The Protestant Doctrine of Justification by Christs Righteousness Part 2, Tract · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. The Imputation of Chriſt's Righteouſneſs to Believers explained and proved.
HAving proved that to Juſtifie is to accept as Juſt or Righteous, and likewiſe that our own Obedience is not, cannot be, the Righteouſneſs wherein we muſt appear before God, it remaineth that it muſt be the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt imputed to us, for and by which we muſt be juſtified, and this is now to be proved. But before we come to the Proof we ſhall briefly inquire, What we mean by Chriſts Righteouſneſs, and what by the Imputation of it. The Righteouſneſs of Chriſt, which we ſay is imputed to a Sinner for his Juſtification, is that Righteouſneſs which he fulfilled or wrought in conformity to the Law of God, whereby the Law violated by us, was fulfilled, and ſatisfied for us, and in our ſtead, Rom. 10.4. Chriſt is the end of the Law for Righteouſneſs to every one that believeth. Therefore it is not the Righteouſneſs of his Divine Perſon, which is imputed to us; for that is Infinite, ſuch as men are uncapable of, and 'twas never required from them: Yet the Perfections of his God-head do add the meritorious Dignity to his Satisfaction. Nor is it the connate habitual Righteouſneſs of his Man-hood: For this is preſuppos'd to enable to the performance of the Law, but not properly required by the Law, yet the Law requireth the preſervation and exerciſe of perfect inherent righteouſneſs. Adam was created perfect to make him capable of receiving a Law of perfect obedience; therefore that Law ſuppoſed a Holy Nature and only required continuance in that perfection of Nature which he had received. In like manner, it was neceſſary that Chriſt ſhould be born with a perfect, holy Nature, that he might undertake the fulfilling of the Law for us; and the preſerving and exerciſe of that Holineſs once received was a part of his obedience to the Law: but that Holineſs as natural and habitual was antecedent to the obedience of the Law, and therefore no prober part of it. Chriſt's Righteouſneſs then which is imputed to us, is his Holy Life in obedience to the Law of God, and his voluntary obediential ſuffering the Penalties of the Law unto death it ſelf, for us and in our ſtead. By the latter he made ſatisfaction for our ſins and breach of the Law, and by the former he fulfill'd the Law in the proper and principal deſign of it, and thereby purchaſed eternal life, which was promiſed by the Law to them that fulfill it. By obeying the ſubſtance of the Moral Law, as given to Man-kind and ſuffering death, the Penalty thereof, he ſatisfied the Law and wrought Righteouſneſs for men in general; and by obeving the Jewiſh Law, and ſuffering the penalties, and that kind of death threatned, and accurſed particularly by …t, he wrought righteouſneſs for the Jews, Gal. 4.4, 5. Now when we ſay, This Righteouſneſs of Chriſt is imputed to Believes, reckoned or accounted theirs, Rom. 4.3. foreign we do not mean, that they are accounted to have done and ſuffered thoſe Actions and Penalties which Chriſt was Author of and endured. Chriſt and Believers are ſtill diſtinct, natural perſons, and ſo the actions and paſſions of one perſon cannot be reckoned properly the actions and paſſions of the other: Nor do we teach, by imputing Chriſts Righteouſneſs to Believers, that God looketh upon them as if they had done and ſuffered in their own perſons what Chriſt did in his, in any proper ſence. For Chriſt only is accounted the Author of his own Righteouſneſs, and though Believers be juſtified by it, yet the honour of working that righteouſneſs, and of being the proper ſubject of its Inherence belongeth to Chriſt alone. But by Imputation we mean, that God accounteth the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt to have been wrought by him for every one that believeth, and doth juſtifie or accept them to life eternal: for that very righteouſneſs believed or truſted in, according to the promiſe of the Goſpel, and ſo Chriſts Righteouſneſs is reckoned theirs, or reckoned to them, put to their account, as if it were theirs, not efficienter, but effectivè; not as if they had wrought it, but that they may have the full benefit of it, and be juſtified by it as effectually as if they had obeyed the Law perfectly in their own perſons. This is that which our Divines mean by ſaying Chriſt righteouſneſs is ours in law, that Chriſt and Believer are one in Law, viz. that the Law …f God is as truly and ſully ſatisfied for us by …he righteouſneſs of Chriſt, as if we had fulfilled it our ſelves; and that God being pleaſed …o admit of the fulfilling of the Law by Chriſt …or us, the Law doth pronounce us righteous …nd Heirs of life, for that righteouſneſs which Chriſt wrought in obedience to it. In this …ence alſo they ſay, That the very formal righteouſneſs of Chriſt is a Believers righteouſneſs or imputed to him, viz. not that a Believer is reckoned to have wrought that righteouſneſs as an efficient cauſe of it, nor that Chriſts righteouſneſs is transfuſed into him, implanted in him, as the ſubject of inherence, …ut that the very righteouſneſs which Chriſt wrought was intended and wrought for him by the Son, and is accepted for him by the Father, that he is juſtified for it and intituled to life eternal. Chriſt is the efficient & the ſubject of Inherence of his own active & paſſive obedience, but the immediate benefit of it as ſatisfactory to the Law is a Believers, and he is the ſubject of it, a ſubject of external denomination; he is denominated righteous from that righteouſneſs wrought for him and accepted in his behalf. Thus it is not forma inhaerens, but denominans, not an internal but an external Form. When a Debtor is diſcharged, his Surety paying the Debt, the Debtor cannot properly be ſaid to be the Author of the payment; he paid not the Money, 'twas not his but the Sureties, yet the Money being paid for him, in his ſtead, for his benefit, by the Surety, and accepted for him, inſtead of his payment, by the Creditor, he is a ſubject of denomination and may be truly accounted a clear and ſolvent perſon and the payment imputed to him, placed to his account, as really and as fully as if he had paid it with his own hand and with his own money.
Hence ſome call the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt the Formal Cauſe of our Juſtification,Vid. Whitaker de Eccleſia p. 460, 461. Synop. Leidenſ. diſput. 33. Th. 21, 23. and others the Matter or Material Cauſe; both mean the ſame thing, viz. That Chriſts righteouſneſs is the very thing for which we are accepted and juſtified before God. I will not contend about terms of Art, in ſo great a point whereon Salvation depends, yet it ſeemeth more logical to ſay; In Juſtification, man in the Matter or Subject, viz. the Perſon juſtified, Chriſts righteouſneſs is the Form, that by which he is conſtituted righteous, or juſt before God: Imputation, Gods accepting this righteouſneſs for him, is as the Union betwixt the Matter and the Form, even the Application of Chriſts righteouſneſs to the perſon juſtified: God the Father is the Efficient, accepting or acquitting him for the ſake of Chriſts righteouſneſs. The Promiſe of the Goſpel is the medium whereby this righteouſneſs is conveyed; and Faith the inſtrument or diſpoſition in the ſubject whereby it is rendred capable of receiving Chriſts righteouſneſs or having it imputed to him: And Juſtification is the Condition or State of a Man accepted with God to life eternal through the righteouſneſs of Chriſt imputed to him. From …ence I inſer, that Imputation of Chriſts righteouſneſs and Juſtification is all one and but …e real Act, and ſo Arctius defines it: Juſti…atio eſt imputatio juſtitiae alienae gratuita, Lib. Probl. loc. 25.fa…a a Deo, reſpectu meriti Filii Dei, ad ſalutem …ni credenti. Some learned men make Juſtication to conſiſt of 2 Acts. The Firſt whereby Chriſts righteouſneſs is imputed to a Sin…er; The Second whereby his ſins are forgiven and he accepted for the ſake of that righteouſneſs: But this makes it more perplext that it is to impute righteouſneſs. We are righteous with the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, …t in a Phyſical ſence as if it were inherent or adherent to us, but judicially. We are accepted as righteous, i. e. diſcharged from puniſhment, and intituled to life for it, and this … to be juſtified. We may indeed make it Formal Acts, or formally diſtinct; the one thereby Chriſts righteouſneſs is placed to our account, or reckoned to be done for us; the …ther, whereby we are accepted or intituled … life for that righteouſneſs: But it's really …e ſame thing, to account Chriſts righteouſ… be wrought for us to ſatisfie and fulfill the …aw of God, and to accept us and give us …ight to life for that righteouſneſs. God in …s Promiſe propoſeth life to Sinners, on the account of Chriſts ſatisfaction, in which when …ey believe and truſt, there is by virtue of that Promiſe a Grant and Title to life made other to them, and hereby righteouſneſs is imputed to them, or they are juſtified, Thus, Rom. 4, 2. When the Apoſtle would prove Abraham was not juſtified by Works, he ſaith, v. 3. Faith was imputed to him for Righteouſneſs: Then to juſtifie or impute Chriſts righteouſneſs is all one, and God accounteth us righteous for this righteouſneſs, i. e. God juſtifieth or giveth us eternal life for Chriſts righteouſneſs, and frees us from condemnation Nor is Chriſt firſt given to us and then his right ouſneſs as ſome ſpeak, as if we were actually intereſſed in Chriſts Perſon before we are his righteouſneſs. God worketh Faith in the Heart which apprehendeth the promiſe of li… through the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, and hereby we are accepted and juſtified, and this righteouſneſs is thus made ours or given to us and no other way. Afterwards we are adopted and receive the Spirit of Sons by which Spirit we are united to Chriſt as to our Hear and the Fountain of Spiritual Life, and the Chriſt is moſt properly given to us, or w… are actually intereſſed in his perſon; in whom all the Elect have ſome intereſt before on the account of Election, but this was not actual and proper.
Theſe things thus explained, the Queſtion betwixt us and our Oppoſites is plainly th… Whether God juſtifieth men and intituled them Life for the Righteouſneſs which Christ wrought in fulfilling and ſuffering the Penalties of the Law? The Affirmative is the Proteſtant Doctrine, and now to be proved.
Argument 1.
1. I argue from the Parallel of Chriſt and Adam: Chriſt is called the Second Adam, the Second Man, 1 Cor. 15.45, 47. Adam was the Figure of him who was to come, viz. Chriſt, Rom. 5.14. Whence is this but in reſpect of the general Influence of what they did upon the reſt of Markind. Hence I argue: As Adam's Diſobedience condemned men, ſo Chriſt's Obedience acquitteth and juſtifieth them: But the very Acts of Adam's Diſobedience are imputed to men to their Condemnation, they are condemned for them; therefore they that believe, have the very righteouſneſs of Chriſt imputed to them, and by that are juſtified. The Major is largely proved by the Apoſtle, Rom. 5.12. ad finem; where he ſheweth, That Juſtification and Life come into the World, in like manner as Death and Condemnation did, each by a common Perſon, and by them derived upon the reſt of Mankind. As many were made Sinners, foreign, by one Mans Obedience, ſo by the Obedience of one many ſhall be made righteous, foreign v. 19. They are conſtituted righteous and unrighteous in the ſame manner; unrighteous by Adams diſobedience, righteous by the obedience of Chriſt. But this I ſuppoſe will not be denied, and he that denieth the Minor, viz. That Adams diſobedience is imputed to us as the immediate Cauſe of our Condemnation is a down right Pelagian. But becauſe i… this Age all the Foundations are deſtroyed, we ſhall prove it from the fore-cited Text, Rom. 5.12. where the Apoſtle affirms, That by one man Sin and death entred into the World, and Death paſſed upon all men; foreign, whether we tranſlate it, foreign, i… whom all have ſinned, (as the the Fathers did againſt the Palagians) meaning Adam, … whom all his Poſterity ſinned, or in quantum, for as much as all men have ſinned; the Sence is all one: Sin and Death came upon all men from one man, i. e. Adam, and therefore they were all made Sinners in him and by him. But this is clearer v. 15. where it is ſaid, Many are dead by the Offence of this one man, viz. Adam; And v. 26. The Judgment or Sentence unto Condemnation came by one man, foreign: and v. 17. Death reigned, had its full power upon Man kind by means of this one Man: And v. 18. By the Offence of one, Judgment came upon all to condemnation, all are condemned for his Offence: And v. 89. The reaſon is, becauſe by that one mans diſobedience, peccatores inſtituti ſunt, they are made, conſtituted Sinners; whence the Argument is ſtrong: All men be condemned, dead, ſentenced, adjudged to death for the Sin of Adam; therefore that ſin is accounted theirs, imputed to them, not as if they had perſonally been the Actors of that Sin, or that it did inhere or adhere properly to them, but Adams ſinning as the Head of Man kind, and as it were for all men, they are accounted to have ſinned in him, ſo as to incur all the puniſhment of his Sin. Now let it be obſerved that ex adverſo in like manner cometh the Gift of Life, of Juſtification, and the Gift of Righteouſneſs by Jeſus Chriſt; by his Obedience men are made righteous, juſti conſtitutiſunt, are conſtituted righteous: But men were made Sinners by Adams Sin, and ſo fell under the Sentence of death, before they ſinned in their own perſons, without their own perſonal diſobedience, through being deſtitute of grace they muſt needs ſin, and ſo add to their puniſhment: Therefore they that believe are made righteous in Chriſt, with his Righteouſneſs before any perſonal righteouſneſs in them, without the condition of their own obedience: though being made righteous in Chriſt, they receive grace to be obedient, and ſo to be fit to receive the Inheritance giv'n them in Chriſt.
Object.It is objected by a learned and grave Perſon, that in this place, v. 19. we are not ſaid to be juſtified with Chriſts Obedience,Hotchkis, ut ſupra. p. 43, 44. but by it, and that by ſignifieth an efficient or meritorious cauſe, but with a formal cauſe; and that we may be ſaid to be juſtified by the Obedience of Chriſt, as it merited Juſtification upon the Terms of the Goſpel, but not with it as imputed to us.
Anſw.Forgetfulneſs of Grammar is no wonder, ſcarce a fault in his Age; but that tells us, that the Prepoſition foreign here uſed (foreign) when conſtrued with a Genitive Caſe doth ſignifie cum with, as well as per by, and gives this example, foreign cum gladiis: The ſame alſo ſay the Lexicons. So then by the favour of the Greek word we may tranſlate it with the Obedience of one, many are made Righteous. Moreover by ſignifieth the formal Cauſe, which is cauſa per quam; and with an Inſtrumental Cauſe,Part 1. p. 229, 230. not a Formal, as hath been ſhewed: And thus this diſtinction is grounded upon a miſtake both in Grammar and Logick. But he farther ſaith that here is no word of Imputation or imputing Chriſts Obedience to us, and that it is barely ſaid, By his Obedience we are made Righteous. I anſwer; It is neceſſarily implied, we are made righteous by the Obedience of Chriſt, as we were made Sinners by the Diſobedience of Adam, but his Diſobedience made us Sinners by imputation, or being imputed to us: ergò, the Compariſon is expreſly foreign. If this Authors ſence be admitted in the latter words, it muſt be affixed alſo to the former, i. e. If we are made righteous by Chriſts Obedience only, becauſe he merited that we ſhould be juſtified if we obey the Goſpel; then it muſt follow, we are made Sinners by Adam's Diſobedience, only becauſe he merited by his Fall, that if we ſinned we alſo ſhould periſh: If Chriſt only brought in a way of righteouſneſs how we might be juſtified if we obſerved it, then Adam only brought in a way of Sin, how men might be condemned, if they trod in his Steps; but this is abſurd. To return, that Adam's Sin is properly imputed to us I farther prove from Eph. 2.3. We were by Nature Children of wrath even as others foreign, as the reſt of men. Grotius his gloſs upon theſe words, viz. That the Apoſtle meaneth only the Gentiles, who were born out of the Church and out of the Covenant, and therefore were by nature Children of Wrath, is againſt the words of the Text. For the Apoſtle having ſpoken of the Gentiles in the two former verſes, putteth himſelf and the Jews into the ſame condition in this verſe, ſaying, Amongſt whom we all had our Converſation in times paſt, and we were by nature foreign Children of wrath, even as the reſt. All men therefore are by nature Children of wrath, i. e. are born Heirs of wrath under the Sentence of Condemnation. For as Children of Life, Children of the Kingdom, ſignifie thoſe that are Heirs, under the Promiſe of Life, ſo Children of Wrath are thoſe that are Heirs under the Sentence of Condemnation. Now I demand how all men ſhould come under the ſentence of condemnation and inherit it as their natural (though woful) Birth-right, unleſs Adams Fall be ſharged upon them, and ſo as ſoon as they have a Being derived from him in a natural way, the Sentence pronounced againſt him, is …n force againſt them alſo. Suppoſe God might juſtly have deprived all Mankind deſcending from Adam, of his preſent Favour, and of the Gifts and Graces, Priviledges and Benefits which Adam enjoyed, becauſe Adam had forfeited them, and could not therefore leave them to be enjoyed to his Poſterity. A… a Father ſpending or forfeiting his own Inheritance and Honours doth deprive his Children of them, though they are not therefore made guilty of his Offence; yet how will it conſiſt with Juſtice, beſides the loſs of all Privileges, to adjudge, ſentence men to death, before any Trial is made of their Obedience, whether they will not do better than Adam did, or a… leaſt do ſomething that in their forlorn Eſtate may move ſome compaſſion to them, and mitigate their miſery. This is our Caſe, we are born Heirs of Death; Judgment and Condemnation is paſt upon all men, taketh hold of them as ſoon as they are men: How can this be without any guilt chargeable upon them? and if there be any it muſt be the guilt of Adams Fall:Ezek. 18.20. God declared that the Son ſhould not die for the Fathers Sin; it would certainly be high injuſtice in men to deprive the Poſterity of an Offendor for ever, not only of their Fathers Inheritance, but of all poſſibility of return and recovery of themſelves, ſo that they ſhould ever be dealt with as Malefactors. Much more is it conſiſtent with Divine Juſtice to puniſh all Mankind, not only with the loſs of Adams Priviledges, but with Eternal Death inevitably (for any thing the Law provideth to the contrary) meerly becauſe they deſcended from him without trying or expecting how they would behave themſelves. There muſt therefore be a Guilt upon all men by nature, viz. the Guilt of Adams Sin, and that muſt be imputed to them; and if that be imputed, then Chriſts Righteouſneſs is imputed alſo to them that believe. Moreover, if Adams Sin be not imputed to us, then are we not guilty of the breach of the Firſt Covenant, …en we were never obliged to yield perfect obedience, nor is the want of it properly a … in us, and ſo men are born in ſuch a forworn and loſt ſtate as the Scripture preſcribes …em to be. The reaſon of the conſequence is, …e were never under the firſt Covenant in …r own perſons, it was made with Adam, …t with us; and if his breach of it be not impted to us, it muſt follow that the Covenant is intended for him only, not for his Poſteri…; his Obedience ſhould not have profited them to Juſtification, as well as his Diſobedience not hurt them to condemnation; and …s the Covenant of Works is wholly made and by Adams Fall, nor was it ever renewed a Covenant of Life. Moreover,Mr. Baxter's Preface to the Treat of the 2 Covenants, p. 2, 3. our Oppoſites teach that the Covenant of Grace was …de with all Mankind, immediately after … Fall they had all new Terms of Life given …m in Chriſt: If then Adams Sin be not im…ed to his Poſterity, they have indeed loſt …ſe bleſſed Priviledges which Adam ſinned …ay, and ſo could not convey to them, but …y were not at all oblig'd to the Covenant of …fect obedience, but were all immediately in under the Covenant of Grace, and are …y to anſwer for their neglect of, and diſobedience to that. Thus much for the firſt argument from the Imputation of Adam's
Argument 2.
Chriſt was made ſubject to,Bradſhaw de Juſt. c. 18. and fulfilled the Law to which Man was ſubject, and the which Man had broken: Ergò, his Obedience of Righteouſneſs is imputed to us: For he was not made ſubject to that Law for his own ſa… but for ours, nor did he fulfill it for himſelf but for us; he fulfilled it not ſimply as a general Law of Obedience, but as the Law give to Man and broken by him; therefore what he did in this caſe was done in Mans ſtead, a… to be imputed to him for his Righteouſneſs that the Curſe of the Law might be remove and the Bleſſing of the Law might deſcend up on Mankind.
Sermon of the Salvation of Mankind,Vid. Homilies of the Church of England. & Chriſt is the Righteouſneſs of all them that … truely believe in him: He for them paid the Ranſom by his Death: He for them fulfilled … Law in his Life: So that now in him and … him every true Chriſtian Man may be called Fulfiller of the Law, foraſmuch as that which their Infirmities lacked, Chriſts Juſtice has ſupplied. But this conſequence will not … denied, it is the Antecedent that muſt be proved, viz. That Chriſt fulfill'd the Law wh… was given to and broken by Man, and that was made Subject to that Law. For to av… this Argument our Authors have deviſed new Notion; That Chriſt fulfilled not the Law as given to Man, knowing that then his Righteouſneſs muſt be imputed to Man, but the teach that Chriſt fulfilled only a particular Law given to himſelf, which they call the Law of a Mediator, which conſiſteth ſo much of the Law given to Mankind in general, and of ſo much of the Jewiſh Law as the Father thought fit to appoint him to perform, and alſo of ſome particular precepts peculiar to Chriſt alone, wherein Men were not concern'd; which Law if Chriſt would fulfill, Men ſhould have a New Covenant of Life given them: But they could not be juſtified by his fulfilling this Law, becauſe it contained not all things to which they were obliged; and moreover did contain ſome things peculiar to Chriſt in which Men were not concerned. It muſt therefore be proved, That Chriſt was oblig'd to and did fulfill the Law of perfect Obedience given to Men, and the Jewiſh Law which concerned that Nation. It is ſometimes ſaid by our Oppoſites, That Chriſt is our Legal Righteouſneſs, that Righteouſneſs which the Law of Works required of us: If ſo, then he muſt have fulfill'd and ſatisfied that Law; but this hath been touched before: I argue therefore, Chriſt was ſubject to the Law of Mankind, elſe he needed not to have been Man: The only reaſon why Chriſt was made Man is, that the ſame Nature that ſinned, might alſo ſatisfie for Sin; it muſt therefore be by fulfilling that Law which concerned Humane Nature. For if any other way of ſatisfaction might be admitted, why might it not be accepted from a Perſon of another Nature that was not Man? If there was no neceſſity that the Law broken by Man ſhould be fulfilled, but that it was ſufficient that ſomething ſhould be done to repair God's Honour ſome other way, though his Law was not properly ſatisfied: Why might it not have been enough if Chriſt as God only without aſſuming any created Nature, would have undertaken to conquer the Devils, to bring all Mankind to Repentance, to accept once of Pardon, and to reſtore them to perfect Obedience again: This would have repaired the Honour of God and of the Law, as much or more than the procuring a New Covenant of Salvation for Sinners, which for any thing Chriſt did merit, might have never took effect in any: Why might not this have ſerved without his taking Mans Nature upon him? Moreover the Angels are obliged by the ſame general Law of Love to God and their Fellow creatures that Men are; though the particular Wages of exerciſing it be different. If then it were enough that Chriſt fulfill'd ſome Generals of the Law without being obliged to all the Particulars that concerned Men, why might it not have ſufficed him to have taken the Nature of Angels, and not to have come down into this miſerable World, for in that he might have performed the Law of a Mediator. However, à fortiori he needed not to have been the Son of Adam born of a Woman and in the ſame condition with other men, or to have taken upon him the Form of a Servant, Phil. 2.7. He might have been immediately created as Adam was, and not have derived his Nature from him, if it were not that he muſt be ſubject to the ſame Law which Adam had broken. It is ſaid, Gal. 4.4. That God ſent forth his Son made of a Woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the Adoption of Sons. If Chriſt could not redeem the Jews without being born a Jew, ſubject to their Law, then neither could he redeem the Sons of Adam in general, without being himſelf the Son of Adam, ſubject to the ſame Law that he was. I argue alſo from the Nature of the Law; The End of the Law was Obedience, and for failure that the Penalty of it ſhould be ſuffered; and this was the abſolute eſtabliſht Decree, or Sanction of God: It muſt therefore be fulfilled by ſome one, it was not done by Men, therefore it muſt be by Chriſt. To ſay that ſome of it was fulfilled and ſome Honour done to it by the Mediatorial Law is of ſmall moment; for this did not fulfill it or ſatisfie the End of it: The Law as a Law and as a Covenant betwixt God and Man was clearly laid aſide if Chriſt fulfill'd it not, and all Mankind after the Fall were by him brought under a Covenant of Grace, and ſo the Law is made void by Faith, contrary to the Apoſtle, Rom. 3.31. Our Saviour alſo teſtified of himſelf, Mat. 5.17. That he came not to deſtroy, but to fulfill the Law: This was the End of his coming into the World, and his fulfilling was his obeying, performing the Law as he had ſaid before, Mat. 3.15. It becometh us to fulfill all Righteouſneſs: Therefore he was Baptized, and therefore much more ought he to obſerve the Law which was of ancienter Inſtitution. This is confirmed by the Reaſon he giveth for his fulfilling the Law, Mat. 5.18. viz. That not one Jota or Tittle of the Law ſhould paſs away till all was fulfilled, though Heaven and Earth might paſs away. The Sanction of the Law is more ſtable than the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth, and muſt attain its End: Therefore every Child of Adam muſt be ſubject to it. Our Saviour adds, v. 19, 20. That he was ſo far from relaxing of the Law, that on the contrary he affirmed, whoſoever ſhould break the leaſt Commands, and teach others ſo, ſhould be ſhut out of Heaven: Nay that he required a ſtricter Obſervation of it than the Scribes and Phariſees for all their pretended ſeverities in ſome things. Now that all this was meant of the Law as given by Moſes, chiefly of the Moral Law, is manifeſt by his proceeding to expound and vindicate the Commandments in his following Diſcourſe, v. 21. to the end, from the ſlight Comments of their preſent Teachers. In like manner when it is ſaid, Chriſt is the End of the Law for Righteouſneſs to all them that believe, Rom. 10.4. It is meant of the Law of Moſes; for it is immediately added, v. 5. Moſes deſcribeth the Righteouſneſs of the Law, that the Man that doth them ſhall live in them. Now Chriſt is the End of the Law, not ſimply by waving it and diſannulling its Obligation; for then the Law ſhould not have its End, nor be unchangeable as he had told us it was: but He is the End of it for righteouſneſs to them that believe by fulfilling it in his own perſon for them; ſo that, their Righteouſneſs or Juſtification may not depend upon their own Obedience to it. Again Chriſt redeemed us from the Curſe of the Law, Gal. 3.13. being made a Curſe for us. How was Chriſt made a Curſe but by bearing the Penalty of the Law for Sin? For the Curſe is not only the Matter of Puniſhment, the evil inflicted, but formal puniſhment, viz. Evil inflicted for Sin, for the ſatisfaction of Juſtice and the violated Law. Now how came this Curſe to fall upon Chriſt? Even by the Law it ſelf adjudging him to it. For thus the Apoſtle argueth, v. 10. They that are of the Works of the Law, under the power of it, are under the Curſe. And v. 13. Chriſt hath redeemed us from the Curſe of the Law by being made a Curſe for us. This is the Argument, Men cannot be juſtified by the Law, for that curſeth all that are under it; but we ſhall be juſtified by Faith in Chriſt, v. 12. becauſe he bore the Curſe of the Law for us. He muſt therefore be under the Law as we were. And it is further proved, becauſe it is written, i. e. the Law ſaith, Curſed is every one that hangeth on a Tree. Deut. 21.23.What is this to the Death of Chriſt, if he were not under the Law? And if he were under the Jewiſh Law which pronounced the Death of the Croſs accurſed in ſpecial manner, then by the ſame reaſon, he was under the Law of Adam, which pronounced Death in general as a Curſe for Sin. Laſtly, If the Sufferings of Chriſt were not inflicted by virtue of the Law of Works, then they were not Penal, nor had they any thing of God's wrath in them, for it was that Law only that threatned a Curſe: They were only Prudential, viz. that ſomething ſhould be ſuffered which that Law threatned, that ſo it might decently be laid aſide. Now if Chriſt were ſubject to the Law as to the Curſe, he was alſo ſubject to the Precept, and ſo his Obedience was in our ſtead, and therefore to be imputed to us for our Juſtification. We were not obliged to the Law of a Mediator; Chriſt fulfilled not that in our ſtead, if then he did and ſuffered any thing in our ſtead, it was in obedience to our Law, and ſo to be placed to our Account.