chaſtiſement of others peace upon his innocent Son; which is a glory of Juſtice beyond that (as I ſhall make appear) which would have been in executing it upon all men to all eternity.
2. He would have loſt the glory of his Mercy, the glory of that Grace and Mercy which fills the hearts of his people with love, and the mouths of Men and Angels with high praiſes of God, and lays the greateſt obligation on the World.
3. All Religion had utterly periſhed out of the earth, truth had fallen in the ſtreets, and righteouſneſs periſhed from the earth; there being no forgiveneſs with him that he might be feared, there would have been no fear, no filial fear of God; no love to God, he not beginning in love to us while enemies; no coming to God, for he that cometh to God, muſt believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of ſuch, coming and returning to him; no hope and ſo no motion▪ hope being the ſpring of obedience. There would have been no foundation for Religion in the World.
4. All mankind had utterly periſhed, and ſo we might have cryed, as they over Benjamin, of a Tribe being fallen in Iſrael. So a Tribe, a whole Tribe, a goodly Tribe of the Creation had been utterly loſt; ſuch a Tribe, ſuch a beautiful Piece of God's Creation, that ſometimes it is called all creatures, and every creature. Mark. 16. 15. Col. 1. 23As if a Man was the whole Creation, being ſo conſiderable a part of it. It was not ſo with the Angels; it was only ſome of them that left their firſt eſtate, and ſo ſome of them reſerved in chains of darkneſs; but here it would have been all. Some of the Trees of that Heavenly Paradiſe were left ſtanding; but all the Trees of this our Earthly would have been for Fuel, and not one for Fruit.
I mention not theſe things, as if God needed to value them, or as if he muſt be moved with them, ſo as that he could not do otherwiſe than he hath done. No, we muſt ſtill ſuppoſe, as it were, a great conteſt between his Mercy or Pity, and his ſtrict Juſtice; his Juſtice enclining him to execute it upon the offenders; and his Mercy prevailing and carrying away the day, to provide and accept of an Offering, a Propitiation.
But I bring in theſe, to ſhew, there were great reaſons to diſpenſe with the Law, if it might be done with ſafety to his other Attributes. And theſe great ends will ſo far ſupport and maintain ſuch a diſpenſation with the Law (if there can be found out a compenſation, a due reparation, to the injured Law, to do it with honour and juſtice) that he cannot be accuſed of Levity, of being fickle, of diſpenſing with it lightly, upon ſlight grounds and motives; but upon ſufficient ones, though not neceſſary ones: For though Legiſlators may diſpenſe with their Laws, yet it is a weakneſs to do it upon ſleight or no grounds.
5. Had God ſaid to faln man, as Moſes once to Pharoah, Glory over me in this; take thou this honour over me, to appoint the time when the Plague of Frogs ſhall be removed: So, had God ſaid, Glory over me; take this honour over me, to appoint what I ſhould now do for you: Had God ſaid, Sit down and conſider; yea, and take Angels to aſſiſt you in counſel, and tell me, how I may in theſe circumſtances of things do you good and my ſelf no hurt in my government; ſhew mercy to you, and do no wrong, no diſhonour to my ſelf; caſt no blemiſh on my Law, Rule, and Government, and I will do it: We muſt yet have periſhed; the redemption of the Soul is precious, and would have ceaſed for ever. We might have wept, as John did, to think none worthy to open the Book: We might have ſaid, Lo, this we have by conſidering found out, that God cannot ſuffer, and that the Creature cannot ſatisfie to eternity; and therefore our condition is hopeleſs, our bones are dried, our hope is loſt, and we are cut off for our parts. The Wiſdom of Men and Angels could not have known ſuch a thing poſſible, that God and Man could be ſo nearly joined, as to become one Perſon; that God might ſuffer being Man, and ſatisfie being God. And further, Who durſt have made ſuch a motion? Who durſt have let ſuch a thing enter into their thoughts, The juſt to ſuffer for the unjuſt, God for Man? which yet God freely offered and gave.
6. Though this way I am ſpeaking of, could not be of Humane or Angelical Reaſon's ready finding out, yet it would be of right Reaſon's ready acceptance when found out. Right Reaſon would ſay, Could God now find out a way to diſpenſe with, and not execute the Law, and yet keep up the repute of the Law, and of his Honour and Juſtice, as high, as if it had been in the very word executed; could he find out a way, not to execute this dir…ful Threat, and yet ward off thoſe unbecoming reflections of not being Holy, Juſt, and a Hater of Sin; and of not being of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity unrevenged; and to keep and ſecure the Creature ſtill in obedience, ſo as no encouragement to come to tranſgreſſors of his Laws for the future; this would be the way that the Reaſon of Men and Angels would acquieſce, and …ke delight and complacency in. But alas, we deſpair of finding out ſuch a way; but whether ſuch a way can be found out (as he ſaid of dry bones living) Lord, thou knoweſt.
7. Now this is that way revealed and brought to light by the Goſpel that I am to ſpeak of.